Because some start-ups just don't work out, I guess.
As a Christian Witch, I get questions every single day from beginning and experienced practitioners (and Christians) alike. It's part of what makes being online so fun: realizing how much I can share with the people who make up this Christian Witch community, and realizing how much I still have to learn when I get a question about things I've never considered or even heard about.
At one point, I had a place to put these questions: a site called FIVE, where folks could ask any question they wanted and that I could answer as they came. However, it seems they've shifted track. What was once a place for Q&A style community seems to now... only be interested in transforming Instagram followers into mailing list information (and for a wild fee).
However, the concept of a Q&A place is something that I know is still so valuable to this community, and I'm looking to keep it around. That's why we're starting up our own once-monthly Q&A column right here on this blog!
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!
With that said, here are some questions I've been meaning to get to, but haven't had the chance to just yet:
How Do You View the Trinity as a Christian Witch?
"Could you explain how the trinity works or how you see it as a Christian witch?" —@shininghuman
I see the Trinity the way I would see a diamond. No matter what facet you look at it from—and no matter how different it looks from each side—it's all the same diamond.
When we think about the Trinity, it's more than just us experiencing God; it's also God experiencing Himself (the Son) and keeping in touch with the root of all He is (the Spirit). Back in the day, Christians also use to think of the Spirit as the Mother, adding another layer to this system that balances the Masculine/Feminine aspects of God. Given that the Spirit is often seen as a feminine force (Ruach being a feminine word in Hebrew, along with Chokhmah, or Wisdom, which is also used to describe the Holy Spirit), it makes sense that this would be the case: that God has split Himself into more easily digestible facets and pieces for us.
Moreover, with the art of Jesus that depicts Him both with male and female imagery (the way painters once represented His wound on His ribcage was... something else), it seem Jesus Himself also represents the intersection of Male and Female into an Other that, conveniently, also helps us think outside this system of polarity, too. Whereas God is always One Thing and the Spirit is always Another, it seems Jesus combines these opposites into One as the third part of the Trinity.
In the end, it's just more ways for us to come closer to God and understand the strange and unthinkable way He works and weaves Himself into the world.
What do you think about the Eucharist?
"Hi, I’m currently reading your book. I’m a psychotherapist and I’m looking to integrate Christianity into my work. I’m curious, what do you think about the Eucharist?"
First off, thank you for grabbing a copy of Discovering Christian Witchcraft! To answer your question, hands down, I love the Eucharist. I think it's so cool and a piece of religion from a time when religion was actually transformative and active, not purely metaphorical or symbolic. Catholics, Orthodox folks, and Episcopalians still believe, after all, that the little wafer literally transforms into the flesh of Christ (a concept known as "real presence").
As witch and a fantasy writer, that stuff gets me so jazzed. Like, yes, priest-man! Do the magic alchemy ritual and make that bread into the literal flesh of God's Son! Incredible!
All that aside, though, I do also think that the Eucharist as a religious tool is something that should be available to everyone. It makes me think of Jurgen Moltmann, who said in his book The Crucified God that rather than making it so that only those that went to confession could have it, it's something that should be available to everyone (and especially folks who have fallen away from the Church, be they as sinners or as lost souls or whatever else people might call them). After all, Jesus says it Himself: He as a doctor of the soul came to help sick people, not healed ones, and that Eucharist is very much spiritual medicine as much as it is spiritual food.
Since this question was asked by a psychologist, too, I'll say that as a tangible item, it's something that can hold a lot of meaning to folks. What does it mean to consume a piece of the Son of the living God? What does that do not only to the soul, but the mind and body? As medicine, what does it heal? These questions are invaluable as people navigate their relationship with faith all over again.
Are There Spiritual Marriage Options Outside Legal Marriage?
"Hi! I was wondering if you could speak on the subject of marriage as a Christian witch? I consider myself a Catholic witch and my fiancé is Christian. We both want to get married, but we’re not interested in involving the government. Do you think there is a way to have a recognized spiritual marriage without state paperwork?"
Of course! There's one thing I've believed for a long time, and that's that "marriage" (AKA rings and licenses and papers) don't create commitment; rather, commitment is marriage.
In fact, the tradition of wedding rings alone was something more from ancient Rome. Back in the day (and I mean... the Biblical day), the whole concept of Women's Rights™ wasn't exactly developed in any real way (as one might imagine, given it was over 4,000 years ago and people still don't really have this stuff figured out even today, never mind back then). The whole concept of legal or binding marriage in the first place had a lot to do with an unsavory, yet undeniable truth of the era: women were bought. Like pigs and chairs and whatnot. That's what the dowry (bride price) was for: fathers of their sons put down a dowry to the fathers of the daughters to make up for the extra set of hands that household would lose when the woman left her house to join her husband's. My Jewish Learning notes that, because of this, the ceremony of betrothal was more important than the actual wedding, because that's when everything was actually established in terms of money and contracts and all that; it wasn't until women started gaining more autonomy and identity as persons vs. property that the marriage became the important part and the betrothal more just a tradition.
All this to say: marriage has always been a legal thing from the get-go (and honestly, you may still want to consider getting a legal license for the sake of things like health insurance/emergencies/etc. which legally wouldn't be possible otherwise), but that doesn't mean that it has to be done in the eyes of the government. Usually it was just between two clans or families, and that was that. To keep that marriage sanctioned before God, therefore, it's really much of the same: what are you promising to your spouse, and what are they promising to you? Whatever it is, marriage means you've made a commitment, and that you'll keep that commitment faithfully. That can look like many different things to you: maybe taking the more symbolic style of marriage common among pagans with handfasting, where a rope is tied around the two partners' hands as vows are said. Maybe it looks more like actually writing up a contract, reading it to each other, signing it, and stamping it with a sigil before burning it to activate it. Maybe it looks like creating a charm or icon with a lock of each of your hair to represent your bond.
Whatever you do, do it under the sight of God and ask Him to join you two together, and boom! You're married! I hope this helps think of new ways to join with your partner in a beautiful and happy marriage!
Ask Your Questions!
Remember, all your questions can now 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!
-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 s
piritual 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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