Can you be Christian and Wicca?

Hello secretscribe,

Originally Posted by secretscribe

Re: the original question

Well, when I was a Wiccan, my main religious activity was consulting the tarot; candles and magic never stuck to me. When I became a Christian I never stopped using it, as Christians can use it, including the people who invented the blessed thing.... I changed slightly in that I decreased a lot how much I use the Goddess oracle and instead kinda mainstreamed into using a Rider-Waite derivative (a cartoon version called the Ator Tarot).

.... I mean, when I was a pagan, I wanted everything to be pagan; every day had to be May Day. That was my choice, of course. Now I can choose to be influenced by the Tao Te Ching, JS Bach, the gospel. But what is more "pagan"-y, that works, well, you judge it by its fruit, right. But even when I was a Wiccan, I never really wanted to do lots of ritual just to be 'more' pagan.

So there's a lot more to something than the label, is it Pagan or Christian, as though you could reduce everything to that.

You have to remember that Wicca has its core on Traditional British Witchcraft wrapped with pseudo-religion and Ceremony.

Blessed be,
Lepus

[Jenny Crow]

Secretscribe -

Many Wiccans and also Witches read the Tarot, however reading the Tarot does not make one Wiccan, and reading the Tarot is not considered a religious activity.

[Jenny Crow]

This question of being a Christian Wiccan comes up every now and again and there are always two sides - those that say you can do as you wish and those that feel that being a Christian Wiccan is just impossible.

My first question would be why would a Christian want to be Wiccan. The explanation that's often given is that "Well, I believe in Jesus and that he's the son of God but I also love nature."

We know that Wicca and Christianity are two separate religions - Wiccans honour the deities of their particular tradition. It is a religion influenced by pre-Christian beliefs and practices of western Europe that affirms the existence of supernatural power (as in magic) and both male and female deities, and that emphasizes ritual observance of seasonal cycles. They do not honour the Christian god. And of course Christians honour the Christian god and Jesus. Christianity has some strict rules about what gods you can worship, which is pretty much the Christian god only. By the rules of Christianity it's a monotheistic religion while Wicca is polytheistic. This makes Wicca and Christianity two very distinct and different religion.

So by the very definition of the words, one could not be a Christian Wiccan any more than one could be a Hindu Muslim or a Jewish Mormon.

There are, however, Christians who practice magic and enjoy nature within a Christian framework but this does not make them Wiccan. I know there are people who say they are Christian Wiccans - you can call yourself whatever you want but it doesn't make it so.

There's also the problem of mixing the Christian pantheon with pagan and Wiccan pantheons, these are all strong energies/deities/entities/spirits (however you perceive them) and they do not necessarily all get along. If you start working and mixing them together you may end up with phenomena that you may find very difficult to handle. I have personally seen this happen.

[Treehugger]

Hi Jenny Crow.

Your post explains it all. Very wise words! Thank you.

Scott Cunningham wrote:
"Any and all religions are real, the genuine article, to their practitioners. There can never be one religion, prophet, or savior that will satisfy all six billion humans. Each of us must find our ideal way to attune with deity. For some, it's Wicca."

[Mikaela Kurahla]

Hi. I'm a Christian witch. It's quite simple. I just honor the Christian pantheon, the trinity. I cast spells, make brews, candle magick, healing, divination, etc. I just honor Mother/Father God ( or Creator, Gitchie Manito or Great Mystery in my Ojibwe language, although many names are used) and the teachings of Jesus Christ. My Goddess is called by many names, Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, various female saints. Back when I first starting forming my path and training at a center, there weren't any umbrella terms like "Christian Witch" or "Christopagan" but these terms are more used now and more and more Christian, Jewish, and all types of witches, really are coming out into the open. It's important to remember a personal relationship with Christian deities is often much different than what is taught by the churches of today. There are Christians who do not follow church teachings (most know church history and how documents were changed, words were added and changed, etc to support the agenda of the time period) so there is no conflict within communities anymore. Of course every coven is different, but please know that we Christian Witches and Christian Pagans do exist and a lot of Eclectic Witches work with the Christian deities and just feel more comfortable with that term. It's all labels to me and I don't think the Spirit world is too concerned with our human divisions. :) Blessed be!

[Spotted&HerbaceousSmall]

I don't know if it helps, but I was once told by an Archbishop (I asked what happens to people who believe in other religions, including those with multiple deities) that "God doesn't mind what postal service you use, so long as he gets the letter"

[Miss Hepburn]

"God doesn't mind what postal service you use, so long as he gets the letter"...wanted to repeat that one.

[DaughterofDanu]

Originally Posted by Spotted&HerbaceousSmall

I don't know if it helps, but I was once told by an Archbishop (I asked what happens to people who believe in other religions, including those with multiple deities) that "God doesn't mind what postal service you use, so long as he gets the letter"

Oh how I like religious officials who think this way! It's a shame there aren't more like him.

[Mikaela Kurahla]

Originally Posted by Spotted&HerbaceousSmall

I don't know if it helps, but I was once told by an Archbishop (I asked what happens to people who believe in other religions, including those with multiple deities) that "God doesn't mind what postal service you use, so long as he gets the letter"

Ahh, I love this :)

[Jenny Crow]

I think that's very presumptious of that archbiship to think that his god is the one that will end up with "the letter". My letter will be delivered to my goddess, thank you very much!

Jenny Crow