So...Lets start with what witches ARE NOT! We are not evil! We have NOTHING to with Satan, or any other negative energy force, an we DO NOT sacrifice anything! One of our rules to live by, is the Three fold law of the universe: What ever energy you send out, good or bad, WILL return to you, three fold! A short version of, "The Wiccan Rede":
Bide the Wiccan Law ye must.
In perfect love, in perfect trust.
Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill,
An it harm none, do what ye will.
And
What you send out comes back to thee.
Follow this in mind and heart,
Merry Meet and Merry Part.
So, how did all the misconceptions about
witchcraft start? Where did the negative image of the witch begin? The answers
to these questions have their roots deep in the past. Patriarchy culminated in
Europe in the fourth century when the church and the Roman Empire joined forces.
Under Constantine, Christianity became the official religion of the empire.
Bishops followed Roman armies into the territories and, under their protection,
began preaching what they called, "the good news."
Christendom did not become the dominant faith overnight, and for centuries the
old religion and Christianity coexisted, side by side, and for a long time,
Christians too, practiced the old ways.
An attempt at mass conversion was made by Pope Gregory the Great. He thought that
one way to get the people to attend the Christian churches was to have them
built on the sites where the older temples had been built (they were all
destroyed for the new religion) where the people were already accustomed to
gathering for worship. He instructed his bishops to sprinkle the grounds with
holy water and rededicate them to Christianity. The only artisans available
however to do the religious carvings for the new church, were the locals
themselves. The stone carvers and wood masons incorporated their own religious
symbols into the new Christian symbols, many of which are still in use today.
As Christianity gained more control, usually through severe condemnation, the Old
religion went "underground." They "re-named" themselves to
hide their identity. They made "code" names for many of their potions
(ex: eye of newt ?, tongue of dog?) and all meetings were held by cover of night
in the woods so not to be caught practicing their faith. It didn't take long for
the powers of the church to find out what was going on. Wicca is a nature
religion and myth god of nature, is Pan...a half animal half human.... with
horns. This is where the image of Satan having horns came from! A nature myth.
The Bible calls him Lucifer, the anointed cherub, he was not only created
perfect, but he was exceedingly beautiful. In his high position and beauty, he
forgot his creatureliness and wanted to become "as God" No where in
the Christian bible is Lucifer referred to as physically ugly, hideous, or
as having horns. Reference is to his physical beauty. (cf. Ezek.
28:11-15; Isa. 14:12-13).
"THOU SHALT NOT SUFFER..."What does the Bible say about Witches?
Well, NOT A LOT! Lets look at the main source
of this: Exodus 22:18--"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." As was
pointed out as early as 1584 by Reginald Scot in "The Discovery Of
Witchcraft," the original word in Hebrew, chasaph means "poisoner,"
not Witch. At the time of writing, a poisoner could ruin a well and kill many
people and livestock. This is what the Bible originally referred to.
King James I had a paranoid fear of Witches (as evidenced by his book,
Demonologies) and deliberately had his translators alter the text to prove
grounds for the extermination of Witches. Reginald Scot's book was burned at the
command of James I.
The other well known quote, comes from the story of the "Witch of Endor"
found in I Samuel, 28. Was she a witch? According to the Bible, NO. the Bible
states she was, "a woman that hath a familiar spirit." Apparently,
this woman was what we today, would call a "channel" or some type of
medium.
These incorrect translations, still in use today, have been the cause for
thousands to die
I hope this sheds a little bit of light on Wicca for you. It is not meant to change your faith, just to let you understand that Wicca is not what movies and books portray it as. It is a very gentle religion of nature.
Once again I'd like to thank you for visiting
this page. If you have any questions, or would like to make any comments please
do not hesitate to E-mail me.
NOTES
Wicca, Wiccan: Wise
Craft: to know
Witchcraft: Craft Of The wise
Latin translators, with the understanding that HEYLEL meant the morning star, translated HEYLEL as "Lucifer", the Latin term used for the Morning Star (it literally meant "light-bringer"). However, down through the centuries, some Christian denominations have assumed "Lucifer" to be a name for Satan. When the English KJV Bible was written, they even chose to retain the Latin word amidst the English text.
The word "Pagan" comes from the Latin "Pagani," it means "people who live in the country. The word "heathen" means, "one who dwells on the heath." Both of these terms were appropriate for non-Christians at the time because they bore no connotations of evil, there use to day in a derogatory sense is incorrect!