In October 2022, Antonio Pagliarulo wrote a piece on the nbcnews.com website under the heading “Why paganism and witchcraft are making a comeback” and below are a few excerpts:
“Two weeks ago, in the run-up to Halloween, I visited Salem, Massachusetts, for the first time since the pandemic began. In renewing my annual Halloween pilgrimage, I was bowled over by what I found in the Witch City: bigger crowds, longer lines and a wider and welcome array of merchandise geared toward many different religious traditions and ethnic identities.
“Amid the curious crowds in black capes and conical hats, bags overflowing with DIY spell kits and candles to enhance prosperity, I overheard the same question: Is magic really real?
“Witchcraft, which includes Wicca, paganism, folk magic and other New Age traditions, is one of the fastest-growing spiritual paths in America.
“For me, the answer is yes.
“I am one of a million-plus Americans who — whether proudly, secretly or dabbling through the power of consumerism — practice some form of witchcraft. Witchcraft, which includes Wicca, paganism, folk magic, and other New Age traditions, is one of the fastest growing spiritual paths in America.
“In 1990, Trinity College in Connecticut estimated there were 8,000 adherents to Wicca. In 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau figure was 342,000. A 2014 Pew Research Center study increased that projection several times over in assessing that 0.4% of Americans identified as pagan, Wiccan or New Age. (Most modern pagan worship, of which Wicca is one type, draws on pre-Christian traditions in revering nature.) By 2050, it said, the number of Americans practicing “other religions” — faiths outside Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism — would triple “due largely to switching into other religions (such as Wicca and pagan religions).
“The precise number of witches in America is difficult to determine because many practitioners are solitary and, either by choice or circumstance, do not openly identify as such. But the growth is evident, especially to those who’ve made it their life’s work to study the community.
“‘It’s clearly increasing,’ said Helen A. Berger, who is one of the foremost academic experts on contemporary witchcraft and paganism in America and draws knowledge about its appeal from surveys she’s co-conducted on the pagan community.”
If the writer’s assertion that “I am one of a million-plus Americans who practice some form of witchcraft” is correct, then those involved in just this one country is far larger than the true Church of God has ever been in its nearly 2,000-year history! Jesus said, as recorded in Luke 12:32: “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” The followers of Jesus, the early Christians, were a little flock then and as history shows, has continued to be so down through the ages to the present day.
God doesn’t need huge numbers to do His Work. In the case of Gideon in Judges 7, we read: “And the LORD said to Gideon, ‘The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, “My own hand has saved me”’ (verse 2). They whittled the number down from 32,000 to 10,000 and then down to 300 which was a reduction of more than 99%. With this tiny number, God led the Israelites to win a stunning victory and shows that when He is involved, nothing can stand against Him.
Taken from the website paganfederation.org under the heading “What Paganism Is,” we read the following definition:
“Paganism is the ancestral religion of the whole of humanity. This ancient religious outlook remains active throughout much of the world today, both in complex civilisations such as Japan and India, and in less complex tribal societies world-wide. It was the outlook of the European religions of classical antiquity – Persia, Egypt, Greece and Rome – as well as of their ‘barbarian’ neighbours on the northern fringes, and its European form is re-emerging into explicit awareness in the modern West as the articulation of urgent contemporary religious priorities.
“The Pagan outlook can be seen as threefold. Its adherents venerate Nature and worship many deities, both goddesses and gods.”
This is totally at odds with what true Christianity is all about. The Bible gives us the definition of a true Christian:
Acts 2:38 states: “Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Acts 4:12 states: “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Acts 5:32 states: “And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
And so, putting these three Scriptures together, a true Christian has to repent, be baptised, receive God’s Holy Spirit and keep the Law of God which will help him to obey God. And, tellingly, there is no salvation in any other, meaning that the Christian faith is exclusive and all other religions are false. For more information, please see our Q&A entitled: “What is a True Christian?”
On the BBC website, we read:
“The Pagan celebration of Winter Solstice (also known as Yule) is one of the oldest winter celebrations in the world.
“Ancient people were hunters and spent most of their time outdoors. The seasons and weather played a very important part in their lives. Because of this many ancient people had a great reverence for, and even worshipped the sun. The Norsemen of Northern Europe saw the sun as a wheel that changed the seasons. It was from the word for this wheel, houl, that the word yule is thought to have come. At mid-winter the Norsemen lit bonfires, told stories and drank sweet ale.
“The ancient Romans also held a festival to celebrate the rebirth of the year. Saturnalia ran for seven days from the 17th of December. It was a time when the ordinary rules were turned upside down. Men dressed as women and masters dressed as servants. The festival also involved decorating houses with greenery, lighting candles, holding processions and giving presents.
“The Winter Solstice falls on the shortest day of the year (21st December) and was celebrated in Britain long before the arrival of Christianity. The Druids (Celtic priests) would cut the mistletoe that grew on the oak tree and give it as a blessing. Oaks were seen as sacred and the winter fruit of the mistletoe was a symbol of life in the dark winter months.
“It was also the Druids who began the tradition of the yule log. The Celts thought that the sun stood still for twelve days in the middle of winter and during this time a log was lit to conquer the darkness, banish evil spirits and bring luck for the coming year.
“Many of these customs are still followed today. They have been incorporated into the Christian and secular celebrations of Christmas.”
On the website ukpagancouncil.org are the following details:
“The UK Pagan Council is one of the UK’s largest pagan organisations and is here to provide an effective and friendly focal point for whole UK pagan community or those aspiring to pagan way of life.
“The UK Pagan Council is open to any pagans and witches who follow any number of different pagan paths, including Eclectic, Alexandrian, Gardnerian, Wiccan, Druid and many more.
“If you are Pagan, but not a practicing witch, you are welcome to join our community, as many have done so already. There is something for everyone.
“The site features an online social network, online chat, groups, UK Covens Database, UK Moots Database, campaigns, UK and global events, an Agony Witch page, forums, blogs, an online Book of Shadows and much more.”
On another website, paganfed.org, is more information about paganism: “The site features an online social network, online chat, groups, UK Covens Database, UK Moots Database, campaigns, UK and global events, an Agony Witch page, forums, blogs, an online Book of Shadows and much more.
The website whatchristianswanttoknow.com gives additional information on this matter:
“The word ‘pagan’ originally meant a ‘region delimited by markers,’ like a city or a state or even a region that was easily marked off. Now it literally means anyone else’s religion or belief system that rests outside of their own religion. In other words, to the Orthodox Jews, Muslims are pagans, and to the Muslims, the Jews are pagans…and just about every other religion classifies those outside of their own beliefs as pagan or sometimes, referred to as heathen.
“The difference is, heathen are not particularly religious, but pagans are known for the elaborate rituals, ceremonies, and other practices that involve worship of their god or gods (whichever the case may be). Even though this word is no longer commonly used today, if you called someone a pagan in ancient times, you really weren’t identifying them as a religious group or community, but using it as a derogatory term or slang that essentially said, ‘They’re unbelievers…they’re hopeless…they’re dogs.’”
Wikipedia has this to say about modern paganism in the United States: “(It) is represented by widely different movements and organizations. The largest modern pagan (also known as neo-pagan) religious movement is Wicca, followed by Neodruidism. Both of these religions or spiritual paths were introduced during the 1950s and 1960s from Great Britain. Germanic Neopaganism (also known as Heathenry) and Kemetism appeared in the US in the early 1970s. Hellenic Neopaganism appeared in the 1990s.”
whatchristianswanttoknow.com tells us: “Paganism is making a very strong comeback. What attracts so many is their spirituality and carte blanche philosophy for no limits to the human mind. It comes striking close to self-worship because worshiping nature is essentially, worshiping self, as the ‘self is part of the whole.’ Some of the harder edged pagan religions almost see those who do good as evil and those who do evil as good, so paganism isn’t just one belief, it is like the word religion, meaning there are many different belief systems that fall under paganism, such as the Wicca, Witchcraft, Zoroastrianism, Celtic, Druids, and all other sorts of neo-paganisms.
“Some are listed under ‘Spirituality’ in publications and on websites. Some of these have been around for thousands of years, while most of the others are recent human inventions. Let’s be clear. If these are not for God, then they are against God, and we should stay as far away from these as possible… Paganism is growing stronger and stronger, and our children and grandchildren are more at risk than when we were a child.”
(To be continued)
Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)
