is Witchcraft Secretly Satanism?

Question

I saw "In Search Of" tv show today. it show this man Alistar Crowly
he was a witch,and so was gerald gardner. anyway, the tv show said that crowly raised the Devil and soon after died.with tragic events to his whole family. now, witchcraft clames they do not belive in the devil,yet some of witchcraft's biggist members did infact dable with the devil.... so whos telling the truth???
it's said that one of the devil's Biggest lies is that he does not exsict. im not putting down anyone here...to each his own. i'd just like some fact's.

Answer 1

Not secretly at all

Answer 2

Facts;

Aleister Crowley not alistar crowly

Witchcraft & Paganism do not acknowledge the devil/satan/whatever you want to call him.

Crowley did not ever raise the devil. None of witchcraft's more famous names ever dabbled with the devil. How can you dabble with an entity you don't believe exists ?
Crowley certainly did a few controversial rituals in his time and some of his workings were indeed a bit shocking, considering the era he lived in and the fact that he was the son of a preacher, but no devil stuff.
Please bear in mind that tv and investigative journalism can be very biased.
Also I would like to add that the person who answered directly before me hasn't got the first clue what she is talking about. Magick is neither black or white. It has no colour.
Paganism and witchcraft have absolutely no connection to satanism. I am a Pagan witch, not Wiccan, therefore from the answers I have read so far I am better qualified than most to tell you what people who share my beliefs do and don't believe in and we definately DO NOT believe in a devil or satan, those are christian inventions, therefore live in christianity only, not in Paganism and not in witchcraft.

Answer 3

"In Search Of" was filmed during a time in which few people knew anything about Wicca or any of the other neo-Pagan religions. There are various pagan religions, and Aleister Crowley followed what is often termed the "left hand path". Wiccans don't worship the Devil, because they don't believe he exists. The Devil is a figure of the Christian and Muslim religions.Wiccans revere nature and they see Divinity as having both masculine and feminine aspects, so they tend to worship what they term the God and the Goddess, though some feminist Wiccan sects tend to focus on the Goddess. Wiccans also practice magic, but they have rules about what spells they can and can't perform. For example, they don't perform spells that harm others or manipulate others, because they believe in the Threefold Law, which states that whatever you do, whether it be good or evil, will come back to you threefold. The Wiccan Rede also states, "An' it harm none, do what ye will." This means that you can do whatever you want as long as it hurts no one.

Answer 4

Facts? Satan/The Devil/Lucifer/etc. are christian concepts. Witchcraft/wicca/Paganism is a far cry from Christianity. Satanism is also a completely different set of beliefs.

Personal Opinion?
You can be a satanist and still be a witch, but you can also be a witch and NOT be a satanist. Those are the personal preferences of those particular people, because if you note, some of Witchcrafts biggest members also say the same thing "We do not follow christian dogma, and that includes satan." Being a Witch does not mean you believe in Satan (as one would have to do in order to practice Satanism, realistically speaking). You can dabble in those areas, yes, but it by no means makes it a standard for all Witches.

Answer 5

Aleister Crowly was a High Magickian. He belonged to the Order of the Golden Dawn. He was not happy with just practicing Witchcraft. He decided to take it one step further and try to raise demons. The story goes is that he successfully did raise demons, but some how he got "out of his protective circle" and was harmed.

Dr. Gerald Gardner started "Gardnarian Witchcraft" which is it's own sect. There are several different sects of Witchcraft. (Example: Seax Wicca, Strega, Celtic, Alexandrian, etc.). Each sect has their own set of rules and principles. Dr. Gardner is credited with bringing Witchcraft into the forefront and to America.

Witchcraft/Wiccans to not worship Satan or practice Satanism. This is a completely different religion/concept. Wiccans do not even believe in Satan.

I hope that my answer has helped you. Have a lovely rest of the day....Bright Blessings.....

Answer 6

Alistar Crowly was a devil worshiper, not a witch. Wiccian's do not believe in the devil, that is a christian belief. Witchcraft/Wicca was around long before Christianity. People mistake wiccians/witches for devil worshipers a lot because of the pentagram and pentacle. The pentagram and pentacle are symbols of protection, nothing evil to them. Devil worshipers stole the symbol, so to speak, for there own use and changed people's idea of the symbol.

Answer 7

Witchcraft is a very broad term which most people who have never studied the history of it couldn't even tell you what it is.

The show was right about Crowley, as far as him being a witch, but he was mainly a Ceremonial Wizard who was also a hedonist. Gardner started Wicca during the 40's, but he is shown to be a more peaceful character compared to Crowley.

I view this in much the same way as I view Power itself... It's a lot like Fire. You can cook food, keep warm, etc But if you abuse Fire, it can burn your house down around your ears too. It depends on the person using it and Why they are using it.

(Though a lot of Witchcraft is merely Power of Suggestion)

Answer 8

that's a loaded question, and the answer really depends on who you ask.

witchcraft isn't so closely related to satanism, as is satanism or sorcery.
And even then, I'm guessing that different people have different definitions of what is and isn't witchcraft.
most ppl you would meet that practice witchcraft would tell you passionately -NO.
For the most part, they neither believe in God or the devil, and their power comes from nature and the earth.

However, according to Christianity, you are either for God or not. And anything else, BUT Christianity is against God.
There are specific passages in the Bible that condemn witchcraft, but I've not seen anything that directly calls it satanism (although any religeous person you ask would say it is).

Answer 9

Satanism and Witchcraft (Wicca) are two different things. Any intelligent person can see that television and the media has tried to distort people's views or such religions for their own gain. Most "witches" are nice people. I know a few. We have some pretty interesting conversations. I'm a Christian and I have no problem learning about other religions because the bible tells us that we should love everyone and he who is without sin should cast the first stone. Right?

Answer 10

Yes Witchcraft is really serving Satan.
Rebellion from God is Witchcraft
Satan rebelled from God
They are all evil and are hell bound unless these witches get forgiveness

I use to play around in New Age stuff and was a Witch
bad evil things started to happen to me. Contsant nightmeres,fear,sickness, accidents,failed business etc.
It was bad---> I came back to Jesus and I will never go back.
I know it was all fueled by Satan.All New Age is the same even Satanism. Alister Crowley was the most evil man that ever lived, he is the founder of the Satans Church.
Trust me its all evil and you open doors for demons when you get involved in it.

Trust God and obey his word.
Here is a neat website you can look up
thius woman was a former witch
http://www.carolkornacki.org/

Answer 11

Satanism and Wicca are not the same, but they are not mutually exclusive. Being a non-Christian religion, Wiccans don't subscribe to the whole "Devil bad" thing, which could be where you are having some confusion.
Virtually every religion involves contacting higher beings - Our Father, Hail Mary, Oh Gods on Olympus, Ma Ja, etc. If the Wiccans contact the great pumpkin and he has pointed ears, horns and a tail, well, call him Satan or Pan or whatever, just don't expect the Wiccans to call him evil.
Hope that clears it up for you.