Posted on 10/11/2018 8:00:57 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
The population of self-identified witches has risen dramatically in the United States in recent decades, as interest in astrology and witchcraft practices have become increasingly mainstreamed.
While data is sparse, Quartz noted, the practice of witchcraft has grown significantly in recent decades; those who identify as witches has risen concurrently with the rise of the "witch aesthetic."
"While the U.S. government doesn't regularly collect detailed religious data, because of concerns that it may violate the separation of church and state, several organizations have tried to fill the data gap," Quartz reported.
"From 1990 to 2008, Trinity College in Connecticut ran three large, detailed religion surveys. Those have shown that Wicca grew tremendously over this period. From an estimated 8,000 Wiccans in 1990, they found there were about 340,000 practitioners in 2008. They also estimated there were around 340,000 Pagans in 2008."
Pew Research Center studied the issue in 2014, discovering that 0.4 percent of Americans, approximately 1 to 1.5 million people, identify as Wicca or Pagan, meaning their communities continue to experience significant growth.
The rapid rise is not a surprise to some given philosophical and spiritual trends in culture.
"It makes sense that witchcraft and the occult would rise as society becomes increasingly postmodern. The rejection of Christianity has left a void that people, as inherently spiritual beings, will seek to fill," said author Julie Roys, formerly of Moody Radio, in comments emailed to The Christian Post Tuesday.
"Plus, Wicca has effectively repackaged witchcraft for millennial consumption. No longer is witchcraft and paganism satanic and demonic," she said, "it's a 'pre-Christian tradition' that promotes 'free thought' and 'understanding of earth and nature.'"
Yet such repackaging is deceptive, Roys added, "but one that a generation with little or no biblical understanding is prone to accept."
"It's tragic, and a reminder of how badly we need spiritual revival in this country, and also that 'our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world,'" she said, referencing Ephesians 6, which explains spiritual warfare.
Similarly, radio host and author Carmen LaBerge noted on Twitter that the figures are striking in that witches outnumber certain Christian denominations.
"As mainline Protestantism continues its devolution, the U.S. witch population is rising astronomically. There may now be more Americans who identify as practicing witches, 1.5 mil, than there are members of mainline Presbyterianism (PCUSA) 1.4 mil," she said Tuesday.
Portrayals of occultism as either fun or morally neutral have been appearing more in culture in recent years and in light of growing interest. Companies like cosmetics giant Sephora have attempted to capitalize on it, marketing a "Starter Witch Kit" to consumers interested in dabbling in witchcraft. However, the company angered a number of actual witches and was ultimately forced to apologize and pull the product.
In October 2017, Market Watch reported that the psychic services industry grew 2 percent between the years 2011 and 2016, an industry now worth approximately $2 billion. Also within the last several years, according to Pew, the percentage of people ages 1829 who "never doubt the existence of God" dropped from 81 percent in 2007 to 67 percent in 2012.
"Rather than deeming everything that is supernatural 'demonic,' the Church needs to wake up to the reality of this realm and begin to approach it from a Kingdom perspective which understands its place and purpose," said Wanda Alger, field correspondent with Intercessors for America and a pastor at Crossroads Community Church in Winchester, Virginia, in a CP interview at the time.
"The sad thing is that these millennials who are exploring the dark side of the supernatural have more faith and belief than most Christians. Because they are open and spiritually hungry, the spirit realm responds. The biggest hindrance to understanding the realities of the Spirit realm is unbelief," she emphasized.
Perhaps most infamously, months after the presidential inauguration a May 2017 editorial in the Los Angeles Times written by novelist Diana Wagman openly spoke of putting a curse on the president and encouraged others to cast similar spells in order to #BindTrump.
What utter fake news
Headline psyche
“Witches Outnumber Presbyterians in the US”
Well for one thing, there is no difference between witches and Presbyterians. They both worship Satan.
And why is Hillary wearing the White House curtains?
RE: What utter fake news
Which part of the stats cited in the article do you think is fake?
Go into Barnes and Nobles or some other bookstore and check out the children’s books...rows and rows of witchcraft and science fiction about monsters and space aliens only a handful with normal themes...
Its been like that for about 10 years...
When you push Harry Potter on a generation of impressionable young minds, don’t expect them to grow up wanting God and decency...
and unfortunately a lot of Christian parents thought there was nothing wrong with ‘wholesome’ Harry and his friends...
Its just cute...
“Novelty” made up religions, being different. Much like the Hari Krishnas of the 1970s, Moonies, Transcendental Meditation of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi when young people joined because they though they could “float” in the air.
Same for modern “druids” wicans and other nonsense.
Delusions of grandeur again in a different form.
King James Version
(For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)
**
1Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
2The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
3Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
4He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
5Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
Outnumbering Presbyterians is like being the best bagpipes player in Harlem.
Hillary should be your prime example.
The prime excuse the parents and adults give is: "Harry Potter got my children interested in reading". The answer to that lame excuse is since the founding of the nation, parents used to read THE BIBLE to their children, and teach them how to read using THE BIBLE as their reading primer as commanded in the Word of God: (Deuteronomy 4:10; 11:19; Proverbs 22:6).
Almighty God abhors witches (includes "warlocks"), witchcraft and divination. It is utterly detestable in his sight. And this is what millions of parents have willingly instilled within the hearts and minds of their childeren via Harry Potter. Is it any wonder pagan witchcraft is growing exponentially in the United States and around the world?
All anyone has to do is go to Biblegateway.com and do a word search on any of the above words to confirm what I have stated, and read what God Himself says about witch, witchcraft, and divination.
Because the throw rugs had gone out to the cleaners.
Within days of Saul visiting the witch of En Dor, Saul and his three sons were killed.
God HATES witchcraft.
Gardnerian “witchcraft” in which everyone gets to run around naked.
Close your eyes.
Around here Presbyterian churches have been closing-up faster than Sears stores.
Misleading headline. Based on these numbers said witches only outnumber a single denomination of Presbyterians (the very liberal unChristian one at that) and one that has been losing members in masses for years and currently overstates it's membership dramatically.
All other Presbyterian denominations, combined, are much smaller than the PCUSA.
Scary!
My kids were told not to read them.
I suspect that the political alliance between materialist science and shamanism may be the realization of C.S. Lewis' fear of "the materialist magician."
That explains a lot.
You can’t know how many members PCUSA has, certainly, only a fraction of their claimed membership attends church on Sunday, which probably indicative of their true membership.
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