The worship of Nature, earth, water, wind and fire seem only natural. Since God made the elements and God is in everything, the worship of nature seems logical to me.
Of course I am no expert in any religion, including Chrisianity, and I know less about practicing wiccanism or whatever.
2007-02-22 15:57:40 · 20 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Because people are ignorant and can't be bothered to actually learn the facts.
However, if they're Christians, the chances are that from their point of view, it IS Satanism.
Let me explain. If you believe that your religion is the only way to God, and that all other religions are false, then it's not much of a leap from there to conclude that the Gods other religions worship are not Gods at all, but in fact aspects of Satan, the anti-God. I don't agree with it, but it does make sense if you're operating within the Christian framework.
From a sociological point of view, on the other hand, Wicca is nothing like Satanism. We do not acknowledge the God/Satan cosmology (which Christianity sort of stole from the Zoroastrians anyway). We have no equivalant figure to Satan in our theology. As far as we're concerned, the powers that we work with are Divine powers, aspects of Goddess/God which are beneficial, balanced, and rightly a part of the universe.
The "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" line has caused more headaches for Wiccans than just about anything in Christian canon. Never mind that it's a mistranslation in the first place; Christians hear the word "Wicca", associate it with witchcraft (which not all Wiccans practice), and proceed to get Bronze Age on our behinds. When they do this, I try to politely point out (again) that we do not worship any being like Satan, that as far as we're concerned all power flows from the Goddess/God, and that while witchcraft has no "good" or "bad" orientation (like prayer, it can be used to bring about all sorts of things depending on the person using it), as Wiccans we are bound by the Wiccan Rede: "If it harm none, do what you will". Yes, there are witches out there who curse and overtly bind, but as Wiccans we steer clear of such things as a rule.
The only similarity between Wicca and Satanism, from a non-Christian point of view, is in the minds of some Christians. Which is a pity. I think the mutual animosity means that we're both missing out on learning from each other.
EDITED TO ADD: Regarding iamtiffy606's post... sorry, but witches don't necessarily worship Satan either. Witchcraft is a technique, like prayer, that's practiced in many different religious contexts -- yes, even in Christianity and Judaism. A witch is simply someone who practices witchcraft. It says nothing about their religious orientation.
EDITED AGAIN TO ADD: Regarding Abel's post... That Wiccans "worship the creation rather than the Creator" is a common misconception, so I don't blame you for it. However, I must correct you on it. Wiccans generally don't worship nature per se. We believe that the universe is the body of God/dess, and therefore that all things contain Divine energy and that the world itself is sacred.
There can be no separation from God/dess. All things not only proclaim Their glory, but ARE Their glory. It's therefore more accurate to say that we worship the Divine as manifest in nature; we worship the Creator, IN the Creation.
2007-02-22 16:00:00 · answer #1 · answered by prairiecrow 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I take offense to those who have indicated that witches worship Satan. I have many friends who are also witches and they concur. There is no Satan. We are all solitary practitioners.
I am proudly a WITCH, a Hedge Witch. NOT Wiccan. I am a practitioner of "the old religion" which predates Christianity. We don't recognize the existance of demons or the devil, so how could we worship something that isn't? Evil exists, that is a given, but it is of MAN not of nature. Doing anything even remotely evil goes against our principles. We do our best for humanity and the environment. If we were being influenced or led by the devil, why would he teach us how to use healing herbs and why would he want us to advocate saving the earth? Why would he want us to use our very being to help others? Doesn't that sound more like of "God" than of "Satan"? Can we be so mislead that we spend our entire lives doing good things for people & nature and helping in any way that we can that we are actually doing the work of the "devil"?!? Get real.
I can't say I worship any God (or Goddess) because everything is of nature, and like the Amerindians everything has it's own place in nature and has a deity associated with it. It is my place on earth to do what I can to help others, whether they be human, animal or any part of this planet (which mankind is doing it's best to destroy). I will invoke a specific deity to help in spellwork from time to time, but it is more of a partnership than worship. I believe in many deities, but all are less than the "One". Yes, many of us believe in a single supreme being that is over all.
Oops! Sorry I was ranting.
Simple answer to your question is Fear of what they do not know and lack of knowledge and unwilling to look beyond what is written in the Christian Holy Book (which is subject to interpertation). By tthe way, I can assure you that I know much more about Christianity than 99% of Christians actually know about Wicca (or witchcraft).
2007-02-23 08:31:40 · answer #2 · answered by Enchanted Gypsy 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No, Wiccans don't actually believe in Satan. What we do believe in is the masculine and feminine forms of the Divine, which we call God and Goddess. The Horned God actually predates any Christian notion or description of Satan. The description of Satan was actually taken from the stories of horned deities to scare people from worshipping them. People of all cultures give the Higher Power these artistic images, because we try to relate to Him. People gave the Horned God this image because they related the masculine energy of the Divine with the wild creatures of the forest and the hunt... strong, majestic, a source of life. I don't believe the Horned God actually has horns... God, in my beliefs, is a Spirit, not flesh and blood. Christians often envision God as an old man with a beard in the sky, but I think they know this is just a human idea and God isn't really a man, doesn't really have whiskers. Same thing with Wiccans, we realize God doesn't really have horns. The Horned God image from some Pagan cultures is only one depiction of God that a Wiccan may embrace. It's not the only one. I actually believe we all worship the same Divine Spirit-- Christian, Wiccan, Jew, Hindu, Muslim, etc.-- we just have different ideas about the nature of the Divine.
2016-05-24 01:09:49 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
AHHH!!! I am sick of all these Christians bashing Wicca and all these Wiccans bashing Christianity!!!!!!!!
I AM A CHRISTIAN! But I don't believe that Wicca is Satanism! In Wicca you are worshipping nature. NOT SATAN!
The only reason I am against Wicca is because God simply states "there shall be no other Gods before me"!
That means that you worship nothing other than God. But just because you don't believe in God per say doesn't mean you are worshipping Satan! To worship Satan you would have to be a witch. Not a wiccan, a witch. Two completely different types of people. Wiccans do things to help people. Hello---healing natural medicines? Thank you Wiccans!
The only point I'm trying to make here is that the only reason people think Wiccanism is the same as Satanism is because Wiccans have been getting a bad rap from people who think that Wiccans are Witches......
2007-02-22 16:08:11 · answer #4 · answered by iamtiffy606 3 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Equating Wicca with Satanism is a publicity ploy used to cement the faith of converts back in the Dark Ages. It just stuck around. It's the whole 'you're with us or against us' scenario. This and aging kings who wanted to reach Paradise (Valhalla) without having to die in battle is what caused the old ways to be pushed out of larger communities.
2007-02-22 16:09:07 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
The reason is simple.
PEOPLE ARE STUPID!
It is also believed by these stupid people that Satanism is about Satan which is a flat out LIE!
Satanist DO NOT BELIEVE IN A SATAN!
I KNOW BECAUSE I AM ONE!
The ones big on the Satan idea are the Christians!
They need him in order for their religion to make sense!
Anyone that doesn't buy into their load of crap is following the devil!
TOTAL BS!!
FACE REALITY THEY LIE!
2007-02-22 16:02:54 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋
before I came to God I looked into that wicca stuff... every , and I mean every, site I looked at on the internet, at the time, and I looked at a lot, had deliberatly placed links to other sites that were, in some way or another, connected to some other darker form of the occult. With only a few clicks, directly from the wicca sites, I would find myself in to much satanic and or demonic stuff... I have know for a long time that the forces of evil and their power were very real... and what I found, all linked from wicca sites... was pure evil... I will never venture that far into that crap again... it was frightening... Thankfully I found my Way to God instead...... wicca, in my opinion, is a touchy feely deception of the forces of evil designed to keep as many as can be from The Truth... it is, at its most common public preception level, simply a pre school for darker studies for those few who can be drawn into the dark forces.... most who are involved in wicca nere get out of the pre school level...
I have been told hat the basic wicca sites have cleaned up their act in the interest of PC PR.... and no longer have such direct links as I found... at least in the public access sites... but evil is evil and wicca is, in my opinion, evil.
2007-02-22 16:12:51 · answer #7 · answered by idahomike2 6 · 0⤊ 4⤋
There is much more than nature worship.they believe in many many gods and goddesses and they perform magic spells.In
each spell they call down different Gods.
2007-02-22 16:10:39 · answer #8 · answered by gwhiz1052 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Just a common misconception. Although some people will believe that's the case with any religion that is not traditional.
2007-02-22 16:01:57 · answer #9 · answered by LIL OL' ME! 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I think they are perceived by most people as worshipping Satan. Or being anti-Christ. Either or both.
2007-02-22 16:00:36 · answer #10 · answered by Sweet n Sour 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋