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 | a desire to reduce the number of people entering Heaven and thus delay the Final Judgment when Satan, his demons and the Witches would be cast into Hell. |
| a need to "confect from the limbs of such children an unguent which is very useful for their spells". |
Most people realize today that Kramer and Sprenger's beliefs were false, groundless and based solely upon fear, myth, rumor, and a pre-scientific understanding of the world. But these same (or similar) beliefs continue to be promoted in the 1990's. All of the sources for this misinformation that we have been able to locate come from a small minority of authors within Fundamentalist or other Evangelical Christian denominations.
Most Evangelical Christian bookstores sell books that continue spreading misinformation about Wicca. All of the anti-Wiccan hate books that we have seen have been written by either Protestant Evangelical Christians or Roman Catholics. They typically confuse five essentially unrelated beliefs which have historically been referred by the generic term "Witchcraft":
| Witchcraft as mentioned in the Bible (actually performing a type of black magic or of killing people by poison) |
| Witchcraft hysteria of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance (actually an unfounded panic involving nonexistent Devil worshipers) |
| Wicca (actually a pre-Christian, earth-based, Neo-pagan religion) |
| Satanism (actually a group of religions based on concepts of Satan which predate the Middle Ages) |
| Santeria and Vodun (actually Caribbean religions which combine Roman Catholic and Native African beliefs) |
Since the authors believe that these unrelated faith groups are identical, they can freely attribute the activities of one group to another. For example:
| Some English translations of the Bible condemn the use of Witchcraft or evil sorcery to harm others. Exodus 22:18 is sometimes translated: "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." The authors believe that such phrases extend to all practices that have been called "Witchcraft." Thus, they believe that the Bible condemns Wicca. Yet Wicca is totally unrelated to evil sorcery. Exodus 22:18, in the original Hebrew text, refers to women who recite verbal curses to harm or kill other people. Wiccans are prohibited from engaging in any activity that might harm others. |
| Since Santerians engage in small-animal sacrifice, these authors assume that Wiccans do as well. They don't, although they have been known to sacrifice an apple or peach from time to time. |
There are many examples of religiously motivated misinformation about Wicca on the Internet. To our knowledge, all of these religious hate sites are sponsored by conservative Christian ministries. We do not wish to criticize all conservative Christian web pages; most do not deal with Wicca at all. We are only critical of the small minority of Fundamentalist and other Evangelical ministries which specialize in spreading misinformation about Wicca and other non-Christian religions.
(We have added our own comments within brackets.) Some examples of misinformation are:
Christian Broadcasting Network at: http://www.cbn.org/special/moralcrisis/day5.asp This organization is led by Pat Robertson, who also leads the 700 Club. As of mid 1999-JAN, they have begun a series titled "America's Moral Crisis." So far, they have discussed The Moral State of the Union, Materialism & Greed, Substance Abuse and Crime, Growing up Godless, and False Religion. Under the last topic, they discuss Witchcraft (i.e. Wicca) and Satanism. Although the two religions are very different, they are treated interchangeably. They also include unrelated religions and pastimes, such as New Age, materialism, the Occult, Astrology and devil worship under the category of "false religion" :
| They refer to "false religion" as rearing "its ugly head." We find this a trifle judgmental. |
| Their icon shows a Los Angeles Time newspaper with the heading "Today: 70,000 Witches in America." They are probably low by a factor of 3 or 4. They show an inverted pentacle, which of course is not a typical Wiccan symbol. |
| Under "Symptoms" they estimate that there are 3 "avowed witches" in the U.S. They are probably high by a factor of 10 or so. They do not seem to be troubled by the juxtaposition of two very different estimates of the total number of witches: 70 thousand and 3 million. |
| In a short paragraph, they mention that a Witches calendar sold 90,000 copies and that Marilyn Manson's latest album may sell 1 million. Manson is called a "Satanic Priest." This is a common technique used by anti-Wiccan groups: they place two unrelated items together in the same paragraph in the hope that their readers will assume that there is a connection between the two. |
| Apparently referring to the Church of Satan, they state "In San Francisco, the Satanic Church has 10,000 members" While this may well be literally true, it implies that other large cities would have similar membership numbers. The 10 thousand members of the Church of Satan are spread across the United States, Canada and other countries; relatively few live in San Francisco. |
| One interesting and probably correct statement is that there area an estimated 2,000 Witchcraft related web sites and at least one receives over 17,000 hits a day. |
| They state that elements of the Occult and New Age are all linked together. They define these terms very broadly to include Secular Humanism, false religions, Satanic cults, astrology, vampire cults, mass murder, Santeria and network television. No such links exist. On an associated essay, they discuss New Age saying "When you cross certain moral barriers, it's like a willing initiation in the witches' circle...and you cannot regain that innocence you've lost." The meaning of this passage is a little obscure; but it apparently links all elements of the Occult and New Age with immoral activity, and implies that involvement with an Occult or New Age group will permanently injure a person. |
Media House International 2 at http://www.forerunner.com/champion/X0038.html:
| In an article "Child Sacrifice in the New Age", Jay Rogers states: "The promotion of abortion is not just a political issue for members of Wicca; it is part of a religious agenda - the religion of witchcraft and child sacrifice....we were not able to ascertain whether or not Witches use the blood of aborted children in their sacrifices....it stands to reason that such a sacrifice, protected by law, could be used by witches." (Here, they are confusing Wicca with the Renaissance beliefs about Satan worshipers who were believed to kill and eat children. The author assumes (incorrectly) that Wiccans engage in sacrifices, and speculates whether they use the blood of aborted fetuses (they don't). The reader may be left with the belief that Witches kill babies. (They don't; they are specifically prevented from harming others by the Wiccan Rede.) |
| In Statements of a Practicing Witch? the anonymous author states that "research revealed a vaster [sic] network of abortion providers associated with the Wiccan religion". (Wiccans are probably over-represented among the staff at abortion clinics, but then so would Atheists, Unitarian Universalists, and members of the United Church of Christ, Unity Church, and other liberal faith groups.) "Witchcraft is an ancient religion requiring child sacrifice which has resurfaced in our day." (There are many historical writings about human sacrifice among ancient Celtic people; but all are based upon the writings of Julius Caesar. There is some doubt that he was accurate in his description of the Celts; his description of human sacrifice may well have been imaginary. Even if the ancient Celts sacrificed children, as did many cultures in pre-Christian times, Wiccans do not today.) "A revival of neo-paganism has brought with it a revival of human sacrifice in the form of abortion." (There is no obvious link between the legalization of abortion in North America and the rise of Neo-paganism; Wiccans have never had significant political power because their numbers are so few; they average only about 1 Wiccan per 1000 adults). |
| In What is the Wiccan religion? an anonymous author again claims, incorrectly, that "Wicca is an ancient religion requiring human sacrifice". |
| In Witchcraft and Satanism: Are they one and the same? Eric Holmerg of Hells Bell's, Reel to Real Ministries, writes the following misinformation: "Although Wiccans deny their association with the devil, they readily admit that they worship a 'Horned God' named Pan. It is an inescapable fact that Pan is the universal symbol for Satan." (Present-day beliefs about Satan as a totally evil quasi-deity were largely developed during the Middle Ages. Pan is a fun loving satyr of the woodlands; one of the oldest Gods of ancient Greece. He predates Christianity by many centuries. They are totally unrelated) "The universal law of witchcraft and satanism is one and the same...". (They are not. For example, Wiccans are prohibited from harming others; members of the Church of Satan are allowed to attack and even attempt to kill enemies with black magick.7) |
Perilous Times at: http://www.sounddoctrine.com/ptimes/ This is a very ambitious project. Tammy Ritche, the webmistress, bills her site as "Fundamental, Bible-believing, King James 1611 Bible only, Pre-Tribulation, Independent Baptist Christian" It doesn't matter whether you are gay, lesbian, Pagan, Satanist, feminist, Freemason, pro-choice, a supporter of the New World Order, or concerned about Mother Earth. This web site "is disgusted" by your "agenda." She appears link a wide variety of religions with Satanism: "I will continue to speak out against witchcraft, wicca, paganism, satanism and other assorted "fruitcake" "religions". I will not be silenced by the evil minions of Satan and if you practice any of the above rest assured you are a HELPER OF SATAN whether you admit it or not!!!"
AOL apparently removed her site because its content violated their standards. She has since moved to the Sound Doctrine website which is sponsored by the Open Door Baptist Church. Their standards must be quite different from AOL's.
She expressed alarm about the 1997-NOV "Blessed Be and Meet Me in D.C." gathering of Wiccans and other Neopagans in Washington DC. She commented: "These people work 365 days a year to destroy America and corrupt our youth for the devil and Halloween will be their 'all out' day in Washington DC. I want Christians to pray about this and pray that the rituals that will be done at this 'march' in front of the Jefferson Memorial will not adversely affect America. We have enough problems. We don't need witch curses too." [Wiccans don't corrupt youth; most covens will not allow underage persons to join their group. They don't recognize the devil, who is a Christian semi-deity, not a Neopagan one. The rituals performed in Washington were positive ones, for the good of all. And, of course, there o curses were recited.]
Thunder Ministries 3 at: http://www.thunderministries.com/IJN/wicca.html. This site contains the greatest concentration of untruths that we have ever seen in a single essay about Wicca. We believe that none of the following concepts have even the slightest connection with reality:
| Wicca and Satanism are sister religions. |
| Wiccans worship Satan. |
| Wicca and Satanism use the same rituals. |
| Wiccan and Satanic rituals all symbolize a woman making love to Satan. |
| Wicca involves blood oaths, sexual orgies, blasphemies and curses. |
| Wicca's "bottom line" is to alter a person's mind against Christianity. |
| Few Wiccans "escape from the horrors of the cult." |
| Many Wiccans have a desire to be damned with Lucifer and spend eternity in Hell. |
| All Wiccans engage in group sex and perverted sexual acts. |
| From 1985 to 1997, there have been hundreds of Wicca and Satanic occult killings of babies in America. |
| Covens sometimes act as the local Masonic Lodge. |
| There are only two Wiccan and Satanic traditions: Gardnerian and Alexandrian. |
| There are 32 paths in Wicca and Satanism. (Unfortunately, the author does not define what a path is, and how it differs from a tradition.) |
| Oaths used in Wicca and Satanism are the same as in Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry and the Kaballah. |
| New members are first drawn to Wicca and Satanism through their desires for sexual perversion. |
| A coven takes the new member's "spirit (heart) captive...oaths of blood...are sealed to lucifer and witchcraft." |
| After death, Wiccans deserve to be tortured for all eternity in a Lake of Fire because they have sacrificed babies, children, young boys and girls, and adults. |
| The initiation oath of Wiccans is the same as used in Freemasonry and Mormonism:
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| Eventually Wiccans "become shells without life." If you look in their eyes, "you can not help but notice that no one is home." |
| Wiccans eventually become schizophrenic, become manic- depressive and violent on an instants [sic] notice." They see hallucinations. "Many become recluses and dress drabby. [sic]" |
| All Witches have red hair. |
| Witches all "die lonely, eyes sunken, ashen faces...Many kill others and themselves..." |
| After Witches sell their soul to the Devil, they receive a mark on their body, called the devil's mark. |
| Dogs have better morals and self-worth than Wiccans. |
| In 1998, there have been more than 50 Satanic killings in the news in the U.S. |
| The greatest sacrifice that a Wiccan can make is to kill their mother. |
| Part of a Wiccan initiation ritual must be held over the grave of a relative in the cemetery. |
| Wicca-Satanic candles are made from human fat; the wicks are taken from the clothes of the person who was killed to extract the fat. |
| Wiccans believe that when they commit a crime, Satan makes them invisible. |
| Favorite activities of Wiccans are: shoplifting, destroying marriages, burning churches, targeting pastors and church members for destruction through sexual seduction. |
| A female Witch can only achieve the greatest power if a baby is ritually butchered over her body. This is the only way that she can adsorb the baby's life energy. |
| A coven's high priest and priestess perform sexual intercourse in the presence of the rest of the coven. |
| Babies conceived during ritual sex are dedicated to Lucifer; some are sacrificed. |
| Homosexuality is a demonic spirit of witchcraft. Covens authorize and approve the sexual orientations of individual gays and lesbians. |
| Wiccans are fully controlled by "Lucifer, by others in the cult, by demons and by the rituals of the craft." |
| "Sexual orgie [sic] is the central ritual" of Wicca. |
| Some covens are organized around bestiality. |
| Most Wiccans are sexually dysfunctional. |
| Wiccans are threatened with death if they reveal any coven secrets. |
| All Wiccan secret teachigs [sic] are also taught in the [Freemason] lodge. |
| Television, movies and print media have been featuring witchcraft for over 100 years. |
| A Wiccan ritual concludes "with sexual orgie, [sic] drugs, partying and sometimes death..." |
| A Christian cross is urinated, defecated and spit upon in Wiccan rituals. |
| Incest and bestiality are common in Wiccan rituals. |
| All Wiccans are bisexual. |
| Wiccans are required to be anti-Christian. Each initiate becomes an antichrist. This gives them access to special powers. |
| All Wiccans are demon possessed. Multiple personality disorder, fantasy role playing games, drugs, etc. are common. |
| Wicca descended from the Baal pagan religion mentioned in the Bible. |
| Wiccans can be delivered from Wicca through confession and baptism. But the Wiccans "must be reached before they have lost their minds and have crossed the point of no return." |
To their credit:
| They described the 8 Wiccan Sabbats and the various tools used in Wiccan rituals with reasonable accuracy. |
| Some hospitals, high schools, junior colleges, universities, military schools, military bases, TV stations, radio stations, magazine publishers and newspapers really do have covens. |
| Some police officers, judges, lawyers and doctors are in Wicca.
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Balaam's Ass Publishing 4at http://www.balaams-ass.com/ attacks Wiccans and members of many other faith groups. Their editor is Steve Van Nattan.
An essay at their site at http://www.balaams-ass.com/journal/warnings/cabot.htm is titled "Ode to Laurie Cabot." It implies that Laurie Cabot, a well-known Witch from Salem, MA, may not be a genuine witch "unless she has sacrificed animal minimum [sic] to Satan or Lucifer. That is a fact well known to the Craft, and they hate for this story to be exposed." (Ms. Cabot, and other Wiccans, do not recognize the existence of either Satan or Lucifer. Thus, they could hardly worship them as deities. They do not sacrifice animals. They might hold a ritual involving the carving of a piece of fruit, but nothing higher on the evolutionary scale. There is one item of truthfulness in the essay: Wiccans really do object to the accusation that Wiccans sacrifice animals or humans. But it is because the story is completely false, not because they are afraid of being exposed.)
The site also has an essay "Wicca and Satanism: Satan is their common lord and master," at: http://www.balaams-ass.com/journal/warnings/wiccastn.htm It is difficult to read, because they used black characters against a dark blue background. Van Nattan refers to "Wicca's practice of sacrificing animals and babies." No evidence is cited for these very serious accusations.
He "proves" that Wiccans are Satanists, using a number of Biblical quotations. for example:
| John 8:44: This is a well known anti-Semitic passage in which Jesus is alleged to have addressed the Pharisees, a large Jewish sect in 1st century Palestine. Jesus is quoted as saying that the Pharisees "are of your father the devil." The author states that although the message had been directed at the Pharisees, that it also refers to that 90% of the human race who are not "born again." Thus, he concludes that everyone from Buddhists, to Hindus, to Wiccans are all Satanists, and that all worship Satan. |
He refers to Hitler as "one of history's most famous witches and human sacrifice gurus." He refers repeatedly to the concept that there are only two religions in the world: Satanism and conservative Christianity. Since Wicca is not of the latter, it must be a form of Satanism. Wiccans "will spend eternity with Satan covered with maggots and burning in flames."
Y.E.S. For Christ. Y.E.S. stands for "Youth Exposing Satan" and "Youth Experiencing Salvation." They are a group of volunteer youth from Alaska who are disseminating information on "the occult and cult related topics such as: satanism, witchcraft, new age, blood sacrifice, supernatural, music, homosexual. [sic]" Unfortunately, they appear to have researched these topics using only conservative Christian literature. Most of their information on Wicca appears to have come, directly or indirectly, from 15th century Christian propaganda against Witches and other heretics. Their essay on Wicca lists a blow-by-blow account of the steps that a person goes through in order to be initiated as a Witch. (We are quite confident in saying that, except as noted, all of steps that they list are totally divorced from reality):
| The initiate first denies the Christian faith: Wicca and Christianity are two very different religions. (An initiate no more denies belief in Christianity than they would Hinduism, Buddhism or Islam. The concept of denying the Christian faith appears to come directly from Renaissance era Christian propaganda.) |
| The initiate is rebaptised in the name of the Devil. (This is untrue. Baptism is not a Wiccan ritual. The Wiccan pantheon of Goddesses and Gods does not include a Devil/Satan deity.) |
| The initiate receives a new name in place of their given name. (This is partly true; they receive a new Wiccan name to be used during rituals; they still retain their given name for non-ritual purposes. Wiccans may also have a third name for use during solitary work.) |
| They deny their godparents and are assigned new sponsors. Again, this is untrue. (Wiccan rituals do not involve or mention godparents. However, a new Wiccan may be linked with a teacher within the coven to aid in her/his spiritual development.) |
| They give a piece of clothing to the Devil as a token of submission: (This is false. Wiccans do not recognize the existence of a Devil; they could hardly worship or otherwise interact with such a deity.) |
| While they are within a magick circle, they swear an oath of allegiance to the Devil. (Rituals are indeed performed inside a circle. But, again, Wiccans do not swear an oath to the Devil; he does not exist in their religion.) |
| The initiate's name is added to the Book of Death. (There is no such book within Wicca.) |
| The initiate promises to sacrifice children to Satan. (This is a particularly obnoxious piece of hatred. To our knowledge, no Wiccan has been convicted, tried or charged with a ritual murder.) |
| She/he promises to pay "annual tribute" to the Devil. (There is no annual tribute; Wiccans do not recognize the Devil.) |
| The initiate is marked with the Devil's mark - a pentagram. (This another piece of ancient Christian propaganda. The church once taught that the Devil made a mark on the skin of his worshipers. This was a blemish that was insensitive to the touch, and symbolized his ownership of the individual. That was not true then and is not true now.) |
They conclude that:
| There are generational lines of Witchcraft practitioners. (This is true. Sometimes children will adopt the religion of their parents after they become adults. This is true with all religions. Most Hindus have Hindu parents; so too with Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, etc.) | ||||
| Children are indoctrinated from the age of 2 or 3. (Usually, children are not allowed to be trained in Wicca. One normally has to be at least 18 years of age to be trained by a Coven or experienced Witch.) | ||||
| Ritual abuse survivors, worldwide, have described "horrifying and grotesque
practices that had been done to them on a continuous [sic] bases [sic]." (There
have been cases of Christian ritual abuse documented. Dead
bodies of victims have been found; perpetrators have been tried in courts. Some cultures
engage in various coming-of-age ceremonies which might be considered ritual abuse. Female genital mutilation is one example. However, to our
knowledge, ritual abuse by Satanists, Wiccans or Occult group is non-existent.) (Always-present memories of abuse, ritual and otherwise, are usually of real events. However, most memories of ritual abuse survivors that have not always been present appear to be false memories which are either:
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The Green Egg quarterly magazine has a column called Jane's Tidings which collects Pagan and Wiccan related news. In the 1995-Summer edition she documents the following acts of discrimination:
| Providence RI: Rhode Island Child Protective Services made their first unannounced visit to a foster home in history. They removed three foster children. This occurred four days after the foster mother was identified in a positive local newspaper article as a Wiccan. |
| Palm Bay FL: The city prohibited the Church of Iron Oak from holding meetings at the home of one of their members. This is a Wiccan group. |
| Knoxville TN: A Wiccan group had been meeting in a room at the World's Fair site. They were booted out after an individual became upset at the sight of some robed Wiccans. |
In 1986, Senator Jessie Helms (R, NC) introduced a bill in Congress to remove tax exempt status from existing Wiccan groups and prevent any new groups from being recognized. Although the bill never made it out of the committee, the Wiccan community was politicized. A number of groups were formed to fight the Helms bill, to educate the public or to provide legal assistance to those persecuted.
J.A. Drobac, a Lecturer and J.S.D. candidate at Stanford Law School has written, in draft form, an essay that documents court cases of parents whose custody of their children is threatened by their practice of a Neopagan religion, usually Wicca. 3
Most conservative Christians, those who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, also accept the concept that any person who is "saved" is rescued from an eternity of punishment in Hell. This heavily motivates them to convert the "unsaved" to a saving knowledge and trust in Jesus Christ. Occasionally, they try to convert a Wiccan. This is almost always a failure. One main reason is that they approach the potential convert armed with a great deal of misinformation about the Wiccan's faith. Much of the information has its roots in ancient superstition and disinformation spread by the church during the burning times.
Gwydion is a Wiccan from Elkhart, IN. He was once a proselytizing Christian. He has written an excellent article "How to Share the Gospel with Pagans" which gives advice to Christians who are attempting to convert Neopagans.5
See also: an essay on Evangelical Christian beliefs about Halloween for additional misinformation and hate literature on Wicca from a small minority of conservative Christians.
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Hatred & lies
directed against Wiccans