How Can a Christian Practice Magick and Cast Spells?
Two Articles by Two Christian Witches

Isn't Magick Contrary to a Christian Worldview
An article by Rawna Moon

We have seen that the Bible doesn't specifically forbid Witchcraft, but that the assertions that it does are based on mistranslations. However, many would counter that doesn't matter, since the entire worldview of Christianity, especially as it is portrayed in the Bible, is contrary to a worldview that would include practicing magick. This, they would say, means that Witchcraft, which we have said practices magick as a spiritual art, is also contrary to Christianity.

For instance in our discussion about the Bible and Witchcraft we discovered clear prohibitions against "cloud watching", "divination", "whispering enchantments", and being a "charmer". We might also note that in the New Testament we are told that upon becoming Christian that many converts felt a need to divest themselves of their magick books by burning them. (Acts 19:19)

The usual argument for why magick is incompatible with a Christian worldview is that magick is about the individual seeking to control the world around them by gaining power and insight into it. The Christian, it is asserted, ought to live a life that is solely one of reliance upon the mercies of God.

But this raises some interesting issues. For instance we saw that a literal application of the prohibition against "cloud watchers", that is those who predict the future by observing the skies, would cause us to have to say that the science of meteorology is contrary to the Bible. Very few Christians today would actually want to push the idea of it being wrong to gain power over the world to such an extreme that modern science and technology would be contrary to Christian faith.

When we consider our modern science it is important to remember that it is a descendant of earlier forms of magick! Chemistry developed out of Alchemy, Astronomy developed out of Astrology, and Medical Science developed out of magickal healing arts. No one in their right mind would assert that Christianity and Chemistry are incompatible, yet Chemistry is a means of controlling the world by gaining power over it through insight. The power of modern Chemistry dwarfs the power of "cloud watchers" in ancient Palestine!

A response might be that its okay to gain power over the world through natural means, but what is prohibited to Christians is any seeking to gain supernatural power other than simply relying on the mercies of God. Thus it is okay to predict the future or change the world around us through scientific methods, but any supernatural divination or magick is rebellion against the sovereignty of God.

Of course the problem with this is that throughout the Bible many devout and holy folk used various forms of preternatural gifts and means to exercise power over the world! Here is a quick list of some of them:

• Jacob increased his flocks by mating them in front of reeds.
• Joseph divined through dream interpretation and a divining cup.
• Moses healed by lifting up a bronze snake.
• Moses brought victory by raising his arms.
• Joshua stopped the Jordan by touching it with a Holy item.
• Samson increased his strength by growing his hair long.
• The Priests divined by casting the Urim and Thurim.
• Elisha healed Naaman through a complex ritual of washing.
• Prophets divined by having harps played.
• Daniel interpreted dreams.
• The Eleven divined the 12th Apostle by casting lots.
• Peter healed by his shadow.
• Paul healed by blessing handkerchiefs and sending them out.
• James taught healing by anointing with oil.

The obvious reason why these forms of preternatural power are approved in the Bible is that they were understood as gifts from God and used in service to God. This is the solution to the whole issue! The issue in the Bible over preternatural power isn't whether one has gifts in this area and exercises them, but whether one recognizes these gifts are from God and should be used in service to God. An inherent gift of divination is not contrary to Christian faith, even if one uses magickal means to activate it, if one uses it as a Christian.

God doesn't wish for God's children to be powerless as we live in this world. God has no desire for us to be fatalists who just accept whatever comes our way with no attempts to change it! Jesus shows us that in his own ministry as he was busy changing reality around him, often using ritual methods to do this, as when he healed a man who was blind by mixing spittle and dirt to make a balm he placed over the man's eyes. Jesus calls us to face the world and seek to change it for better.

Paul teaches us that we have many different gifts and he lists some of them in various places. In these lists we see a mix of natural talents and preternatural abilities. It would seem that God approves of both means to affect change in our world.

So in conclusion, the issue isn't that magick is contrary to God's will, the issue is whether one uses it contrary to God's will, which is what the Bible really prohibits, or one uses it to serve God as a Christian. The following article is a wonderful essay by a Christian Witch which explains to us in practical terms how one goes about using magick as a Christian.

Christian Spellwork
An article by Annteater

On a night when the moon is dark and the soul is darker, I take a white bowl and fill it halfway with rosewater, glycerin and witch hazel. I float a red candle in the bowl and light it. A 14kt gold heart drops into the liquid followed by three pieces of rose quartz, all for love. Rose petals are scattered over the surface of the water. And I begin to read:

Three times, in the flickering light of the candle, I read the entire passage, 1 Corinthians 13. Then I reach for a heart-shaped bottle and squeeze a single red rosebud through the neck. I fill the bottle with the rosewater mixture and add the gold and gems. The cork is sealed with a cross of red wax dripped from the candle.

Every day, after I wash my face, I splash it with this spell and say, "Oh, God, open my heart to the love that you have for me." As the bottle is emptied, my heart is filled.

On another terrible night, I go to the brush pile near my house, choosing two sticks. With pure wool yarn, I lash the sticks together in the shape of a rough cross and hang it on my wall. With braids of wool and strands of silk, I hang the impossible on the Cross, symbols of things I know I cannot control or that I know I should control but am struggling with to no avail. As time goes by, the conflict of that night passes and it's symbol comes off the cross but other things have been added: a photograph, a magazine ad, a bookmark, a bit of jewelry. As I face the seeming impossible, I hang a symbol on the cross. As the possible becomes truth, I remove the symbol with a prayer of thanksgiving.

I sit on my living room floor with my Tarot deck in my hand and a question in my heart. I lay the cards down one by one in a shape that represents the Labyrinth in the nave of the cathedral at Chartres. Eleven for the rings of the path, thirteen for the geometry of the Labyrinth with the last two of the thirteen leading into the center, seven for the petals of the Rose at the center. When the cards are down, I trace my own path through this conflict, reaching the new possibilities in the center. When I gather up the cards, I am at peace, with a new understanding of issues that trouble me.

There is a saying among Wiccan and Pagan witches that spells are "prayers with props." For a Christian witch, that is a great truth. We are indeed admonished not to attempt to wrest control from God. However, the use of ritual in Christianity is as old as the faith itself. Communion was practiced in the churches founded by the Apostles. As Christianity became Romanized, we celebrated the birth of Jesus with rituals borrowed from the Saturnalia adding more as the religion moved north into the rest of Europe. We marry amid great ritual, bury with ritual, celebrate the Sabbaths with ritual, mark the seasons of the Church with ritual. The rituals of spellwork fit comfortably within this framework.

Christians also have a long tradition of entreating with God, of asking for blessings and for mercy. Christ himself knelt in the garden of Gethsemane and begged God to relive him of the burden of the crucifixion even as he waited for Judas' betraying kiss. (Mark 14:32-42) Yet as he prayed in despair, he said, "But not what I will but what you will." The final decision is left to God, a necessity that marks the spellwork of a Christian witch. With us, it is not, "As my will, so mote it be" but "As thy will, let it be done." We may ask, entreat, even beg, but not demand. Ultimately, we must trust. Each component of the spell, whether it is an herb, a gem, a drawing, a candle or a piece of fruit, is the symbol of a need. As we use these components to focus ourselves, we open our hearts to the fulfillment of that need as God wills.

Are there any other restrictions on Christian witches? Yes. Necromancy, raising the spirits of the dead, is forbidden by the Bible. But within these two restrictions, there is a lot of room for a witch to work. And while the symbols may be slightly different, the spellwork of a Christian witch might be almost indistinguishable from that of a Wiccan, the most significant difference being the name used for the Divine.

---This Page Designed By Miss Rawna Moon, Web Mistress and Christian Witch---
---September 16, 1998---
---Revised August 31, 2002---
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