Here's another round of Q&A for August!
Welcome back to August's monthly advice column! We've got another ten questions to get through, so let's hop right on in.
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!
What Do You Think of the Book of Mormon?
"Right now I’m a member of the LDS church and I’m looking into the history of it. What do you think about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon? Do you think God really came down and revealed everything and restored the church? Was the BOM translated through the Holy Ghost or was Joseph making it all up?" —Loretta
Oh, God, the Book of Mormon.
Now, here's the thing: it would honestly be super hypocritical of me to wave off Joseph Smith out of hand. After all, the way this guy claimed to have received his revelation is essentially like any other prophet of the Bible (the golden plates mirroring the tablets of the Ten Commandments) and the direct visions he got look like anything St. Paul or other such figures would've seen. At first pass, I can see why one would want to believe that Joseph Smith knew what he was talking about and was being authentic.
However, this is a prime reason why the Bible also calls us to "test the spirits": or, rather, test the validity of ideas, spirits, people, any of it. Because when I think of Joseph Smith, I don't think of Moses or St. Paul or anyone else; I think of Simon the Magos from Acts, who tricked very many people into thinking he was, himself, a god, or at least someone favored by God, with magic.
Joseph Smith was a known charlatan, is the thing. He was water witching at one point and taking money for leading people to sources of water with his mysterious powers. At one point, he was even arrested for disorderly conduct and fraud in New York, with threatening public officials in Missouri, and all kinds of other unsavory things. It's not to say God hasn't ever taken a mess of a person and made them an instrument of His will; it's that this is a man we know has a history of lying to people for gain. With this golden plate business, too, he happened to be smack dab in the middle of a time period where all kinds of new denominations and methods of exploring Christianity were popping up like daisies amidst a hectic time in American history.
Did these plates that Smith pulled out of the ground actually exist? Sure, we can say that. Plenty of people saw and handled them. But were they actually gold, and did they actually come from God, or did he maybe just make them out of tin and pretend, like some historians theorize? I'm leaning towards the latter, because some of the most goofy Mormon beliefs are so insanely out of line with the Bible, it's not even funny—the biggest example being that Joseph Smith and his successor Brigham Young taught that Black people apparently are black because they're under the curse of Cain and Ham. What the hell? (They've updated this now, I think, but good Lord, it's still a mess that this was ever in there from the originator of the religion.)
Between this, the magic underwear ("temple garments") that they insist people wear (even at the detriment to people's health because of how unbreathable they traditionally are), the random aversion to something like caffeine (???), and the many odd little discrepancies in their theology and doctrine, I can say at best it seems like a really goofy sect of Christianity, and at worst it's a pile of nonsense started by a total charlatan. I personally lean more to the latter.
But hey—if people wanna be Mormon, I'm not going to try and stop them. I'm just going to hope they take a real critical eye to it. If you do, and you find it still works for you, then by all means, have a blast.
Do We Need to Get Baptized to Be a Christian Witch?
"If I want to change my faith from Buddhism to a Christian witch, do I need to get a baptized in order to be recognized as a member of a specified Church first? As in that I need to be a Christian before I am able to practice a Christian witchcraft. I am not sure if Christian witchcraft is a closed practice or not.
Oh! Also I read what the dragon said about some of us dying in the flesh and others in the soul. I’ve had a theory that not all of us have souls, some of us are like conscious NPC’s (lol) and I’ve always been terrified that I just happen to be one of them. Could you shed some light on that? Thank you!" —Ashley
Hey, Ashley!
Like we discussed last month, Christian Witchcraft is by no means closed. However, there are some more official conversion steps to look into that can really help the process along. You don't have to do any of this stuff to profess a faith in Christ and start doing witchcraft, but it'll help your spiritual connection in the long run if you decide that Christianity is truly for you.
The good news is that as an adult, you only need to get baptized; there's no need for confirmation, which is more for the denominations that still do infant baptism (Catholic, Episcopal, etc.). Whether or not you decide to go to any specific church doesn't matter; once baptized, you get a record of it that you can take anywhere. For example: I was baptized in a Catholic church, and all I had to do to get confirmed in an Episcopal church was give them the date and location of my baptism. That's a universal thing recognized by all churches (though I have heard some Protestant rhetoric that getting baptized as a kid "doesn't count" because we couldn't make the conscious choice yet—even though that's literally what confirmation is for).
To practice specifically Christian witchcraft, though, yeah, you'd wanna be Christian first. There's a whole specific philosophy of magic in Christianity that separates it from other witchcraft. But witchcraft is a practice, so you could do it with just about any religion, or with no religion at all, so if any of this about baptism and stuff is uncomfortable to you, then that doesn't mean you're barred from the craft altogether.
As for your theory that not all people have souls: I guess first you'd have to identify what a soul is to you. I think everything alive has a soul: from animals to plants to bugs to plankton. And many souls (or spirits) don't have bodies in the first place, like house spirits! And then many spirits can be created with enough energy from even just a magical practitioner (tulpas, egregores, etc.)! If you are a conscious, fully realized person, with your own autonomy and thoughts and energy, then it's impossible to not have a soul. And even if, by your theory, people were born without them, then by virtue of their own life force, they manage to become their own soul the way a tulpa does, at the very least.
So I really wouldn't worry about that. It just doesn't seem possible to me, honestly.
How Do We Know Other Gods Exist?
"I'm the type that requires experience in order to believe. How can I know that there is in fact more than one God? And are they considered to be lesser gods than our Christian God? If there's other gods, where are they? Do they share the same place as God in the Heavens? Or do they have their own kingdoms in other outer worlds?" —Anonymous
Hey, there!
This is an interesting question, because it makes me ask you why you believe there's one God and not zero gods, in this case. Have you had a direct experience with God that makes you believe in Him? If so, have you ever tried to have an experience with other gods (whether by inviting them, talking to them, asking for them, etc.)? Or does this idea make you uncomfortable (and if it does, why)?
Ironically, I went the complete opposite direction that you went in. I said, "well, if there can be one God, there can be many gods. Who am I to say that only mine is real when other people are clearly interacting with something that is not God and calling it divine?" And that's what got me on my personal journey of speaking with spirits: with angels, demons, Saints, and even pagan deities. It's what my work Where the Gods Left Off is all about!
And in my conversations with these gods, I've found that they do have their own realms, like the many different underworlds across different faiths (Nav, Hades, etc.)—and so do the souls that come under their fold. Some people will never resonate with Greek gods no matter how much everyone else loves them, and some people will only find a home with Javanese or Korean or other deities even when everyone tells them to convert to the "truth" (Christianity, Islam, or whatever else). That's because everyone is aligned with certain divinities; all of them had some hand in creation, and the souls they create know intuitively that something isn't right if they end up on the wrong path.
You might think of these gods as part of the Divine Council mentioned in Psalm 82 and elsewhere in the Bible. You might also think of all gods as facets of the One God—including the one of the Bible, who, if you go back far enough, started as a god of lightning and storms and war way back in pagan Canaan. There are many ways to understand it, but I would actually take the time to go confront these gods myself if I had a question like you have. They're there. Just give them a shout and see who shows up.
Which Bible Do You Recommend?
"What Bible would you recommend? I am looking for one that is fairly easy to read and hopefully contains the Apocrypha and as much info as possible but without word vomit interpretations on the bottom of the pages. Thank you so much for your time and response 😁" —Victoria
Hi, Victoria!
My personal favorites will always be the Jewish Study Bible and Jewish Annotated New Testament. They're both written in plain, modern English and come with loads of scholarship to better explain the nuances of the text. This series also has Jewish Annotated Apocrypha, which gives you the Jewish side of apocrypha (like the Wisdom of Solomon).
Another great one for specifically apocrypha, though, is A New New Testament by Hal Taussig. This provides some good introductions to each book and adds a lot of really cool early Christian writing that got tossed out for one reason or another (like the early Christian poem, 'The Thunder, Perfect Mind').
At the end of the day, though, if you're looking for a quick translation online or something, I always opt for the New International Version (NIV) because it's written plainly and is easy to get through. It's good for when you gotta look something up quick. You can also cross reference it with online interlinear Bibles that let you see the Greek or Hebrew words used, too.
Is There More Context Behind Sexism in the Bible?
"A lot of people like to mention the thought of the bible having sexist themes. I, myself, have not read the entire bible but I have seen quoted verses; 1 Timothy 2:12 or Leviticus 15:20. I wondered if there is some kind of theology or context behind these lines." —Angie
Hey, Angie!
So, I'll be real with you: there's sexism in the Bible because sexism has always been a part of human history (hell, it still is today). As much as people want to say the Bible is the infallible word of God, the fact is that there is obviously very human bias and thought lacing every page, because no matter how clearly God speaks to us, we filter it through our own human minds (including our understanding, our perspective, and our prejudices). So when you see something sexist in the Bible... it's because the person who wrote it is steeped in that sexist culture of the time like a vanilla bean in some some good quality liquor for vanilla extract. It's not that these people were going out of their way to be terrible, either; that was literally just how things were.
For example, let's take a look at that 1 Timothy verse you mentioned:
I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.
Ain't this one a kicker? But there are a few things to know about 1 Timothy overall before we get into it:
Most modern scholars don't consider this something St. Paul actually wrote (and it sure would fly in the face of his comment in Galatians about how there's neither male nor female and all that)
This was a letter to a specific person, and having this letter means we only have half the conversation
All of St. Paul's letters (that we know he wrote) were directed to specific groups, like the church in Thessalonia, Corinth, Ephesia, etc.; they were like a priest's e-mails to his specific congregation, not a prophet's word to all believers.
All this was being said in the context of a hyper sexist Roman culture (and it's actually thought that 1 Timothy was written as a counter measure against an equally influential early Christian writing at the time known as the Acts of Paul and Thecla that was oddly empowering for women in its day).
Knowing all this, yeah! The goon that penned this was, in my opinion, a sexist reactionary appalled at the idea of women speaking or not popping out kids while their husband plays Mr. Important in public! But any of St. Paul's actual writings (like those to the church in Corinth) that deal with women speaking are more because women at that time were not used to being out in public forums or spaces and didn't have the proper etiquette; they'd be interrupting sermons and shouting over people to ask questions. Not very good for learning spaces. St. Paul was actually weirdly progressive for women; saying men should love their wives was actually pretty radical in a Roman society where men were taught their wives were just women, which were a dime a dozen, and to not get "distracted" by them.
Society doesn't just do a 180 overnight. The Bible having these things in it just goes to show that, and goes to show that it is a very human text as much as it could ever be a divine one. There's no use denying that the Bible has messy things in it; it's stuff we all have to grapple with as we see the world continue stepping, bit by bit, towards the equality and righteousness God wants us to get to (which He does want us to get to, and we know it when we read things like in Galatians 3:28).
Who is Mammon in the Bible? Is He Connected to the Evangelical Egregore?
"Have you already done an interview with "Mammon" ? What is the link between Mammon and the Egregore/ the Shell of God ? Is Mammon a part of it or are they two different things?" —Mevan
Hey, Mevan!
Mammon was a euphemism for riches or wealth in the Bible, especially wealth that corrupted people (namely via greed). It was in the middle ages when this Mammon concept became fully realized as its own demon, and is now known as one of the seven princes of hell, but it's possible that it was a deity of a neighboring culture at the time; some early Christians like Gregory of Nyssa thought it might've been another name for Beelzebub (which, in itself, is a play on the name Baal Zebul, meaning "god of the lofty abode").
At this point, with how much people have poured into the concept of Mammon as a real entity, I don't doubt some demon or spirit surrounding this thing did actually manifest. However, I don't think it's anything driving the Evangelical Egregore. It could have been a bug planted in people by the Shell of God when the knowledge of good and evil came about—the knowledge of money, wealth, and the power that comes with it, which is inherently corrupting—but I've never spoken to Mammon because I don't really think of Mammon as the demon; more just as the concept like it's used in the Bible.
Is Reading Tarot Cards a Sin?
"I’m of Catholic believes but I also enjoy tarot and it’s always been a conflict if it’s going against God. Since the Bible says divination is a sin. If I were to start practicing tarot or have my cards read is that going against God ?" —Illiette
Hey, Illiette!
You're in luck, because just a couple weeks ago, we went in depth on that question. You can read about it here. To summarize, though, no, reading tarot cards is not a sin. It's the same exact thing in practice as casting lots, which we see many people throughout the Bible do to get a more concrete, tangible symbol of God's answers—including the Apostles, who used lots to see who God wanted to replace Judas as one of the twelve Apostles.
I will say this, though: you gotta remember that the cards themselves are just cards. They're pieces of paper with pictures on them. It's not the cards that are giving you answers about anything; it's whoever is guiding you to pull the cards. As a Catholic, you don't wanna let just anybody hanging around answer your questions any more than you want to invite any random person off the street to fix your plumbing.
When it comes to Christians (or really any witch) using tarot cards: make sure you specify who you want to be answering your questions. In our case, that someone is God (or maybe Jesus or a specific Saint or angel if you wanna chat with them specifically).
How Do You Connect With Your Guardian Angel?
"How do you connect with your guardian angel and learn their name? Is this through meditation or looking for signs?" —Sean
Hey, Sean!
I'll start by saying this journey looks different for everyone, but for me, I just reached out and asked for signs. I got the most massive Times New Roman letter Z in my head, and then just left it there for years before having this niggling thought that maybe the angel had something to do with my rising sign. With Angels and Archangels in hand, I went and found that the leader of the Sagittarius angels was Zadkiel—the Z I'd seen. But knowing that archangels aren't usually guardian angels, if at all, I then went down the list and asked my angel: "Is this you?" Eventually, I got a positive response on Omemiah, and after looking into him and his gifts, it all made sense.
But you could absolutely meditate, or even shuffle a deck of Travis McHenry's Angel Tarot cards and see which card your angel directs you to. Just pay attention, though, because it's rare an angel will give you an answer without putting you through some hoops first.
Who is Your Favorite Woman in the Bible?
"Who is your favorite women in the Bible? Mine is Ester; she slays." —Katie
Hey, Katie!
Honestly, Deborah and the Witch of En Dor.
Deborah because she took no shit and led a nation to victory when they were too busy with their ass in their hands (and has since been slandered by theologians forevermore for being "arrogant" or whatever sad and insecure men wanna say), and the Witch of En Dor because she is an incredibly human character who can recognize Saul's pain and doom and still extend a bit of compassion to him before he leaves her. The Witch is such a sweetheart; no one can convince me otherwise!
What Resources Do You Recommend For Other Correspondences?
"Hi Sara! I am so glad I found your blog; it feels like God answered my question about if he was ok with me learning about magic and witchcraft. Are there any good resources you recommend to learn about correspondences? I have some books about crystals and herbs, but how about colors, planets, signs etc.? Greetings from Costa Rica!" —Stephanie
Hey, Stephanie!
Ah, books like these can be really personal from one practitioner to another because everyone has different preferences. When it comes to stuff like colors, I usually just Google that; there are plenty of free blogs and witchy resources online. But for astrology, my favorite is definitely The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need. It's packed with information on signs, planets, houses, all that.
I also have some weird little books, like Mushroom Magick, which deals specifically with different types of mushrooms (a life saver for a kitchen witch), and Angels and Archangels, which is great to not only get a sense of angels, but which ones are connected with each tarot card, too. The rest of mine are mostly academic or to do with herbs and stones.
Do I Have to be Catholic to Work With Angels?
"Can I work with the archangels or saints even if I'm not really Catholic? So far, I'm only questioning my religion as of right now and uh.. I'm just curious if I can work with them regardless of my religion.. 😓" —Anonymous
Hey, there!
Good news: angels are out to help everyone, if God allows it. This means angels have absolutely come and helped people of different faiths before. The only thing to keep in mind is that they serve God first, not people, and so if God says they shouldn't help you, they won't. (Rarely have I seen that be the case, though, like rarely, and that even happens to believers, too, so it's not religion specific if God shuts someone off the Angel Tap).
Reach out to the angels and see if they're willing to help! That's the best way to know.
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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