Girl involved in Wicca

[TheBibleSender]

Well I was able to get her the book. Not personally I ended up having to put in an envelope with a note and have someone give it to her. I guess she was not happy. Not sure if it was because I found out about the wicca or because of the book? Please continue to pray for her. God bless.

[ezra517]

I'll keep her in my prayers. If you dont mind keep me posted if anything changes.


God bless

[TheBibleSender]

Will do. God bless.

[Zandra]

I will continue to pray for her. It’s amazing how popular wicca and witchcraft has become, I noticed it’s rise in popularity ten years ago. If you walk into a bookshop, half the books are about New Age or witchcraft.

[James]

From - The Watchman Expositor: Witchcraft / WICCA Profile

DOCTRINE

As with most groups that fall under the wide umbrella term of Occultism, the theology of Wicca varies from group to group and even from coven to coven. However, the following are a few of the doctrines that most Wiccan covens will believe and practice.

1) Autonomy: "There is no central authority or liturgy; various traditions have their own rituals, philosophy and beliefs. Some have added elements from Eastern, Native American Indian, aboriginal and shamanic systems; others have injected politics into their traditions. New ritual, songs, chants and poetry are continually created" (Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, p. 376). Raymond Buckland explains, "All religions lead in the same direction, simply taking different paths to get there. Witches feel that all should therefore be free to choose their own path" (Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft, p. 99).

2) Experience verses Dogma: Because of the Autonomy of each Coven and even to a large degree of each individual member of Wicca, the experience of the individual is of greater importance than any set of dogmatic doctrines. "Generally speaking Witches are very open-minded people, especially where religion is concerned. They have no hard and fast `Commandments,' no catechisms" (Ibid.). Adler adds, "By creating our own divinities we create mental steps for ourselves, up which we can mount toward realizing ourselves as divine. The lack of dogma in the Craft, the fact that one can worship the Goddess without believing in Her, that one can accept the Goddess as `Muse' and the Craft as a form of ancient knowledge to be tested by experience; these are precisely the things that have caused the Craft to survive, to revive, and to be re-created in this century" (Drawing Down the Moon, p. 173).

3) Rituals: These individual or Coven experiences are gained through self-designed rituals. "We are talking about the rituals that people create to get in touch with those powerful parts of themselves that cannot be experienced on a verbal level. Rituals are also created to acknowledge on this deeper level the movement of the seasons and the natural world, and to celebrate life and its processes" (Ibid., pp. 197-198).

4) Magic: Many of these rituals involve divination or magic. "In his book of shadows, Gardner listed eight ways to raise magical power (singly or in combination): (1) meditation or concentration; (2) chants, spells, and invocations; (3) trance and astral projection; (4) incense, wine and drugs; (5) dancing; (6) blood control by binding parts of the body with cords; (7) scourging (not enough to draw blood); (8) ritual sex" (Harper's Encyclopedia of Paranormal Experience, p. 649).

5) Goddess Worship: This worship of the Goddess sometimes manifests itself as the worship of "the Mother Goddess in her three aspects of Maiden, Mother, and Crone." Sometimes it is the worship of "what we potentially are" (Drawing Down the Moon, pp. 10-11, 202). In many covens the high priestess is seen as the personification of the "mother goddess who is the principal deity of witchlore" (Man, Myth and Magic, Vol. 14, p. 1866).

6) Feminism: While not all feminists are Wiccans, many find the philosophy of Wicca to be a compatible philosophy. "Women who have come to the Goddess outside the channels of Neo-Paganism and the Craft are beginning to find rituals and concepts that allow for the same idea. They are finding the Goddess within themselves and within all women. And, as might be expected, those feminists who have found joy in rituals, and who have discovered that the concept of `Goddess' feels right inside, are often drawn into the Craft" (Drawing Down the Moon, p. 205).

7) Seasonal Festivals: The worship of nature or natural order is of paramount importance. "Wicca is basically a fertility cult and its great festivals are geared to the seasons." Key dates in the Wiccan calendar would include February 2 (Candlemas), March 21 (spring equinox), April 30 (Beltane), June 22 (summer solstice), August 1 (August Eve), September 21 (autumn equinox), October 31 (Halloween), December 21 (winter solstice) (Man, Myth and Magic, Vol. 14, p. 1866).

8) Evil: Wiccan groups do not accept the existence of evil. They explain, "Wicca can be defined as a pagan mystery religion with a polarized deity and no personification of evil." In the Principles of Wiccan Beliefs is stated, "We do not accept the concept of `absolute evil,' nor do we worship any entity known as `Satan' or `The Devil' as defined by the Christian tradition" (Drawing Down the Moon, pp. 100, 103).

9) Horned God: As mentioned, some Wiccan covens worship not only a Mother Goddess, but also a masculine deity. "Many Craft traditions also worship a god, related to the ancient horned lord of animals, the god of the hunt, the god of death and lord of the forests" (Drawing Down the Moon, p. 11).

BIBLICAL RESPONSE

Because followers of Wicca do not believe the Bible to be the Word of God, it is difficult to demonstrate the error of Wicca from a biblical standpoint. However, from the Christian perspective, Wicca's theology has been condemned for centuries.

1) Witchcraft and magic (enchantments) are condemned. Lev. 19:26, 31; Deut. 18:10-11; 2 Chron. 33:6.

2) Worship of other gods (or of goddesses) is condemned. Exodus 20:3; 1 Kings 11:4-5.

3) Esteeming nature above God is condemned. Romans 1:21-25.

4) Satan and his influence of evil are real. Zech. 3:2; Matt. 4:1-11; Luke 6:45.