Everything akin to magic or divination is likewise an abomination to`ebhah; as are sexual transgressions (Dt 22:5; 23:18; 24:4), especially incest and other unnatural offenses: "For all these abominations have the men of the land done, that were before you" (Lev 18:27; compare Ezek 8:15). It is to be noted, however, that the word takes on in the later usage a higher ethical and spiritual meaning: as where "divers measures, a great and a small," are forbidden (Dt 25:14-16); and in Proverbs where "lying lips" (12:22), "the proud in heart" (16:5), "the way of the wicked" (15:9), "evil devices" (15:26), and "he that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the righteous" (17:15), are said to be an abomination in God's sight. At last prophet and sage are found to unite in declaring that any sacrifice, however free from physical blemish, if offered without purity of motive, is an abomination: `Bring no more an oblation of falsehood--an incense of abomination it is to me' (Isa 1:13; compare Jer 7:10). "The sacrifice of the wicked" and the prayer of him "that turneth away his ear from hearing the law," are equally an abomination (see Prov 15:8; 21:27; 28:9).

This brief outline points out some significant differences between Wicca and Christianity to demonstrate the reasons why they are clearly not compatible with our standard The Bible.

• The majority of Wiccans do not believe in a Heaven or a Hell but instead hold to reincarnation. The Bible teaches that we die but once then face judgement (Heb. 9:27).

• Most Wiccans believe in many god's (Polytheism). Christians believe in only one true God (Monotheism).

• Wiccans believe truth is relative and that there are no absolutes. Christianity is built on absolute truth (e.g. Jesus said: "I am the way and the truth and the life..." John 14:6).

• Wiccans do not accept the sinful nature of humanity or the need of salvation, but rather see a spark of the Divine in all people. Christianity teaches that all people are sinners in need of salvation (e.g. Rom. 3:23; 6:23).

• Wiccans do not believe Satan exists. However, Jesus clearly viewed him as a personal being. To deny the reality of Satan is to make Christ out to be a liar. The Bible ascribes the following personal attributes to Satan: He speaks (Job 1:6-2:1-5; Matt 4:1-11); he has a will (1 Chron. 21:1; Luke 22:31; 1 Thess. 2:18; 2 Tim. 2:26); he tempts (Matt. 4:1-11; 1 Cor. 7:5); and he oppressors people (Acts 10:38), all characteristics that we would expect from a personal being, not a symbol or abstract force.

• Most Wiccans tend to view the Bible as unreliable and inaccurate in parts. The vast majority of Christians view the Bible as reliable and trustworthy.

• Wicca tends to view most sexual orientations as normal and natural: heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual. Although there are some liberal wings in the Church that also teaches this, the vast majority of Christians throughout history utterly reject this as being at odds with the plain reading of Scripture (e.g. Romans 1:18-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Tim. 1:9-10). Sexual relations are to be between a man and a woman.

• Jesus was from a thoroughly Jewish background, grounded in the Old Testament, which utterly condemns most of the occult practices of modern day Wiccans (e.g. Deut. 18:10-12; Lev. 19:26; 2 Kings:17:10-17; 2 Chron. 33:6).

• Most Wiccans view the Divine as female (the goddess). Wiccans do worship a male god as well, but the emphasis is by far upon the "goddess". Although Christians do not believe that God is a 'He' in the sense that He is a male creature, we have to address God in some way. God transcends human sexuality. However, Christians follow Christ's example by calling God "Father" (e.g. the Lords prayer - "This is how you should pray. Our Father who art in heaven..."). There is no evidence that He called God a goddess

Wicca  [Top of page]

Wicca symbolizes more than just a human chatting with a spirit and is much more dangerous and sinful than an ordinary conversation with your neighbor. The need to know, connect, familiarize, and become close with darkness is a tantalization of the devil because, after all, he desires that we all enter into his world of lies and deception.

To practice Wicca is to become entangled with a world which we were never meant to get involved. The symbolic messages of Wicca, those of enchanting and awe-inspiring power, draw us away from God, and cause us to pursue another love than He. Wicca symbolizes ordinary measures taken to superhuman lengths and is a clearly defined message of dark evils that beckon followers down a slippery slope of deception.

Wicca is a Pagan Witchcraft tradition. Today, the name Wicca is frequently applied to the entire system of beliefs and practices that make up the spectrum of contemporary Pagan Witchcraft. However, although Wicca and Witchcraft are often used interchangeably, it is important to note that there are also Pagan Witchcraft traditions that are not Wiccan.

Wicca was used originally to distinguish the initiatory tradition of Witchcraft practised as a religion, but American popular television series have adopted the word to include what would once have been called natural magic or white witchcraft. When people in Britain describe themselves as Wiccan though, they generally mean that they are practising a form of religious Witchcraft. Media images often show Wiccans as teenage women, but it is practised by adults of all ages.

Origins of Wicca

Religious Witchcraft is not merely a system of magic, but is a Pagan mystery religion worshipping Goddess and God and venerating the Divine in nature. Its origins lie in pre-Christian religious traditions, folklore, folk witchcraft and ritual magic, but most Witches draw their inspiration from the 'Book of Shadows', a book of rituals and spells compiled by of one of Wicca's major figures Gerald Brosseau Gardner (1884-1964).Gerald Brosseau Gardner (June 13, 1884 - February 12, 1964 was an English civil servant, amateur anthropologist, writer, and occultist who published some of the definitive texts for Wicca, which he was instrumental in founding.

Gerald Gardner claimed to have been initiated in 1939 into a coven of Witches who met in the New Forest in Hampshire and his two most well known books Witchcraft Today (1954) and The Meaning of Witchcraft (1959) produced a huge surge of interest, inspiring a movement that has spread around the world.

Gods

Wicca honours the Divine in the forms of the Triple Goddess, whose aspects of Virgin, Mother, and Wise Woman or Crone are associated with the waxing, full and waning phases of the Moon, and as the Horned God.

The principal names by which the God is known are Cernunnos or Herne, both of which mean 'Horned One'. The emphasis placed on Goddess and God differs between groups, traditions and localities, but most Wiccans believe that for wholeness the image of the Divine must be both female and male.

Structure

There are no central authorities in Wicca. Some Witches are solo Witches. Others belong to covens – groups of like-minded people who meet together to worship the Gods and to do magic. Some covens are part of initiatory traditions in which more experienced people act as teachers to newcomers. Others are formed by groups of friends who want to meet and learn together. The classic number of people in a coven is thirteen, but many covens are smaller. Some are mixed sex groups; others cater for Witches who prefer single sex covens.

Rites and celebrations

The major festivals of Wicca are known as sabbats. These are held eight times throughout the year and mark changes in the seasons. The festivals are Winter Solstice or Yule on December 20/21, the shortest day, Summer Solstice or Midsummer on June 21/22, the longest day, and the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes (March 20/21 and September 20/21) when the hours of darkness and light are equal. The other four festivals are Imbolc, February 1/2; Beltane or May Eve on April 30/May 1; Lughnasadh also known by its Anglo-Saxon name of Lammas or Loaf Mass, August 1/2, and Samhain, also known as All Hallow's Eve, October 31/November 1. Witches also honour their deities at monthly rites known as esbats, which are held on the full Moon, when the mind is thought to be more magically powerful.

Sabbats begin at sunset and end at sunset the next day and most rites are held at night, lit evocatively by candles if indoors or by the moon, bonfires and lanterns if outside. For indoor rituals, some Witches have rooms set aside as temples in their houses, which they use for rites. Others use their ordinary living space.

Rites take place in a consecrated space, the circle, and even if there is a temple, the circle space is created anew for each rite. The space is first swept with a broomstick or besom to purify it and then blessed with the four elements – air, fire, water and earth. The circle is then symbolically sealed by drawing a circle around it in the air with a wooden wand or a black-handled knife known as an athame. The four directions – east, south, west and north – are then honoured. Within the sacred space, the Goddess and God are invoked and magic performed. Rituals usually end with blessing a chalice of wine and cakes that are shared among the participants.

Magic and ethics

Like many Pagan religions, Wicca practices magic. Witches believe that the human mind has the power to effect change in ways that are not yet understood by science. In their rituals, as well as honouring their deities, Witches also perform spells for healing and to help people with general life problems. Magic is practised according to an ethical code that teaches that magic may only be performed to help people when it does not harm others.

Witches believe that the energies that we create influence what happens to us: negative magic rebounds on the perpetuator but magnified. This process is often known as 'Threefold Law'. Other important ethical teachings are that people should strive to live in harmony with others and with themselves, and with the planet as a whole. Environmental issues are important to Wiccans.

After death

Wicca teaches reincarnation. After death, the spirit is reborn and will meet again those with whom it had close personal ties in previous lives. The aim of reincarnation is not to escape life on Earth, but to enjoy experiencing it again and again until everything that can be learned has been absorbed. When the spirit ceases to reincarnate, it remains in a blissful realm known as 'The Land of Youth' or the 'Summerland'.

Wicca and other contemporary Pagan spiritualities

Wiccan ideas and rites have been taken up by the Goddess spirituality movement. They appeal to women who have rejected male-dominated religions and who prefer to venerate the Divine in female form as Goddess, seeing this as important and empowering for women.

There are many similarities between Wicca and Druidry. Both emphasize the importance of developing close links with Nature and their rites frequently take place out of doors. Both also stress the importance of guardianship of the Earth and environmentalism. Some distinctions are that Druidry is more purely Celtic than Wicca, there is less emphasis on magic in Druidry, and Druidry more actively encourages the development of music and poetry as paths to spiritual growth.

While it is rooted in ancient pagan beliefs, the Wicca religion, as it is practiced now, is only about 50-years-old. Wicca is a belief system cobbled together in the 1940's and 1950's by Gerald Gardner from a variety of religious traditions and beliefs as well as Freemason rituals. Since Gardner published several books espousing his system of worship, many offshoots and variations of Wicca have sprung up.

There is no particular agreement between Wiccans, or "wise ones" concerning what they believe and worship. Some worship the "Goddess," some worship the "God," and some worship both. Others worship nature. Some Wiccans say they embrace Christian doctrine, while others reject it. Most promoters of Wicca believe in reincarnation.

One thing most Wiccans agree on is the fact that Satan is not a part of their pantheon and they vehemently deny Satan-worship as one of their practices. This is because they disavow the notion of moral absolutes. There is no such thing as good or evil, because it is all relative. Wiccans have only one law that they bind themselves to, called "The Rede." It simply states, "Do what ye will, harm ye none." In other words: "Do what ever you want to as long as no one gets hurt." The Three-fold Law governs consequences, and is a law of returns that states, "All good that a person does to another returns three-fold in this life; harm is also returned three-fold."

Wicca Spells - Mind Control
What about Wicca spells? Not all Wiccans practice witchcraft (which they call "magick" to set themselves apart from illusionists and magicians). Magick is to Wicca what prayer is to Christianity. Wiccans claim that the practice of magick is simply using their minds to control matter, while Christians call upon God to heal people and to intervene and work in their lives. Because the Rede forbids harming others and the Three-fold Law sets forth consequences for those who do, Wiccans view themselves as "white witches" or "nature witches."

Wicca is basically a religion that is about minding your own business and living peaceably with your neighbors and environment. Wiccans are eager to draw parallels between themselves and biblical Christianity for the sake of earning credibility, but what does the Bible have to say about this religion? You won't find the word "wicca" in the Bible, so let's evaluate the beliefs in light of what God says about them.

• Wicca spells are idolism - Romans 1:25 says, "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things, rather than the Creator…" Who wants to settle for second best? In Isaiah 40, God paints a very cool picture of how much greater the Creator is than His creation. If you are worshipping anything besides the Creator, you are just spinning your wheels.
  
  
• Wicca spells bring false hope - Hebrews 9:27 says, "…Man is destined to die once, after that, to face judgment." God says we get one chance at life, and that is it. There are no do-overs. If we don't accept God's gift of Jesus in our lifetime, He judges us as unwilling to be in His presence, and we are sent to Hell.
  
  
• Wicca spells bring disillusionment - Mark 7:8 says, "You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men". God is God, and we are not. We have a decision to make. Are we going to take God at His word and adopt His worldview, or not? Knowing God is hard work that takes a lot of discipline. Wicca is a religion that takes a pack of lies, ties it in a romantic ribbon, and searches out a well-intentioned, but lazy and gullible mark to sell its hollow doctrines.
  
  
• Wicca spells bring rebellion - Deuteronomy 18:10-12 says, "Let no one be found among you who… practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells…Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD..." Wicca witchcraft is a sin and God hates it. Why? Because it is an attempt to cut off our dependence on God and get answers apart from Him.

Wicca Spells - Separation from God
This is what sin is all about. Sin isn't just a heinous, socially disagreeable action. Sin is our decision to disagree with God on any topic - to rebel against Him. Sin is saying, "God, I want to live my life MY WAY." Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death…" This isn't bodily death, this is spiritual death: eternal separation from God and all the blessings that His presence brings. This is the definition of Hell: the absence of God's presence. That is what our sin buys for us.  [Back to top of page]