Is it possible to be a Wiccan and a Christan?

Question

My mother keeps telling me that she is a witch (meaning the true sense of the word) and talks often of spells that she got off the internet and says that she is a Wiccan - however, when asked about the Pentacle, and what the 5 points mean, she corrects me to pentagram and says that each point is for the wounds inflicted on christ's hands and feet and the crown of thorns.
She said she wanted me to explore Wicca, and gave me Bucklands guide to Wicca. I read the history in the front of the book which outlines the Wiccan version of Christian history. They seem to directly oppose one another. When questioning mom about it, we got into such a heated debate about it that I wasn't able to get any further in my explorations of the religion, but I must confess to being interested in learning more. Please help mom and me put this debate to rest. Sources would be VERY helpful too.

Answer 1

No it is impossible to be both Christian and Wicca, in fact it is impossible to be two religions at once no matter what religions they are as religion is a specific set of fundamental beliefs and practices agreed upon by a number of persons or sets, thus to be a part of a religion you must agree with these beliefs, not half agree with them and then half agree with some other religions belief.

The fundamentals of the two religions themselves contradict each other;

Wicca = A priesthood within an oath-bound initiate-only lineage Pagan mystery tradition that believes in goddess and god [names of which are unknown to those not initiated into BTW], a priesthood within it's own rights that practices both lower and higher magics.

Christianity = A religion that believe Jesus to be son of God, and who died to save the world from sin and is the only means of salvation. They believe in the trinity of their deity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The two religions are vastly different, and Wicca itself is a priesthood also making it even more difficult to combine the two - it is possible with new age practices to take ideas from both faiths, however without initiation into Wicca you cannot be Wicca, and Wicca would not allow someone to enter into their religion when a they do not believe in their religion, that would be illogical.

The two religions are mutually exclusive, how or why anyone would want to try to force the two together is beyond me - and yes there are people who call themselves Christian Wicca, but they are certainly not recognised as being part of Wicca by anyone other than themselves and those ignorant of Wicca - just because someone calls themselves Wicca does not make them Wicca.

It is perfectly possible that your mother is simply a Christian witch, and somewhere along the line has gotten herself muddled up with the number of people who believe that Wicca equates to witch and vice versa. Buckland's guide to Wicca is not about Wicca but about Neo-wicca such as Buckland's own tradition of Seax-Wicca.
Your mother is right about the meaning of the pentagram from the Christian point of view, the pentagram is not exclusive to Wicca, however your mother is incorrect in being both Wicca and Christian, it is impossible and unless she is initiated she is not Wicca nor is she recognised as Wicca.

Point out to your mother that without initiation into Wicca she cannot be Wicca – as Wicca is a priesthood, and without initiation Wicca would not teach her the beliefs, practices, doctrines, god's identities or mysteries within Wicca (Wicca do not substitute gods), she would only ever know the outer-court teachings of Wicca or the teachings of Neo-wicca. She cannot be two religions at once, she has to choose one, and she is of course perfectly capable of learning about Wicca and Neo-wicca

She is perfectly capable of being a witch within Christianity – the magic Wicca or Neo-wicca use would not work for her as they work on the basis of Wicca and Neo-wicca beliefs, not Christian, this is the problem with trying to follow magic within a religious structure, it does not translate well to other religions. She might be interested in Christian-specific magic, Jewish-based magic systems or ceremonial magic as well as lower magics such as witchcraft and divination or healing, things such as Qabalah work well for Christian witches and magic users. The bible as evidence against witchcraft does not stand to objective reasoning, very simply the bible can be used by those who are closed-minded or prejudice to back up any prejudice, when you study the bible seriously you will find the translations to be faulted and quotes often said to be against the use of witchcraft to be taken out of context.

To my knowledge there is no where that specifically discusses why Wicca and Christianity cannot combine but this is because it should be a matter of common logic and those within Wicca have better things to do than address those who look to Wicca for fad value – sorry but if your mother is calling herself Wicca without even learning what Wicca is she does fall into this category.

Try getting her to read reliable books on Wicca rather than Neo-wicca, anything by Gardner but particularly Witchcraft for Today, Hutton's Triumph of the Moon, and Farrar's anything is good but the Witches Bible particularly, or books by Crowley. You may want to try pointing her into the direction of some reliable Wicca web sites as well, here are some suggestions;

http://amberandjet.spiralpaths.org - Amber & Jet
http://www.cyprian.org/Articles/gardchron.htm - Gardnerian Chronology and Bibliography
http://www.wargoddess.net/index.php - Enyo`s Workshop
http://wicca.timerift.net/ - Wicca: For the Rest of Us
http://www.homecircle.info - Homecircle
http://www.starkindler.org/ - StarFire Rising
http://www.asiya.org/ - Asiya`s Shadows
http://www.whywiccanssuck.com - Why Wiccans Suck
http://www.newwiccanchurch.net - New Wiccan Church International
http://members.tripod.com/~Moonpfyr/gardnerian.html - Gardnerian Tradition
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Agora/2416/wildrose.html - Wild Rose Outer Grove
http://members.shaw.ca/stoneandcauldron/ - Coven Of The Stone And Cauldron
http://www.oldeenchantments.com/coven/ - The Hollywood Coven
http://www.geocities.com/DesertHenge - Desert Henge
http://www.geocities.com/firestonecoven/ - Firestone Coven
http://draknet.com/proteus/proteus.html - Proteus Coven’s Webspace
http://belladonna.hypermart.net/Sage-and-Sickle/index.html - Sage & Sickle Coven

Answer 2

Sorry, but you can't be a Wiccan and a Christian. They are conflicted religions, and therefor are mutually exlcusive. You really can't be both.

In theory, you could practice Witchcraft and still be Christian, but I'm pretty sure the Bible is strongly against that.

I'm a Wiccan, and I'd be happy to provide more info.
[e-mail]

Pentagram is a Pentacle without a circle. The 5 points are the 5 elements, Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and then Spirit is the top point.

Answer 3

Would one be considered a Christian if they only believe and practice half of the core tenets of Christianity ? I doubt it. Would one be considered a Wiccan if they only believe and practice half of the core tenets of Wicca? No. It sounds like they would be following a new religion--which isn't a bad thing, but it would be neither Christianity nor Wicca. One of the main differences is that Wicca is a polytheistic (perhaps duotheistic?) religion and Christianity forbids worshiping more than one deity. How can one stay loyal to both at the same time?

Answer 4

Wicca and Christianity are both religions. The requirements of Christianity, that one believes that Jesus is the Messiah, preclude one from being both Wicca AND Christian.

However, it is possible to be Christian and practice "low magic" or what is commonly known as "witchcraft." Witchcraft is a practice, not a religion, therefore it is possible.

You might get some good answers at this webpage:
http://members.aol.com/RawnaMoon/

Answer 5

Your mom can call herself anything she wants, and if that means both Christian and Wiccan, so be it. You don't have to agree. If there were only one way to interpret Christianity (or Wicca), there wouldn't be a hundred or so differenct churches... and the same is true of any religion. Whether or not she really is a Christian is something, ultimately, only God can decide.

Answer 6

You can't be a Wiccan and a Christian in the truest sense of the terms. For one thing, they have different theologies. It's almost like trying to mix Christianity and Hinduism. Yes, Wicca allows you to subsitute Gods or Goddesses, but that's it. In order to be a Wiccan, you'd have to believe in Wiccan theology, which doesn't believe in a Hell, or a Satan. But in order to be Christian, those things have to be present. However, if you want to designate Jesus as your god-of-choice, or the Virgin Mary as your goddess-of-choice, then I'm pretty sure that's fine.

Answer 7

If you are asking what does God say about your question then NO it is not possible. Read the following scriptures.

Deut 18:10
2 Chron 33:6
Na 3:4

And here is the BIGGY.

Galatians 5:19-20

God says to us no one can serve two masters. You are either with Him or against Him. Throughout history God has dealt harshly with His people when they went aside and worshipped idols, practiced sorcery and witchcraft. Even when they kept the alter of the Lord available in addition to these others God was angry and in response many times sent the Israelites into captivity as punishment.

Some of the other answers you read here are the opinions of individuals. You have to ask yourself, though, who's opinion do you value more -- God's or man's.

Answer 8

No! Totally opposite. No wiccan will enter into the kingdom of Heaven. Just a selfish and childish game of satan's fools.

Answer 9

I really doubt that you can be Wiccan and Christian...well you can say so. But any Bible-thumping Christian is going to shoot that one down with a bullet.

Answer 10

Sure, there are a lot of Wiccans that believe in Christ. It's just the Christian religion that tells you to only worship their way. Wicca allows you to worship in your own way.

Answer 11

I used to use the Tarot and other forms of divination & sorcery on my spiritual path, only to find out that it was a path to destruction. Below are some verses that opened my eyes and made me take a harder look at the Bible. The more I read the more I saw God's wisdom. Two days after reading them I put away the occult and accepted Yeshua as my savior. I have not looked back.

I can only hope that these scriptures will help you as much as they helped me. I will pray for you and your mother.

Deuteronomy 18:10-12 0 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you.

Exodus 22:18 18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

2 Kings 23:24 24 Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.

Galatians 5:19-21 9 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Malachi 3:5 5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.

Colossians 2:8 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spirits of this world rather than on Christ.

Acts 19:18-20 18 And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds. 19 Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.

Romans 1:21-32 21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.