WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT WICCA / WITCHCRAFT "Wicca" in the Bible We have not been able to find any translation of the Christian Holy Bible that uses the terms Wicca or Wiccan. Many translations of the Bible (e.g. the King James Version and the New International Version) condemn what they call "Witchcraft". But the Witchcraft that they criticize is unrelated to Wicca. Exodus 22:18 According to the Scofield Reference Bible this verse from the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) was written in the year 1491 BCE, some 650 years before the origin of the Celtic people circa 850 BCE and thus before their religion of Wicca was developed. Various Biblical translations render this verse as: Amplified Bible: You shall not allow a woman to live who practices sorcery. Contemporary English Version: Death is the punishment for witchcraft. Good News Version: Put to death any woman who practices magic. James Moffatt Translation: You shall not allow any sorceress to live. Jerusalem Bible: You shall not allow a sorceress to live. King James Version: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. Living Bible: A sorceress shall be put to death. Modern Language Bible: Allow no sorceress to live. New American Bible: You shall not let a sorceress live. New American Standard Bible: You shall not allow a sorceress to live. New Century Version: Put to death any woman who does evil magic. New International Version: Do not allow a sorceress to live. New Revised Standard Version: You shall not permit a female sorcerer to live. New World Translation: You must not preserve a sorceress alive. Revised Standard Version: You shall not permit a sorceress to live. Revised English Bible: You must not allow a witch to live. In the original Hebrew manuscript, the author used the word m'khashepah to describe the person who should not be allowed to live. The word means a woman who uses spoken spells to harm others - e.g. causing their death or loss of property. Interpretation of the 16 translations of Exodus 22:18 12 translations use the terms female sorcerer, sorceress, woman who does evil magic or woman who practices sorcery. These are accurate translations, because most dictionaries define sorcerer/ess as a person who uses evil, supernatural power to harm other people. 3 translations use the terms witch or witchcraft which are particularly poor choices, because of their ambiguity. They have been used to refer to many unrelated human activities: Sorcerer/Sorceress: the use of evil, black magic to harm or kill other people Wizard: a male magician with unusual knowledge who can apparently perform miracles Wiccan, follower of the nature based, pre-Christian, Celtic religion, prohibited from doing harm to, manipulating, dominating or controlling others Follower of an African native religion Follower of Santeria, a Caribbean religion that is an amalgam of African tribal religions and Roman Catholicism; they worship Catholic saints as representatives of their old Gods and Goddesses A person who uses a stick to find underground water sources A hag A young attractive woman who "bewitches" others A person who is particularly skilled at one's craft (e.g. "A witch of a writer, [she] is capable of developing an intensity that verges on ferocity" {Peter S. Prescott}). We have heard Evangelical Christian preachers say that: all religions (Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Native American Spirituality, etc) other than Christianity are Witchcraft. a wife who does not obey her husband is following the spirit of Witchcraft. The word Witchcraft has so many different, and often mutually exclusive meanings that it has become a hopelessly inexact word. By selecting the word Witchcraft in this verse, a very wide net of condemnation has been cast that might effects literally millions of people in North America. 1 translation uses the term magic which is also a poor selection because it has been used to refer to: stage magic, slight of hand, magic tricks ceremonial magic used to harm other persons ceremonial magic used to help or heal other persons The use of "witch" in the King James Version was apparently due to King James' influence over his translators; he had a paranoid fear of being attacked by Witches. The use of ambiguous terms by the Contemporary English Version, Good News Version and Revised English Bible is, in our opinion, inexcusable. The translators must have known the exact meaning of the original Hebrew word, yet selected an English word which was clearly ambiguous and which would make large numbers of individuals subject to hatred. We would recommend that owners of these translations strike out the word magic, witchcraft or witch and replace it with sorcery or sorceress. Deuteronomy 18:10-11 The word Witchcraft in the New International Version's translation of Deuteronomy 18:10-11 is a significant problem for Wiccans. Many Evangelical Christians naturally assume that it refers to followers of the Wiccan faith. It is often quoted near Halloween; it has sometimes been used as the text of sermons that have triggered hatred, verbal attacks and even physical attacks on Wiccans. According to the Scofield Reference Bible this verse was written in the year 1451 BCE, some 600 years before the origin of the Celtic people and thus of their religion of Wicca. The first part of Verse 10 apparently prohibits ancient Israelites from engaging in child sacrifice. The tribes around Israel allegedly murdered children by casting them into a fire. Other theologians believe that this refers to some sort of a trial by fire that would not usually result in a death. Various Biblical translations render the remainder of Verse 10 and Verse 11 as: Amplified Bible: There shall not be found among you anyone who... uses divination or is a soothsayer or an augur or a sorcerer, | or a charmer, or a medium or a wizard or a necromancer. Contemporary English Version: And don't try to use any kind of magic or witchcraft to tell fortunes, or to cast spells or to talk with spirits of the dead. Good News Version: ...and don't let your people practice divination or look for omens or use spells | or charms and don't let them consult the spirits of the dead. James Moffatt Translation: There must be none among you... who practices divination or soothsaying, no augur, no sorcerer, | no one who weaves spells, no medium or magician, no necromancer. Jerusalem Bible: There must never be anyone among you who ... practices divination, who is a soothsayer, augur or sorcerer, | who uses charms, consults ghosts or spirits, or calls up the dead. King James Version: There shall not be found among you anyone ....that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. Living Bible: No Israeli may practice black magic, or call on the evil spirits for aid, or be a fortune teller, | or be a serpent charmer, medium, or wizard, or call forth the spirits of the dead.. Modern Language Bible: There must not be found among you anyone... practicing divination, or soothsaying, observing omens, applying sorcery, | a charmer, a medium, a wizard, or a necromancer. New American Bible: Let there be not be found among you anyone [who is]...a fortune-teller, soothsayer, charamer, diviner, | or caster of spells, no one who consults ghosts and spirits or seeks oracles from the dead. New American Standard Bible: There shall not be found among you... one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens or a sorcerer, | or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. New Century Version: Don't let anyone use magic or witchcraft. No one should try to explain the meaning of signs, | don't let anyone try to control others with magic. Don't let them be mediums or try to talk with the spirits of dead people.. New International Version: Let no one be found among you who ... practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, | or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. New Revised Standard Version: No one shall be found among you who practices practices divination, or is a soothsayer or an augur, or a sorcerer, | or one who cast spells or who consults ghosts and spirits, or who seeks oracles from the dead. New World Translation: There shall not be found in you anyone ... who employs divination, a practicer of magic or anyone who looks for omens or a sorcerer | or one who binds others with a spell or anyone who consults a spirit medium or a professional foreteller of events or anyone who inquires of the dead. Revised Standard Version: There shall not be found among you... anyone who practices divination, a soothsayer, or an augur or a sorcerer, | or an or a charmer, or a medium, or a wizard, or a necromancer. Revised English Bible: Let no one be found among you who ... no augur or soothsayer or diviner or sorcerer, | none who cast spells or traffics with ghosts and spirits, and no necromancer. Interpretation of the 16 translations of Deut. 18:10-11 The original wording of these verses condemned individuals who followed practices defined by these 8 Hebrew words: yid'oni: knowers; wizards; persons who make contact with spirits who are not of God. (There are probably Wiccans as well as Christians who have to engaged in spiritism and have attempted to contact the dead, but this is not necessarily an integral part of the Wiccan religion) sho'el 'ov: making forbidden contact with the dead. (Ditto) qosem q'samim: predicting the future by using lots or a similar system. (Many Wiccans as well as Christians sometimes use tarot cards, runes, scrying etc to foretell the future, but this is not an integral part of the Wiccan religion) m'onen: predicting the future by interpreting signs in nature. (Ditto) m'nachesh an enchanter (perhaps a snake charmer, because "nachash" means snake). (We have never heard of Wiccan snake charmers) chover chavar: use of knot tying to perform magic. (Wiccans sometimes engage in knot tying, but only for positive healing magic. Again, it is a practice that some engage in and is not an integral part of their religion) m'khaseph: a sorcerer (as in Exodus 22:18); a person using spoken spells to harm others. (Wiccans do not engage in this activity; they are specifically prohibited from doing so by their Wiccan Rede.) doresh 'el hametim: a person who makes contact with the dead - probably by another method than sho'el 'ov. (Again, there are some Wiccans who engage in spiritism, but it is not necessarily an integral part of their religion). These verses would seem to prohibit a number of modern day activities: harming or killing people through the use of sorcery (black magic) knot magic (tying and untying knots while cursing someone) engaging in methods of fortelling the future by studying nature (e.g whether the winter will be cold by studying the size of caterpillars or whether spring will be delayed by the actions of a groundhog) casting sticks (e.g. I Ching or perhaps runes) astrology raising ghosts or spirits through the use of spiritism by a medium snake charming Wiccans are prohibited from harming people by any means. Some use various methods of foretelling the future; so do some Christians. Some engage in spiritism, so do some Christians. The latter two practices are not necessarily an integral part of their religion. In our opinion, none of the 8 Hebrew terms should be translated as Witch or Witchcraft. References Used 16 translations of the Christian Bible Alexi Kondratiev "Suffer a Witch to Live", Enchante, the Journal for the Urbane Pagan, Mabon & Vinalia (1994), P. 11-15