RE: BIBLE REFERENCES

This is a response to the comments by Stephanie.

Before you start pointing to the Bible, perhaps you might want to consider some facts about it.

(1) When the God of the Jews forbade them to look to seers for information, he was not forbidding the practice of prognostication. In fact. he wanted them to only look to him & his approved prophets for such information. We see over & over again that he provides his prophets with omens & predictions. We can also see that Moses & others, performed magick in his name.

(2) we do not have public access to all the original texts that were in the Bible. A full 70% of what was originally contained, or @ least of the texts preserved under glass in Jerusalem, has been edited out. If you want to understand this better, borrow the series "TESTAMENT" from your public library. Much of this happened @ the Synod of Bishops in 70 CE (AD). It was done to keep the masses from having the full knowledge of what could be practiced.

***NOTE: This does not take away from the belief in Christ, as we also have the records of Historians from the era in which Christ lived. We also have the records of early Christianity in Europe that conform who Jesus was & the Magick & Miracles performed by his followers.

(3) In more modern times, we have records of Magick & Miracles performed in the name of both Jesus & Mary. Read the histories of the early Irish Saints & other Saints to get a better understanding of this.

(4) I formally studied the Bible for hours, every day, for more than 20 years. I find no conflict @ all in practicing Christian Wicca. I also studied & practiced Wicca & other Pagan traditions for more than 15 years.

(4) Are you aware that Jewish celebrations were timed by the phases of the Moon? A good time to see this for yourself is @ Passover. Passover is always done @ Full Moon! This was also the night that Jesus taught his disciples to take Communion. With Passover & Easter almost upon us, you can look to the sky & see the Full Moon on the Eve when Passover begins. It's a beautiful reminder for us all that Christianity is connected to the cycles of the Moon & Stars.

Bright Christian Blessings
Angellica

I am not a christian though and I do not profess to be one. Many cultures throughout the world, both ancient and modern, have reacted to allegations of witchcraft either by superstitious fear and awe, and killed any alleged practitioners of witchcraft outright; or, shunned it as quackery, extortion or fraud. Witch hunts still occur in the modern era, in many and various communities where religious values condemn the practice of witchcraft and the occult. The Council of Paderborn in 785 explicitly outlawed the very belief in witches, and Charlemagne later confirmed the law. The first medieval trials against witches date to the 13th century with the institution of the Inquisition, but they were a side issue, as the Church was concentrating on the persecution of heresy, and witchcraft, alleged or real, was treated as any other sort of heresy. The sentence generally was death (as Exodus 22:18 states, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live"). There were other sentences, the most common to be chained for years to the oars of a ship, or excommunication then imprisoned. So I hope this gives you a beautiful reminder too, of what we witches face.

I beleive that scripture originally said, thought shalt not suffer a poisoner to live right? As for what witches have gone through, I can sympothize. It really crushed me to find out what had happened to them when I first started reading about the history behind the abuse and cruel treatment of witches. I was in junior high when I first studied up on it on my own. I personally don't think that hate, cruel treatment, or persecution of any kind should be acceptable among any groups of people, no matter what their beleifs, convictions, cultures, race, how they pray and who they pray to ect. But at the same time I see no harm in Christian Mysticism. If you study gnostic christianity, it was in existence before certains groups of people came along and started accusing others of heresy and witch craft. As far as "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" goes, that was a word that a king decided to change from poisoner to witch. Wouldn't you think he would be just as guilty thinking he was a God and decided to change those words? As a Magical Christain practitioner I only seek peace and friendship with the mainstrean witches of today. Don't most witches teach the philosphy of harm none? Doesn't "Harm None" also teach to forgive those who have wronged you? Even in the past? Yes there have been and still are some terrible people out there who proclaim to be good church-going, do no wrong christians. I can understand and empathize why quite afew of you would have a problem or have had bad experiences with them. Trust me, I have been there myself, but I have also met quite afew witches out there who do not practice what they preach as well and have gone against what they beleive or teach as well. There is always going to be a bad apple in the barrell, no matter where you go, I'm sorry to say.


Blessed be, peace to everyone, and remember........
Harm None!


Autumn Woods

It is very odd how this discussion changed from the original hummm was Angellica ashamed or couldn't she just add another reply, hummm makes you think eh.

Yes Autumn you are right originally it was poisoner but in order for the church to convict the charge of "witchcraft" a legal term not Wycc the real spelling in Gaelic, the church edited the bible to suit them. You see at the time in the heathen pagan societies woman were considered the owners of the land and the men protectors of the land. According to Christianity women are no more than cattle cursed by God and for a woman to be a land holder or have any self empowerment didn't bode well with a patriarchal society.

It is all well and good that things have changed over the past 100 years for woman let alone Christian woman or if the had not I would be arrested charged and convicted for my way of life and Angellica wouldn't even be allowed to use a computer or own one unless it was a part of her marriage dowry for her husband and children.

ADSW...