What's the Deal with Wicca?: A Deeper Look Into the Dark Side of Today's Witchcraft (Paperback)

INTRODUCTION

LIFE IS SERIOUS STUFF TODAY.

It's a constant flow of crises and challenges. Security is a difficult thing to find. You can't count on families; they don't always work real well. School doesn't seem very relevant, and friends are irresponsible and flaky. Unrealistic expectations are coming at you from every direction, and a balanced life seems next to impossible to achieve. What do you do? Where do you turn?

Many teenagers today are turning to the craft for answers. Teens want to know what witchcraft really involves and if it can help them find meaning in life. Whether you are already involved in Wicca, at the curiosity stage, or wanting to help a friend, this book is written for you. I want to help you sort through the confusion and find out what is really true about this earth-centered religion. But more than that, I want to give you some real answers about spirituality and your desire to make sense out of life.

I spend about twenty weeks a year speaking on public school campuses in North America. I also speak at dozens of other events for teens throughout the year, and I co-host a weekly, nationally syndicated teen talk-radio show called Life on the Edge--Live! In other words, I spend a lot of time with teenagers. When I'm not speaking to them, I'm listening to them. I understand your hopes and dreams, your heartaches and fears. The daily struggles with peer pressure, homework, and seemingly obnoxious teachers. And most of all I understand your need for help and answers to get through it all.

As you read these pages, know that I care about you and believe in you. In fact, I owe my life to a teenager, and I'll tell you why in chapter eleven. You're the greatest natural resource we have in the world today. Nothing is more valuable than you are. You're more precious than any amount of silver or gold or precious gems. Society's hope for the future--and the present--rests with you. You have the potential to change your world. However, if you're going to be successful and experience a life of meaning, it ultimately comes down to making the right choices. And that's why I want to do everything possible to help you handle the issues and challenges of life.

Let's face it, most kids today are curious and want to "discover" things for themselves. I don't want to force you to believe in God or anything else. Instead, I want to challenge you to think as you read this book. Hopefully you will come to some conclusions about life, spirituality, and Jesus on your own. And I hope that in the process you will discover for yourself the source for lasting peace, meaning, and power in life.

Steve

CHAPTER ONE: MEET THE NEW INITIATES

I'D JUST FINISHED SPEAKING at my second high school assembly for the day, and as usual, there were a lot of students wanting to talk with me. When I talk about choices, the questions and comments from the students usually cover a variety of topics including suicide, pain, divorce, gangs, and witchcraft. This school was no different.

I noticed three students hanging back, several steps away from the rest of the crowd that was around me. Once everybody else left, they approached me.

"Thanks, Steve, for your presentation," said Emily, the short blond girl.

"Yeah," said Andrew, "we really liked what you said."

Melissa, the tall girl with short brown hair, said, "And we liked your drum playing, too. It was awesome."

"But there's one thing we want to talk with you about," said Emily. "You're not exactly right about Wicca. It's not just about power."

"Yeah," the other two added. "You're a cool guy, but we wanna help you get your facts right about Wicca."

"You gotta know this one thing, Steve," Emily went on. "We all used to be Christians, but we got turned off to being involved in church. We never found anyone there who could explain what they believed and why."

"Yeah," added Melissa, "and everyone seemed powerless, like they were already living in some kind of defeat."

"That's not how I want to spend the rest of my time on planet Earth," said Andrew.

Then, almost in unison, they said, "With Wicca we found answers and power."

Emily finished with, "I can make up my own belief system that appeals to me without anyone else telling me what I have to believe."

The bell rang, and just before they headed back to class, I told them how much I appreciated their honesty and wished that we could've had more time to discuss their Wiccan beliefs. "We do, too," they responded.

Emily, Andrew, and Melissa are convinced that they found what they needed in life when they discovered Wicca.

I meet lots of teens like Emily, Andrew, and Melissa as I travel across North America. People who are sincerely trying to make sense out of life and find a way to make it work. They want a reason to get out of bed in the morning, and they want real answers to the difficult issues of life. Let's face it, there's so much stuff coming at you in the world today--families falling apart, threats of terrorism, natural disasters, unrealistic expectations from friends--and that's just the beginning of what you deal with at school, at home, and at work every day.

Many teens are looking for answers in the supernatural. They want to tap in to the source of ultimate power to change their lives--to feel special and get the relationships they want and need. Some want power to get vengeance on people who've hurt them. Pop culture's filled with allusions to witchcraft and the occult as being the source for power and all the answers to the issues of life. The fastest-growing religion today among high school and college students is Wicca. Also known as the practice of folk magick or the magick of the people, it's a contemporary pagan religion with spiritual roots in the earliest expressions of the worship of nature. For people like Emily, Melissa, and Andrew, Wicca seems to be the ticket that gave them a form of spirituality that would provide a sense of belonging, as well as some control over their own overwhelming life circumstances. The craft, as it is frequently called, also gave them the chance to create their own religion, complete with everything in spirituality that was convenient and appealed to them--including designing their own deities.

I wish I could say that I disagree with everything Melissa, Emily, and Andrew talked about, but unfortunately I can't. It's hard today to find people who attend a Christian church and can tell you why they believe in Jesus and what the Bible actually teaches. And it's true, there are a lot of people who call themselves Christians who are living defeated lives. But maybe we need to look further than just the organized Christian church for answers as to why these things happen. Because God didn't want us to be robots, He gave us the freedom of choice. This includes what we decide about Jesus and whether we decide to live by what the Bible teaches. God's power is real and it's unlimited. We must choose to either tap into it or keep trying to do things on our own, in our own way, and with our own strength.

There are questions that keep bugging me about kids like Melissa, Emily, and Andrew. For example:

• What truths about the Christian faith have they not truly seen and experienced?

• Did they honestly compare the teachings of Jesus to what they learned from Wicca?

• Do they understand how unique the Bible is? Have they seen the historical, scientific, and archaeological evidence for its accuracy? Or how about the ancient manuscript support?

  Sometimes the combination of life circumstances and curiosity causes us to do some exploring in the supernatural realm. Take Alexis, for example. Even though she attended church every week, she and a friend got involved with Wicca. Alexis was struggling with not having a father in her life. He'd abandoned her when she was only a year old, but it was becoming a bigger deal in her life the older she got. Alexis felt church had become routine and boring, and the youth leaders didn't seem all that concerned about the trauma she was going through. Plus, most of the kids in the youth group didn't act like they cared much about her anyway. She just didn't seem to fit in.

  So Alexis and her friend checked out some books on Wicca from the library at school and became fascinated with everything they were reading. They thought it was cool so they started buying books and collecting other things related to the practice of Wicca. The two girls grew increasingly curious about whether the spells and other stuff they were reading about really worked. Alexis and her friend started experimenting and got scared by the things that were happening. Alexis became so fearful that she began carrying a knife to school, which resulted in her getting suspended. That was it--the end of the line for her. Alexis and her friend threw all the books and stuff they had been collecting in the trash. And even though she asked God to forgive her for what she'd done, Alexis still feels guilty.

  A lot of kids today feel like the Christian church isn't relevant to their daily lives. One of the problems is that they've bought into a religious experience rather than establishing a personal relationship with God. It's awesome when you can grasp the concept of having an actual relationship with the living God--the God of all creation. That sets Christianity apart from any other religion.

  Also, a lot of teens fail to really understand the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. They want answers about life and they want to be challenged to make a difference in their world--but they can't seem to find this in their churches. Some people even question if God really cares about them and what's going on in their life. They want to know where God was when their mother died of cancer or why their father lost his job and abandoned the family. One girl asked me where God was when she was gang-raped. Disappointment with God is real for a lot of kids today. Obviously, pain and suffering are part of life--but it's still hard to handle. And in some situations, we may never know the reason why we experience some of the things that we do in life.

  In other situations, leaders in the church have failed miserably at making the Christian faith clear and understandable to kids in need of answers for the problems they're dealing with. The lack of practically applying the Bible to everyday life has caused many kids to search elsewhere, including witchcraft, for help and hope. Unfortunately, some leaders and Bible teachers seem to be answering all the questions that no one's asking.

  Wicca's got a very positive image in our society today. It's no longer some ridiculed set of beliefs based on superstition. Instead, it's become a mainstream religious system that many see as a valid alternative to an "outdated Christian faith." There are at least five major ways in which Wicca differs from Christianity and other religions:

  • worship of the goddess and god;

  • reverence for the earth;

  • acceptance of magick;

  • acceptance of reincarnation;

  • lack of proselytizing activities (trying to get someone to change their religious beliefs).1

    Wicca and witchcraft is popping up everywhere. You can find its influence in PC games, movies, music, prime-time TV shows, cartoons, and books. The number of Web sites on Wicca is growing, and there are even classes being offered online and in some public libraries. So why is Wicca so popular, especially with teens?

    For many, Wicca's promise of personal power over others and the ability to control your own life seems irresistible--even among some teens currently involved in the church. Wicca is admired for its sensitivity to the environment and is seen as the female-friendly religion in comparison to Christianity's supposedly male-dominated hierarchical system. And because Christianity is perceived as being judgmental and intolerant in today's society, it's easy to see Wicca's huge appeal. Wiccans feel like they belong without the baggage of having to look, walk, or talk a certain way. Plus, because Wicca rejects moral absolutes, a person's natural rebellious nature is appealed to. And it offers the chance to develop a personal self-styled religion. The bottom line is that Wicca offers its followers the ability to set things right on their own without having to rely on a God who doesn't seem to answer their prayers anyway.

    So who's right? Emily, Andrew, and Melissa? Did Alexis and her friend somehow miss the point of Wicca and quit too soon? Does Christianity really offer the answers and power we need and want? How do we make sense out of life?

    Wicca and Christianity both can't be right. Ultimately, you will have to decide which pathway is the right one for you to pursue. But remember to choose wisely and make sure that you honestly compare what Jesus teaches and what Wicca teaches. It's not good enough to just be sincere in your beliefs. Sincerity won't get you very far when it comes to your eternal destiny or making life work on planet Earth. Neither will it give you the power for living in a stress-filled, confusing world. Maybe you have friends who are into Wicca and you're trying to understand and help them. This book will help you to discover the truth about Wicca and its exploding popularity.

    Examine the information in this book carefully. Don't be afraid to ask yourself the tough questions. Think about it logically. In the end, I hope that you'll discover the answers you're looking for to make sense out of this life and eternity.

    1 Scott Cunningham, The Truth About Witchcraft Today (St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1987), 62.
    

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    Excerpted from:
    What's the Deal With Wicca by Steve Russo
    Copyright © 2005; ISBN 0764201360
    Published by Bethany House Publishers
    Used by permission. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.