Conversion from wicca/paganism

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Hello to all

I just joined this morning and posted my greetings in the meet and greet thread. As explained i am a 47 year guy who seems to have lost his spiritual path! Raised in a non practising protestant background (other than catholic bashing…) as a kid, I became a neopagan coven going wiccan for a good 10 years as an adult but also read so many books and bibles inclucing recently the catechism that reveal a face of catholicism that i did not knew. Anyhow i am registered for RCIA this fall to explore further. The call of the old ways is still there but so is the call for christ.

Anyhow i do not know if there is out there some former wiccan, pagan who did convert. I would like know your story and what called upon you finally embrace christ and catholisicism. you will probably understand the sort of spiritual battle i am going through and your experience would be very helpful.

Thx!
 
Hello Karmichael, congratulations on your decision to seek Christ and know the Lord again.👍 :clapping: I am sorry that I am not a convert from wicca and cannot share with you what that specific enlightened turning point made the difference.😦 I’m sure someone will come forward. :o However, what I notice in people who run from Christianity to cults and other faiths is the fact that they never knew their own faith to begin with. They want their own rules, they read Christian- bashing paraphernalia, watch anti Christian films and make their decisions based on that. Witches, cults and even other faiths have little respect for the doctrines of the church and the Pope b/c they regard it as a lot of man-made dogma. They know better?:confused: They ignore the proof of the Bible.:confused: They refuse guidance and won’t research their doubting questions from proper sources. Many will only talk to those who left the fold. They don’t really want to know the truth, or they could easily find out. You have the interest to ask and read (from the right sources of course). Joining RCIA and a local parish is the BEST thing you can do. I still go to RCIA b/c you never stop learning. You are definitely on the right track, if only others would do the same. The answers are there, but you have to have the interest to find them. For some reason they prefer a horned god to Jesus.🤷 We shall pray for them:hug3::
 
Welcome aboard my brother.!!!🙂

May God bless you and help others like you find their way back home.😃
 
karmichael said:
Hello to all

I just joined this morning and posted my greetings in the meet and greet thread. As explained i am a 47 year guy who seems to have lost his spiritual path! Raised in a non practising protestant background (other than catholic bashing…) as a kid, I became a neopagan coven going wiccan for a good 10 years as an adult but also read so many books and bibles inclucing recently the catechism that reveal a face of catholicism that i did not knew. Anyhow i am registered for RCIA this fall to explore further. The call of the old ways is still there but so is the call for christ.

Anyhow i do not know if there is out there some former wiccan, pagan who did convert. I would like know your story and what called upon you finally embrace christ and catholisicism. you will probably understand the sort of spiritual battle i am going through and your experience would be very helpful.

Thx!
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Welcome to the forums.

I spent most of my life as an Evangelical Protestant, but during a three year or so span of my life, I ran away from Christianity and all organized religion and explored other belief systems. Wicca was one of the belief systems I explored. I eventually slowly made my way back into the Protestant Church in phases. So I’m not converting from Wicca to Catholicism, but I know what Wicca is.

The call of the old ways is the call of demonic influences. It’s that simple.

As I mentioned to someone else who was considering Wicca, when you look at the neo-pagan religions, they are empty. They have no breadth. They have no cohesion. People really make up their beliefs as they go along. And if you are eclectic, you get to choose from Egyptian and Celtic and all sorts of traditions. You get to create what you want to believe in.

There is no way you can find the richness in those religions that you find in the Catholic Church.

One of the things that attracted me to paganism was the ritual and the magik.

All those rituals like the Drawing down of the Moon is Satanic. Yes, Satan and his demons masquerade as angels of light. What a beautiful thing to be aligned with nature, to draw on the energies of the universe, to say ancient words of power, right?

The devil smiles in delight at how he is able to deceive us. He works on our pride by making us feel that we can actually control every aspect of our lives through our own power and merit. All lies. It’s the same old lie. We can be like gods.

We can’t be like God unless we strive to be imitate Jesus Christ. It is not something we can do with our own power. God’s sanctifying grace coupled with our will, is what changes us.

You have all the ritual you want in Catholicism, and what is more magical than the consecration? 😃

But most importantly, you get to be part of the true Church that Jesus Christ himself established to guide us on the path to heaven.

I’m glad you are starting RCIA. Ask many questions and definitely ask as many questions as you can on this forum. This forum has been invaluable to me on my journey.

Feel free to pm me.
 
Karmichael,

Good for you registering with RCIA. May you be blessed!

I can understand your feelings of being called toward Christ, yet the lure of the old ways is still there. Like you, I was raised in a Protestant household that was not really practicing. I married a Catholic man in my mid-twenties and wanted to have a good marriage and also to explore Catholicism, so I registered for RCIA. I had already been seriously studying astrology for several years at that point. At the first Inquiry, I asked the question about what is wrong with astrology and why is it incompatible with Catholicism. I received a very dismissive answer from the pastor … something about horoscopes in the newspaper. I was already much deeper into the occult than that, so his answer didn’t help. Nevertheless, I went forward with Reconciliation and made my profession of faith, but without a firm rejection of the occult in my heart (I didn’t see it as “occult”). Also, during the nine months of RCIA, I didn’t receive any formation regarding the moral teachings of the Church, such as the prohibition of contraception. I saw that as outdated, and it wasn’t discussed. It was only years later (after the divorce and annulment) that I began reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church and sought out resources which explain the moral teachings, that I finally let go of the old ways. I found the moral teachings to be much more empowering than anything offered by the occult practices (and I had delved into wicca for a time…unfortunately this was AFTER my profession of faith). Basically, I was still living sinfully at the time of my profession, but I didn’t have the resources to dig myself out of that mess at the time. Fortunately, you have already discovered the CCC, so this should be a very good help to you in your journey through RCIA.

May God bless you!
 
I spent about a decade dabbling in wicca and paganism. In fact, I met my catholic fiance at a samhain festival (he was there with the jewish guy selling “magick” **** to pagans with too much money 😛 )
I started out life as mormon, and felt the need for something else. I thought I knew Catholicism, but I was wrong. LOL So I delved into the new-agey sceen. I never was comfortable in the covens though, they seemed rather silly. Their rituals felt made up and awkward. (perhaps that’s why some of the OF practices bug me so much. I get a similar feeling from them) I missed the holy music. The ‘chants’ felt goofy, and I got tired of listening to Loreena McKennit. So I tried going it alone. But I felt adrift. I needed guidance. After a while, I gave up on the spirituality aspect of it, and I suppose you could say I became a groupie. An agnostic who was just along for the social aspect of it.
When I started dating my Mr, I started looking into the Catholic faith. The more I saw, the more I realized that it filled all the holes I’d been feeling. I’ve spent the past 3 years doing research, and now I have to attend catholic class. (I’m skipping RCIA, I already know all that stuff) I should be getting baptized soon!
 
Welcome!

I’ve never been into wicca or anything similar but I just want to say well done for choosing Christ. He will not dissappoint. I hope you find the forum helpful and full of info. People are always happy to help the newbies.

Also, there have definitely been converts from paganism here on the forum so I’m sure you’ll bump into them and have a chance to discuss things.

God bless.
 
Thank you all for your kind words. I want to say that i have been reading this board for a few months now along with the catechism and found so many treasures of information already. You are part of the reason i registered to RCIA. I am going through this process with an open heart and truly truly wish i find my way home. I will be asking much more questions as i go along, so many questions…

Thank you all and have a great day!

Peace!
 
Hello Karmichael, I’m a former Catholic, and during my time as a Catholic, I often used to read about conversion stories because I found them interesting.

One story you might find interesting is about a man called Zachary King, who started casting spells at the age of 10 and became a Satanist* in his early teenage years. Years later, he was converted through a sequence of events that eventually led him to the Catholic Church.

You can watch his video here: instituteoftheholyspirit.com/video.html

*Of course, there is a current debate as to whether Satanism should fit under the title of “Paganism”.
 
karmichael said:
Thank you all for your kind words. I want to say that i have been reading this board for a few months now along with the catechism and found so many treasures of information already. You are part of the reason i registered to RCIA. I am going through this process with an open heart and truly truly wish i find my way home. I will be asking much more questions as i go along, so many questions…

Thank you all and have a great day!

Peace!
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Hi Karmichael,
You WILL come home because it is in your heart to do so.:love: As you may have noticed, with each and every one of the responses to your thread, they all say the same thing. Research…understanding the Catholic faith is what is important. You need nothing else. ;):extrahappy:
 
Bohm_Bawerk said:
Hello Karmichael, I’m a former Catholic, and during my time as a Catholic, I often used to read about conversion stories because I found them interesting.

One story you might find interesting is about a man called Zachary King, who started casting spells at the age of 10 and became a Satanist* in his early teenage years. Years later, he was converted through a sequence of events that eventually led him to the Catholic Church.

You can watch his video here: instituteoftheholyspirit.com/video.html

*Of course, there is a current debate as to whether Satanism should fit under the title of “Paganism”.
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It’s nice to hear from you!
 
Hello,
I am 43, and a convert from Wicca/paganism to the Catholic faith. Perhaps we would have some thoughts to share…here is some of my story…

I suppose this will be a rambling. I am a convert to the Catholic faith since 2008. There were many previous experiences I had before that year that lead me to my decision to convert. This sort of thing is personal for everyone. I was raised mainly Methodist, with smatterings of what I would call a non-denominational flavor. I turned away from this into teachings of the New age, wicca, occult, buddhism and Hinduism. I always loved animals, nature, fantasy and magic. Who would not want to have mystical connections to things, or even special powers? I was well-embroiled in Goddess Spirituality, Wicca, Hindu-buddhist thought for a good 20 years. All throughout it, the Catholic faith was calling me . I am having a tough battle, releasing the old baggage From my days in those eclectic faiths.

On my long journey to the Catholic faith, I found all of these previous faiths did have meaning and beauty to them along the way. They are part of my experience, and there are things within them that still ring true and share the same virtues as my catholic faith, however they did not reach the fullness of God for me. I also found my personal peace of mind, and relationship with God was not growing. All that seemed to grow was my ego, and self interest. My anxiety would build and build, as I realized years were passing, and for all the fanciful options I had ploughed through, none had given me consolation.

One of my biggest struggles in coming to the Catholic faith , was I could not deny I had a strong intuition, and often had dreams that would be predictive in nature. This seemed an unusual ability to most I knew, and I was naturally lead into the world of the occult, where options for so called psychic powers were everywhere. Wicca and the occult are full of mediums, oracles, tarot cards, astrologers, clairvoyants, and everything predictive one might want to find. I felt I was one of these, and that I fit in. It wasn’t a solid fit, actually….For all along the way, Mary and God called.

It was true though, Wicca and the occult were a natural segueway for this intuitive trait. I’ve come to understand that this trait of intuition will always be there, is in no way evil, just simply part of God’s plan for me. Irealize I misused it when I was involved in these faiths, and what was pure I made muddy with my dabbling. The end result was very hard on my soul, as one would imagine. I was emptied out, almost faithless….and quite superstitious of the spirits and the entities that I had been dealing with in these faiths. Now in my faith, I am stronger.

I am not setting up shop to do any readings, nor calling upon spirits for an answer. I do think there are many others like me out there…who are sensitive, and become drawn into the world of the occult, because they feel it is where they belong.

The scary thing about this, is that in the world of the occult, wicca, etc, there is barely , if any discernment of spirits. It rather wildly suggests for you to call on any number of beings, from angels, to fairies, to so called guides, the list is endless. The books and materials, offer numerous rituals of protection and magic circles, the calling of angels to defend you against the very spirits you call. Once you think about it, it becomes nonsensical, how do you know you have any boundary between yourself and an invisible being? How does a mere circle of salt, or lighting of a candle achieve any real barrier. If this is all to attain a state of mind conducive to controlling these outside factors, do you really think, you are in control of these angels, ghosts, fairies, guides, etc?

I just did not find it to be so in the end!

Some will dabble and find themselves concluding it was all a lie, and they will leave these religions.They will say it is child’s play. Some like me, who come into it, with some heightened sensitivity , will get a response! I walked the path of seances, magic, and spirit communication, and I muddied my spirit up in the process…

It took me time to realize why the bible is so adamant about the conjuring of spirits, because it truly is playing with fire. There is a real and invisible world out there, with both good and bad creatures existing in it.

Of course, I am hoping God wlil help me….because I am trying so hard to get free of this old life….

I find it is very true where Christ says:

“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.

Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.” (Matthew 12: 43-45)

I pray God will lead me forward, and pray all the Saints will put in a special word for me to lead me out of a much maligned past. I am still haunted by so many things….and I only seek to deepen my Catholic faith, my relationship with God, and my love of his creations. It is so true this excerpt from scripture, that it chills me to the bone.

I pray to get my house in order, for good, and never again see the return of these wicked spirits.

Amen.

~MaryThereseRose
 
Thank you Mary Terese Rose for your generousity of heart,

I read and re read your comments and i can mirror myself so much in what you said. It is hard to turn away from something that, even as a lie, gave you so much the feeling of empowerment and a mystical sense to life. I feel every word you wrote. The hard part for me right now is exactly what you described. The intuition and general sensibility that some of us seems to have to just be able to, lack of a better word, channel into a higher power. This weekend i cleaned my bookcase of everything wiccan, discarded my old tools, my pentacle etc etc The hardest was my collection of old tarot cards… I have to be honest, it was a hard thing to do… i pray also that god keeps me steadfast in this and pray to have the will and force not to be taken away again.

On another and much lighter note, this sunday at mass i was able to really abandoned myself in prayer and felt true connection with our father. Maybe there is a place for people with high intuition and sensibility… really i left church energized and with a light heart…

Tomorrow i start RCIA!!!🙂
 
Welcome to CAF! 🙂

I sort of ‘dabbled’ in new age and wicca when I was younger, before I was Catholic… I believed in reincarnation too, and astrology, and was really fascinated with aspects of wicca. I have to say though, that now I see how strong the demonic influence was… that’s the pull you might feel to it, like “empowerment” as you describe… there is no sense of empowerment in Catholicism, rather the opposite 🙂 more humility and a realization of God’s power and our weakness, and that we can’t control spiritual reality. But this is based on truth, and wicca is based on lies. Not only that, but it’s a powerful temptation and I know it’s very strong and very alluring in a way but it does go away eventually. Now i have no interest in any of these things. The closer you come to Christ, the more you might feel this temptation, but at some point it will simply stop or begin to become weaker. Have you ever been to Eucharistic Adoration? this might help 🙂 Also devotion to Mary is very powerful.

I think what I appreciate about Christianity is how it’s very objective. Wicca and other similar religions are more subjective, and the truth is kind of what you want it to be, or no one really gives you a straight answer, and there is no discernment of spirits. Christianity, especially Catholicism, is very objective, but there’s a type of security in that that is very good. There’s a sense of goodness, holiness, in it, - which I didn’t find in any religion besides Christianity.

God bless you! 🙂
 
karmichael said:
Hello to all

I just joined this morning and posted my greetings in the meet and greet thread. As explained i am a 47 year guy who seems to have lost his spiritual path! Raised in a non practising protestant background (other than catholic bashing…) as a kid, I became a neopagan coven going wiccan for a good 10 years as an adult but also read so many books and bibles inclucing recently the catechism that reveal a face of catholicism that i did not knew. Anyhow i am registered for RCIA this fall to explore further. The call of the old ways is still there but so is the call for christ.

Anyhow i do not know if there is out there some former wiccan, pagan who did convert. I would like know your story and what called upon you finally embrace christ and catholisicism. you will probably understand the sort of spiritual battle i am going through and your experience would be very helpful.

Thx!
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Gloria to God in the Highest and Peace to His people on earth.

:highprayer::knight1::knight2:
 
Monica4316 said:
Welcome to CAF! 🙂

I sort of ‘dabbled’ in new age and wicca when I was younger, before I was Catholic… I believed in reincarnation too, and astrology, and was really fascinated with aspects of wicca. I have to say though, that now I see how strong the demonic influence was… that’s the pull you might feel to it, like “empowerment” as you describe…** there is no sense of empowerment in Catholicism, rather the opposite 🙂 more humility and a realization of God’s power and our weakness, and that we can’t control spiritual reality. **But this is based on truth, and wicca is based on lies. Not only that, but it’s a powerful temptation and I know it’s very strong and very alluring in a way but it does go away eventually. Now i have no interest in any of these things. The closer you come to Christ, the more you might feel this temptation, but at some point it will simply stop or begin to become weaker. Have you ever been to Eucharistic Adoration? this might help 🙂 Also devotion to Mary is very powerful.

I think what I appreciate about Christianity is how it’s very objective. Wicca and other similar religions are more subjective, and the truth is kind of what you want it to be, or no one really gives you a straight answer, and there is no discernment of spirits. Christianity, especially Catholicism, is very objective, but there’s a type of security in that that is very good. There’s a sense of goodness, holiness, in it, - which I didn’t find in any religion besides Christianity.

God bless you! 🙂
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So glad I stumbled on this thread! Every response has been wonderful, but I want to select this from Monica as closest to my thoughts and experience.

I dabbled in “new age” of the early '80s. I didn’t hear of Wicca then, but was into TM, “Hinduism” (the pagan, Western variety), psychics, etc. It nearly drove me out of my mind. There was always the feeling that “just around the corner” there’d be peace and enlightenment. I came back to protestant Christianity first (hence my lifelong affection and respect for it), and then to Catholicism.

The “objectivity” of Catholicism is that it is founded the in historical reality of the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and his entrusting his Church with his teaching and sacraments. It also has bona-fide “miracles” which none of the alternatives can match.

We do get some “empowerment” from Catholicism, which is to overcome our sinful nature, to learn to love others, to forgive, and to control our temper, lust and appetites. Which is worth more than all the revelations, spiritual gifts, prophecies and powers in the universe.
 
I dabbled in Paganism/Wicca for years on and off but never felt like I belonged there. I was an angry Atheist for sure and did A LOT of Christian bashing. I resisted for a long time. I searched and searched for God and where I belonged. It was finally through a Catholic homeschool group that things began to become clear for me. I attended one Mass and that was it. I signed up for RCIA right away. I’ve been home for 7 years now.
 
Welcome to CAF.

So glad you started RCIA.👍👍👍
I’ll pray to the Holy Spirit to guide you.

God bless

jesus g
 
Thank you all for your (name removed by moderator)ut on this! Really appreciated.

I am now in my third week of RCIA. Beautiful group of People and wonderful teachers. I am sifting through a lot of my pass and some of you i have exchanged via private mail. It is hard to find closure in something that had its claws in you for almost 15 years but i do feel the fading away that some of you described. The reason that in my ID here I described my religion as : It’s complicated is that it is exactly that. My pass also has prostestant backgroud so the big spring clean i am going through is both Wicca and challenges with my childhood early adult exposure to protestant ideas, yes it is complicated!!

Right now i think i am getting my house in order for the Wicca thing. Hard to do but i feel inspired to do so. And as one of my friends here said via private mail, i feel that the void left by my letting go of wicca is replaced my the great light of God. The other hurdle is to come to grips with very alien concepts for a protestant mind with some aspect of Catholicism. The classical issues of real presence, Marian devotion, Saints, relics, purgatory etc etc. Again for some reason i feel inspired to research all of this instead of just going back to the protestant movement. have been there and done that before and was never really fullfilled by it. Hey i became a full practising Wiccan priest out of it!!! I am only kidding of course, i do not blame my protestant years for my pagan ways. I did that all by myselt like a big boy! But somehow i just feel that my protestant experience is missing something and i want better roots and stop my own wandering in the wilderness and find my own promissed land… I am tired of searching and i am ready to come back home if i can just find my way back. This is why i am doing RCIA. I hope to put a lot of things to rest, find my answers to the issues with the protestant upbringing and find myself in the process. I wish to live more significantly and give back out of the gifts i have received to serve a much higher purpose that just my little self. I was truly Blessed beyound comprehension for the Lord. I have so many time denied him, went completly the opposite way of his expectations, trashed so many commandements, lived a blatant sinful life and practised the works of the ennemy of Christ and the Lord that i do not comprehend why i was Blessed and protected the way i was. When i will do my first confession the story i will tell won’t be pretty. The finding myself part means finding what the Lords expects of me with the gifts i received, He must have something in mind because it just do not make sense that he gave me so much to just use this so mindlessly. I am coming home as soon as i can and will try my best to be the person i was meant to be and seve the interest of the kingdom. I suppose this is the peace of mind some Christians talk about. You make peace with God, you make peace with yourself, you make peace with your Brothers and Sisters, you make peace with Creation…🙂
 
Once upon a time many years ago, I met a woman who converted to this pagan life of wicca. I was always Catholic. It bothered me so much as she was twisting the word so much I became confused.
So I prayed and prayed…“Lord, I am so confused, what is this she speaks?”

Finally, one early morning at 3 am I awoke to the sound of a mans voice in my ear.
I could not move, speak, but only listen.

“I am the Great I Am, the First and the Last. Cast out what is unnecessary, Hold tight to what is good, and remember always that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior and King forever and ever”… End of story.
 
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