witchcraft?

Question

Does anyone believe in spells and witchcraft?

Answer 1

Sounds like fun. As for real....nah

Answer 2

If you mean someone cackling and dancing around a bubbling green cauldron, or scenes from "The Craft" with Fairuza Balk, then no, or someone throwing an herbal concoction at me for a curse, then no. Witchcraft can be a derogatory term for Wicca; it's kind of like calling homosexuals "queers", or Christians "Jesus-freaks" (no one flame me on this, I'm just stating examples, not beliefs!), which does exist, but the "spells" you speak of are more focused meditation, with objects and symbols to help concentrate.

Answer 3

Yes to both, but I don't believe spells work in flashy, "supernatural" ways. Instead, they work through "natural means," meaning any good magic could be dismissed as "coincidence" as a skeptic.

Imagine you want to quit smoking or lose weight. If you haven't really bought into the idea, and aren't doing it for the right reasons, no *way* will you stick with it. But if you do a spell to quit smoking or lose weight, and do it well, then it will change you on a subconscious level so that suddenly you DO have buy in, and you've found the right reasons, and it's easier. Will you instantly drop pounds? No--diet and exercise still come in. But it's suddenly do-able when, before, it wasn't. That's magick.

Answer 4

I am Pagan/Wiccan, so of course I do. However, the idea that Witches are green, with warts on their nose, like to drink babies' blood, and fly on brooms at night is entirely false. It was made up by the Church when they were largely political, and were trying to gain power. At first, they tried to convert the Pagans in gentle ways, but their plan didn't work, so they turned the public against the Pagans/heathens. (The word "heathen" means a country-dweller".)

The broom-flying aspect was probably started when somebody saw farmers jumping around their crops on pitchforks/brooms/anything that shape at night, trying to show their crops how high to grow.
The potions came from the midwives and healers, who would mix up medicines. The "scary" ingredients were just folk names. For instance, "bat wings" was a folk name for holly, which, of course, looks like miniature bat wings.
As for magic...we're not talking about pulling rabbits out of hats, Harry Potter, or Hocus Pocus. Spells are merely when we try to use natural forces to help others or ourselves...for good only.
And why are Witches portrayed as being green with warts? Well...there are two theories on that one. The first is that wise women and midwives (the original Pagans) were usually fairly old, and had warts etc. The other is that years of bad press and maybe a few fairy tales created this fallacy.

A little bit more info...you know the phrase from the Bible saying Thou shalt not suffer a Witch to live. Well, that was a translation error (intentional or accidental). When translating the bible from the original text, instead of Witch, the word was actually Poisoner. The words were very similar, and a Witch could be confused with a poisoner because both had the knowledge and access to herbs...and certain concoctions of herbs could be used as poisons. However, a true Witch would never intentionally poison or hurt another.

FYI - The word "Wicca" comes from the old English word "wicce", meaning "wise one". now, the word Wicca is used in the same context as Paganism. Members of that religion are known as Witches, Heathens (remember where "heathen came from...), Wiccans, or Pagans.

And I think this is the last paragraph...if it helps you to get past the mind-block of witches being horrible, ugly creatures, just think of us as the followers of the nature-religion. So instead of thinking "Witch", think "nature-lover".

Answer 5

Yes but be careful on what you do. Remember if it is harmful to others it will come back to you threefold of what your intention was. The best thing is to get a starter book before you do anything serious. Just in case you were interested in started into Witchcraft. Try reading Bucklands Guide of Witchcraft or try looking into Paganism first. This way it gives you an outline on everything that is out there.

Answer 6

Nope... well, I beleive that others believe in it, and that some people pratice what they believe is witchcraft, but no, I don't beleive that the practice is effective nor based on any real evidence.

Answer 7

Depends on just how you mean 'real'.

Witchcraft does exist. I know many people who perform it. Is it efficious, that's another question.

Do you mean by mystical powers? Then no. However, magic and spells are surprisingly effective even though they're totally bogus. They are a psychodrama that effectively puts the person into a state conducive to conscious and subconscious thought, which allows them to focus their intention to accomplish a goal. Someone who is well focused is more likely to attain something than someone who's not focused.

Answer 8

No. I know a lot of Wiccans who do, but they couldn't do a "spell" to get themselves out of a wet paper bag. They try, but all their doing is messing around. Spells don't exist. Everything that Wiccans believe is spells is only "good thoughts" and "pray" focused in a different direction.

Answer 9

Ummmm

As a witch, I'd have to say yeah.

Is there anyone out there who believes in Christianity and prayer?

Answer 10

Yes, but think about it another way if you like: If you send out positive vibes you attract positive vibes back. Spend anytime with a really negative person and you will find that after a while they will drain all your energy. Does that help?

Answer 11

Absolutely! There are plenty of Wiccan and witchcraft sites and books out there if you're interested in learning more about it.