Christianity & the Occult

Magic and Power: Two Ways of Meeting the Unseen

Ritual magic, and much of witchcraft and Wicca, seek to work with unseen powers, to focus intention, perform ritual, and bring about change in the world. Many who practice it are gentle, ethical people; Wicca's own guiding rule, the Wiccan Rede, is 'an it harm none, do what ye will.' Christians recognize the honest desire underneath: to have some agency in a hard world, to touch the sacred, to see change. Christianity offers a different relationship with spiritual power: not power we wield through ritual, but a personal God we ask, who holds all power and gives it as a gift of love. Power we command, or a God we trust, is the honest difference, and Christians believe the second is both safer and kinder.

What ritual magic and witchcraft seek

Ritual magic, and many forms of modern witchcraft and Wicca, understand the world as alive with unseen power that a person can work with, focusing intention, performing ritual, and seeking to bring about change or healing. These traditions are diverse and often carry deep reverence for nature, the turning of the seasons, and the sacred, and they are far from lawless. Wicca in particular is guided by an ethic in its own words:

We will not describe how any ritual or spell is performed. What matters here is the desire beneath it, which is deeply human: to have some agency in a hard and often powerless-feeling world, to touch something sacred, and to see things change for the better. We honor that, and we honor the people, many of them kind and thoughtful, who walk these paths.

What Christians believe

Christians take the reality of spiritual power seriously, and believe true spiritual authority belongs to God, who gives it not as something we command through technique but as a gift, in relationship, to those who ask. The pattern of the New Testament is not to wield power but to receive it.

The New Testament does name sorcery among the ways people seek power apart from God (Galatians 5:20), but it says so not to shame anyone; it says so to point toward something better and freer, a God who is asked rather than commanded, and who can be trusted to answer in love.

We describe astrology, divination, and modern witchcraft (including Wicca) in broad terms from reputable overviews and, where quoted, their own words (the Wiccan Rede). These traditions are diverse; we try to represent them fairly and without caricature or sensationalism, and we do not describe how to perform any ritual. Bible: King James Version.

Frequently asked questions

Does Wicca or witchcraft have ethics?

Yes. Wicca in particular is guided by the Wiccan Rede, 'an it harm none, do what ye will,' and many who practice it are gentle, thoughtful, ethical people with deep reverence for nature. We take care to represent these traditions fairly and without caricature; the care to harm none genuinely echoes the command to love your neighbor.

How is Christian prayer different from ritual magic?

Ritual magic seeks to work spiritual power through intention and ritual, power we direct. Christian prayer receives power as a gift from a personal God who is asked and trusted rather than commanded (Acts 1:8). Christians believe true spiritual authority belongs to God and is safest in his hands, so the heart of it is not technique but relationship and trust.