Is witchcraft real?

[The Hammer]

What upholds everything according to

Odin.

The All-Father. The One who is Many. Wise one-eyed wanderer.

 

[sun rise]

As per your religious beliefs, do you believe witchcraft is real? Like, magic, is it real?

"Witchcraft" as a word has no meaning to me except hundreds of years ago when women were burned because some mob thought they practiced what they thought of as such.

I do believe there are occult powers that people can develop with long austerities. Milarepa in Tibet was reputed to have practiced dark powers to get revenge for a wrong. His biography or perhaps hagiography is a better description has it that he repented of his deeds, found a teacher who put him through various penances to wipe out the stain from his misdeeds. At the end, he is reputed to have become a fully realized being.

One person I met told of having had astral powers when young but she did not want them and asked that they be removed. She said they were a real nuisance and distraction.

In Meher Baba's formulation there are powers that come on the "subtle" (energy) planes. On the highest one of those, the fourth, misusing those powers can cause the soul to be blasted to the stone state.

Personally powers have nothing to do with my desire to remove character defects so I can more and more act lovingly.

 

[Heyo]

As per your religious beliefs, do you believe witchcraft is real? Like, magic, is it real? Christians, I’m curious. Do you believe people can access mystic power? Think back to Moses, when he turned his staff to a snake. The Pharaoh’s court mages did the same with their staffs. My pastor of my youth told me that the mages had snakes hidden up their sleeves lol but the Bible says that the mages turned their staffs into snakes. Sorcery, right?
I already practice divination, I’m interested in the occult.
Pagans, I think you guys believe in it, right? Or am I thinking of another group?
Atheists, I suppose you think that any magical experiences are imagined, right?

Atheists tend to be naturalists but don't have to be.
Scientists, who deserve that moniker, don't believe in magic, it's an axiom of science that there is no magic.
Religions, on the other hand, at least all I know about, insist on magic being real, they just don't agree on which magic.

I agree with science. There is no magic. And if you think magic works, there is a better, natural explanation why it does.
People believed lightning was magical (or divine - which is the same thing) and scientists figured out how to explain it naturally. That's how all magic will end, explained by science or debunked.

 

[ChristineM]

Is witchcraft real?

As real as any religious belief. Is praying for someone health not witchcraft, is a hymn to gods honour not a form of incantation?

 

[firedragon]

As per your religious beliefs, do you believe witchcraft is real? Like, magic, is it real? Christians, I’m curious. Do you believe people can access mystic power? Think back to Moses, when he turned his staff to a snake. The Pharaoh’s court mages did the same with their staffs. My pastor of my youth told me that the mages had snakes hidden up their sleeves lol but the Bible says that the mages turned their staffs into snakes. Sorcery, right?
I already practice divination, I’m interested in the occult.
Pagans, I think you guys believe in it, right? Or am I thinking of another group?
Atheists, I suppose you think that any magical experiences are imagined, right?

I am Muslim. Some Muslims believe in witchcraft. But as a whole, Islamic theology does not believe any one or thing in the universe has any magical powers or witchcraft or what ever one would call it. So this Moses doing things or Jesus doing things are all attributed to God, not to the person who is an instrument.

Thats the fundamental of the theology. Nothing is divine except the God.

 

[blü 2]

Uhm... Yes, Magick and witchcraft is real.

I practice forms of Magick, divination, and other occult practices.

Does it work?

Do you have more good luck than the average citizen?

Can you get tips about the future that are on the one hand hard to predict and on the other hand both accurate and useful?

 

[The Hammer]

Does it work?

Do you have more good luck than the average citizen?

Can you get tips about the future that are on the one hand hard to predict and on the other hand both accurate and useful?

Yes

No

Yes (although remember accuracy doesn't equal precision)

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

As per your religious beliefs, do you believe witchcraft is real? Like, magic, is it real? Christians, I’m curious. Do you believe people can access mystic power? Think back to Moses, when he turned his staff to a snake. The Pharaoh’s court mages did the same with their staffs. My pastor of my youth told me that the mages had snakes hidden up their sleeves lol but the Bible says that the mages turned their staffs into snakes. Sorcery, right?
I already practice divination, I’m interested in the occult.
Pagans, I think you guys believe in it, right? Or am I thinking of another group?
Atheists, I suppose you think that any magical experiences are imagined, right?

I believe in divination more now than I did before, ever since part of my Tarot card readings came true. As far as magic being real, I've always believed that it's real. In fact, learning more about witchcraft is something I've really been interested in as a new Wiccan.

 

[We Never Know]

Atheists tend to be naturalists but don't have to be.
Scientists, who deserve that moniker, don't believe in magic, it's an axiom of science that there is no magic.
Religions, on the other hand, at least all I know about, insist on magic being real, they just don't agree on which magic.

I agree with science. There is no magic. And if you think magic works, there is a better, natural explanation why it does.
People believed lightning was magical (or divine - which is the same thing) and scientists figured out how to explain it naturally. That's how all magic will end, explained by science or debunked.

Simply put..... With the unknown...
"it seems reasonable that one could believe something that may be false, but one should hesitate to say that they know something is false"

 

[Guitar's Cry]

As per your religious beliefs, do you believe witchcraft is real? Like, magic, is it real? Christians, I’m curious. Do you believe people can access mystic power? Think back to Moses, when he turned his staff to a snake. The Pharaoh’s court mages did the same with their staffs. My pastor of my youth told me that the mages had snakes hidden up their sleeves lol but the Bible says that the mages turned their staffs into snakes. Sorcery, right?
I already practice divination, I’m interested in the occult.
Pagans, I think you guys believe in it, right? Or am I thinking of another group?
Atheists, I suppose you think that any magical experiences are imagined, right?

Yes, especially the mystic power part. Emphasis on mystic.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

It should be avoided. Whoever practices witchcraft will themselves also be bewitched in the process.

We all get bewitched in one form or another. I'd rather it be by a star-studded night sky than some mouthpiece from a mainstream religion.

 

[paradox]

As per your religious beliefs, do you believe witchcraft is real? Like, magic, is it real? Christians, I’m curious. Do you believe people can access mystic power? Think back to Moses, when he turned his staff to a snake. The Pharaoh’s court mages did the same with their staffs. My pastor of my youth told me that the mages had snakes hidden up their sleeves lol but the Bible says that the mages turned their staffs into snakes. Sorcery, right?
I already practice divination, I’m interested in the occult.
Pagans, I think you guys believe in it, right? Or am I thinking of another group?
Atheists, I suppose you think that any magical experiences are imagined, right?

"Witchcraft" is a vague term since people may refer to witchcraft to mean different things, modern witchcraft for ex. lays out terms and definitions which distract from real meaning. motives being primarily to not indicate harmful.

Real witchcraft is about harming others, specifically believers, to distract faithful from God.
It is painful experience for victims, although knowledge of witchcraft is lost in time and there is no using of witchcraft today, modern so called mages are nothing since they lack knowledge.
Modern witchcraft rests on knowledge that is too weak to pose any real threat.

Therefore I think witchcraft no longer exists, at least not in it's real meaning.

 

[blü 2]

Yes

No

Yes (although remember accuracy doesn't equal precision)

Thanks for those.

What's the most surprising tip you can give us about the near future? I'm ready to be impressed.

 

[Five Solas]

As per your religious beliefs, do you believe witchcraft is real? Like, magic, is it real? Christians, I’m curious. Do you believe people can access mystic power? Think back to Moses, when he turned his staff to a snake. The Pharaoh’s court mages did the same with their staffs. My pastor of my youth told me that the mages had snakes hidden up their sleeves lol but the Bible says that the mages turned their staffs into snakes. Sorcery, right?
I already practice divination, I’m interested in the occult.
Pagans, I think you guys believe in it, right? Or am I thinking of another group?
Atheists, I suppose you think that any magical experiences are imagined, right?

No, I do not believe that any human has supernatural powers.
NOW, did the supernatural events described in Scripture really happen? I believe so, yes. The God that reveals Himself in the Scriptures, is a supernatural God, doing supernatural things, in supernatural ways. God is not bound by the created laws of nature.

To the atheists - yes, God did it...

BUT, many people are superstitious and believe in all sorts of weird things. It differs from culture to culture.
SO, magic has tremendous power over people who believe in it. Humans are very easily manipulated. So-called magic can, without doubt, be used to manipulate people in various ways.

 

[syo]

witchcraft is real? Like, magic, is it real?

Magic is real.
Witchcraft may be many things, false or true. It depends if the person witch is honest or a crook.

 

[Ella S.]

No, I do not believe in magic, as far as superstitions, folk magic, sympathetic magic, contagion, psychic powers, divination, curses, etc. go.

I do not even believe in "magick" as a form of pop psychological tricks, as used by some chaos magickians, Jungian inspired occultists, and LaVeyan Satanists. There is no evidence that their methods even work as reliable psychological tools, to my knowledge.

At best, they're just calling the placebo effect "magick," but I don't think there's anything magical about the placebo effect. At worst, they're spreading misunderstandings about hypnotism and psychodrama while encouraging what essentially amounts to the attempt to not only practice psychology on themselves but, in most cases, without any education or certification in the field.

I think it might be genuinely unhealthy. It tends to encourage magical thinking, apophenia, and harmful superstition even in milder cases, leading to outright faith-healing, science denial, and even abusive cults at the extreme.

 

[paradox]

Modern witches are all but witches:

 

[Gargovic Malkav]

As per your religious beliefs, do you believe witchcraft is real? Like, magic, is it real? Christians, I’m curious. Do you believe people can access mystic power? Think back to Moses, when he turned his staff to a snake. The Pharaoh’s court mages did the same with their staffs. My pastor of my youth told me that the mages had snakes hidden up their sleeves lol but the Bible says that the mages turned their staffs into snakes. Sorcery, right?
I already practice divination, I’m interested in the occult.
Pagans, I think you guys believe in it, right? Or am I thinking of another group?
Atheists, I suppose you think that any magical experiences are imagined, right?

I principally avoid such things because it is anathema to my belief system.
Yet, one might argue I still practice magic, or witchcraft or whatever one likes to call it.
I've even been called a shaman, mage, or soothsayer by some people.

I believe faith and prayer can have effects that are not quite unlike the modern concept of witchcraft.
I think the main difference lies in desire and to whom or what the credit goes.
Those who practice witchcraft seem to be more about self-empowerment, whereas an Abrahamic who believes in, say, the power of prayer may consider a prayer come true as a sign they have successfully submitted themselves to the Almighty(their own interests or nature aligns with the interests or nature of the Higher Power).
I also think spells in witchcraft involve rituals that can be quite complicated and intensive, and the occult forces involved don't seem to care for what reason the practitioner does it.
Though I have heard that in the Wiccan tradition, they do believe in the principle of "You reap what you sow".

 

[VoidCat]

(A witch peeps in)

I'd let you take a guess as to my views on if witchcraft is real.

I'll add secular witchcraft is a thing some atheists practice it. And not all pagans believe in witchcraft. It depends on the person. Witchcraft is not a religion it's a spiritual practice and it differs from witch to witch how it's practiced.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

.
I do not even believe in "magick" as a form of pop psychological tricks, as used by some chaos magickians, Jungian inspired occultists, and LaVeyan Satanists. There is no evidence that their methods even work as reliable psychological tools, to my knowledge.

At best, they're just calling the placebo effect "magick," but I don't think there's anything magical about the placebo effect. At worst, they're spreading misunderstandings about hypnotism and psychodrama while encouraging what essentially amounts to the attempt to not only practice psychology on themselves but, in most cases, without any education or certification in the field.

I suppose I am one of these folks, understanding magic and divination from psychological perspectives. But I also see it from a creative, artistic perspective as well. For instance, flipping a coin may be helpful with a tricky decision, but there's a flair and poetry to using Tarot instead. Plus, it tends to add a level of insight into the situation that I find useful.

Another example: I have a protection ritual I do to my house before I leave for protecting my animals, my property, and for a safe return for me. A key part of the ritual involves focusing on the aspects of these things that are important to me, for instance, why I love my cats. This ritual has the effect of slowing my thinking down before my long commute to work and calms me down as I focus my thinking on positive things.

Could I do this without performing a magical ritual? Sure. But I could also drive to work without music or have blank wallpaper on my phone rather than fantasy artwork.