Witchcraft and religious belief

[mark]

Hello everyone! I hope this is the right place to ask this question and does not infrange any rule but I have been wondering: what’s the relationship between witchcraft and religion? Is that a religion per se? Do you have to be pagan? Can you live your spirituality with witchcraft and another religion?
Thank you in advance and have a nice day!

Discussion

[CottonCandyAngel333]

The relationship between witchcraft and religion will differ from person to person. Some people keep the two entirely separate, for others, the two go hand and hand every step of the way. I personally keep the two mostly separate, but they sometimes mix.

Witchcraft, on its own, is not a religion, but a practice, kind of like praying or meditation. Some witches do include witchcraft into their religion though.

By the “rules” of witchcraft, you don’t have to be Pagan and can be any religion. Some religions though, have rules against witchcraft though. If you feel your religion allows it, there’s no problem.

[nation543]

Witchcraft is a practice and you can follow whatever dogma suits you best 🙂

[Puzzled-Nobody]

The relationship is whatever you want it to be. Some witches have an active and ongoing relationship between their craft and their religion. Others, like myself, aren’t religious at all.

[Feeling-OnFire]

From what I’ve learned, witchcraft is a practice anyone can do, Wicca is closer to the realms of religion. I’m a witch but I’m in the process of bringing God back into my practice (or some being)

[kalizoid313]

Witchcraft is a way or bunch of ways to do things or influence outcomes, sometimes through the use of esoteric, paranormal, magical, or spiritual forces and powers. As an undertaking, it may stand on its own. But often it runs parallel with or as an underground subculture of established religions. (So there are many instances of Church opinions, hierarchies, and clergy opposing witchcraft while many of their adherents do it.)

These days versions of Witchcraft like Wicca may serve as religions in their own right or as major elements of some more broad religion.

[hibiscus-bear]

I am not Wiccan or neo-Wiccan but I have had some Wiccans chew me out for calling their religion anything other than witchcraft (I do believe these people are British Traditional)

But if you mean a series of folk magical practices no, you don’t need to be part of a religion to practice folk magic though those practices are often rooted in bigger concepts there

[acynicalwitch]

It’s certainly possible to practice witchcraft and be irreligious; there are a significant number of folks (not just in the community, but in general) who identify as spiritual but not religious, or even ‘spiritual atheist’ or agnostic. There are Christian witches, Jewish witches, etc.

I think where it starts to get hinky is when you begin bringing deities into the picture; it seems disrespectful to call on/invoke deities but not offer them any tribute or honors.

For me, and what I teach students, the goal is *consistent cosmology*. For instance, if you’re an atheist witch and you perform spellwork, that’s perfectly consistent. If you invoke the power of the Universe or natural world, that’s also consistent. But if you are invoking Demeter–a figure you believe does not exist–then there’s a cosmological inconsistency. Similar, but more nuanced/complicated, is the eclectic pantheon mash-up situation, but that’s tangential here. In these cases, I really think the discipline of [apologetics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apologetics) comes in handy, because it forces you to interrogate and think critically about the way your personal cosmology is constructed.

But then, there are no Witchcraft Police that are going to show up and take away your witch card. Some people use ‘witch’ interchangeably with ‘pagan’, and some don’t. There’s no right or wrong way, in this case.