Christian Witchcraft HELP!

[Phoenix Snowrose]

My friend cherie wants to know if being Christian and a witch is accepted in this community. She says, "I ask if it's acceptable because the concept of being both a Christian and a Witch, sharing, or the strong attempt to share both the beliefs of the occult and Chrisitanity are known to be an oxymoron. And I fear that."

I can't help her because I have no clue about anything pretaining to this subject except that some people use the God, Jesus, Mary, and so on as their personal dieties. It sortof does sound like an oxymoron to me, but then again I don't know. So I thought I'd come here and see what the majority thinks...my friend is really stuck right now. She does love the ways of witchcraft, but does love her faith as a christian...I hope someone can help ANYTHING will be appriciated.
Thank you so much,
~Phoenix

[MorningDove030202]

IMHO,

You can include the teachings of Jesus in one's practice of Wicca or Witchcraft. Jesus can also be one of many dieties. However, I don't feel that the concept of Salvation has a place in Wicca or Witchcraft. If your friend belives that Jesus died for her sins so that she doesn't go to Hell, IMHO, it's imposible to combine that with Wicca or Witchcraft. There is no Hell in Wicca, and there is no need for Salvation from some boogyman. I also feel that having a litteral belief in the Bible is contrary to Wicca and Witchcraft.

I hope this makes sence, and remember, it's just my opinon.

Dove

[BlackMagicalCat]

Well,Im a christian and have the same conflict,And I havent resolved it yet.I read in the bible about the woman named wisdom,who is a tree of life to those who embrace her,so I figured she sounded like a Goddess to me.No one has been able to tell me who this woman is.And how she can give life to those who embrace her,so,what do I know.

I still beleive in Christ,and that he saved me from my sins.I wont let that go ever,I love him too much.
But there are to many christian denominations and they are all not saying the same thing.Look in the yellow pages,and they all will swear up and down they are standing on the WORD.But they all cant be right.So,Ill decide what I think is right,and let God be my judge.

I feel comfortable here,A bit lonely at times,but still I feel like I have freinds here.

[FateDancer]

Sorry cant help you beacause Wicca and Christian paths cannot in my opinion live together, simply beacause if you are christian your sacred books are against it. And if you are Pagan you dont believe in 90% of christian teachings.
I feel like if this christowicca path is just a way to avoid a real choice beacause we are scared of it... (sorry if there is any christowicca around but i cant change opinion). If she was my friend i would ask her to look in herself deeply and try to step on her fears so she will be able to decide light hearted (one or the other), i know it is hard with a christian tradition to put fears away, but maybe she should work on those before deciding, and not try to hide her fears behind a mix of 2 things that do not actually have much to do with one another.

[Phoenix Snowrose]

Thank you both so much. I'm sure that will help a little...or it might confuse. LMAO not sure which. But thanks again.

answers and suggestions...KEEP ON COMING! she needs all the help she can get!

[BlackMagicalCat]

Also one problem with wicca to many christians is the god of the sun,lucifer,the horned one,,I read in another site he is the god of the resserection and darkness,to believers this sounds like the devil.

Even though you will be hard pressed to find anyone who even believes in the devil,to believers it is hard not to notice.Most dont believe in demons either,but I could fill a thread with spells to cast out evil energies and spirits,I have seen them on so many other sites.I know not all traditions are the same though.

So,your friend will be okay here and no one will bother her,but she should keep in mind this is a pagan site.So there will be many other viewpionts here as well.

[Phoenix Snowrose]

thanks you also FateDancer

[BlackMagicalCat]

Also,you asked,is it acceptable in this cominnity,of coarse it is,you can beleive what you want,as long as you are respectable.There are people of all paths here.

[mothwench]

wait, i'm confused... in your first post you said christianity and witchcraft... now everyone's talking about christianity and wicca... what did you mean?

imo, christianity and witchcraft work very well together... christianity and wicca, on the other hand... :twitch:

[banondraig]

wait, i'm confused... in your first post you said christianity and witchcraft... now everyone's talking about christianity and wicca... what did you mean?

imo, christianity and witchcraft work very well together... christianity and wicca, on the other hand... :twitch:

what she said. there was actually a strong tradition of Christian magic in the middle ages, although it is more properly called ceremonial magic as opposed to witchcraft.

[MAR]

I found this site Christian Witch (http://www.christianwitch.net/) Hope it helps your friend in some way. :)

Edited to add: http://www.mysticwicks.com/forumdisplay.php?f=111 (http://www.mysticwicks.com/forumdisplay.php?f=111) Classes taught here about Christian Wichcraft.

Blessings,
MAR

[Sybill]

Hi I am also christian and recently I started to discover wicca and withcraft.... I belive in Jesus and Mary but I don't think that Cristhians have the right to say that they have the only true faith to follow... reading what is wicca I thought that it wasn't so wrong as the Church says, it sounded possible to me.... I have a simple faith, I belive just in Jesus as father and Mary as mother the rest is just talking, it's a castel that the church created .... when I go to the church I feel my energy going towards God and prayers are just invocations to the lord and ceremony are like magic rithuals...;

Hope my reflexions could help your friend...;

:huddle:

[ShamanFeather]

It comes to a personal descision to ignore a label and call it ecclectic. ;) I believe in jesus, hell and heaven. I also believe in angels, animal guides, the use of ritual and symbology. I call the elements, and understand the speech of the stone and plant people. True, I'm still working on it, but the beliefs exist together. We are all one, God, nature, humanity, whether we like it or not, whether we understand it or not. But to have these beliefs you decide to live and let live. You understand that you choose your own spirituality and that its okay to be different. The real point of it is that you have to have integration within your being that that is what you believe and its okay if you are not the same as the next person, be it witch or whatever. Do you have to believe in hindu gods to see the truth in their ways? I don't think so, I think it is good to understand the gods and goddesses and more importantly the culture that the teachings come from.

Understand the knowledge with the mind, feel the spirit with your heart, and Know with your spirit, and walk your Truth with all your being.

Blessings on each of our paths.

[Kudzu]

In my opinion, there's nothing in general "witchcraft" that forbids Christian belief and praxis, however there may very well be Christian teachings that forbid witchcraft. Your friend will have to determine that for herself, but I'm sure she'd be welcome here.

[Tulip Tree]

what she said. there was actually a strong tradition of Christian magic in the middle ages, although it is more properly called ceremonial magic as opposed to witchcraft.Not to mention Pennsylvania Dutch Powwowing where scripture is used in spell work. Stregha might be similar (Italian) but I'm not sure.

Even if she is trying to balance Christianity and Wicca I think it's ok. As a Christian she just might feel the need to dance under the moon sometimes and treat non-human life as sacred. (Activities her local church might vew as highly suspect and demonic) If she gets in the mood to argue about it, she can always post in the Theology thread. We're always willing to help pick apart an assertion until there's nothing left but bones to chew on. Good times. ;)

[EponaCapaill]

Not all witches are Wiccan. You can be Christian and a witch, in fact the Catholic faith especially lends itself to witchcraft. But certainly there are witches that align themselves with many, many other Christian faiths. Now, being Christian Wicca, I don't believe that it is possible, but there are people out there that claim it as their path and if it works for them, I don't have anything against it.

[Pandoras]

Christianity has a long history of mysticism and magic, but I think witchcraft is another matter (and one that, I believe, is expressly forbidden by Scripture). Unless it's all being defined very loosely, I don't believe Christianity is compatible with modern witchcraft or Wicca.

[EponaCapaill]

Christianity has a long history of mysticism and magic, but I think witchcraft is another matter (and one that, I believe, is expressly forbidden by Scripture). Unless it's all being defined very loosely, I don't believe Christianity is compatible with modern witchcraft or Wicca.
The passage I believe you are refering to is a mistranslation, :spinnysmi
Creating mass hysteria has always been a very easy thing to do. It is also interesting to note that certain passages of the Bible were rewritten during this period to aid this cause. As one example; the passage which states, "Thou shall not suffer a Witch to live." If one studies the ancient Hebrew dialects, you'll find the word Witch did not exist. How then did it find it's way into that passage? Simple mistranslation or intentional modification to suit a purpose? Who can say for sure.

Students of ancient Hebrew seem to agree that a more accurate translation would be, "Thou shall not suffer a poisoner to live.," which could mean one who brings harm to another. This clearly serves as an example of how words can be used, modified or altered to affect society.

(http://www.wicca.com/celtic/ramble/words.htm)

What I have heard the most often is that is more correctly translated as "thou shall not suffer a poisoner to live", though I have also heard rapist in place of poisoner.

ETA: Since the Bible was written and rewritten and modified by humans that have their own ideas and agendas, it is reasonable to assume that the word witch was put in there at a much later time then the original writing. :flowers:

[Pandoras]

I was not referring to any particular passage; I was stating my opinion in response to a question. I've done my fair amount of study and research (some of it in academe) and I stand by what I said.

[EponaCapaill]

I was not referring to any particular passage; I was stating my opinion in response to a question. I've done my fair amount of study and research (some of it in academe) and I stand by what I said.
That's cool, I don't have a problem with differing opinions and I respect yours. I stand by my beliefs as well. This is simply the passage that is used most often is arguments against Witchcraft.

[MorningDove030202]

I supose it comes down to what makes a Christian a Christian? If being saved is the definition of being Christian, and you don't belive in that aspect of Christianity, then it's probably better to call oneself a "Pagan (Witch/Wiccan) for Jesus". Alot of his teaching makes alot of sence. Who can argue with "Love your Neighbor" or "Do onto others as you would have others do to you"? I don't think the question is if you can be Wiccan or a Witch, but if you can realy be a Christian.... I know most Christians won't accpet such a combination.

Dove

[BeachWitch]

The answers to Christian Wicca:

1) Peter was a jealous mysogynist. He was put off by the fact that the Messiah loved women, taught women and ordained women as apostles right along side the rest of the men in the ministry. Not to mention that over 50% of the ministries income came from wealthy women in the Galilean community (ahem.. Magdalene!)

2) Paul lied. Yep, he's a big fat liar. His 2 scribes were women, evidence suggests there is no male name ever, anywhere, in any language that equates to the "male" verssion of his scribe's names and that they were made male in an attempt to hide the fact that the only people Paul could employ to write his letters were his wife and his mistress. SO much for celibacy.

3) the first Evangelist was Magdalene. No one believed Christ had risen even after her story was told. It took Christ appearing to the Aposrtles himself just before Pentecost before any of the apostles to believe Magdalene was telling the truth. The first Priest of Christinaity was a Woman. End of story.

So, where in the 4 gospels does it say ANYTHING about witchcraft and sorcery? Therefore, Christian Wicca stands as a valid path.

Geez, wine makes this debate oh so much easier!

[Athene]

My friend cherie wants to know if being Christian and a witch is accepted in this community. She says, "I ask if it's acceptable because the concept of being both a Christian and a Witch, sharing, or the strong attempt to share both the beliefs of the occult and Chrisitanity are known to be an oxymoron. And I fear that."


Hello there,

The reason the 'oxymoron' concept is thrown about is because of ignorance.

There are neo-Pagans who have issues with Christianity usually from their bad experiences and can only read Christianity as negative.

There are neo-Pagans who hear 'witch' and can only think of Wicca.

There are neo-Pagans that think everything started either recently or a million years ago. Ignoring the fact that some practices and beliefs have been around for 100's of years. The idea that Christian witch is something new is ludicrous, and yet the debate goes on in every neo-Pagan community I've visited.

There are Christians that don't know their Bible, and neo-Pagans and Christians who know only a handful of passages and think they KNOW the Bible. To simply believe that the Bible says X and that's truth is simplistic and erroneous. Funny thing is, both Christians and neo-Pagans do this. The Bible is a mystery book, but both Christians and non-Christians choose to read it literally.

The way of the witch is not synonymous with witchcraft.

There are very liberal Christians who are witches, and these tend to come from countries like USA and UK. But there are also very conservative Christian witches and these tend to come from Spain, Italy, S. America and Philippines.

It's totally possible to believe in sin, salvation and every other Christian doctrine and be a witch. The witch way is not religious and cannot conflict with those doctrines.

What is more common though is for beliefs to merge. In my own family, I have very strict Catholics who are witches, and a few others who are very liberal and witch. I myself am a very unorthodox Christian but still very much a Christian as Christ is my teacher and guide.

Finally, not everyone that is drawn to magic, divination, speaking to spirits, tarot reading, crystals, meditation, herbs, or has psychic dreams is a witch. Your friend should just be herself and allow her path to unfold before her.

take care

[MariThorn]

I have to say . . . as a Catholic Witch, thatI don't think Wicca (the religion) blends with Christianity. Witchcraft itself does, as it is not a set religious path with rules and so forth. I have to say though, that to date everyone has seemed to be very nice here.

[Mab]

Explain to your friend that witchcraft & Wicca are not the same things. I'm a Christian. I'm also a practicing witch. I've had no problems resolving the two.