*****NO, WE DON'T WORSHIP THE DEVIL*****
*****NO, WE DON'T WORSHIP THE DEVIL*****
*****NO, WE DON'T WORSHIP THE DEVIL*****
*****NO, WE DON'T WORSHIP THE DEVIL*****
Information on Wicca and Witchcraft is nebulous, vague, and hard to find. In the past, this post and the "for beginners" post were littered with inaccuracies I had no way of avoiding. I'm sure in the future I'll find more. I am not a scholar, nor am I an archaeologist, and must content myself with third-party sources. As I learn, I modify this post and the "For Beginners" post. Take all of this with a grain of salt and please tell me if I get something wrong.
On to the list of dumb ideas people have about Witches.
-Witches are evil
Not usually, no. It's extremely rare to find evil Witches simply because of the caliber of stupidity required to actually BE one. It is simply too easy, and too effective, to become totally happy and fulfilled in the Craft without messing up other people's lives. It's also way less messy
-Pointy hat, green warty skin, ugly old lady, gross stuff boiling in cauldrons, evil deeds, flying on broomsticks
No.
-Witches get their power from evil rituals/evil/the devil/insert scary thing here
NO. Power for magic comes from various sources, such as heightened emotion. You send energy all over the place with your emotions when they are intense, which is why a place seems "charged" after a big argument. Over the years Witches have learned to harness the energies intrinsic to life and the universe in order to accomplish goals. In other words, they learned to cast spells. There are moral rules to spellcasting which no one can circumvent without consequences - that is why it is not for everyone. Most religions contain real, good magic within them. It's just not called magic.
-Witchcraft is devil worship, getting involved with the devil, etc.
The devil is a creation of Zoroastrianism and/or the Christian Church. Witchcraft predates both. Anyway historically speaking, there are no historic references to people talking about, let alone believing in, a "devil" or a "satan" before the birth of Christ. Each Witch decides what they do, and Satan-worshipping Witches are actually quite rare. Wiccans, on the other hand - THE HEART OF WICCA IS AN ALLIANCE WITH NATURE, NOT A MANMADE THOUGHTFORM SUCH AS THE DEVIL.
-Witches are evil
Original sin might or might not exist, but human nature does. Humans in general don't have a good track record of behavior. Sure, there are probably some evil Witches out there. (I haven't met many) That's not as scary as the evil otherwise-decent humans do out of ignorance, stupidity, or error. Witchcraft as a practice does not require that the Witch become evil in order to practice it. You keep your original personality once you start practicing the Craft, for better or worse. And believe it or not, harming people with Witchcraft is actually a pain in the ass and way more trouble than it's worth for most Witches. Why would you bother cursing someone when you could bless yourself instead?
-Hollywood stuff like TV shows, fiction books, movies, depicting Witches as having lots of power, getting everything they desire in the blink of an eye, being "special" in some kind of superhuman way, working magic that is super obvious and dramatic, and so on - surely it's true
That's FICTION, people. FICTION.
-Only Witchcraft and the Occult have real magic in them; mainstream religions do not
One of the world's little dirty secrets is that every mainstream religion has magic in it. Very effective magic at that. Prayer itself is just as powerful as magic if God is okay with your prayer. You do NOT have to get into the Occult to make your life better if you're already a believer in a religion; simply delve deeper into your religion and you'll get similar benefits. Atheist? Delve into science; that'll do it.
-The Tumblr Witches define what Witchcraft is
Newspeak, socialism, delusions, groupthink, "social justice" thinly veiled Communism, and all that is completely antithetical to everything about the Craft. Witchcraft, at its heart, is about freedom and self-determination. Sure, there may be some good Tumblr blogs on Witchcraft. I've only ever seen one (Lokean Witch). And then it was shut down.
-Witchcraft is a centralized religion with one "Grand Grimoire" or "Big Book of Shadows"
It's an individual practice defined by the individual, with some defining characteristics as posted in "For Beginners" http://www.witchesandsandwiches.com/for ... p?f=16&t=4.
-You have to buy all this stuff to get into the Craft or practice it properly, such as crystals, colored candles, herbs etc.
No, of course not! There's no dogma here. Make do with what you've got.
-Witchcraft means you summon demons
In the Craft there is a divide between those who work with demons and those who don't. Those who work with demons are seriously in the minority. Everyone else in the Craft hates demons and tends to do a lot of work to get rid of them and keep them far away. I'm in the latter camp. If you summon demons you're so far beyond stupid I don't know what to call you. Moron. Idiot. Buffoon. Etc.
-It is okay to use magic to cause harm, as long as it's justified
Aye, there's the rub. What's "justified"? It is a foolish thing indeed to believe that you, as a human being who is not omniscient, have the right to cause harm to anyone, with magic or not. The whole problem here is that often more harm is done when you don't do anything than when you fight back, also causing harm, necessitating that you just try to minimize the harm to you and yours. So inevitably you wind up causing harm somehow just by living your life. Like that one scene in Ratatouille with the biting and the slapping. Luckily, magic is a little more precise than that and you can cast a spell so that it harms no one, nothing, nada, even if you protect yourself and your loved ones effectively. If you choose not to, then that's your choice... but it's still not okay. Magic is not like everyday life, where it's a zero-sum game and you have to minimize the harm you do as opposed to never do harm (impossible). In magic you have a choice. Don't get me wrong, if you do harmful magic to try to do the right thing I'm still cool with you and all, but I'll worry about you. You should know there is quite a controversy about "do we use magic to cause harm to exact justice and protect ourselves" in the Witch community, but everyone who is capable of logic agrees that each person is completely accountable for the results of their own actions. There are no scapegoats or fallbacks. That being said: messing with any given person's free will is not always seen as harmful, although it is pure evil and rape of somebody's mind. That's the only thing I really hate about this spirituality, and thank God, things in the Craft are changing rapidly for the better in that regard.
-There is no moral regulation on magic, so you can hex or bless as you please
Well, this simply isn't true. I don't believe in the rule of three (what you send out comes back to you three times aka it's karma x 3), but I have personally seen magic wing its way back to me with whatever I sent out. I've tried both positive and negative magic before. Both came back, and my life followed suit. Also, if you believe you can circumvent this, then you clearly don't understand that the spirit world is watching you and holding you accountable. I do not believe in karma, but I know the spirit world exists and it does not tolerate misbehavior. Your ancestors, your spirit guides, various ghosts, the Creator, the Angels, and more: they are all watching. All the time.
-Witchcraft is a threat to Christianity
False. We don't recruit. In fact, recruiting people into the Craft is forbidden (aka really bad luck, just like selling magic, healing work, or energy work without both being really good and not charging an exorbitant price). And furthermore, I've never actually met a Witch who didn't consider Jesus to be absolutely awesome - it's religion most do not subscribe to. As for hexing or cursing good Christians, or any of that other terrible stuff that people still say we do - that was a product of the Burning Times, when thousands of people accused of Witchcraft became the scapegoat for everything bad in their village and suffered death regardless of guilt. These things still happen today. Feeding the rumor mill things about "horrible things Witchcraft is doing to good Christians" started back then, and continues until this day, and it is literally killing us. We're not bad people. Persecuting us is un-Christian. Stop it!
-Pagan Gods and Goddesses are idolatry/abominations/evil
This reflects a fundamental lack of understanding of how modern Pagans worship. You see, even the God of the Bible is a God with attributes; human-like characteristics. There is no way to properly describe the Infinite, the Creator of us all. So many humans seek out ways to cultivate faith with what is ultimately unknowable. In modern Pagan and Wiccan thought, it is widely believed that the Creator is so merciful that It places no restrictions on having a good relationship with It. So it is believed that whatever Deity you worship is actually the One True Creator, who has decided, in Her infinite wisdom and mercy, to get through to you using whatever belief system and Deity suits you best, because She loves you. But as humans we'll never really know for sure, will we? This path is one way of trying to understand.
-The Goddess isn't real/the Bible is the sole truth so Witchcraft is evil
You will often hear that people decided to become Wiccan or Pagan once they decided they no longer trusted words in a book due to the potential that they could have been written by humans and not God. As for the Goddess, if you don't believe in a Deity with attributes but just one overall overarching Creator of us all with no attributes and all sacred attributes at the same time, then it only makes sense that this Deity would be not only male and female, but also fifty-gendered for all you care. Maybe there are fifty genders on some faraway planet, do you think the creatures there would see the Creator as having fifty genders? Who knows? I hope that explains the Goddess well enough. As for if the Bible is the sole truth or not, I must state that there are serious issues with trying to base your whole life off of a manuscript from an unknown source that has been not only translated from the original Hebrew and Greek by humans, losing tons of meaning in the process (I speak Hebrew), but also revised into different editions by more humans making it into a plural "one truth," and on top of all that having it re-interpreted again by another human in a sermon. There are also serious issues with using it as an excuse to harm living things. The former can be understood. The latter cannot be forgiven. And you know, it makes sense to trust God, but to trust that all the people playing telephone with the Bible never succumbed to human error is ludicrous. I understand that there are many things about Witchcraft that are very unnerving for someone who grew up reading the Bible - after all, I used to be Jewish - so please take your time and learn all you can about it. I personally believe that translation errors are at the root of a lot of the problems with religious texts in general. After all, the printed Gutenberg Bible only came out in 1462. They were copying the thing by hand before then - and by "they" I mean a LOT of different people. Also, did you know that originally, Hebrew was carved in stone for the most part and not written in pen and ink?
-It's okay to mistreat Witches because [insert religious text] says you should
The entire point of religion in general is to make humans treat each other slightly less badly. If you really believe this, I think you've missed the memo. Also, here is an argument against this from a Christian point of view: http://pentacle.swankivy.com/xwic.html
-The Wiccan/Witchcraft movement is homogenous
Ohhh. Oh Lord no. I make a lot of generalizations on this website in an attempt to get the general gist of Wicca and Witchcraft into the public eye so we no longer get treated badly, but how it's actually practiced varies wildly from person to person. Whether I've done a decent job or not is up for you, the reader, to decide. Comment below if you feel the need.
-Witches are the good guys, Satanists are who you need to watch out for
I've actually met and talked to a few Satanists and they were genuinely good people. So much so as to make me remember them fondly all these years later. I completely dislike the religion and everything about it, but that isn't a reason to treat them badly. That said, Witchcraft is not by definition Satanism although some people who REALLY ANNOY ME declare themselves to be Satanic Witches. Very few Witches actually get involved with the devil in any form because the two practices/belief systems (Satanism and Witchcraft) do not mesh well. Most Witches, and all Wiccans, are pretty much blue in the face from explaining that no, we don't worship the devil, for the umpteenth time. As I state elsewhere, I hope they call themselves Satanic Occultists and leave the Witches out of it.
-Witchcraft has nothing to do with logic or science
Don't confuse the Craft with New Age nonsense. The modus operandi here is "whatever works." That leaves little room for delusion. In fact, the longer I spend as a Witch the more similarities I find between science and the Craft. Unfortunately a lot of books out there have Witchcraft practices that yield real results but pseudoscientific explanations for why they work. That being said - THEY WORK. And no one knows why. I actually chose this religion because pretty much everything in it is an experiment and I am a nerd.
-Magic either isn't real or is unnatural/supernatural/created solely by humans
Nope to all of that. Magic is intrinsic to the universe. It is both within and one with nature and all of us. It's really noticeable in art pieces and in music that makes you feel something. Divine Magic is what powers all major religions and keeps them fresh, vital, and relevant. Falling in love is literally magic, same with hugging someone, same with casting a spell, same with putting all your effort into something really important to you. Herbs, crystals, seeds, plants, animals, and us - all of these are magic already. The sun rising is magic too. Try to feel an energy shift when the sun rises, when it sets, or on the Sabbats of the year - Halloween, for instance, that's coming up. After a few years of getting used to feeling these energies you'll probably realize that you felt them the whole time but ignored them due to societal conditioning. Real magic is both subtle and profound. When working magic properly, simply the act of working magic itself is so sacred that once you experience it, you understand that it's important even if you aren't trying to bring about any specific outcome. Good magic changes those who work it for the better. You may have experienced this for yourself before in a religious service of some kind - for instance, if you have ever been married, been baptized, or went to church on Sunday with a pure heart and intention to get spiritually "right," - yeah, you've experienced magic. People tend to think manifesting something physical is what magic is all about. People, the material world isn't the only thing that's important.
I guess the number one question people really wonder about Wicca or Witchcraft is why. Why choose this religion? It's safe to say that you don't just choose the Craft. It also chooses you. For whatever reason, the Universe and the powers that be decide that you gotta do this, and if you are on board with the idea that's that. Once you commit, it's your job to create positive change. Most of the positive change is done on yourself, which is why this is such a difficult religion to be in. Of course, there are some bad apples, and people who just want to be Witches and the hell with ethics, and I would like to note that originally, the idea to "harm none" in Wicca came about because doing bad magic could bring about another Burning Times on all of us.
Witchcraft is one of the most scapegoated and misunderstood things in existence. The word "Witch" itself is usually equated with evil, which compounds the problem. People automatically associate it with the devil and evildoing, and then they try to convert you to the religion of their choice instead - usually by force or coercion. They don't seem to understand just how much damage that can do. I lost my job for my religion before. I know one person who was literally stoned and run out of town with rocks thrown at him, and another who was punched in the face for wearing a pentacle. Historically speaking, there is a thing called the Burning Times and the Blood Libel. Here is some information on it. http://www.wicca-chat.com/burning.htm http://www.teenwitch.com/religiousfreed ... libel.html The history of those slaughtered by Witch hunters or mobs is muddied. The only certain thing is that historically if you were accused of Witchcraft, you would be tortured to death. But my major concern is that it's not safe for people under 18 to come out of the "broom closet." Tempest Smith, age 12, committed suicide because her teachers and classmates bullied her for her religion. https://wildhunt.org/2013/11/tempest-sm ... doors.html
There are a few things about the Craft that are baffling to outsiders. Probably the weirdest thing is that neither Wicca nor Witchcraft involve any kind of dogma, and that people in both choose to not believe in any religious ideology based on fear or blind obedience. Instead there is a huge emphasis on education, on critical thinking. Another strange thing is that there is no hierarchy and no centralized book of any kind. Therefore, there is no divine mandate to reproduce, no kind of doctrine related to sexual activity and marriage or lack thereof, no dietary restriction, no high holy day you must celebrate, no list of rules everyone is supposed to follow, no blind belief in any doctrine, and no clergyman who is the communicator between you and whatever you believe in. Of course the belief in magic is also strange, and all I can say about that is that if you've experienced it, you know it exists. There is also the issue of ethics, which frankly just boils down to how much of a conscience each person has. Not much different from any other religion in that respect. Children are not only valued but respected and carefully listened to, taught to think for themselves, and given plenty of responsibility from a young age. Animals are treated with love and respect. There is sometimes an emphasis on "facing the shadow," aka the shadow side of one's personality, which is why you'll find a lot of profanity and negativity not only shown but embraced - this is because stuffing down negative emotions is often counterproductive and can cause people to lash out in other ways. Yes, this is similar to the Metalhead philosophy. There is no shame about sexuality or nudity, but a big emphasis on healthy, responsible sexuality. Since there is no rule that you have to worship only one chosen Deity, it is often surprising to people that Witches will often join in religious ceremonies and services of other religions with complete sincerity and gusto! All Wiccans and many Witches incorporate extreme reverence of nature into their lives, often considering nature itself to be Divine. Actually that's the biggest difference between Wicca and mainstream religion. We do not see the Divine as being separate from nature. The lessons of nature are our liturgy. And of course, women and nonbinary people are seen as equals to men. In fact, ghosts, children, plants, crystals, and all sentient beings are seen to be brethren, no one creature superior or inferior to others, just different. And yes, a lot of things are considered sentient in the Craft that most people do not consider to be sentient. In particular Witches do not see the human race as being inherently superior to any other race of beings.
Here is a quick definition of Wicca. Wicca is a modern nature-based religion that varies quite a bit depending on the individual. An individual Wiccan is called a Witch, although that leads to confusion between people who practice Witchcraft and people who practice Wicca. There are many different types of Wiccan, such as Gardnerian, Alexandrian, Solitary Eclectic, Kemetic, and Dianic. What they all have in common: a belief in magic, the working of magic using the magical system of Witchcraft, reverence of nature, a belief in the sanctity of nature, a "harm none" rule that goes "an it harm none, do as ye will," and the necessity to respect nature in everyday life. It is also likely that a Wiccan will celebrate the solstices, equinoxes, full moons, and cross-quarters. These are called Sabbats and Esbats. There is no scripture or central authority in Wicca, therefore the Witch must figure things out themselves for the most part. A Wiccan may be animist, polytheist, monolatrist, monotheist, something else entirely, or - very often - duotheist, with a belief in a Father God and a Mother Goddess who are two aspects of one Creator. Many Wiccans are also Pagans, interacting with one or more Gods or Goddesses from one or more pantheons. Wicca is not Satanism and has absolutely nothing to do with devil worship, or with summoning demons. Wicca uses the magical framework of Witchcraft, but has a religion added on top, therefore it is not the same as Witchcraft alone. Witchcraft is a practice, and Wicca is a religion.
Now here are the things that are true about Witches in general
1. Respect. If the Witch doesn't respect themselves, the land, the Ancestors, the Creator, and the Sacred, they have a really bad time. Things that are Sacred include love, innocent beings, free will, life, and nature. By default then no Witch will discriminate against anyone on the basis of skin color, gender orientation, age, appearance, cultural background, geographic location, social class, religion, disability, and so on. Besides, most of us have reincarnated too many times in too many different circumstances to really give a crap about that stuff anymore.
2. Honesty. This goes hand in hand with that whole respect thing. If you're not honest with yourself above all as a Witch, again, you have a really bad time.
3. Often, but not always: strange abilities. Each of us has slightly different abilities with regards to magic. Some people have dreams of the future. Others have the ability to hear another person's thoughts. Yet others are really good at packing tons of energy into a spell just on instinct. The list goes on. Many Witches got into the Craft because their abilities were strong enough to be uncomfortable, and they wanted to be able to use them in a positive way instead of being constantly annoyed by them. Then again some Witches have absolutely no psychic stuff going on. They're just Witches because they decided to be, after the compulsory year and a day of intensive learning about the Craft (and a dedication ceremony) or a similar equivalent in their culture.
4. Extremely heartfelt, sincere philosophy and way of living. Many people say that coming to the Craft is coming home.
5. Our community has extreme problems, such as megalomania, abuse, and all the other stuff you'd expect from something that isn't "out in the open" and mostly secretive, but it also has many very kind, very good-hearted people. It is my hope that as it becomes more well-known and more legitimized, that it become more transparent, legally regulated, and watched by the public eye.
So there you go, some of the most common myths, debunked. If you disagree with me, please feel free to say so and we can discuss it.