Wicca, gentle nature lovers or a wolf in sheeps clothing?

For the record I am a practicing Wiccan. A solitary Witch to be more specific. However, I was raised Catholic and as an adult followed the Lutheran faith. At one time in my life I was a very devowed Christian, but as time went on and I got more envolved in Christianity, I slowly became more and more dissatisfied with those beliefs. I then did some soul searching and started a quest to see what religion did make since to me. Out of that quest I found my own beliefs fit most closely with the Wiccan practice. So, for all you out there who think I might have been led astray, that's not the case. I made an informed, educated, conscious choice.

That said, I have a question. Where did mainstream society's view of witches come from? I'm talking about the frazzled hair, wart on the nose, pointy black hat, broom flying over the moon way society views witches. Nothing I've read so far answers this question for me. Historically, witches were the midwives or nurses of the town. The word "Witch" coming from the word "Wicce" meaning "Wise" So at what point in history did we decide that witches were something to fear? That they were ugly, ominous, and evil?

Merry Meet!
I want to believe you have asked a rhetorical question here; obviously if you are of the Craft, you must know where the stereotype stems...
In a nutshell... People will almost always fear that which they are not willing to or perhaps be incapable of understanding; therefore one Wise Wo/Man who was capable of using simple common sense combined with a learned knowledge of herbs back in the day to assist any given situation, if successful, was either revered, or in the case of our Puritanical forefathers, was notoriously maligned...sigh...
That said, you have still asked a very valid question...I look forward to the reponses you may recieve here; it is always interesting to see how mainstream folks view the Wise, and also always as interesting to discourse upon their perceptions of what it is they think they understand about those of us who have chosen to follow the Path..
Please don't discount the people who will answer you here; for the most part, they are a very discerning lot who will not judge you, but seek to learn why you chose the Path you have chosen... be prepared to give quantative , honest answers.
Where do you hail from? Why are you here? How does the Goddess/God manifest in your life? How do YOU view Wicca as a whole? how do YOU think the world at large views us?
Merry Part, from one pointy-hatted, broom -flying over the moon wicce to another and I hope you enjoy your time here at ATS.
Be Well.
edited for spelling.

[edit on 28-2-2008 by althea041724]

reply to post by enchantress62

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Where does the popular misconception derive? Well, I'd have thought you'd know as well as any My understanding is that the christian church viewed these 'pagan' practitioners as a serious threat to their authority from very early on in the history of the christian church. Therefore the church viewed it as imperative to 'eliminate' them from the map. Demonizing them was part of that program too. A program that inevitably led to burning many alive on the stake too...

But then - I could be mistaken - though I think not.

J.

reply to post by jimbo999

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Well said J! Let us not forget how most mainstream religions have adopted "Pagan" feast days for their own...lol... made them look like they were on the same page as the current religiosity at the time. Hah.

Yes, I know It's all out there and ready to be assimilated - REAL history, that is. But it's up to open minded individuals out there to do just that. I find myself bickering with close minded, ill-informed 'religious' types on this forum all the time

You can lead a horse to water....

J.

Thank you all for the input. Yes I've done the research, I know the point in history where the perception of witches, being bad, came into play, and I know what the fear was about. What I'm asking is where the modern day image, the black hat, broom flying, wart on the nose image we see everwhere today, come from?

I asked the same thing about Buddha when I was researching that religion. How did we go from the skinny little Indian guy (Sedahartha) to the fat little Chinese guy that's sold in the stores today? It took me a year but I did find the answer to that question.

I've been studying Wicca for about 2 years now, but I haven't seen anything that answers this question. I guess it's of interest to me because if I'm going to be judged by an image then I'd like to know where that image came from.

I am an outspoken Christian here at ATS and make no apology for it. I am not responding to attack your beliefs. What I find amusing is that it's common practice to make threads assaulting the Christian faith.

Jesus never existed -- the Bible is a lie - blah blah blah - If we defend our faith we hear - show me proof - show me evidence - it's all a myth.

Now I am not accusing you of this. But that's all we ever hear. So I would like to respectfully ask you the same thing.

What exactly is it that you believe in? A spiritual force or just nature itself?

Do you have special powers from this "force"?

What evidence can you supply that it is in fact real?


Thank you.

Thanks for your interest, I hope this helps answer your questions

1) I have only been practicing Wicca for about 2 1/2 years now, so I don't know everything about this religion, but from what I've studied so far, I've found that modern day Wicca has taken the best concepts from a multitude of religions and put it all together in combination with the rituals of our ansestors to come up with a way to worship the Goddess. What Christians call God.

2) Personally, my vision of the Goddess/God is a lot like the Unitarians believe. The Universe is a great and complex space and God is the life force within that universe. I believe we are all worshiping the same God but we are putting different lables and faces on it/them/he/she etc...

3) Magic, for me, is nothing more then a tool to be proactive in my day to day life. Much like prayer is for Christians. I use magic to communicate with the Goddess, get answers to my questions, and effect change in my life. It's not as mysterious as it sounds, it's really all about communicating intent.

4) As for special powers, well what I've discovered is the power comes in knowing that YOU ARE IMPORTANT in the whole sceem of things. That's where the confidence that you see in most Wiccans comes from. It's a knowledge and belief that you are an intrical part of the Goddess/God, not a separate being that is dependant on her/him for their existance.

5) Now I think what you want to know is do I have some mystical power that I can prove to you? well there is one thing that has become a curiosity to me. I have discovered in the last couple of years that I can look at another persons picture, a stranger is best, and I can tell that person things about themselves that they don't tell anyone else. I can do this without talking to that person until I've seen the picture. Funny though, ppl want me to do this for them, but then they try and trick me. I've had some ppl on line send me pictures of other ppl and say it's them. How do you prove you can do this if you're not looking at the correct person? What I see in another will make no since to you if what you want to know is rather I can really see inside you or not.

6) I will tell you this, magic is real, it works, and the Tarrot cards are always right. I found this out almost immediately when I asked them what my future holds and they predicted the birth and and custody battle that would rage over my grandson. I was new to Wicca at that time and my daughter was not yet pregnant, so I didn't believe. How shocked was I when that happened! lol

reply to post by enchantress62

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Thanks for that explanation. I've run across you in a few threads and I think you are a nice person. See if explain my beliefs as a Christian here at ATS then 3-4 atheists will jump on me and make fun of me and demand evidence. I am not going to do that to you.

It's weird to me that they say they are atheists - but they will not go after a wiccan or a hindu or whatever. They are really anti christians - not atheists.

I am sorry if Christians give Jesus a bad rap. Remember what he did for the prostitute when the religious leaders wanted to stone her?

"Let him who is without sin throw the first stone."

He didn't condemn.

All I will say, and I mean it in love, I believe there are deceptive spirits in the world, be careful about worshiping the creation over the creator.

<>

the horrid, 'Holloween' witches are just one type of stereotype...

i always run into witches that ar more along the lines of
'Elvira" Mistress-of-the-Dark....or the Morticia Addams kind of looks,
both of whom were yummy, to my eye


then there's the Witch of the TV series 'Bewitched' a Samantha & her sister Serena, along with the Matron Witch Endora
none of which were ugly or grotesque hags...

Then there's the TV show Sabrina the teen-age witch,

These few examples shows that there ar many positive images of Witches in the pop-culture public domain, the Hag stereotype is as factual and as big as one makes it be.
I choose to ignore that side as just unfunny entertainment

Duplicate thread

You've made the same comments and we're discussing it on www.abovetopsecret.com...'

reply to post by Bigwhammy

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Ahhh...a quick dig at the atheists - then a thinly veiled comment about worshipping 'false idols' etc. The tact never really changes.

How do you know YOU are not the one who is being hoodwinked my friend? Most serious biblical scholars and historians would intimate as much....

Anti-christian? Not at all - Anti-Intolerence? Certainly.

Regards,

J.

[edit on 29-2-2008 by jimbo999]

reply to post by jimbo999

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Thanks Jimbo. I rest my case.

Yes, and I rest mine too

J.

Yes I've seen it too, the attack on Christians by the Atheists, and the attack on Atheists by Christians, once the conversation starts in that direction I loose interest. I did try in the first post I went in (Religion the great evil of mankind) to remind ppl that we were supposed to be talking about "Religion" not Christianity. My first comment in there was a bit defensive on my part, and I was attacked by both the Christians and the Atheists. lol

I was a Christian for most of my life, and I hold no ill will against that religion, it's just that it wasn't working for me. It never really did. I went to church faithfully, I participated in Bible studies, I was active in the church, hell I even worked as the secretary for my church for about five years. I saw the dedication of many other parishiners. I experienced the love and support of that community, and I know unequivically that many Christians are doing the work of God and living life the way Jesus said to.

But for me though, it was a lie. That is, my faith in the religion was a lie. I went to church and participated but I was bored out of my mind. I listened, I understood, but I didn't really agree or believe in what was being said. The only thing I was sure about is that God does exist. It wasn't Christianity that brought me to this conclusion though, it was my own experiences. It was a series of miracles that happened in my own life that convensed me that there is some power beyond our understanding, and when you sit still and connect with it, your life becomes more meaningful. Out of that experience I went in search of how I could be more present with that power, it was on this journey that I learned and began practicing Wicca.

I've heard the warnings and I do see how you can get caught up in a world of trouble if you play around with what you don't understand in this religion. I don't do that though, if I don't understand it, then I research it until I do. My quest is to become closer to that power that makes me feel at peace, nothing more, nothing less. I don't practice magic for personal gain anymore. In the beginning I did, at least I tried a couple of spells to improve my lifestyle. It worked but I also learned a valuable lesson from it. Be careful what you ask for, you might get it, and it may turn out to be not what you wanted at all. Now I practice magic mostly to connect with the Goddess as I see her/him and and I place my concerns and desires in her/his hands. If what I want is in my best interest then I'll get it, if not, then I wont. I must say though, for the first time in my life I'm at peace with myself.

reply to post by enchantress62

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I certainly can't argue with that. I guess the thing the critics fail to realize and you obviously do realize is that when Christians engage people they do so with their interest at heart. It's not a damn ego war about being right. That's what they always try to make it into.

Missionaries put there lives on the line to reach out to people in Muslim countries that kill Christians. They genuinely believe they are saving people from hell and they risk their lives. So the mean spirited attacks by non believers are really misguided. They don't get it.

I've made my choice and it is a narrow path.

I am glad you have found something that works for you. I wish you the best.

Yes thank you for giving me the heads up on that one. lol I'm aware that I've mentioned some this in other threads. In fact I find myself repeating things a lot in here, but I'm new to this site and not yet completely familure with how it all works. I assume that others are moving through threads like I am looking for interesting conversations, and posting threads when they have a question. The problem for me is that I don't know who you all are yet. I don't know who's seen my other posts and who hasn't, and I want anyone I'm talking with to know where i'm comming from.

reply to post by Bigwhammy

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All I can tell you, is that in my opinion, BELIEF requires no defence. Funny thing about fact, it can be changed as new information is presented. In my mind that says there is no such thing as fact. Therefore, proof which we base on fact, is also subject to change as new information is presented.

No worries . It's just difficult to keep up with multiple threads on the same topic rather than one. Over time I'm sure it'll become apparent there are no real "new threads" on ATS (especially in this forum) but rather re-hashes of the same topics with different faces. It's good and healthy to keep bringing them up despite the repetition. Who was it who said, "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." ?

Oooh! Can I use that one? For some reason people don't buy this when you're Christian. I wonder why that is.