Witchcraft and Wicca, the Heart of the Harry Potter Controversy

(PRWEB) July 15, 2005

In 1997, a young mother wrote a book called “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” and it was published. Little did she know, nor could she imagine how much the world needed Harry Potter and his wonderful story. J. K. Rowling created a phenomena that brought magic to the forefront of human thought and unwittingly reopened a new round of an ancient battle, Christianity’s battle to destroy witchcraft in all its forms. Harry Potter has rekindled interest in beliefs that were already growing in the United Kingdom and United States for more than fifty years, and that belief is a faith called Wicca.

Wicca is a religion which practices as its core faith Perfect Love and Perfect Trust. Wiccans practice earth friendly ways of living, believing in nature as sacred and the world as personally important and valuable to them, being an inheritance for the children even unto seven generations. They believe in fairies, spirits, Gods, Goddesses and a spiritual life which has become largely invisible to the average human around them. Wiccans believe in reincarnation and they practice all sorts of mind enhancing skills in seeking personal evolution. The Wiccan accepts visions, oracles, and prophecies are part of our life as much as fact and logic. Wiccans use magic and sciences with equal familiarity, and believe them to be one and the same. They have a world view and an inner education which changes them into a being capable of understanding and even creating wonders and miracles. Most importantly Wiccans are also known as Witches and that is the what is what makes even discussing them taboo in Western Christian society. They are biblically condemned.

The practice of Wicca has been striving to survive in Western Civilization in various forms and under various organizations and names over the centuries. The Modern practices emerged in the 1950′s from the books of Gerald Gardner and soon a flow of hereditary traditions and modern converts created a movement that membership in for most of the last two millennium was worthy of being burned or killed in many imaginative ways. Fortunately reason won out and a progressive British Government, followed by other nations began to allow Wiccans protection from being persecuted for their beliefs. This was like putting a match to kindling, and the Modern Wiccan movement grew like wildfire. By the dawn of the 21st Century Wicca was the fastest growing in religion in America by many accounts. Today Wicca is a fully legal and recognized religion with full equal rights, even if they are not allowed to practice by some authorities who are acting improperly and sometimes in defiance of the Constitution.

So what does this have to do with Harry Potter? Well nothing, in the sense that it is a story created from the imagination of a young woman, and with her story she has entertained a whole world. Harry Potter has many components that are similar to Wicca, but really is a work of fiction. But it speaks well of the idea of practicing magic and according to some Christian authorities plants unacceptable thoughts about Witchcraft and the practice of things that are occult in nature in our youth. Simply put, Harry Potter is making Witches more acceptable and leading kids to practice witchcraft which will destroy them. That is the Christian line against Harry and his comrades, and why he is condemned? Harry is the devil’s own, no matter how positive the story. He is being seen as the voice of the darkest occult lord and is seducing people to become Witches, and that can never be allowed.

What does this have to do with Wicca? Wicca, as a faith and practice is being greatly challenged by Christian authorities, and they are seeking every legal means to stop the Wiccan faith from ever getting a foothold in the American mainstream. In the simplest terms, the Christian preachers quote ‘Never to suffer a Witch to Live’ as biblical law, and are immediately faced with the Constitution and equal protection under the law. So they seek every possible tool to discredit Wiccans similar to the actions they have done to Native and Indigenous people for centuries, and seek to assure no one ever takes Witches seriously. Harry Potter breaks through that rule, and while fiction, does open the mind to the possibility of magic and that Witches might be real. So Harry Potter might kindle interest, and those interested might find out that a real Wiccan community with schools, temples, and a growing culture actually exists, that these Nature Worshipping people are not Christians and believe many things that contradict their world view. It challenges everything Christians want us to believe, and why Witchcraft in all it’s form, fictional and real must be stopped by Good Christians at all costs. It’s really that simple, Christians believe they have the right, they even say commanded by God, to destroy anything and anyone they call evil, and Witches are the ultimate enemy for them.

Wiccans face a future of growth, possibly emerging as the third largest religion in America in the next two decades, and a constant and continuous fight with Christian authorities to be allowed their equal and free rights. As Wiccans go about practicing their faith the biblically driven controversy will continue, and anything that professes a good word for a witch or a wizard, even lovable Harry, will find themselves at the end of two thousand year taboo, and be attacked publicly. This will be an interesting crossroads in America and will be one of the defining moments in the true meaning of religious freedoms. For the Wiccan the future is simple to see and they see that Love and Trust will always be the core of true American Freedom, and they will practice it daily. After all, America is home to the free and the brave, and that describes the true heart of Wicca.

For more information on Wicca, you can go to WitchSchool.com, and take a free course on Wicca, and begin exploring the life of a real Witch and their amazing community today.

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Controversial New ‘Wicca Witchcraft’ Service Revealed to the Modern Day Witches

Ventura, CA (PRWEB) July 6, 2006

Modern day “Witch”, Rose Ariadne, pulled the curtain back on a new service for practicing Pagan witches all over the world today at http://www.askroseariadne.com.

Followers of the controversial eclectic Pagan religion of Wicca Witchcraft are able to use her web site to input questions about how to practice any of the various branches of modern day Witchcraft.

Users of the site are not only able to ask questions, but search through other people’s questions and answers.

Wicca Witchcraft is still not an accepted religion by many groups around the nation, and the web site has many parents in an uproar over the “questionable” content being made available to the public.

When asked what she thinks of the negative feedback, Rose responded, “People of all religions are free to practice however they like as long as they don’t hurt anybody else — and the same holds true for the religion of Wicca. People fear what they do not understand, and I must admit the word “Witchcraft” does hold a negative connotation — but it’s not at all what people think. The naysayers don’t bother me, because I know they are just uninformed. I plan to help change these misconceptions with my Ask Rose Ariadne web site.”

She refused to comment on the nature of the negative feedback she’s received and said only, “I don’t worry about the negative comments, I know I’m helping people who want to learn and expand their knowledge on the Wiccan path. I focus on those who appreciate the helpful information I’m able to offer them.”

You can visit Rose’s new web site “Ask Rose Ariadne” at: http://www.askroseariadne.com.

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Move Over Hogwart’s! Witch School Offering Master Teacher Certification for Wicca

Hoopeston, IL (PRWEB) June 7, 2007

At the dawn of the 21st Century, Witch School opened and offered to teach anyone anywhere a comprehensive Wiccan and Magickal Education. Currently in it’s 6th year of operation, Witch School has helped tens of thousands of students learn Wicca and taught them to become Witches and Wiccans. Now Witch School has evolved to become Witch School International and is taking the next great step towards a Universal Wiccan and Magickal education by certifying Master Teachers. With this new program, WSI plans to bring education to even more people who desire to explore the Wiccan world today and in the future.

Under CEO Don Lewis, Witch School International has continued it’s primary mission of teaching, and has decided that the full modernization of Wicca and Magickal Studies need to take place. Only in this way can it become part of a new emerging culture that respects and honors Mother Earth and respects the power of nature within our lives. It allows people who are seeing Wicca for the first time to become part of the WSI community and learn at their own pace. According to Don Lewis, “By certifying teachers who learned through WSI, it will help this growing community find more than just a website to help them. This is a step of increasing the numbers of live campuses that WSI can teach from.”

The new President of WSI, Debbe Tompkins, is happy to announce that the first two Master Teachers are Rev. Green Owl and Rev. Karla Summers, who have served the school since its inception and have provided literally thousands of teaching hours. According to Debbe Tompkins, “WSI has over fifty individuals who are currently working towards qualifying directly, and they anticipate that two – three hundred individuals will be able to qualify over the next 18 months.”

In order to become a Master Teacher an applicant must have completed 4-5 years of dedicated study and service. This includes much more than completing the Clergy Training program which is Witch School’s most popular course offering. The Master Teacher certification requires thousands of hours of actual educational experience and successful graduation of students.

The Master Teacher Program is a vibrant new part of the overall Witch School International Mission to provide Anyone Anywhere Anytime with a quality Wiccan and Magickal Education. Combined with the Basic Year Long Course ‘Living the Wiccan Life’ and Wiccan Clergy Training, Witch School offers one of the most complete Wiccan Education Packages in the world today.

To find out more or join Witch School today, check out http://www.WitchSchool.com/main.asp or call 217-283-4360.

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Wicca Goes Video: Magick TV Celebrates 2nd Anniversary

Rossville, IL (PRWEB) November 27, 2007

Magick TV is celebrating its 2nd anniversary this month. Magick TV is part of the video revolution that exploded in 2006 with the expansion of Youtube.com but began as a way to expand Wiccan and Pagan video offerings on the net. Today, they have different videos on the net, from short glossary lessons, to Pagan prayers, to Living the Wiccan Life Interview Show. Magick TV is helping the Pagan community not just wait for mainstream news and entertainment outlets to report, but to create a platform for them to report their own news and provide much needed information.

Living the Wiccan Life Show, Magic TV’s première show, is a combination of interviews, lessons and event coverage. This project was born out of an withdrawn agreement with Sci Fi Channel to develop a reality show with Witch School. In the wake of withdrawal of both sides from creating the show, Magick TV decided to create and develop it’s own. Today it has many interviews with leading Pagan leaders including a web exclusive Ray Buckland, who brought Wicca to America; Oberon Zell, the most famous living wizard today, as well Selena Fox discussing the Veteran’s Pentacle Quest. Other interviews include Michelle Belanger, Raven Grimassi, and many average Pagans and Wiccans from across the country telling their story. As Living the Wiccan Life finishes it’s first season, Magick TV went to Salem to cover the events of Halloween week in Witch City with that communities leading Witches and Pagans. Season 2 begins filming in February from Rossville Illinois Studio’s to air in March, and includes a trip to the United Kingdom and California.

The most popular offerings of Magick TV is the Lessons of Wicca and Tarot. These video courses on Magick and how to read Tarot Cards are in done in conjunction with WitchSchool.com and TarotCollege.com respectively. Brought together by Don Lewis and Lady Krystel, these video shows are found to approachable and enjoyable by mainstream audiences. In 2008, Magick TV plans to add at least six full courses to their offerings including Ghost Hunting, Wicca Lessons of the First Degree, Mediumship and Séances, and How to Use Ouija Board. Other shows are being developed based on viewer near insatiable demand.

Magick TV most ambitious project is to open a studio in Salem Mass., which is also known as Witch City. Currently in negotiations, Magick TV plans to create a second studio in order to bring in a daily News Show called Pagan Nightly News from this city. They had tried the project as one of their first shows, but canceled it after less than a dozen episodes. Now that social video networking has grown the project has been given a green light and it is anticipated to begin again this summer in Salem. Magick TV plans to provide quality information in a world of one-sided and corporate controlled news.

Magick TV is an ambitious project celebrating two years of success. It’s parent company, Witch School International is very glad that this site is reaching the mainstream public. Along with their other sites, WitchSchool.com, TarotCollege.com and BlogofShadows.net, Magick TV continues to reach a public that is truly interested in the magickal and mystic world of Wicca and Paganism.

To find out more, check out http://www.Magick.tv, or call 217-748-7048

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Local Hoopeston Woman Confesses to Practicing Witchcraft and Wicca

Hoopeston, IL (PRWEB) February 7, 2007

In small town America it is very difficult to be different from your family and neighbors. In the town of Hoopeston, Virginia Powell faces this everyday as a practicing Witch and Pastor of Selu Temple, a Wiccan Church. She is a lifelong resident, and as she has come out of the closet, she has discovered a lot of acceptance and some resistance. Rev. Powell has confessed to practicing Wicca for a long time, and now is a teacher of Wicca as well.

“I love my life, and Wicca has allowed me to love living even more,” Rev. Powell states, “It allows me to understand the beauty and strength around me. I have always lived in a farm town and practicing my faith has offered me a deep sense of Deity within all things. As Pastor of Selu temple I am honored and privileged to be teaching the next generation of Wiccans in my hometown.”

Rev. Virginia Powell is part of a growing trend across the United States of women accepting their leadership role in this emerging faith practice. Wicca is a religion that believes in the divinity of nature, and the interaction of all living things as holy and spiritual. It is a faith in which membership is increasing dramatically, and has been recognized as likely to be the third largest religion in America by the next decade.

You can meet Virginia Powell at the Witch School Open House on February 10th. It is an all day open house with demonstrations, classes, music and teachers from across the Midwest, looking to answer the public questions about this fascinating and increasingly popular faith called Wicca.

For more information about Selu temple, go to http://www.Selutemple.com


For more information on the open house, go to http://www.witchschool.com/open_house.asp


Or call 217-283-4360

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Seeking 10,000 Teachers of Witchcraft and Wicca Needed to Supply Global Shortage

Hoopeston, IL (PRWEB) June 19, 2006

Wicca is America’s Fastest Growing religion and is anticipated by religious experts to be the third largest religion in the United States early in the 21st century behind only Christianity and Islam. Such a rapid spiritual revelation is occurring that the need for thousands of Wiccan teachers over the course of the next decade is required to meet the demand for basic teachings. People want to understand and embrace the Wican Rede and allow themselves to awaken their inner abilities. Wicca’s liberating beliefs and useful skills are in such demand that they need ten thousand teachers in the next few years.

America is on the brink of awakening and discovering it’s inner magic and it is changing the world. How we change depends on what we believe, and more people are looking at Paganism and Wicca than ever. If Pagans are right, then we have contact with a whole other dimension to our already rich existence. It is a another vision of life where magic occurs alongside the daily workplace, among science and technology, among people and filling in all those different places with a sense of awe and wonder. It is about Soul freedom. It is about being aware of how much freedom we truly have.

People becoming Wiccans today have a desire to teach and share their faith in ways never previously before conceived. Fearful of the dangers of remaining in the closet, and yet knowing how discriminatory American culture can be, Wiccans desire to build their community in a free and open manner, legally protected under Constitutional law. We benefit from the freedoms we have fought for and served for, and that our forefathers and mothers strived to maintain for us and we will pass these freedoms onto our children. This freedom is opening this sacred community to the deepest thinking and development of their sacred arts in history and allowing Wiccan to show the world how useful these skills will be in the future that races toward us all.

And discovering Wicca has never been easier and more public. If you ever thought about Wicca and asking what it is, you can take a free Wicca Course at WitchSchool.com. Witch School is the leading distance education system in Wiccan studies worldwide, and has now helped tens of thousands of people learn about Wicca and their own inner abilities.Maybe you will be one of those new teachers and not even aware of it yet. But even if you never practice, the study of Wicca is a fascinating subject and part of our great American experience.

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©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

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