NOTE: There are two articles in this singular posting.
The Fastest Growing Religion In America Is Witchcraft
Michael Snyder, The Truth
What is the fastest growing religion in the United States? If you said Christianity, you would be way off. In fact, the most recent numbers show that Christianity is in a serious state of decline in America. If you said Islam, you are much closer to a correct answer. Islam is the fastest growing major religion in the United States. But there is a faith that is growing even faster than Islam. It is called Wicca, and it is currently growing at an astounding pace. Wicca emerged as a faith in the middle of the 20th century, but the origins of many Wiccan practices actually go back for thousands of years, and some researchers believe that certain aspects of Wicca can actually be traced all the way back to ancient Babylon. According to Wikipedia, Wicca “is a modern pagan, witchcraft religion”. It has been estimated that the number of Americans that are Wiccans is doubling every 30 months, and at this point there are more than 200,000 registered witches and approximately 8 million unregistered practitioners of Wicca. And it is important to remember that Wicca is just one form of witchcraft. There are many other “darker” forms of witchcraft that are also experiencing tremendous growth.
This is a trend that didn’t just start a few years ago. In fact, according to Wikipedia, Wicca experienced an average annual growth rate of 143 percent in the United States between 1990 and 2001…
The American Religious Identification Survey gives Wicca an average annual growth of 143% for the period 1990 to 2001 (from 8,000 to 134,000 – U.S. data / similar for Canada & Australia). According to The Statesman Anne Elizabeth Wynn claims “The two most recent American Religious Identification Surveys declare Wicca, one form of paganism, as the fastest growing spiritual identification in America“.
A press release from Witch School also claims that Wicca is the fastest growing religion in America, and that organization projects that Wicca will soon become the third largest religion in the United States after only Christianity and Islam…
Wicca is America’s Fastest Growing religion, and it is anticipated by some Christian religious experts that it will become the third largest religion in the United States early in the 21st century, behind only Christianity and Islam.
Witch School claims that it has trained more than 200,000 students by itself so far. And of course Witch School is just one of thousands of prominent occult websites on the Internet.
A Christian Post article from a few years ago claimed that the number of Wiccans in America is doubling every 30 months…
“Wicca is the fastest-growing religion in America, set to be the third largest religion by 2012,” claims Marla Alupoaicei, who co-wrote the recently released book “Generation Hex” with fellow Christian author Dillon Burroughs.
“The numbers of adherents are doubling every 30 months,” she says.
Furthermore, every major city in the United States has networks of Wiccans, adds Burroughs.
“Certain parts of the country, such as the Pacific Northwest, the mountain states (New Mexico and Colorado) and areas near Salem, Mass., are the strongest in the U.S.,” he says. “However, I live in Tennessee and have found pockets of Wiccans in Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia to interview. I didn’t have to travel far or even outside of the so-called Bible belt to find Wiccans.”
Are you starting to get the picture?
There is a huge fascination with the occult in the United States right now. We can see this on television, in our movies and in popular novels.
But this is not just happening in America. According to the Guardian, there is also an explosion of interest in witchcraft going on in the UK…
When Ryan Murphy, the creator of American Horror Story, announced that the third season of the American TV series would focus on witches, he was riding the crest of a wave. Not since the 1990s – the era of Buffy’s geek goddess, Willow Rosenberg, and a scowling Fairuza Balk in The Craft – have witches been so much in demand.
In the young-adult section of bookshops, shelves that recently groaned under the weight of tales of tormented vampires and lovelorn werewolves, are now stuffed with stories of witchcraft and magic, from Ruth Warburton’s much-praised Winter Trilogy to Jessica Spotswood’s Cahill Witch Chronicles. Lower down the age range, last month the most recent in Jill Murphy‘s long-running Worst Witch series was published, while among the predictions for this Christmas’s bestselling toys are the Bratz spinoff, House of Witchez. For adults, next year will mark the climax of Deborah Harkness’s All Souls Trilogy, centring on the relationship between a vampire and a feisty American witch.
And right now is one of the most important times of the year for Wiccans. According to Raiders News Network, the Wiccan year begins just after Halloween…
According to the Celtic Almanac, the Wiccan year begins following Halloween. The seasonal scenario that follows is reminiscent of the earth goddess and dying-god cults of ancient civilizations.
* Yule is on December 20 and celebrates the goddess giving birth to the Sun god.
* The next season is Imbolc and marks the recovery of the goddess after giving birth to the god.
* The Spring Equinox (Ostara) marks the first day of Spring. The goddess awakes as the days grow longer and the light overtakes the darkness. The goddess fills the earth with fertility.
* Beltane celebrates the transformation of the boy god into manhood. He is filled with lust for the goddess and lies with her in the grass. The earth becomes pregnant with her vitality. Crops begin to grow. Flowers bloom.
* Litha (midsummer) arrives as the powers of nature escalate. The Earth Mother is filled with fertility. Wiccans practice numerous kinds of magic during this season.
* The next season is Lughnasadh, the time of the first harvest. The Wiccan god begins to lose his strength as the Sun rises higher each day. The nights grow longer. The god begins to die.
* Mabon is the completion of the harvest. The Wiccan god suffers death, draws back into darkness, and waits to be reborn at Yule.
Wiccans were celebrating this holiday (Samhain) long before anyone else started celebrating it. This year Americans will spend about 6 billion dollars on Halloween celebrations, but most of them have absolutely no idea that many “Halloween traditions” can be traced directly back to ancient Wiccan practices. The following is from a recent Business Insider article…
Black cats, spiders, and bats are all Halloween symbols because of their spooky history and ties to Wiccans. All three were thought to be the familiars of witches in the middle ages, and are often associated with bad luck.
Bats are even further connected to Halloween by the ancient Samhain ritual of building a bonfire, which drove away insects and attracted bats.
As a Christian, I do not celebrate Halloween. I do not want anything to do with witchcraft, black magic, white magic, vampires, werewolves, wizards, warlocks, zombies, evil spirits, ancient pagan religions or anything else along those lines.
But more Americans than ever are embracing the darkness, and each year this comes to a fever pitch on Halloween night. For much more on this, please see my previous article entitled “The Dark Side Of Halloween: The Kind Of Stuff That Real Life Nightmares Are Made Of“.
Why a growing interest in witchcraft is leaving us spellbound
July 7, 2022
By Susan Griffin
Reprinted from Metro
The pandemic has affected us in ways we’ve yet to fully comprehend, but one of the more unexpected is a new wave of witchcraft.
The WitchTok hashtag has garnered billions of views on social media, manifestation has become mainstream, and witchcraft paraphernalia is available on the high street all year-round, not just Halloween.
‘I think the rise of interest in witchcraft and magic is definitely telling about the state of society,’ says Lottie Salako, 26, from Liverpool, a white witch and search trends analyst for Salience Marketing Research.
‘Practices such as crystal work, astrology, tarot, and charms are all easily digestible tools of empowerment for people who feel like they have little control in their lives.’
The brand’s data has highlighted that on average there were 1,600 Google monthly searches for how to make moon water, 4,400 searches for how to charge crystals, 22,200 for crystal healing, and 9,900 for how to manifest over the last year in the U.K.
Witchcraft might seem woo-woo, but even the most vocal cynic has probably picked up a penny for good luck, or avoided walking under a ladder, just in case.
‘We all do it. Small superstitions, such as touching wood, saluting magpies, believing in karma, all place accountability for positive and negative experiences in our lives with something outside of ourselves,’ says Salako, who started exploring witchcraft in her teens.
‘My nan used to go to seances in haunted houses, so my mum was happy to buy me spell books. These days, there are so many types of witches: green, white, grey, crystal, cosmic that all have their own aesthetic and essential toolkit.’
The relevance of witchcraft has ebbed and flowed through the decades.
‘The modern interest in witches started in the 1970s with the feminist rediscovery of the persecution of women in witch trials across Europe. The idea that this represented the suppression of a whole world of female knowledge about spirituality and healing was very appealing.
‘It was picked up by the “new age” religions of the 1980s and 1990s, and has been going ever since,’ says Robert Poole, Professor of History at the University of Central Lancashire and author of The Wonderful Discovery of Witches in the County of Lancaster.
Ceryn incorporates witchcraft into her work as a therapist and coach
‘I imagine the recent resurgence is partly due to Covid with people looking for exciting mysteries outside the grim realities of lockdowns. There’s also a huge trend for historical-style drama at the moment, heavy on sword, sex and sorcery,’ he adds, referring to the likes of Game of Thrones and The Witcher.
Both on screen and in literature, witches are typically depicted as hateful monsters. Even the Sanderson sisters in Hocus Pocus, back for the much-anticipated sequel this September, are child killers.
‘The historical reality of witchcraft in Britain and Europe though was mostly of poor and vulnerable women being bullied and persecuted by their more powerful neighbours, and sometimes using their own reputations to make a living and survive,’ notes Robert.
One of the most fascinating places to explore witchcraft and magical practice is the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Boscastle, North Cornwall.
‘It’s really a social history museum, looking at everything from the persecutions to how witches have been depicted in popular culture’ says Simon Costin, director of the museum.
Although we associate witchcraft with Halloween, there are celebrations throughout the year.
‘During the summer months, we celebrate festivals such as Beltane on May 1, to honour the fertility of the Earth; Litha on June 21, to utilise the energy of the Sun to inspire us into action, and Lughnasadh on August 1 to give thanks for what nature has given us with the first harvest,’ explains Ceryn Rowntree, 39, an eclectic witch based in Northumberland who incorporates witchcraft into her work as a therapist and coach.
‘There are so many misconceptions about witches. That we only wear black, that we dance naked under the moon, that we’re “weird,” or in some way evil, even though one of the few rules of witchcraft is “thou shall do no harm.” In reality, witches come in all shapes, forms, and walks of life.’
Spells are not the main focus of witchcraft, insists Rowntree.
‘It’s much more about connecting to ourselves and nature. Personally, witchcraft has led me to develop a sense of belonging in a world that can so often be difficult to find.’
Which Witch Are You?
Crystal Witch: Practices the power of crystal magic and its associated energies. Tends to use chakra cleansing and healing based on the belief that certain crystals vibrate at unique frequencies and can be used to heal or alter your energy.
Cosmic Witch: Focuses on how the energy emitted by celestial bodies residing in the spirit world, influences the inner self. Typically works with astrology and astronomy, and time their activities with celestial events and moon cycles.
Eclectic Witch: Cherry picks what feels natural and good to them on a personal level. Often seen as trying to normalise conversations surrounding witchcraft and magic.
Green Witch: Embraces nature by drawing on the energies from the Earth and untamed things. Relies on plants, flowers and herbs, and calls on nature for guidance.
Grey Witch: Balances the powers between the magical forces of both black and white magic, incorporating both benevolent magic and cursing with the aim of creating more justice in the world.
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