Education Time:
Several times a year, the sentiment that "witches don't believe in Satan" gets posted in several of groups that focus on the "Olde Ways."
This statement has many falacies to it.
There ARE Christian Witches out there who have melded their belief in the Christian God, along with his nemesis, Satan, with olde world practices of herbology, astrology, spell casting (power of directed prayer), etc. (https://www.christianwitches.com/)
Not all witches are pagan and not all pagans are witches. The terms are not interchangeable. (https://www.learnreligions.com/wicca-witchcraft-or...)
Christians do not hold the "production rights" to Satan. In Hebrew, 'satan" simply means 'advisary'. There are Satanist out there and they certainly are not Christian, in the least or the worst ways. Islam has the variant spelling of "shaitan" and is anyone who rebels against God/Allah. The Baha'i simply refer to satan as the lower levels of existence in man that seeks to distract us from God. Newly named to the World Religions scene is the Raelian Movement that believes all higher beings are aliens, which include their names for "God" and "Satan." (https://www.learnreligions.com/who-is-satan-95927)
The belief that giving a name to something causes it to manifest is also a fallacy. Evil DOES exist in our world, as in every world. When that evil has no name, it can be more terrifying than one that you name, address the chaos it causes, and seek to "control" how much it influences your life. "I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things." (Isaiah 45:7) The statement is sceen across several of the world religions and goes back to a balance in nature, “Maybe you have to know the darkness before you can appreciate the light.” ― Madeleine L'Engle, A Ring of Endless Light
Naming the unknown has been a long held practice, especially in the science community that seeks to understand the world around them. n 1789, French chemist Antoine Lavoisier tried grouping the elements as metals and nonmetals. The table he created listed only 33 chemical elements. We now have 118 elements listed on it. Does this means these elements did not exist before being catagorized? No, we still have room for more growth in our knowledge. (https://sciencestruck.com/history-of-periodic-table)
The persons making the attached statement are also not wrong. They are allowed to have their own belief system that works for them and to walk their own path, illuminated by the faith structure that resonates with them. They do need to take steps to educate themselves in presenting an idea where controversial evidence exists.
A more correct statement could read, "I am a witch, as such I do not believe in Christian construct of Satan. I believe that when you give a name to something, you allow it to manifest in your world."
Feel free to discuss in the comments below. We respect that people are passionate about the path they walk, but please keep the comments civil and educational. Trolls will be deleted and blocked from our website and the discussion groups.
