Your not an evil Witch your just stupid and fool of Satan

   Recently I read an article posted on a Christian website that caught my eye. (yes I read articles on faith of all kind not just ones I hold as true to myself). This particular article written by C.A.R.M or christian apologetic and research ministry. Was entitled “If you're a Wiccan, please read this.”

and can be read at the link below.

(http://carm.org/religious-movements/wicca/if-youre-wiccan-please-read)

Now I am not going to repost the whole thing it can be read through the link, however I have seen similar posts before and wanted to respond unfortunately for some reason there is no option to replay on this website.

   I have read many an article such as this, and giving credit were it's due the author did more research then most bother to on the topic and was very point by point. I feel the urge to respond to this in a similar fashion as a person of the Wiccan path. And maybe by the magic of the internet it will find it's way back to the source and because for all the seeming good intentions it to me still reads like a fear tactic attempting to scare former Christians that have converted to Wicca in an attempt to touch on any remaining god fearing that they haven't managed to let go of due to their biblical childhood atmosphere.

   It starts like many in an effort to not sound like an attack or judgment. Poor witch your not bad your just stupid and wrong.

Then of course moves on to say they just wanna help wiccan's and then move right in to why it's wrong here is the first excerpt I will address.

“Christians derive their spiritual authority and doctrine from the Word of God. According to the Bible, there are demonic forces as well as angelic ones. The reason the Bible forbids witchcraft is because the power that comes through the incantations and spells are derived from demonic forces, not from God. These forces are manifested through people who contradict God's teaching and open themselves up to their dark and deceptive influence. Now, before you dismiss this outright, please bear with us a little bit longer.

How do you know that what you are contacting is good or bad? What standard do you have by which you can judge whether or not the results you are getting are from the God and Goddess or are instead from some demonic forces that impersonate various deities in order to deceive you?”

   Now I will not argue that the bible references many times their wish for their followers to avoid witchcraft and divination the story of the Witch of Endor in which Sual getting no answer from god seeks a woman to speak with Samuel who has died. However the bible does not say that this power came from demonic forces the author claims this but it's an opinion not actually stated in the book simply an assumption that if power does not come from god it must come from a source of evil.

   I would argue that it was simply smart writing on the part of the writers of the scriptures to forbid or shun the use of any religious or mystic practice there faith does not use. ( Exodos 20:3 thou shall have no other god's before me. for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God.)

This seems more likely to be the source of his disapproval then the assumption of evil. In fact further in Exodus he tells his people to destroy the sacred stones of these idolic gods. Not that the wear demons in sheep clothing. It should be noticed that he still called their stones and idols sacred not evil. Moving on.

Exerp 2.

“How do you know that what you are contacting is good or bad? What standard do you have by which you can judge whether or not the results you are getting are from the God and Goddess or are instead from some demonic forces that impersonate various deities in order to deceive you?”

   That's a fair question with a simple answer,... faith. I could ask the author the same question. How do they know when they kneel and pray they are getting the Christ god? After all there are over 41,000 different denominations of Christianity in the U.S alone. Each professing to be the one true path. Each with the belief that they alone have the path to salvation. Sure they agree on a lot but how many Christians point to one another and say “their not a real christian” you would not get a Later Day Saints to agree that the god they speak with is the same god as the Baptist, some will even claim that as the author is they are being lead astray by demons wearing the face of god.

Exerp 3.

If you answer that it is because good things come as a result of your efforts, so what?  The demonic forces are not dumb and can easily get people to believe that what they are doing is good all the while deceiving them into continuing with their occult practices.

If you dismiss this line of questioning, that is your privilege. But, the questions are valid questions that ought to be answered. We are all open to being tricked and none of us wants to be made a fool. Since eternity is a long time to be wrong, it is all the more important that we try and establish some way of verifying what is occurring in the spiritual realm and that what you contact is not a harmful force masquerading as something good.

   Again my response is as it was to Excerpt 2. I wonder if he knows he sounds arrogant and hypocritical? He even states that “We are all open to being tricked and none of us want to be made a fool” Yet his assumption is of course he is correct and everything else is wrong or a lie and he being in the true faith is safe smart and immune to tricks.

Excerpt 4.

“At this point, we appeal to Jesus. The Bible is a collection of 66 books written by about 40 different people. It claims to be inspired and it points to the person of Jesus. Jesus claimed to be God in flesh (John 8:58 with Exodus 3:14. He fulfilled many Old Testament prophecies, performed many miracles, raised people from the dead, died on the cross, and rose from the dead himself (1 Cor. 15:1-4). This means that what he says takes on incredible significance. If he said that there are demonic forces that trick people, then it is true. If he says not to get involved with séances, necromancy, divination, spells, etc., then we shouldn't.”

   Here is what he is missing. At this point you appeal to jesus “we” do not as most Wiccans do not believe he existed at all.

And I am shocked in a book dedicated to him he did impressive things and their for it takes on incredible significance? Wow well in his moves batman looks pretty good to even hero like but as I don't believe in him I'll make up my own mind thanks. It's a little sad that after all his effort to look friendly it still boils down to. I believe the bible to be true so Jesus is right and your wrong.....even though the bible admits to the existence of other gods.

Excerpt 5.

But, you might say that the Bible has been corrupted. No, it has not been corrupted. The New Testament documents are more than 99.6% textually pure. In other words, they are incredibly well preserved and transmitted to us. Scholars translate the original documents into English and this is how we get our English Bibles.

Even though you may discredit the historical and theological accuracy of the Bible, it does not mean the Bible is not true. This is why you must continue to ask yourself what is it that you are contacting? How do you know that the theology of Wicca is true? How do you know there are not demonic elements that work through your occult practices?

   I really could spend all day talking about the trouble with authenticating any spiritual text as “True” and again he could ask himself the same questions

Excerpt 6.

Just because you can get results from spells and incantations, it does not mean that it is good. The Bible tells us that the devil can go around and deceive people, making them believe that what they're doing is right when it is not. Therefore, we must be very careful.  But, you might respond that you don't believe in the Devil.  Okay, but Jesus did!

The safest bet is to trust Jesus who has been to the other side and come back. The safest bet is to trust the Lord Jesus who died, was buried, and rose from the dead. He has authenticated the Old Testament Scriptures as being true and he appointed the apostles who wrote the New Testament. Therefore, the Bible as a whole is validated by Jesus and the Bible clearly states that mediums, channeling, séances, witchcraft, spells, and divination can only result in being deceived.

   Okay is I don't believe in Jesus or the devil why would it matter that Jesus believed in the devil ??? It's safest to trust Jesus? You don't say well which of the 41,000 + verities of him are you speaking of? And of course Jesus would validate his own biography it would be silly not to but again as I don't believe in him why would his opinion on his own aggrandizement matter to me?

Excerpt 7. (last one I promise)

“Finally, there is one last comment. The further you get into Wicca, the further you will move into darkness. The further you move into darkness, the more hostile you may become to Christianity, the idea of the cross and its sacrifice, etc.  Oftentimes those who are involved in occult practices develop an attraction for dark things, the nighttime, skulls, various forms of rebellion, dark clothing, and a desire for power. These things are the fingerprints of the enemy that gradually overtake a person involved in occult practices.  Have you been touched by the enemy?  Do you desire these things?  If so, have you been touched by the darkness?”



The more hostile I will become toward Christianity? Well I guess if I disagree with Christians getting in to my face and telling me what a hell-bound blind idiot I am, then it must be fueled by the devil after all everyone else enjoys being told how wrong their religious views are right?
And the fingerprint of the enemy? That sounds important for Christians to know, quick were is the list of these habits at in the bible so I can read........wait there not in there! that just your personal opinion of the habits of other religions you see as wrong. And very very stereotypical I might add not all Wiccans wear black though it is said to be a color that absorbs negativity ….maybe that's why Catholic father's wear it so much but I guess its the finger print of the devil himself.
Nighttime? Well yeah a lot of Wiccan holy days correspond to the moon and we tend to like that. Skulls not so much personally but shamans sure, kept in respect for the power of the animal and its purposes and associations.
Various forms of rebellion and the desire for power
Well those are nice broad and vague descriptions. It would seem the author thinks having any view but what you have been spoon feed is a sign of evil.
And you know Jesus was a rebel and a Jew not Christian. He converted with unseen things and rose the dead just as the Witch of Endor did certainly he must have fallen to the occult ways.



    I would like to say at this point that all though I strongly disagree with this author and others like them. I respect that it is their belief and I will not change their mind. I do not think they are evil or stupid and I admire anyone that attempts to walk a spiritual path and strives to be a better person. 
   However I wish they would stop with this arrogant I can save you crap. The reason there is so much conflict with Christianity and other religious. Is the push in Christianity to convert and save and be the true one.
I
    can say I believe I walk the right path I do my best to be a good and spiritual person. But I do not claim to speak for my god/goddess or fill in the blanks base on diatribe and rhetoric I gathered from my grandmother and simply believe to be true because that's what I have always heard. I am responsible for my spirit alone and do the best I know how. But only base on my religious view of what is true and that is ever evolving. I am sorry to those wiccans this sort of article intimidates. Just because you are not exact copies of the majority or what people think you should be please don't think you are wrong often times the least popular remains right.

Know your intentions and your own spirit and sleep peacefully at night let others worry about whats right and wrong as long as you are happy with how you worship. No human man can tell you your wrong they just don't have the credibility. I don't have it either. Your faith is between you and your god or goddess or ancestor or higher power what have you. When your right you feel it so do what you feel is right.

Death to the baby Jesus

In my home when we were children we were of course punished for saying curse words, but in addition to this we were encouraged to also speak considerately and with respect to people who were or believed differently then we did. But it seems this concept was more of a way to avoid scandal then to show any actual respect for differences. I am noticing a new trend in “entertainment” video games like god of war, shows like supernatural, movies like clash of the titans. 

The common element is attacks on pagan beliefs because it is perfectly acceptable to viciously disembowel Apollo in the general opinion. As I logged on to face book like most of you I saw a app ad on the side of the screen and being addicted to them like most everyone else. I viewed it in the app center the premise? Ra forces his divine blood in to you and makes you fight rival gods for him until you through off the shackles of his oppression and then you embark on a quest to slay every god it even uses the phrase “kill them kill them all” the option of champions to join you look like a bunch of Christian saints and angels.   

Now some of you (the ones in my opinion that have become complacent as second class believers) will think well what’s the big deal its just entertainment a muse. Consider this depictions of the prophet Mohammad are considered sacrilege and can start riots. Imagine for a moment if the theme of the above mentioned video game was to slay the baby Jesus before man kind feel under his tyrannical rule. If to slay him you rapidly mash your x button to bludgeon his face of a pillar till his brains were a fine red mist and there was a hole left large enough to plant a rose bush in? 

Why is one thing okay and not the other? Because no one makes noise save for maybe the occasional atheist opposing a public display of around Christmas time. But I have yet to here of people protesting the depiction of Wiccan’s on supernatural. 

In a society based on the freedom of religion I don’t think this level of disrespect should be admissible. And yes most pagan believe in one god or the other few venerate them all equally but standing up for them all can protect your right to have the same respect shown for yours that is shown for all the Christian variants.

The app I mentioned is Bloodrealm’s check it out your self and see if you find it as offensive as I do. Now to the few Christian reader I have let me say I am not advocating death to baby Jesus but imagine how you would feel is you saw that exact thing all over the place and no one seemed to care. The amount of belief my not be the same but the amount of respect should be 

Playing it Christian, or i hide my Book of Shadows with my Porn

  Last night watching the V.P debate I was struck by the not uncommon political question how much does your faith inform your policies? And it got me thinking in a larger context. Of all the religions out there Wicca has probably the most little rituals for everyday mundane life if you but look for them you could spend all day blessing your house plants. I you look you can find something magical to do every spare second you have.

   Yet as a minority religion we find are self conforming to the cultural norm of Christianity in subconscious ways. These  idiosyncrasies find us saying Oh my god not working on Sundays saying god bless you when some one sneezes not out of belief but out or rote. 

  This to me is the reason gathering with like minded individuals I so important for a religious identity. See hear and speaking magic with other people promotes it not only with our fellow witch but with ourselves. 

  To spite being raised by a Wiccan mother I myself find that half the time I say thank god and the other half saying thanks goddess. And feeling regretfully when I say thank god not that I couldn't equate the title to the male aspect of the lord and lady but that when I say it reflexively I know in my head I am not honoring anyone but am repeating Christian jargon that is simply hard to get out of my head in a Christ god dominate world.

It is a sad state of fact that we must work harder to self identify as Wiccan deprogramming ourselves as often as we possibly can. Its not easy to adjust to being outside the boxes to the point that its reflexive. 
I think the most glaring representation of this is the fact that I have yet to meet outside myself a single Wiccan that doesn't play fiddle to Christmas. 
I know to a lot of people the concept of losing this holiday is depressing. I understand everyone loves presents but to me I reached a point where is just felt fundamentally wrong to celebrate the all be it miss dated birth of Jesus. For most of us this is one action that being different can cut the deepest as even the nonbelievers participate and to actively not we most cut ourselves from a family event vacation plans and other wonderful bonding experience. 

On this I have no great insight it is simply up to the person to decide how important their beliefs are to them and what the  prerequisites are for crossing the spiritual line. So I ask my readers do you know yours? How much do you entertain the faiths of others at the cost of your own? Do you play Christian as some people play straight? 

Karmic Mercy

Predestine: is it a comfort or a curse? Many denominations of faith believe in predestination. Your entire life, trails and tribulations are written before your first breath and you follow a set path to your eternal reward or punishment with unairing accuracy. Only occasionally looking back to recognize the bizarre set of circumstances that lead you to an exact place and time.

I found myself on a clod rainy morning hours from home at a tiny town fair, hating the weather, musing on when I would see my lover coffee again (as we had been apart to long) and surrounded by bad company in an arm pit of a town.
 The whole time thinking what the hell am I doing here? when out of the corner of my eye, as I passed a booth I saw a necklace.  A raw uncut amethyst on black cord in a wire cage.  The nostalgia was powerful I had owned one exactly like it as a child and in a fit of superstition my grandmother had smashed the gift my mother had picked up for me.

You see my parents were divorcing and I was living with my fathers mother at the time mamma was a witch and had bought me my first focusing crystal as a present right before we were ripped apart and I was forbidden to see the “heathen” 

I wore my crystal proudly and loved talking about it with anyone who would listen about the shiny conversation peace. Grandma thought it a conduit for the devil and took a hammer to it. To this day it remained my favorite gift. 

So you can imagine my shock at seeing this unlikely little trinket in the most unlikely of places. And it brightened the rest of my dreary cold weekend.

My aunt claims as I believe that I was meant to find it but if that is the case then was I a victim of predestination or was the universe simply showing a little mercy to a heart heavy passenger?

I of course do believe that things come in to your life with a purpose, but I believe that they are always there as a test. How we react to theses karmic setups will determine our blessings or lessons. I can’t claim the life and the universe always hand me little gifts in fact I have had many, many hardships, but I can’t help but think that what ever force compel the small details of our path has a kind heart.

Samhain reflections

October is here and it is my favorite time of year the weather isn’t to cold but the air is crisp and the leaves are turning. Change is in the air and that lends itself to the coming Samhain ritual my favorite part of which is letting go. The Celtic new years festival centers around th concept of harvest harvesting the good things we have sow throughout the year and releasing the negative things that have held us back or saddened us.
In my year in review I always find a lot of negativity as I think most of us do that I will be very glad to toss in to the ritual fire. So I encourage my readers to self evaluate like all Wiccan’s constantly must and let your self be excited to release things that over the past 12 months have saddened you or hardened your heart.
Another aspect is letters to the departed I take this time to write to my mother gone now for four years and tell her all that has happened and wish her well as she continues to learn on the other side. 
It hard for a minority group to not feel a lot of negativity pointed their way by the general populous most of the time so its great to be able to toss that care away and relate to your dearly departed.
Each year I feel more and more like someone new a better lighter version of myself and it is such a blessing to see the same happen for my loved ones that attend. 
This year will also be special because are host has settled on a patron and I will be helping her with her first official dedication to Bridget. So I will also have to let go of my jealously that she has found a patron. 

Change is the nature of magic and the nature of the world. So to it must be the nature of the witch. If you find that you have become hard set in your views and way I would encourage you to go out side of your comfort zone and see if you can’t add a new dimension to your personality. To grow we must confront ourselves challenge are limits and exceed them or we to will fall in to winter.   

Love the Sinner but not the Sin? Seriously?

Other night I herd a phrase that I often have, repeated again and It irritates me beyond belief. Often when ask about there on the fence view of homosexuality church leaders (particularly of the catholic faith) are fond of saying love the sinner and not the sin. 
Using it as a way to say we don’t like everything about you but we still want the whole world to be a part of the church. 
It reminded me a lot of my fathers speech on be gay. “Its all right I still love you but you can’t have a boyfriend under my roof or go to gay places or have gay friends.” basically saying me being gay was perfectly fine as long as I didn't do anything vaguely related to being gay.
Now he like the church probably want me to be abstinent so that they didn't have to deal with anything “uncomfortable” I am sure it was an attempt to keep me from a full and happy life where I could enjoy love…..okay a lot of that was sarcasm, moving on…

But here is why that cop out doesn't fly on from either of them. 

It boils down to a few things first abstinence Is insane. I don’t say that because I am a sex addict or a free love advocate but because its fundamentally true. The American psychiatric association agrees that a normal healthy sex life is an important part of being a healthy well adjusted member of society. 

And if you compare side by side a sexually active homosexual next to the supposedly celibate priesthood  you can easily see which of the two practices result in the most harmful behavior. I have never seen a pregnant nun or a molested alter boy in a gay bar …just saying. This is what happens when you repress healthy sexual behavior you get a person that is frustrated to the point of deviation. Its not because the alter boys begged for it or the nuns are just to appealing in there habits its because they are the weak people on the church totem pole and so the easiest pray for the priesthood.

The second part is that homosexuality is not going any where EVER. 

A lot of people don’t seem to get that obsessed with saying its unnatural (even though it occurs in thousands of species of animal) 
Or and I an found of this one they will all die out eventually…. Yes sure because only gay people have gay babies …oh wait only straight people have gay babies because gays don’t have babies (unless their adopting the ones you put in trash cans)
So again the second point is homosexuality is natural and has been around since the beginning of man and will be here till the end of man you can’t wait out the problem.

And finally the biggest reason the churches “love the sinner and not the sin” speech bothers me and is just a plain bad policy is this. If you must have homosexuals (and don’t fool your self you must) then what kind of homosexual do you want?
I know that seems a strange thing to say but it comes down to visions of a persons future. Straight people don’t seem to realize they are the reason for anonymous bath house sex. Married guys hooking up behind there wife’s back. Why?

Because they are trying to be normal when an activity is made to be shameful by the majority it will not stop the activity but make it hide and that is were the basement clubs come in. People from all walks of life flock together based purely on the premise of sex so of course these are not going to be wholesome locations for a well developed person because they are teamed with shame and rejection. 

No little kid dreams of their future and thinks I want to have desperation sex with a closeted father of three in a dark room when I grow up. They think I would like to marry a person of the same gender as myself and have what everyone else has. But then the church and society take that all American dream of having a husband or wife and replace it with  dark room shame sex. 

Now divorce is a sin but you don’t say your divorced no new marriage for you, because that would be taking away the dream the goal of the ideal union for that person. 
So having a sin or committing a sin does not prevent the church from allowing two people to marry. And of course even if you have not committed a sin before the wedding what religious leader can look at you straight faced and say they will not commit any sins related to sex now that they are married. 
When in fact most of those sexual sins are preformed that very wedding night. So they know sin will be committed before and after marriage but still consider it a blessed union. 

Yet that is some how better then knowing the sin will be homosexuality? Honestly if you give people the path to a happy well adjusted married life many, many will take it. Creating an environment of tolerance will decrease the amount of sin a person performs for one small aspect of who they are. 

So straight people determine what kind of homosexuals they have. What kind do you want? These are the reasons I respect the god but not the church.   

6 Degrees of Invocation

     At its core magic is about sympathetic resonance harmony. It might sound like a mouth full of nonsense to some of you, but its pretty simple, like attracts like. Just as people form the same background and social circle tend to be comfortable around other people that come from the same side of the tracks.                               

   The more magically linked things used, the more they build off one another, compounding the energy build up, feeding off itself and if properly utilized can increase a spells power and precision. Its like themeing a meditation room. You use calming colors the right aromatic candles, oils and music all in the hope that when you enter the space you will be effected by the environment you created. The same principals can be used for spell casting.

     My teacher call this jokingly 6 degrees of invocation and it really stuck, helping me to remember it. So the following is those degrees or aspects of crafting your own spell that a person should consider and implement to safe guard their intent and insure they are protected for wayward thoughts and energies not to mention they are all really great spell booster when used together. 

1:Mineral, find a stone, gem, or crystal that is associated with you casting. The manner in which they form can be helpful in this. For instance diamonds are associated with fire because of how they form earth because of what they are and marriage because of what the represent.

2:Plant this can be tree bark, roots, flowers and herbs. White oak is good for fertility, Dragons blood for power, honeysuckle for love and luck and nightshade for beauty.

3: Chant obviously your words need to reflect your intent and goal. But when creating your own spell it is important to craft your words around the other steps. For instance if you are using a diamond for a spell related to weddings you should mention it in your rhyme at the point in the spell you are using it. The more sympathetic resonance created the better the effect 

4: Color matching this to your work can be a bit of a pain as the properties of color association very depending on the source of the information. I find it best just to spend a little time labeling them out for yourself. For example red candles for me are more of a power boost then anything else.

5:Time there are magical associations for the time of day and day of the week and the moth of the year. Rule over by certain planets gods and aspects of life. Timing can be a pain but the benefits are worth this extra step.

6: Energy when charging yourself up for your magical endeavor you can pay special attention to the type of energy you will be using in the spell. By watching the association with a particular element or weather it fall in to a masculine of famine domain you can charge yourself and your ritual objects to be in harmony with your intent. This is also the step in which you want to pick out the god goddess or spirits you will be using as they are an energy influence.