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I have heard a lot of wicca lately. and only here on funadvice have I EVER heard of wicca.
I will do my own research, but id like to hear what wiccans believe.
do you know what wicca is, where it originated from, what the beliefs are, the practices???
if you know any of the answers, please answer.
In the context of the term pagan, then yes they are. However, it would appear you mar the term with the Pagan practice in which they are not. They're both pantheistic practices. Wicca developed independently from the Roman Pagans in Celtic territory. When the Romans sought to push the Celtics northward, the Wicca's were slaughtered. Read my first comment if you will. No, I'm not candy coating the Wicca practice. The original wicca's practiced animal sacrifice, so did nearly ever other religion on the planet that dates back 2 centuries or more, including your biblical practices especially. However, as I stated, modern wicca is nothing more than a made up practice brought to light 50 years ago by Gerald Gardener under the guise of an ancient name.
And yes, I know what "holidays" the Christians took from the Celtics, after all. I'm the one who brought them up now aren't I.
Like I've not read or heard Deuteronomy 18:10-11 over a million times, why not try and come up with something new, be original.
Indeed the bible does say that, however, the bible says many things and later down the line contradicts itself. There many biblical characters who practice and dabble in the occult
"23 And he went up from thence unto Beth-el; and as he was going up by the way, there came forth young lads out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou baldhead; go up, thou baldhead.
24 And he looked behind him and saw them, and cursed them in the name of Jehovah. And there came forth two she-bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two lads of them." ~*~II Kings 2:23-24 (many would consider that "black magick", or even an act of "evil", if one believes in such things of good and evil)
" And Elijah took his mantle and wrapped it together and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither so that the two went over on dry ground." ~*~2 Kings 2:8
Joseph used divination, and he was called a "devineth" by his household manager. He' ld fill a silver drinking cup and gaze into it.~*~ Genesis 44:5 (This was also one of the many methods used by Nostradamus might I add)
St. Paul Blinded Bar Jesus for a season ~*~ Acts 13:6-12
St peter also determined Sapphira had lied to him, he cursed her, she fell down, dead, at his feet~*~ acts 5:1-10
St. Peter uttered words to his wife, she clasped, dead, at his feet. ~*~Acts 5:7-10
A wedding reception Jesses and his mother were attending ran out of wine, so he conjured wine out of water. Jesses raised people from the dead(necromancy), healed the blind, gave vague prophesies(divination).
Solomon also used magic. Solomon had 12 seals in which he used to obtain "all that he needed" in life. Supposedly, these seals were given to him by demons.
The prophet David(the title should be enough) was employed as the king's "chief occultist", supervisor of "the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans and soothsayers" for many years in Babylon. ~*~Daniel 5:11
Lots- pieces of wood/stone with markings, used to determine "the will of god"~*~ Numbers 26:55; Proverbs 16:33 Proverbs 18:18
We needn't forget the varies biblical passages the describes prohibited occultic activity performed by the ancient Israelites
~*~ Exodus 22:18 Leviticus 19:26-26; 19:31; 20:6 Deuteronomy 18:10-11 Isaiah 8:19 Malachai 3:5
Here's a lovely little ritual that could be done if a man suspected his wife of adultery.
12"Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them: `If any man's wife go astray and commit a trespass against him,
13and a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband and be kept secret, and she be defiled and there be no witness against her, neither be she taken in the act,
14and the spirit of jealousy come upon him and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled -- or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled--
15then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest. And he shall bring her offering for her, a tenth part of an ephah of barley meal. He shall pour no oil upon it nor put frankincense thereon, for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance.
16"`And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord.
17And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take and put it into the water.
18And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord, and uncover the woman's head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering; and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse.
19And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, "If no man have lain with thee and if thou hast not gone astray to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse.
20But if thou hast gone astray to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled and some man have lain with thee besides thine husband"--
21then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman -- "the Lord make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the Lord doth make thy thigh to rot and thy belly to swell.
22And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels to make thy belly to swell and thy thigh to rot." And the woman shall say, "Amen, amen."
23"`And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water;
24and he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse, and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her and become bitter.
25Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the Lord and offer it upon the altar.
26And the priest shall take a handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water.
27And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, if she be defiled and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her and become bitter, and her belly shall swell and her thigh shall rot; and the woman shall be a curse among her people.
28And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean, then she shall be free and shall conceive seed.
29"`This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband and is defiled,
30or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him and he is jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law.
31Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.'"
Numbers 5:12-31
Need I continue?
The bible was written by men Personally, I don't need to reap information from miss informed opinionated ancient bigots, especially while I have plenty of modern living bigots going out of their way to flaunt their religion in my face every time they get.
"The bible is the word of God. God used men as vessels to write his word". The devil could of just as easily done the same.
What proof do you have that the biblical God even exist?
I'm no wiccan, though I've researched it quite a bit, can't say I care too much for it either.
Wicca, is a new religion under the guise of an ancient name. Gerald Gardner brought the religion to public attention in the early 1950s. It's a pantheistic religion rooted in light Celtic practice. Wiccans celebrate Celtic Festivities and some revised Celtic practices.
Wicca's main magick practices consist of candle magick, elemental magick(Aeromancy, Geomancy, Hydromancy, Pyromancy), basic healing, ruin, and herbal magick. Depending on the individual, practitioners may take it further. Many Wiccans practice chi and fung shi as well. Wiccans do not practice "dark" magick, nor any magick that seeks to cause harm to others.
Many Wiccans follow the "Wiccan Rede",a poem written by Doreen Valiente in 1964 (for more information on he rede, just click here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiccan_Rede ).
Originally wicca was brought to the public as a duotheistic religion, believing both a God and a Goddess(or multiple Gods and Goddesses). The most popular today are Pam (recently known as spirit of the forest, however, originally he's the roman God of corn), and Diana(roman goddes of the hunt and wild animals, also sister of Apollo-god of the sun).
Over the past 50 years people have morphed it and created their own different traditions of Wicca. Gardiner(said to be the first), Georgian, Dianic , Seax, Circle, "Celtic", even "Electric", "Egyptian"(I'ld call it out on bs), and even "fairie"(the list goes on).
However, remember, no matter how old people claim Wicca to be, it is not the first religion, really, no where near it.
The oldest (recognized)religion is Pantheism, root of all existing religions today.
The original Wicca (Hu Wika-spelling it how it's pronounced) dates back to Celtic time. The ancient Wicca's DID practice animal sacrifice. An ancient philosopher recorded information about the Wicca's in his journal(I forgot the name, I know it wasn't Plato). There are approximately 4 copies of a book that talks about the ancient wicca's(I'm sure there's more than one type, but it will be rare, especially in modern days). When the Roman Empire moved upward, pushing the Celtics further North. The Wicca's stayed behind and did their thing, the romans slaughtered them.
Though some will mar the terms Wicca, witch, and Pagan together, they are different things not to be mistakenly intermingled. There are distinct differences.
Here's some links I came buy a few years back I think may help you. The sites may use pagan, wicca, and witch interchangeably, but other than that, the information is good.
http://www.electricwitch.com/contents.html
http://silverywitch.com/wicca/home.php
http://www.important.ca/wiccareligionhistory.html
...perhaps I should e-mail myself a copy of this so I can just copy and paste in the for when people ask this question in the future, lol.
I recommend doing research, reading books. Stay away from the books written by Silver Raven Wolf, Star Hawk, and authors such as them. Try to get books that take an outsider's look in so it's less opinionated, such as Wicca for dummies and wicca for idiots. Also see if You can't rent the book Witches from the Mystery Library. Talk to religious scholars when/if provided the opportunity.
Hope this helps
wicca is not evil, we do not worship satan, and we don't put 'hexes' or 'curses' on people.
whatever the internet says, it is not a cult, and we don't boil up frog's legs in a cauldron and fly on broom-sticks.
Okay, I just thought id sort that out first. Wicca is a beautiful religion, we live by the phrase 'an if ye harm none; do what ye wilt' which pretty much means do what you want as long as you are not hurting anyone by it. anyone- means anything. people, animals, nature etc. Wiccans do use magick, but true wiccans only use white magic, to benefit other people. healing injuries finding happiness etc. some people use black magick and claim to be wiccan but they are just naiieve people who like the idea of rebelling against their friends. you'll often find that they are about 15 years old, and have a tshirt that says 'all hail satan'. these people are not wiccan.
the whole wiccan religion is about loving everyone for who they are, its about acceptance and finding happiness within yourself. wiccans just want to live their lives, they are everyday people, we don't live in secret societies. we live as a normal human being, because we are. these days there are wiccans everywhere- they just don't preach or brag about their religion.
People always hear wiccan and immediately think of sabrina the teenage witch and harry potter, and with all the occult tv shows coming out these days, who can blame them. the things on television often warp our minds, showing us cults of people cutting their wrists and drinking blood and weird things like that and then saying oh yeah thats wicca, when it isnt.
so yeah, just have an open mind, and accept wiccans as we are not wanting to harm anyone, most of us wish that christians would leave us alone, instead of getting into huge fights all the time.
good for you though for wanting to hear both sides :)
blessed be, x.
wicca is an old religion, popularized in the 50's by gerald gardner, but it goes back to ancient beliefs that predate christianity many of the chrisian practices derive from pagan beliefs. there are different branches of wicca, they belive in a god and a goddess, Each branch (tradition) adresses them differently, for example, the dianic tradition will adress the goddess more. There are covens, groups of wiccans that gather together, but there are also solitary wiccans as well. There is a lot to wicca, more than I could type so do your research but do it carefully. there is a misconception that wicca is satanic, its not, wiccans do not believe in the devil or hell. they follow the wiccan rede" "and if it harm none, do what ye will"
p.s. you probebly have only heard of it on funadvice because wiccans are frowned upon in society, so they are what we call "in the broom closet" but online they dont have to worry about personal attacks or what people think of them. Its a bigger religion than it appears. anyway, just choose your sources wisely. you are welcome to funmail me with any questions you have
wrong "wiseoldman" Wicca does not have Pagan roots. It was the Romans that slaughtered the original. Romans being the Pagans. And if you want to start talking about "roots", your holidays and practices are rooted in Pantheistic Practices, such as Celtic (especially) and Pagan.
dude...wiseoldman
thats great and all...
but I just wanted to know what wicca was
not what the bible had to say about it (I know that)
I don't feel like copy and pasting all of it... so...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca