(Just a preface to this ask, I'm an Atheopagan, not a Christian, but I'm well versed in the bible due to my upbringing)
I mean absolutely no disrespect to you, so I'm very sorry if this comes across as condescending or accusatory as that is absolutely not my intention; but I do not understand how one can be both Christian and a witch at the same time. The bible expressly condemns witchcraft - For example, Exodus 22:18 and Leviticus 20:27 - and from a historical perspective, witches were heavily persecuted in biblical times (and basically all of history after that including today) in the name of Christ. I'm not saying you need to choose one or the other, but I don't see these belief systems as compatible with each other in any way. Could you possibly tell me your thoughts/feelings/beliefs on this?
Absolutely! Let's address these verses and some historical context. Since both verses are from the Old Testament, I'm going to use my interlinear Hebrew/English Bible. So, the verse in Leviticus you're talking about is this one:
In this verse, what's being forbidden is necromancy and the summoning of "familiar spirits". In context, the familiar spirits likely refers to A) tutelary/household spirits or B) pagan/foreign deities. Since Judaism is a monotheistic faith, and Leviticus is a book of Jewish law it makes sense that it wouldn't look kindly on summoning or venerating other spirits/deities. The first commandment is about not worshipping other gods:
I don't summon any spirits or venerate any other deities in my practice, so I don't consider myself to be in violation of this law.
Now let's look at the verse in Exodus:
This one seems pretty straightforward. The question to ask here is what is meant by sorcery? This is part of a set of laws given to the Jewish people after Moses led them out of Egypt, meant to mark them as God's chosen people. The sorcery being referred to here is likely the magic done by Egyptians in worship of/with power from their deities. In Biblical times "sorcery" is heavily, almost intrinsically associated with worship of foreign gods. Also, it has been suggested that the Hebrew word for sorceress used here may mean something closer to "poisoner" rather than "witch". It was translated as "pharmakeia" in the Septuagint, which would refer to an apothecary or herbalist. Keep in mind that many ancient medicines were poisonous or harmful.
Our modern definition of magic/witchcraft is wider than the Biblical one. In fact, there are many instances where Biblical figures do what we would consider magic (particularly divination) as part of worship or in service of God, and this is not forbidden or looked negatively upon.
As for your second point about persecution: the history of persecution of magic-users/witches is long and complex. Witch-hunts happened in many different places at many different times and were motivated by different things over the centuries. Often, they were used to erase people's traditions or to punish those they perceived as a threat to social norms. Generally, it was fuelled by misogyny, xenophobia, and racism. In many cases it had more to do with those factors than the practice of magic itself.
Fear and intolerance from Christians has caused massive amounts of harm to countless people over the years. As a lesbian, I'm all too aware of that, having experienced it firsthand. That's why I do my best to advocate for marginalized people in my community, especially those groups that have been harmed by hegemonic Christianity in the past. I try to be aware of the privilege being a Christian in America gives me, and to use the power that that privilege gives me to uplift people who need it.
I hope this answers your questions!
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