Diamond
Member
same way i feel bout the bible
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Witches and witchcraft
- Thread starter Diamond
- Start date
sooda
Veteran Member
They also killed the Cathars, didn't they?
This is not the complete story. Although Shiva is "BholenAth" and grants boons impartially to demons, VishNu never does that.
In fact, VishNu takes avatAr to destroy the demons that received boons from BramhA and Shiva owing to the austerity they performed, and became a menace to the Universe.
That is VishNu's promise in the Bhagvad Geeta, chapter 4 : Whenever dharma (righteousness) declines, and adharma (unrighteousness) increases, I appear to destroy the wicked[ness] and protect the innocents and Saints.
and there is a 3rd reason which He did not mention in Chapter 4 -- He appears in the hearts of devotees to simply give them His association and uplift them -- this He can do anytime, even today.
As an avatAr, He appears on earth - that is when He destroys the demons who have appeared on earth. This is what He did as KRshNa , RAma , ParashurAma , NRsiMha ... avatArs.
Demons do not get away with boons for long.
sooda
Veteran Member
Me too.. Can't say I am well versed in their history, but I do remember that they were savagely persecuted and killed.
UpperLimits
Active Member
necromancy
- n.
The practice of supposedly communicating with the spirits of the dead in order to predict the future. - n.
Black magic; sorcery. - n.
Magic qualities.
More at Wordnik from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
Bear Wild
Well-Known Member
What religions are not are not revealed religions and revealed spiritual paths in their origin?
PoetPhilosopher
Veteran Member
I can struggle if you are in front of humans. You will be futile in front of angels (or the fallen ones). The nature of witchcraft, whether you realize it or not, will have to rely on a connection to the spiritual realm to work. Sometimes this could mean that you are dealing with those much higher in power and intelligence but evil.
The rule is those in the spiritual realm (basically a place named Hades) are not allowed to contact humans actively. However humans can choose to contact them because humans are allowed to sin in many ways in this world. To the Jews (thus later Christians) trying to contact this realm is strictly prohibited by their dogmas.
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Bear Wild
Well-Known Member
Since the bible was written for one group of people and its followers it is not tolerant of any beliefs that do not place the power directly into their one god. Thus all other religions would not be tolerated within their society.
As new religious groups started to adopt the bible as their source of belief then there became a greater generalization of the idea that no one should have a belief that could be contrary to bible. When the Roman Catholic church became the dominant Christian religion they eliminated any contrary belief system (Christian or not) through any means possible. By the time of the great Western European "witch persecution" the original pre-Christian (pagan) were with the general public converted to Christianity. The pre-Christian festivals and rituals may have persisted but either converted into Christian festivals or demonized by the Roman Church. I believe the last residual pre-christian Germanic/Norse adherents (excluding the Sami people) were converted by the about the year 1000 at least in the British Isles.
Thus the great persecution of witches was a persecution of Christians rather than "pagans" of anyone who deviated from the Roman Church view. From what I have read it became a way of removing anyone that deviated from standard behavior. Using any unsanctioned rituals or using any method of healing other than asking for divine help would become an easy target. No doubt it was used to remove anyone authorities did not want. The concept of demons and the devil was a church fabrication. Encounters reported with the "otherworld" in areas of Scotland and Ireland may have continued for a while but had nothing to do with demons or the devil.
Our modern witches are modern in formation with no direct link to the past other than to recover as much that was known about pre-Christian rituals, folklore and herbal lore.
Bear Wild
Well-Known Member
Hades is Greek. Spiritual realm is described in many cultures with nothing to do with evil or because of sin.
Muffled
Jesus in me
I believe it works through demonic powers.
Bear Wild
Well-Known Member
The bible?
UpperLimits
Active Member
That's not quite correct .....
Within the concept of toleration is the implicit idea that, "I don't agree with you, but nevertheless, I'm going to allow you to go your merry way. " We do tolerate others. But admittedly, we don't allow them to preach their ideology in our pulpits. And I kinda think the reverse would probably also be true in most instances.
BTW, the idea of exclusivism is NOT unique to the Christian faith. Rather it is a fundamental principle in every faith and ideology out there. One simply needs to do an honest examination of other faiths and ideologies in order to see this point. About the only group out there that even comes close to universally accepting to everybody is the Bahai Faith - and even they exclude the exclusivists.
There is a logical argument to be understood at this juncture. When somebody makes a truth claim; and somebody else makes an opposing, competing truth claim; while it is logically possible for both points to actually be wrong; it is only logically possible for one to actually be correct. Hence, the underpinning of exclusivism.
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Diamond
Member
thats what this is all about,different opinions on different subjects
Diamond
Member
thanks for explainingnecromancy
- n.
The practice of supposedly communicating with the spirits of the dead in order to predict the future.- n.
Black magic; sorcery.- n.
Magic qualities.
There was a field belonging to my family home in the island where I was born, which was believed to have been used for burning witches! Some of the very old properties had ledges on the chimneys so the witches could take their ease when flying around on their broomsticks!
He means that the Abrahamic religions believe that only they have truth and all other religions are evil lies. Pluralist religions like most of the indigenous polytheistic religions or major religions like Hinduism view truth as multi-faceted and do not judge the religious beliefs of others. It's just seen as another way of viewing reality and it's not a bad thing. The Baha'i religion is really not inclusive because it expects everyone to eventually convert to it. Even the religions it twists and distorts in an effort to assimilate it, they view as wrong and their religion as superior. They also do not recognize polytheistic indigenous religions as actual religions. They're actually very insulting. Pretty much the only time non-Abrshamics get mad at Abrahamics is because of how the Abrahamics treated us in the past and how they still do treat us now. If they left people alone and respected difference, no one would have a problem.
The Reverend Bob
Fart Machine and Beastmaster
Because Christianity is a Patriarchal religion that wishes to promote the destructive power of the male over that of the Divine Feminine and nature worship
Technically, they were not witches. The vast majority of the killed were only baselessly accused as such.