BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Bible Basics Whats the deal with Wicca?

I have a new book review up on a book by Steve Russo called Whats the Deal with Wicca?

Enter your comments on this pseudo-religion (my opinion) here!! Please don not email me with your comments, put them here in the forum so everyone can respond...and remember....you MUST abide by the rules of the forum here at Bella and you have to put your name...keep it civilized....

Hey Jenna, Been a while since I've checked in here and found this post.

Unfortunately from what I read/saw posted in your review it looks like the book is just Russo's opinion...or perhaps that just what you excerpted or what have you.

I completely respect the fact that you dont celebrate Halloween, it is after all just another day like thanksgiving is to the british. But it makes me wonder if you also have a christmas tree or the easter bunny or groundhogs day at your house. Mainly because all those have pagan roots. I think we've had this discussion before but I'm just asking.

As for Wicca, I'm not a follower though I do know some who do. I think it allows for some to be religious without the strict tenements that may be imposed if they were to worship in a physical mainstream church. I really cant comment any further on the actual beliefs of wiccans as my theological study is limited to paganism in this respect.

Course with Wicca being a 'psuedo-religion' and Jesus being the only true prophet, you also must not believe in Mohammed or any of the other prophets from the 3 main Abrahamic religions right?

I look forward to your response Miss Jenna =]

x0x Wendy

HI Wendy,

To answer some of your questions....
1. yes we do have a tree...against my objections...we compromised in the family, no Halloween and keep the tree but do away with santa...my kids are practically grown now but they were younger when I implemented the "no trick or treating" rule and it was a real battle...

2. No easter bunny...I buy candy for my son so he doesn't feel left out but no easter basket...we focus on the resurrection instead...there's church, then The Passion MOvie and quiet reflection time, them he can eat his candy or save it, whatever he wants to do. I always have to buy extra for my "big baby", my husband, too...lol

3. I, too know some pagans and wiccans and I warned them that at this time of year, they may not like me very much...they seem to understand...lol

4.And, no, I believe that Mohammed was a prophet, but that through the years, the Islamic people have skewed the message of God to the Arabic people... It was through Sarah's disobedience to God concerning his promise to Abraham, that Ishmael was born to the servant Hagar and the Islamic religion was born...I'm sure I've oversimplified..I mean no disrespect... I DO believe, however, that Jesus is the ONLY Son of God and the only way to the Father. Just to clarify...

5. The reason that I refer to Wicca as being a psuedo-religion is because of it's opposing characteristics to Christianity and the many different ways of "practicing" the Wiccan religion...it's very do-it-yourself.... It is the ultimate lie....I have read and studied, much of which I didn't go into in my article because it was a book review, not an article on Wicca. I believe in knowing my enemy and the vices he uses to draw people away from God, but I choose not to bring the war to Bella...

So I hope I have answered you fairly...this time of year is always like this and this year I'm prepared <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Hi Jenna,

It is nice to see that you know a little more about wicca than many christians I have come across but you seem to be a little naive. How do you think christianity was created? it was an idea of the world formed by a few people which then spread. Paganism is in the same early stages. People are forming their own ideas in just the same way as the early christians did.

As you said yourself, christianity has many paths just as paganism and so what makes paganism more pick and mix than christianity? I think perhaps you need to talk to your pagan friends more and ask them about what traits the many paths share.

Hi there,

I've been using Bella Online for a while on and off, mainly for the Wicca section. I was brought up as a Christian, but was never comfortable with the faith, one of the main reasons being the lack of tolerance that I found in the Christian community. When I read the review of the book, it flashed back some memories.
I respect the Christian faith. I have a fairly good knowledge of the Bible, and I respect it as containing many, many pearls of wisdom. I just know that it is not my path. And there is where the difference is - I believe that there are many ways of achieving the same goal, while I have met very few Christians who would respect my faith as being another way to achieve the same. Instead, my faith is "the enemy" to lure people from "the true way".

And it is not exactly true that a Wiccan believes that he or she can achieve "heaven" through his or her own actions, but rather that the Goddess and God tend to help those who take an active interest in helping themselves.

Hmmm, as much as I try to avoid discussions about religion and politics, I take issue with describing any religion as "the ultimate lie." Religion is probably the most personal issue on earth, and no matter how much research any of us have done, ultimately it is still a matter of "opinion" and something each and every one of us must decide for ourselves.

You believe that Mohammed was merely a prophet; others believe the same of Jesus. We can't all be right, but what any of us truly believes is never a lie.

I was raised as a Christian to believe that anyone who didn't accept our faith was wrong and could not be saved. It feels so much better (to me) to be able to let go of that judgmental attitude and realize that every religion deserves respect.

No offense intended to anyone at all.

Dear Miss Robinson,

In your article you incorrectly allude to Satanism being the worship of The Devil.

This is, in fact, not the case.

Christianity considers that man is born into evil and requires an aspiration towards God through Jesus Christ to save him from eternal damnation.

In Satanism, Satan stands as a metaphor - a symbol of this human nature that white light religions seek to denigrate through guilt. Satan therefore, represents the human ego which we seek to develop through personal satisfaction, indulgence in carnal pleasure and productive endeavours - we seek personal gratification without guilt regarding who we are as human beings.

Life is the great indulgence and death the great abstinence - since we do not believe in spiritual life after death. We are founded on a more pragmatic bedrock than what we consider to be spiritual pipe dreams.

We accept neither God nor the Devil as some sort of anthropomorphic or metaphysical being and it is our conviction that such belief systems have denigrated man's natural inclinations for over 2000 years.

Indeed, there are people in this world who worship The Devil. We see them as Christian heretics, since they accept the Christian definition of the beast and simply choose to worship that instead. There are Satanists and there are nuts. Christianity created their concept of the Devil - now they must live with the consequences of their own invention.

When Anton Szandor LaVey founded The Church Of Satan in 1966 he took the name Satan as the most potent monicker (at least in the West) and used it to define what man has always been - by whatever name one wishes to call it. He redefined the term from the scapegoating Christian perspective and applied it as a positive symbol, turning on its head what he saw as the Christian penchant for having something to point their finger at and blame instead of taking positive action in their own life.

None of this is to pretend that we do not oppose Christianity. We do. We oppose all white light religions (and we include Wicca amongst them) that advocate subjugation to spirituality in place of logic, justice and common sense.

Now, I am not here to debate. I simply wanted to correct your misrepresentation and error. If you wish to "know your enemy" as it were, I would advise that you read The Satanic Bible so that you are further educated in exactly what you are alluding to.

All the best,

Mark Bickley,

Warlock & Media Representative, The Church Of Satan.

But see as Christians we are taught that Satan uses what is most palatable to lure man away from God. Satan as a pointy headed, tailed goatman is no longer viable in today's society (of course that was never Satan's way, Lucifer as the most beatiful of angels). But engaging in one's every whim and not having to feel any guilt because there is no afterlife and there is no one to pay ultimate retribution to...Ah, now THAT is appealing!

From what I understand of my study of the Bible and my "walk" (albeit new); the problem with Wicca, and Hinduism, and Buddhism (sorry Samten), or of the many, many others - is not that they have BAD TEACHINGS. In fact they often have very ethical and moral teachings. But the only way to salvation is through Jesus Christ as Savior. Satan, Lucifer, whatever name you want to call him knows that all he has to do is distract people from that one little (huge) fact, and that he has kept someone from the loving arms of God.

God's plan of salvation is simple; admit you are a sinner, believe in Jesus as the Son of God and the Savior - and that He died on the cross for our sins and rose again on the third day, confess your sins to Him and ask Him to be Lord of your life. It's the works that everyone trips up on. We can never be good enough on our own, we need the strength of our Lord (and His conscience reminders) to keep us on the path. It is our desire to be like Him, that causes us to do good acts. Doing good acts to try to redeem oursleves will never work, because we can never do enough.

What is the purpose of not bathing?

Just thought I would put my two cents in here ... A littl ebackground first ... For a label (which many seem to need in order to pigeon-hole me) I have chosen "Olde Guard Eclectic Solitaire Pagan ... I am from a family that has for generations shown differing "abilities" from clairvoyance to animal-speak ... Some in the past have been herbal healers ... These htings are not "SPECIAL" just things we are able to do naturally ... I would like to respond to certain items in the review:

1.)Enter Wicca. With a new twist on an old idea, our children are being recruited left and right to form their own religion within the confines of an age old deception.
--- Wicca (as well as a majority of other Pagan beliefs)are not in the habit nor do they condone or approve of going out and recruiting converts ... It is a commonly held tenet that a persons path comes to them in its own time ... The God/ess calls when they are ready

2.)Nevertheless, at their very core Wicca and Satanism are the same - the both reject the truth as found in Jesus and in His Word, following the same lie that was started at the beginning of human history.
--- All beliefs other than Christianity believe this ... They reject Christianity as "The one true religion" ... Otherwise they could not exist ...

3.)Those involved in Wicca have bought the lie of religion that says you can get to heaven - or however you describe life after death - through your own efforts and in your own way.
--- Not just Wicca ... Most religious belief systems in this world that have and afterlife of some kind or believe in reincarnation believe this ... So why keep singling out Wicca?

4.)It�s hard to imagine that�s something as significant as eternal life is a free gift from God.
--- I believe iin the immortality of the soul ... It is a gift from the supreme deity ... A lot of religious beliefs have a supreme deity ... Just called by different names ... Just like leche is the same as milk ... Different words, same substance ... Isn't semantics wonderful? <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />