As Pop Culture Lures Kids Toward The Occult, Neutrality Toward Witchcraft Isn’t Enough

In a recent New York Times editorialRoss Douthat questioned the materialist, naive interpretations of the statue of a female pagan god that was placed outside the New York courthouse. For those who believe in experimentation “magic” “spirituality” This is only a small form of “playacting,” He warns about certain dangers “skated over in a lot of American spirituality,” We urge anyone who believes the statue is an empty ode to female empowerment not to use it. “really careful in your openness and not just taking the beneficence of the metaphysical realm for granted.”

I was a teenager who tried out witchcraft and have been practicing it ever since. “seen the light,” Douthat’s words spoke to me deeply. I am curious about how my path might have changed if I had read his piece twenty years ago.

After reading, I became interested in witchcraft and other occult practices. “Harry Potter” When I was 10 years old. I don’t believe reading about witches or spells is an intrinsically evil thing. “Harry Potter” Should be banned completely (book bans tend to have the inverse effect). Douthat points out that the American materialist ideology, which views books as “like,” is based on a belief system that books are merely another form of materialism. “Harry Potter” To be “neutral” This fantasy is a figment of pure imagination, which overlooks the spiritual realities the book taps into as well as the risks they pose.

In context, my family is Greek Orthodox Christian and I grew up with folk witchcraft. In many ways, I believed that the rituals at church overlapped with those my grandmother and cousin practiced in the occult. Something mystical, or as magical. Charles Taylor would have said it., “enchanted,” I was fascinated by it all. It gave me the feeling that there was more than meets the eyes and that spirits were indeed in our midst. Both Eastern Orthodoxy, as well as witchcraft, were escapes from the unimaginative and stifling confines of suburban materialism.

Many of my family members experienced a spiritual connection. “sensitivity.” An aunt and an uncle, who were both monks and nuns respectively, are my ancestors. My grandmother saw the future in coffee grounds. She proved to be right. My cousin claims that she received messages from family members who died and that she heard a Marian icon speak directly to her. My grandmother, whose faith in Christianity was at best minimal, didn’t believe that predicting the future would be against her religion. My cousin and she believed that the two traditions were complementary, creating a syncretic form of mysticism.

When I read “Harry Potter,” It made me more curious about what my grandma did and my cousin did. I requested a Ouija board, tarot cards and a Ouija board for my birthday. I began checking my horoscope each day and started learning spells.

The situation turned dark and we had to stop using the Ouija board or tarot cards.

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