Out of the Shadows: Wicca Grows in Austin and Beyond

As a Pagan myself and a reader of many different religions over the years I'm glad people are finding something for themselves. On a personal level i really don't care what religion you are or what you believe or if you believe anything at all beyond your physical bodies. But i do believe in something and i think this article sums up pretty well how the wiccan views things, at least to me. Now i don't follow the Gardnerian path i chose a more personalized view but this quote sums it up very well in my eyes.

“We believe that everything is part of the One,” said Ed Fitch, 80, a Wiccan senior high priest and a member of Caldwell’s meet-up group, one of several Wiccan or witches’ groups in Austin. “Everything in the universe is linked to everything else in the universe.”

How and to what extent this connection exists is a matter of perception that has prolly been argued over since the beginning of time. As far as religion is concerned though i get along with most people. Its the Vatican i have issues with. Harm ye none doest as thou wilst. I don't push what i believe onto others and i don't expect others to push what they believe onto me. I live my life by example and live it the best i know how and i think at the core of it all, that's what religion is really there for. A moral compass. It's intolerance of others that gets most people in trouble. Take politics as an example. I sure don't agree with some people on here but everyone should have a voice even if i think that voice is wrong. Religion and what a person believes on a personal level to me is no different.

Because Wicca is a highly decentralized religion with no central authority, it’s hard to get a tally of its members. The American Religious Identification Survey, which periodically surveys 50,000 Americans, said the number of self-identified Wiccans increased to 342,000 in 2008, up from 134,000 in 2001. The 2008 figures are the most recent available.

Not bad and i think the current controversies in a few organized religions over the years i think has served some purpose in regards to people thinking more for themselves. But while I'm sure there are people switching to wicca I think it is more probable that more and more people are just admitting their Pagan believes. As society gets used to the terms paganism and witchcraft again and we continue to struggle with accepting different people by who they are and not by stereotypes placed on them by society.

Out of the Shadows

source linked above. Its a good read!

a reply to: roaland

I live my life by example and live it the best i know how and i think at the core of it all, that's what religion is really there for. A moral compass.

The moral compass points to the Good Pole, not to church. Organized schmorganized, religion is the distraction confusing a lot of people.

If I want to be good I have to go to someplace, join, and do what they do. (backfire sound)

Sorry, my two cents.

It was a nice article, thank you for sharing that.

Like you, I do not follow the Gardnerian path. I'm more of an eclectic, semi solitary. Most of the time, I practice by myself, but a few times a year I get to go stay with some friends that I practice with.

a reply to: intrptr

Oh i agree with you. I think most people actually deep down believe that way. But growing up in my small town, if you weren't Catholic you were really looked down upon. Who a person is shouldn't be determined by what religion they belong to. On the other side of that argument who we surround ourselves and associate with does effect other peoples opinion of us, not that i really care lol I think if one knows who they are deep down, other peoples opinions become less hurtful to our ego/pride.

a reply to: chiefsmom

sadly i don't know any other like-minded people around me lol so i just do the solitary thing which is totally fine by me.

originally posted by: roaland
a reply to: intrptr

Oh i agree with you. I think most people actually deep down believe that way. But growing up in my small town, if you weren't Catholic you were really looked down upon. Who a person is shouldn't be determined by what religion they belong to. On the other side of that argument who we surround ourselves and associate with does effect other peoples opinion of us, not that i really care lol I think if one knows who they are deep down, other peoples opinions become less hurtful to our ego/pride.

Especially nowadays in the land of interwebs. Its really hard to keep secrets when instant access is granted to others opinions and experience round the world.

a reply to: roaland

i dont mess with the devil



but seriously i dont trust paganism just because it is secretive. I have heard whispers of the inner circles and just how dark and deep some of the pagan religions go, also have heard that some are very deceptive. On the outside they appear no more then nature loving hippies that have taken it to a more formal level, but in reality much darker mystery's lurk in their circles.

and not to mention pagans have infiltrated the vatacin and masquerade as Cristian, and then use their power to manipulate millions

a reply to: intrptr

i think some people look for who they are on the internet sadly. If they would look inside themselves first, i think this world would be much better off. Sure finding likeminded people is great! But if you only surround yourself with people who agree with you, how are you ever gonna learn anything? The best advice my dad ever gave me is "If you've never failed at something then you never really learned anything." Took me years to figure out the true meaning of that statement lol but he was right lol

a reply to: DOCHOLIDAZE1

i think you could point to every major religion throughout history and say the same thing lol How many ancient philosophers and artists and thinkers were murdered by the Catholic church back in the day? And how different would this world have turned out if those people would have lived? Oh the questions are endless.

a reply to: roaland
I meant more like millions of other people can have two way discourse unlike at any other time. Not cause we know each other but have seen the same main stream propaganda, are tired of it and for the first time in recent history can compare similar motes to discover the truth about things. Before that information was one way top down from TV 'news', and 'news' papers or radio.

We were in the dark. Now, our minds are brighter.

a reply to: intrptr

oh haha my brain took it totally another way lol but i still agree with you lol feeling very introspective today for some reason lol

originally posted by: roaland
a reply to: intrptr

oh haha my brain took it totally another way lol but i still agree with you lol feeling very introspective today for some reason lol

No problem, you're doing fine. You already see through the veil.

originally posted by: DOCHOLIDAZE1
a reply to: roaland

i dont mess with the devil

but seriously i dont trust paganism just because it is secretive. I have heard whispers of the inner circles and just how dark and deep some of the pagan religions go, also have heard that some are very deceptive. On the outside they appear no more then nature loving hippies that have taken it to a more formal level, but in reality much darker mystery's lurk in their circles.

and not to mention pagans have infiltrated the vatacin and masquerade as Cristian, and then use their power to manipulate millions

This is a joke, right? The only secrecy among most pagan religions was because the church was hunting them down and murdering them for centuries. You'd get a bit more secretive to if you knew you'd be hung or burned alive for your beliefs. The rest of your post is just unrealistic, and stated from ignorance.

a reply to: Klassified

no wasn't joking, they are not hunted and burned alive now, yet they are still secretive, so i believe some are un trust worthy

originally posted by: DOCHOLIDAZE1
a reply to: Klassified

no wasn't joking, they are not hunted and burned alive now, yet they are still secretive, so i believe some are un trust worthy

Christian militias in the Central African Republic have been accused of burning "witches" at the stake in a UN report leaked just days ahead of a visit to the war-torn country by the Pope.

The militias, who have fought a vicious sectarian war against local Muslims, kidnapped people they accused of witchcraft, tied them to stakes and then burnt them alive, the report disclosed.

Link

Others have suffered a much-worse fate, with more than 50 people aged over 60 lynched this year over witchcraft accusations. Seven were killed in Cllr Mwambire’s district in Kilifi alone this summer. Some were burned to death in front of villagers. Other victims were fatally hit with machetes – such as Thomas Barawa, 79, who died in August just four weeks after his wife suffered the same fate.

Suspected witches burned alive by Christians in Kenya

I don't believe some Christians are trustworthy. I'd trust a Wiccan before I'd trust a Christian any day of the week.

I've been a Wiccan for ..... about 24 years now - we just don't normally advertise it.

I found it very nurturing and comforting - feeling connected to all of nature, all of the elements, etc....I taught my kids the same thing (they also had plenty of exposure to packaged "Christianity", in case anyone is worried).....

and they are very well-balanced adults now.

Anyway, yeah - there is a continuum of "Wiccans" just like there is for Christians. Some are extremists - others are very private; they simply appreciate nature and recognize that everything is connected.

that's not the correct sum of wicca......horse crap.....phrase.....all we are.....is dust in the wind, man.....to Socrates....by bill and ted of san dimas high....wiccans are devils into sex....

that's not the correct sum of wicca......horse crap.....phrase.....all we are.....is dust in the wind, man.....to Socrates....by bill and ted of san dimas high....wiccans are devils into sex....

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

ya i once tried to tell my mom, when i came out of the broom closet, that spells to me are no different then prayer for a Christian. She didn't get it lol oh well lol

a reply to: Klassified

yes third world populations have a lot of problems,

and it looks like its a holy war, Muslim vs christian and they use the term witchcraft as way to impose torture on their enemys

this alot different then the pagan stuff i was talking about in America were i live. im pretty sure we stopped burning people for w.c. some centurys ago