Freedom of Religion

[Abracadabra]

"Just because witchcraft doesn't make sense to you doesn't mean that it's nonsense."

Except for the fact that it actually does not make sense-at all, as most anyone here can and has told you. You render yourself a very unreliable person by believing in such wackiness.

You mean that by being truthful I risk having closed-minded people passing totally unwarranted judgements on me and jumping to totally unwarranted conclusions about me.

You don't know enough about me, or how I personally view "witchcraft" to even remotely make such a snap judgement. In fact, if you're pushing your imagined ideas of what you think "witchcraft" entails onto me, then perhaps it's no wonder you feel the way you do.

That's totally absurd.

Before you do that, I suggest that you read a whole lot of books on "witchcraft" and visit a whole lot of different forums where "witchcraft" is being discussed (especially in a religious context such a Wicca), and begin to realize that even people who are into "witchcraft" have vastly different ideas of precisely what they mean by this term.

If you're going to be another one of those people who just runs off and grabs a dictionary and comes back to say, "Well the dictionary says that witchcraft should mean this", then please don't comment on any of my posts ever again. Because that is totally ignorant.

People who take "witchcraft" seriously would totally laugh at dictionary definitions of "witchcraft". We can just about guarantee you that the person who wrote that dictionary definition has absolutely no clue what real "witchcraft" is all about.

In fact, here's a definition from a quick Google Search:

witch·craft/ˈwiCHˌkraft/
Noun:
The practice of magic, esp. black magic; the use of spells and the invocation of spirits.

Especially black magic? Where the hell did they come up with that nonsense?

And what's a "spell"? That term right there is highly misunderstood and highly debated even among people who claim to practice "witchcraft". Many people who practice witchcraft as a religion don't even like to use the term "spell". They prefer to think in terms of psychic awareness and the orchestration of will via psychic channels. Replace the term "psychic" with "cerebral" and you could almost be a secular atheist and practice witchcraft at the same time.

Invocation of spirits? What does the term 'spirit' even mean to you?

I can call up a spirit anytime I want. But it may not fit your definition of what you require a 'spirit' to be.

Let's look at a simple definition again:

spir·it/ˈspirit/
Noun:
The nonphysical part of a person that is the seat of emotions and character; the soul.

Well, I can certainly call up my own spirit anytime I so desire. And if you are familiar with the concept of the Occultist's Qabalah (which you probably aren't) I can also call up any spirit associated with the Qabalah anytime I so desire.

Are those "spirits' just facets of my very own spirit? Maybe they are, and maybe they aren't. Who's to say? Even I can't say for sure, and I'm the one who's been calling them up!

That's why I'm still an Agnostic Spiritualist. If I could say with absolute certainty that the spirits I invoke are not merely facets of my very own spirit, then I'd be a Gnostic Spiritualist instead of an Agnostic Spiritualist.

But to claim that I deserve no respect simply because I'm open-minded to concepts that can be loosely labeled as "witchcraft", is truly nothing more than your own closed-minded prejudice and conclusion-jumping that I somehow associate "witchcraft" with ideas that you might imagine it should be.

You're imagination of what "witchcraft" should be, and my imagination of what "witchcraft" should be may be like parallel universes and have basically nothing in common at all.

All you're doing is trying to push your ideas of "witchcraft" onto me and and then passing judgement on me based on your ideas of what you think "witchcraft" should be.

That's ridiculous.