Teaching my youth group about witchcraft this week. Could you suggest some good resources.?

Question

Also. (please mind the ignorance) How is Wicca related or similar?

Answer 1

The Bible

Answer 2

Who's ignorance are you referring to? Just kidding (I hope), I can see you are a dedicated Christian man, and that is just fine with me. As long as you are open minded and willing to learn.
Wicca: technically a religion "created" by Gerald Gardner in the wake of Alister Crowley in the 1950's. Generally coven related, but not always.
Witchcraft: Predates Christianity in many forms. Not all witches are Wiccan, but we do have the same basic guidelines, that is our rede, "do as thou wilt if it harm none". I have personally been a witch for over 40 years, and like most witches. I live it 24/7. You will not find many hypocrites.
Our "spells" are really no more than really focused prayers, we believe that some tools help us to direct the energy. Yes, we manipulate nature, but then so does every living person on earth. After all, when you grow a garden you ar manipulating nature. You can't not manipulate it and survive. We are just able to take it a little farther.
I am an herbalist and also use a lot of forms of divination. I also have studied the use of minerals as every kind of rock or gem has certain powers.
As far as herbs go, most modern medicine has its basis in herbs (asprin is willow bark, digitalis is foxglove, plus many others).
If you really want to know about witchcraft I suggest a book called "Wicca, Guide for the Solitary Practitioner" by Scott Cunningham. That will give you much more information than anyone could give you here.
I will never tell you that what you believe is wrong (no witch would) We feel it is your life and it is the path you have chosen. But it would really be nice if everyone from ever religion would do the same. It is generally our feeling that God is like the top of a mountain, there are many paths to get there.
BB
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Answer 3

Witchcraft is the use of magic through altering of personal and environmental energy (called a spell). There are many groups of people who practice Witchcraft and many folks who aren't in any particular group.

According to some beliefs, this manipulation of energy can take place on an entirely subsconscious level, meaning that people can actually cast a spell on others by accident simply by feeling strong emotions about this person (see also the "evil eye"). In Africa in particular, Witch Doctors were once employed to correct these problems that cropped up and prescribe a cure. The Witch in question was not usually punished beyond having to do some sort of prescribed ritual to undo the damage he/she had done, unless, of course, he/she refused. With the advent of missionaries, Witch Doctors were all but wiped out as a profession, but Witch beliefs persisted and that is why we have so many people killed as Witches in Africa even today. None of those people are Wiccan.

Wicca is a Pagan religion based on the idea that the Witches who were burned during the great Witch Hunts of Europe were part of a universal Goddess-worshipping Pagan religion that was unilaterally dubbed Witchcraft. It is, however, not Witchcraft in the spellcasting sense (above) though many Wiccans do also this practice Witchcraft, but an actual religion honoring a hermaphroditic universal deity OR a Goddess (depending on the tradition) because regardless of whether or not ancient Witches followed a specific religion in Europe, Witches continued to exist, and continue to exist in ignorance of the LordandLady of Wicca. Regardless, many Wiccans insist that Wicca and Witchcraft and Wiccan and Witch are synonymous.

Although many people in the Western world equate witchraft with herbalism (probably from the feminist theories that the Witch Hunts amounted to a war against independant women, many of whom were midwives because if you were single you were either a midwife or a prostitute and old ladies don't make good prostitutes, but they forget that independant women also made good scapegoats without family members to stand up for them in a society where you had to accuse somebody, or risk somebody accusing you. We saw the same thing happen in the USSR, and Nazi Germany.) . However, Witchcraft and herbalism don't really have much to do with each other- except that herbs (as well as anything suitable in color, scent or symbolism) can be used in Witchcraft as a source of environmental energy or to help "color" or direct personal energy. It is true that many Witches are also herbalists, however back in the day EVERYONE was an herbalist to some degree. It may be telling that in modern times those countries that have laws against Witchcraft (in Africa) also have herbalist and traditional healers unions, official training schools and legal protections drawing a clear and defining law between the two.

The Bible, before translated, was very specific about what sort of magic was not permitted. Unfortunately, we do not have enough words in our language to translate sufficiently, so magic was unilaterally forbidden for Christians. Words in the Bible for magic and witchcraft were variously translated as busybodies, poisoners, gossips, deceivers, slanderers, flatterers, etc. (you have to wonder if it's not prestidigitationists who are being condemned in some cases.) It's hard to really see what's going on there and where Witches are actually being referred to. Obviously some styles were acceptable as there are many examples in the Bible. But these would not be considered Witchcraft as they are Divinely powered (which is more along the lines of Wiccan-style magic, not actual Witch craft which depends on manipulating personal and environmental energy. It is more along the lines of Goetian or Enochian style sorcery. You should look those up too. Those are Judeo-Christan magic.)

The works of JK Rowling have no similarity whatsoever to modern or historical Witchcraft or Wicca or any other Pagan religion for that matter.

Answer 4

Please, please, please do not get it mixed up with Satanism which has its roots in Christianity and that branch of the tree!

There is Witchcraft the Hollywood Pop meaning and then there is the craft of the Wicca. Wicca is an ancient earth based religion.

Stay away from spell casting stuff its more for book sales in my opinion not so legitimate. There are pagan organizations that may have better references for you. It is in some sense a revival period for a religion that was almost completely destroyed so I would go to European and British sources which are probably closer to the original teachings.

Please be fair in what you teach.

Iceprince are you frightened of your own shadow too?

Answer 5

Wicca is a relatively new invention drawing on ancient taboos. The Druids were wiped out, literally, by the Romans and subsequent cultural invasions, but the most vile examples, recorded by their enemies, are what remains today, morphed into the sorcery and witchcraft nonsense. King James' phobia of people who could divine the truth, Shakespear's "MacBeth", and Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Goodman Brown" might be subjects worth looking into.

Answer 6

Hi... I just happen to be Wiccan! and I am offended by the answers you have recieved!!! So I have come to set you straight! Ok its like this... Wiccans believe that a spell can alter the universe! I changes the way the world is going kinda like changing direction! Witchcraft is not Satanic!!!! I promise... witchcraft is used for good...and ONLY good....if you do a bad spell and it messes up someones life then that is black magic...and that goes against the Wicca Rede... any ?s just email me.

Answer 7

Witchcraft is a practice and wicca is a religion. They need not go hand in hand.

Answer 8

What do you want to know about witchcraft?
It's a very broad subject, if you e-mail me specifics I'll do the best I can to help you.

In the mean while the following two links are a good starting place.

Answer 9

Jehovah's Witnesses have a bible study aid, it is called, What Does The Bible Really Teach? This bible aid will take you into your own personal bible where you can have your questions answered scriptually from your own bible!
It is a small paper back book,223 pages
You can go on line at watchtower.org and contact the society and they will have somebody come by and show you this publication. It is a very good bible aid.
Or you can stop by a Kingdom Hall near you and ask for this publication. They would be more than happy to put one in your hands.

Answer 10

Religioustolerance.org has been mentioned is a good place to start.

The best thing you can teach them is that witches, Wiccans and other Pagans just have different beliefs but that does not make them bad. It is just a different path some of us have chosen.

Answer 11

Witchcraft is a technique, like prayer, that is practiced in a number of different religious contexts (and sometimes with no religion at all). Wicca is one of the religions where witchcraft is widely practiced, but not all Wiccans are necessarily witches.

Witchcraft 101 would go something like this, at least as I was taught: All things in the universe are interconnected by energy, which some witches (including Wiccans) perceive as Divine in nature. This is how witchcraft works: by focussing my intent, and using sympathetic correspondances (certain herbs for courage, for example), I can create an amulet using those herbs which will stimulate courage in the person who wears it. Similarly, by using a lock of hair from a person who is ill, I can (with their permission) set energies in motion that will help them to heal.

In this sense, witchcraft is a very mechanistic worldview. The entire universe is seen as a giant interconnected machine, and by applying one's will to exert pressure one area, one creates a cascade effect that causes change in another area.

Wiccans see witchcraft as working with the Divine energy that permeates the world to bring about change. In accordance with the Wiccan Rede, the vast majority of Wiccans will not curse or perform magic to bring harm upon anyone else.

If I had to ask you to emphasize one thing to your students, it would be this: WICCANS (AND WITCHES IN GENERAL) DO NOT WORSHIP THE DEVIL, SATAN, OR ANY SUCH BEING. We do not consider that our powers are drawn from an evil source, and in fact have no such being in our cosmology. As far as most witches I've heard of are concerned, they are working with natural energies inherent in the world around us.

A good article on historical witchcraft in general (though I disagree with its conclusions about Wicca and witchcraft):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchcraft

A relatively objective (non-Wiccan) set of articles on what Wiccans do and believe:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/witchcra.htm

Another useful article:

http://www.religionfacts.com/neopaganism/paths/wicca.htm

A good site by Wiccans:

http://wicca.timerift.net

And the US Army Chaplains Handbook excerpt on Wicca:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_usbk.htm

If you have any further questions, please feel free to email me.