How can someone be a Christian Witch?

Discussion for and about Christian witches and pagans. How do you merge your two belief systems? Please be kind to Christian witches. I have come to believe that it is a very valid belief system.
hailmary

Re: How can someone be a Christian Witch?

Post by hailmary »

However, there are atheist witches who see witchcraft as purely a scientific thing. As well as those who do not work with any spirits or Gods but their own energy. Those witches still practices witchcraft. And yes, many things are "borrowed" though most of the things Christians borrowed were borrowed in an attempt to appear pagan when being persecuted by the Romans. Which later became meshed with their own traditions since many of their traditions were similar. Neopaganism is all about borrowing, and borrows just as much if not more than Abrahamic witches.
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Lord_of_Nightmares
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Re: How can someone be a Christian Witch?

Post by Lord_of_Nightmares »

Moon_Stone wrote:If anyone out there is a practicing Christian Witch, how do you do it?

From what I understand, the Bible teaches "Thou shall not suffer a witch to live" (meaning all witches and practitioners of the Old Religion should be put to death)...and also I believe a great deal of the manner in which the Bible became the preferred religion of the time, replacing witchcraft, aka "The Old Religion", was to make certain that witchcraft and witches were completely shunned therein... Given all this, following one path tells you to, in fact, despise and totally disapprove of the other... which makes this is a very contradictory belief system! Please share how you, as a Christian Witch or just someone who knows, deal with this internal controversy and contradiction.

...Anything I don't know is something I want to know.
Thank you for your candor- I promise not to judge.

~Blessed Be~
Christian witches have had some documentation for some time. With the Greek orthodox church, they don't believe it is their business. Rather it is the business between God and the witch. (They're more tolerant than some other denominations of Christianity.)
I am the Earth, The Sun and the Stars
And I am the also the Moon
I am all animal and birds,
And I am the outcast as well, and the thief
I am the low person of dreadful deeds,
And the great person of excellent deeds
I am Female. I am Male and I am Neuter.
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Re: How can someone be a Christian Witch?

Post by hummingbird »

rawrjess wrote: In that sense, I think of God and the Goddess as my spiritual mother and father.

Kind of like there are some things you can tell your mother that you can't tell your father...kind of thing.

As a Christian witch, I think the Goddess gives me wisdom and strength - which I'm so grateful to her for - and God gives me moral [which the Goddess does too] to help me make the right decisions.
:]
Cool! I totally am with you :)
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heal us, broken
stay with us, strength of the Earth'
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Re: How can someone be a Christian Witch?

Post by Pallando »

A Catholic witch... I dont see how.
A Baptist witch... I DAMN sure dont see how.

But never forget; The Catholics and the Baptists et al... DONT OWN JESUS.
They might make the rules for how Catholicism and Baptistism work, but they dont get to make the rules for how your Christianity works.

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Re: How can someone be a Christian Witch?

Post by Lord_of_Nightmares »

Pallando wrote:A Catholic witch... I dont see how.
A Baptist witch... I DAMN sure dont see how.
With Catholicism, they have folk Catholicism around the world that has been going strong for centuries. Then you have somewhat heretical/blasphemous works such as the Gospel of Aradia (1899), that despite being more pagan leaning, still has elements of Catholic rituals. People have been mixing their indigenous religion and Catholicism around the world for years, and that's likely never going away. Kali ma is a good example, as sometimes in South India she is the sister of Mary. Then there is the whole Santa Muerte fiasco in Mexico. (Also, brujeria.)

Just to say, the folk Catholic practices are condemned by the church, however. It doesn't stop people.
But never forget; The Catholics and the Baptists et al... DONT OWN JESUS.
They might make the rules for how Catholicism and Baptistism work, but they dont get to make the rules for how your Christianity works.

I agree with this because I feel Christianity (Follower of Christ) is an umbrella term for related religions, in a similar vein that paganism is.
I am the Earth, The Sun and the Stars
And I am the also the Moon
I am all animal and birds,
And I am the outcast as well, and the thief
I am the low person of dreadful deeds,
And the great person of excellent deeds
I am Female. I am Male and I am Neuter.
- Devi
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Mr Crowley
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Re: How can someone be a Christian Witch?

Post by Mr Crowley »

You can't be one around here. Way too many moderated-approved insults about the Christian religion. If moderation doesn't say anything about it, it's moderator approved!
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Re: How can someone be a Christian Witch?

Post by moonraingirl »

I haven't noticed any insults of Christianity on this site. The few criticisms I read were always constructive and at least to me, not problematic at all.
I find this community very open and welcoming to all kinds of paths.
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Re: How can someone be a Christian Witch?

Post by SpiritTalker »

Catholicism lends itself very well to folk magic. I think of an earlier generation of immigrant folk magic practicing Catholics. I risk brutally stereotyping with this but, like the Italian neighborhood "Aunty" who did charms, and brought her rosary along with healing soups and breads when visiting. Botanicas are doing good business. In my city, the Cathedral and a botanica are in the same block. The city is large enough to have a variety of active mixed cultures. After all, witchcraft is a practice, and any religion can do magic and call it faith healing.

Like Lady Lillith said, people aren't going to stop mixing practices. People are skilled at ignoring an aristocratic hierarchy and doing what works and has meaning to their lives.
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Re: How can someone be a Christian Witch?

Post by YanaKhan »

Mr Crowley wrote:You can't be one around here. Way too many moderated-approved insults about the Christian religion. If moderation doesn't say anything about it, it's moderator approved!
Mr Crowley, would you care to elaborate?
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Re: How can someone be a Christian Witch?

Post by Newbiewitch94 »

I'm not sure if I'd be classed as one because even though I do follow the wiccan religion I do mix in certain bits of Catholicism (I still honor Jesus but as a powerful witch instead of the son of god and I do still use the psalms if it feels appropriate). A lot of christian witches ignore the bible.
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Re: How can someone be a Christian Witch?

Post by Lord_of_Nightmares »

While not witchcraft per se, at the 14:00 mark, a woman identifies as both a Roman Catholic and a Hindu. She does puja at the temple and goes to church.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slqffxRk4B4
I am the Earth, The Sun and the Stars
And I am the also the Moon
I am all animal and birds,
And I am the outcast as well, and the thief
I am the low person of dreadful deeds,
And the great person of excellent deeds
I am Female. I am Male and I am Neuter.
- Devi
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Darkest Auldearn
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Re: How can someone be a Christian Witch?

Post by Darkest Auldearn »

Meh, I recall reading a book about this that was published by Llewellyn (I know, I know) and it comprised of utter gibberish throughout. It was a shame, because the concept is interesting but the reality... Not so much. In the end, there are three main issues that never seem to be addressed:

1) Witchcraft, as a religion, is as deep and diverse as it needs to be. Why would someone want to add another religion to something that doesn't need it?

2) Christianity has a terrible history with Witchcraft. Around 250,000 people, according to academics, were murdered for the accusation of Witchcraft.

3) Witchcraft and Christianity are fundamentally incompatible. One states a single route to divinity, the other states there are multiple routes.

To date, in no post in this thread (or any other I've read) and in no publication, either online or offline, have I come across a logical exception that's gotten round even one of these issues, never mind all three. I've only spoken to four "Christian Witches" at any length, and all four were exactly the same; they needed an identity crutch, and were too frightened to leave Christianity behind.

My personal view is that the notion is completely invalid. I'm happy to discuss the matter further.
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Re: How can someone be a Christian Witch?

Post by Shireside »

I think the issue with this comes around when you start to think of witchcraft as a religion. It isn't. Wicca, reconstructed Helenism, and eclectic paganism are all expressions of religion which may or may not include the practice of witchcraft, but the craft in itself is just that; a craft. You don't HAVE to involve deity in your craft for your magic to be effective, and as eclectics and chaotes illustrate, the magic doesn't really care who you call on (if anyone at all), so long as your belief in what you are doing is sturdy.

So while paganism (and it's derivatives) may be incompatible with Christianity, witchcraft itself isn't any more or less tolerated by the Abrahamic faith than any other practice or lifestyle that was damned in the Old Testament and quietly hand-waved in the New.

Classical grimoires such as Henry Cornelius Agrippa's are filled with Christian influences, and the writer found no issue with working magic alongside his devout faith in the dominant religion of his time. In the modern day, practicioners of Hoodoo are predominantly Christian, utilizing the Psalms and their faith in the Christian Trinity as a springboard for their spells.
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Re: How can someone be a Christian Witch?

Post by SpiritTalker »

These are just some of my personal thoughts. My concept of deities is as personifications of natural forces. And I accept that many others see things differently and that is as it should be. No one's beliefs are invalid, as they express all different levels of consciousness. And I believe a spiritually evolved person might die and resurrect their energy-body so it transforms the physical. I've seen enough ghosts that seemed brick solid to not have a problem with a mere physical/spiritual resurrection and ascent. And I accept trans-substantiation. So, I'm a Christian by definition but I'm a flaming liberal when it comes to religious practice because i accept that all religions have some piece of the puzzle. And I think magic is a natural process, and a quite ordinary function of consciousness.

1. Witchcraft is a magical practice, and any religion can practice magic, like lighting a candle for an intent. Wicca is a poly-theist religion. if we go back far 'nuf in history, I imagine magic was the root, but it's all guess work. We don't know. Or it was aliens :mrgreen:
b. Why would someone add on religions? Look at history. Every regional area had it's local mix of deities. There never was one single religion. Over centuries of sophistication and cultural development, philosophies emerge.

2. Every culture fears the hostile or petty meanness of some of their own. Every culture on the planet has had a magical practice somewhere in it's development. If I understand the things I've read on "witch trials" of the 13-17th C, these nominal Christians were tried for heresy, consorting with spirits. And book-thumping fundamentalists exist in every religion as do free-thinking liberals. Separation of Church and State is entirely modern and not practiced worldwide by any means. You can still be legally murdered in many countries if your beliefs differ from the Religion of the State. Esoteric Christianity is a different mindset from fundamental Christianity. Alchemy and Hermetics come to mind as magical practices nominally accepted by the educated Xn.

3. People tap dance a fine line between the concept of a "one and only right way" and "everything else". My opening paragraph expresses how I view things. And when reading the Bible, it helps to keep things in context. Who is being paraphrased & translated (not quoted directly) and why?
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Re: How can someone be a Christian Witch?

Post by Lord_of_Nightmares »

Darkest Auldearn wrote:Meh, I recall reading a book about this that was published by Llewellyn (I know, I know) and it comprised of utter gibberish throughout. It was a shame, because the concept is interesting but the reality... Not so much. In the end, there are three main issues that never seem to be addressed:

1) Witchcraft, as a religion, is as deep and diverse as it needs to be. Why would someone want to add another religion to something that doesn't need it?
That's the problem. Witchcraft in and of itself is not a religion. Most magical practices and religion are two separate things in ancient and modern world. (Secular witchcraft does indeed exist too.) One doesn't need God or any gods to practice witchcraft, nor do they need a religion. Thus, the harmony is perfectly compatible with Christianity, if one wants it to be.

The one passage about not letting a witch suffer to live, is really talking about poison makers in actuality.

Also, Christianity has 6000 denominations and they certainly don't all agree on everything. Christianity could be speculated to be an umbrella term for a 'follower of Christ' much like paganism is a descriptor for multiple religions.
I am the Earth, The Sun and the Stars
And I am the also the Moon
I am all animal and birds,
And I am the outcast as well, and the thief
I am the low person of dreadful deeds,
And the great person of excellent deeds
I am Female. I am Male and I am Neuter.
- Devi
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