So, I haven’t posted any “controversial” subjects in a while, and I think this post will be quite long, but an interesting read. I was thinking about what to write this week, and I thought about witches. I know Harry Potter falls within the bounds of what I am discussing today, but I’m not really talking about Harry Potter, but I will be using it often as a reference because I feel like we all know about Harry Potter. Now, I absolutely love the Harry Potter series, and I think we can totally preach Jesus Christ using Harry Potter. I have mentioned in an earlier post that Harry Potter can be used as a type of Christ…but if you want to know more about that, you will have to read that post. Anyway, the idea of witches has been around…well…pretty much forever, and Harry Potter merely made witches popular. I’m not going to talk about the real-world witches either, though I will be referencing this idea as well. I’m going to focus on incorporating witchcraft into fiction as a Christian author.
I have posted a similar post about using magic in fiction as a Christian author, but this is a little different than the idea of magic in that post. When I had talked about magic before it was through the lens of a fantasy book. Not realistic fiction. There is a difference – at least to me. See, within the genre of high fantasy, I believe it is called, where you have magic, dragons, elves, and the like, magic is entirely made up, just like the world it is used in. The author doesn’t really use spells that one might find in a witch’s spell book in real life. In realistic fiction, witchcraft is often based on the real-world ideas of witches. This is where the difference lies for me. This was (and still is) the big argument many Christians have with Harry Potter. I have not personally researched it so I don’t know and truthfully, I don’t really care, but many people are against this series because there is rumor that the author is a witch and intended to convert young people to witchcraft. She uses real spells found in a real witch’s spell book with real demonic power behind them. I don’t know if this is true, but it serves the point of what I want to talk about.
I absolutely love movies and T.V. shows with witches as the main heroes and villains. I don’t think there is anything wrong with enjoying some good fiction about witches – at least on the screen. I pretty much stick to the fantasy genre when reading, but I have dabbled in the sci-fi genre on occasion. I don’t really enjoy that much reading any other genre. Maybe I would appreciate a good realistic fantasy or the such if I read them, but I don’t. With that said, I really haven’t read any books with witchcraft so I can’t speak to that. What it really boils down to is “are you okay with watching and reading it?” Many Christians steer clear of anything (movies as well) that has to do with using magic or witchcraft like powers because they believe it may open the door to some dark stuff. This may be true and probably is true for some things. An example of a movie one of my friends refuses to watch because it focuses on the mystic arts is Dr. Strange, which I think is a great flick. I have never felt any kind of spiritual attack from such movies, but that is just me. Some people simply just don’t want to put themselves in a situation where this kind of spiritual and demonic presence can influence them if there is a spiritual presence associated with it, which I completely understand.
This is the idea I want to address for the Christian writer who is thinking about writing fiction with witchcraft in it. A good writer will research, and that is the danger of writing realistic witch fiction. To research something that is obviously real and “sides” with the evil spirits….as scripture says anything and anyone not for God is an enemy of God…is highly dangerous as it opens the door for a lot of spiritual attack to the believer. I would caution a believer when taking on such an endeavor. It may be a different story if, when writing this witch magic, you don’t use “real spells” but I suppose there is always the possibility that by just writing such a character one may open themselves up to attack…I really don’t know, but I suppose it is possible.
Why is witchcraft different from fantasy magic? In my opinion, it is the “power” behind the magic. When we humans create for fun (fantasy magic), I don’t think that there is initially any spiritual attachment there, unless we allow that attachment into our fantasy magic (not sure how that would happen.) With using a real-world concept that has already been created with the intention of glorifying self, or the demonic realm, then there is a very real possibility that the attachment originally associated with that magic purposely created as an affront to God can be attached to us. I am a big believer in spiritual battles, as anyone who reads the scriptures should believe as the new testament explicitly explains this concept.
Anyway, I won’t necessarily say it is wrong to write a main character who uses witchcraft, but I would caution against it. Personally, I wouldn’t write a book using real-world magic spells and the such. I probably would keep away from writing witch novels altogether. Who knows, maybe in ten years I’ll change my mind. I do want to end with this, we can always redeem anything that Satan uses for bad…for example Harry Potter (if the intention is to keep people from realizing the saving grace of God) we can redeem that story and preach Christ through that venue. Potter died for his friends, sacrificing himself for those he loved and was “resurrected.” Sound familiar?
I hope this was an interesting read. Thanks for reading.