Witches, pagans, Wiccans...?

Question

What "powers" do you possess? I'm curious. I've heard a couple people that I know mention that they practice Wicca because of "power". I'm just wondering what can you do? Can you levitate, fly on a broom, cast spells? I'm not trying to put anyone down, I just want to know what's really happening. I only ask because the people I know that are Wiccan can't do anything. But they're beginners.

Answer 1

Boy, the manner you ask this is pretty sarcastic, but I'll answer anyway.

Wiccans, like many others including Hindus and Buddhists believe that divinity, spirituality, and enlightenment is accessible by everybody, not just through a chosen few like priests, bishops, cardinals and popes like Christianity would have you believe. They have don't special powers any more than the Pope does. Basically, these religions get rid of the need for church hierarchy, which is why, as you can probably imagine, is seen as a threat to organized Western religions and therefore these religions do their best to discredit them. Hindus and Buddhist are not picked-on as much because there are more of them then Christians in this world. Wiccans specifically and Pagans in general are the minority and easy to pick on.

Here's the basics of what Wiccans believe:

Wicca is a contemporary Pagan religion with spiritual roots in the earliest expressions of reverence of nature as a manifestation of the divine. Wicca views Deity as Goddess and God; thus it is polytheistic. It also embraces the practice of magick and reincarnation. Religious festivals are held in observance of the Full Moon and other astronomical and agricultural phenomena.

A Wiccan does not just believe, a Wiccan knows. A Wiccan does not just embrace faith, a Wiccan embraces experience.

• The Goddess and God are revered.

• Human souls enjoy a series of incarnations in human form (reincarnation).

• Power can be sent in non-physical form to affect positive change and the world in positive ways (Christians know this as prayer).

• What is done will be returned to the doer (Karma or as Christians know it: you reap what you sow).

• The Earth is our home, our Goddess which gives life (like a mother gives life to a child). It is not a tool we can abuse or it will not give life.

• Wiccans are not evangelical. We have no need to go out and "spread the word". We feel if our path is right for someone, they will find us. We don't have to convince anyone to join us.

• Wicca accepts that EVERY religion is correct to its adherents.

• Wicca accepts members from both sexes, from every race, national origin, and of every sexual preference. There is no discrimination in Wicca.

• Wicca is a religion, not a political organization. Wicca as a whole does not preach issues or endorse political candidates.

• Wicca doesn't ask for donations or tithing.

I hope that was a quick primer. Google or Wiki "Wicca" and you'll find lots more information if you're curious.

Answer 2

There are many different schools of thought among practitioners regarding this. Practitioners bicker about details now and then. Here is my personal take:

A "spell", to me, is a symbolic and ceremonial expression of some personal emotion. Setting up an isolated environment, focusing my will on a specific idea, and symbolically getting it "out of my system", makes for a very psychologically powerful situation. The purpose of this, for me at least, is a mental catharsis and just the general joy I get from organized, ritualized expression.

Is there anything metaphysical going on? Maybe, maybe not. Personally I don't care because I got what I wanted out of the experience. I can say, however, that I have experienced a few things that I don't feel comfortable dismissing as "pure coincidence"; I'll leave it at that.

Would spellcasting fail a controlled scientific experiment? I suppose. But then again I don't know how you'd set up such an experiment in the first place. The practice is, by its nature, a subjective experience. There's no real way for an outside observer to distinguish between what would be the result of a spell, from what would be the result of natural occurances. More importantly, I don't see the point in trying to "prove" my experiences to somebody, just as I wouldn't see the point in trying to "prove" my favorite food to somebody.

Can I mentally make pencil roll off a table without touching it? No, of course not. But again, I don't see what the act would prove anyway. There's nothing to be gained from watching a pencil move, especially when I could otherwise get the same job done with my hands. And even if my some miracle I did manage to levitate a pencil in front of people, with no guarentee of a repeat, they'd just assume there were hidden wires or mirrors somewhere anyway.

Answer 3

People who practice Wicca because of "power" are in it for the wrong reasons. (And they usually leave the Craft when they don't get the "power" they want!)

I can't levitate or fly on a broom.

I have cast spells. Some were successful; some worked in ways I didn't expect them to. ("Be careful what you wish for....") But for something like my next-door neighbor playing the stereo VERY LOUDLY at 3 AM, I wouldn't do a spell. I'd call the apartment manager instead.

Answer 4

Merry Meet all people, as the definitions are know at present: All Wiccans ARE Witches. All Witches are not always Wiccan, and all Wiccans/Witches are Pagan, but Pagans are usually not always Wiccans or Witches. In mild and Love, Alawnduin

Answer 5

Anyone who is into Wicca for "power" is into it for the wrong reasons and is probably not practicing anything that looks very much like Wicca. Wicca is my religion, and my faith is the only reason that I am a part of it.

Now, there are things that I do that some might label supernatural, although it's pretty boring stuff (on the scale of flying and fireballs.) I read Tarot cards. I channel energy to assist in certain goals. Neither practice is specifically Wiccan, although lots of Wiccans do them, and neither practice has anything to do with why I'm Wiccan to begin with.

Answer 6

Merry Meet all of us, via fact the definitions are understand on the instant: All Wiccans ARE Witches. All Witches are no longer unavoidably Wiccan, and all Wiccans/Witches are Pagan, yet Pagans are no longer unavoidably Wiccans or Witches. In easy and Love, Alawnduin

Answer 7

I'll echo the many-times expressed sentiment that anyone who practices Wicca for "power" is in it for the wrong reasons.

One becomes a Wiccan for the connection that it gives you to the Goddess and the God and the universe that is Their living body. Certainly a Wiccan can choose to work magically with the Divine energy that fills the world (often called witchcraft), but the changes one can create are dependent upon the strength of one's will and desire, and often are quite subtle. I was taught to use witchcraft as a last resort because there are many other (and usually more directly effective) ways to bring about change; however, witchcraft can be a very useful psychological tool for changing oneself.

That said... I have done spellwork for things such as healing and had what appeared to be spectacularly positive results. Was it coincidence? It's impossible to say.

Answer 8

If you are thinking that witches etc have powers like that on tv and in movies, you are mistaken.

Witches, Pagans and Wiccans are normal everyday people that happen to follow a different religion and/or spirituality/philosophy. Some are psychic others not. Some see spirits others not. Some read Tarot others not. Some cast spells and others not. Spells are petitions to the Universe or Deity to ask for help or assistance with a particular situation. Spells also allow oneself to tap into your inner psyche and your subliminal mind to enable you to help yourself. They are not all that different from prayer. Spells just have more "bells and whistles" that Christian prayer. The trappings allow witches to have a signal to their brain that something special is about to happen. It also gives them a focus on the task at hand.

If someone is telling you they are Wiccan because of the "power" it gives them, they are either

A) lying
B)a poser
C) horribly misinformed

Answer 9

I can defy odds. "1 in 6 wins a free soda", but I went 4 months without a win, and a soda every workday.

You're not going to see people levitating, flying around, lobbing fireballs around. The most you're going to get is some probability manipulation, a few things that appear to be "coincidence" - and a number of "internal" things like trance-state visions, etc.

Stuff from the movies is just Hollywood FX.

Answer 10

There is not "powers". This isn't Harry Potter.
Not all pagans practice magic. I'm Asatru and I dont. I don't even work with Runes. I don't cast spells or anything of the sort. We don't do much "magic" at all in our path.
Most magic is simply a focusing of your personal energy toward a desired a result. It's ritualized prayer.