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the land. Beyond this as we saw earlier witchcraft is becoming
highly profitable to publishers, television and film producers, book-
stores, toy stores, and malls. Witchcraft sells and moneymakers are
thrilled to capitalize on the craze. Get used to it. Wicca s here to stay.
In my opinion, one factor contributing to Wicca s growth is the
earnest efforts of modern practitioners to clarify to an inquiring public
what Wicca really is, what it isn t, and how so many Church people
are grossly misinformed. Christians don t have their facts straight,
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THE ANALYSIS : What Is Wrong With Wicca?
Wiccans often say. And many times, they re right. This hurts Christian-
ity and aids the Wiccan cause by giving witches a chance to show
where Christians are wrong.
For example, Christians often assume Wiccans are out-and-out
satan-lovers. They re not. Wiccans don t even believe lucifer exists.
Best-selling author Silver Ravenwolf clarifies in her Author s Introduc-
tion to Teen Witch: Wicca for a New Generation:
[Wiccans] don t believe in the Devil. The Devil belongs to
the Christian religion, not to the Old Ways. Witches believe
that if you give something evil a name, then you give it
power, so they stay away from things that are evil, including
5
the Christian devil.
Seeking to enlighten inquiring searchers, Ravenwolf reports:
Witchcraft or Wicca is not a cult. Witchcraft or Wicca is a le-
gitimate religion. Our clergy can legally marry people. We
also have christenings (Wiccanings or Sainings) for our ba-
bies, just like other religions. We do the sprinkle-water-thing,
too. In 1994, at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago,
Illinois, Wicca or Witchcraft was acknowledged as a legiti-
mate religion by the other religions of the world, including
Catholics, Jews, Buddhists, and many Protestant Christians.
6
Witches can legally have churches in this country.
Wiccans are entering politics to represent their interests, counter-
act misinformation, and lessen hostility against practitioners. Mrs.
Ravenwolf declares:
We do have several organizations now operating within the
community, including WADL (Witches Anti-Discrimination
Lobby); WARD (Witches Against Religious Discrimination);
WPLA (Witches League of Public Awareness); and several
7
others.
Many reading Hour of the Witch may be shocked by all this. You
might be thinking to yourself, I had no idea! Yet these are facts. After
researching and pondering these things, I have come to this conclusion:
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Hou r of the Witch
Christians in general in their attempt to deal with Wicca and even to
reach out to witches with the Good News should make every effort to
represent Wiccan beliefs fairly, and even to speak respectfully to those
who have chosen that path. After all, they re human beings like we are,
and God loves them, too, right? Some may need to adjust to this idea.
That s okay. Adjust.
As the Harry Potter books somewhat accurately portray, Church
history is filled with cruel Burning Times (A.D. 1300s 1600s) and
persecution against witches that shouldn t be justified by anyone who
believes the New Testament. Love your neighbor as yourself (Matt.
22:39) is the teaching of Jesus Christ, and this applies to Muslims,
Buddhists, Hindus, Protestants, Catholics, Jews, atheists, and followers
of the Old Religion also. This means according to the doctrine of
Christ that we should love witches, too. Have you adjusted yet?
What about Old Testament verses that say witches should be
stoned? They re still there, but in those days death penalties were exe-
cuted against idolaters, adulterers, blasphemers, and Sabbath breakers,
too (see Deut. 5:6-11; Lev. 20:10; Lev. 24:16; Num. 15:32-36). That
was when God directly ruled over Israel which would be called a
theocracy. But in New Testament times we re told to wait patiently for
the Day of Judgment, to bless our enemies, and to reveal Jesus Christ s
love to all (see Rom. 12:19-21; Heb. 10:30; Matt. 5:43-48; John 3:16;
1 John 4:7-11). Bottom line: There s no excuse for persecution against
Arabs, Jews, African-Americans, or anyone else, including Wiccans.
So what exactly do Wiccans believe? And if they re wrong, why
are they wrong?
Before finding out, first I m going to let Silver Ravenwolf relay
the circumstances behind her choice to switch from Christianity to the
Craft. You read that right. She was a Christian before becoming a
witch! As Silver describes her shift, this will help clarify Wiccan be-
liefs. I was a young Baptist kid with two average American parents,
she reflects. From my very young years to age seventeen, we regularly
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THE ANALYSIS : What Is Wrong With Wicca?
went to a little red brick Baptist church nestled in the center of town.
What happened? Here s her story:
Neither of my parents were Bible-thumpers, but each held re-
ligion sacred in their own way. When I turned thirteen, my
cousin, Tess, gave me a pack of tarot cards& I looked up to
Tess, seven years older than me, blond, blue-eyed, athletic,
and incredibly smart, the blood of an artist coursing through
her veins. Tess was everything I wasn t.
One summer afternoon she came to visit me. We walked into
the fields behind my house, just enjoying the warm sun and
laziness of the day. After thirty years, I can t recall all of the
conversation, but what I do remember changed my life forever.
What they tell you in church isn t the whole truth, Tess said
quietly&
A long time ago, she said, as she stared up at the fleecy
white cloud scuttling across the sky, religion was different.
Did you know, for instance, that everyone on the planet
thought God was a woman?
My eyes popped out at that one. A woman? No one in the
Baptist church had ever said anything about God being a
woman. That was news.
She nodded at my shocked expression. And did you know
that in the medieval times men were so afraid of women that
the Christian men of the day killed two million people, most-
ly women and children. The historians call that era The Burn-
ing Times. The Christian men claimed the women were
Witches& You can check it all out in the history books, she
continued. The real ones, I mean. Not the junk they spoon
you in school. Go to the library. You ll see.
And the Witches& I breathed.
Well, to begin with, they don t believe in the Devil. The
Devil belongs to the Christian religion, not to the Old Ways.
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