Help to let go of christianity and how to have more in-depth in Wicca?

Question

Hi guys,

Firstly i would like to make things clear- I was born into a Catholic family and have recieved all the sacraments up to confirmation. I never felt that i belonged in this realigion even when i was little- i once told my dad in the middle of church on father's day that i hated being catholic! Lol, that was funny. As i grew older i became really distant from my religion to the point that i would start fighting whenever mum said we were going to church. I felt so, i dunno, uncomfortable? I don't know how to express it. Again, just so distant. Then one day (a year ago) one of my friends told me she was wiccan. I was like what? I had no clue what it was. She bought in one of her spell books and all i needed was one look at the cover page and i was hooked. There wasn't a day that would go by where i didn't search the internet for more information. For the past few months i've attempted to change my religion but i feel this guilt- i feel bad about turning away from a religion i had been learning about my whole life. I am sick of it. period. I hate being held back by a religion that i can't even relate to. I have a conection with wicca. I feel at home. At peace. I feel as if this is what i have been searching for my whole life. I've spent the past year learning about the religion and i feel ready to take that next step and make wicca my religion, i've just got this chain on my ancle with jesus or something pulling me back. lol. It just so darn annoying wanting to move forward but being held back. What's worse is my mother instantly got all concered and defending (you know what i mean)
the moment she found out i was looking at other religions (I hate little sisters! >:I) so i know that if she found out i was wiccan she'd freak. Even my dad seems just a little wierd at naming pets after gods and goddesses. lol. Please, i ask you humbly for advice on how to let go of catholocism and move on. And also how to increase my knowledge and experience in wicca. Thank you all,

Caitlin )O(

Answer 1

I had the same problem when I was leaving Christianity. I was raised in a fundamentalist Baptist family and all of their teachings had been drilled into my brain with a vengeance. My fiance introduced me to Wicca back in December 2011 when I was still a Christian. I was nervous and sad, but I was supportive because I loved him. Because of that love, I started doing research on Wicca to understand it and be supportive of him, but I found that the more I researched, the more I fell in love with the religion. It made much more sense to me than Christianity ever did and it felt like I was coming home when I decided to convert to it in March 2012. However, I, too, felt guilty, but I was also terrified for a while. The reason why I was terrified was because the idea of hell (which I no longer believe in) was so prominent in my memory. Hellfire and damnation had been drilled in me since I was born and I was afraid that "what if the Christian god is the real one and I'm just going to hell?", but I learned to overcome that fear once I started living as a Wiccan, connecting with the Goddess and God, and living life differently than I had as a Christian just in general. I didn't get rid of that fear until May so it may take you a while to get over the guilt. It's all a learning process.



You said you are thirteen? If you are serious about being Wiccan because of the religious/spiritual beliefs, then I say go for it. But if you are in it for other things, then it's just not for you. I wish you the best of luck no matter what you choose to do. Blessed be )O(

Answer 2

Hon, most Wiccans were Christian. It's a transition. You can't drop all your old beliefs, but if they aren't right for you then mroe and more as you read and learn, they would fade away.





One thing I'd beware of is that there are a lot of really bad sources on Wicca.



Like "spell books" are generally crap because Wicca isn't about spells. They just exploit stereotypes.



Wicca & Witchcraft are not the same thing... you don't need to be a Witch to be Wiccan.



Also, Wicca isn't very old; it's a modern Pagan polytheistic religion that was founded about 70 years ago.





As for your parents-- Wiccan tenets teach us things like personal responsibility and respecting other people's beliefs and rights. Our tenets are much more important than any spells or new-agey things that Wicca might allow you to practice.



Lying and sneaking around behind your parents back is not responsible, not respectful of their rights as parents, or as head of household.



Basically, if they won't let you learn about or practice Wicca, then put it off until you're out on your own. Go to church with them if they require it, be respectful and deal with it.



No one can tell you which Gods you can pray to in your heart... but put off formal study & practice for later.



If your parents allow you to at least read about Wicca, or if they want to learn about it too, a good site (with a really good recommended reading list) is wicca.cnbeyer.com

Answer 3

I know how hard it can be to "leave the cradle" so to speak. I think the most difficult part here is the peer pressure from your family and the idea that Wiccanism Paganism is the polar opposite of Christianity. That if you work the Craft you can't believe in Christ. This simply isn't true. My best friends patron God is Jesus. If you listen to his true voice, not the dogma that surrounds him, but his true voice, he becomes a very open loving understanding God. First go through the Bible and read only the parts that were said by him, not the commentary, only his words. Then speak to him yourself, only you an him can resolve this. Jesus dose not judge, the Christian god-form dose. "I am a jealous god." The thing that people forget is that His power lays only with those he made the original covenant with. You can choose otherwise.



Paganism helps us to integrate the deities of hundreds of societies so that we never paint ourselves into a theological corner. If you have a need, somewhere you will find an answer. The best analogy I've ever heard about how to reconcile the hundreds upon hundreds of gods out there is to think of God, the essence of god, as a vast river at the top of a mountain, the river splits into several different channels as it goes down the mountain and pools in several different location. Those pools split farther as the water runs farther down and so on until there are hundreds of different channels all leading to the same location. If you fallow any of those channels you will eventually get to the top, to pure deity energy. Some people like the rocky path, some like to fallow the coast, some want to get there quick and some want to take their time. No matter what you choose you don't have to worry about it being wrong. There is no such thing as wrong, only different.



As for your family, if they love you they'll love you forever. Forgive them their fears, they are genuine fears, they have generations of bad propaganda at their backs. Don't try to change them. One thing wiccan's pride themselves on is not trying to convert or push their beliefs on others. Love them, try not to judge them, at take what they say with a grain of salt. Initiate yourself and you'll feel better. Don't be in such a hurry either, it took me 10 years of practice before I stopped feeling like a noob.



Good luck, and Blessed Be.

Answer 4

Wicca teaches you that honesty and respect are very important. That means being honest to and respecting your parents!!



I am a pagan myself (I am a polytheist centering on Egyptian and Hellenic deities), so I know where you are coming from.



It's an unfortunate situation that a lot of young pagans are in, having to live with parents who disapprove of their faith. I know that five years seems like a really long time to wait until you have legal freedom from your parents, but think of it an an opportunity:

It's an opportunity to develop a loving, respectful life-long relationship with your family that will survive even the hardest of blows so that when you ARE able to move out on your own and start practicing the faith of your choice, the faith in your heart, you will be able to do so with the support of your family and you'll have learned valuable lessons about respect, honesty, compromise and relationships.



You may not recognize right now,while you are in the midst of trying to grow up and develop your own identity, that your relationship with your family is incredibly important, but when you get to be 18, 19, 25, 30, 40 etc you will see that you only get one family, you only get one set of parents and you will wish you'd made the most of it when you were all squeezed into the same household and that you'd maintained a positive relationship with them. To do that, you might need to compromise some of the things you want, even important things like wanting to express your religion.

Think of this as an opportunity to learn more about Catholicism and using it to expand your understanding of religions on the whole. I know it's not the religion you want to practice right now, but since it's the only one available to you, perhaps you can make the best of it. Perhaps you can explore the saints and angels in depth, they have amazing stories and fascinating mythologies attached to them? Some people even rely on the saints and archangels in magick! Perhaps you can study the meditative practice of saying the rosary? Neo-pagans are beginning to embrace the idea of prayer beads, these days. Perhaps you can read up on Gnostic Christianity? These things will all be helpful when you explore pagan religions later on. Developing a strong background of knowledge and experience in Catholicism can actually really enrich your future experience as a pagan. Learn what you can now because you'll later wish you had learned it if you don't. Trust me on this.



I wish you the best of luck and blessings,

-Scarlet

Answer 5

A lot of people have this same problem - in fact, some Wicca covens, when teaching, include a course on freeing yourself from guilt. Even non-religious people raised in Christianity tend to have their morals aligning with that religion, so when you act out against it extremely - even if you don't agree with the moral in question - you tend to get the reflex guilt-punishment reaction.



The best advice I can give you is that it will fade with time. When you're feeling particularly bad about it, try and connect with the God and Goddess rather than dwelling on it, and transform your feeling of guilt into a knowledge of the divine. It may also help to remind yourself of all the things that make Catholicism the wrong religion for you (this is particularly helpful if these have things directly to do with divinity - eg. you believe in duality but Catholicism completely lacks in it, or you don't believe in the trinity, etc). I found that reminding myself that there are so many different religions claiming to be 'the one religion' helped me to discount the way I'd been trained to think of Anglicanism as the right religion.



If your parents aren't going to accept it, they aren't going to accept it. You can try to explain to them what you feel but if they are believers themselves you may find that they're only attempting to save you from sin - for which they can't be blamed, even if it's not particularly productive. Chances are you may have simply exclude them from that part of your life. (I don't encourage lying to your parents, so be honest as much as you can. If your parents forbid you to do rituals in the house, then it's their house and their rules. When you're moved out, you can expand your practice).



Increasing your knowledge in any subject, even Wicca, is done through two ways - researching and experiencing. Quite simply, get your hands on anything you can read and read it, and do what it tells you to do or what your intuition tells you to do (so much as you can). Wicca is a highly active tradition and you've got to put in a lot of personal effort to advance in it - you can research your heart out but if you fail to practice what is preached, your learning is a lot slower. So learn to meditate, go on hikes, maybe just go out in the back garden and try to connect with a tree. Learn the many different ways divinity can be viewed in Wicca and then go out and try to experience them.



Although I am curious - you say "I've always been into everything old" but Wicca is a very young religion. It was "created" somewhere around the 1950's. (Sorry if that wasn't what you were referring to).

Answer 6

It's hard to get over fear and guilt after so much indoctrination. First, let yourself look at it logically. If you don't believe in that god, then his rules, punishments and issues aren't real. Second, give yourself time. For most exChristians, moving into another religion or atheism is terrifying. Fear of Hell has been built in them since childhood. It will take time for it to fade.



Trust me though, it will fade. I have an exCatholic friend who is now a Druid. It took her a few months to finally let go of that fear. I know three or four exCatholic atheists and it took longer for them, a year or so.



You are okay. Reading about something, even converting, whether for a year or forever, is a big transition. Just give yourself time and space.

Answer 7

Wicca is an earth-centered polytheistic religion which contains elements of animism and pantheism. They in general consider in a God and Goddess, the sacredness of all life and comply with an ethical code called the Wiccan Rede which states " An it damage none, do what thou wilt". This is just a general outline.

Answer 8

Now being as I have searched my soul for a really long time and am still unsure about everything except that !. I believe in the afterlife and reincarnation to pay for karma issues, I believe that there is a state that will be proven by quantum physics that will show the state of being, but not in our lifetimes, and I believe what it is like there has nothing to do with joining any cult or sect or parish or brotherhood/sisterhood, That the words of a man named Jesus Christ were used to perpetuate one of the most profitable schemes ever known on earth



I believe in the Wiccan religion, the bond that is taken to nurture the growing things on earth is wonderful but that payback your enemies 7fold is a bit harsh and dangerous, so are any blood rituals, though mainstream Wiccans have foregone those...I love spells and chants and rituals but not if someone forces theirs on me, I will make my own...I believe bias is rampant and violence keeps getting worse because of the huge religions and their power wars, yes Catholics are a HUGE part of it as well as extremist Muslims. I am fond of Pagan beliefs but not their rituals I like the Buddhists, they are so calming and happy, Hinduism I must study and I also believe that many religious texts tell stories not of gods but of advanced humanoid life forms from elsewhere.

Answer 9

Two step question. First off getting rid of catholicism. I grew up Catholic, but I was probably always somewhat agnostic. But I did learn one thing. It's a "joke" that is not really a joke. "All Catholics go to the same church. It's called Our Lady of Perpetual Guilt." Catholicism is notorious for its skill in inducing guilt. Dump the guilt, you dump the church. If you have wished you were not Catholic, then don't BE catholic. It's a door you gotta walk through

One way to do that is just what you are doing, which is to learn that catholicism is not the ONLY route to spiritual well-being. I've been everything from Catholic to Pentecostal to now being a churchgoing agnostic (church is also community, these are my family) with side trips into Shamanism and Zen Buddhism. You do NOT need any "god", per se, (and, frankly, the "christian" god is pretty vindictive, the christians claim that "god is love, then preach sin and judgment) to be spiritual and in touch with powers/energies outside ourselves.

Second, re: Wicca. Read "The Idiot's Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft" (an excellent, comprehensive and readable primer) and "Wicca for the Solitary Practitioner" by Scott Cunningham. Best website for questions on Wicca is

http://www.witchvox.com

That is widely recommended by practicing Wicca on this site.

btw (1) the plural of Wicca is still Wicca, "Wiccan is not a word", and (2) please learn to use paragraph breaks in your writing. It makes it MUCH easier to read.

Edit: "Momofthree.." has excellent info/advice as well.

Best of luck in your spiritual quest!

Blessings on your Journey!

Answer 10

The problem here is that you are seeking after religion, instead of "RELATIONSHIP". TRUE Christianity is not a religion or a denomination, it's a relationship with the TRUE and LIVING GOD! That relationship was destroyed through SIN. Because that relationship was destroyed, we have a VOID inside of us that man tries to fill will religion, money, sex, etc. JESUS WILL FILL THAT VOID, IF YOU WILL ONLY LET HIM.



Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: IF ANY MAN HEAR MY VOICE, and OPEN THE DOOR, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.



2 Corinthians 7:10 For GODLY SORROW worketh repentance TO SALVATION not to be repented of: but the SORROW OF THE WORLD WORKETH DEATH.



Mark 10:15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall NOT RECEIVE the kingdom of God AS A LITTLE CHILD, he shall NOT ENTER therein.



1 Peter 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God RESISTETH THE PROUD, and GIVETH GRACE to the HUMBLE.

Answer 11

10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch.



11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.



12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord.



Galatians 5:19-21



19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,



20 Idolatry, *WITCHCRAFT*, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,



21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.





You have to understand something before you completely become a Wiccan. As the verses above show, people who are involved in witchcraft will not inherit the Kingdom of God. You should try to distance yourself from not only Wicca, but Catholicism as well. A lot of the practices they teach (such as confession to priests) are man made and not even Biblical. The only person who can forgive of your sins is Jesus. Don't let priests intimidate you into confessing to them, because they have no power. Only Jesus has power! So confess to Jesus your sins, and ask him into your heart. If you are serious about it, he will show you what to do from there. You don't have to go to Church in order to make it into heaven, so PLEASE do not let religion get in the way of a relationship with God! All you have to do is believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross, and ask him to forgive you of your sins. The "chain" you describe holding you back is the Holy Spirit, trying to keep you from making a big mistake! Re-consider before completely giving up Jesus; he is the only way you will ever get into heaven. You either go to heaven or hell after death; and if you reject Jesus then you burn for all eternity. Can you even fathom all of eternity? There will NEVER be an escape. It will be eternal hellfire. Have you ever accidentally been burned by something, such as a stove eye? Imagine not ever being able to lift your hand from that. Hell is like that except it is going to be AT LEAST a couple thousand degrees, and instead of just your hand or finger it will be your entire body! Remember that God loves and that's why he sent his only son to die on the cross, an excruciating process alone, just so that all you have to die is ask him into your heart. It is so incredibly simply, and yet you are about to reject it! Very few people (including Christians) will make it to Heaven. Understand what you are giving up when you reject Jesus Christ and go astray.



Matthew 7:13-14



13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:



14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.







Testimonies of Hell:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY9c4Zw6pik

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJy5eb0JnHk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vj0qKthCgg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cjTXUh1Xa0&feature=related





Ex-witch testimonies:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZtpFXLvR7Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXECzdMMhJc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z7AZh6xN7w&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy9iccivhoc&feature=related

Answer 12

Sweetness, you escaping one prison to go to another. As said on national TV with my own personal changes, Run Caitlin, run! Run into the arms of logic, or as more commonly known, atheism! However, since I do not have any knowledge of the religion of "Wicca", I cannot defend my case by poking holes in yours.

Answer 13

No one can help you when you insist on only confronting your problem from the wrong end.





Roman Catholicism is a load of rubbish that is analogous to taking over the FORD Motor Company, after Mr. Ford died, and announcing: "From here on in, we are revising car design! No automobile can have any engine in it...!"





That is an obvious absurdity no one who knows the least thing about cars could fall for. Anybody working for FORD would be senseless not to go looking for another job, because the Company is obviously going down!





But the Roman Catholic layman is not this sensible. Like the followers of the Ancient Pharisees, they ignore every instance where their religious leaders flagrantly went against the Scriptures, even when it was at their own expense (Matt. 15 & 23). Forgetting that they needed GOD's approval, not MAN's.





Roman Catholicism completely rejects John 14-17, and creates a religious minefield for Christians, based on the myth of something they call "Apostolic Succession."





In modern times, the greatest proof Apostolic Succession is a LIE, is how Pope John Paul II COULD NOT HEAL HIMSELF OF PARKINSON'S DISEASE. Whereas JESUS TAUGHT US how to obtain our Healings, and warned us what would cause us to FAIL to get what we want from GOD (John 15:1-8).





It is HYPOCRISY to want to abandon Roman Catholicism for Witchcraft, saying it is "better," when Roman Catholicism rejects The Gospel JESUS preached (Matt. 24:14,35) and substitutes a complete counterfeit.





You surely know John 8:32 by heart- or THINK that you do; can you quote what JOHN 8:31 says, without opening your Bible?



Obviously not. Neither can you possibly know any other Roman Catholic who can.





What astonishes me most about Christianity defectees, is that WHATEVER THEY DEFECT TO- claiming it is "better" than "Christianity," whatever other Faith, Spiritual System, Creed, or even Bone-Idleness they choose to fulfil- they ALWAYS pursue it with FAR MORE ZEAL than they did with their vesrion of Christianity.





For instance, the "Slacker" relaxes completely- as if they Jesus never Commanded relaxation.





The defectee Atheists generally read books and attends seminars by people whose IQ is somewhat larger than their wife's bra size- as if there were no intelligent Christians for them to study under.





As a Wiccan, I am sure you only receive Instruction from Witches who cast spells that work, and would NEVER EVER CONSIDER following a Witch who not only never cast a successsful spell in their life, but never ever saw one cast!







I am sure that as a Roman Catholic, you scorned all the Protestants, and even Catholic Charismatics who testified to performing and witnessing miracles on a regular basis.



Roman Catholics reject every Protestant Christian telling them their religion is counterfeit and defective, and many prefer to go straight from their Church to Satanism, even, rather than speculate that the only thing wrong with their Christian Profession was the invalidity of their beloved Roman Catholic Doctrine.

Answer 14

The fact that you want to let go of "Christianity" suggests that you never really had the real thing!



I challenge you to read this:



Testimony of Kellie:

I came to the Lord in 1998. Before I found God I was living a very alternative lifestyle and was very empty inside. I always knew that there was a powerful creator but never in a million years did I realise that God existed...I was searching thru lots of different religions, mostly eastern stuff and getting involved in things like crystal healing, meditation and lots of off the planet ideas and eventually got really involved in WICCA. I was so drawn to it because it involved the seasons and moon phases and lots of things to do with nature and It was a very subtle and gradual decline into more darker stuff. I thought I was getting closer to the truth because I was involved in worshipping the creation.



I was also into the party scene and every weekend there were parties and along with that came drinking and taking drugs and risking our lives doing crazy and reckless things. I lived in a very close-knit community where everyone knows everyone so when our drug dealer and my then boyfriend Justin's best mate disappeared from the party scene we all wondered what had happened to him. There were loads of rumours flying round like "He's joined a cult" which interested me because I was into lots of weird things.



Eventually we found out that he'd been grape-picking with a group of backpackers and the whole lot of them had been told that God existed and that they could have proof. They all ended up going to a meeting and all got baptised and spoke in tongues. One of the other guys in that group that we knew came to a friend's house after receiving the Holy Spirit and as soon as he pulled up in the car I knew something was different about him. He had always been a depressed type of guy that was always complaining and swearing about something that was going wrong but that day he jumped out of the car and was smiling and talking about God. I straight away thought that "God" must have been the latest drug that was circulating because I never in a million years would have expected this guy to go to church!! When Justin heard this he was instantly convicted and wanted to go to a meeting. I straight away said " I've done the 'God stuff', but that's cool, you go coz you havn't crossed that one off the list yet." I had no intention at all to go along to check it out but on the Sunday that Justin had organised to go, my plans ended up falling through so at the last minute I jumped in the car and went to a meeting. When I first walked through the doors everyone stopped mingling and talking and looked at me because I was pretty feral looking, with pitch black dyed hair, weird clothes and jewellery and probably a pretty intense look on my face!! But I instantly saw that there was something very different about the people. They scared me because they were actually happy! Everyone looked like they had white beams of light coming off their heads. I was so convicted I ended up in the baptism tank. Justin got baptised that day too and from that moment onwards God started to change things. I went home that night and threw thousands of dollars worth of witchcraft books, tools and CDs into the wheelie bin because I couldn't stand being in the same room as them.



I went to the next Sunday meeting and went into the prayer room with a bunch of other people and after praying for a few minutes I spoke in an amazing language. I was healed from the desire to go out partying with my friends and didn't want to take any more drugs or drink. It totally spun me out and since that day sooooooo much has happened but to keep it short, Justin and I got married and had two children. I have also has some pretty intense tribulation when Justin was diagnosed with a brain tumour when I was pregnant with our second child. He was sick for two years before he died in 2003.



I struggled for a while with wondering why he didn't get a healing but God showed me that he got a Spiritual healing because so many people die everyday without the Holy Spirit so I can praise the Lord so much for the peace in knowing that he had the Spirit. God is awesome and has blessed me and my children so much, Jesus is amazing and I cant imagine what I'd be doing if I didn't know him. I live a very exciting life with the Lord and know he has awesome things in store for us as we keep following his path.

Answer 15

Wear your crosses upside down