"Are you a witch?"

Debra said:

Many people have never met a witch that they know of. I'll bet he's just curious and perhaps a bit clumsy at expressing his curiosity. I've had the same thing happen with people who hear my name and wonder if I'm a Jew having never met one.

I like what Zechariah13 says about the usefulness of boxes as a first step in getting to know people.

eta: Suppose he'd said, "I don't know much about this. Is tarot part of witchcraft? Are you a witch?" Slightly less clunky, perhaps. People get excited to meet others with backgrounds and lifestyles very unlike their own--at least I do. I don't think it's automatically stereotyping. Like I said--curiosity.

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Yes - absolutely. Though there are of course fundamentalists of ALL types who have to treat people according to the boxes they put others in. That's NOT so good. This includes people from here who blast evangelical Christians - which is JUST as bad ! WE all have our own beliefs and deserve respect for them. Acceptance of others is key.

When people asked me (it's only happened about twice, and I'm not a witch) I just said "No, I am just very peculiar."

There's no arguing with that... Anyone who knows me here will agree

Kreative-Dragon said:

"wait, you're a Christian?"
"yeah I am."
"And you believe in science and evolution?"
"...yeah, it makes sense with my faith."
"...And you read Tarot cards and other divination?"
"...Yeah... is that a problem?"
"You're not a Christian then."

"You're right, you got me. I go to church for the after service food."

Christians get stuck in boxes too. Why can't we all just play nicely with our own toys? or does that sound to Aspie ish?

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Now you see, the problem is that Christians ARE in a box. By their own doctrine they have a VERY NARROW path that they CANNOT stray from (of course doctrinally, that path isnt following perfection as much as complete and utter surrender and sacrifice of self to the will of God.) Christians CAN'T perform divination of ANY sort, its a sin. Christians SHOULD'NT believe in Evolution. Neither of those things is compatible with the Core Concepts of Christianity, which entail dependence on the Holy Spirit for EVERYTHING and choosing to reject all things of the world.

Zechariah13 said:

Now you see, the problem is that Christians ARE in a box. By their own doctrine they have a VERY NARROW path that they CANNOT stray from (of course doctrinally, that path isnt following perfection as much as complete and utter surrender and sacrifice of self to the will of God.) Christians CAN'T perform divination of ANY sort, its a sin. Christians SHOULD'NT believe in Evolution. Neither of those things is compatible with the Core Concepts of Christianity, which entail dependence on the Holy Spirit for EVERYTHING and choosing to reject all things of the world.

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There are many Christians here who perform divination all the time...

There are many different branches of Christianity and many different shades of it too. Please be careful not to make sweeping generalisations about people who share the same religion; people are all different and unless you know all Christians you can't really speak for them or about them as a group.

I get this question a lot, I always answer it with a honest "yes". What baffles me is that most people don't really seem to expect this reply and quickly change the subject.

Sulis said:

There are many Christians here who perform divination all the time...

There are many different branches of Christianity and many different shades of it too. Please be careful not to make sweeping generalisations about people who share the same religion; people are all different and unless you know all Christians you can't really speak for them or about them as a group.

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Right on. I can name one Christian (very) reader from here in particular, who rarely posts any more, but who was ACE at fielding this one

ETA and furthermore....

My father was an Anglican vicar and had no trouble with reconciling the two - Tarot/divination and Christianity - at all. He was interested in my collection. More interestingly, my mother, also very Christian, cannot understand how I can believe in Tarot if I don't ALSO believe in God and Christianity. She sees the two as essentially going together. Both part of an Other, part of something unexplainable.

Sure there are some Christians who have issues with Tarot. And people who are unpleasant about it. And there are a LOT of people HERE saying how vile Christians are for not accepting THEIR point of view/belief. If we are to tar all Christians - then by all means let us tar all readers. We all believe all Christians are against us, right ?

(This last said to make a point, not because I buy into any of it except possibly my mother... Not something I ever expected to say, actually. I need a lie down.)

Yeshu (name changed by the Romans to Jesus) practiced divination. The biblical texts are full of prophesies. I've never understood where this veto comes from.
Where in the bible (or Nicean Creed, which formulated 'Christianity' in the 4th century after Jesus) is 'evolution' mentioned - never mind proscribed?
How come some modern 'Christians' take it upon themselves to add so many extra rules to their scriptures? Or to judge people? (something their own scriptures expressly forbid?)

Personally, I'm not a witch, but see no connection between wisecraft & Tarot reading.
I wonder how / why that connection is made, or why so many people are afraid of 'magic' (of which there's plenty in the bible & most ancient texts) but not of science, which has tremendous powers too: to work wonders & marvels to heal & help us, or to destroy the earth & wipe out the human race?

eta posted before I read gregory's eta. This bears no relation to hers - will think about it & respond anon, gregs. I have deep respect for all the many kinds of Christians I know personally. And although I no longer subscribe to any dogma, I find Yeshu / aka Jesus pretty cool too. Wish I could be more like him.

Right on, Starshower.

Too many people take what they want from the Bible and ignore the rest. All those who are anti things in there should remember that if they are going to take ONE thing as gospel, they have to take the lot. No more eating shellfish, for instance. See Leviticus... So that's your last prawn cocktail....

Kreative-Dragon said:

Christians get stuck in boxes too. Why can't we all just play nicely with our own toys? or does that sound to Aspie ish?

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The word "toys" autmotically makes me think of throwing a tarot slumber party Christians, Athiests, Witches, and more, all welcome!

I got called a "warlock" last night at work, I was rather pleased with the title ( etymology of "wǣrloga" aside as she would not have known that) . She did not even know I read cards, just thought I looked like one!

KMilliron said:

The word "toys" autmotically makes me think of throwing a tarot slumber party Christians, Athiests, Witches, and more, all welcome!

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oh my gawsh CAN WE? Do you know how awesome that would be? Pillow fights, Tarot Talk, Hot Chocolate >.<

The thing is... for me, it all connects so well together that I see no reason to think that the creation of Adam and Eve and Evolution don't mesh well. You cannot take the Bible at face value. It was written by men who barely understood what they were doing, and has been re written and altered so many times that to take it word for word literally would go against a lot of the original teachings. And many of the rules in Leviticus were not ACTUALLY handed down by God, but were created by Rabbi's to keep the population safe.