What is Wicca?

The North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention has a wonderful Christian apologetics web site 4truth.net. My youngest son and I had a discussion about Wicca, and I found a very enlightening article about it on the 4truth web site written by Bill Gordon. The following post heavily incorporates parts of the 4truth article. For the complete article, go here.

Walk into any secular bookstore and you will find a section on new age religions. Within the rows of books there is inevitably a section on Wicca. Ask most people to tell you what it is and they attach to it Satanic worship. It not being influenced by Christ automatically relegates it to a satanic influence, but not in the same manner as those who worship Satan.

The name Wicca is the old English word for wizard. While in old English the term was a masculine noun, modern witches use the word to refer to both male and female followers of witchcraft. While some Wiccans proudly refer to themselves as witches, others do not use the term because of the negative connotations associated with it.

Wicca is an attempt to revive the pre-Christian nature and fertility religions of Western Europe. It is a neo-pagan religion that believes in supernatural magick, worships a male and female deity, and practices rituals that revolve around the cycles of nature.

While Wiccans often claim a historical connection with the ancient religions of the pre-Christian pagans, the movement actually started in the mid-twentieth century.

Since Wicca is both anti-dogmatic and anti-authoritarian it has no central leadership or organization. There is also not uniformity of doctrine. There is a wide variety of beliefs and practices found within Wicca, although there are some basic assumptions that are accepted by most Wiccan groups.

Evidence indicates that Wicca is one of the fastest growing occultic movements in North America. While both males and females of all ages practice Wicca, it is teenage girls who are most attracted to it.

Many of the beliefs of Wicca are also found in the New Age Movement. Wicca accepts an occultic understanding of reality. Wiccans worship a mother goddess and a male horned deity (her consort). Three major beliefs of Wicca are animism, pantheism, and polytheism.

Animism is the belief that everything, even inanimate objects, have a soul or spirit. Wiccans believe that not only do plants have a soul or spirit, but also the wind, the rain, and even rocks.

In addition to holding to some form of animism, many Wiccans also adhere to pantheism. Pantheism is the belief that everything is divine. It understands deity as one with nature. Since everything is deity, they believe that humans are also divine.

Polytheism is the belief that there is more than one god. As defined by many witches, however, polytheism is not merely the belief in diverse deities, also the belief that there are an infinite number of levels of meaning and reality. This polytheistic premise is expressed in beliefs such as, "there is no one way or right religion for all," and "there is no one truth."

Wiccans claim to be able to perform occultic magick. They and other neo-pagans often add the letter k to the word magic in order to differentiate their spell casting from slight of hand magic.

Some practice a form of channeling where they allow themselves to be possessed by another entity. This entity may be thought of as the Goddess, the force that permeates the universe, or something else, but not all Wiccans practice channeling.

In addition to casting spells, many Wiccans also practice various forms of divination. Some of the more popular forms they employ are astrology, numerology, palmistry, runes, and tarot cards.

Christians should be bold in sharing the good news of salvation through faith in Christ with Wiccans, but we are to balance our boldness with a spirit of love and self-discipline. You can be bold without being overly aggressive. Also, treat Wiccans with respect. Nothing will end a witnessing opportunity faster than being disrespectful to a Wiccan.

Finally, when you share the gospel with your Wiccan friends trust the Holy Spirit to convict them of their need for salvation that comes only by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.