Can I be a Christian White Witch?

Flavus Aquila said:
I'll admit that I don't know what you're taking about - you're probably just trolling me. If you want me to lash out, I'm sorry I'm not biting today.

I'm guessing that you haven't come to terms with the fact that people will have different opinions to yours. When you can deal with that fact, come back and we can have a conversation.
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This applies to yourself more than anything.
 
Flavus Aquila said:
Prayer is about disposing oneself to receive the blessing of God; "magic" is about other things. Plus, a big difference is that prayer is directed to God - but magic/witchery is directed to other beings, whose benignity isn't guaranteed.

I'm not just being cantankerous, or objecting for the sake of objecting. If someone believes in this stuff, I don't think it's wrong to caution that they don't inadvertently open themselves up to demonic possession/obsession.
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Magic is as well. You cannot make a well formed distinction based on something being "about other things". All you're doing is setting up a straw man argument by what you 'think' magic is or means. Many people see Catholic intercessory prayer to be a form of magic:

Sometimes Fundamentalists object to asking our fellow Christians in heaven to pray for us by declaring that God has forbidden contact with the dead in passages such as Deuteronomy 18:10—11. In fact, he has not, because he at times has given it–for example, when he had Moses and Elijah appear with Christ to the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:3). What God has forbidden is necromantic practice of conjuring up spirits. "There shall not be found among you any one who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, any one who practices divination, a soothsayer, or an augur, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or a medium, or a wizard, or a necromancer. . . . For these nations, which you are about to dispossess, give heed to soothsayers and to diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you so to do. The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brethren–him you shall heed" (Deut. 18:10—15).

God thus indicates that one is not to conjure the dead for purposes of gaining information; one is to look to God’s prophets instead. Thus one is not to hold a seance. But anyone with an ounce of common sense can discern the vast qualitative difference between holding a seance to have the dead speak through you and a son humbly saying at his mother’s grave, "Mom, please pray to Jesus for me; I’m having a real problem right now." The difference between the two is the difference between night and day. One is an occult practice bent on getting secret information; the other is a humble request for a loved one to pray to God on one’s behalf.
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http://www.catholic.com/tracts/praying-to-the-saints

Christian relics are valued for seemingly 'magical' benefits or powers.

A number of relics associated with Jesus have been claimed and displayed throughout the history of Christianity. Some people believe in the authenticity of some relics; others doubt the authenticity of various items. For instance, the sixteenth-century Catholic theologian Erasmus wrote sarcastically about the proliferation of relics, and the number of buildings that could have been constructed from the wood claimed to be from the cross used in the Crucifixion of Jesus. Similarly, while experts debate whether Christ was crucified with three or with four nails, at least thirty Holy Nails continue to be venerated as relics across Europe.

Some relics, such as purported remnants of the Crown of Thorns, receive only a modest number of pilgrims, while others, such as the Shroud of Turin (which is associated with an approved Catholic devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus), receive millions of pilgrims, which in recent years have included Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.

As Christian teaching generally states that Christ was assumed into heaven corporeally, there are few bodily relics, unlike with relics of saints. A notable exception, from long before the ascension, is the Holy Foreskin.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relics_associated_with_Jesus

The belief in miracles would seem to be a form of 'magical thinking'.

A miracle is an event not explicable by natural or scientific laws. Such an event may be attributed to a supernatural being (God or gods), a miracle worker, a saint or a religious leader.

The word "miracle" is often used to characterise any beneficial event that is statistically unlikely but not contrary to the laws of nature, such as surviving a natural disaster, or simply a "wonderful" occurrence, regardless of likelihood, such as a birth. Other miracles might be: survival of an illness diagnosed as terminal, escaping a life-threatening situation or 'beating the odds'. Some coincidences may be seen as miracles.

Theologians say that, with divine providence, gods regularly work through created nature yet are free to work without, above, or against it as well
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle
 
I am sure a few pages of your thread are full of arguing so I've ignored all other posts lol. You probably have a lot of people in your life and online trying to tell you that you have to be one way or another, and that you can't be A while also being B. I don't think you have to make any decisions about your belief system right now and those decisions should NEVER be made based on what other people are trying to tell you.

It sounds like you are on your own journey in terms of your spirituality and your belief system. I don't think there is anything wrong with opening your mind and exploring your options. I personally am an atheist but I will say that if Christ is in your heart you will find his way back to him no matter what other people say or do to you. Your interpretation of Christ and your relationship with God may evolve over time based on your personal experiences and what knowledge you gain, or that relationship may fizzle because you have found something that speaks more truly to you. Maybe at this time that is practicing being whatever a White Witch is.

If you have to force yourself into a belief system then you don't really believe it in the first place. You can listen to what other people tell you and avoid certain behaviours and try to emulate faith and belief but that will get you just about as far as not believing at all in the first place.

My advice is to let your heart and intuition guide you through your life - see what works for you. See what makes you feel genuine and true and authentic. See what helps you bring more good and peace and light into the world. Maybe you will connect with other Christians who renew your love for Christianity and restore the faith you lost. Maybe you won't.

It doesn't matter though. You will get there on your own whether you like it or not and regardless of what anyone else tells you that you should do.
 
Flavus Aquila said:
On the rag?
In the meme "doing a deal with a devil", does it ever accomplish anything, other than a complete back-fire and all-round destruction?


Depends how similar the particular religion is. Not all religion is about getting stuff done with magic.
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“On the rag”?
WTF is that supposed to mean?


I merely pointed out that on one hand you discount and demean the belief that Witchcraft can work…then your second sentence warns of the potential harms of dealing with such things.

No one has suggested doing any dealing with the “Devil” or practicing Devil worship.
I suppose if you didn’t know what you were talking about that might make sense in your head.
 
Skarekrow said:
“On the rag”?
WTF is that supposed to mean?


I merely pointed out that on one hand you discount and demean the belief that Witchcraft can work…then your second sentence warns of the potential harms of dealing with such things.

No one has suggested doing any dealing with the “Devil” or practicing Devil worship.
I suppose if you didn’t know what you were talking about that might make sense in your head.
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Perhaps your ideas of how witchcraft works makes it difficult for you to read and understand what's actually there in the post.

* Are we taking about esp/telekinesis/etc.? NO.
* If anything whatsoever is done through witchcraft, is the claim that the witch is doing the "stuff"/phenomena? NO.
* Is witchcraft achieved through petitioning God, or the saints? NO.
* Is witchcraft achieved through petitioning at all? Not, in any of the accounts I am familiar with.
* How is witchcraft achieved? Through exchange: something is surrendered when something is gained.
* Is this exchange with God, or the saints? No, bargaining in prayer, besides being pointless, is considered a type of sin to Christians.
* To Christians supernatural beings, which are neither Divine, nor saints, nor angels are called demons/devils. (Hence the caution).
 
It really stung when you called me self righteous, but after some of the posts I've seen you make lately, that assessment of me does not seem to have meaning anymore.
 
Anywhere But Here said:
Are you saying that you think christian men see all women as witches?

Not all women are witches, and not all witches are women. So I doubt that is why those assholes (that you mentioned) dislike women.

As for being a christian white witch...sure, why not? I find that many individuals who feel that they are witches, continue to hold on to the religion they were raised in out of familiarity. Eventually you might choose one over the other, but in the meantime, you can be whatever you want to be.
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In Sweden in the 17th century, some of those who were accused of witchcraft, then convicted and burnt at the stake were men.

They had the beginnings of gender equality back then. :nerd:
 
No one should be able to tell you what to think. Maybe you will start a new sect of Christianity with your own belief or what you have come to believe. Then you can add it to the 45, 000 others.
 
ImaginaryBloke said:
In Sweden in the 17th century, some of those who were accused of witchcraft, then convicted and burnt at the stake were men.

They had the beginnings of gender equality back then. :nerd:
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On the subject of burning, it's kind of ironic that the ones who resort to that are more superstitious and evil than the accused witch. Because often they're looking to blame someone for some recent calamity, such as children getting sick or dying cattle. This still happens today, often on a mere accusation.
 
sprinkles said:
On the subject of burning, it's kind of ironic that the ones who resort to that are more superstitious and evil than the accused witch. Because often they're looking to blame someone for some recent calamity, such as children getting sick or dying cattle. This still happens today, often on a mere accusation.
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Sounds like an identified patient. :D been there done that.
 
sprinkles said:
Yeah it's kinda like that. Somebody has to be stirring up the evil spirits right? Who can we blame?
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Thanks for the laugh. :D Maybe if i could figure out the magic thing I could discover that too!!! Bwahahaaaaa
 
sprinkles said:
It's a lot more common than you think. People will say it isn't Christian but the same people tend to say that about everything pretty much.

Besides, if I say you're a llama that doesn't make it true. Who gives a shit what people think.

Edit:
Also people didn't think Joseph Smith was right either, but look how that turned out!
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If we are taking the stance of Who Cares then why discuss the meaning of anything
 
the said:
If we are taking the stance of Who Cares then why discuss the meaning of anything
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Because people's opinions aren't ordered into a binary relationship of true or false. That's sort of what makes them 'opinions' in the first place.
 
Matt3737 said:
Because people's opinions aren't ordered into a binary relationship of true or false. That's sort of what makes them 'opinions' in the first place.
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Very good. Just as there seem to be many variations of "truth".
 
apemon said:
Very good. Just as there seem to be many variations of "truth".
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There are. Even formal systems are dependent on their choice of axioms.

I don't think I got across that I also meant to imply that how one values others' opinions is not binary either. You can take things with a grain of salt. It's not care or don't care. We can consider and discuss things we disagree with or don't value as highly.
 
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