Wiccan rituals and spells?

Question

From what I have seen,they seem pretty harmless.
I have heard some say that a spell is almost the same thing as a Christian prayer.
I have..also heard that it is not of God and that Wiccan rituals and spells are "evil".
What is your opinion on the subject?

Answer 1

Disclaimer: I follow a neo-pagan path that is different from Wicca.

To me, prayers are to talk with my deities. I may ask them for blessings, but usually I use prayer to thank them. I may ask a deity to work through me (as in healing) but that, to me isn't spellwork because I am not actually casting any spells. The main purpose of my prayers is to develop a deeper relationship with my deities.

I see spells a little differently than prayers. When I cast a spell, I am not asking for an entity to grant me something, nor am I giving praise to a deity. I am actively causing the change that I want by raising and directing energy towards my goals. I am responsible for the spell working or not. Occasionally, I may ask for blessings on my spellwork, but the responsibility still lies with me. To me, spells aren't wishes. Spells are gathering the energy that surrounds us and then directing it to achieve a specific result. To "hope" that you will get the results that you want implies doubt. There is no room for doubt in spellwork. Belief is a cornerstone to success.

Spells are only as "evil" as the intentions of the person casting them. Spells can cause harm though---especially if someone has no idea what they are doing. However, if they are just wishing, I can't see any harm in that.

Answer 2

Q: Do Witches and Wiccans cast spells?
A: Yes. Well, some do anyway. However, the term "spell" is widely misunderstood.

Spells, are somewhat like prayers and are used to create needed change in one's own life or the life of a loved one. But while prayers are a petition to an external Deity to create the change, most Witches and Wiccans believe that Deity is present in everything, including ourselves. Spells, then, are the channeling of our own divine selves, our own energies, to create the change.

Spells such as those which use love magic to gain the attention of a specific individual, or curses, are considered "manipulative". Most Wiccans believe that anything manipulative-that goes against the free will of another-is considered wrong. Many other pagan paths have similar codes of conduct based upon the tenets of their tradition or belief and almost all believe that the responsibility for their actions will lie with them.

Answer 3

Prayers have been said before going into combat, with both sides worshiping the very same God. (That would be a 'bad thing').

Spells have been cast to help someone deal with the grief in their life of a personal loss. (That would be a 'good thing')


They are in fact the very same thing and are even structured in exactly the same manner.

For a group in Church praying together, that would be what a 'Pagan' would call a "Group Ritual". The idea being that the more people are concentrating on the thing being hoped for, the better chance it has of occurring.

Answer 4

Myaloo!! one of my favorite christians on here :)

Wiccan rituals are not spells. Rituals are akin to going to church where there is a planned program of events. Depending on your denomination, when you go to church, you may receive a printed program where it tells you what's going to happen... you might start out with some singing, then some announcements, then a message from the pastor/preacher/reverend/priest about a topic of interest, and then perhaps more singing, etc..
Wiccan rituals are similar to that.

Prayers and spells are akin to one another in that it's about connecting to your creator and sending out your intent.

Now, are all prayers and spells sent out with good intent?
Think about it. Have you ever been around another christian who uses prayer as a form of gossip? For example: "We need to pray for such and such.. she's been cheating on her husband." Or, in a prayer circle, you'll hear something like " Lord, please help so-and-so.. they are involved in (name sin) and need your help".. is that really well-meaning or is it meant for harm?

Human beings can do and say things with mal-intent all the time.
Human beings do and say things with lovely intent all the time.
We're strange creatures, for sure ;)

You'll hear christians say that Wicca is not of God and that it's a form of satan-worship.
No matter how many times Wiccans try to explain that they don't believe in Satan nor worship Satan, christians are going to say this.. or things like "well you might not believe in Satan, but he believes in you"... or you'll find some allegedly ex-wiccan who will tell you that wiccans are lying and that they really do worship the devil, etc... It simply isn't so.

Wicca is all about loving nature, our fellow creatures and ourselves.
It's as valid a spiritual path as any other.

It is a federally recognized religion in the U.S.

It is a peaceful path and it helps lots of people find spiritual fulfillment.

Blessings!
Kallan

Answer 5

Wiccan, druidism, all have their beginnings in sort of christianity, if you look up the TRUE history of all hallows eve it's fascinating. WICCANS are GOOD, and I think it's so cool, they're probalby the most HUGE, wonderful website started by WICCANS, called WIKIPEDIA.ORG, I would seek that out and in the search bar insert WICCAN and you'll be reading for quite some time...but it's not black magic, it's white magic and I blieve, ergo, I hope you check it out. I could write on this all day, but i've answered lllike 15 questions in a two hour period and I'm bushed. I'm also craving the sweet valley (i know I'm piggywiggy" however, I'm starving and NOT for foood...so see you on the flip side dear.

Answer 6

spells are just prayers with props--although some christians use props too, candles, rosaries, etc., so I guess they are just prayers. You can cast evil spells, just as you can pray for evil to happen--it's all in the heart of the practitioner

Answer 7

they are good. and they are like the Christian prayer. I do them and I feel a great love and power come over me. I respect Jesus and other great religious figures. you will find Wiccans are very nice people.

Answer 8

A good friend of mine is a practicing Wiccan, I am a life long follower of Christ, though I may stumble from His path at times. I love her, but she may be terribly upset when God has his day and reminds her that "Thou shall have NO other Gods before me". But that is between she and HIM, it is not MY place to judge.

Answer 9

prayers , spells , possitivity ....
they are all the same
they are directed thought
and spells are no more evil than someone saying " i wish you well " or " i will pray for you "

Answer 10

Not evil. Simply different.