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| Witchvox Chapter: Wren's Nest News | Chapter Page Views: 59,684,687 |
 Witchcraft Growing Faster Than Religion's Big Three Author: Carol Forsloff Source: Digital Journal Title: WITCHCRAFT GROWING FASTER THAN RELIGION'S BIG THREE While Jews, Muslims and Christians fight among themselves, one religion has darted in front of all the others to become the America's fastest growing faith. The religion of the witch trials becomes religion of the future with the membership exploding, according to experts. This is bringing consternation to believers in the Big Three of faith. One expert claims that the number of Wiccan experts is doubling every 30 months. A recent book entitled "Generation Hex" by author Marla Alupoaicei declares that it will be the third largest religion of faith by the year 2012. This explosion of membership in Wicca has come about because of social estrangement, loneliness and the need to belong according to Dillon Burroughs co-author of the book. Although the West Coast and Salem, Massachussets is experiencing the most rapid growth, groups can be found all over the country, including the South and Mountain states. | |
| Community Thoughts: There are 23 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Umm | Feb 21st. at 11:39:23 pm EST |
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Feathercloak (Grand Junction, Colorado) - Email Me Ok. I am not a Christian spy....Been Pagan for a long time and I KNOW that much of modern Wicca was pieced together by Gardner. Yes it has authentic lore in it, yes it is valuble, but if you are a Wiccan and do not understand the history of this religion, then I suggest that you do your research. If you go around and claim that Wicca is an ancient religion handed down through the ages, you make us actually look worse than if you admit that it is a revival religion of sorts with ancient ROOTS, roots..ok.. not handed down intact from antiquity. Old George is also an important contributor to the Pagan revival we know today. Please do not accuse folks who know the history of the modern Craft of being Xtian spys, it really makes us look foolish. |
| Old Witch | Feb 20th. at 7:51:02 pm EST |
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Hernesvoice (Lake Oswego, Oregon) - Email Me I became interested in Paganism/Wicca some thirty years ago...I am now 54. I was involved in an evangelical Holiness sect of Christianity...but it didn't meet my needs. When I first became interested in Wicca, I bought the mythology of Sanders wholeheartedly...I loved Leland and Murray...I read "Drawing Down the Moon" and "Positive Magic"...I became involved in an eclectic coven....what I eventually came to understand was that modern paganism is not a "continuation" of ancient paganism as some Xians claim their religion is directly from the apostles...but rather a "rediscovery" of something humanity once embraced that reached across time again to find expression in our modern times....the Old Ones were back touching lives...inspiring myth...changing our world and giving life meaning and depth for thousands. We neo-pagans aren't trying to live in the past...but BECOME something for our future....to honor the Earth....to view a connectedness of Life...not just our lives...but ALL LIFE...and so often we fail...much like the Big Three fail to live up to their traditions....we Pagans are challenged to be our own priests....to find our own Path to Divinity and not settle for someone to tell us what a passage in a "holy book" means....our "Book of Shadows" is new with each copying becomes truly something New with each Divine Invention....we hearken to our Befores to gain insight from their experiences...but it is our Task to find our own starting place on the Path...using the mythology we relate to to understand the Mystery. We have found Something that the Big 3 can't give us....it's not the Destination we find strength and joy in...but the Journey....the Fool's Journey...to steal the idea of one of our Before's Myths. |
| The Article May Have Faulty Logic But ... | Feb 20th. at 11:04:00 am EST |
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Brandi (Hadfield, England) - Email Me Even though the article's statistics are not correct, and most people who try their hand at Wicca, Witchcraft, Paganism, etc. don't necessarily stick with it to become serious students and practitioners, there is still at least SOME growth here, and it's ironic that Christian groups are feeling threatened by the growth of a relatively small, not-very-mainstream spiritual path that doesn't even proselytize to attract new members, when Christians spend rather a lot of time and effort trying to "save souls" and increase their numbers through proselytization whenever and wherever they can manage it because they see it as their duty to bring the whole world to Christ (or some such rhetoric) . Their logic here is a bit like if Wal-mart were to feel threatened by a mom-and-pop operation setting up shop down the street. Sigh. Mind you, my (Pentecostal) sister told me yesterday that she doesn't let her children watch the new Disney Channel show "The Wizards of Waverley Place" because it has magic and supernatural themes in it, so this is the sort of logic we're dealing with here. |
| IN MY OPINION.... | Feb 20th. at 4:51:25 am EST |
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Lady Whitewolf (Schenectady, New York) - Email Me this guy sounds like just another whining fundie. If we, the Pagan Community are growing faster than "the big 3" IS THAT OUR FAULT? I think that the fundies should take a long look at themselves before they point the finger at us and cry about our growth in numbers. People are getting tired of the same old same old.... they want something that makes them feel that they are PART of the divine and not having some MALE biblegod pointing at them and screeching "sinner" at the top of his lungs like a 5-year old. Women are tired of being shoved to the fringes of their own faith and being called "whore" and "harlot" (the bibles 2 most used words to describe women) and having men placed as their "masters" - that's BS. Men and women are EQUAL, fundies, GET OVER IT. And I think that people want to be able to PERSONALLY connect with The Earthmother and be able to stand up and be UNASHAMED of themselves. Maybe this is why we are growing at such a rate. If it makes the fundies nervous, too bad.... Love to all (sorry about the long post!) |
| This Is So Strange.... | Feb 19th. at 10:28:35 pm EST |
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EdthePagan (Hoopeston, Illinois) - Email Me - Web This is all so very strange. I can not beleive when I put together the press release in 2005, and it is now nearly 4 years old, that it would have so much reach. The article was "Pagans and Christians Agree, Wicca emerging as America Third Religion" Here is the link: [Web LINK] In the Book "Generation Hex", they lift the premise directly, claining it as fact, froma Christian Source which used this as it's source. In fact the book acts as a advertisement for Witch School, right in it. So the point of this little rant, is that Christian Ministries are getting a ministry based on cotton candy facts and totally misconstrued facts. I created the original article that many of them now quote as a way to reach out, and show how the press worked. This worked better than I ever suspected, and this article has been picked up by a journalist at least 30,000 times in the last four years. Here is the fact, in order for us to be Third largest religion in America by 2012, then we will need to grow 2000% (20 times the numebr of adherents beleived today) . Our population would need to double every six months from here on out. Blessings Ed Hubbard |
| ... | Feb 19th. at 6:12:08 pm EST |
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Draken (Bronx, New York) - Email Me - Web Is it just me or do certain posters look like fundie xians in disguise? At this rate of disintegration, the xians won't need to start a new inquisition. They can just wait for the ignorant fluffy playgans (and I don't like using that word) who call Wicca "bogus" to do us all in. |
| Wow. . . | Feb 19th. at 5:37:35 pm EST |
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Dynnys Derwydd (Lubbock, Texas) - Email Me . . .somebody got up on the wrong side of bed this morning. Still, calling Wicca BOGUS is an attack upon the beliefs held dear by many. As for modern Wicca being Gardner's baby, well much of the modern rituals were rewritten by Doreen Valiente from Gardner's Book of Shadows. If modern Wicca is anyone's, well she could've laid claim to much while still alive. I do have to wonder why so few seem to know of "Old" George Pickingill, b. 1816 - d. 1909, who created 9 covens, introduced the priestess as the leader and initiator, and a known hater of Christianity? And then there is the question, "Where does religion come from?" To many anthropologists religion is a means of passing on explanations for the creation of the univers, the natural world around us, and the passing down of mores and taboos. Most religions spring from the imagination/beliefs of a few, or one, that others either find to their liking or dismiss. Gnothi Seauton honi soit qui mal y pense, Dynnys Derwydd |
| For The Record | Feb 19th. at 3:03:06 pm EST |
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R. Cicero (Seattle, Washington) - Email Me I never said Wicca was crap. I said it was BOGUS, with false historical claims and dogma up the yin yang. That's an opinion and a personal observation, not an attack. Who are you people anyways, the religious police? Isn't it obvious to you, that if you're not drinking Gerald's Kool-Aid, then you're actually NOT WICCAN--just a confused sort of WITCH. That's because Gerry invented the whole bloody thing. It's his baby, not yours to contort and distort to YOUR liking. He did plenty of that himself. Also, is it not generally true that all men (and women) are actually NOT created equally. Religions aren't either. Some are clearly more silly and worrisome than others. Look at Christianity--and your own self in the mirror, while you're at it. |
| Admittedly. . . | Feb 19th. at 11:45:40 am EST |
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Dynnys Derwydd (Lubbock, Texas) - Email Me . . .an article written to scare Christians into recognized the "Threat of Paganism." Personally I believe that out of every 10 people who become interested in some form of Paganism, only 2 remain to learn and grow in an alternative religion. I do wonder why one poster decided to attack Wicca? Most modern Wiccans, including myself with over 20 years worship and practice, don't hold to some "Univeral Unitarian Cult of White Witchcraft" (to use Isaac Bonewit's own term) ideal of a Pagan Past. While we do consider the works of Leland, Murray, and Graves to inspirational, most Wiccans are not dogmatic in their love of these works. What I find detrimental is the fact Paganism is attacked on a daily basis, yet a few Pagans choose to flare up "witch wars" or "pagan panic attacks" through either ignorance, self-aggrandizement, or to espouse a "One and True Way." Sounds rather fundie to me. Gnothi Seauton honi soit qui mal y pense, Dynnys Derwydd |
| These Are The Kinds Of Articles.... | Feb 19th. at 10:21:19 am EST |
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me that I refer to when I register any disbelief. On the one hand they always write that they are doing very well and their ministries are growing daily, and in the same breath, and even the same ink, they write that they are slipping and the world is now doomed because a few pews just became vacant. Frankly, I would not believe many of these articles if they told me the Sun would rise in the morning. I usually have to look for myself anyway. Apparently, this is propaganda meant to scare the sheep, and little more. Since I am not a sheep, I view that as hilarious to think that they remotely know anything at all about witches beyond the scare tactics that they usually write. I have been a Pagan for quite some time, over thirty years at least, and yes, it is fun, and the more I'm into it, the more sense it makes. |
| One Inaccurate Article.. | Feb 19th. at 9:08:45 am EST |
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Moonlight Wolf (Bradford, England) - Email Me This article refers to Whistleblower Magazine. Now where has that name come up before. Oh yeah, it was advertised on WorldNetDaily a few months back. That shows you where this reporter got their research from. Similarly referring to Wicca as the religion of the witch trials brings up even more inaccuracies, considering that the authorities considered witchcraft to be a inversion of Christianity through claiming that witches worshipped the devil as opposed to God, were promiscuous, loud and rebellious as opposed to chaste, quiet and obedient. While it is not explicitly stated I think the reporter has it in their mind that Wicca is the same as devil-worship. (So I might be reading too much into this statement and it may have been made as a result of poor research but oh well) The references to Wicca being ancient are not only historically inaccurate but do not even fit into the reporter's flawed logic. Claiming Wicca predates Christ falls down instantly considering that the devil being a Christian invention could not have existied before Christ and as such to claim that Wiccans worship the devil and predate Christ simply shows up the lack of research done on the subject. As for the growth of Wicca over the last decade or so, I don't really think that Wicca will be the third largest religion by 2012 in the US because a good number of those who got into it because of something that they saw on TV will have probably left by the time they realise that Wicca involves studying and hard work. (A good number of people can be like that.) My advice to journalists and reporters. Do more research before passing judgement on something that you know nothing about. |
| ... | Feb 19th. at 7:37:47 am EST |
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Blue Fox (Toronto (Etobicoke) , Ontario) - Email Me I'm not sure how much faith I'd put into an article which draws from a source like ''Generation Hex'' (see link) which holds that Wicca and other Pagan religions are tacitly wrong... Its no ''Wicca and the way out'', but its written in the same spirit with the same goal, ''protecting'' the children from the evils of ''Wicca'' and providing a more refined understanding of pagan practices to allow more fluid proselytization. |
| Nother Article | Feb 19th. at 5:41:36 am EST |
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Dennis Deal (Nazareth, Pennsylvania) - Email Me - Web of the sky is falling.. The Pagan religions are growing as more find what suits them best. And to another poster wicca is not crap. You don't like Wicca? All well and good, but don't be calling something crap because you don't like it. I don't call any religion crap. Yes that does include the christian religion. |
| Hard To Swallow | Feb 19th. at 4:59:09 am EST |
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R. Cicero (Seattle, Washington) - Email Me First, there is an obvious lack of distinction made between Wicca, witchcraft, heathenism or paganism. The latter two are actually derogatory in origin, while Wicca, like every other attempt at organized religion, is inherently bogus, draped as it is in false historical claims and dogma up the yin yang. Meanwhile, witchcraft (or merely the accusation of such practice) can still get you killed outright in Africa, and harassed to the point of death right here in America. So, to sum this crap article up, I just don't believe the assertions made, and even were it true, it would have potentially tragic consequences for so many. The good news that I do believe is that nearly all organized religion is failing at a steady pace. Meanwhile, the sun, moon and stars are still what they are, the elements represent all that is, the archetypes we project into the heavens are still more perfect forms of ourselves that we may never attain. I sleep (like a baby) on those simple, consistent truths day in, day out. Everything else is suspect, false, or elaborate bullsh*t. |
| Public School | Feb 18th. at 11:51:25 pm EST |
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Hadriana (Rome, Georgia) - Email Me I became pagan not because of Harry Potter, oh, I've been pagan for 30 years now...It happened to me in public school, when I learned about the myths of Ancient Greece. The Gods were like me - with human motivations. I could relate to them. I wanted an intimate relationship with divinity. I wanted the room to be intellectual and to reason. I'm pagan because I realized I had a choice. Now, these years later, I'm still pagan because it is fun and nothing else makes a lick of sense to me. |
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