can you be a catholic AND wiccan?

Question

ok, i've done my research and i know i shouldnt be a "dabbler", but this stuff sounds interesting, yet im a firm belliever in God and dont want to give up my beliefs. Advice anybody?

Answer 1

I think you are confusing Wicca with magic.

You can't be Wiccan and Catholic, but there is a LONG rich history of Christian magic.

Obviously, you don't believe in our gods, or you'd have no reason to be Catholic....so I'm guessing you think Wicca means SPELLS:

Saying you want to be Wiccan for the spells is like saying you want to be Jewish for bagels, hun.

The Magical Writings of Thomas Vaughan:
http://www.amazon.com/Magical-Writings-Thomas-Vaughan/dp/0615149014

Greater Key of Solomon:
http://www.amazon.com/Greater-Key-Solomon-MacGregor-Mathers/dp/142092818X

Ancient Christian Magic:
http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Christian-Magic-Marvin-Meyer/dp/0691004587

The Divine Synthesis and Realization of Magic by the Christian Revelation
http://www.amazon.com/Divine-Synthesis-Realization-Christian-Revelation/dp/1425305385/

While there are bans against specific magical acts in the Bible, these books all detail magic allowed to Christians.
If you believe in a singular god, Christ, sin, etc, please stay on your side of the fence and stick to CHRISTIAN MAGIC.

Answer 2

Wicca is a polytheistic religion. To dedicate yourself to Wicca would be to blatantly go against one of your Christian commandments.

(Some people might tell you you can worship God the Father and Mary as a goddess, but as a Catholic you probably know that really doesn't make sense within Christian theology.)

You can, however, certainly have a Wiccan-influenced Catholic faith. If you like the connection between the divine ans nature, for example, you certainly don't have to be Wiccan or give up Catholicism. St. Francis had a thing or two to say on the subject!

Answer 3

No. While there are some similarities between the way we practice ritual and your traditions, (doing everything deosil - clockwise - the repetition of threes, the use of incense, the chalice, the robes, the "pantheon" of saints), we do not believe in the trinity, and you do not believe in Goddess. We also do not believe in Satan, sin, or heaven, hell, and purgatory, or that there is only one "right" religion and people who don't follow that religion will be punished for all eternity. The two share similar practices, but in terms of what we fundamentally believe about divinity we are too dissimilar for you to be one and the other.

We're not just a path where you can pick and choose what works for you with your "real" religion and discard the rest of our beliefs.

)O(

Answer 4

No. Christianity and Wicca don't play well together -- for one thing, their approach to the nature of the Divine is quite different. In Wicca, we honor the Goddess and the God, the dance of whose love (which is sexual in nature) gives life to the universe. Wicca is a form of Goddess worship -- unless you are honoring Her, you are not Wiccan.

This article goes into the issue in more depth:

http://wicca.timerift.net/christianwicca.shtml

Now, if you want to practice witchcraft, which a technique rather than a religion, that's entirely possible. Do a Google search for "Christian witchcraft" and that should turn up quite a few resources.

EDITED TO ADD: In response to Father K... Wiccans are not generally against the Christian God. We respect the right of Christians to honor and serve Him. We simply do not honor or serve Him ourselves; we deal with different Gods and Goddesses.

Answer 5

Not really.

From what I have been able to learn so far:

Wicca is a Neopagan religion, which started in the late 1940s. However, its symbols, days of celebration, beliefs and deities go back to about 800 B.C.E. and the beginnings of ancient Celtic society.

Some Wiccan are
+ Monotheistic, recognizing a single supreme being, "The All" or "The One"
+ Duotheistic, worshiping a female Goddess and a male God, "the Lady and Lord"
+ Polytheistic, recognizing many ancient Gods and Goddesses, like Pan, Diana, Dionysius, Fergus, etc.
+ Atheistic, viewing the Goddesses and Gods as symbols, not living entities

Some Wiccans consider Wicca and Witchcraft to be the same thing. Others think that Wicca (a religion) and Witchcraft (the practice of magic by anyone) are different things.

Most Wiccans practice magic. However, some concentrate only on the spirituality of the Wiccan religion and do not practice magic.

In Christianity, Satan is a fallen angel, the devil. Wiccans recognize neither Christ nor Satan and are therefore not Satanists.

Wiccan behavior is governed by the Wiccan Rede which permits Wiccans to engage in carefully considered actions (including magic), as long as they harm nobody, including themselves. Therefore, they claim that they are limited to non-manipulative, consensual, positive magic.

Other pagan groups that use witchcraft do not follow this rule.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_intr.htm
http://www.holysmoke.org/wicca/satvnp.htm
http://www.witchway.net/

+ Point 1: How can anyone possibly be wise enough to properly determine every possible consequence of the use of magic?

Have you ever herd of the "butterfly effect"?

The phrase refers to the idea that a butterfly's wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that ultimately cause a tornado to appear (or prevent a tornado from appearing).

This is an example of the more technical notion of sensitive dependence on initial conditions in chaos theory. Small variations of the initial condition of a nonlinear dynamical system may produce large variations in the long term behavior of the system.

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

+ Point 2: Monotheistic religions like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam disagree with the Wiccan view of God and magic.

Christians believe that all supernatural power (including magic) either comes from God or Satan. God did not intend humans to wield this power. We request (pray to) God to do some good thing like a miracle but we acknowledge God’s will first, “Thy will be done.” Using supernatural power puts us in contention with the will of God and even in the position of being God.

Catholic Church teaches:

All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one's service ... - even if this were for the sake of restoring their health - are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion.

For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 2117: http://www.nccbuscc.org/catechism/text/pt3sect2chpt1.htm

With love in Christ.

Answer 6

Hmmm... I can't say honestly that they're compatible.

You could certainly try to combine them to form your own hybridization, but it would probably offend a few Wiccans and Catholics if you claimed to be either- so you would have to just go your own way and not call yourself Wiccan or Catholic. You could be a Wiccatholic ^_^

Answer 7

No, Catholics and Wiccans hold very different beliefs. The beliefs of Catholics contradict with those of Wiccans. One cannot hold that the beliefs of Catholics and Wiccans are both true. To do so, would be irrational.

Answer 8

Catholicism and Wiccan are very different in their beliefs in and understanding of God.

If it is the appreciation of nature that interests you about Wiccan, I suggest you study the life of St. Francis of Assissi. He was able to see the presence of God in nature.

Answer 9

Well the irish and italians seem to have already mingled it together very well, and a lot of the smaller villages still hold true to both their pagen roots, and practice cathlcism(?) i've got somebody pacing and talking behind me. My italian grandmother in law done quite well.
You don't have to stop believing in God to be a wiccan.

Answer 10

No, you can't be both. I'd advise that you stop dabbling. You invite trouble.