>
For some 20 odd years now, members of my church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints aka LDS aka Mormon, via the Cape Elizabeth, Sanford, and Saco Wards — a sum total of 375+ members out of the 2,000+ members in attendance at these Wards [I myself have been a member for 34 years]) have accused me of being a witch. As a result, several of those people found it their God-given duty to “punish me” saying that what they did, they did on God’s orders.
I am deeply confused over their accusations, because I live the teachings of the church to the letter (something not a one of my accusers did, which puzzles me as to how they can call themselves Mormons if they do not live the teachings of the church? whatever.) In any case, I have Asperger’s and live what I’m told is a hermit lifestyle, which means that other than members from these 3 Wards, I have never had contact with a single non-Mormon, so I am not entirely certain what it is that a witch is or why these people persist in calling me a witch.
Well, since they continue to persist in accusing me of being a Witch, I have decided to look into witches, witchcraft, Wicca, ect, to try to figure out what it is that it is I am being accused of being. I mean, I can’t very well say I’m not a witch, when they accuse me of being a witch, if I don’t really know what a witch is, can I?
Anyways, that is what I have been doing today, and in my searching I found a few interesting items, which actually, make it look as though they are right and maybe I am a witch without even realizing it. Is that possible? Can a person be a witch and not know it?
First off, I found this picture. (See the picture of the three girls wearing purple burnoose, at the left of this post here). I don’t know who painted it or what it is called, but it is tagged with the words “witches” and “wicca”. Interesting. Do the clothes make a witch? If so, it would seem that clothes alone could very well be a basis for all these accusations of my being a witch.
Of course, than I found this list:
The 13 Goals of A Witch1.) Know thy self
2.) Know thy Craft
3.) Learn
4.) Apply knowledge with wisdom
5.) Achieve balance
6.) Keep thy words in good order
7.) Keep thy thoughts in good order
8.) Celebrate Life
9.) Attune with the cycles of the earth
10.) Breath and eat correctly
11.) Exercise thy body
12.) Meditate (pray) often
13.) Honor thy God(dess)
Uhm . . . okay. So I live those things, but any Mormon who was being obedient to the gospel WOULD! Are these 13 things any different from the way the Church teaches us to live our lives? NO! Well if that’s the goals of a witch and they are pretty much the same goal Mormon have, I’m thinking that EVERY Mormon who lives the gospel could easily be called a witch, not just me.
Wow, these witch accusations a fast becoming, not only true, but are pointing to the fact that the people accusing me of being a witch are NOT living the gospel, because it mirrors the things witches do pretty closely!
Of courese these things are still not much, so I kept of looking and the next thing I found was this list:
The Principles of Belief, as set forth by the American Council of Witches (1974):
1. We practice rites to attune ourselves with the natural rhythm of life forces marked by the phases of the Moon and the seasonal quarters and cross-quarters.2. We recognize that our intelligence gives us a unique responsibility toward our environment. We seek to live in harmony with nature, in ecological balance offering fulfillment to life and consciousness within an evolutionary concept.
3. We acknowledge a depth of power far greater than is apparent to the average person. Because it is far greater than ordinary, it is sometimes called “supernatural”, but we see it as lying within that which is naturally potential to all.
4. We conceive of the Creative Power in the Universe as manifesting through polarity — as masculine and feminine — and that this same creative Power lives in all people, and functions through the interaction of the masculine and feminine. We value neither above the other, knowing each to be supportive of the other. We value sexuality as pleasure, as the symbol and embodiment of Life, and as one of the sources of energies used in magickal practice and religious worship.
5. We recognize both outer worlds and inner, or psychological worlds — sometimes known as the Spiritual World, the Collective Unconscious, the Inner Planes, etc. — and we see in the interaction of these two dimensions the basis for paranormal phenomena and magickal exercises. We neglect neither dimension for the other, seeing both as necessary for our fulfillment.
6. We do not recognize any authoritarian hierarchy, but do honor those who teach, respect those who share their greater knowledge and wisdom, and acknowledge those who have courageously given of themselves in leadership.
7. We see religion, magick, and wisdom-in-living as being united in the way one views the world and lives within it — a world view and philosophy of life, which we identify as Witchcraft or the Wiccan Way.
8. Calling oneself “Witch” does not make a Witch — but neither does heredity itself, or the collecting of titles, degrees, and initiations. A Witch seeks to control the forces within him/herself that make life possible in order to live wisely and well, without harm to others, and in harmony with nature.
9. We acknowledge that it is the affirmation and fulfillment of life, in a continuation of evolution and development of consciousness, that gives meaning to the Universe we know, and to our personal role within it.
10. Our only animosity toward Christianity, or toward any other religion or philosophy-of-life, is to the extent that its institutions have claimed to be “the one true right and only way” and have sought to deny freedom to others and to suppress other ways of religious practices and belief.
11. As American Witches, we are not threatened by debates on the history of the Craft, the origins of various terms, the legitimacy of various aspects of different traditions. We are concerned with our present, and our future.
12. We do not accept the concept of “absolute evil,” nor do we worship any entity known as “Satan” or “the Devil” as defined by Christian Tradition. We do not seek power through the suffering of others, nor do we accept the concept that personal benefits can only be derived by denial to another.
13. We work within nature for that which is contributory to our health and well-being.
We are not bound by traditions from other times and other cultures, and owe no allegiance to any person or power greater than the Divinity manifest through our own being. As American Witches, we welcome and respect all life-affirming teachings and traditions, and seek to learn from all and to share our learning. We do not wish to open ourselves to the destruction of Wicca by those on self-serving power trips, or to philosophies and practices contradictory to these principles. In seeking to exclude those whose ways are contradictory to ours, we do not want to deny participation with us to any who are sincerely interested in our knowledge and beliefs, regardless of race, color, sex, age, national or cultural origins, or sexual preference.
Well, a few things a bit different here, between witches and Mormons, but not much. For example:
In the Mormon church men and women are not equal. Men rule over women, and women are taught to “be submissive” to their husbands, fathers, and church authority. (Note, ALL church authority/leaders are men as it is considered evil and the act of Satan to give a woman a position of authority).
Satan is talked about constantly in Mormon Sunday School classes. We are taught that he is Jesus’ twin brother and that he tries to deceive people by saying he is Jesus and people can’t tell if it’s Jesus or Satan/Lucifer because they are twins and look alike. We are taught to test him, by asking to shake his hand, and if he stretches forth his hand than it is Jesus because Jesus has a physical body, but if he refuses than it is Lucifer because he was never born in the flesh and thus never received a physical body. We are warned to be cautious of everything and every one esp government officials, public school officials, and non-Mormon church leaders because these are the ones Satan used to do his dirty work.
Mormons are noted, more than any other religion in the world, for their headstrong “The Only True Church” attitude. In the past 3 years I have meet with people who were not church members and have found that, while in the church members are always calling themselves “Saints” and “God’s Chosen People”, but outside the church, non-members refer to Mormons as “smug”, “stuck up”, “arrogant”, “vain”, “prideful”, “pushing”, “bossy”, “narrow minded”, “holier than thou”, “bullies”, and lots of other such things. The general opinion of non-members about members is that they are not nice people to be around, because “Mormons only like themselves”. Inside the church, going to 3 hours of Sunday classes, and 3 nights weekly of 2 to 3 hour weekday classes, you don’t have much time to talk with or associate with non-members, so you don’t realize how much they truly think Mormons are arrogant vain snobs; but when you stop attending classes and you have time to live in the world outside of church it really opens you eyes as to how non-members view members.
The Mormon church teaches sex in all forms is evil and that it should only be used when there is need for a new member of the church, and that members should have as large a family as possible, preferable at least one birth per family per year to ensure the growth of church membership, but that sex for any other reason is pure evil and a sin almost as grave as murder. It is one of the three great sins that will get you cast into Outer Darkness(the Mormon word for Hell), Apostasy and Murder being the only two sins more evil than sex.
Other than those four things though, everything else on that list, is pretty much the same as the things taught in church. So, again, it looks like that if you are truly living the gospel as taught by the church, than you are in fact also a witch. This puzzles me, seeing how I am a Mormon and I do live the gospel as taught by the church, and yet those who are accusing me of being a witch are themselves Mormons. Doesn’t this mean that if they were living the gospel as they should that they too could be considered as witches? I am now very confused as to why these people are calling me a witch, if there is so little difference between Witches and Mormons?
It should be noted that Witches live, from my understanding, in a manner very similar to Indian (Native American) religious practices. It should also be noted that Mormonism is based on the Native American (Lamanites/Neiphite) translation of Christianity. It is for this reason that Mormon teaching are so different from other Christian religions, because it is a blending of Native American faith with Christian faith. Well, if Wiccan faith is similar to Native American faith, and Mormonism is based on Native American Faith turned Christian, is it not than understandable, how I a Mormon can be accused of being a Witch? My question now, is, how is it that other Mormons are offended, put off by and have a dislike for witches, and how is it that they can call me a witch in such a foul intended way, when, it seems that there is very little difference between a Mormon and a Witch?
I have just sent for several Witch/Wicca book on inter library loan, so I will be studying this matter further, because I am still deeply confused over why these people enacted such violence against me, saying that it was due to my being a witch. I want to know why these people did this to my family. I want to understand what was going through their heads, and what it is they thought they would accomplish in hurting us.
In any case, I do know one thing for certain, while Wicca is a religion, Witchcraft is not. Wicca is a recent misused name for Witchcraft. A Witch is a type of person, not a type of religion. A witch by definition is simply anyone who has special powers (visions, etc.) and knows the art of healing via nature and can be of any religion, for example a Jewish witch, a Mormon witch, a Wicca witch, a Baptist witch. There are Pagan witches, Christian witches, atheist witches, and all things in between. So to be accurate Wicca is not another name for Witch or Witchcraft, because Wicca is a type of religion, while Witchcraft is more correctly a type of hobby or career.
What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!
. . .
————-
If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
.
.
.
