Witchcraft and Wicca, the Heart of the Harry Potter Controversy
Harry Potter has become a record breaking phenomena and is the 21st century's opening fairytale. Within the pages J.K. Rowling created a World of Wizards and Witches, and unwittingly exposed the fastest growing religion in America to hundreds of millions of people. The faith is called Wicca and its members are Witches, and it is at the core of the controversy that Hogwart's School has created.
(PRWEB) July 15, 2005 -- In 1997, a young mother wrote a book called "Harry
Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," and it was published. Little did she know,
nor could she imagine how much the world needed Harry Potter and his wonderful
story. J. K. Rowling created a phenomena that brought magic to the forefront of
human thought and unwittingly reopened a new round of an ancient battle,
Christianity's battle to destroy witchcraft in all its forms. Harry Potter has
rekindled interest in beliefs that were already growing in the United Kingdom
and United States for more than fifty years, and that belief is a faith called
Wicca.
Wicca is a religion which practices as its core faith Perfect
Love and Perfect Trust. Wiccans practice earth friendly ways of living,
believing in nature as sacred and the world as personally important and valuable
to them, being an inheritance for the children even unto seven generations. They
believe in fairies, spirits, Gods, Goddesses and a spiritual life which has
become largely invisible to the average human around them. Wiccans believe in
reincarnation and they practice all sorts of mind enhancing skills in seeking
personal evolution. The Wiccan accepts visions, oracles, and prophecies are part
of our life as much as fact and logic. Wiccans use magic and sciences with equal
familiarity, and believe them to be one and the same. They have a world view and
an inner education which changes them into a being capable of understanding and
even creating wonders and miracles. Most importantly Wiccans are also known as
Witches and that is the what is what makes even discussing them taboo in Western
Christian society. They are biblically condemned.
The practice of Wicca
has been striving to survive in Western Civilization in various forms and under
various organizations and names over the centuries. The Modern practices emerged
in the 1950's from the books of Gerald Gardner and soon a flow of hereditary
traditions and modern converts created a movement that membership in for most of
the last two millennium was worthy of being burned or killed in many imaginative
ways. Fortunately reason won out and a progressive British Government, followed
by other nations began to allow Wiccans protection from being persecuted for
their beliefs. This was like putting a match to kindling, and the Modern Wiccan
movement grew like wildfire. By the dawn of the 21st Century Wicca was the
fastest growing in religion in America by many accounts. Today Wicca is a fully
legal and recognized religion with full equal rights, even if they are not
allowed to practice by some authorities who are acting improperly and sometimes
in defiance of the Constitution.
So what does this have to do with Harry
Potter? Well nothing, in the sense that it is a story created from the
imagination of a young woman, and with her story she has entertained a whole
world. Harry Potter has many components that are similar to Wicca, but really is
a work of fiction. But it speaks well of the idea of practicing magic and
according to some Christian authorities plants unacceptable thoughts about
Witchcraft and the practice of things that are occult in nature in our youth.
Simply put, Harry Potter is making Witches more acceptable and leading kids to
practice witchcraft which will destroy them. That is the Christian line against
Harry and his comrades, and why he is condemned? Harry is the devil's own, no
matter how positive the story. He is being seen as the voice of the darkest
occult lord and is seducing people to become Witches, and that can never be
allowed.
What does this have to do with Wicca? Wicca, as a faith and
practice is being greatly challenged by Christian authorities, and they are
seeking every legal means to stop the Wiccan faith from ever getting a foothold
in the American mainstream. In the simplest terms, the Christian preachers quote
'Never to suffer a Witch to Live' as biblical law, and are immediately faced
with the Constitution and equal protection under the law. So they seek every
possible tool to discredit Wiccans similar to the actions they have done to
Native and Indigenous people for centuries, and seek to assure no one ever takes
Witches seriously. Harry Potter breaks through that rule, and while fiction,
does open the mind to the possibility of magic and that Witches might be real.
So Harry Potter might kindle interest, and those interested might find out that
a real Wiccan community with schools, temples, and a growing culture actually
exists, that these Nature Worshipping people are not Christians and believe many
things that contradict their world view. It challenges everything Christians
want us to believe, and why Witchcraft in all it's form, fictional and real must
be stopped by Good Christians at all costs. It's really that simple, Christians
believe they have the right, they even say commanded by God, to destroy anything
and anyone they call evil, and Witches are the ultimate enemy for them.
Wiccans face a future of growth, possibly emerging as the third largest
religion in America in the next two decades, and a constant and continuous fight
with Christian authorities to be allowed their equal and free rights. As Wiccans
go about practicing their faith the biblically driven controversy will continue,
and anything that professes a good word for a witch or a wizard, even lovable
Harry, will find themselves at the end of two thousand year taboo, and be
attacked publicly. This will be an interesting crossroads in America and will be
one of the defining moments in the true meaning of religious freedoms. For the
Wiccan the future is simple to see and they see that Love and Trust will always
be the core of true American Freedom, and they will practice it daily. After
all, America is home to the free and the brave, and that describes the true
heart of Wicca.
For more information on Wicca, you can go to
WitchSchool.com, and take a free course on Wicca, and begin exploring the life
of a real Witch and their amazing community today.
# # #
Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/7/prweb261778.htm