One question that has been on my mind of late is, "Can a Christian be a Witch?", or maybe even better, "Can a Witch be a Christian?" In modern parlance, the answer might be a quick ( shuddering ) "Hell NO", while from the more spiritual ( not-so-religious ), the answer would likely be more affirmative. Maybe more to the point though, is, "Why CAN'T a Christian be a Witch?" ( Or a Witch a Christian? ) Before we can answer THAT question however, we must definitively answer these; "What IS a Christian?" & "What IS a Witch?" To answer the latter question first, "What is a Witch?", we must first dispel a few errant notions. What might be called 'the Hollywood witch' is probably the most popular ( "familiar"? ) notion. Shows like 'Bewitched' & 'Sabrina, the Teenage Witch', among others are largely to blame for this one. Movies like, 'The Witches of Eastwick' & even Disney's 'Hocus Pocus' have served to promote this same image. From early times, witches have been described as 'wild women flying around on brooms, zapping their enemies with hexes'. These are NOT true Witches! First & foremost, to be a true Witch, One ( male OR female ) MUST possess an intimate knowledge of & relationship with themselves; secondarily, and leading FROM the first, this Person is intimately connected to our Blessed Mother Earth! Some might use the terminology, "Mother Nature", but really, both these monikers refer to the same Divine Being. Even the Christian Bible tells us that the Creator told Her, in Genesis 1:11 & 24, "bring forth"! However, speaking of the Christian Bible, another reason that most religious Christians would say that a Christian cannot be a Witch is that, most infamously, in Exodus 22:18, we read, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live". If my readers care to click on the link attached to "witch" in this verse, they will see that, though the foremost ( Strong's ) concordance seems to fall right in line with even 'the Hollywood witch', further in, Gesenius' Hebrew lexicon simply tells us that the word speaks of prayer & worship! This then, brings us to the question, "To Whom do you pray? Who DO you worship?" That, or rather, "those" questions, could open a whole NEW can of worms! Secondly, "What is a Christian?" While admittedly, particularly in this day & age, "Christian" is a bit of an 'umbrella term', biblically speaking, it means 'disciple, or follower of ( the ) Christ'. In fact, the term 'Christian' was at first given as a derogatory term, as it simply means, 'little Christ'. ( among the majority of the religious elite of his day, Jesus was NOT very popular & therefore, neither were his followers ) Put simply, then, a Christian is a follower of Jesus, who was the Christ & One who espouses the principles he gave us!
So, again; "Can a Christian be a Witch?", or vice-versa. We, however, must ask yet another question; "Are we speaking of a spiritual Christian or a religious one?" "What's the difference?" One might ask. This is NOT a one-size-fits-all answer, but "a spiritual Christian is one who believes in God ( ? ), follows the teachings of Jesus, but does NOT feel the need to worship Him ( ? ) in a corporate assembly, or even follow the 'rules' that most religious Christians do". A religious Christian then, is one who follows, or at least aspires to follow, not just the teachings of Jesus, but all ten rules ( Commandments/Laws? ) outlined in Exodus 20, et al. Religious Christians range from simple ( ignorant? ) folk who think they need to follow a set of rules in a religious text that was written to & for an ancient people in an almost ENTIRELY different culture in order to be a good Christian, to one who, like the Pharisees, trusts more in their ability to follow a set of laws, than in the Lawgiver. Personally speaking & coming from a space where I USED to be one of these latter, other than the most obvious ( perceived ) reason that a Christian can't be a Witch ( as outlined in the first paragraph ), I have no issues with a Witch believing in God ( ? ), or a Christian practicing the Craft!
"Who IS God?" ( Yet another question, I know! ) Again, we must return to the issue of the religious Christian versus the spiritual Christian. As before, I'm not claiming to speak for all, but a religious Christian would most likely immediately point to what the Christian Bible says on the subject. A spiritual Christian, on the other hand, while not necessarily disagreeing with what it says, knows by experience that "God", whatever form that may be, is not limited to, or defined by it, or the ancient Hebrew text on which it is however loosely based. Whether or not the Christian God is the true God, the Source of all Life, or just One of Many different perceptions of that Source, It is what It is! As the saying goes, "A Rose by any other Name smells the same"! Well, in this case, maybe that's not quite true............
I was recently reminded how the monotheistic religions, in particularly the Big Three ( Judaism, Christianity & Islam ) have been responsible, directly or indirectly, for the overwhelming majority of national conflicts, or Wars, around the Globe since the inception of Institutional Religion: this is not to say that every adherent of said monotheistic religions is warlike, just that many or most monotheists seem to be of the notion that, "if you don't recognize MY god, I don't recognize yours ( or YOU, in many cases )!" Pagans, on the other hand, no matter what culture they're from ( Asia to the Americas ) recognize & worship many gods, all of whom are tangible, visible Powers in Earth & Sky, from the Sun & Moon to Mother Earth Herself!
Again, for a Christian to be a Witch, despite what the Christian bible says, is entirely possible! For a Witch to be a Christian is thus not outside the realm of possibility, though unless the Christian in question is more of a spiritual One & not one who follows the party line without hesitation, there might be a few issues that she or he would need to overcome. The main Issue, I would say that such a questioner would need to overcome is that of placing Ultimate Power in something outside themselves. This is not, of course, to say that there IS no Power outside ourselves, because each Individual has their own Power, of sorts; the point IS, though, that AS Individuals, we ONLY have the Power to direct our own lives: like a famous Bear once said, "Only YOU can prevent forest fires!" Taken literally, as so many religionists tend to do, one might think it's all up to them, but no; that's not what I am, or "he is" ) saying at all! Individuals, however aware or unaware they may be, have the Ultimate Choice; no matter the impact someone else's choice might have on us, we ALWAYS have a choice as to how we will respond ( if at all )!
Finally, it is difficult to argue with the notion of 'the Hollywood Witch', at least to some extent, because honestly, I would say that some of the things they do are not outside the realm of possibility! I have never done any in-depth study of such phenomena as telekinesis, for instance, but I HAVE heard that the average person uses about 10% of their brains capacity. Movies like 'Lucy" are no doubt very fantasmagorical, but what if there WAS just a bit of Truth there?! "Can people actually move objects with their Mind?" I've heard Stories; I'm sure all my readers have heard stories & whether we believe them or not, again, "It is what It is!" Just like God ( ? ), just like 'witches', just like 'Christians'!
"THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING!"
Namaste' & Blessed Be!
Sage Charles
