Ask a Christian Witch: Blessing Tarot Cards, "Lukewarm" Christians, and Finding Christian Magic

It's Q&A time again already!

We have all three types of planners in stock now—so grab one today!

The planners are all officially here, fam! You gotta grab one. This year's planner has all kinds of fun pages like:

• 3 card tarot pulls

• Monthly tarot pulls

• Seasonal and holiday information pages

• Tips and explanations of common Christian and pagan practices

• Bible readings for each week

And a whole lot more! I'm really excited to use this even though I still have like, 2 months left of the original. But I think I've really outdone myself with the changes this time, and I think this'll be especially helpful for people who need a guiding hand in setting up their ritual structure!

And now, our September questions. 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!

Ask Me Anything!

Now for all this good conversation!

What is a "Lukewarm Christian"?

Have you heard of the term “lukewarm Christian”? What do you think of it and what does it mean to you? —Anonymous

Hey, there!

I've heard of that. It's supposed to refer to someone who is basically Christian "in name only": identifying as Christian, holding some basic views that they don't really ever think about (like Jesus being Son of God), and otherwise just treating Christianity like an ornament in their life rather than an organizing philosophy/doctrine. Problem is that a lot of people weaponize the term to shame Christians that are actually Christian, but just don't hold a lot of toxic, oppressive, and exclusionary views that a lot of (especially, but not limited to, western Evangelical) folks will tell you are necessary to hold in order to "count" as Christian.

The thing is, though, that anyone can have this kind of view and still do great things for God and become a spiritually mature person, granted that they rise to the challenges set for them. One example I can think of is St. Ignatius of Loyola. He was exactly that kind of "Christian in name only" kind of guy, really only seeing it as a political cover that got him favor (given he grew up rich and going partying and chasing after girls and all that, assuming he'd take over the family business), and it wasn't until he was out seeking glory on the battlefield of Pamplona and took a cannonball to the leg that he got more serious with Christianity—mostly because there was nothing else for him to do but read the Bible, read Saint biographies (hagiographies), and pray.

He was bored at first, and plenty restless, but over time, he found that nothing was interesting to him except that, and he dove deeper and deeper into spiritual life and development until he eventually pulled a St. Francis. Upon his recovery, he gave all his possessions away, went to learn more about preaching and teaching the Word, and eventually became leader of the Jesuits. A total 180 from his original life course.

A lot of people look at where someone is now, or where they came from, without realizing that they have no idea where these people they judge so much are going to go. The worst sinners, the most "evil" people, can turn around and become a force for good at any moment. It's important that we all remember that and show everyone as much grace as possible.

Witchcraft Rituals for Christians and Eschatological Teachings?

Do you know where I can find books specifically on Christian witchcraft rituals? Also, how should Christian witches view eschatological teachings? —Anonymous

Hi!

Honestly, there is no book on Christian witchcraft rituals, because throughout history, Christians wouldn't consider what they did witchcraft. Rather, they'd consider it something they were doing against witches (and often with the help of priests). Knowing this, you might look at:

• Witchcraft sourcebooks with court records from medieval times

  • These will show you what people were being accused for, which can give a hint as to some types of folk magic (like stealing the Host and crumbling it into one's field to ward off evil attacks on cattle or crops).

• Liturgical notebooks or prayer/sermon books of medieval priests

  • These often have special prayers or ideas for prayers/sermons scrawled in the margins, and priests and bishops have certainly had some interesting imprecatory prayers (i.e: malefic magic, like hexes) that you won't find elsewhere.

• Contemporary folk magic collections from relevant cultures

  • Plenty of modern "witchy" books include folk magic, and some are entirely composed of old folk spells from England or Italy or wherever else. Plenty of ethnographers also collect folk charms and publish books or papers about them, too.

• Modern prayer books (like the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer)

  • They're really good for prayers that you can use in your spellwork for all occasions.

All of these will point you to hints that you can maybe reconstruct on your own. It'll take some creativity and thinking between the lines, though. In terms of making rituals, I personally like to think of them as one-man sermons and organize my rituals in threes: one section for prayers of thanksgiving to God, one for asking for my request, and one for praying for others who are not as fortunate as I am so as to remember that no matter how bad I have it, I'm still full compared to others and shouldn't forget to count my blessings.

As for how Christian Witches should view eschatological teachings... that's awkward. Who am I to tell anyone how they should understand the Divine? I can tell you on my own that I believe Jesus is the Son of God, the Logos made flesh, and that salvation comes from the transformative faith in God the Trinity, which inspires us to do good works and express His will in the world. Not everyone agrees with that, though, and I just don't care to argue with them.

Is it Okay to Alter Someone's Free Will with Magic?

I am a Christian Witch and I am against spells to control others free will. Now, if I am married (a Christian marriage that was one's lovely but not anymore), and I want to use love magic to rekindle the relationship, is that allowed or is that bad? Should we divorce instead? —Anonymous

Hi, there!

So, for transparency, I altered your question here because it's an important topic to address, but I thought we might keep the rest of this story private and not make a spectacle of it.

But let's address it!

Honestly, I think when it comes to love magic, a lot of people think it's this coercive thing, and it really doesn't need to be (nor does love magic work the way people think anyway: you can't force anyone to develop feelings they don't already have, but you can fan the embers that might already be starting up). Doing a love spell to increase the bond with your partner? There's nothing wrong with that.

What gives me pause, though, is the lack of communication. Why do a spell on your spouse without their knowing? What happened here that you can't just talk to them? If you're thinking about divorce, or walking away from your partner, or breaking the trust of this relationship, that's the real issue. Why is this kind of intimacy so important that you'd throw out your love for it, or that you couldn't just talk about it? That needs to be addressed first.

And once the place you two fall is clear, then you know what you can do. Doing this, and asking to do a spell with your partner rather than in secret, will only help the bond you already have, whereas letting these issues stagnate and trying to use magic as a cheat or a shortcut to what you, personally, want is just exemplifying the brokenness of the bond already.

Why is Spelling Magic with a K Controversial?

Why is the k in magic so controversial? I saw you spoke about it a little in a video and I am curious, I don’t want to cause any unintentional harm or offense to anyone. —Maya

Hey, Maya!

So, basically, as far as I've heard, the "k" in magic comes from Aleister Crowley, who wasn't the coolest guy in the occult scene. I think he originally started doing that to separate it from the more Houdini-style stage magic, but now, when people see it, they assume that you're either rocking with Crowley in all his problematic-ness or that you're Wiccan (which, whatever on that latter part; Wiccans can Wicca in peace).

I don't think you'll really offend anyone with it. It just looks a little cheesy and is a reason for some folks who default to thinking of Crowley to cringe a bit.

Do You Believe in Hell? Why or Why Not?

I'm not sure if you answered that question before but, Do you believe in hell? Why? —Anonymous

Hey!

I have talked about hell various times in the past, but in essence: I believe it exists, but I don't believe people go there. I believe this because I've been there, and I've seen it as less of a place to torture souls and more as basically the back office for demons to operate from. When you meditate with the demons and go there, it's actually quite nice, too! Big rocky cliffs with clear blue waters flowing between them, great lakes and mountains, icy fjords, rivers of blood... you know, all that kind of stuff you would (and wouldn't) expect to see in there. No people burning, though. Just creatures and demons vibing.

The place where people actually go that's more "hell-like" is actually in heaven: the Lake of Fire. This is a sulfuric pit that people get dipped in during the process of purgation. It burns like a bitch the same way a cut will only burn if you pour peroxide on it while it's freshly bleeding. Pour peroxide on uncut skin and nothing happens, but pour it on a wound and it stings because it's cleaning the wound out. Purgation is the process of cleaning out all the rot and filth you accumulated in life, like an acid bath for the soul. This I believe because St. Catherine of Genoa confirmed it for us: she said that God doesn't send people to hell, but that people turn away from God when they realize they're blemished, and God gave us purgatory as a mercy to clean ourselves and feel right about standing with Him in His infinite love.

How Do I Trust God Again?

How can one even start to trust God ? I was raised Christian, but I also had a pretty rough upbringing, and i spent so much begging, praying God to help and out of all those times, only very few times He did.

I am currently in a period where He asked me to trust Him with something pretty massive around my career, but it's been months and it's hard to not fall into the fear of abandonment I felt for years. Even at the beginning of my christian witch journey, a lot of what He did was throw me into the deep end so I could learn on the spot, and now that I am asked to trust and to not be the one in the trenches doing something, it's really hard to not fear Him "abandoning" me again.

—Anonymous

Hi, friend!

Let me start by saying that I'm sorry for what you experienced in your upbringing. No child should have anything less than a warm, secure, and loving home—but people fall short, and you have to remember that in all this mess, God can do a lot, but He won't mess with other people's free will. If they use their free will to be terrible, then the best we can hope for is that they change their ways or we find other opportunities to get away from the people that do us harm if they won't come to their senses themselves. God's not in the business of shooting lightning bolts at people for bad actions, nor is systemic evil something that can be fixed in a snap of His fingers if we're to avoid ever creating the same systems all over again because we haven't learned our lessons the first time.

If He's asking you to trust Him, then the way to do that is to let go of your fear. I was in the same boat once, where God said to trust Him, that help was coming, but it looked like there was no help in sight. For three years, it looked like there was no help in sight, in fact, but eventually, when I stopped asking Him when? when? when? and sat back to just let Him do what He needed to do—when I committed to not making any choices out of self preservation or fear, but instead making choices out of love and faith that all would be well—that's when things suddenly turned around for the better.

Take a look at those times you felt abandoned and ask yourself: what did you want to have happen in that situation? And what would that have truly fixed or helped, either for you or for other people involved or for systems involved? Then look at the situation you're in now and ask yourself: what constraints are you putting on what you expect of God? Are you letting Him work without your will and your hopes being grafted onto Him? Or are you fixated on what you want, even if God can see farther than you? What if what you want and what you expect isn't actually what you need?

Trusting God means trusting that He's playing a longer game than we are, and that He knows what needs to get done. Trusting God also means understanding that we're not the only ones praying to Him, and that He's working a chess board with some 8 billion separate pieces on it. Learning to step back, not take things so personally, and understand your place in an entire ecosystem rather than in a story where you're the Main (and therefore only autonomous) Character will help you be able to ease up on your specific hopes and fears and put it in God's hands to figure out.

Why Does it Feel Like We're in a Game?

Why does it sometimes seem like we are in a complex multiplayer DnD with divine, Infernal, and gods, etc.? —Dahlia

Hi, Dahlia!

Why does it? Honestly, I will start by being a buzzkill and saying that if you're feeling any specific way, like real life is no longer real, this is a cause for concern that should be discussed with a mental health professional.

But aside from that, I think it feels that way for a lot of reasons. One is that a lot of us like to imagine with our gods, and inject some of the Marvel-esque fun and fantasy into what is otherwise a very mundane existence. Having spirituality for me, as a fantasy writer especially, means it often feels like I'm taking the stuff of my stories into my real life, and I love that.

And it can also feel like that because the more we explore these other religions we were always told not to explore, the more interesting entities we meet, and the bigger we realize our spiritual community has been. Given these entities aren't normal people with day jobs like us, that can feel pretty wild, because they're pretty wild.

All in all, though, I think it means you're just enjoying your spiritual path and having fun with it as much as learning from it. ♥

Have You Ever Spoken to Ahura Mazda (Zoroastrian Supreme God)?

Have you ever spoken to Ahura Mazda? —Tracy

Hello, Tracy!

I have not, but I would definitely love to. However, I don't know if it's possible to do that, given the Zoroastrian faith is far from dead, and that it's an indigenous religion of the area of modern day Babylon (which I believe is mostly Iran?). That would make it pretty closed as far as I know.

Can (or Will) a Priest Bless Tarot Cards?

My fiancé is a Catholic, and while he’s being very open minded to my journey as a Christian Witch, Tarot cards (for lack of a better term) freak him out a bit. In your book with Mimi Prata, you mention going to priests for blessings, holy water, and other similar things during certain holy days.

Have you ever heard of a priest blessing a deck of Tarot cards? Or do you think in your experience that this would likely be completely out of the question for them? If it would make my fiancé more comfortable with me getting further into this craft and practicing it in our home, I’d like to at least explore the possibility. Or find another divination option that he may not have as much of a problem with. Any advice you can offer would be helpful! —Anonymous

Hello!

Honestly, it depends on the priest. I know in the Episcopal church, several of the priests I know are more than cool with tarot cards and find a lot of value in them. If you're okay with a little bit of fudging, you might find an Episcopal priest in your area willing to bless them and just say "I had a priest bless them, so they're okay!" (He doesn't need to know that it wasn't a Catholic priest lol.) You might also enlighten your fiance to the book Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian Hermeticism, which is a massive volume detailing the way that the Major Arcana of the Tarot actually describe the Mystic's journey (which so many Christians have gone through under different names). It's really cool!

But other divination methods exist. Bibliomancy, where you ask a question and flip to a random Bible page, or cleromancy ("casting lots"), are ways of going about divination a bit more biblically. Casting lots, especially, is as easy as getting two different colored stones and having one mean "yes" while the other means "no," then asking a question and picking one stone at random to see what God gives you.

Either way, there's nothing to worry about with tarot cards. If he wouldn't be scared over a deck of playing cards, tarot should't worry him either.

What's the Difference Between Fallen Angels and Demons (That Aren't Gods)?

What's the difference between adversary angels and demons that aren't angels or demonized gods? Where are they from? —Anonymous

Hey, there!

Good question! Honestly, with these demons that don't originate from gods or angels (of which are few and far in between), they're actually, from what I understand, a little more like fairies. In fact, in Jewish folklore, there's a whole class of demons that aren't evil, but are actually Temple-going little creatures that just mind their business and really enjoy their specific interests. As spirits of obsession more than anything, they could tell you everything you wanted to know about whatever their special interest is (like astrology, math, rocks, anything like that). They don't care to harm people and really just vibe on their own—again, more like fairies of other cultures that we're familiar with.

Any other reference to demons is coming from bastardizations of old gods, or from "evil gods" that were always spooky to their respective cultures (like Pazuzu), or fallen angels, though.

Have You Ever Spoken to Your Own Fantasy Characters?

You're a fantasy author, right? My question is, how do you feel about the egregores of the characters you made? Have you talked to them? Will there be an interview with them?

—Anonymous

Hi!

This is a fascinating idea, and I will admit that I've thought of it, but honestly, given not many people have read my stories, I don't know that there's enough energy built up around them to conjure properly like big name egregores such as Katniss Everdeen or Danaerys Targaryen or anything like that. They'd be little more than minor echoes than anything, so I don't think it'd be fruitful (yet).

Who knows, though? With all the stories I write, maybe one day one of my stories will hit it big and enough people will pour their love into my work to manifest my characters beyond my control. Then, I'd consider talking to them.

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

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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.

Follow Sara on Tiktok, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube, and explore her fiction writing here.