"Deus Et Natura: God and Nature
Christian Wicca - New Faces in Christian Occult"
Recently I did a web search for Christian Wicca to see what all popped up.
Obviously very excited knowing that the fruits of my labors will soon be a
physical reality - as "Christian Wicca: the Trinitarian Tradition" is published
with 1st Books, and available through their website, Amazon.com, and in book
chainstores such as Barnes & Nobles and Books-A-Million.
I had put the last 5 years into my research and comparative studies of the
Pagan Wheel of the Year, the Kabbalah, and the Gnostic Gospels. The overwhelming
parallels made me wonder why no one else had written such a book for magickal
practitioners who uphold the Wiccan Rede, but choose to not give up Jesus
as Lord. The number of Goddesses I uncovered were overwhelming:
Check out pages on my site as well as other links
surpporting the validity and existance of many Christian Goddesses: Sophia
(Lady Wisdom), as found in Proverbs and the Apocryphal Book of Wisdom, the
Shekinah (most often considered the Holy Spirit of the New Testament and the
Spirit of God in the Old Testament), the Gnostic High Goddess Barbelo, Asherah
as mentioned in Jeremiah . . . Check out: the
Goddess pages at Northernway for more info.
In the past, Llewellyn publications have signed a roster of authors who
boast statements that Christianity and Witchcraft can not mix. However, in
their new 2002 book release: "Paganism: An Introduction to Earth-Centered
Religions by Joyce & River Higginbotham, on page 11, Llewellyn now takes the
liberal stand acknowledging ChristoPaganism as a BLENDED
TRADITION stating: This term describes traditions that deliberately
blend together two paths. Examples include Judeopaganism, which is often strongly
matriarchal and blends certain ancient Jewish customs with an earth-centered
practice. We have a friend who calls herself a "Jewitch," for example. Christopaganism
blends some Christian beliefs and practices with Paganism. Christopagans may
pray the rosary and work magickally with angels, archangels, and other spirits.
In our experience, most Christopagans revere Jesus and believe that his teachings
are loving and beneficial to the world and are in no way in opposition to
the principles of Paganism.We have also met Pagans who blend some aspects
of Buddhism and other Eastern traditions into their spiritualities. In addition
to Pagan observances, their spiritual practices may include periods of meditation,
yoga, tai chi, or the martial arts.
Christian Wicca Acknowledged by published Pagan/Witch/Wiccan Authors
"When Someone You Love is Wiccan" - Carl McColman:
p 157: "On the Internet there is a small but thriving community of "Goddess
Christians" and "Christian Wiccans." "The Inner Temple of Witchcraft" by Christopher
Pzenczak - p. 50: "Christian Wicca. Although I was initially hesistant to
add this catagory, the emergence of "Christian Witches" is becoming more prevalent.
Often, eclectic witches have no reason to leave behind their original Christian
faith, and instead incorporate elements of both into their personal tradition.
Folk Magick survived by veiling itself in Christianity and incorporating the
mythology. Unfortunately, Christian Witches get curious looks from pagans
who have renounced Christianity and see the two as incompatible."
If you have a problem understanding Christian Wicca, ChristoPaganism, or
the Christian Occult in general, you are simply ignoring or selectively forgetting
it's predecessors. So for the Neo-Pagans who feel that Christianity has no
place in the magickal community - I have 6 words for you:
Golden Dawn, Golden Dawn, Golden Dawn!!
The Christian Occult is not a new concept. Mystery religions and secret
societies have been around for as long as Christianity has existed. Modern
Pagans often forget the Magico-religious timeline of the Christian Occult
that pre-dates Gerald Gardner, Wicca, and his recovery of the Old Religion,
especially the European traditions. Gardner himself makes reference to what
we now call ChristoPaganism in "The Meaning of Witchcraft" - p. 27:
"It is usually said that to be made a witch one must abjure Christianity;
this is not true; but they would naturally not receive into their ranks anyone
who was a very narrow Christian. They do not think that Jesus was literally
the Son of God, but are quite prepared to accept that he was one of the Enlightened
Ones, or Holy Men. This is the reason why witches do not think they were hypocrites
"in time of persecution" for going to church and honouring Christ, especially
as so many of the old Sun-hero myths have been incorporated into Christianity;
while others might bow to the Madonna, who is closely akin to their goddess
of heaven."
The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a magical order which began in England
in 1888, was the most famous and influential of the modern era. It successfully
integrated various branches of the Western Mystery Tradition into a workable
system of enlightenment: extensive ritual magick, Enochian and angel magick,
Hermetic Law, Alchemy, and comparative religious study of the parallels of
Egyptian and Gnostic God-forms to the Kabballistic God-forms, which included
Jesus Christ. Its goal was to help each member to "become more than human",
to contact your higher self and commune with your Higher Guardian Angel. Israel
Regardie said, "Initiation is the preparation for immortality. Man is only
potentially immortal. Immortality is acquired when the purely human part of
himself becomes allied to that spiritual essence which was never created,
was never born, and shall never die."
The Golden Dawn carefully assembled a series of ritual techniques, meditations,
as well as psychic and mental exercises to aid the Neophyte student of the
occult into an Adeptus status which progressively elevated the student into
a higher states of consciousness. Among the original Golden Dawn members were
MacGregor Mathers, W.B.Yates, Aleister Crowley, A.E.Waite, Dion Fortune (my
favorite Christian Occultist), Paul Foster Case, and Israel Regardie.
Email Nancy Chandler Pittman
or write:
Shadows and Light Shoppe, Re: Christian Wicca, 401 8th Avenue S.E., Decatur,
AL 35601 ph: 256.466.2374 ~ Blessed Be!!