Do you have to believe in magic to be a witch/wiccan?
@Nerdcoresteve imo, no
@Maenad Ooooooh I think I want to be a witch. Witches are rad.
I got to thinking about this because my sister was a witch for decades but is now Christian.
I was saying to my partner how I felt kinda disappointed about it. They rightfully chastised me for wanting to control what others do and said I should be a witch if I felt like it. I think I do but I’m very empirically minded.
@Nerdcoresteve i recommend looking into secular witchcraft.
I agree with a lot of the moral teachings in it, but i am also a scientist and think empirically. But ritual has power, even according to science (routine and placebo are two examples of things i might call ritual)
@Maenad @Nerdcoresteve LaVeyan Satanism also has a lot of stuff about secular rituals :3
@vantablack @Maenad That sounds both scary and appealing
@Nerdcoresteve @Maenad LaVeyan (and other) Satanists are atheists, the whole thing's an "atheistic religion," they don't actually believe in or worship Satan or anything :D
@vantablack @Nerdcoresteve @Maenad
I would not recommending getting very much into LaVeyan Satanism, as it is really founded on a lot of Randian principles, and the behavior of many people within the founding movement are despicable, such as Anton himself in the way he treated his daughter, and Boyd Rice, actual nazi.
@Maenad @Nerdcoresteve @Mirzaba (they're the ones who had that baphomet statue installed next to a ten commandments one at a courthouse, wanted to have a satanic prayer read alongside a christian one before a town hall meeting, etc.)
@Mirzaba @vantablack @Maenad Noooooo. That’s not for me. I went through my Randian phase in my youth and I’m soooo not into that.
@Mirzaba @Nerdcoresteve @Maenad yeah The Satanic Bible was mind-blowing and world-opening to, like, 16-year-old formerly-Christian to me, with the stuff about "people should be able to do what they want as long as it doesn't harm others," and the psychology behind rituals, but so much of it is bleh in hindsight
The Satanic Temple is a present-day atheistic Satanist group that's pretty much taken up the helm lol :D :D :D