Hello and Blessed Be. Before I begin, please know I respect the faith I am about to discuss. I'm a Lutheran contemplating whether to be Christian or Pagan, and I've looked into Christian Wicca. But, I honestly want to have a truthful discussion on the faith. Is it valid? When I was in my Lutheran Confirmation class, I had to read different sections of the Catechism. At a certain one, it stated that Jesus said to avoid witchcraft, communicating with the dead, Satanic arts, astrology, fortune tellers, and magick technique/practice in general. Obviously, several of those can be avoided, but what about the concept of witchcraft in general? How does Christian Wicca faith still apply to Christ? I am very baffled by this. Open discussion or explanation anyone?
As in more pagan magicks people have gods they pray to but in Christian Wicca people still pray to Jesus or God. In the end many Christian Wiccans believe the bible was either misinterpreted or the God will understand no matter what the bible says. It's a difficult concept.
Wicca is an oathbound, initiatory, modern day Mystery Tradition with its own set of specific rites, rituals, and a prescribed Godhead, which isn't Yahweh. While there is room for personal experience in Wicca, it is an experiential tradition after all, if you change too much then what you'd be practicing would no longer be Wicca.
As for whether one can be a Christian witch it depends on what your definition of a 'witch' is. It has to be said that cunning folk between the fifteenth and early twentieth centuries certainly called upon the power of Christ, Mary and various saints in their work, as well as utilise material from Renaissance grimoires, for example;
"I do conjure, constrain, adjure, and command you spirits. Analaya, Analla, Anacar, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, by Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, by the general resurrection, and by Him who shall come to judge the quick and the dead, and the world by fire, and, by the general resurrection at the last day, and by that name that is called Tetragrammaton, that you cause the person who stole the goods in question to bring back the same." - A conjuration found in the papers of cunning man Joseph Railey in 1857
Similar charms and spells evoking the power of the Christian god have been found so we can assume that cunning folk felt no such compunction about being good Christians and still practicing magic. Though if you'd called them a witch they probably would have been insulted as part of their work was to protect against malevolent magic.
I summary I'd say that being a Christian Wiccan is impossible. However if you want to practice magic as a Christian you'd be in good company, if just depends on whether you think scripturally it's 'right' or not.
there's plenty of 'magic' found in Christianity, prayer being a big one. i looked into it a long time ago, if i remember correctly, they worship God, Jesus and [sometimes] Mary. they may use the ten commandments, but everything else is Wiccan. you can pick and choose from whatever religions you want to make your path work for you. that's the good/bad thing about Wicca. it's so open people tend to loose focus. you could also define some Christian Wiccans as Christians to practice witchcraft, where others follow more closely to the Wiccan path and they pray to God, Jesus, and Mary.
in regards to the bible, while one should not say bad things about a persons religious text, the bible was written long after Jesus's death but other people. when it was compiled they cut out part and whole books, like the book of Mary Magdalene, and with every new king, they would write the Pope asking him to add/remove parts so he can be sure people would follow his laws beck in the dark ages when only the wealthy could read.
Being Catholic myself, I know the preachings can be contradicting. No matter how much a priest or preacher say how bad witchcraft can be, they are one in the same in some technical way, especially what Nekoshema mentioned about prayer. My family and I do certain practices in our Catholic faith, mostly dealt with prayer. We pray for protection and we pray to our dead grandparents and ancestors, all dealing with incenses. They all just seem relatively the same with me. Paganism just brings more of the spirituality out of you.
It's just you that decides what path to choose that you feel is right for you.
@ dark_rulerz actually, the new testament was. the old testament aka the Torah was written before Jesus, and the new testament, the part with Jesus, was written after his death. the earliest is dated to be written in 49 C.E. and Jesus died in 33 C.E. [since common era is dated when Jesus was born as year 0 and he died at age 33.] the majority was written in the 60's and revelations was the last book written in 90 C.E. the whole thing was compiled in the 100's C.E. and over the years was changed, added to and removed.
i'm not saying the bible's wrong, or shouldn't be followed, what i'm saying is, the whole thing is compiled of stories told by his followers and written down years after his death, so a Christian Wiccan can follow the bible. things like "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." [Exo. 22:18] was first seen in The King James bible, written in 1611 when the writer translated the Hebrew text into 'witch' from 'sorcerer intending harm' so originally it was 'a sin to let an evil sorcerer live.'
i not only took a world religions course in high school as well as college, but i was training as a child to become a minister, but if you want me to back up my facts i could get some links for you.
Why even label yourself? You are an individual. I do believe someone can be a christian witch but not a christian wiccan. They are two completely different religions but that is just my opinion.
