Water witches are very tolerant of others beliefs and never seek to convert anyone, or to shake any real faith that they have.
Perhaps we should look at all religions and interpretations of them today, considering if they help those who follow them, are people being made to pay for the upkeep of a group who claim special power to themselves, or other benefits, palaces, jobs, cars, salaries etc.
How do the religion teach people to get on with others, and to be better and happier people. Do they help people to deal better with the problems of life, do other members rally round in time of need, do they have that inner comfort or confidence that comes from personally knowing the superior power, in whatever name it is dressed up.
Is it a live religion, relevant to people today, taking in new ideas, open to interpretations, and giving guidance that is of this time. Is it truly tolerant of others beliefs, or does it try to convert everyone irrespective of their wishes or relevance to them. Does it ask new members joining to take the time to think and find out more before committing.
We seek to understand others beliefs, and try not to judge the ideas by the actions of those that proclaim them. The fact therefore that we constantly see different groups of people who claim to have the same book, god and prophets killing each other of terrorizing children in order to press their flavor or brand, does not mean that those who had the original idea 2,000 years ago was wrong, just that people today have perhaps forgot the prime messages that was being taught. We understand also the views of those who say that most of the suffering throughout history and today is a result of religions or that religion can be too easily manipulated by evil groups to justify their actions.
We see religious intolerance, and actions done against any person or group of people in the name of religion, as evil people, and again we seek to understand why this occurs. We do not blame the ancient prophets or books that are perhaps require some updating in order to be relevant to today, nor do we seek to pinpoint individuals at fault, as the problem would appear to devolve through group effects, created when any group or tribe come together against a common enemy. We see similar effects when a large number of police are gathered together anywhere, and told they are to control a potentially violent group, be they poll tax protesters, union organized protest, or some other group, the result is often excessive violence by the uniformed gang. This again may be accounted for by chemical or animal responses, when adrenaline is released men encounter the desires to either fight or flight. as a uniformed band they cannot run away, so their natural desire is to fight. Groups we find also often reinforce themselves by picking on one or more outside the group, in schools this often accounts for bullying, and in less stable countries in civil or other wars.
We may have appears to have digressed a long way from looking at other religions, but what we can learn from all of this is that we have to take great care not to follow their example. In forming a coven, we form a group or tribe, and we must at all times be on the watch for any ill feelings developing against any individual either within our own movement or individuals or groups outside.
We should also realize that often within a group people have little choice but to go along with the group, and in many cases this means one or two people who have an unbalanced amount of influence within the group. Police officers for example can accept and go along with current practices of the group they are in, get transferred to another group or leave. Very large numbers leave. This is nothing to do with pay, cost of housing and all the rest we hear off, and as a group they are very well paid a new constable being paid more that the leading paramedics. Their is no monitoring force over police, and any complaints against them are investigated by other police from the same force or very nearby. their are laws that in theory protect individuals but it is the police who decide if or not to follow them. We could perhaps have chosen other examples, or looked at the effect of Masonic branches within police forces and local government throughout the UK.
In Britain their are three groups beside witchcraft that account for a sizable proportion of followers, Anglican or non conformist Christianity, Catholics and Muslims. Jews, Mormons, and some others fit into the same basic pattern as the three above and are religions that are the followers of a prophet or more than one prophet. In each case the pattern is the same a book is written and prophets up to that point are included but they do not recognize latter ones. Catholics are slightly different as they wee formed by a merger between the early Christian church the Romans were trying to kill off and the roman religion of the day. Christians believe in a trinity god, son and holy ghost, to this the Catholics add a fourth Mary the mother of the son.
The basic pattern and early stories of all are common as are many parts of many of the worlds other religions. A Christian book on world religions explains how they come from a common source. Click here to find out more on this topic. **********
Muslims (Islamic faith) are the other large group, they follow a different book, and later profit, however recognize the Christian prophet as an important prophet. Within Britain they are a minority group and are tolerant to the views of others, this is not the case in countries where they form the majority and there are countries where promoting any other religion is still an offence with the death penalty. Having said this there are very many good features of the Islamic faith, containing much of what was in early Christianity, but has since been lost.
Jews are a common ancestry of both Christians and Muslims, and therefore it would appear so illogical that in Israel they are all so keen on destroying each other. In Britain Jews have a lot of influence in banking, finance and some businesses, and via this political power, that can be bought. Numerically they are a small group.
Eastern beliefs, have small numbers of followers, but are as minority religions tolerant of others here.
New age and witchcraft are often bundled together in many peoples minds, and is the fastest growing area, however most is still carried on secretly. It covers many groups, paths or traditions, and have never been known to harm anyone.
We need to take a closer look at Christianity, as although some Christians will recognize that there is only one superior power whatever you call it, many still insist of quoting out of context, lines of text and some would given the chance take up back to the burning times when so many were murdered, including many who were not witches.
Through history Christianity has been the most misused of all religions creating great suffering, many persecutions, and continues in various forms such as the ongoing conflict in Northern Ireland of Catholics against protestants and the involvement of the church within the indefensibly inhuman prison system within the UK, containing as many men as you would find in a large town or smaller city. Historically covering the crusades, burning times, and the colonialisation of much of the world, which went hand in hand and was justified as converting savages to Christianity, but destroyed cultures, and viable systems of life, leading to many of today's problems in developing countries.
Christianity, historically been an oppressive religion, not tolerant to any other, in many cases not even different brands within its own religion. It has created great wealth, and in many parts of the world we still see catholic bishops in palaces where the population are homeless. The way it controls via threats and scare mongering its followers and insists that its agents are the only agents of god, has lead to it being referred to as the evil empire to this day.
There are various versions as to how early Christianity arrived and effected the UK. When early Christianity entered the UK it also was merged with the pagan religions of the time, and rather than challenging at first the beliefs of the people was overlaid, so holly places had churches built upon them, all feasts, gained a second Christian meaning but retained the same date, and for many years the same practices. Quite e few of those seeking out witchcraft are ordained ministers of Christian churches looking for the meaning behind it all. Likewise today in Britain most people who come to witchcraft traditions have either personal history as being brought up as a Christian, or come from families where this is the case.
In the middle ages, the Christian/catholic church was very powerful, and very much involved in magic, books like "Ancient Christian Magic", list large numbers of spells, amulets and charms. spells for a better singing voice, to stop a dog barking, as well as more major items are included, all from historic Christian texts, showing what the church and its members at that time thought was normal practice. On the back cover it points out that to the early church there was no divide between magic and religion, even within Christianity. It covers primarily the 1st to 12th centuries. After this the church seemed to define sorcery and religion differently, and the move continued until it was to take the extreme view and anyone that spoke of magic in any format was liable to meet an unpleasant end. Eventually within the 18th century, people again started to question things and the variety of the branches of science developed, but now divorced from religion.
We all know of Henry the 8th and his many wives, and his disputes with the greedy and corrupt Rome leading to the formation of the Anglican church. Although this may not be reported completely accurately as it seems it had more to do with power, and who called the shots, than over who was sleeping with who. By this point the catholic church had grown so powerful that it challenged the power of those in power, not for the benefit of the people, but towards creating even greater power, and property ownership than they had accumulated. Over the last few hundred years, there has been many more, with a vast array of different Christian churches competing for the same group. Most claiming different insights into the same books.
Today Christianity in Britain is very different from its roots, much has been discarded, and it has taken on other roles over the years as moral censures. Over recent years several Bishops have openly admitted to not being believers, and we see many churches being closed, or having only one service a month and some converted to houses or pulled down. All posts within the Anglican church in Britain are appointed by the government of the day.
Today numbers have fallen for both catholic and Anglican based religions.