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Paganism started with Sun worship in the days of Pharaoh and the Babylonians. It has nothing to do with Chrisitanity which is SOLELY based on the teachings, life and times of Jesus Christ.
It's different in that Christians and Muslims are calling on Almighty God, but as with Wicca they worship everything from the wind, earth and goats. not the same.
Wow you really had to try HARD to miss the point of my previous post!
Paganism started with Sun worship in the days of Pharaoh and the Babylonians. It has nothing to do with Chrisitanity which is SOLELY based on the teachings, life and times of Jesus Christ.
EPIC FAIL
The teachings, life and times of Jesus are directly plagiarized off of dozens of prior (pagan) resurrection/man-god myths. The death and "resurrection" of Christ is a direct parallel with the daily symbolic death and rebirth of the sun.
There is nothing original to the Jesus story or to Jesus' teachings. Just as there is not much original material in the Old Testament, which owes much of its existence to ancient Sumeria and Egypt.
My husband's cousin (with whom he is getting close to) is a wiccan. I'm not really sure what that all means, but she made a point to tell him that she's "spiritual" and believes in Mother Earth and forces of nature. I really really don't know what all that means, and I'm trying not to be intolerant, but I'm pretty steadfast in my faith. She mentioned that she doesn't want him to think she's weird.
I don't know...can anyone enlighten me? I don't know much about it and was curious how wiccans view Christians (I know it'd be a generaliztion). I'm a Christian, and that's all I really know.
Anyone?
Greetings Crazymomof3,
You are most logical in your desire to ascertain a bit more information regarding the Wiccan Religion in this instance.
May I suggest the well known paperback : Exploring Wicca by Lady Sabrina.
It's a fairly quick read with an adequate general history and basic Craft fundamentals.
I am certain you would enjoy the material and satisfy a great deal of your most understandable curiosity.
I'm not sure how long she's been practicing. She calls herself "new age". I'm not even sure what that all means...I mean, I've been hearing the term "new age" for a long time. Isn't it "old age" by now?
She said she believes what's in her heart and soul, and that's Mother Earth.
The last thing I want to do is pass judgement, but I always question anyone (Christian or not) that feels it necessary to advertise their faith. My husband's ok with it all, and sure, that's fine, but I just kind of want to know what it's all about.
She likes to talk, too, about how she's not mainstream in her ideas, movie preferences, and music preferences. My thought is, "who cares?" What we like doesn't make us who we are. Kinda reminds me of the kids in high school that tried so hard to be different than everyone else.
It could just be that she wants to let you know ahead of time that she doesn't share your beliefs to be polite. I've done this with new friends to prevent an 'OMGOSH You're of the devil!" kind of reaction in the event they invite me to church or something at a later event. I've also done it if I've seen myself investing time into a friendship and felt that the possibility of my religious beliefs becoming an issue later on. I'd hate to spend a year + emotionally investing myself into a friendship only for the person to later say "You don't believe in God? I can no longer be friends with you." So it could very well be that her mentioning it is self preservation.
Wicca is just another name for witchcraft. This involves the casting of spells and incantation. They use medallions for protection. You might hear things like white witchcraft, but there is no such thing. They worship: nature, the goddess, or the horned god. Or just satan himself. Some wiccans associate with or are Satanists also. Wiccans claim they have no association with Satanism.
We claim that because it's true: to obey, follow or worship a being requires a considered acceptance of its existance. Since we do not accept nor believe that 'Satan' exists, we cannot be Satanists.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nikk
In order for their incantations to work they must adhere to specific rules of the spells. Either the time that the spell is cast, ie. in conjunction with a stolstice or a specific event in nature like a full moon or eclipse etc or at midnight, at Halloween (Samhein) etc. Or their spell must be performed with specific items. The incantation also must be said very specifically to cause the specific force or demon to respond and obey the command. The incantations can be in any language. They can also use specific demon names or key words to cause the spell to work.
Partially true, in that we do try to time our rituals and spells to specific lunar events and cycles. Some spells are performed with specific items (some herbs have specific purposes), but it's mostly for symbolism and because, hey, it looks nice.
As for demons: to quote a popular TV vampire hunter, "A world of 'No'." I have been Wiccan for 11 years now, and not a single one of us would be so foolish as to call that kind of energy into our lives. It's dangerous and, should something actually *responds* to that kind of call...well, demon or not, you can be sure that it ain't going to be a very nice experience.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nikk
A common medallion used by wicca is the pentegram, a five pointed star, the head of a goat, or a visual representation of the goddess. Some wiccans may use crystals as well but this may be just because crystals look pretty.
We don't use the head of a goat -- that's another belief system, and they have entirely different rituals and rules than we do. We do use a pentacle/pentagram, btu it represents the Classical Elements (earth, air, fire, and water ) with the topmost point representing the spirit.
Crystals look pretty, I agree -- but the main reason we make use of crystals is, again, in the various uses and meanings ascribed to them over the centuries. Amethyst, long reputed to ward off drunkenness if you put it in your tankard, is used as an 'enhancement' in various alcohol-related spells (but, as you may have guessed, it's best used in spells to help someone who suffers from alcoholism). Likewise, quartz is a purifying crystal, pulling energy from the air and 'recycling' it so that there's not so much negativity around.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nikk
There is alot of variety in wicca just as there are denominations in Christianity. One reason for the diversity in the types and practices of wicca is that there is no specific doctrine or book to follow. The individual will have a set of rules and methods that they use that works for them. As one gets into wicca there are documentation (like the book of shadows) and mentors that can lead you further in The Craft. There is a lot of secrecy within wicca because of the negative conotations in society. Becuase of this it has caused many theories and ideas that may not be true concerning The Craft. So, even what I state here may not neccessarily be true, becuase I am not in wicca.
Wiccans often use the color black. For example in what they wear, but they claim that black should not neccessarily represent evil.
While Wicca has no 'holy book' or 'revealed writings' we do attempt to live by the Rede (a long piece of poetry that begins with 'An it harm none, do what thou will'). This guiding principle forms one of the core tenets of Wicca, and (coupled with the belief in karmic justice), helps us maintain a healthy and responsible lifestyle.
As for wearing black, that much it true and accurate: black is not an 'evil' color, any more than 'It's a Small World After All' is an 'evil' song (annoying, maybe, when sung continuously for three hours during a car ride, but not evil ).
We wear black primarily because it absorbs energy far better than other colors (heat energy, primarily, but other energy as well), and with the amount of energy work that some of us do, that's fairly important (a lot of our rituals and spellcasting draw on the personal energies of the caster, so we gather extra energy to us in order to avoid draining our own 'supply' to the bottom and rendering ourselves unable to function).
Christian priest wear black don't they & there's also secrecy within the christian church as well, remember how the catholic church protected the priests who abused children.
I would have more respect for a wiccan then I would ever have for anyone who practices Nikks type of faith.
We claim that because it's true: to obey, follow or worship a being requires a considered acceptance of its existance. Since we do not accept nor believe that 'Satan' exists, we cannot be Satanists.
Partially true, in that we do try to time our rituals and spells to specific lunar events and cycles. Some spells are performed with specific items (some herbs have specific purposes), but it's mostly for symbolism and because, hey, it looks nice.
As for demons: to quote a popular TV vampire hunter, "A world of 'No'." I have been Wiccan for 11 years now, and not a single one of us would be so foolish as to call that kind of energy into our lives. It's dangerous and, should something actually *responds* to that kind of call...well, demon or not, you can be sure that it ain't going to be a very nice experience.
We don't use the head of a goat -- that's another belief system, and they have entirely different rituals and rules than we do. We do use a pentacle/pentagram, btu it represents the Classical Elements (earth, air, fire, and water ) with the topmost point representing the spirit.
Crystals look pretty, I agree -- but the main reason we make use of crystals is, again, in the various uses and meanings ascribed to them over the centuries. Amethyst, long reputed to ward off drunkenness if you put it in your tankard, is used as an 'enhancement' in various alcohol-related spells (but, as you may have guessed, it's best used in spells to help someone who suffers from alcoholism). Likewise, quartz is a purifying crystal, pulling energy from the air and 'recycling' it so that there's not so much negativity around.
While Wicca has no 'holy book' or 'revealed writings' we do attempt to live by the Rede (a long piece of poetry that begins with 'An it harm none, do what thou will'). This guiding principle forms one of the core tenets of Wicca, and (coupled with the belief in karmic justice), helps us maintain a healthy and responsible lifestyle.
As for wearing black, that much it true and accurate: black is not an 'evil' color, any more than 'It's a Small World After All' is an 'evil' song (annoying, maybe, when sung continuously for three hours during a car ride, but not evil ).
We wear black primarily because it absorbs energy far better than other colors (heat energy, primarily, but other energy as well), and with the amount of energy work that some of us do, that's fairly important (a lot of our rituals and spellcasting draw on the personal energies of the caster, so we gather extra energy to us in order to avoid draining our own 'supply' to the bottom and rendering ourselves unable to function).
FredNotBob, thanks for the info. I don't entirely agree with you though, "It's a small world after all" song is very evil. I think it is a spell to draw the money out of your pockets while causing your mind to go blank for a few days. When you return home you say "We had a great time", yet don't specifically remember anything except your money flowing out like water.
I am a Christian and I like to wear black. Maybe because its sliming? Nah, I think it just looks cool.
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