The View of Witchcraft through Paganism and Christianity

The view of witchcraft is viewed differently between religions. There has been a controversy between Paganism and Christianity in the view of witchcraft for some time. There are many differences between the two religions but also many similarities. Witchcraft is the power or practices of a witch. A female, as well as a male is called a Witch. The root wit in witch means wise. The word witch is a corruption of witcraft, or craft of the wise, sometimes it is just called The craft. A witch is someone who seeks to control the forces within him/herself in order to live wisely, without harm to others and in harmony with Nature and the Divine. Magick (magick is spelled with a k to distinguish it from the types of illusions performed by stage magicians) is an important part of being a witch. It is practiced for positive purposes such as: spiritual and psychic development, healing, to attune with the forces of Nature or to better yourself in some way. There are 2 different types of magick, black magick and white magick. White magick is characterized by those rituals and spells, designed to produce beneficial effects for the community or for the individual, particularly in those cases where an illness is considered to be the result of evil demons or of black magick. Black magick is evil magick, it is magick that is used to harm others, it is sometimes expressed in voodoo. A witch can come in the form of many different religions. Some of those religions are Wiccan, Shamanism, and Paganism.

Paganism is a religion of nature, in other words Pagans revere Nature. Pagans see the divine as immanent in the whole of life and the universe; in every tree, plant, animal, and object, man and woman and in the dark side of life as much as in the light. Pagans live their lives attuned to the cycles of Nature, the seasons, life and death. Unlike the patriarchal religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism) the divine is female as well as male, therefore there is a Goddess as well as a God. Pagans do not believe in Satan or Hell. They dont believe in harming others. The most sacred commandment of their religion demands them to harm no one. Witches believe in the three-fold law. The law says that whatever energy, whether positive or negative, that is sent out returns threefold to the sender. Its like Karma, which means it can come back and bit you in the butt the next time around. Many witches believe that upon death, one goes to a state of rest and reflection in the Summerlands, also known as limbo, and eventually will be reborn. Rebirth is not a penalty, but a gift of the Goddess. This is known as reincarnation. You will never be reincarnated on a lower level of species then you are now, so if you are a human you will be a human in your next life. Something interesting is that if someone was a man in a past life, and they become a woman, theres a chance they may be a lesbian or bisexual woman in this lifetime. Pagans see reincarnation as, at best, a chance to improve or to continue unfinished work, and just a simple re-cycling of souls. In every religion they use some kind of symbol to represent their religion. For Christians they use a cross to represent their religion, Pagans use a pentagram, which is a star with 5 points and a circle around it. The symbolism is that of a man standing upright within a circle, meaning uprightness and spirit over flesh. The 5 points represent the four elements (earth, air, fire, water) and the aether or spirit. In most religions when a person is going to be married they have different ways of it. In Paganism it is called Handfasting. It involves using a High Priestess and a Priest, A High Priestess is a woman with a very high level of experiment and power. A Priest is just like a Christian Priest, the High Priestess is more powerful then a Priest. Most people think that witches cast love spells to make someone fall in love with them, but that is untrue. Witches believe that they should never cast love spells involving specific people, it is wrong. However, they sometimes do love spells to bring the right person to them, as long as they dont have a specific person in mind. Paganism has been around for a long time. In early times, the majority of the world was pagan. Most of the religions in the world had to do with witchcraft. Then, Christianity is born. Some Archaeologist have found drawing in caves from the stone age that would suggest that Witchcraft dates that far back.

Christians believe that God created the universe. They believe in God the Father Almighty, the son and the holy spirit. Jesus Christ is Gods son, it is said that Jesus is God reincarnated on Earth. Jesus is a Jew who came into this world by immaculate conception to a virgin named Mary. The story goes, Jesus was hung on the cross and he died, he then descended into hell and on the third day he rose into heaven. Christians believe in Heaven and Hell, and that the ruler of Hell is Satan who is a fallen angel. When a person dies they believe that you go to heaven or hell and you will stay there for eternity. They believe that God is the only true God and that all non-Christian religions are un-holy. They use the cross to represent their religion. They believe that witchcraft is Satanic and against God. Christians follow the ten commandments that are:

1. You shall have no other Gods. 2. You shall not worship idols 3. You shall not take the name of the lord in vain. 4. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. 5. Honor thy mother and father 6. You shall not murder. 7. You shall not commit adultery. 8. You shall not steal 9. You shall not give false witness against thy neighbor 10. You shall not covet your neighbor.

If you dont follow the ten commandments you have sinned and will go to hell. Just like Witchcraft there are different types of Christianity, such as Catholic, Baptist and Lutheran.

Satan is a big issue between Paganism and Christianity. An important reminder is that witches do not believe in hell or Satan, that is something Christians made up. The whole concept of evil associated with the Devil is due to an error in translation. The Old Testament Hebrew Ha-satan and the New Testament Greek diabolos simply means opponent or adversary. It doesnt mean Satan or the Devil. Satanism is usually considered a form of rebellion against Christianity; that means they necessarily dont believe in Satan, and Witchcraft doesnt. Something interesting is that the Devil actually means little God. If the Devil is just a mistranslation then where did it come from? The ancestors of modern Witchcraft, worshipped a Goddess we consider the Mother of life, and a God called the Horned Hunter, or God of death. In effect to make non-Christians something horrible, the monks who drew the medieval Biblical illustrations borrowed the Pagans Horned Hunter and made it in to the Christian Devil. So with this information it says that Christians made up the Devil, they turned something not evil into something evil, just to make one religion seems bad which lead to many years of horror.

The Inquisition of the Christian Church was 4 centuries long. It began around 1484 and it involved Christians burning Witches and slaughtering thousands of people across Europe just on suspicion of being a Witch. The people accused of witchcraft would go through a trial and would most likely be proven guilty passed on the fact that they would ask them questions on which most people didnt know the answers to. These questions would be something like:

1. How long have you been a witch? 2. Why did you become a witch? 3. How did you become a witch? 4. What was the name of your master among the evil demons?

Considering that most of the people but on trial werent witches, they most likely didnt know the answers to these questions. Thousands of people died because of a fear that didnt exist. During this time may Christians broke 2 of the 10 commandments, which are, You shall not murder and You shall not give false witness against thy neighbor. This finally ended in the 18th century, the last outbreak was the Salem Witch Trials. In the mid 20th century there was a rebirth of witchcraft, but still to this day many witches keep their faith in secret for they fear they may be treated badly or maybe hurt because of this history.

There are many similarities between Christianity and Paganism. One of the Pagan holidays is Yule, which is the celebration of the returning of the sun, it is celebrated on Dec. 23 which is very close to the Christians holiday known as Christmas. The Gospels dates the birth of Jesus 10 years apart. Matthew states that Jesus was born when Herod was still alive, no later then 3 or 4 BC. Luke states that Jesus was born when Cyrenius was governor of Syria, which did not take place until at least ten years after Herods death. So it says in the bible that Jesus was born twice, that is impossible, in less there is reincarnation, but Jesus didnt die until he was 33 when he was hung on the cross, so when was the true date of Jesus Birth? Some say that it was really in the Springtime so why would they move it to Dec. 25? The answer is that Christians didnt like Pagans they thought that they would celebrate a Christian holiday close to a Pagan one in order to maybe convert some Pagans to Christians. There are some things that Christians did borrower from the Pagans. A symbol of Yule is the use of evergreen plants to decorate the indoors, which also includes holly, ivy, and mistletoe. The use of candles as decorations and ritual objects are used for honoring the sun. Before there was electricity Christians used candles to put on Christmas trees but now they use Christmas lights. Pagans also celebrate Ostara which is the Autumnal Equinox, this is celebrated on the same day as the Christians holiday known as Easter. The Easter egg didnt come from Christians, it came from Pagans. It is the symbol of the Autumnal Equinox. Something fun to try is that just a few moments before the equinox you can go out side and take a raw egg, place it on the sidewalk and at the exacted moment of the equinox you can balance the egg up right by simply setting it down. Hot Cross Buns is also a Pagan tradition. Samhain, the Pagans New Year celebration, when the walls between the worlds are at their thinnest and our beloved dead walk and feast among us, is known as All Hollows Eve or Halloween. Witches dont ride around on broom sticks, this story was formed when Christians would see Pagans sweeping brooms over their fields to encourage a rich crop and from a distance, it looked like the witches were riding on the brooms or trying to do so. One tradition that Pagans have on Halloween is to set an extra plate for the dead who are thought of as celebrating with them. Just like Christians, Pagans have a traditional funeral service. Also just like Christians, Pagans us candles and flowers when doing a ritual or mass. When Pagans do magic they look on it as a form of an active prayer. After Pagans have called upon the Goddess and the God they share wine and bread, which sounds just like the last supper. Could it be that Christians borrowed this to? It is possible. The so-called Cult of Mary, which existed within Roman Catholicism for many centuries was actually a secret form of safe Goddess worship. Healing is a form of witchcraft, Christians believe it is evil to practice witchcraft but, in Acts 10:38, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him (Bible). It says that Jesus healed many so therefore he did witchcraft. Witchcraft isnt the problem, it is Christians who criticize it.

This was written to make a point and that is that people of a different religion arent that different from you. Even though Christianity and Paganism are to different views of witchcraft and the belief of God you have to go back and think, Christians say that God loves all his little children so therefore, he loves everyone, no matter what religion you are. Assuredly I say to you, I have not found such a great faith, not even in Isreal! And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 8:10-12). It says in the bible that not only Christians will go to heaven so therefore it is true that you can worship any religion and you wont be punished for it. There is a important saying in the bible that many Christians forget and that is, Therefore be merciful, just as your Father is also merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not and you shall not be condemned. Five, and you will be forgiven (Luke 6:36-38). This says to treat others the same way you want God to treat you, which means dont judge other religions. Many people who practice witchcraft are sick of Christians treating them as if they are evil but they arent. I end with saying, as many Christians have said to people that practice witchcraft; are you sure youre safe?

                                                                                                                        11/12/2002