Date: 04-15-95 10:53 From: Fredric Rice Subj: Letter To Witches Debunked A LETTER TO WITCHES REVISITED: Deceptions get corrected March 1995 What follows is a detailed examination of the Christian hate file commonly refered to as the "Letter to Witches," originally perpetuated by Robert A. Morey. In it, you will find the contents of the original hate letter along with commentary pointing out where Morey is mistaken and where he most probably lied. To grant him benefit of the doubt, I'll make few guesses as to whether he lies knowingly or whether he is just badly informed. If I'm inaccurate about aspects of Wicca or Pagani, it is because I'm an atheist and do not belong to any religion at all, let alone either Wicca or Pagani. I have examined these religions in some detail, however, as there is much written about the religions by both followers of these religions and those who hate them. If you've never experienced the depth of hatred which Christianity can inspire in another, you might find Morey's letter both disturbing as well as eye-opening. It is an attack against Wicca and Pagani -- two Earth-centered religions which hold high ideals and morality and as such are considered a threat to religions which have been historically shown to hold death-centered ideologies and expedient morality. The O.T.O is also attacked by having that religion grouped in among those Morey is so frightened of. His 'letter' to Witches is actually intended for followers of his own religion: Christianity. It isn't intended to be read by Wiccans or Pagans but is intended to be read by Christians to further entrench the perpetuation of the hoaxes and defamation against other religions. The Christian is supposed to read it and feel warmed about how brave Morey is to 'confront' the evil Satan-inspired religions which dare to hold ideals and morality higher than theirs. It is not supposed to cross the mind of the Christian target audience that said 'confrontation' doesn't allow the lies and mistakes to be corrected. His original text is left unchanged, marked with a | to the left. My corrections appear after his claims. Wide distribution of this correction is encouraged. | | | A LETTER TO WITCHES By Dr. Robert A. Morey | The following is a letter that Dr. Morey has written to teenage | witches that he thought you might like to share with others. Morey believes that all Witches are female, I should point out. His focus upon teenagers is common enough to Christianity. The age where people are at their weakest emotionally is during their teen years as their bodies are developing quickly. The Christian religion is often perpetuated by focusing upon the weak-willed and the disenfranchised from society. | I see from the pentagram you wear and all your magical charms | that you believe in the power of magic. Perhaps you have attended | a Wiccan gathering or you have participated in some magic rituals. | I don't know. Morey shows his ignorance as to the significance of the pentagram as well as makes a conjecture that if you wear one, you're either Wiccan or a member of Pagani. He might be suffering from the belief that all Wiccans and Pagans wear them. In actual fact, the pentagram has different significance for different people -- be they atheists, Wiccans, Pagans, or theists of other names. Individual Wiccans and Pagans hold the significance of the pentagram differently and many don't wear them. The pentagram is no different than the current version of the Christian cross which is worn or not worn by Christians and non-Christians depending upon their mood. Morey wants to believe that the pentagram is a 'Satanic' symbol -- a symbol of one of his religion's constructs, not Wicca or Pagani. He wants his Christian readers to unthinkingly believe it as well. Additionally, he seems to think that "magic charms" are also a major aspect of Wicca. There are many different types of Wiccas and Pagans and some don't believe in the paranormal (indeed, some are atheists.) Those that do may or may not believe in magic. Those that believe in magic may or may not wear "magic charms." | But so many questions fill my mind. Have you "drawn down the moon" | yet? Have you ever felt a power come upon you? Do you worship a par- | ticular goddess? Have you been initiated? Do you have a Wiccan name? | Have you gone skyclading? Are you in the outer or inner circle? | Have you used blood in your rituals? Have you ever called forth a | familiar spirit? The comment about "drawing down the moon" is in reference to a ritual which is discussed in a book of the same name. Morey is attempting to appear knowledgeable about Wicca by dropping the name of one of the many rituals which pay homage to the Wiccan Earth Goddess, to life, and to birth. The "power coming over you" is a strange question. He may be trying to convince himself that his 'Satan' construct activly takes a part in the various Wiccan and Pagan festivals and rituals. Since he's not being specific, it's anyone's guess what he's talking about. Additionally, Morey is trying to suggest that "initiation" is an aspect of Wicca or Pagani and that if the individual reading it hasn't been, then she is deliberatly being left out of some cabal or "inner circle." In actual fact, there is no priesthood or analog in Wicca or Pagani. There is no holy man or woman which is used to dictate the path of the Wiccan or Pagan. Morey is applying his own religion's authoritarian layering of church masters to Wicca and Pagani which have none. What he means about "going skyclading" is anyone's guess. Wiccans and Pagans have skyclad rituals, lunches, and what have you where wearing clothes is optional. Being an Earth-centered, life-affirming religion, reproduction, life, and birth are major aspects of Wicca and Pagani yet Morey probaby suffers from the belief that casting aside clothing taboos results in mating frenzy. Once again there is an attempt to contrive an "inner circle" or "outer circle." His begging-the-question about using blood in ritual is one of his worse bits of dishonesty yet in his 'letter.' In asking what amounts to a rhetorical question, he is stating that blood is used in Wiccan or Pagan rituals. It's not. He's claiming that if the reader hasn't used blood "yet," then they are in his "outer circle" and are not privy to the working of his "inner circle." Wiccans and Pagans have ideals which prohibit them from harming anything -- some feel that includes other animals and so they are vegetarians. There are variations of Christianity which sacrifice chickens and other animals; Wicca and Pagani are specifically prohibited from employing sacrifice. Morey may be once again trying to apply his religion's use of sacrifice to Wicca. As for "calling forth a familure spirit," that's part of Morey's religion, not Wicca or Pagani. To my knowledge, Wicca and Pagani employ Jungian archtypes (so called after the theories of the psychologist Carl Jung who's writings are still available though fairly well discredited in acedemic circles.) | The reason I am writing you is that I have studied the occult for | thirty years and I have come to certain conclusions. Morey is lying. His label of "occult" for Wicca and Pagani is easilly dismissed as an aspect of his hatred. All religions are cults, his included. All religions are also occultic to various degrees, his own greatly so. What's not so easilly dismissed is his claim that he's knowledgeable of Wicca and Pagani. If he has actually studied "the occult" as he claims, then it certainly wasn't any of the religions he's attacking in this letter. (And certainly not the origins of his own cult.) What he has studied, in all probability, is what his leaders and their writings have to say about other religions which are not Christian in origin and quite probably other variations of Christianity which he has been taught to believe aren't Christian (such as Catholicism, Mormonism, and the Jehova Witness.) Additionally, his reason for writing is to spread his hatred among the followers of his own religion. Any Wiccan or Pagan already knows that his characterizations are completely false. | Now, I know that you will disagree with some of my conclusions | because we have traveled different paths. But I have added the | benefit of the testimonies of those who used magic in the highest | levels possible such as the Golden Dawn and the O.T.O. and then have | come to faith in Christ and now have renounced magic. As justification for his lengthy tirade, he holds up vague and undefined "others," again employing the claim that there are high and low levels of belief. He points toward two other religions and fails to admit that they're neither Wiccan nor Pagan. Morey doubtless would like to group all non-Christian religions into one Satan-inspired religion and treat them all equally. That is the common mindset of death-centered religions: the belief that all other religions are in fact actually the anti-thesis of their own and thus part of it. He claims that these vague "others" used magic and yet later he states that magic doesn't work. He attempts to have it both ways and hopes that his Christian readers don't recognize the contradiction. "O.T.O." refers to the Ordo Templi Orientis, a religion which is totally removed from Pagani and Wicca. Morey and his readers are doubtless of the opinion that any religion which isn't a Christian brand name is defacto Satanic and as such, all the same religion. He and his followers probably think that anyone who employs magic in their church may be called 'Witches.' In actual fact, O.T.O. is a church of the Thelemic religion, not Pagani nor Wicca. (Once again we see how Morey probably was mistaken when he claimed to have studied 'the occult.') Some time around 1988, a disenfranchized ex-member of O.T.O telephoned the Berkeley police and reported a bevy of outrageous claims of 'Satanic' rituals, murder, and eating of babies. Police were told to look for 'Satanic' evidence and to make videotapes of religious artifacts. Under the banner of looking for drugs, however, else they would never have been able to convince a judge to write out a search warrant based upon what they were really looking for. (The police testified later that they were told that they should look for evidence of child sacrifice and other nonsense.) The O.T.O. temple was raided, sacked, and basically destroyed by a great many police who came in with guns drawn, ordering the church members onto the floor. On September 12th, 1990, seven church members filed legal cases against the City of Berkeley, County of Alameda, naming 10 police officers who were among the many who conducted the raid, charging that the raid was religiously motivated (also a hate crime, in my opinion) and that the 1st, 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution were violated. Had the religion been identified as a Christian one, no such actions would have been taken against them. All criminal charges based upon claims of drug use were found to be false based upon medical examinations. Nothing illegal was found even though the floorboards, rafters, and walls were torn up and the yards dug up. | All I ask is that you have an open mind and give serious attention | to the things I now bring up. Remember an unexamined faith is a | worthless faith. Morey attempts to sound wise to his Christian audience and once again employs the logic fallacy known as "begging-the-question." This time it is the supposistion that Wiccans and Pagans don't question the validity of their beliefs -- again, he's employing aspects of his own religion to others. | I. The fact that magic does not work. In this Morey is mistaken and contradicts the teachings of his own religion. Skeptical Inquirer, the science and education publication put out by CSICOP, is very skeptical and critical of all claims of the paranormal, pointing out that all claims of the paranormal to date have failed to yield scientifically-confirmed results. One study published by CSICOP offers details on how magic is equal to the placebo effect sugar pills or prayer to deities has. The placebo effect is based in scientific fact. Belief in magic (be it the Christian variety they call 'prayer' or Wiccan magic) is exactly equal to the placebo effect. It doesn't even matter what deities one prays toward. Magic is equal in validity to prayer to deities -- any deities. | After all the talk about the "power" that people can get from | magic, I have never known a more powerless group of people. | | Many of those who use magic are sick all the time. They go | through mulitple marriages. They have money problems. Their | cars get flat tires. They get their share of flus and colds. The Wiccans and Pagans that I know are highly intellectual, healthy, open, and happy individuals. They harbor ethics which compell them to assist others even though they themselves may be financially strapped. They have morals which compell them not to harbor intolerance, hatred, greed, and envy toward others and their possessions. They accept openly those who are cast-aside by Christianity as "abominations" -- be they black, gay, Mexican, or female. Christian marriages fair no better, in fact, than any other marriage... Unless it's Islam where women suffer as property to the men. The choice of religion doesn't effect the success of a marriage... something Morey wants his Christian readers to think does, somehow. | Even more seriously, they cannot beat their own drug or sex | addiction. They are usually in bondage and totally powerless | to change their life for the better. | | If magic really worked, they would never be sick. They would | win every horse race in town! They would own Wall Street by | now! They would be able to maintain a successful marriage. Morey continues to build the character he believes Wiccans and Pagans look like. Not only do no Wiccans or Pagans suggest that their magic could be used for such nonsense, they have ethics which would forbid them from employing them if they did. There are untold thousands of dollars available for any individual who could successfully indicate the use of magic to derive some paranormal phenomena. Neither prayer nor other forms of magic has yet been able to win those prizes even though hundreds of Christians have tried. (CSICOP offers a reward as does the magician James Randi, just to name two rewards currently offered.) Additionally, Wiccan and Pagan marriages have a slightly higher success rate than Christian marriages. In Wiccan and Pagan marriages, the female doesn't become the property of the male and conflict resolution has many avenues which are not open to the Christian variety. Within Christian marriages, often even the extremes of divorce isn't allowed by clergy and so the suffering and bondage has no end until the death of one of the partners. Women are not constrained intellectually in Wiccan marriages so other avenues of conflict resolution is open to them. | But the fact is, you waste a lot of money and time on magic | and are no better off. In fact, you will end up worse off. Which is exactly equal to prayer without the tithe to the priesthood. | If magic worked, witches would be picking up the winning | lottery numbers every week. But the fact is that when the | "rubber meets the road" magic simply does not work. The same can be said for prayer. Indeed, the number of Christians who use prayer in an attempt to influence horse races far exceed the number of Wiccans or Pagans who might do likewise. I suspect that Morey doesn't know anything about Wiccan magic and what it's used for. | II. Their lame duck excuses as to why they are sick or why they | can't keep their marriage together or why they aren't rich, | are weak and feeble. Morey's characterization and assination continues. | One psychic "healer" (a relative of mine) is sick all the time. | Her husband is dying of cancer! When she boasted to me of her | magical powers, I confronted her with the rather obvious fact | that her magic did not work for her or her ex-husband. She | replied that her magic will not work for herself. Which is exactly the same for prayer. Obviously Morey thinks that prayer is somehow different than Wiccan and Pagan magic and yet for obvious reasons he doesn't mention the complete failure of prayer while he's underscoring again and again the failure of Wiccan and Pagan magic. | But who says that you cannot heal yourself by magic? Where is | it written down? And who says that your husband or wife cannot | use magic to heal you? If her magic cannot help herself or her | husband, then what good is it? Who knows what Morey's complaint is about. In his religion, everything he is supposed to think and know is written down for him -- and, of course, interpreted for him by his leaders. His mock surprise at not finding any writings of Wiccan and Pagani clergy seems to be in direct conflict with his previous claims that there are "inner circles" and "outer circles." | I could not help but point out that she was always crying about | money problems. What use is her magic if it cannot make her | rich? A further comment would have to be his supposistion that magic can be and would be used for monetary gains. In his own religion, prayer is not supposed to be used for such 'unholy' gains and yet he has no difficulty attributing his unethical characterization to others. | III. A magical world view is internally contradictory and | hypocritical. Heavy irony. His belief in an 'after life' is an absurdly mystical and silly belief and conflicts with physics in every way. | A. To say, "there are no moral absolutes" is to give an | absolute. His dishonesty knows no bounds. He is telling his Christian readers that Wiccans and Pagans don't have moral absolutes or morals of any kind. In actual fact, most Pagans I know have situational ethics -- a mode of ethical and moral behavior which is superior to those which were written by ignorant desert dwellers 20 centuries in the past. No Wiccan or Pagan says there are no moral absolutes. Morey's dishonesty knows no bounds. | B. To say, "Do what thou wilt, this is the whole of the law" has | been used to justify everything from black magic to human | sacrifice. If there are no standards, then on what grounds | can they condemn child abuse, Hitler, murder, etc.? They | can't. Morey knowingly advances another lie by stating half of the Wiccan reed and excluding the rest. The actual law is "And it harm none, 'do what thou wilt' shall be the whole of the law." It is highly probable that Morey knows of the actual law and elected to quote half of it simply to continue to foment hysteria and ignorance and perpetuate his hatred. It is often stated that the minute a claimant spouts "Hitler" or "Nazi Germany" or "child abuse" in reference to those he hates, the individual has shown himself to have no credibility. True to form, Morey shows us his true colors by handing Wiccans and neo-Pagans his own contrivance and then wondering why the fictional people he creates are not out raping and killing. By doing so, he advances the conjecture that Wiccans and neo-Pagans are. | C. To say, "everything is relative" and "there is no evil," and | then to turn around and say that Christianity is "evil" is | contradictory. Many Wiccans and Pagans will state that Christianity is evil based upon its own standards and base that conclusion upon its history. Morey shows just how evil Christianity can be by the very 'letter' he writes. Still, most Wiccans and Pagans will point toward Christianity and allow that their 'path' is perfectly acceptable and reasonable but "not for them." | D. To say, "Everyone has the right to believe what they want" | and then condemn Christians for what they believe is contra- | dictory. | E. To say, "Do what thou wilt" and then tell Christians NOT to | do what they wilt is hypocritical. | F. To say, "that it is wrong to judge/condemn others," and then | to judge/condemn Christians is contradictory. No Wiccan or Pagan would suggest his characterizations. He is trying to tell his Christian readers that Wiccans and Pagans are activly seeking to deny Christians their beliefs. | IV. A magical view of life does not correspond to reality. Heavy irony again. | G. No magic is going to make you thin if you do not stop eating. | No magic will make you rich if you do not get up and go to | work. | H. The claim of modern witches that they are reviving pre- | Christian paganism is not true historically. The rituals | and beliefs of modern day magic are of recent origin. | I. My brother in law who is in the occult told me he was going | to use magic to get himself a parking space in N.Y.C. I in | turn told him that I would ask Jesus to get me a space. He | drove around for four hours before finding a place while I | found one immediately and did not have to go around the | block even once! His magic was not even good enough to find | him a parking space! Morey wants to now claim that his magic is stronger than his brother in law's. At this point we can easilly question whether he has a brother in law as his credibility is gone. Morey uses his own occult magic to such a dishonorable end that it's a probably a good thing for him that his gods don't actually exist. | J. A magical view of life is a cop out and it breeds irrespons- | ibility. | Instead of taking responsibility for their life, those who | use magic always blame "bad luck" or claim that someone is | using black magic against them. The truth is that YOU are | responsible for the choices you make in life - not magic. Morey applies more Christian ideologies to those he hates. Christianity has historically been nothing more than a justification of tyranny against innocent people. The belief that one may do whatever one wishes and then "beg god for forgiveness" (rather than those they harm, rape, or murder) is one of the most evil aspects of Christianity there is. Wiccans and Pagans are the most responsible people I know, as a rule. The only thing Morey gets right is his ranting about who is actually responsible for the choices one makes. Obviously he doesn't attribute the lack of responsibility to his own religion. In Christianity, their Satan god is blamed for everything bad which happens to them and their other "good" gods are blamed for everything good which happens to them. In the Christians belief, it seems, few are responsible for their own actions. Sadly, what usually happens when non-Christians point at a tyranny inflicted upon humanity by a Christian, Christians will also point and demand that the Christian in question isn't a "true" Christian. | K. It attracts people with mental problems. | Sad but true. I have seen this many, many times. The State | Mental Hospitals are filled with people who were users of | magic. It appeals to people with those kind of people. Morey is mistaken. Most people in mental wards are Christians. For that matter, nearly all people in prisons in the United States are Christians. For someone who states that magic doesn't work, it's ironic that he now trys to claim that there is some detrimental side-effect or direct result of using magic. His contradictions are probably not even noticed by his Christian readers. | L. They live in constant fear of the powers they draw down. | Hence they need the occult protection of the circles, | towers, shields, charms, etc.. What a terrible religion | of fear! Morey is becoming laughable. There are no negative or bad deities in the Wiccan or Pagan religions from which there needs to be protection from. The circle is the never-ending circle of change or of life, depending on what type of circle it is. Christians have bad deities, demons, spirits and whatnot. Wiccans and Pagans have none. The only protection Wiccans and Pagans need are by the police agencies which protect them from hatred held in the minds of Morey and those whom he infects. Many Wiccans in contemporary times have been shot at and some dozens have been murdered -- all by Christians who have read much the same as what Morey writes and have believed it, every word. Stay tuned. His hatred and rabidity grows: | M. If you depend upon trinkets such as pentagrams to protect | you, you do not have any real power. To think that a stupid | piece of metal or glass is going to protect you from a demon | you summon is absurd. He doesn't mention the cross that many Christians wear. And St. Christopher medals et al. which are specifically designed to keep the wearer from harm. The pentagram isn't designed to keep the wearer from harm; it has many different significances depending upon the individual. | N. The lust for blood is evil. It has led to horrible crimes. | Killing animals and people for their "energy" is wicked as | well as criminal. He merely repeats a lie he offered previously. | O. Sex magic is filthy and gross beyond words and involves | child abuse, bestiality, sodomy, etc. You will never have | a normal satisfying sex life once you debase yourself | in sex magic. It's hard to contemplate what Morey has been told to believe about Wicca and Pagani. His comments continue to show that he was mistaken when he claimed to have studied "the occult" for 30 years. | P. Magic is for losers. | The greatest magicians always end up broke, alone, and | miserable. Check to see what happend to people like | Crowley. They were all losers. Morey is mistaken. The best magicians did pretty well in the past and some of the best magicians today also do very well. Houdini may have died fairly poor yet that was because he didn't market himself very well. Penn and Teller as well as James "The Amazing" Randi are highly successful if not fairly wealthy. Obviously Morey continues to paint a picture of magic which is different than the magic entertainers delight us with. His comments continue to be based upon his hatred. | Whenever a true Christian challenges them, the magicians | always lose. It would seem that there are no "true Christians" then. | I have challenged occultist to take their best shot and | they always failed. On one occasion, a coven sent demons | to kill me but I didn't even get a headache! Morey is a mistaken. Covens are collections of Wiccans or Pagans which share some set of ideals which usually center around their religion -- though not always... it could be a coven centered around a common interest in geology or paleontology or cosmology. In any event, Wiccans and Pagans don't believe in demons and so can't "send them to kill" anyone. Demons are a part of Morey's religion, not Wicca. He is trying yet once again to attribute his religious beliefs to an entirely different religion. | Q. While there is a lot of hate and lust in magic, there is | no love. If you leave or reveal the secrets, they will | try to kill you. | I helped to move a girl from Philadelphia to Florida to | escape her former occult friends. If they really loved her, | why did they try to kill her? If she wanted to leave the | group, why did they object to her doing what she wilt? Morey is mistaken. Were he to actually be telling the truth, he would have offered details about his claim, including the police agencies which were involved in the case, the docket numbers, the name and other incidentals of the criminals involved, and any number of specifics. Any time Christians who make such lies are asked for evidence, they claim that doing so puts them or those they're trying to "protect" at risk. The claim is nonsense as murder and attempted murder are usually public media events -- the information would already be known. By not offering any specifics, Morey continues to perpetuate his lies. | R. There is no forgiveness, comfort or salvation in magic. | It has no Savior or God who loves and cares for you. He's half correct. As I understand it, the Earth Goddess is where Wiccans and Pagans return to when they're dead. They get a rebirth and thus perpetual life in the never-ending cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. It's not always a belief in reincarnation but more a recycling of used body parts by the Earth Goddess for her needs. | The occult is lonely, sad, cold and sterile. Obviously a member of a death-centered religion would think so. In fact Wicca and Pagani are life-affirming religions which can successfully boast to having bright and happy club members. Additionally, he doesn't wish to admit that his own religion is just as much 'occult' as any other. | S. The Bible says that true power behind the magical arts | is Satanic. Those who deny this are dupes of the devil. Thus we have an admission of what actually motivates Morey into launching his hate-filled and lies-ridden tirade against life-centered religions. His religion tells him that all others are actually the anti-thesis of his own and thus are part of it. | These are just a few things that came to mind as I thought about | what I have seen in thirty years of research in the occult. One can only wonder if he actually did any research at all. What he has admitted to is reading his religion's book and then deriving all of his opinions and beliefs based upon it. | The Lord Jesus Christ has broken the power of magic and has | brought life, love and immortality to light through the Gospel. | Jesus is Victor! | The occult has nothing to offer that compares with the love | of Jesus. Turn to Him in repentance. Renounce your witchcraft | and the works of the devil. Burn your magic books and mash your | altars. Turn or burn. Repent or perish! Jesus is the answer. | John 3:36. "...Or we'll have to murder you for your own good..." would fit in well right about now. | Copyright 1992 | Copyright/Reproduction Limitations: | This text file may not be edited or altered in any fashion. It | may be uploaded or downloaded freely and may not be sold for | personal gain or profit. For further information please contact: | The Research & Education Foundation | P.O. Box 141455 | Austin, Tx 78714 I can't help but equate what Morey and his leaders have put out here with anti-Jewish and anti-black hate letters claiming to be authoritive. The number of lies are obvious to anyone who knows anything about what the claimant is spouting. That's not important, however, when the hate letter is intended for those who already believe and will not question the validity of the claims being made. The hatred and dishonety disgusts me. Here we see one of the reasons why I'm an atheist, in fact. Here we see why Christianity has the history that it does and why it's utterly evil by its own standards. -!- ! Origin: Jesus is my boy toy. (1:102/890.666)