To ask if you believe in witchcraft?

[superstarheartbreaker]

My exes mum was known as a " White Witch". In other words she was very into woo and practiced as a Chrystal healer, could sense energy, was psychic and was into all the new age bull shit. Vegan etc , etc.

I think a large amount of this is bullshit however there are a few incidents which made me think. One involved her son. He was v abusive and when we split up I felt very low. At the time she was thousands of miles away in the USA. She phoned me up in ters ( she had no idea we gad split up) and told me she knew how low I felt and tha I should hang on in there ( I felt suicidal) she said she could feel my pain. Wierd as last time we met I fine.

I don't agree with the way she raised my ex ( brought him weed for his bday etc) and a lot of what she believed in ( and how she enforced those beliefs) was questionable but I do think there was something a bit strange about her. ( my dad who is the straightest man on the planet even thought she'd put some kind of spell on me at one point -- although that was probably due more to her abusive son.)

My own feeling is that Wicca has some power but that any attempt to manipulate nature to ones own ends is not to be trusted.

Am I barmy???!!!

[wasitsomethingisaid]

Britain has a long history of witchcraft in fact six million women were murdered for being witches only a few hundred years ago, by a male dominated culture wanting a regime of "science" and "knowledge" which has become the discourse that we live our lives by now. The fact that many of the herbs the wise women used as medicine are now used in our patriarchal society as medicine too is very telling. Women were taught to shut up and listen to those who knew more than them. Because of this there has been a fear and stigma attached to witchcraft and those who practise it. Traditionally men would hunt while the women would gather herbs for healing and cooking.

Basically the guys stole our jobs. Sure the feminists would have something to say about that now!

[mwalimu]

I'm not trying to conteol you just expressing my dislike of your disrespect and mocking of other peoples faiths. The spaghetti monster reference is very unoriginal and intended to offend. I think it is also intended to be hilarious, which it isn't

[Alisvolatpropiis]

Where did you get six million from, was?

Modern stats for the whole of Europe suggest it was more like 35,000-40,000

[bigbluestars]

mwalimu- thank you for your genuine interest. You are right- I am not about to put my head through the noose on this thread to be ridiculed.

Suffice to say I perform magical acts, I don't believe in "woo" or god , I am an atheist, a scientist.

My witchcraft has more to do with Jungian ideas of collective subconcious, the power of ritual, tribal and ancient societal acts.

[MollyBdenum]

I'm a pagan. I don't believe in waving a wand and breaking the laws of physics. To me, magic isn't really supernatural at all - it's just about focus, concentration, communication, effort and practice. With those, you can change the world around you quite a lot of the time.

[wasitsomethingisaid]

scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2012/12/02/how-many-people-were-killed-as-witches-in-europe-from-1200-to-the-present/

This is an interesting article.

Although I have nothing to add on the subject of wicca I would say Paganism (an umbrella term which Wicca fits under) is recognised by the Home Office and is also included in the ACAS documentation on religious discrimination at work. Paganism is also recognised as a religious belief by many hospitals.

Pagans tend not to get litigious but I think if you respect everyone and their beliefs you can't go far wrong

[Hakluyt]

"Police using "psychics" makes a lot of sense - a fresh look at the evidence by someone with great instincts/intuition is quite likely to come up with a new lead."

Shame it never has, then.......

[CalamityKate1]

Darkandstormynight - I'd happily bet my house that that did not happen.

[Hakluyt]

Yep. I'll add my house to the pot. And my car. And a horse.

[WorraLiberty]

Where jinn and black magic are concerned though, maybe it's bad luck, but it doesn't explain illnesses and certain objects being found around the house like a balls of fabric with pins sticking out under my bed.

People get ill though - that's a fact of life.

If you have objects underneath your bed, it's because someone put them there.

[mwalimu]

Near where I am from there is an area renowned for witch-craft. It is not very uncommon for 'witches' to be killed; often by a very large number of people. Its horrible. I'm fascinated by the power of the collective belief though. Its a separate thing to Wiccan though (obviously!)

I read a report of a woman being killed fairly recently, as a village of people saw her fly as a crow and change unto a woman, then fall to Earth. That, I believe is quite a common witchcraft story

Is Haiti, famous for voodoo, or did I make that up?

[DoraGora]

Haiti is, yes, and cholera.

[JustforMe]

I am a witch and pagan and from what I understand there is no such thing as a white or black witch. You need both light and dark in the world and you can do dark magic without doing anything evil or harming anyone. It's all about the balance of nature and you need to have both life and death light and dark to maintain the balance.

[specialsubject]

mwalimu how is one religion more valid than another?

why is not believing in what someone else believes in 'offensive'?

no, the spaghetti monster reference is not original. Does that mean reference to any other religion is also invalid because it is not original?

why is not believing in someone else's religion disrespectful? You said you are also a non-believer, so that means you are also disrespectful.

the pastafarians present an argument just as valid as anyone else's. Please prove otherwise. I'm listening.

[GarlicGiftsAndGlitter]

I think it is also intended to be hilarious - It was for me! Pastafariansim had me laughing out loud, gurgling "That is genius!"

Wasit, observing what seems to make people & animals more healthy or ill, sharing information on the subject, and trying to make a living out of it, is called medicine these days as it was in ye oldene days.

[Hakluyt]

[mwalimu]

special of course you can believe different things than other people. I think its pathetic to poke fun at other peoples beliefs. But as you were, you obviously enjoy it. I'm off, to do something more constructive than argue with you. I think this thread could have been interesting, its a shame for me. I would have liked to hear about other peoples experiences/beliefs around witch-craft

[DoraGora]

mw I'm sure you can PM people.

[WillkommenBienvenue]

OP the fact that this woman's son was abusive means she probably was a 'special' person - either because she neglected her son enough to allow him to adopt abusive behaviours (perhaps from his father) or because she messed with his mind enough to cause the abuse.

I know very few people like this but the ones I have known have been control freaks who have turned to woo as a kind of rejection of others that they feel are a threat. So for instance when people say things you don't want to hear you dismiss them and blame their 'humours' or 'constellation' or whatever terminology that branch of woo likes to use.

I think it gives immense power to the people that do it and when someone is narcissistic or controlling or simply too weak to be able to deal with criticism or acceptance of a difficult situation it's a great way to regain control.

I also liken it to religion without the hard work. You don't need to bother with the church, the community, the wider discussion, the principles and the theology, it's just you, your tools and your 'intuition'.

[Tanith]

A lot of misinformation on this thread, isn't there?!

My sister is a Pagan. She certainly isn't psychic, nor would she claim to be. She doesn't perform Voodoo or Black Magic. She doesn't believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster and - since this is widely believed to be a lighthearted parody of religion - I doubt their followers do either.

I think so many beliefs and religions have been added to the pot and wrongly described as Wicca, it makes it hard to sort through the resulting mess.

"I don't believe in psychics, therefore Wicca is a load of rubbish" is like saying "I hate cheese so I won't eat sausages".

[LegoAdventCalendar]

I see it as a form of religion, nature worship. I don't follow any religion but if others want to more power to them.

[LeopardInABobbleHat]

Wicca is a relatively new phenomenon, popularised invented by Gerald Gardner in the 1950s. Rather than being a natural form of worship it's one man's attempt to give a veneer of respectabililty to the subjugation and abuse of women in the groups.

[Hatespiders]

My dh also believes in Jinns along with his terror of witchcraft and black magic. He says there are also 'marabous' in his home land who do some kind of spells with powders and plants etc to cure illness but also to make someone fall in love with you. I have never ever during our many years of marriage tried to undermine or criticise his beliefs or mock them. We've got on so well because we each accept that the other has his/her own inner life and each approaches God in their own way. The same applies to witchcraft. One has the absolute right to practise as one wishes, within legal boundaries of course. It gets to be evil when in certain places in Africa, children and women are tortured and isolated because someone has declared them to be witches. Fear drives all this, and corruption, because money changes hands for violent exorcisms and so on. I do have a huge problem with all that, as I'm sure anyone on here would too.

[BeetlebumShesAGun]

Leopard. Please go away and do some reading. Wicca has been around for centuries and has many, MANY different sects, facets and forms. Gardnerian Wicca certainly come to light in the 50's, and I'm not entirely comfortable with it but to say it's "not a natural form of worship" is frankly ignorant and offensive. Please get your facts right before you start discussing this. Just googling will show you how wrong you are.

[skolastica]

Britain has a long history of witchcraft in fact six million women were murdered for being witches only a few hundred years ago, by a male dominated culture wanting a regime of "science" and "knowledge" which has become the discourse that we live our lives by now. The fact that many of the herbs the wise women used as medicine are now used in our patriarchal society as medicine too is very telling. Women were taught to shut up and listen to those who knew more than them. Because of this there has been a fear and stigma attached to witchcraft and those who practise it. Traditionally men would hunt while the women would gather herbs for healing and cooking.

Yes yes yes - was just reading my way through the thread to post exactly this. Patriarchy wanted a centralised power - wise women were a threat. Solution - make them scapegoats and ridicule their ability to work with nature and esoteric knowledge.