The question has come up quite a bit about the meaning of the word ‘Christian’ in the term Christian Witch, which would be a fair question.
For me, the word ‘Christian’ denotes one who aspires to the divine ideals as expressed in the life and teachings of Christ: Christ Conciousness (or to be Christ-like), and NOT one who adheres to a specific religion. Christ himself was not a Christian.
Christianity is a far cry from the original Christ message, as well it should be. Over centuries, beliefs and ideaologies shift and morph with humanity, culture and conditions.
It’s my assessment that the Christ we read of in scripture — and the Christ who may have existed millenia ago — is hardly the same as is depicted in the modern day Christian church.
This is not to say that I malign churches. I do not. I am a minister, and quite frankly, I’ve never met a church or religion or holy place that I didn’t love, for one reason or another.
The truth is simple...
Christ and the Christian Church are two very different entities.
Further, there are different ways of looking at Christ, depending upon who you are and what you choose to believe or adhere to. We’ll address different ways of looking at Christ here, to answer the very valid question of how one can be a Christian Witch, a term which seems to be an oxymoron.
Before addressing these, let's first consider this quote from Wikipedia under Christianity and Theosophy from Helena Blavatsky, co-founder of the Theosophical Society:
“Jesus, the Christ-God, is a myth concocted two centuries after the real Hebrew Jesus died.” According to Theosophy, the term “Christ” means the personal divinity “indwelling” each individual human.” Wikipedia on Helen Blavatsky
This quote perfectly encapsulates the truth we will now examine.
We could think of Jesus Christ literally, as a person who walked the planet approximately 2,000 years ago practicing and teaching humanity unconditional love, forgiveness, oneness with the Creator and universal law, and was able to raise the dead, heal the sick, exorcise demons, rehabilitate those who had strayed from the path and perform many more wonders.
There is debate over whether there was a literal person named Jesus or if the Jesus we know of today is more of a mashup of different persuasive characters of the time.
Though there is little to no archeological evidence of Jesus Christ, there is no archeological evidence of much we currently hold as true. We don’t hold to the truth because it’s been proven by things we pull out of the ground. We hold to the truth because it’s true, proven beyond what archeology has revealed thus far.
For me, whether there was a literal or historical figure named Jesus Christ is a subject of fascinating debate, yet not pivotal to this discussion. I don’t base my life on a man who lived 2,000 years ago. I base my life on LOVE and universal LAW, which are the nature, expression and operation of God.
I don’t know if Jesus Christ is a historical figure, and to be honest with you, I don’t care. I’ll leave it to the archeologists, scientists, historians and Bible scholars to debate over the factual and historical existence of the personage we know from the Bible as Jesus Christ.
The reason I don’t care whether he was an actual figure from history, a conglomeration of several figures, or a completely made up character is because I do not take the Bible literally (more on this in the chapter on Bible Magick).
I agree with the wise words of a highly trusted and reputable teacher of Kabbalah, David Ghiyam:
“The Bible is a non-religious manual of energy, explaining the DNA of energy and how energy works."
Taken as a non-religious energy manual, it no longer matters if even one word in the Bible can be proven factual or historic. EVERTHING IS ENERGY. The main consideration becomes: what is being revealed about ENERGY here? How am I using the ENERGY I have access to? What ENERGIES am I tapping in to?
Which leads us to the 2nd way I'll mention here of looking at Christ...
Acccording to what we’re told by the Christian church (Catholic and Protestant alike), Jesus Christ was the living, breathing manifestation of God in flesh comprising one-third of a trinity of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost.
This take on Jesus was invented by a group of men at the Nicene Council hundreds of years after the death of the person Jesus Christ (if there was such a person). The Nicene Creed can be read online free. If you have not yet examined the Creed, it makes for a fascinating study, especially for the Christian Witch.
This fabrication of a Jesus Christ that is saviour, above all and no longer man, but God, must be recognized for what it is: a pure fabrication.
I do not at all intend to not honor the Catholic Church when I make this statement. This statement is purely for the purpose facilitating the proverbial scales falling from our eyes so that we may perceive the light of truth. We cannot perceive truth if our minds are muddled with lies.
It is important to study the origins of the Christian Church to determine for oneself the veracity of any of these matters. It would appear that many Christians (though not all) are completely ignorant of the origins of their faith, a matter than can be quickly resolved with diligent study and research.
As a practicing Christian Witch, I’ve told myself that it's not an option to remain willfully ignorant of matters pertaining to the soul.
Maybe Christ was a man who walked the planet and maybe he wasn’t. And perhaps some believe he is God, a third person of a Trinity. All well and good.
Beyond that, there is a COSMIC CHRIST, or the divine ideal Christ represents.
For me, the divine attributes of this COSMIC CHRIST are the pure, unconditional love of God, forgiveness, acceptance of all people, ONENESS with the divine and pure Divine Power.
When one has accomplished this — identical to the Great Work of Alchemy of the Soul — one becomes God.
Becoming God is, for me, the exact same as ascension to Christ Consciousness (oneness with Source) or Buddha-nature, or enlightenment. It is the direct revelation and knowing of one’s divinity and oneness with ALL.
Countless humans have had these experiences of oneness with all, especially during unforgettable moments, like the birth of a baby or a captivating sunset on the beach in Maui or other jaw dropping moments when all separation momentarily fades away.
When I speak of being a Christian Witch, I am speaking of my highest aspiration to fully experience, embody and express Christ Consciousness using magick as a means to enlightenment. I believe this is what a Master Alchemist looks like: a Christ.
As the above quote recognizes, Christ is the indwelling divinity in each person. There is nothing this indwelling divinity cannot do. This is our innate potentiality to become one with Source so that we embody and demonstrate the statement “I and the Father are One.”
Since some attest that the literal Christ (if there was one) was arrested for sorcery (a little known, revolting fact for some Christians, yet a liberating fact for Christian Witches, read the book Magic in Christianity for more on that explosive topic), there’s a correlation between Christ and Christian Witches.
The Christ we’re taught about in the Bible is the original Christian Witch, able to commune with nature spirits (trees, wind, storm), walk on water, miraculously manifest vast amounts of food from next to nothing, command spirits and demons with a word, and practiced more magick than we can shake a broomstick at.
The Talmud carries a fascinating passage:
“On (Sabbath eve and) the eve of Passover, Jesus the Nazarene was hanged and a herald went forth before him forty days heralding, “Jesus the Nazarene is going forth to be stoned because he practiced sorcery and instigated and seduced Israel to idolatry. Whoever knows anything in defense may come and state it.”
According to the Jewish people of the time, Jesus was considered a sorcerer and one who incited his followers to worship other gods (plural), which paints a radically different view of the Christ that Christians have come to know and love.
While I do not take the Bible (or ANY holy book) literally, I LOVE the stories of the Bible. They are myths pointing to greater truths. However, if we gets caught in the myth, we miss the universal truth just back of the myth.
When reading the Bible, we’re called to dig deeper so as to understand the spiritual significance of a certain wonder working event of Christ, and how to apply it to self, one’s life and magick and the world RIGHT NOW.
The Jesus I know didn’t ask us to need him as a saviour. According to the Bible, Christ made the statement that ‘greater works than these shall you do.’ The entire tenor and tone of the New Testament stories of Christ, for me, forms an empowering mythos designed for me to get off my butt and realize my God nature… to BECOME a Christ.
I've said it often and it bears repeating... some Christians are so busy being Christians that they forgot to be like Christ.
I have no desire to adhere to a religion. Thus, the word ‘Christian’ in Christian Witch, for me, does not denote one who adheres to a religion. There are many strains of Christianity, none of which are wrong or right in my book. They’re simply different. Christian Witches isn’t wrong or right either. It’s simply different from Christian.
With that said, Christian Witches is not a religion (at least not to me anyway, although I honor and respect those who hold it as such). As with all spiritual paths, Christian Witchcraft is a calling. It’s for those of us who aren’t ready to summarily dismiss and throw out the entirety of the Bible (with all its magick, mysticism and at times mayhem) and who aren’t ready to throw out our magickal selves either.
We found out we didn’t have to choose.
We found a way to practice that integrates and honors Christ and the Craft.
I love you Witchy Wonder,
KAISI (aka Rev. Valerie Love)
This blog post is an excerpt from the book Spell Crafting for the Christian Witch (releases on the Full Moon on October 31, 2020) by Valerie Love. The paperback and ebook version will be available on Amazon.