Ask a Christian Witch: How to Know Christian Witchcraft is Right for You, Acknowledging Other Gods, and Leaving Christianity Altogether
- Sara Raztresen
- 15 hours ago
- 20 min read
Another heft round of questions for this April!
Hey, everyone! Remember, if you haven't grabbed it yet: When Angels and Demons Collude is available for pre-order! I should be getting a proof copy today, which means once I'm done going through edits and have this bad boy uploaded, that's it! It's ready to go.
The release date is June 30th, 2025. Grab a copy now so you're first in line to get it when it drops!
And now, our April questions. Remember: if you have any questions, all you have to do is check out this Google Form right here and fill it out with your question!
Now for all this good conversation!
How Do You Believe Multiple Gods Exist?
Hi Sara! I love the content and I've been watching it for a while, but I have a question which I hope isn't rude or anything. How and why do you believe in multiple different pantheons if you're Christian? Isn't Christianity a religion where you only worship God? I'm sorry if this is rude or if it's been asked before but I'd really like to know more about the logic and your belief system so don't be afraid to go into detail if you can. Have a great day! —Dominic
Hey, Dominic!
Solid question! It seems these days, the common take is that believing a God exists is the same as worshipping them (and that, therefore, if you only worship God, you can't even acknowledge the possibility of other gods existing). We see this manifest in weird ways: people assuming other gods are just fairytales, people assuming other gods are demons or fallen angels, etc. My own dad asked me this same question and brought up the famous line from Exodus 20:3:
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
However, there's something funny about this command. If no other gods actually existed, what would even be the point of giving this commandment? Wouldn't it just be obvious that the other gods didn't actually exist in the first place?
This is what people will try to say that the following line about idols implies: that these gods people were worshipping were only ever carved statues that never had any divine life in them. However, when we read works like James L. Kugel's The God of Old, we discover that the reason these idols existed was because there was an entire ritual to specifically drag the gods out of heaven and stuff them into the idols so that they'd be closer to the people and therefore able to answer prayers faster (as it was thought the prayers had to travel a long way up to heaven before the gods heard them). These spells would open the nose so they could breathe, unblind the eyes so they could see, open the mouth so they could eat, etc. It's also why God's insistence that He's just going to pop His presence into the little tent-like tabernacle thing at will is so radical: He's basically saying absolutely not, you will not trap Me in a piece of rock.
But when we look at earlier parts of Exodus, we see God described as having "punished the gods of Egypt" (Exodus 12:12). How can you punish what doesn't exist? And when Moses meets his father in law, Jethro, sociopolitical context tells us this man is of the Midians, who had their own gods going on. Jethro acknowledges God as most supreme of all, but never does he actually denounce any gods the Midians might've followed. My Jewish Study Bible's footnotes point out that this alludes to the idea that only Israelites were expected to follow God alone, and Gentiles were not expected to do the same; rather, they just had to recognize God as supreme, especially when walking through the lands God holds for His people.
Early Judaism was therefore once monolatrist, not monotheist. This means that rather than only believing one god exists, the faith once believed all gods existed, but only one was worth worshipping. It would be another several centuries before that position became more radical and concentrated into true monotheism, and that was largely for political reasons; it was one thing to say your God was supreme, and a whole other level of disrespect and scorn on your enemies to say that your God was the only one that even existed while everyone else was worshipping useless nothings.
Nonetheless, that's where I fall now: monolatry. I believe all gods exist, but that doesn't mean I worship them or that I want to. It means I acknowledge they are alive and sentient and independent, and that they no doubt have very special relationships with their worshippers, but that they aren't my God. My God, and my God alone, deserves my devotional love and worship, especially as worship is, to me, ultimate submission, sacrifice, and servitude; I would never do that for anyone except God.
That doesn't mean other deities don't pop by sometimes or that I'm not allowed to acknowledge them and say hello to them, though. To say that would be to say that you're not allowed to acknowledge or talk to anyone else's parents because you already have parents. Of course you can say hello, and maybe even learn some helpful things from them, but you can never replace your parents with them, you know? Similar idea here.
How Can I Incorporate Jesus into My Path as a Pagan Practitioner?
Hi Sara! I am a Lokean, and have been working with Loki for almost 10 years. I also work with Aphrodite, and have been for about 1.5 years. My practice is very eclectic and I go where my heart takes me. Feeling a pull towards Jesus recently has been wonderful but also very confusing, as all resources I have found within the Christian Witch sphere seem to be from the perspective of Christians discovering witchcraft, rather than an established Pagan wanting to work with Jesus/with the concepts of Christianity...
Please can I have some advice on approaching Christianity and Jesus as someone who already works with different deities who are a fixed and non-negotiable part of my life? Am I able to even do this at all? As I am so new to everything, I thought it would be best to reach out and hear from someone whose perspective I very much trust on my new journey. Thank you so much! —Opal
Hi, Opal!
You know, you're right! We do spend a lot of time talking about this from a Christian angle, and likely because it's the Christian angle that confuses people the most when trying to integrate this stuff (after all, kind of hard to combine Christianity and witchcraft if you can't square those weird Bible verses, y'know?) But for folks who are pulled back to Jesus from paganism and non-Christian witchcraft, it seems there's a bit of a hole.
We'll have to work on that!
I can tell you from the jump that the concept you're asking after, Christopaganism, isn't new. In fact, my good friend Hannah (@spirituali.tea) is a Christopagan that works with Loki, Ares, God/Jesus, and King Asmodeus. In her view, God is a deity like any other, and she gives each of them time and devotion on their hallowed days throughout the week. Since everyone's understanding of God is different, everyone's approach to Him will vary, and this is no exception.
Especially if we're talking about Jesus, Son of God, things get a little more lax, ironically. From a more traditionally Christian perspective, though, we can also get to a place where other deities aren't barred from the conversation. If we think about God not in literal terms, like He's some bearded dude in the sky, but in the raw Divinity He is and that we as humans have a hard time broaching without all these images and symbols, we find something really interesting.
God the Son (Jesus, Son of God) is not exactly the same as God the Father (God) or God the Spirit (The Holy Spirit/Sophia). They're all God, but different pieces of Him. Jesus is the Word made flesh, the Logos of God, also called firstborn of all creation; this means that He's like, the "mind," the ethics and logic of God, the place where how we are to love and how we are to be makes any sense (and that's why it's said that the only way to God is through the Son; because how are you going to come to God, who, at His most abstract, is these concepts of love, compassion, and justice along with everything else, without knowing the How of approaching these concepts?). However, Jesus is also Son of Man. He's fully Man as much as fully Divine, and this means He is able to connect with us in ways raw Divinity just can't. He's here to talk to us and connect with us directly, to be our High Priest and teacher, as Mary Magdalene calls Him ("Rabbouni").
So of course He can come around when other deities around. Other deities existing doesn't diminish His role or make Him any less of a liminal "everywhere all the time" entity. These other deities, from my understanding, have more "fixed" positions and lore, so when Jesus is coming to you, it isn't because He necessarily wants to override or replace any of them, but because He wants to show you new ways of being, living, loving, and understanding the world you live in—and those other deities are very much part of that natural world that He's asking you to really inspect and engage in. In fact, I often hear that Jesus gets along quite well with deities like Loki or Dionysus, which is pretty cool!
In essence: yes, it is possible to invite Jesus into your space even if you don't intend to let go of your other deities. I can't tell you exactly what Jesus wants, though; that's something you have to figure out just by talking to Him. But nothing will blow up or go wrong if you have Jesus and Loki in the same space, so don't worry about that. Just let things unfold naturally as they go.
Should I Leave Christianity?
I’m feeling really torn on whether or not to stay in the Christian faith. I grew up in an evangelical cult and finally found the courage to get away. I went to various churches in the United Church of Christ for a while. I enjoyed the service but didn’t feel connected to God. I’m currently attending a Unitarian Universalist Church via streaming and feel much more spiritually fulfilled. I’m also looking at other pagan paths that seem much more appealing. I pray to God and it seems like he isn’t there. I’m still hearing the voices of my former cult pastors telling me to stay. What advice do you have? —Eclipse
Hey, Eclipse!
First off, I'm sorry you had to spend your youth in a cult of any kind. That alone would be more than understandable as to why you would want to get away from religion in all its forms, so the fact that you're still seeking is honestly really cool! I hope your healing journey is going well!
But my honest advice is that you may need to walk another path for now. God being silent can be for several reasons:
Because you haven't learned how to identify His responses
Because you're subconsciously blocking the messages
Because God genuinely doesn't want to answer you.
When that last one happens, which may very well be what's going on here, it's because God is trying to redirect you in the gentlest way possible: by disappearing. This can also be called the "Dark Night of the Soul": it's when God seems to just wink out of existence and leave you there alone, shattering every preconceived idea you have of Him. This is where you need to navigate these spiritual trials by yourself, just as Jesus did those 40 days in the desert. A lot of people, though, when getting here, get scared (as one might expect). Then, desperate for safety and familiarity, they run back to religious institutions they can easily predict and that feel stable to them—making even abusive, cult-like environments they grew up in preferable to the sheer Nothingness that suddenly seems to be waiting for them when they approach the Divine.
This may be a result of the first two reasons, that you can't seem to get ahold of God. But it also might be because this is your Dark Night; this is your wilderness moment. Maybe that means you journey out, meet other gods, do other things, for the time being. Maybe that means you let yourself take a few wrong turns and make mistakes, even if the results of them terrify you. But right now is the time where you have to learn to navigate even when it feels like all is lost, and that may mean leaving Christianity (especially as you understand it) and "seeing the spiritual world," so to speak.
Do what you feel pulled to. Note how it makes you feel to be there and what you're learning. Don't rule out the possibility of one day coming back to God—and seeing that He's actually completely different from what you once thought He was.
How Do Spirits Help with Things Like Math?
When we hear about certain deities being associated with geometry or arithmetic, what does that mean? Can they help with math homework? —Tricia
Hi, Tricia!
Honestly, a lot of people thought that spirits were like Pokemon back in the day. Especially when it comes to demons, it was thought you could basically summon, command, and berate them into doing stuff for you, like finding treasure or revealing secrets on math/etc., so you could get ahead of your peers and gain power/enlightenment.
These spirits are smart! Demons, too, often spend a long time learning about things for their own enjoyment/entertainment; they are quite the academics. It's also a piece of Jewish folklore, I believe, that says some demons are spirits not of malevolence and evil, but plain obsession; it means they have a special interest in things like stars or philosophy or rhetoric and can, and will, happily tell you all about it—sometimes for a price.
So theoretically... call the right one, be nice, and they very well could help you get better at math for your math homework, yes.
Can Only Divine People Like Jesus Do Miracles?
I listened to a source that referenced a catholic resource that stated the reason why the average person shouldn't practice magic is because "The miracles Jesus exercised is of His divine power. And if you are not divine, then it's not within your right to exercise divine power...that's extremely sinful." She gives context for this around the 10 minute mark. —Anonymous
Hey!
For clarity: since your question was in two parts, I'm going to treat it like two separate questions!
As for this first source... woof. Please know that I'm by no means directing any of the incoming grumbling at you at all, but to be frank, if I'd found this on my own, I'd have clicked away the second this person just started scrolling through a bunch of clipped English Bible verses with no consideration for the sociopolitical or historical context of their original language. That's why books like Discovering Christian Witchcraft exist: so people can get proper understanding of what these verses were about!
Moreover, it seems the Catholic priest this person was talking about gave absolutely no consideration to quite a few important things in the Bible. It's really funny that the priest himself said to this lady that you have to take all of the Old and New Testament together, without cherry picking, because if he did so, he never would've said this. Jesus Himself tells us that all things He could do, we can do when we put our faith in Him (John 14:12), and He proves it when Peter is out there walking on the water with Him for a second (before plunking into the water for his sudden doubts and fears) in Matthew 14:28-30. It also ignores when St. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" (That first part can also be translated: "that person is a new creation.")
In Jesus, through our faith, we are capable of performing miracles because we are directly connected, hooked up so to speak, to God's grace and glory and will. We become, as so many mystics have said throughout the history of the Church, the hands and feet of God. We become the physical conduits of God's ineffable, supernatural workings. That's the whole thing about being a Christian Witch.
And the Old Testament shows how that happens. Not a single one of these people were Jesus, and yet they were doing some crazy shit; Elijah was invoking God's name and calling down the fire (which a couple Apostles with Jesus later asked if they should do to critics who insulted Jesus in Luke 9:54-55), Elisha invoked the power of God when kids made fun of him for being bald (to which God responded with two bears to tear them all apart lol wild), Moses did all kinds of crazy shit during and after the whole Escape from Egypt™ story, there are entire rituals outlined in Leviticus for the priests to do to heal people from illness, and God commanded the use of divination tools known as the Urim and Thummim to get answers when the elders couldn't agree on what the scriptures meant. All of that is done through people who aren't Jesus, and who certainly arent divine.
The caveat that people will bring up, of course, is that God is the one actually doing the magic, not people. In fact, Moses gets royally screwed and banned from seeing the Holy Land he dragged everyone out of Egypt to see when he accidentally takes credit for a miracle instead of attributing it to God. There's also Simon the Magos in Acts, who is clearly doing some kind of magic, but pretending it's of the Holy Spirit when it's actually not. However, that... doesn't change anything about what I said earlier about Christian magic.
Because Christian magic operates on the connection we have with God. We are, again, the hands and feet of God; our magic is powerful because it is God's magic that we are channeling down into less of a "blow up the whole town and then some" type of way and more a "God works in mysterious ways" type of way. In fact, if anything, Simon's story just proves that people do have some residual energy, some spark, in them, and his only real crime here was passing that little spark off as the full might and glory of God when it was not (along with trying to buy the secrets of the Holy Spirit after). But it's through that spark that we can actually connect with and properly channel the glory God sends down to us from our invocations. In the end, that's all that magic even was back in the day anyway; any pagan spell format doesn't have people just slinging spells like guns in the wild west, but instead doing elaborate rituals to invoke a deity or spirit to do the work for them.
When a Christian Witch invokes God's attention, asks His permission, gets it, and channels that glory down through their own souls... that is magic. And it is perfectly within our rights to do so, as reconciled, newly created beings with the soul God gave us that has that capability in the first place. So I don't know what the hell that priest was on about, but it wasn't right, in my opinion (and that lady didn't do any deeper research into this topic either, from what I can see; just asking one priest of one denomination who also clearly didn't know anything about this stuff and went parroting the same old tripe about demons and whatever isn't enough to concretely say Christian Witchcraft is impossible). This video does little more than give Christians an excuse to not do the work they need to do to understand their own faith, and that's annoying.
What Counts as New Age?
I saw the video where you were pretty tough on "New Agers." I guess I was wondering where you draw the line between New Age and Witchcraft? ... I always felt torn because I know that goes against the traditional church's teachings. I'll also admit that if I start learning too much about the occult and neglect Jesus, I start to feel like a dry husk. I lose that personal connection with Christ. But, when I leave out the New Age side of myself, I start to feel less alive as well. —Anonymous
Hello again!
That last part is something I really want to highlight, because it is the underpinning of all this conversation, isn't it? It's like learning art. If all you ever learn are the techniques and theory, but you never learn how to garner and channel your inspiration and creative spirit, the art will never feel complete. Occult things are more like a science than anything; they're techniques that help you stitch yourself deeper into that relationship with God in a more grounded and intentional way, but they are for the purpose of connecting with God; neglect God, and you neglect the very heart of your studies. Neglect your studies, and you neglect God. They go together.
Now, as for what I define as New Age: this has some specific meanings. It isn't just anyone using crystals or herbs or anything, but is rather a mindset that's specific to the 1960s on: it's a term that covers a broad range of ideologies that essentially mean people are being "awakened," connected, by vague (and often watered down) spiritual concepts. Things like chakras and yoga are not New Age; those two specifically are from Hinduism, for example, but they've become a victim of New Age mentalities by having western audiences just pluck them from their context and misapply them to everyday life.
It also seems that a lot of what is considered "New Age" is just repackaged evangelism. 5D Ascension is the Rapture; "higher vibrations" and "lower vibrations" are "holy" and "demonic," etc. There are also several genuinely problematic views like starseeds (an idea that people are reincarnated aliens or something and that's why they're so "different," when in reality, these people are often just in need of a screening for neurodivergence; lots of kids with autism go undiagnosed and therefore unsupported when shit like starseeds runs amok).
One can easily be spiritual without doing or believing stuff like this, and that's why I point out New Age specifically when I talk about nasty spiritual traps outside high control Christianity.
Is There a Non-Problematic Bible?
What is the christian bible that doesn't condemn witchcraft, divination and magic, and doesn't have toxic verses with misogyny? Does that bible includes believing in reincarnation and ghosts/spirits ? —Anonymous
Hey, there!
Nope. No such Bible exists. The thing about the Bible is that you have to take it as it is. It's a document that spans nearly 2,000 years, and if you know just how different America as a country is now from when it started 250 years ago, then you bet that over the course of 2,000 years, a lot of things are going to shift and get crazy as life goes on. It's an ancient faith, and that means it's full of ancient ideas that you'll have to grapple with, contextualize, and learn to accept for what it is. No sugar coating the past.
How Did You Know Christian Witchcraft was Right for You?
How did you know you're on the right path as I was told that I have to either be a Christian or a witch. And I find myself being drawn to both paths. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. —Anonymous
Hi!
Whoever told you that hasn't picked up a copy of Discovering Christian Witchcraft, that's for sure! However, this is a great question, and I think it can be answered when you answer another few questions first:
Why do you want to be a witch?
Why do you want to be Christian?
What is magic to you, and how would you use it?
What would you do with unlimited power?
Why do/would you want power to begin with?
I've made a video on YouTube about my journey into being a Christian Witch, but the truth is that I knew it was right for me because I knew there was more to the world than all this mundane, dull existence. I was always enamored with fantasy and with a world beyond ours, and eventually, when I learned how magic in this world works, I just could not fathom why God would say this is off limits. Why? For what?
It was asking these questions that the door opened for Him to show me what I'd been craving as a child, and what, as an adult, helps me best connect to God and the commandments of God: the one that directs me to love Him and love others. With this path, I can move through some really difficult things without fear; I can see the big picture of a situation without panicking, and I can acquire wisdom under God's direction that helps me become the hands and feet of God Himself.
This is what Christian Witchcraft is really about: not our own glory, or our own power, or our own comfort, but giving us the tools to move mountains with just a little mustard seed's worth of faith. Showing us the way to enacting goodness and love and justice and mercy in this world per God's will. That's why I asked these other questions. If you're only seeking this to make your own life easier or yourself stronger, you miss the point entirely. To join this path is to sacrifice a lot for the greater good and put yourself last, so you can become the floor in which you hold up all of God's other creatures who need help, guidance, and healing. It isn't about us. It's about God. Yet a lot of people, Christians and witches alike, forget this.
So ask yourself if you're ready to help be a healer and a guide to the broken and the lost. Ask if you're ready to do that without accolades and fame and fortune. Ask if you're willing to be villainized and martyred for the sake of others' peace, love, life, and freedom. Then, maybe, this path might be for you.
Will You Teach Christian Witch Classes?
Hi! Are you planning on having a course on Christian witchcraft? Thanks—appreciate your work. —Werku
Hi, Werku!
Unfortunately, I just don't have the time right now to do any official classes. It may be something I do in the future, though, and I'll be sure to let everyone know if/when I do! But for now, my friend Hannah (@spirituali.tea) has classes on Christian Witchcraft you may like.
Do You Have Any Hungarian/Slovenian Resources?
Do you have any resources or recommendations for specifically Hungarian-Slovene traditions? I’m trying to reconnect with my roots. —Anonymous
Hello!
I sure do! (At least, for Slovenian folk sources. I don't know much of anything about Hungarian.) When it comes to finding resources, what you want to look into is a country's ethnography (the study of their ethnic traditions/stories/etc.). Folktales, folk traditions, folk remedies, all these come into play, and that includes things like folk charms.
With Slovenian practice, two books I recommend are SACRED PLANTS IN FOLK MEDICINE & RITUALS: Ethnobotany of Slovenia by Vlasta Mlakar and Styrian Witches in European Perspective: Ethnographic Fieldwork by Mirjam Mencej. You'll have to read in between the lines on a lot of these, as they're more academic and not written the way witchcraft books are, but you can glean a lot of people's beliefs and folk rituals/understanding from them.
In terms of papers, Saša Babič is a scholar with many articles like "Contemporary Forms of Slovenian Love Charms" and "Charms in Slovenian Culture." These will give you a great head start in looking into at least the Slovenian sides of things.
Why Does Ephesians Tell Wives to Be Submissive to Husbands?
Hi Sara! I’m interested in getting back into church, and I’m looking at my local episcopal parish. It’s my understanding that you’re a member of the episcopal church. Could you talk about some of your experiences with it? Especially as it comes to being a witch who has spoken with pagan gods? —CT
Hi, CT!
Honestly, I love my church. It was thanks to my friend Father Kyle, also an Episcopal priest, that I even considered the denomination, and after talking to the priests that work there (the first one left shortly after I started attending, but the one who took up his role is really cool too!). While the people themselves in any place you go can be a bit hit or miss, I find that:
A lot of folks are way more open than we might think when talking to them about stuff like magic and all that
You also don't have to reveal any information about yourself that you're not comfortable revealing.
Like, both of my priests have told me it's my choice to let it slip if I'm a witch or not. I've been testing the waters, and from what I can see, people I talk to don't really care (or at least, they're nice enough not to say anything and are happy to talk about what you do connect on). In my opinion, it's safer to test out a place, feel it out, see how the people are and how they interact, and get to know them first before you start introducing tough concepts like this.
But otherwise, it's a perfectly fine experience. You can tell that God is actually there in a good church; His vibe is a little lighter when everyone's there for good reasons and is moved together to sing and chat and meditate under His mantle. It's peaceful and friendly and upbeat, and while I haven't ever felt any other spirits hanging around, I do think that even if they were to come by, they'd be on good behavior the way anyone would when walking into another person's house.
I mostly just go for the quieter 8AM service, a cup of coffee, a little chatting with folks, and then I go home. It's chill and a good way to start my week, and if that's something you're looking for, I'd take the plunge and get out there. If they've never seen you before, the priest may welcome you (they remember everyone's faces, it seems!), but aside from that Newcomer Awkwardness, it's totally cozy. (At least, my church is.)
Ask Your Questions!
Remember, all your questions can go to this Google form, so don't hesitate to reach out! I'm looking forward to seeing what questions people have in the future, and I hope this has been a helpful read! Thank you everyone who participated!
—Sara
Sara Raztresen is a Slovene-American writer, screenwriter, and Christian witch. Her fantasy works draw heavily on the wisdom she gathers from her own personal and spiritual experience, and her spiritual practice borrows much of the whimsy and wonder that modern society has relegated to fairy-and-folktale. Her goal is to help people regain their spiritual footing and discover God through a new (yet old) lens of mysticism.
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