My cousin's a witch

[Lost_Wanderer]

I have no idea who those people are you are referencing.

Just the three of the darkest wizards ever in fiction.

What I understand is they seek to manipulate and control through occult forces and the catechism strictly forbids it.

Yeah well, all I’m saying is that ‘occult forces’ just don’t rank in high in terms of threat these days. There are just so many wrong assumptions you can make when it comes to this subject.

 

[Havard]

Just the three of the darkest wizards ever in fiction.

Yeah well, all I’m saying is that ‘occult forces’ just don’t rank in high in terms of threat these days. There are just so many wrong assumptions you can make when it comes to this subject.

I think the most relevant point is that people are appealing to something other than God. Doesn’t really matter what that thing is, all roads that don’t lead to God, lead to Hell.

 

[EasterJoy]

OP, the Treasury Department doesn’t go out and teach its agents what fake bills look like. They get the agents very familiar with what the real thing looks like, and then they can spot a fake in a heartbeat. Use your study time to study what the Church teaches is true, Until you are quite conversant about that, don’t concern yourself with Wicca.

Your cousin laughed in your face when she found you were a Catholic. She doesn’t respect your faith or your quest for the truth. Do not feel a need to indulge a curiosity about what she believes. Give her the honor due her because she’s a human being, be kind to her for your family’s sake, and keep her in prayer. Otherwise, do not invite her into religious disputes.

You don’t need to be “on guard.” Cover yourself in Christ and “…even if you should suffer because of righteousness, blessed are you. Do not be afraid or terrified with fear of them, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who defame your good conduct in Christ may themselves be put to shame.” 1 Pet. 3:14-16

 

[EasterJoy]

…I believe this person is laughing because they are uncertain about their choices in life…

The laughing reminded me of this passage from The Screwtape Letters:

…I gather that the middle-aged married couple who called at his office are just the sort of people we want him to know—rich, smart, superficially intellectual, and brightly skeptical about everything in the world. I gather they are even vaguely pacifist, not on moral grounds but from an ingrained habit of belittling anything that concerns the great mass of their fellow men and from a dash of purely fashionable and literary communism…

and later in the letters

“…But flippancy is the best of all. In the first place it is very economical. Only a clever human can make a real Joke about virtue, or indeed about anything else; any of them can be trained to talk as if virtue were funny. Among flippant people the Joke is always assumed to have been made. No one actually makes it; but every serious subject is discussed in a manner which implies that they have already found a ridiculous side to it. If prolonged, the habit of Flippancy builds up around a man the finest armor plating against the Enemy that I know, and it is quite free from the dangers inherent in the other sources of laughter. It is a thousand miles away from joy it deadens, instead of sharpening, the intellect; and it excites no affection between those who practice it.”

It is currently fashionable to flippantly assume that the faith is something to be ashamed of and that Catholics ought to be laughed at.

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

I think the most relevant point is that people are appealing to something other than God. Doesn’t really matter what that thing is, all roads that don’t lead to God, lead to Hell.

Yeah but I’m just saying that you could say the same logic about Islam, Hinduism, Atheism, and all other non-Christian/Catholic religions out there without necessarily making them look like the Sith from Star Wars.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

Yeah but I’m just saying that you could say the same logic about Islam, Hinduism, Atheism, and all other non-Christian/Catholic religions out there without necessarily making them look like the Sith from Star Wars.

Well, as far as I know, none of those other religions includes spell-casting.

Although I have heard that the Baptists have some Wednesday meetings…that aren’t exactly meetings…

JK

 

[Serap]

Well, as far as I know, none of those other religions includes spell-casting.

Although I have heard that the Baptists have some Wednesday meetings…that aren’t exactly meetings…

JK

I used to have Wiccan friends and they don’t cast spells per ce. They will make offerings to nature of that sort. This will include a ritual. They celebrate nature…it’s very similar to Buddhism. They love animals and anything to do with nature. They celebrate life.

Sounds to me, like your acquaintances were not true Wiccans. Sounds to me, like your friends were more into the occult…that is scary stuff.

 

[Lokabrenna]

Well, as far as I know, none of those other religions includes spell-casting.

Not all Wiccans practice magick, although you wouldn’t know that if you picked up most of the “Wicca 101” books on the market today.

 

[Serap]

Not all Wiccans practice magick, although you wouldn’t know that if you picked up most of the “Wicca 101” books on the market today.

Yes, many people misunderstand what a true Wiccan is.

I liken it to Buddhism…excuse me if that sounds ignorant on my part.

 

[EasterJoy]

Yes, many people misunderstand what a true Wiccan is.

Wicca has no Rome, no authoritative Scriptures, no definitive prophets and, in spite of a lot of people claiming to have some grandmothers with a secret life the neighbors didn’t know about, nothing demonstrably like an Apostolic Succession. It is a DIY spiritual practice, an attempt to recreate a spriritual practice from the past into a contemporary way, and from what I can gather that is often literally Do it Yourself. Coffee and doughnuts together, but in some circles, at least, the bulk of the “liturgies” are done alone. (I put liturgy in quotes purely because liturgy comes from the Greek leitourgia, meaning a public work or a work for the public, so that it seems a bit odd to apply it to what might be an individual doing personal spriritual ministrations.)

On that account, I fail to see who, other than each individual practitioner, gets to decide what a “true Wiccan” is. I would be surprised if many Wiccans didn’t hold the same opinion.

But yes, there are some imaginations out there who have concocted Wicca practitioners in their minds who essentially don’t exist in the outside world, excepting perhaps some poor souls who belong in mental institutions.

 

[Crescentinus]

Wicca has no Rome, no authoritative Scriptures, no definitive prophets and, in spite of a lot of people claiming to have some grandmothers with a secret life the neighbors didn’t know about, nothing demonstrably like an Apostolic Succession. It is a DIY spiritual practice, an attempt to recreate a spriritual practice from the past into a contemporary way, and from what I can gather that is often literally Do it Yourself. Coffee and doughnuts together, but in some circles, at least, the bulk of the “liturgies” are done alone. (I put liturgy in quotes purely because liturgy comes from the Greek leitourgia, meaning a public work or a work for the public, so that it seems a bit odd to apply it to what might be an individual doing personal spriritual ministrations.)

On that account, I fail to see who, other than each individual practitioner, gets to decide what a “true Wiccan” is. I would be surprised if many Wiccans didn’t hold the same opinion.

From what I do know, Wiccans hardly agree with each other in regards to being a Wiccan. I think this is because of some anti-authority thing within Wicca.

 

[EasterJoy]

From what I do know, Wiccans hardly agree with each other in regards to being a Wiccan. I think this is because of some anti-authority thing within Wicca.

I can hardly imagine. After all, dear soul, we have a Pope, and we still have factions! Judging by the admonishments in the Epistles, we always have. If people can actually argue about who is and is not a “true Catholic”, be very sure that Wicca has that, too!

Back to the thread, though…I don’t think that the OP can hope to be certain that library research would tell what the cousin believes. Wicca has certain threads running through it, but even more than most religions, it is all over the map. There are even Wiccans who believe that Wicca and Christianity are compatible, which must give some of the other Wiccans coronaries! A certain amount of research wouldn’t hurt, but a new Catholic probably has too much Catholicism to learn to spend a lot of time on it.

 

[Crescentinus]

I can hardly imagine. After all, dear soul, we have a Pope, and we still have factions! Judging by the admonishments in the Epistles, we always have. If people can actually argue about who is and is not a “true Catholic”, be very sure that Wicca has that, too!

You raise an interestingly salient point.

 

[ringil]

it’s highly unlikely that she’s into anything evil. Wiccans consider themselves in-touch with nature. They only practice “white magic” and do not engage in anything with bad energy or karma.

She’s harmless. Just pray for her.

She would be against the Catholic faith b/c Wiccans do not believe in one God. Wiccans believe in mother nature, etc.

They really are harmless…

just pray for her conversion and be civil.

It’s really just a sub-culture. Their magic is dancing in circles in the woods. It’s nothing to be conserned about.

But, like Havard said, just be a good Christian example, that’s what we are called to do.

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

It’s really just a sub-culture. Their magic is dancing in circles in the woods. It’s nothing to be conserned about.

Well, as far as I know, none of those other religions includes spell-casting.

Although I have heard that the Baptists have some Wednesday meetings…that aren’t exactly meetings…

JK

Technically, a Wiccan’s ‘spell’ is no different from a Muslim prayer or a Buddhist mantra.

That’s not really magic in my book. In my book, magic does not require such petty worship. All you need is sheer force of will, a good deal of academic study, and a lotta mana potions.

Cynical Sis: What? No fire extinguisher in case you accidentally light something up or turn some poor souls into a flock of pelicans? -.-

…you’re on damage control. That’s your job.

Cynical Sis: EXACTLY!!! DX

 

[lily20]

My in-laws “channel sprits” (see any of my previous anxiety-filled posts) and from first-hand experience, this messed-up spiritual stuff is NOT to be exposed to even once or messed with at all. It can get really confusing, to the point you don’t know the truth anymore, and it can happen overnight. So please, stay away as much as possible, and write down anything you think it weird and tell someone you trust about it, preferably a holy person. It’s like abuse.

PRAY for her to get out of it. It is demonic, I am sure of it.

Lily

 

[lily20]

I should probably make one concession… if she is up to being converted to Catholicism, or you feel it’s God’s will to work mercy in her life, then do it. do not abandon her completely, but be careful.

Talking from experience.
Lily

 

[Serap]

My in-laws “channel sprits” (see any of my previous anxiety-filled posts) and from first-hand experience, this messed-up spiritual stuff is NOT to be exposed to even once or messed with at all. It can get really confusing, to the point you don’t know the truth anymore, and it can happen overnight. So please, stay away as much as possible, and write down anything you think it weird and tell someone you trust about it, preferably a holy person. It’s like abuse.

PRAY for her to get out of it. It is demonic, I am sure of it.

Lily

Wiccan is not demonic is itself. It’s quite a complicated subject eh?

 

[Serap]

My in-laws “channel sprits” (see any of my previous anxiety-filled posts) and from first-hand experience, this messed-up spiritual stuff is NOT to be exposed to even once or messed with at all. It can get really confusing, to the point you don’t know the truth anymore, and it can happen overnight. So please, stay away as much as possible, and write down anything you think it weird and tell someone you trust about it, preferably a holy person. It’s like abuse.

PRAY for her to get out of it. It is demonic, I am sure of it.

Lily

Channeling spirits is not a Wiccan ritual. This is definitely demonic b/c they will undoubtedly get a spirit claiming to be the dead one and will play tricks.

 

[In_Training]

There is no such thing as a witch. She probably means “Wiccan.” There are many people who will tell you all sorts of stories about Wiccanism, but the truth is that Wiccans worship nature and feel a oneness with nature and natural occurrances, such as wind and rain water. It’s a very spiritual religion, it’s just not Catholic.

Don’t let anyone trick you into thinking it’s a demonic religion with magic spells, demons and devil-worshipping. That is the make-believe kind of witch with the pointy shoes and the couldron. If anyone tells you they are a Wiccan/witch/Pagan and that it means they worship the devil, then they are not actually following the religion - they’re just crazy or are making outrageous statements for shock value. Like I said, Wicca is actually a very, very spiritual religion. It’s just that it’s not Christian. That doesn’t mean it’s anti-Christian. It just means that their version of Christ gave them nature, not forgiveness via crucifixion like ours did.