Wicca-the fastest growing religion in Canada!!

[snuffy]

Saturday night on CTV was a special about religion in Canada.
It said the fastest growing religion in Canada was Wicca. In particular it showed a group of teenage girls doing their wicca thing. The girls expressed that it’s the greatest. Also, to my surprise it interviewed on of their mothers, who thinks it’s great and the whole family now practices it. She said basically that ‘Wicca is great because, you can do anything you want- as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone.’!! How sad!!

On the plus side it also interviewed a young girl who is going through to be a nun… She said she was inspired, when she went to World Youth Day in Rome…At one point she sat in a chapel in the Vatican all alone, and that is where she received her calling. She also said the reason for lack of vocations is because of all the noise surrounding us, and that if we spent more time in private places where there is no noise, we may hear the call.

My husband and I and our 2 children went to World Youth Day in Toronto in 2002. It was awesome! My point is, is that every night we still pray for the fruits of World Youth Days…
Please continue to pray for this also because I’m sure God has touched many a young person through these World Youth Days, but we still need to pray that they answer their calling.
Jeanette

 

[ysicmg]

what “IS” wicca? when i hear the name, I think witches, but i have been told that it is not that at all - I am would like a link or something that could explain it (perhaps from a Catholic perspective) - My nephew is engaged to a girl whose father was in wicca and it makes me very uneasy.

 

[WhiteDove]

Wicca is a teenage girl fad, that’s for sure. I think it’s based on Celtic paganism, specifically Druidism. Another big fad now is Kabbalah, which is some sort of Jewish mysticism. A lot of these things are popularized by Hollywood celebrities and rock stars. It’s mostly superficial and faddish silly stuff.

Back in the 70’s when I was young it was the New Age movement, Trancendental Meditation, Eastern Gurus, I Ching, and Tarot. All distractions from true spiritual growth in Jesus Christ and his church. Also, no moral demands to these things. They usually tolerate lots of free and easy sex.

 

[Poisson]

Like most of North America the Catholic faith in Canada has suffered under the post Vatican II feel good days of the 70’s and 80’s, but where english Canada has somewhat rebounded, french Canada has seem to continue it’s decline. I’m not sure why that is but one clue seems to lie in an expression I have heard used by the french in this area “lose the language, lose the faith”. The fight for French culture seems to have succeeded the fight for their faith.

 

[WhiteDove]

Dear Poisson,
Actually, the same thing is happening in France, so I don’t know if your theory is true. Most French are purely nominal Catholics, the culture is rampantly secualrized, and the Islamic immigrants are changing the religious landscape rapidly.

 

[space_ghost]

WhiteDove:

Wicca is a teenage girl fad, that’s for sure. I think it’s based on Celtic paganism, specifically Druidism. Another big fad now is Kabbalah, which is some sort of Jewish mysticism. A lot of these things are popularized by Hollywood celebrities and rock stars. It’s mostly superficial and faddish silly stuff.

Back in the 70’s when I was young it was the New Age movement, Trancendental Meditation, Eastern Gurus, I Ching, and Tarot. All distractions from true spiritual growth in Jesus Christ and his church. Also, no moral demands to these things. They usually tolerate lots of free and easy sex.

what is the latest flavor of faith for Madonna… ist’t it Kabbalah? Everytime she publicly espouses that she used to be catholic, she sets us back a bunch… probably what and who the teenage girls are mimicking… what a role model…

 

[Faustina]

WhiteDove:

Wicca is a teenage girl fad, that’s for sure. I think it’s based on Celtic paganism, specifically Druidism. Another big fad now is Kabbalah, which is some sort of Jewish mysticism. A lot of these things are popularized by Hollywood celebrities and rock stars. It’s mostly superficial and faddish silly stuff.

Back in the 70’s when I was young it was the New Age movement, Trancendental Meditation, Eastern Gurus, I Ching, and Tarot. All distractions from true spiritual growth in Jesus Christ and his church. Also, no moral demands to these things. They usually tolerate lots of free and easy sex.

I hate to tell you this, but no, Wicca is not a teenage girl fad. I was in my late twenties into my mid thirties when I was involved with Wicca. The classification is pagan, however, there are not statues that we would worship, but more of the Earth. I think the definition more along Earth religion to be more accurate. While my Wiccan group did not participate in sexual rituals, I have heard of others that did. Wicca emphasis the Earth as a feminim form, one that is nurturing and loving and to respect her we must also be loving and nurturing to each other. Yes, the word witch does come from Wicca, yes there is the practice of “white” magic but not “black” magic. “White” magic would be love spells and potions, there is a lot of herb lore, healing spells and such. The one thing a witch does not want to do is cast the wrong kind of spell, because the negative aspects can come back 3 fold.
It is Celtic based and Druids are consider brothers. Usually, not always, Wiccans are women and Druids are men.

Here is a link for more information:
religioustolerance.org/witchcra.htm

Now, I am not condoning Wicca in any event. It leaves out the Presence of Christ and while it is not exactly anti- Christian, it is a very empty religion. Christ is the Light. I was searching for the truth when I was in Wicca and all the while I was reading more about Catholicism and found that is the True Faith.

Sid

 

[The_Barrister]

Faustina:

I hate to tell you this, but no, Wicca is not a teenage girl fad.

It is becoming quite popular now due to a spate of witch shows, most of them directed at children. Invariably, witches and witchcraft are displayed as good, and even if a spell occasionally goes wrong that’s the fault of the spellcaster and not the spell or the intentions of the spellcaster. But the only one controlling the action is Satan.

Faustina:

Yes, the word witch does come from Wicca, yes there is the practice of “white” magic but not “black” magic. “White” magic would be love spells and potions, there is a lot of herb lore, healing spells and such. The one thing a witch does not want to do is cast the wrong kind of spell, because the negative aspects can come back 3 fold.
It is Celtic based and Druids are consider brothers. Usually, not always, Wiccans are women and Druids are men.

First, there is no such thing as a “good spell” or “white” magick from a Catholic standpoint. The Church teaches that magick, whether intended to be used for good or evil, is always intrinsically evil. The evil that enters this world thanks to “good” magick and otherwise innocent kids mucking around with this stuff is consequential, to them and to others.

Not a criticism directed at you, but it’s best to leave out links to sites that portray and advance the cause of witchcraft and paganisim. Any website with the word “tolerance” in the title probably ought to be avoided.

Faustina:

Now, I am not condoning Wicca in any event. It leaves out the Presence of Christ and while it is not exactly anti- Christian, it is a very empty religion. Christ is the Light. I was searching for the truth when I was in Wicca and all the while I was reading more about Catholicism and found that is the True Faith.

Hate to tell you this, but Wicca is evil and is anti-Chistian in the extreme. It promotes belief in multiple “gods and goddesses,” at best it is pantheistic, it promotes homosexuality and bisexuality, promotes ritualist sex, and promotes the use of the occult, and so forth. I would be hard-pressed to find a more anti-Catholic set of practices.

You state that you are now Christian, but you seem to be defending witchcraft rather than condemning it, and that it’s somehow a good thing you went through it or you would not have found the Catholic Church.

I suggest that you discuss this with your priest and/or seek a good Catholic spiritual advisor for the good of your soul.

 

[tractarian]

Faustina is quite right about Wicca. I would add that it is also not just a girl/woman religion. I am male, age 22, and i was a Wiccan for the first 17 years of my life since my mother is. I think Wicca and other Neo-Pagan (this is the term many of them prefer) religions are here to stay and not a fad like the New Age, is that their members vehemently defend their beliefs as a legitimate religion, whereas New Agers are more likely to be proud of the fact that they are “spiritual, but not religious.”

Neo-Pagans are willing to distort religious, philosophical, and even historical truths to make their faith appear on par with Christianity, Buddhism, etc. For example, most of the Wiccan books i used to read mentioned the witch burnings of Medieval/Renaissanse Europe in the same tone that Jews will speak about the Holocaust (i have even caught them borrowing facts from the Nazi Holocaust and translating it into things that Christians allegedly did to “millions” of witches!!)

The point is, Wiccans and Neo-Pagans should be approached as members of another religion, not followers of a fad, because that is how many of them see themselves. It’s always important to get their own point of view, and for that i recommend a few pro-Pagan websites (that used to be favorites of mine):
Witches’ Voice - online community for NeoPagans
WiccaUK - largest Wiccan organization in the UK
Book of Shadows - BoS’s vary a lot from one Wiccan to another (they have an extremely different concept of “sacred text” than the Judeo-Christian-Muslim definition), but this is an overall good example
Covenant of the Goddess - Wiccan covens can register as churches with tax-exempt status and everything.:bigyikes:
Eventually i’d like to write down my conversion story and put it on a homepage or something. Wish me luck in getting it written during my lifetime!

 

[squirt]

snuffy:

Saturday night on CTV was a special about religion in Canada.
It said the fastest growing religion in Canada was Wicca.

I doubt that they can back that up with hard stats. StatsCan collects info on religious affiliation … for the trends picked up in the latest census:

Religious trends in Canada

 

[Duhawk83]

squirt:

I doubt that they can back that up with hard stats. StatsCan collects info on religious affiliation … for the trends picked up in the latest census:

Religious trends in Canada

Nice article, however, I would say that Canadians as a whole are becoming more and more a secular nation that puts its faith in its government and not God. Also, last year while performing my Navy Reserve annual training I had the opportunity to work with NATO. I had the opportunity to go to dinner with two Germans and a Canadian. A discussion as to religion came up and it was the Canadian who started with the secular humanist rant. I know that one man a trend does not make, however, it does hold with the sort of anti-catholic information that comes from beyond the ice curtain.

 

[tractarian]

I applauded everything in The Barrister’s post until here:
The Barrister:

Hate to tell you this, but Wicca is evil and is anti-Chistian in the extreme. It promotes belief in multiple “gods and goddesses,” at best it is pantheistic, it promotes homosexuality and bisexuality, promotes ritualist sex, and promotes the use of the occult, and so forth. I would be hard-pressed to find a more anti-Catholic set of practices.
You state that you are now Christian, but you seem to be defending witchcraft rather than condemning it, and that it’s somehow a good thing you went through it or you would not have found the Catholic Church.
I suggest that you discuss this with your priest and/or seek a good Catholic spiritual advisor for the good of your soul.

The Barrister seems to have confused *non-*Catholic and *anti-*Catholic. All of those practices are non-Catholic, to be sure. But practicing them is not a definite indicator of whether a person is anti-Catholic. A person has to do or say something against Catholicism in order to be anti-Catholic.
Faustina probably is defending Wiccans—up to a point. She (like i did in my prev. post as well) was spreading information about them that is helpful for understanding them. It does no good to spread falsehood about Wicca like The Barrister, sadly, has. If we believe them to be something they are not, then we are only arguing against figments of our own imagination! As well as being a complete waste of time, that would be “anti-Wiccan” as opposed to treating Wiccans like real people in need of conversion and God’s love. We don’t put up with people who insist that Catholics worship statues or repeat the sacrifice of the Cross, we correct them with truth. The Wiccans, NeoPagans, etc. deserve the same respect we desire for ourselves, otherwise how will we be worthy of their attention? We Catholics have an awesome responsibility because we have the fulness of truth. We should promote truth in all situations, including when we deal with false religions.

 

[kjvail]

I am a former Wiccan. I practiced Wicca for about 8 years. I wrote several long posts on my understanding of Wicca in the Thread Wicca and Apologetics, you will find my posts on pages 2 & 4 of that thread. I won’t repeat here everything I wrote there.
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=5380&highlight=wicca

We had a Wiccan member in these forums - heathen dawn. I don’t know if she’s still here or not.

 

[Ken]

**Barrister wrote:

Not a criticism directed at you, but it’s best to leave out links to sites that portray and advance the cause of witchcraft and paganisim. Any website with the word “tolerance” in the title probably ought to be avoided. **

Why is ignorance of social phenomenon preferable to knowledge?

 

[AnAtheist]

WhiteDove:

It’s mostly superficial and faddish silly stuff.

:bounce: :whacky: The smiley list doesn’t contain anything that represents my laughter right now.

 

[AnAtheist]

The Barrister:

Hate to tell you this, but Wicca is evil and is anti-Chistian in the extreme.

Hate to tell you this, but I know of no Wiccan who has ever burned someone for not being Wiccan. Sounds much less evil than some other religions I have heard from.

 

[wolpertinger]

kjvail:

We had a Wiccan member in these forums - heathen dawn. I don’t know if she’s still here or not.

He, if the photo on the homepage is an accurate depiction.

 

[Heathen_Dawn]

I’m still here, kjvail. It took me time to spot this thread.

snuffy:

It said the fastest growing religion in Canada was Wicca.

I take that with a grain of salt.

She said basically that ‘Wicca is great because, you can do anything you want- as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone.’!! How sad!!

Then she said wrongly. Wicca is not a licence for carefree release. As for the Rede, “an it harm none, do as ye will,” it’s more about spellcasting ethics than general morality. It means manipulative spells, hexes, curses and such stuff is prohibited.

WhiteDove:

Wicca is a teenage girl fad, that’s for sure.

I’m a 26 year old male Wiccan.

There may be some truth in this, though. A lot of teenage girls become Wiccans for the fun of it, or for the shock value, or other such superficial motives. But then they don’t stay Wiccans for long.
The Barrister:

Hate to tell you this, but Wicca is evil and is anti-Chistian in the extreme. It promotes belief in multiple “gods and goddesses,” at best it is pantheistic, it promotes homosexuality and bisexuality, promotes ritualist sex, and promotes the use of the occult, and so forth. I would be hard-pressed to find a more anti-Catholic set of practices.

Homosexuality and bisexuality are permitted by Wicca, not promoted. Ritual sex is not a requirement at all, and it usually takes place only between the High Priest and the High Priestess privately. As for pantheism, polytheism and occultism, well, that’s the religion, just as, say, Buddhism is about extinction of the desires, atheism and no-soul doctrine.

tractarian:

Neo-Pagans are willing to distort religious, philosophical, and even historical truths to make their faith appear on par with Christianity, Buddhism, etc. For example, most of the Wiccan books i used to read mentioned the witch burnings of Medieval/Renaissanse Europe in the same tone that Jews will speak about the Holocaust (i have even caught them borrowing facts from the Nazi Holocaust and translating it into things that Christians allegedly did to “millions” of witches!!)

The “Burning Times” claim was all the rage until a few years ago, but now most Wiccans know better, and I can assure you this canard is being shamed out of existence as we speak (or so I hope, at the very least).

Blessed be.
HD

 

[The_Barrister]

tractarian:

I applauded everything in The Barrister’s post until here:
The Barrister seems to have confused *non-*Catholic and *anti-*Catholic. All of those practices are non-Catholic, to be sure. But practicing them is not a definite indicator of whether a person is anti-Catholic. A person has to do or say something against Catholicism in order to be anti-Catholic.
Faustina probably is defending Wiccans—up to a point. She (like i did in my prev. post as well) was spreading information about them that is helpful for understanding them. It does no good to spread falsehood about Wicca like The Barrister, sadly, has. If we believe them to be something they are not, then we are only arguing against figments of our own imagination! As well as being a complete waste of time, that would be “anti-Wiccan” as opposed to treating Wiccans like real people in need of conversion and God’s love. We don’t put up with people who insist that Catholics worship statues or repeat the sacrifice of the Cross, we correct them with truth. The Wiccans, NeoPagans, etc. deserve the same respect we desire for ourselves, otherwise how will we be worthy of their attention? We Catholics have an awesome responsibility because we have the fulness of truth. We should promote truth in all situations, including when we deal with false religions.

I said “anti-Christian.” Not “anti-Catholic.” Diatribes are *much * better when they get the underlying premise right.

And you don’t have to “say” something “anti-Christian” to **be ** anti-Christian. A false religion **is ** anti-Christian.

 

[The_Barrister]

Ken:

Barrister wrote:

Not a criticism directed at you, but it’s best to leave out links to sites that portray and advance the cause of witchcraft and paganisim. Any website with the word “tolerance” in the title probably ought to be avoided.

**Ken writes: **
Why is ignorance of social phenomenon preferable to knowledge?

Some would say that pornography is a social phenomenon. But I don’t need to see it to know that it is evil. So, because you label “witchcraft” as a “social phenonmenon” we’re supposed to link to it, love it, accept it?

This is a Christian Catholic website that exists to respond to questions regarding the Catholic faith. It is not for the promotion of witchcraft.