Wicca:Good Or Bad Final Answers

Since Havoc has stated he does not want Christians to pray for him, I believe it would be wrong to do so.

Actually I don't really mind if they pray for me as I find their prayers to have their God tear me from the loving embrace of the Goddess rather inneffective.

Goddess Worship
By Rick Branch

Organization Structure: This philosophy transcends a number of organizations and movements. Lacking its own organizational structure, goddess worship permeates and affects such diverse and seemingly unrelated areas as radical feminism, Jungian psychology, general Pantheism and extreme environmentalism.

Unique Terms: The term Goddess can mean anything from a specific personal deity to an abstract concept simply referring to a power or force within one's self.

As Merlin Stone, a radical feminist, writes, "In the beginning, people prayed to the Creatress of Life, the Mistress of Heaven. At the very dawn of religion, God was a woman" (When God Was A Woman, p. 1).

HISTORY
Certainly Goddess worship has been practiced for centuries. Rosemary Ellen Guiley writes, "Goddess worship extends at least back to the Neolithic era of approximately 10,000 years ago, and may even be as old as the Stone Age of 25,000 to 30,000 years ago" (Harper's Encyclopedia of Mystical and Paranormal Experiences, p. 239). The well known mythologist, Joseph Campbell, cited an archaeological discovery dating to 6500 B.C. which contained "the basic motifs of the great mother-goddess" (The Masks of God, p. vii).

Though Goddess worship is certainly ancient, for the purpose of this Profile, only its modern resurgence and recent manifestations will be discussed.

Guiley correctly summarized the reappearance of this ancient pagan religion when she wrote, "The rediscovery of Goddess in the West in the late 1960s coincided with the women's movement, the ecology movement, and the beginnings of the so-called New Age movement." She continues by citing one other religious movement which helped popularize this philosophy. "Perhaps one of the most visible arenas for the revival of Goddess is the neo-Paganism and Neo-Pagan Witchcraft nature religions" (Harper's Encyclopedia, pp. 240-241).

DOCTRINE
As with many movements, often the point at which it eventually arrives is not the place for which it was initially heading. Such is the case with feminism. What seemed to start out as a social movement to secure equal pay for equal work (along with other rights), has become a rallying point for radical feminists whose purpose seems to be, at least in part, to re-write the Bible, "re-imagine" God's nature and reintroduce paganism.

Feminist writer,Christin Lore Weber does an adequate job of promoting all three of these purposes when she explains her version of Jesus' role in history. She writes, "Just imagine for a moment that what we call Incarnation is not an event applicable only to the one person of Jesus at a distinct point in time. Imagine, instead, that Incarnation is a non-historical quality of the creative process of Ultimate God-Mystery that transfigures created beings, radically shifts all consciousness in the cosmos, and results in what is earth-created matter becoming transformed into God.

What distinguishes Jesus from the rest of us is that he knew, was conscious of, who and what he was. He knew he was God's Word; that is not to say the rest of us are not. As women, we have a particular responsibility, for God incarnated in our being may add a dimension to cosmic consciousness, as well as to the Christ, that cannot be imagined in a creation expressed by a primarily masculine spirit. We have a responsibility to descend into, become one with, and then unfold the womanness of God in creation. That is how we become Christ. WomanChrist" (WomanChrist: A New Vision of Feminist Spirituality, pp. 43-44).

Going the next step beyond Weber'sWomanChrist, Monica Sjoo and Barbara Mor introduce the Goddess. "Perhaps ancient women had access to psychic and physical powers we have forgotten. Ancient people of both sexes, living under the Stone Age Great Mother had `magical' power of telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, teletransportation, of fire-walking and shape-changing" (The Great Cosmic Mother: Rediscovering the Religion of the Earth, p. 425).

For many proponents, an integral part of Goddess worship is its prevalent theme of anti-masculine, anti-male statements. In this philosophical world-view, since Goddess worship is good, then by necessity, any use of masculine terminology in reference to God or any prominence of men in culture or society is generally discouraged. Sjoo and Mor explain this thought by writing, "Perhaps the greatest harm patriarchy has done to us is to stifle, coopt, and deform our powers of imagination. Moralism, dualistic dogmas, repressive prohibitions block our imagination. Patriarchal religions keep this fusion from happening, imagination dies, and is replaced by mechanical-linear thought patterns, i.e. indoctrination" (Ibid., p. 427).

This "blocked imagination," they claim, leads to harmful indoctrination. This indoctrination includes the biblical concept of God the Father and God the Son. Hence the need to re-imagine God in a Goddess nature with feminine qualities.

Starhawk, a self-proclaimed witch, explains, "The symbolism of the Goddess has taken on an electrifying power for modern women. It has exposed the falsehoods of patriarchal history, and given us models for female strength and authority" (The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess, p. 91).

Elinor W. Gadon noted in her book, The Once and Future Goddess, another strain in recent history that has brought the concept of Goddess worship to the forefront. She writes, Psychologist "C.G. Jung discovered that the Goddess was a potent force in the unconscious. Jung's theory of the feminine principle as a universal archetype, a primordial, instinctual pattern of behavior deeply imprinted on the human psyche, brought the Goddess once more into popular imagination" (p. 228).

Not only has the Goddess been written about in New Age/Occult books, touted by noted psychologists as being a universal part of the human psyche and heralded as a rallying point for anti-Christian feminists, she is also being spoken of in public schools throughout America.

Tal Brooke, a Christian author and researcher with the Spiritual Counterfeits Project in Berkeley, California stated, "Children watch plays about Mother Earth; they are taught that to despoil the goddess who gave them birth by polluting the environment is more than just ecological crime, it is essentially blasphemy" (SCP Journal, Vol. 16, No. 1, p. 4).

The Goddess Earth: The Gaia Hypothesis
How did this pagan philosophy of the Goddess gain access to the educational system? It began with the British scientist, James Lovelock, who, while "working on the problem of detecting extra-terrestrial life" claimed his Gaia hypothesis "began to take shape" (Science and Christian Belief, Vol. 4, No. 1, p. 29). Lovelock explains, "Gaia is Mother Earth. Gaia is immortal. She is the eternal source of life. She is certainly the mother of us all, including Jesus" (Ibid., p. 6). His belief, as stated in the Gaia hypothesis, is that Mother Earth is the goddess Gaia. It is a living, breathing being. It is a ""single, self-regulating biological organism that acted intelligently and beneficently to maintain life" (Yoga Journal, March/April 1992, p. 26).

Joss Pearson, a devout believer in Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis, explained, "I realized his theory would change the whole of science, every science there is maybe not instantly but certainly over time" (Ibid.).

The Goddess in the Classroom
One way to insure that Lovelock's theory of Mother Earth/Goddess Gaia as a living entity and man as an ordinary organism will be accepted by future generations is to begin by teaching it to the youth. That is precisely what is happening. In an elementary age, Environmental Science textbook, copyright 1995, this very Gaia theory is explained and stated as a viable probability.

It declares, "The perception of Earth as a living being is a view held by people in many cultures. However, in modern industrial society, humans are often seen as being apart from nature. Nature is something to be controlled and consumed. Many people view Earth as existing for human use. People are removed from the systems that govern the rest of the biosphere. The modern industrial view does not match the portrait of Earth. Like any other population of organisms, humans are part of Earth's systems. The principles that govern lynx and hare populations in the ecosystem govern the human population as well. Scientists are now beginning to study these connections among systems. In 1972, British scientist James Lovelock proposed a hypothesis called the Gaia hypothesis. The Gaia hypothesis states that Earth is a single, living organism that regulates itself to maintain life. Lovelock's hypothesis reflected a view of Earth that many cultures have held for thousands of years" (Ecology and Human Impact, pp. 188-189).

While it is certainly accurate to say that Lovelock's view has been held by many cultures for thousands of years, it is also worth noting that no civilized culture has held it in recent centuries. It is a tenet of pagan religion directly related to Pantheism and goddess worship.

Thus, ecology in the school system has joined with radical feminism under the banner of Goddess Gaia/Mother Earth. David Pearson, a believer in the Gaia theory, explains, "Far from being masters of nature, we as humans are an integral part of Gaia. It's fundamental to our new vision of the three interwoven strands of the Gaian approach: ecology, health, and spirit" (Yoga Journal, March/April 1992, p. 31).

Where does the Gaia Goddess theory of ecology eventually lead? As Pearson has explained, it is essential for Mankind to learn to intertwine ecology, health and spirit. That is why Jalaja Bonheim can write a Walking Prayer for the Earth which harmonizes these three aspects.

She states, "The earth is not dead matter. She is alive. Now begin to speak to the earth as you walk. You can speak out loud, or just talk to her in your mind. Send your love into her with your exhalation. Feel your heart touching upon the heart of the planet. Say to her whatever words come to you: Mother Earth, I love you. Mother Earth, I bless you. May you be healed. May all your creatures be happy. Peace to you, Mother Earth. On behalf of the human race, I ask forgiveness for having injured you. Forgive us, Mother Earth " (New Age Source Book 1994, p. 45).

Thus, from radical feminism and pagan witchcraft to elementary school textbooks, Goddess worship, in its many manifestations, is ever creeping into modern society.

BIBLICAL RESPONSE
1) The earth is created by God (not a goddess) and the earth is not the creator. Gen. 1-2; John 1:2-3; Col. 1:16.

2) All (male and female) are equal in God's sight. Gal. 3:28.

3) God universally chose to use masculine pronouns in reference to Himself. Genesis to Revelation.

4) God chose to reveal Himself uniquely in the person of the man Christ Jesus. John 1:1-14; 1 Timothy 2:5.

5) God condemns the worship of other gods and goddesses. Exodus 20:3; Deut. 12:1-32; 1 Kings 11:1-40; Psalms 94:4-5; Jeremiah 7:18, 44:1-30; Acts 19:24-41.

6) God gave humanity dominion over the earth, not to be subject to the earth or to worship it. Gen. 1:26-28.

RESOURCES
1) Under the Spell of Mother Earth, Berit Kjos. This book covers all the bases. It discusses Mother Earth, Goddess, Gaia, Witchcraft, New Age Ecology and Globalism. 204 pages, Index, $9.

2) The Earth is the Lord's: Christians and the Environment, Richard Land and Louis Moore, editors. Biblical perspective on the Christian's place in the ecological movement. Includes information on New Age and Humanistic approaches. 207 pages, $11.

Goddess Worship
by Russ Wise & Tal Brooke
SCP Newsletter, WINTER 1998/99, Volume 23:2

"The goddess, or Great Mother, has existed since the beginning of time . . . it is out of the primordial depths of her womb that the Universe and all life is born."--Morwyn, Secrets of a Witch's Coven



The goddess has returned. She who brought judgment on the hillsides of apostate Israel--the Ashteroth from Canaan whose altars were condemned by God--is being revered and embraced by today's followers of witchcraft, radical feminism, the occult, and increasingly, those in the liberal church. Neopagans look toward an idealized feminine age to heal the world. To them, the masculine age has been an age of destruction and broken relationships. But "feminine energies" promise to bring balance to the destructive aspects of the Piscean Age--so says this emerging myth.

Rosemary Radford Ruether, in her Book Womanguides: Readings Toward a Feminist Theology, states to whom we must look for salvation in the new creed: "it is to the women that we look for salvation in the healing and restorative waters of Aquarius. It is to such a New Age that we look now with hope as the present age of masculinism succeeds in destroying itself." It is a gynocentric gospel.

According to Starhawk, an author and well known self proclaimed feminist witch living in Berkeley, "the symbolism of the Goddess is not a parallel structure to the symbolism of God the Father. The goddess does not rule the world; She is the world."(1) In order for this feminine age to come into full fruition, a shift in consciousness must take place in the world, a shift in thinking that will bring forth the goddess.(2) Meanwhile, any religion must have a history.





Historical Myth
According to those who believe in the Great Goddess--and the following narrative illustrates the ongoing revision of history of the goddess camp--Europe was once inhabited by a matriarchal, egalitarian society. Europeans, they claim against all accepted evidence to the contrary, worshipped a matrifocal, sedentary, peaceful, art-loving goddess 5,000 to 25,000 years before the rise of the first male-oriented religion. Finally this egalitarian culture was overrun and destroyed by a semi-nomadic, horse-riding, Indo-European group of invaders who were patrifocal, mobile, warlike, and indifferent to art.(3)

These Indo-European invaders, according to followers of the goddess, subjugated the peaceful and art-loving goddess worshippers through their superior military skills. The matriarchal religion was in turn assimilated into the patriarchal religion of the invaders as the invaders imposed their patriarchal culture on the conquered peoples.(4) Myths about male warriors killing serpents (symbols of the goddess worshippers) now appeared for the first time. As the assimilation of cultures continued, the Great Goddess, we are told, fragmented into many lesser goddesses.

According to Merlin Stone, another advocate of the goddess and author of When God Was a Woman, the unseating of the Great Goddess which had begun by the original Indo-European invaders was later completed by the Hebrew, Christian, and Moslem religions that arose later.(5) The male deity took the prominent place as goddesses faded into the background, and women in society followed suit.(6) They have been waiting her return ever since.

The Goddess and Witchcraft
Now the goddess is being resurrected by post 1960's women all primed for social change. Leading the charge are the wiccans, practitioners of witchcraft. Salem, Massachusetts is having a recurrence of witchcraft but this time the culture is embracing their revival while it turns against the Christians. The goddess is out in the open.

Wiccans consider the goddess as the giver of life. Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D., in her book Goddesses in Everywoman, remarks: "The Great Goddess was worshipped as the feminine life force deeply connected to nature and fertility, responsible both for creating life and for destroying life."(7)

Bolen goes on to say that "the Great Goddess was regarded as immortal, changeless, and omnipotent," prior to the coming of Christianity.

Starhawk, the Berkeley based witch referred to earlier, says in her bestselling book The Spiral Dance, that "the model of the Goddess, who is immanent in nature, fosters respect for the sacredness of all living things. Indeed, she is Gaia, the earth goddess. Because of that, witchcraft claims itself as a religion of ecology. It claims its goal is harmony with nature so that life may not just survive, but thrive."(8)

And indeed, the environmental movement of our day is greatly influenced by wiccans and those who hold neopagan beliefs. Witchcraft promises to reintroduce the sacred aspect of the earth that was allegedly destroyed by the Christian world. They will heal the earth of all the problems that the biblical God and his followers caused.

If Christianity teaches that God is transcendent and separate from nature, witchcraft holds that the goddess is nature and is in all things. All things are a part of her. Predating the biblical God, as her followers claim, she is the giver of all life. Certainly one can say that the goddess bestows special boons on the women's movement--mountain sized portions of praise and ego building self-esteem. And the leaders of the movement stress this boon:

The importance of the Goddess symbol for women cannot be overstressed. The image of the Goddess inspires us to see ourselves as divine, our bodies as sacred, the changing phases of our lives as holy, our aggression as healthy, and our anger as purifying. Through the Goddess, we can discover our strength, enlighten our minds, own our bodies, and celebrate our emotions.(9)

At the International Conference on Women's Spirituality in Austin, Texas, Betty Sue Flowers, a University of Texas English professor, stated that, "the goddess is a metaphor that reminds us of the female side of spirituality. Metaphors are important. You can't know God directly. You can only know images of God, and each image or metaphor is a door. Some doors are open and others are closed. A door that is only male is only half open."(10)



The Goddess and Feminism
Those leading the women's spirituality movement, "reject what they call the patriarchal Jewish and Christian tradition, deploring sexist language, predominantly masculine imagery and largely male leadership."(11)

According to a Wall Street Journal article by Sonia L. Nazario, "women first wanted to apply feminism to political and economic realms, then to their families. Now, they want it in their spiritual lives."(12)

To understand fully the implications of the women's spirituality movement, one only needs to read the pivotal literature on the subject. The editors of the book Radical Feminism state that, "political and other institutions such as religion, because they are based on philosophies of hierarchical orders and reinforce male oppression of females, must be destroyed."

For that reason radical feminists believe that the traditional church must be dismantled. Naomi Goldenberg, in her book Changing of the Gods, states that "the feminist movement in Western culture is engaged in the slow execution of Christ and Yahweh. . . . It is likely that as we watch Christ and Yahweh tumble to the ground, we will completely outgrow the need for an external God."(13) This is the language of war, in case you missed it.

Many in the goddess movement, according to a Wall Street Journal article, "pray for the time when science will make men unnecessary for procreation."(14) It is a war on men as well as a war on God. Little wonder that a large lesbian consensus steers the leadership of this movement. Mark Muesse, an assistant professor of religious studies at Rhodes College, sums up what should be obvious: "Some feminist Christians push for changes ranging from the ordination of women and the generic, non-sexual terms for God and humanity to overhauling the very theology."(15)

The feminist movement calls the process "transformation." But it's really war. Catherine Keller, associate professor of theology at Xavier University says in her essay, "Feminism and the New Paradigm" that: "The global feminist movement is bringing about the end of patriarchy, the eclipse of the politics of separation, and the beginning of a new era modeled on the dynamic, holistic paradigm. Radical feminists envision that era, and the long process leading toward it, as a comprehensive transformation."

This transformation mandates the blending of the sexes. Jungian psychotherapist John Weir Perry believes that we must find our individuality by discovering androgyny. He states, "To reach a new consensus, we have to avoid falling back into stereotypes, and that requires truly developing our individuality. It is an ongoing work of self-realization and self-actualization. For men it means growing into their native maleness and balancing it with their femaleness. For women, it's the same--growing into their full womanhood, and that includes their masculine side."(16)

It is a revolution that involves the foundational reordering of man's understanding of God. People must now learn to see God as a goddess, the mother of life. To help this happen she can be invoked. Enter the witches circle.



Cont'd

Goddess Worship
by Russ Wise & Tal Brooke
SCP Newsletter, WINTER 1998/99, Volume 23:2

"The goddess, or Great Mother, has existed since the beginning of time . . . it is out of the primordial depths of her womb that the Universe and all life is born."--Morwyn, Secrets of a Witch's Coven

Cont'd



The Occult Twist
The goddess, believed to be resident within, simply needs to be awakened. Indians have been invoking gods with mantras for centuries. So Starhawk, who works with Matthew Fox at his Institute of Creation Spirituality, says that an individual can awaken the goddess by invoking or inviting her presence. "To invoke the Goddess is to awaken the Goddess within, to become . . . that aspect we invoke. An invocation channels power through a visualized image of Divinity."

Starhawk continues, "We are already one with the Goddess--she has been with us from the beginning, so fulfillment becomes . . . a matter of self-awareness. For women, the Goddess is the symbol of the inmost self. She awakens the mind and spirit and emotions."(17)

Jean Shinoda Bolen, a Jungian analyst and clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, answered the question, What ails our society? by saying: "We suffer from the absence of one half of our spiritual potential--the Goddess."(18) To repeat, male energies must diminish and the feminine energies must increase in order for the goddess to empower the individual, then the culture.

"The Goddess religion is a conscious attempt to reshape culture."(19) This reshaping is nothing less than viewing man and his understanding of reality from a female-centered perspective, the focus of which is on the Divine as female. Therefore considerable emphasis is placed on feminine attributes, ultimately focusing on eroticism and sexuality. "Women are clearly the catalyst for the formation of the new spirituality. It is women above all who are in the process of reversing Genesis . . . by validating and freeing their sexuality."(20)

Sodom and Babylon are the prototypes of this kind of societal revolution. Jungian psychotherapist John Weir Perry believes that "both current psychology and ancient history point to an emerging transformation in our sense of both society and self, a transformation that includes redefining the notion of what it means to be men and women."(21) The revival of the goddess promises to bring a blunting of distinction between male and female while affirming bisexuality, lesbianism, homosexuality, and androgyny.

If men and women were created as distinctive beings, male and female, according to biblical revelation, the rising occult influence seeks to end this "tyranny" for wild new paradigms. And this will have consequences. Already growing numbers of churches are switching sides. The Bible warns, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables."(22) In short, apsotasy.



The Goddess and the Church
We have seen the philosophy of the goddess invading the church more and more. Mary Daly, who labels herself a 'Christian feminist,' reveals her desire to destroy traditional Christianity: "To put it bluntly, I propose that Christianity itself should be castrated."(23) The primary aim of this kind of "Christian" feminist is to bring an end to what she perceives as male-dominated religion by castrating the male influence from the religion.

Daly continues, "I am suggesting that the idea of salvation uniquely by a male savior perpetuates the problem of patriarchal oppression."(24)

Susan Cady, pastor of Emmanuel United Methodist Church in Philadelphia and co-author of Sophia: the Future of Feminist Spirituality, illustrates the direction that Daly and others are taking the church. In Sophia Cady and her coauthors state that "Sophia is a female, goddess-like figure appearing clearly in the Scriptures of the Hebrew tradition."

Wisdom Feast, Cady's latest book, presents Sophia as a separate goddess, with Jesus as her prophet, hence replacing Jesus with the feminine deity Sophia.

Another potent way goddess thealogy (feminist spelling for theology) enters the liberal church is through a proliferation of seminars: "Wisdomweaving: Woman Embodied in Faiths," was held at the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in February of 1990. Linda Finnell, a wiccan and one of the speakers, spoke on the subject of "Returning to the Goddess Through Dianic Witchcraft." One of the keynote speakers, Sr. Jose Hobday, worked with Matthew Fox and Starhawk at the Institute for Creation Spirituality.

Churches have been embracing the New Age movement for some time now. Many already teach A Course in Miracles, Yoga, Silva Mind Control, Unity teachings, ad infinitum. They are primed to move on to the goddess and have nothing within to resist this movement. And it will not go away.

We are told to 'test every spirit lest we become deceived.' The language of the goddess movement gives it away. It is a militant movement that cannot ever be appeased. It will grow like a contagion, not satisfied till it has excised the Biblical God, His testament and His people off the face of the earth. The rhetoric of this movement belies the various invented myths about its peaceful beginnings. Its proclamations are as bloodthirsty as the goddess Kali dancing on her beheaded victims. Its alters will be no different from those of Moloch in Canaan, where infants were presented to be burned alive. The goddess movement can only bring destruction to men, women, and society. Just listen to the language of Mary Daly and her sisterhood of stunted women turning to a kind of collective spirit of legion, not for healing, but revenge.

Notes
1. Starhawk, the Spiral Dance (New York: Harper & Row 1989), 23.

2. Elinor W. Gadon, The Once and Future Goddess (New York: HarperCollins, 1989), xiv.

3. Ibid., xii-xiii. See also Lynnie Levy, Of a Like Mind (Madison, Wis.: OALM, 1991), vol. viii, no. 3, pp. 2-3.

4. See also Zsuzsanna Emese Budapest, The Holy Book of Womwn's Mysteries (Oakland, Calif.: Susan B. Anthony Coven No. 1, 1986), 12.

5. See also Gadon, The Once and Future Goddess, xiii.

6. Jean Shinoda Bolen, Goddesses in Everywoman (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1984), 21.

7. Ibid., 20.

8. Starhawk,The Spiral Dance, 25.

9. Ibid., 24.

10. Carlos Vidal Greth, "The Spirit of Women," The Austin-American Statesman, 5 Mar. 1991, sec. D.

11. Ibid.

12. Sonia L. Nazario, "Is Goddess Worship Finally Going to Put Men in Their Place?" the Wall Street Journal, 7 June 1990, sec. A.

13. Naomi Goldenberg, Changing of the Gods: Feminism and the End of Traditional Religions (Boston: Beacon Press, 1979), 4, 25.

14. Nazario, "Goddess Worship."

15. Deirdre Donahue, "Dawn of the Goddesses," USA Today, 26 Sept. 1990, sec. D.

16. John Weir Perry, "Myth, Ritual, and the Decline of Patriarchy," Magical Blend 33 (January 1992): 103.

17. Starhawk, The Spiral Dance, 99.

18. Jean Shinoda Bolen, "The Women's Movement in Transition: The Goddess and the Grail," Magical Blend 33 (January 1992): 8.

19. Starhawk, The Spiral Dance, 11.

20. Donna Steichen, "The Goddess Goes to Washington," Fidelity Magazine (December 1986): 42.

21. Perry, Decline of Patriarchy, 62.

22. 2 Tim. 4:3.

23. Alice Hageman, Theology after the Demise of God the Father: A Call for the Castration of Sexist Religion (New York: Association Press, 1974), 132.

24. Hageman, Theology, 138.

Coauthor Russ Wise--for 20 years an observer of the occult and cults, has been an associate speaker with Probe Ministries since 1978. He, his wife & Children live in Richardson Texas. Probe is a non-profit corporation whose mission is to reclaim Christian thought and values through media, education, and literature.

Ahhh yes Gunny, if you can't post quality, opt for quantity. And that last site? Excellent comedy site.

If anyone has any questions about Paganism, and isn't interested in false witness and propaganda, please feel free to ask.

Wicca isn't the big hit it seems to be.  Many are just fans of Sabrina and Buffy who think they look cool in black.

http://www.whywiccanssuck.com

That site actually is interesting. It's from an individual who has become somewhat disillusioned with Wicca and has decided to lash out at us. We often get that from people who want to get into Wicca because they want to be evil and cool. When they find out Wicca is hard work and not hollywood they generally either leave or become Christians. Some, like he, try to tell us that our beliefs, such as harm none, take care of the earth, etc., are too fluffy. Well he's entitled to his belief.

Just out of curiosity why would you pick this individuals site to post and not one of the thousands of other Wiccan sites that say otherwise? Are we looking specifically for things to support our prejudices and preconcieved notions? Do we think that is the way our God would like us to treat others?

"Just out of curiosity why would you pick this individuals site to post and not one of the thousands of other Wiccan sites that say otherwise? Are we looking specifically for things to support our prejudices and preconcieved notions? Do we think that is the way our God would like us to treat others?"

Hmm...funny, people could say the same about any relgion...?

A Wicca Primer


What do Wiccans believe?
Contemporary Wiccans worship the Great Mother Goddess and her partner the Horned God (Pan), but these and a host of other pagan deities are said to represent various aspects of an impersonal creative force called "The One" or "The All"—reflecting the current influence of Eastern monism popularized in New Age thought. Wiccans regard all aspects of nature—plants, rocks, planets—as having spirit.

Who is the Great Mother Goddess?
She is the female aspect of The All and has many names, including Diana, Isis, and Demeter. She is usually seen in threefold form as maiden (Kore), Mother (Diana), and crone (Hecate), representing the fundamental life stages.

Do Wiccan witches cast spells?
Spells are one of many ritual activities Wiccans engage in, although unlike Satanist witchcraft, Wicca forbids harmful or manipulative spells. Wiccan witches practice two kinds of magic. Low magic is invoked to improve everyday life, such as a job or a relationship, while high magic aims to transform the individual personally. Witches convene to worship deities and invoke magic, but pronouncing curses is forbidden: Wiccans believe that curses rebound threefold back onto the one working them.

How does a local Wicca group work?
Autonomous groups of four to 26 people (the ideal is 13) form covens that meet semi-monthly at the new and full moons, as well as at eight major solar festivals. Wiccans can attain up to three "degrees" of involvement in the coven—full membership after initiation, accomplished witchhood after reaching a certain knowledge level, and priesthood, which usually requires the "Great Rite" of ritual sexual intercourse. The Great Rite, however, is usually performed symbolically by the thrust of a ritual knife into a chalice of wine.

How did Wicca begin?
Gerald B. Gardner (1884-1964), a British civil servant and amateur archaeologist, is credited with founding contemporary witchcraft. Having learned magic in Southern Asia, he became involved in the occult upon his return to England in 1939. He met influential witches at a Theosophical group, but evidence suggests he combined Asian magic with Western texts to invent a new religion with worship of the Mother Goddess at its vortex. His ritual, and an offshoot version fashioned by breakaway initiate Alexander Sanders, spread across North America in the 1960s.

Who are major figures behind Wicca?
Sybil Leek came to the United States from England in 1966 and established independent covens in Ohio and Massachusetts. Self-described pagans eager to avoid the "witch" designation but equally devoted to the Great Mother Goddess were Fred Adams, Donna Cole, and Ed Fitch, soon dubbed "neopagans." They designed new rituals, and by 1980 a hodgepodge of Wiccan and neopagan groups had emerged. The largest Witchcraft-Pagan organization is the Church of Circle Wicca, based in Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, and founded in 1975 by Selena Fox and Jim Alan.

Sources:
• J. Gordon Melton, Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America (Garland Publishing Inc., 1986)

Not bad Gunny, you actually posted some things that have a basis in fact. It should be noted that most of what you posted here is Gardnerian in Origin. Gardnerian Wicca is only one of many Wiccan traditions. I adhere to Celtic Reconstructionalism myself. Gardnerian was one of the first of the 'trads' and we certainly owe much to Gardner, although most Wiccans no longer consider him to be historically accurate in many things.

Havoc:

You never answered my question on prayer. Why is it terrible if I pray for you without your permission? I consider it a great compliment for you to pray for me, permission or not.

Stormy,

Same thing. Is it wrong to pray for someone who is not a Christian? If so, why or why not?

Hi Havoc
I have read through this thread and I was hoping that you could help me understand something and I am completely sincere. It is regarding prayer sort of along the lines of MyJhongFist's question...
OK lets say that someone tells me that they are "going to pray to the great pink dragon that they worship on planet zylo that I may be safe and healthy and happy all the days of my life" or lets say that I am going through a rough spot in my life and they say "I am going to pray to my dragon for you" now as much as I don't share their belief I realize that to them prayer is a powerful thing and the gesture being what I perceive as harmless and actually a positive gesture on their part, How is it one could feel offended in any way or opposed to it?
again I really just want to gain some understanding on this, I have heard this before and I have asked others and was not really given an answer other than "it is annoying" and "prayer accomplishes nothing"
Thanks Havoc

Amie~

Well in actual fact I don't mind if someone prays to their God for me as I believe all paths lead to the divine. My answer to Stormy was rhetorical in essence and I suppose it's meaning was pretty much lost in the crowd. There is a difference between spells and prayer to Wiccans, and we do both. If I were at an accident scene I would most likely pray to the "Divine, in the form known to the person" who needs the help. I would not, however, cast a spell without their permission.

ultimately it's not so much about the tool (life's conviction) you choose, but rather about how you end up using it.

Thus I gave this one an inconclusive. As I would with any generalization.

"And ye harm none, do what you will"

I don't practice Wicca, but I do celebrate the earth & nature.

It's not my place to judge anyone, especially for their religion.

WICCA/Witchcraft


WICCA/Witchcraft

Ahh yes Gunny, more of the same old Fundie Christian propaganda about Witches. Information from a source that claims to be the enemy of Witches is hardly unbiased and reliable is it? Fundies have been making up stories and false witness about Witches for centuries, they probably even believe most of it.