Hello, I am in some need of help here. I have a made a great new friend, and she's really cool. We think alike, and share some common ground overall. But she is a Wiccan. She claims that Hecate[research this goddess if you have no idea, I still don't really know much about it] came to her, and showed her love. Now to her, I believe she has been deceived by the obvious Great Deceiver.
She was raised in a southern christian family, but was abused, shamed, and put through some kind of other pain IDK about within her family. She lives with her grandmother, so I have a feeling it eventually involved the law[popos].
So she knows about The Bible, it's been crammed down her throat most of her life, and she knows I'm a christian. She doesn't reject me for it, which I'm thankful for.
So how do you show a wiccan the truth, who has been greatly deceived and mistreated by "Christians"?
I think the fact that she is into wicca, shows that she does have a desire to know more about the spiritual world, and where she comes from.
Maybe bring up 'spirituality' rather than 'religon' ask her what she likes about her wiccan faith, and what she didnt like about christianity, and from there maybe even reverse psychology, - like rather than try and argue with her reasons for being against christianity, which (while obviously i dont know what they are, but from what you say would guess that at least in part she has been betrayed by people she sees as representing christianity, so has no trust in the people who claim to be christians or the concept (and who could blame her)) anyway maybe instead when she talks about her reasons, sort of agree with her.
By that I dont mean go yeah thats right christianity sucks, but if she says something like that christians do not treat people properly or dont do what they preach - or whatever say, yeah and either tell her any stories you have (i guess as a christian tell them without naming names and trashing the person) but tell her any thing that shows you understand and think that the behaviour of the christians who she has been abused by, is wrong, and not at all christian. And maybe then say how it upsets you when people who do cruel, deceitful, manipulative etc things, and use christianity as an excuse, and that you wonder if the people who do that are not christians at all, and what a pity their behaviour is and how the good christians end up with the bad rap for it, etc etc (without being judgemental if you know what i mean - treading a fine line I know - but you want her to understand that you hear her reasons), and you understand them, and you can see where she is coming from if she was abused by people claiming to be christians, and just try and talk to her about that, and spirituality in general.
Just keep being a friend, and showing her by your own love as a friend - the love of jesus. Try and pick your moments to ask her whether she thinks that its actually Christ/God, or whether its the actions of these people (ie try and let her discover for herself why she is feeling this way)
And of course at the end of the day, ask God for help, and for him to show you the right times to talk to her, and the right things to do, and to put the right words in your mouth that will show her the truth.
I experimented with that sort of thing years ago (well before becomming a christian). And I think the reason was to try and answer the questions that god answers like why was i here what was the point, was there anything outside human life, did i mean something more than just one more speck in a great huge cesspot of specs called humans. Maybe a way to feel special, ie if she is able to cast spells etc, then she feels that she must be special to a higher power, as she has been given the ability to make things happen with spells.
If she has been dabbling for a while, ask her about any spells that worked... then ask her if there was anything about them that worked too well (in a negative way) or did they work by doing something negative - ie were there any downsides - on reflection?
If she has dabbled in it much, chances are if she is honest with you, she will have some experiences where her spells may have taken on a life of their own, and not in a positive way.
Also, ask her this: Even if all her spells have worked so far, and she has had success, and managed to control her ownlife/relationships and so on better. Has it helped with the stuff thats right down at the core of us all, ie depression, fear of death, self esteem (that one she might think it has helped if her spells have worked, but if she goes beyond the novelty of that she will find it has not helped her self esteem either.
As her whether she has more love in her heart or whether it has brought a feeling of being loved into her life. Ask her to compare any feelings she has about that - to both the feeling of being sought out, and being special, maybe powerful, or attractive, vs being truly loved, without any ego stroking.
I think as others have said, if she has made this decision, straight out debate and attempts to convince her wont work (unless god decides to work them), and will just come across possibly as an attempt to control her, which is quite possibly what her christian family and/or abusers did, and therefore her reaction will be that you are just more of the same.
I think you have to try and pick your times with guidance from god, and let her talk about things, and hope that she will come to her own conclusions.
You dont have to approve of what shes doing by that (IMHO anyway), simply be like Jesus, and be her friend, and love her anyway and be there for her. So that when she realises wicca is not the answer, its you she turns to, to try and figure out what is.
Urm no - not unless you have been reading those funky populist notions written by Christians about what they suppose magick must be. Its also not wise or helpful to presume that any path taken by a wiccan uses magick. I was always left aghast by the presumptions made by Christians about what I had to be doing, sadly that led to me making the presumption that what they had to say about Christ would be equally errenous.
