A Modern Woman's Perspective On The Kingdom of God on Earth


December 14, 2016

Christian Witchcraft and the Modern Church

     I know ... the title to this post seems like an oxymoron, right?  How can Witchcraft and the Church even be used in the same sentence?  The Bible is very clear on its prohibition of any kind of witchcraft, yet you might be surprised to find that there are plenty of people who identify themselves as both Witches and Christians.
     Deuteronomy 18:10-12 says it plainly and explicitly:  There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. 
     One thing needs to be perfectly understood by everyone, whether Christian or not:  There are only two sources of spiritual power: God and Satan. True, Satan has only the power that God allows him to have, but it is considerable. To seek spirituality, knowledge, or power apart from God is idolatry, which is closely related to witchcraft. And Witchcraft is Satan’s realm, and he excels in counterfeiting what God does. When Moses performed miracles before Pharaoh, the magicians did the same things through demonic power.
     So how does someone who considers themselves a "Christian Witch" convince themselves that it is OK with God?  How can they bring holy spirituality and demonic spirituality into harmony?  I contend that it all goes back to the roots of Satan’s first temptation to Eve: “You can be like God”. And the Enemy accomplishes his goal through a process called syncretism, which pulls religious ideas from a number of sources to create something unique or individual. This is the foundation for Christian Witchcraft.  A Christian Witch will take what they like from various traditions, beliefs, and rituals of both Christianity and witchcraft...and leave the rest behind.  In doing so the Christian Witch creates something totally individual for their own spiritual expression.
      So what exactly does a Christian Witch believe? Let Kristine McGuire, who wrote an article titled I Was A Christian Witch tell you:  "Like all esoteric or mystical paths, Christian witchcraft is highly individualized. However, there are some common denominators which can be found among Christian Witch's, Christian Wiccans, and Christo-Pagans. Most...though certainly not all...Christian Witch's either have a very liberal understanding of the Bible or follow Gnostic Christian teachings.  Many come from a Catholic upbringing. New Age philosophy can also enter strongly into a Christian Witch's belief structure.  Some will take the religion of Wicca or a form of Paganism and superimpose a Christian understanding of deity on the rituals while others take a more traditional Christian approach, adding magick and ritual into their belief structure. Many will continue to be regular attenders and active participants of their local church. In all circumstances, Christian Witchcraft, Christian Wicca, and Christo-Paganism are nature based... As a Christian Witch, I was a Christian who practiced traditional witchcraft.  Christianity was my belief...witchcraft was my path".
     I don't know about you, but there was an awful lot of terminology included in Kristine's explanation. So, what do we need to know about all these terms?  Let's just start with Paganism, which is an umbrella term referring to a number of earth or nature-based faiths.  Wiccan theology is a little harder to pin down.  Most early Wiccan groups adhered to the dual worship of a Horned God of fertility and a Mother Goddess, with practitioners typically believing that these had been the ancient deities worshipped by the hunter-gatherers of the Old Stone Age, whose veneration had been passed down in secret right to the present. Then, in the 1950s, Gerald Gardner brought Wicca to the public, and many contemporary Pagans embraced the practice. Gerald Gardner was also a Freemason, and involved in Spiritualism.  Although Wicca itself was founded by Gardner, he based it upon the old stone-age traditions. However, a lot of Witches and Pagans were perfectly happy to continue practicing their own spiritual path without converting to Wicca.
     There are also a number of people who consider themselves Witches, but who are not necessarily Wiccan or even Pagan. Typically, these are people who use the term "eclectic Witch”. In many cases, Witchcraft is seen as a skill set in addition to, or instead of, a religious system. A Witch may practice magic in a manner completely separate from their spirituality; in other words, one does not have to interact with the Divine to be a Witch. Or, as in the case of Kristine McGuire, she felt she could practice being a witch and still practice her Christianity, and she didn't see any problem with that.
     Consider this quote from another Christian Witch:  “There can be many different ways of going about Christian Witchcraft. From believing in the gnostic side of things, to just using it as your pantheon while still being somewhat polytheistic (Christo Paganism). Each Christian Witch will do things differently from another. But that’s what I found beautiful about witchcraft, that it really depended on the person using it. It depended on the person’s control and contact with their own energies as well as how open they were when it came to any deity they may use in their ritual".
     At this point, we need to understand that the "gnostic side of things" includes the Gnostic doctrine, which teaches that the world was created and ruled by a lesser divinity, the demiurge (underworld), and that Christ was an emissary of the remote supreme divine being, and the mysterious knowledge (gnosis) of him enabled the redemption of the human spirit. In simpler terms, Gnostics shunned the material world, and embraced the spiritual world.  It is a knowledge superior to, and independent of, faith.
     The Christian Witch continues:  “[When] I began this path, I split God into male and female. As time grew I found that God will always be a Father figure to me. Jesus would always be Jesus, and the Holy Spirit would come to me in different forms. When I need a female figure it comes to me as a female, when I need a more masculine figure it comes to me as male. The Holy Spirit began as female and through time has shifted into a male form. I see it as genderless. It is The Holy Spirit and does what it wants. What I Believe in is : The Holy Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
     I began to blend my faith with that of witchcraft. I celebrate both Christian Holidays as well as the Wheel of the year. I use the wheel of the year to help keep me connected to the world around me -- the solstices and the equinoxes, the days where nature needs to be respected. My first spell was a prayer burning ritual. I began to see that what I was doing was worshiping God, but with the use of witchcraft.”
     Can you see that at the heart of Christian Witchcraft is the worship of self?  That they want the best of both worlds -- Christianity and the world of mysticism?  I know there will be those who will have a hard time believing that Witchcraft could infiltrate the Church. But when you look at how far the Church has come in compromising God's core value system, why is it such a big stretch to see why Christian Witches think they have permission to add to their faith?
     Take the advice of Kristine McGuire, the former Christian Witch, who has repented of her sins and seen her relationship with Christ restored:  "The Church needs to acknowledge there are spiritually hungry people in the Christian community who are being tempted to incorporate magickal practices into their faith walk. We must do all we can to encourage Biblical literacy among Christians.  Too many people profess Christ but have no clue what the BIble says about Him or anything else for that matter. People now seem to base their Christian walk on what they hear in the pulpit, see on tv, or read on the internet, without ever checking to be sure it's actually from the Bible, accurate, and in context. We must acknowledge the Bible as the true, revealed Word of God.  There is no doubt Scripture condemns all practices involved in witchcraft: sorcery, spell casting, divination, enchantments, spiritism, idolatry, etc ... in the strongest terms, but many people are either missing or ignoring it".
"White" Magic
     But we cannot ignore the allure that witchcraft and the occult hold in our society. It is hard not to notice the rapidly growing fascination in America with zombies, vampires, death, the occult, and the supernatural.  As David Fiorazo wrote in his article, Are Christians Welcoming Witchcraft, "In many entertainment products from Charmed to Harry Potter to Sabrina the Teenage Witch, the heroes are typically good people – you know, the ones using witchcraft and the occult – while the average person is portrayed as ordinary, weak, or even bad, partly because they do not have any magic powers. Therefore, the occult, the satanic, and anything related to it are looked at as beneficial and desirable, which is a complete twisting of the concept of good and evil... Public schools do not allow Christianity to be taught or promoted. However, they accept the religions of atheism, Humanism, evolution, environmental extremism (earth worship), Buddhism, Islam, and of course the religion of Wicca – the practice of witchcraft. Kids have sat through readings of the Harry Potter books, watched the movies during class instruction times, and have even discussed the details of casting spells".
     And need I tell you that there are actually Christian Witches who will defend their demonic practices by trying to distinguish their "White Magic" from the dark side's "Black Magic".  The problem?  It is all an abomination before the Lord! I know I don't need to tell you that; nor do I need to explain that Witchcraft, in all its forms, has been performed since the beginning of mankind.  The first instance of witchcraft that I could find in the Bible was Genesis 44:5, which reads, Is it not from this that my lord drinks, and by this that he practices divination? You have done evil in doing this. This pertains to a practice in the household of Joseph, called scrying. It was an ancient occultic method of divination in which a cup or other vessel is filled with water and gazed into. This technique of foretelling the future was used by Nostradamus and is still used today.
     But I guess the final point I want to make is this: the idea of Man or Woman is central to the core beliefs of Witchcraft.  Any theological position is tolerated, and in this case, it works nicely with the New Age Movement, which embraces a theology of "feel-goodism," "universal tolerance," and "moral relativism." Together, they blend with Spiritualism to offer a compromise between the revealed religions, materialistic philosophies, and the ability to form a personal and spiritual expression of your own.
      The bottom line is this:  The Church needs to wake up to the reality that Witchcraft has creeped into our religious institutions, and it has invaded our Church buildings. Just google "Christian Witchcraft websites" and I think you will be astounded at the encouragement given to take this path. I found one comment that implied that Christian Witches haven't turned their backs on their faith; they have simply opened their spirits to something more. Sadly, it is that "something more" that will lead to their eternal destruction.

1 Samuel 15:23   "For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry".

4 comments:

  1. Consider the form of witchcraft (sorcery) accepted worldwide by all. The Greek word for "sorcery" is "pharmakeia" which is the root word for our modern word "pharmacy". We all know that drugs can be used for good (white magic) or illicit drugs for pleasure, but destroy the body (black magic). Nevertheless, man in his attempt to fulfill the fruit eaten from the Tree of Knowledge and his pursuit to be like God had to have the ability to heal (actually most drugs do not heal, they only cover up the root problem) without God. Thus, by his sorceries he sought to make the potions that did this very thing. The Bible is explicit how those who were sick were to be healed, but it's nothing like we practice today. We have sought our own godhood and the vast majority of the population that has access to drugs are on them - most taking several different prescriptions for a variety of problems or self-enhancement. Most people will say they do not practice sorcery, divination, etc. until they are presented with its actual meaning, then watch their face and their rationalizations. We practice divination constantly by making all sorts of forecasts, predictions about anything and everything. None of us know if we will be here the next second and will admit it, but it never seems to stop our divination that is simply human pride as if we had God's omniscience. Satan has duped us more into his rebellion against God than we would like to admit if we understood what and why we do what we do.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very good explanation of sorcery and divination! Thank you for contributing to this very necessary discussion.

      Delete
  2. Absolutely fantastic posting! Lots of useful information and inspiration, both of which we all need!Relay appreciate your work. Goddess Necklace

    ReplyDelete
  3. Men, under the inspiration of the power of darkness, have always desired to seize the power of God for use in evil conduct; but they are always defeated, because the Church is the body of God.. open heaven devotional for today

    ReplyDelete