WitchCraft: Religion or Not?
So one of the largest pieces of the community is the constant battle of if WitchCraft is a secular activity or a religious one. This argument is usually between those who are Wiccan and those who are witches but practice a different religion or are atheists. I would like to start out by saying that I mean no offence to any religion within the realm of witchcraft, I am simply stating my opinion.
So much of the community, outside of many Wiccan practitioners, claim the act of witchcraft itself is secular. That there is no connection to any sort of gods unless someone puts one there. By that simple argument and belief, then to those who believe witchcraft is a secular practice, it is. The same goes to those who believe that witchcraft is a religious activity. It is as simple as respecting what one believes to be true.
Now outside of the community, is a whole different matter. Here I will be looking at how religious studies examines the issue. Religious studies is the study of world religious to learn and examine how religion affects cultural values, ideals, and what things mean in that religion. This is not theology as theology focus' on the study of a religion by its religious clergy; this most typically being the study of Christianity. In this examination, I would like to also establish that Witchcraft does not equal Wicca. Witchcraft in itself is practised by many people who are not Wiccan, so this itself is an unarguable fact.
In religious studies, there are two kinds of religious practice; orthoprax, or "correct conduct" and orthodox, or "correct belief." There are also two basic classifications that are used as well, theist and non-theist religions. A theist religion believes in a higher power, usually a god or gods. An example of this would be the Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Non-theist religions have worship but do not believe in a god or gods, and an example of this is Buddhism. In looking at those examples you can technically have someone who is both Buddhist and Christian.
Knowing those two terms can show you that witchcraft is a non-theist religion as classified by religious studies. Witchcraft consists of very heavy orthoprax. Spells often act much like prayers but often do not ask for a higher powers help, but instead has a series of rituals to bring it to fruition. As witchcraft is a non-theist orthoprax religion it can easily be paired with theist religions that are mostly orthodox or have similar rituals of orthopraxy. Due to witchcrafts consistent orthopraxy, it tends to align with neo-pagan religious such as Hellenic polytheism, Kemetism, Wicca, Neo-Druidism, and a whole list of others. Though witchcraft by itself is often practised with no associate religion regardless of if the person in question holds a theist religion or not.
Despite this classification of religious studies, due to how religions and religious practice works, if someone believes witchcraft is a secular practice then that is just as much the truth as the non-theist religion definition.
So much of the community, outside of many Wiccan practitioners, claim the act of witchcraft itself is secular. That there is no connection to any sort of gods unless someone puts one there. By that simple argument and belief, then to those who believe witchcraft is a secular practice, it is. The same goes to those who believe that witchcraft is a religious activity. It is as simple as respecting what one believes to be true.
Now outside of the community, is a whole different matter. Here I will be looking at how religious studies examines the issue. Religious studies is the study of world religious to learn and examine how religion affects cultural values, ideals, and what things mean in that religion. This is not theology as theology focus' on the study of a religion by its religious clergy; this most typically being the study of Christianity. In this examination, I would like to also establish that Witchcraft does not equal Wicca. Witchcraft in itself is practised by many people who are not Wiccan, so this itself is an unarguable fact.
In religious studies, there are two kinds of religious practice; orthoprax, or "correct conduct" and orthodox, or "correct belief." There are also two basic classifications that are used as well, theist and non-theist religions. A theist religion believes in a higher power, usually a god or gods. An example of this would be the Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Non-theist religions have worship but do not believe in a god or gods, and an example of this is Buddhism. In looking at those examples you can technically have someone who is both Buddhist and Christian.
Knowing those two terms can show you that witchcraft is a non-theist religion as classified by religious studies. Witchcraft consists of very heavy orthoprax. Spells often act much like prayers but often do not ask for a higher powers help, but instead has a series of rituals to bring it to fruition. As witchcraft is a non-theist orthoprax religion it can easily be paired with theist religions that are mostly orthodox or have similar rituals of orthopraxy. Due to witchcrafts consistent orthopraxy, it tends to align with neo-pagan religious such as Hellenic polytheism, Kemetism, Wicca, Neo-Druidism, and a whole list of others. Though witchcraft by itself is often practised with no associate religion regardless of if the person in question holds a theist religion or not.
Despite this classification of religious studies, due to how religions and religious practice works, if someone believes witchcraft is a secular practice then that is just as much the truth as the non-theist religion definition.
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