Intros and inquiry

Hey everyone, I am relatively new around here. I've been interested in wicca for a very long time, and the only things that kept me from indulging my curiosity earlier were 'boogieman stories' taught to me by the Christian majority of my family. But if the church preaches forgiveness, love, and acceptance, then logic dictates they shouldn't have a problem with my choices, so... Ta-da, I've been actively practicing/studying Wicca for several weeks now.
But however restricting Catholicism is, it is still the religion I was raised with, and I can't throw those beliefs out the window... does anybody know how I can balance Wiccan traditions, holidays and ceremonies with my Catholic religion? Can they be merged?

Thank you for your time, and I'm sure this is seriously low-level stuff, but like I said I'm new... please be patient with me.

Blessed be.

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Wicca and Christianity are two different religions. However, some Christians incorporate aspects of Wicca into their practice. The two have much in opposition. Some Christians like to call themselves Christian Witches. I don't really think you can fully practice both religions at the same time, as their fundementals oppose. There is no time limit for making your choice, explore Wicca, explore magick, choose what you'd like to do. Good luck!

This thread has been moved to Wicca from Introduce Yourself.

Sure you can celebrate both Wiccan and Christian Holidays. You could celebrate both Christmas and Yule by having elements of both in your religion, you could take Easter and not just make it about Jesus, but about nature as well. You could do rituals honoring The Christian God on all Christian holidays and you could do rituals honoring The God and The Goddess on Wiccan holidays. Or if you wanted to you could use The Christian God instead of the traditional Wiccan deities and you could use the same type of insesnse The Catholic Church does for their rituals, get a priest to bless some holy water, use crosses, and statues of Jesus for your rituals. These are just a few ideas, hope this helps.

I can not express how much I disagree with Zebrah. I am a Christian and practice magic. Magic has played a huge role in Christianity. The Shimush Tehillim(the magical uses of the psalms) is an old Hebrew book on the magicall uses of each psalm just like the title says. It was very popular among early Christians. Also, you are completely ignoring the hoodoo tradition of the Carribean and southern states. Christianity plays a huge role in this tradition of magic. Practitioners invoke saints to protect houses, break hexes, abd even to curse people! Various bible vereses are also said to have magical effects when chanted as shown in the Sepher Gematria, another old text. In Palo, holy water is a common ingredient in rites and in Obeah, the magical tradition of Jamaica, the Sixth and Seventh book of Moses(two grimoires) are used extensively.

There is a great difference between practicing magic and practicing Wicca. Wicca is a religion...magic is NOT. While some beliefs that are present in Wicca such as caring for the Earth may translate well into Christian practice, the majority of Wiccan beliefs contradict Christianity.

For instance, to be a Christian one must believe that Jesus is the Savior sent to earth to redeem mankind from its essentially sinful nature. Further, Christianity holds that there is only one God and that Jesus is the son of that God.

Wiccans on the other hand believe in the existence of many Gods..of which the God of the Bible is only one. Furthermore, Wiccans do not view Jesus as their Savior..they have no need of a savior. Nor do Wiccans believe that humans are inherently sinful, we don't even do the concept of sin.

If one is looking for a form of Christianity which is more open to the idea of an equality of the feminine and a direct connection between Deity and mankind, you might want to explore Gnostic Christianity.

And if it is the magic in Wicca that appeals to you, there is no reason why one cannot practice the magic without becoming Wiccan and taking on the beliefs of the Wiccan religion. There are plenty of Christian magic users out there.

It is possible to be Christian and Wiccan at the same time. The Christian Kabbalah teaches that God is both male and female. The female part is know as the Shekinah. I forget what the male part is called. Many wiccans believe the "lord and lady" are just two aspects of one being. There are also so many branches of Wicca considering it's origin was just Gerald Gartner mixing plagraised prayers from the GKoS with his own fantasy. For this reason, there are no set rules for what a Wiccan is. You say that wiccans do not believe in hell which I find ironic considering the Alexandrian book of shadows says that anyone revealing the secrets of Wicca will go to "the hell of the christians". That's a direct quote by the way.

The Kabbalah is not a Christian belief system...it is Jewish mysticism and not completely accepted even in the Jewish faith. While the Shekinah is a feminine term it does not mean that there is a female Deity in Judaism either. The Shekinah is that side of Yahweh that is considered caring and nurturing. But there is still only ONE God within Judaism, and therefore within Christianity which arose from it.

And I would strongly dispute your statement that there are no set rules to what a Wiccan is. If that were the case then there would be no religion of Wicca at all. There are some very clear parameters of belief and practice that make one either Wiccan or not-Wiccan.

It's not so much that Traditional Wiccans don't believe in Hell. It's just that we believe that it is something out of Christian belief and which does not apply to Wiccans. We don't worry about Hell because our Gods don't send us there...unless of course you are an oathbreaker.

I think that making a patchwork quilt from what you fancy from different religions makes a mockery of each one. Christianity is a set of beliefs, so is Wicca. So is Islam for that matter. Zebrah didn't say you can't practice magick and Christianity, she said you can't follow two different religions! If you wish to have a finger in all pies, you could be a practicing chaote. Make a choice! Also, you need no religion to practice magick anyway

If you're going to mix and match religious beliefs it is best to not give yourself any label at all. I don't understand why people must label themselves...well, I do understand some people need to identify themselves and feel "apart" of something. But personally, I don't share that. I feel that when you step into a magickal way of life, labels should all fly out the window.

We should never "stick with" what we "know" as "truth" and should constantly strive to grow. Remaining in a box (only learning about 1-2 religions) doesn't allow us to grow as individuals and expand our minds. Reading or discussing other religions, philosophies on life, etc. allows us to be aware of all perspectives. No one knows everything, and it is a good thing to explore all ideas on a subject (no matter if we disagree or not) and decide what makes sense to us and feels right. Just because we agree with some points in a religious path doesn't mean we must convert, but it doesn't prevent us from adopting those beliefs. Faith is a very personal choice and in my opinion, if it is ENTIRELY personal. No two people should have identical beliefs just to feel "accepted" but should only have identical beliefs if both whole heartedly agree on their "truth".

Religion separates people, but one thing I love about magick, is it unites our spirituality despite our various beliefs concerning it.