From Christian to Wiccan

Answers to Your Most Pressing Questions & Worries

Are you going from being a Christian to Wicca Spirituality?

You may be having some doubts, or even terrible fears.

Are you going to burn in Hell for switching religions?
What if it's true, the Christian side, and Wicca or magick is evil or dangerous?
How do you know if this is the right choice for you, or even safe?

You need answers.

Well, this article is for you!

Here are a few things you should know, to help you through this challenging time. And in the following article are some things you can do to overcome the fear and doubts.

Christians Becoming Wiccan

It's not only when going from Christian to Wicca that people can get nervous. When a person leaves one religion to follow another spiritual path, it's normal for doubts and fears to arise.

After all, most religions invest a lot of energy in brainwashing their members with a message that "all other religions are evil and you will burn in Hell if you leave the One True Church."

Witch Tip I'd like to be clear that some people call themselves Christian, yet spread fear and hate and violence, while other Christians truly follow in Jesus' footsteps.

It's easy to think "Christians" as a sort of short-hand, but let's keep in mind as we go through these articles that there are plenty of wonderful, spiritual people who consider themselves Christian, and would never judge or treat those of other religions poorly.

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Such brainwashing is not exclusive to Christianity. It's a time-honoured tradition, going back for many millennia in many cultures. (Even some Wiccans try to do it!)

I'm not speaking of the Christian religious beliefs, per se, but its characterization of other religions as misguided at best and an affront to God at worst.

This happens whenever a religion buys into its own propaganda that there is only one way to the Divine, and that's their way. They will then work hard to convince you that every other religion is evil and you will suffer torments for all eternity if you leave theirs.

Do religious leaders do this because they really believe they are saving your soul (as if it could be lost)? Or because if they lose their followers to another religion, they're out of a job, and out of their position of power? Or some combination?

To my mind, it doesn't matter much whether harm is done with the intention of harm or the intention of good. It doesn't excuse consciously generating fear and vilification. That is an abuse of power.

Religions have always made up stories about how evil their competition is, and how God only loves those who worship the right way.

It sounds ridiculous, when you think about it. Could God be so petty and narrow-minded?

Still, it's an all-too-effective ploy.

It's even more intense when you are a Christian becoming a Wiccan, because some Christian dogma is completely fanatical about Witches. (We'll look at why that is, in part 2: What You Can Do.)

It takes time to overcome any kind of brainwashing, especially when it's been instilled in you as a child. Those beliefs are hard to set aside, whether true or not — as any psychologist can tell you!

So when you're first becoming Wiccan, you will probably feel at least some fear.

Even though Wicca feels right to you, there's this little voice asking, "But what if you're wrong!?"

We'll look at how to deal with this voice in the following article.

You're In Good Company

The second thing you need to understand is that you're not alone.

I think every single ex-Christian Wiccan (or ex-fundamentalist of any kind) has gone through this. You are taking a big step — from blind acceptance of what other people tell you, to finding the truth for yourself.

If it's any consolation, that's exactly what Jesus himself advocated!

"Jesus said, "The Pharisees [priests] and the scribes have taken the keys of Knowledge and hidden them. They themselves have not entered, nor have they allowed to enter those who wish to. You, however, be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves."
(Thomas, 39)

You are now forced to look within yourself for what really seems true, and distinguish that from what you've been taught to believe.

And every Witch who has gone through this comes out spiritually stronger, knowing that the only guide to Truth is within their own hearts. (As Jesus insisted.)

You will come through this too, and be stronger for having taken this journey.

All Change Is Scary

Changing from Christian to Wicca Spirituality is a pretty big step. It's a good step, the sort of one that Jesus was always encouraging his followers to take — from dogma to spiritual wisdom. But it's still a big step.

Change is always a little scary. You don't know all the consequences until you act, so there's anxiety about what might happen.

This is a normal process, and the best news is ...

It will pass.

There is bound to be a period of transition, from accepting the rules of those who want to keep authority over you, to knowing truth within yourself, as Jesus himself taught us to do.

As you become more comfortable following the Voice of the Divine Within, and knowing for yourself what is true, those anxieties fade away.

There's Nothing To Fear

The most important thing you need to know is that there's absolutely nothing you need to be afraid of, no matter who tries to tell you different.

All those dreadful horrors that religions threaten are nothing more than fairy tales... stories created to keep naïve spiritual-children from straying far from the "parent's" reach.

The propaganda that most religious hierarchies have brainwashed into people is, at best, ignorant superstition... and at worst, malicious power- and money-grubbing.

This is exactly what Jesus warns us about, when he says to reject the authority of the priests who take all the keys to Heaven, and won't enter in, and won't let us enter either.

There is an infinite difference between God, and religions. You can go against a religion by worshipping God in a certain way. But you can't go against God by worshipping God, no matter how you worship.

And Jesus didn't care what religion people were, but how they behaved...

Jesus Christ, having noted the faith and righteousness of a Roman centurion, a Pagan, proclaimed:

"Assuredly I say to you, I have not found such great faith,

not even in Israel!

And I say to you that many will come from east and west,

and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness.

There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

(Matthew 8:10-12)

The Church Never Had "Absolute Truth"

The Christian hierarchy — that is, the institution of what is coming to be called “christianism” — I'm sad to say has no interest in your spiritual well-being. It is interested only in its own continued power, as every worldly institution is. It has become a tyrant seeking only its own survival.

This is not to say that every individual within that hierarchy is a power-monger. But something is wrong when most of these individuals purposely mislead their followers.

Look at Catholicism. Every one of those individuals has been taught, when they studied for the priesthood, truths about the religion that they then hide from their congregation. They do it in the name of "not confusing people with subtle spiritual truths." But the damage this has caused is incalculable!

For instance, many claim (or encourage the belief) that the New Testament books were written as historical accounts ... by actual disciples who knew Jesus ... telling literal truth about what God wants. (More on this in part 2.)

But they know full well that's not the case.

Priests are fully aware that the earliest books were written decades after Jesus' death, and many were more than a hundred years later. They are aware that most of them were written by Paul, who had never met Jesus when he was alive. They are also fully aware of the revisions and deletions that the current version of the Bible has gone through.

And as Tom Harpur writes, in The Pagan Christ: Recovering the Lost Light

These texts [the Gospels] were never intended as history in the first place. They are almost purely allegorical, and their true meaning is to be sought beneath the surface. - p 122

What's more important, though, is the inescapable conclusion that the entire course of Western history over the past eighteen hundred years would have been far different if a more spiritual understanding of the Christ and Christianity had prevailed at the outset, instead of what Paul called "the letter that kills" (i.e., flat literalism).

The Catholic Church's deplorable record of persecutions, wars, and other atrocities would never have taken place. Other Christians like to distance themselves from this history, but they were all Catholic at the time — it was the "universal" religion; that's what "catholic" means.

Even today, every Christian religion encourages, if indirectly, suffering and abuse through their attitudes on women, childbirth, nature and other religions to name a few.

What I believe is their worst sin, or error, though, is that because of these teachings, uncounted millions have been discouraged from nurturing and bringing to fruition their own moral and spiritual Christhood, instead passively waiting for their perfect saviour from outside to do the job for them.

That, of course, would not have suited ecclesiastical authorities bent on maintaining control of both bodies and souls. - p 178
[Emphasis mine]

I certainly don't mean to disparage all Christians. As I said earlier, there are many Christians who are genuine followers in the footsteps of Christ, living, loving, and serving as Jesus did. But the institution of Christianity is another matter altogether.

The Church today, just as the Synagogue in Jesus' day, is a pit of hypocrisy and greed. If this were not so, it would be encouraging you to do what Jesus said to do, and nothing else. That is,