TheOneAndOnly
January 8th 2005, 12:59 AM
I have nothing against Wiccans, or anybody's faith but I want to say what I'm about to say and I think being blunt and brutally honest is the best way to do it:
What's the point in Wicca? It seems to be just twentieth century wishy-washy nonesense masquerading as enlightened religion. Why bother being a wiccan?
Here's a quote from religious tolerence faq on wicca:
What is Wicca?
Wicca, sometimes called "The Craft" or "The Craft of the Wise" is one of many earth-based religion. The religion which is closest to Wicca in America is probably Native American spirituality. Traditional Wicca was founded by Gerald Gardner, a British civil servant, who wrote a series of books on the religion in the 1940's. It contains references to Celtic deities, symbols, seasonal days of celebration, etc.
Craft of the wise!? What is wise about Wicca? This is just so pretentious.
Many Wiccans believe in a deity that is largely unknowable -- sometimes called "The All" or "The One." However, they believe that they can comprehend the male and female aspects of the deity, whom they call the God and the Goddess. Sometimes, they commune with "The Goddess" or "The God." Other times, they link with specific Pagan deities from the past. Instead of "the Goddess," they might relate to Athena, Brigit, Ceridwen, Diana, Hecate, Ishtar, Isis, Venus, etc.
Wicca seems to be stealing dead religions and pretending that they have some meaning in modern times. I mean borrowing names is one thing, but what does Wicca have to do with ancient Greek or Babylonian mythology? Aren't they just stealing concepts from pre-existing mythologies and artificially making a link with their modern religion?
Here's another faq from www.wicca.org
Q. Are Wicca and Witchcraft the same thing?
A. Some say yes, and some say no. I suppose the only way to navigate this question safely is to point out what some may consider the main differences. In general, Wiccans feel free to review different belief systems, such as Celtic, Norse, Essene, Gnosis, or Shamanism, and then blend together any points that "feel" right into their own personal path.
Is that blend or borrow? Do Wiccans who worship Odin say, worship him in any way resembling Nordic religious prectices, or have they just taken a "cool" sounding name and pretend they have some higher knowledge of ancient beliefs?
Q. Do Witches cast spells?
A. Some do and some don't. Spellwork should never be the focus of following this path and those who seek our ways only for this purpose are very misguided. A spell is a ritual formula, or series of steps, to direct psychic energy to accomplish a desired end.
This is the thing that annoys me the most. Spells are quite obviously just made up rituals and such and clearly have no power. How can anyone think otherwise? At least for religions like Christianity they can hide their powerless prayers in phrases like "god works in mysterious ways" but there is no excuse for thinking "spells" from a religion created a few decades ago have any power at all.
Q. What is the purpose of performing ceremonies Skyclad?
A. The term skyclad means "Clad only by the sky". Not all Witches perform rituals skyclad, but there are those who believe that the absence of clothing allows energy to transfer to and from them more freely
I mean... come on people. This is nonesense, isn't it? Is there any reason to believ any of this works? What energy are they talking about? I'm assuming it's the wishy-washy new age ill-defined "energy". Oh well.
Another thing that annoy me is when Witches somehow view the witches burned at the stake in medieval times are their spiritual brethren.
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a991029.html
So how did 20th-century Wicca get started? Power of the pen, babe. According to Adler, several writers helped stir public interest in witchcraft. One was Margaret Murray, who published The Witch-Cult in Western Europe (1921) and several more books. Murray argued that medieval witches practiced an ancient fertility religion she called the Dianic cult. While this was obviously a seminal idea, as it were, Adler says that "most scholars today view her work as filled with errors." An even more controversial figure is Gerald Gardner, an amateur anthropologist and folklorist who claimed he'd been initiated into a coven in 1939 and who wrote two influential books, Witchcraft Today (1954) and The Meaning of Witchcraft (1959). Among other things, he popularized the idea that witchcraft rituals ought to be conducted in the nude, a notion that titillated the masses for years. Gardner's work contained a lot of archaic-sounding ritual, some of which supposedly originated in a 16th-century "Book of Shadows." But it's been pretty well established that Gardner, who was influenced by occultists like Aleister Crowley, wrote or commissioned most of this stuff himself.
It seems modern witchcraft has practically nothing to do with medieval witches.
There, I've said what I wanted to say. Don't think I'm anti-wiccan or anything, but I think it should be held to the same scrutiny as any other belief system and I wanted to be as blunt and to the point as possible.
What's the point in Wicca? It seems to be just twentieth century wishy-washy nonesense masquerading as enlightened religion. Why bother being a wiccan?
Here's a quote from religious tolerence faq on wicca:
What is Wicca?
Wicca, sometimes called "The Craft" or "The Craft of the Wise" is one of many earth-based religion. The religion which is closest to Wicca in America is probably Native American spirituality. Traditional Wicca was founded by Gerald Gardner, a British civil servant, who wrote a series of books on the religion in the 1940's. It contains references to Celtic deities, symbols, seasonal days of celebration, etc.
Craft of the wise!? What is wise about Wicca? This is just so pretentious.
Many Wiccans believe in a deity that is largely unknowable -- sometimes called "The All" or "The One." However, they believe that they can comprehend the male and female aspects of the deity, whom they call the God and the Goddess. Sometimes, they commune with "The Goddess" or "The God." Other times, they link with specific Pagan deities from the past. Instead of "the Goddess," they might relate to Athena, Brigit, Ceridwen, Diana, Hecate, Ishtar, Isis, Venus, etc.
Wicca seems to be stealing dead religions and pretending that they have some meaning in modern times. I mean borrowing names is one thing, but what does Wicca have to do with ancient Greek or Babylonian mythology? Aren't they just stealing concepts from pre-existing mythologies and artificially making a link with their modern religion?
Here's another faq from www.wicca.org
Q. Are Wicca and Witchcraft the same thing?
A. Some say yes, and some say no. I suppose the only way to navigate this question safely is to point out what some may consider the main differences. In general, Wiccans feel free to review different belief systems, such as Celtic, Norse, Essene, Gnosis, or Shamanism, and then blend together any points that "feel" right into their own personal path.
Is that blend or borrow? Do Wiccans who worship Odin say, worship him in any way resembling Nordic religious prectices, or have they just taken a "cool" sounding name and pretend they have some higher knowledge of ancient beliefs?
Q. Do Witches cast spells?
A. Some do and some don't. Spellwork should never be the focus of following this path and those who seek our ways only for this purpose are very misguided. A spell is a ritual formula, or series of steps, to direct psychic energy to accomplish a desired end.
This is the thing that annoys me the most. Spells are quite obviously just made up rituals and such and clearly have no power. How can anyone think otherwise? At least for religions like Christianity they can hide their powerless prayers in phrases like "god works in mysterious ways" but there is no excuse for thinking "spells" from a religion created a few decades ago have any power at all.
Q. What is the purpose of performing ceremonies Skyclad?
A. The term skyclad means "Clad only by the sky". Not all Witches perform rituals skyclad, but there are those who believe that the absence of clothing allows energy to transfer to and from them more freely
I mean... come on people. This is nonesense, isn't it? Is there any reason to believ any of this works? What energy are they talking about? I'm assuming it's the wishy-washy new age ill-defined "energy". Oh well.
Another thing that annoy me is when Witches somehow view the witches burned at the stake in medieval times are their spiritual brethren.
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a991029.html
So how did 20th-century Wicca get started? Power of the pen, babe. According to Adler, several writers helped stir public interest in witchcraft. One was Margaret Murray, who published The Witch-Cult in Western Europe (1921) and several more books. Murray argued that medieval witches practiced an ancient fertility religion she called the Dianic cult. While this was obviously a seminal idea, as it were, Adler says that "most scholars today view her work as filled with errors." An even more controversial figure is Gerald Gardner, an amateur anthropologist and folklorist who claimed he'd been initiated into a coven in 1939 and who wrote two influential books, Witchcraft Today (1954) and The Meaning of Witchcraft (1959). Among other things, he popularized the idea that witchcraft rituals ought to be conducted in the nude, a notion that titillated the masses for years. Gardner's work contained a lot of archaic-sounding ritual, some of which supposedly originated in a 16th-century "Book of Shadows." But it's been pretty well established that Gardner, who was influenced by occultists like Aleister Crowley, wrote or commissioned most of this stuff himself.
It seems modern witchcraft has practically nothing to do with medieval witches.
There, I've said what I wanted to say. Don't think I'm anti-wiccan or anything, but I think it should be held to the same scrutiny as any other belief system and I wanted to be as blunt and to the point as possible.