Wiccans Offer Teens Love, Not False Hopes!

I am writing this article in response to the previous article 'Raising Christian Teens in a Pagan Focused World' published on March 10, 2006. I have read the article through and I believe it misrepresents pagans and Wiccans, and wish to help clarify why I feel this way and maybe help shed some light of why Wicca, witchcraft and general paganism can be an acceptable, enlightening and even empowering. Most of all I want to show that Wicca and witchcraft are defiantly not a satanic worship and are in no way 'condemning' people to hell.

First off, I want to let you know why I feel I am competent enough to write this article and argue these points effectively and intelligently. I have studied Wicca and the older traditions of witchcraft for well over ten years now, and have become what I call a 'Wiccan scholar' in that I have a large library of books and other media to help in my studies and have done a lot of my own experimenting in my own spell casting and spirituality, to gain a deeper understanding of what works for me. I also have studied theology in general, including Christianity. I know a lot of people are going to scoff at me now "oh he reads books so he's an expert?" Just remember, everything Christianity is based off of is found in a book, too.

Now we're to the meat of my article, the reasons why Wicca and witchcraft is an acceptable spirituality. Lets begin by looking at what debunkers of my faith say and I will respond shortly to each, I'll only be touching on the most basic, and of course a few from the article I am responding to. The most famous detractions to Wicca are usually that we are Satanists, we commit violent acts, we worship false Gods and Goddesses, we have illicit sex, we tempt young teens-especially women-away from their parents' beliefs and, more rarely, that since Wicca is only based on ancient principles, that we are a false religion.

Onto the first, that we Wiccans and every witch in general, worships the devil. Wiccans, after all, chose the symbol of the pentacle, the five pointed star within a circle, as our symbol. Everyone knows that a five pointed star is a pentagram, and therefore the symbol of the devil, the great evil right? Well, not everyone it seems, because this symbol has existed long before anyone had ever even heard of Satan. The pentagram and pentacle are part of the art of divine symbolism known as sacred geometry and was used in Egypt and even before that time. Ok, so some 'pagan' faiths used it, now a good enough argument yet? How about the fact that Jewish mystics used the pentagram in the ritual known as 'The Lesser Banishing/Invoking Ritual of the Pentagram' a ritual used in ancient cabalism and brought to a more common use by the famed 'Golden Dawn' mystical society in the nineteenth century.

The pentagram was seen as a symbol of protection, as a symbol that could be used to bring divine power into your life and banish harm. The priesthood of both Jewish and Christian peoples decided that it was dangerous for normal people to be able to call upon the divine, after all if we could who needs them? So they demonized it as they did much of witchcraft.
Wait a minute, doesn't the bible say 'never suffer a witch to live?' Isn't this proof that God hates witches, or at least is against it? Not really, for you see the original quote found in Exodus 22:18 of the old Torah says 'Never suffer an m'khashephah to live'. The word is old Hebrew for an 'evil' spell caster who uses magic to do harm. Those who used magic for good were suffered to live all over the place. It was later changed in the bible to reflect the growing disdain for all mystics by the church who wished to strengthen its monopoly on spiritualism.

Another classic attack on the Wiccan religion and onto witchcraft itself is the idea that we commit violent acts of sacrifice of humans, animals, virgins and babies. Now I know throughout history there have been actual Satanists who do commit such acts, I know that every Halloween people buy, or even steal, black cats for sacrifice to their 'dark lord'. I, and the people who truly honor the Wiccan way, do not. Life is sacred to the Wiccans, and I do my best to not even kill a spider in my home, but to escort it gently outside. As a sufferer from acute Arachnophobia, this is hard for me, but my reverence for life goes that deeply as to suffer it just to preserve life. As I said, I know that some people who claim to be witches do commit violent acts, but it is unfair to judge the rest of us by someone else's actions. Would it be fair to lock all Christian killed another person? Of course not, so it is similarly unfair to blame me for some misinformed violent criminal's actions.

The next most common accusation is that we worship false Gods and Goddesses, namely the Great Lady and Great Lord, or their other various names and aspects. In the article to which I respond it says that the goddesses and gods we worship must be fallen angels who give spiritual aid to those who pray to them. Now I agree, magick is, at its most basic, the divine reaction to a ritualized form of prayer. This kind of prayer can be seen in many Christian groups as well, most notably Catholicism, in which prayers are sent to different saints and angels instead of directly to God. It is another practice of Wicca that has ancient beginnings with the ceremonial magicians that go back into Egyptian history. The ceremonial magician would do ritualized spells to grow closer to the divine within and without. As a spell worker myself I feel that when I cast a spell I am petitioning the divine essence of the Goddess, the God and other divine beings to help grant my wishes and to become closer to them. It may surprise many people to read this, but four of the beings I call on most, aside from the Goddess and God of course, are Michael, Raphael, Gabriel and Uriel. These are the archangels found in the bible and also are the four archangels attributed to hold the four sacred directions and the four sacred elements-earth, water, fire, air. Of course my question is why would such angels help me if God disliked witchcraft? Something for people to think about no matter how much they do or do not believe me.

Now we come to a little racier subject, that Wiccans and Witches have illicit sex with anyone who consents. Here I admit, yes it is fairly true, we do. Now, I am married man and have never cheated on my wife, when I was single I never had a one night stand and have only had sex with willing partners who were in a relationship with me. I did say it was true though, and I stick by it. Wiccans do have sexual relations with others who consent, that is if they are of consenting age and able to competently do so. So, does this make Wiccans whore or sluts? Not really, it makes Wiccans unafraid of their sexuality; it makes Wiccans willing to accept that the union of sex in a loving consenting way is divine and wonderful. We do not hold the same fear of sex that was written into the bible as a means to scare people into following a few people's ideas of what is right or wrong. I personally do not think it is a good idea to just sleep with anyone you meet, after all AIDS and other diseases are a real threat, but so long as they harm none it is not my place to tell others how to live.

Of course that is another problem people have with Wicca, our motto, or Rede as we call it. People accuse us of doing whatever we want and using this motto as a reason to justify it. Nothing could be further from the truth! We commit to harm none, in any way. We don't say 'so long as I'm not beating my wife I can sleep around because I'm not hurting her.' A true Wiccan who truly has given thought to the Rede knows that emotionally hurting someone can devastate them more than physical harm. I would not steal, lie or cheat because it would hurt someone in a non-physical way, which is still harm. I do not use the Wiccan Rede as a crutch to live a morally ambiguous life, I use it as a strict guide to life, it is very hard to go through life and not hurt someone in some way, but I, and countless others, try very hard to do just that.

Now, this next one is another big reason people say that Wiccans are evil and bad, and again was cited directly in the article to which I respond. It is said that Wiccans tempt people, mostly teens away from their parents' religious beliefs. Our most usual targets are young women who feel oppressed by Christianity; we offer them false promises of empowerment. Well here is the hard truth to this; we do offer empowerment to men and women alike. The ability to reach out and not just send prayers and wait for answers but to honestly talk to the Goddess and God, to reach out to them and commune closely is empowering. As is the ability to create change through focused will in the form of spell casting. We do not skulk about in shadows offering toys to children to tempt them over to our 'side' and most Wiccans I have talked to or communicated with through forums and chat rooms don't tell teens to hide from their parents but recommend them to talk to their parents about their spiritual questions and beliefs.

True, Wiccans in general do tend to be somewhat secretive and, until recently, not many would worship very openly. Can you really blame them though? I can't say the thought of being burnt, hung, ostracized for my religion or otherwise persecuted were any of the reasons I came out of the 'broom closet.' I did though, I live a publicly Wiccan life, some dislike it, but that's not important, what is important is how I feel about myself. If your children show interest in Wicca don't just dismiss it or show interest just to disprove it, listen with an open heart to what Wiccans have to say. There are many wonderful books written just for skeptics of Wicca, such as Scott Cunningham's The truth about Witchcraft today, and many more that can help you understand what your teen is into. You may not agree with their choice, but do you really want to risk isolating and 'losing' your children over this, it truly is not worth it.

Finally, I come to this claim that Wicca is a modern religion only based of older works and principles and, therefore, cannot be a true spiritual path. To this argument I have just this to say; never forget the Zoroastrianism, an ancient religion that modern biblical scholars say that both Judaism and Christianity was based off of. That's right; Christianity is based off older principles of another religion that pre-dates Judaism. Don't believe me, alright look it up. You can find books, websites and much more great information about this ancient religion. The basics principles of this belief system are as follows; Ahura Mazda is the 'uncreated creator' of the universe, who is opposed by Anghra Mainyu, the creator of all evil. Sound familiar yet, it should if you've studied the bible at all.

This is an incredibly short look at this religion, and I encourage you to seek more knowledge of it, for it is a truly enlightening work. This religion was worshiped in ancient Persia and Babylon long before the coming of Judaism or Christianity and, as I mentioned before, is considered the 'inspiration' for those religions. So, being of a religion based of others works might not seem so bad now, right? Remember too that the witchcraft parts of Wicca are based of very old Celtic, Middle Eastern and other European beliefs that some theorize could hearken all the way back to Paleolithic times. Though it might seem a long shot, but then again you must admit that these theories must have been based on some fact to have gotten as much attention as they have.

In conclusion to this article, I just want to remind you all, that we Wiccans are not bloodthirsty sex addicts waiting in the shadows to tempt your children to the devils den, we are a people exploring our spirituality in alternative ways. If your teens show an interest in Wiccan, maybe you should seek why, maybe they have seen a good point you've missed? I know you'll probably be tempted to try and totally stop their Wiccan research, or may-as the writer of the article I am addressing recommends-try and learn of it just to debunk it. This is really not a fair thing to do, is it? Can you honestly say in your heart you've never doubted, and you've never wanted to explore? Wicca is not evil, it is not false or misguided, and it is a religion, an honest, open religion based on love and the divinity inside us all. I'm not here to steal your kids or hurt your pets; I'm just here to say that I love my religion and will be happy to defend it always. Thank you for taking the time to read this article, I hope I have given you just a little bit to think about.