Was jesus pagan?

• Posted by HPS. Edana CalderRaven February 18, 2011 - #Pagan  #wicca  #Jesus  - 653 views

  Thirteen reasons why Jesus, if he were here today, would be a Witch
  by Carl McColman, author of Embracing Jesus and the Goddess
  
  No single one of these reasons prove the Witchiness of Jesus; but taken
  as a whole, they make for a compelling case.
  
  1. Jesus criticized the hypocrisy and legalism of the religious status
  quo, and chose to embrace an alternative spiritual path. Matthew
  23:1-36. In Jesus' day, the religious establishment included the
  Pharisees and Sadducees, dominant factions in first century Judaism.
  Jesus' alternative path followed the radical teachings of his mentor,
  John the Baptist. Nowadays, in Europe and the Americas the status quo is
  mainly Christianity; the path of the Goddess -- Wicca -- is one of the
  most compelling of available spiritual alternatives. Many people who
  embrace Wicca have the exact same criticisms of Christianity that Jesus
  is said to have had about the religious establishment in his day.
  Hypocrisy, legalism, blind obedience of the rules to the point of
  ignoring spiritual values like love, trust, and freedom -- these are the
  problems Jesus attacked in the official religion in his day, and that
  many Wiccans today see in the religious status quo of our time. Perhaps
  Jesus, were he here today, would join Wiccans in criticizing mainstream
  religion and trying to find an alternative way.
  
  2. Jesus was a psychic healer. Luke 6:19; John 9:1-12. Luke comments
  that "all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from
  him and healed all of them." And John recounts how Jesus made a magic
  healing paste by mixing his saliva with soil from our Mother, the Earth.
  For Jesus, healing was a central part of his spiritual identity.
  Witches, likewise, rely on herbal wisdom, natural foods, and psychic
  practices like reiki to bring healing and comfort to themselves and
  their loved ones. Sadly, the Christian religion rarely encourages its
  followers to take responsibility for their own healing, but rather
  colludes with a medical establishment that keeps people passive in
  regard to their own wellness. Jesus the healer has much more in common
  with Wiccan healers than with church-going "patients."
  
  3. Jesus acknowledged the divinity within each person. John 10:34-36.
  All he was doing was quoting the Psalms, but Jesus emphasized it: "You
  are gods." Throughout the Bible, Jesus uses mystical language to
  illustrate the essential unity between humanity and divinity. How sad
  that the church founded in his name lost that sense of human divinity,
  and has instead stressed the "fallenness" and "separation" that keeps
  humanity alienated from the divine. Incidentally, this is an indirect
  affirmation of Goddess spirituality, as well -- for if we are gods, as
  Jesus quoting the scripture insists, then both men and women partake of
  the godly nature; implying therefore that God encompasses both the
  masculine and feminine dimension of life. So the "God" whom Jesus
  worships incorporates both the God and the Goddess as revered by
  Wiccans.
  
  4. Jesus lived close to nature. Matthew 8:20; Mark 1:12-13; 3:13; Luke
  4:42; John 18:1. Jesus took a vision quest in the wilderness; he loved
  to pray in the mountains, slept in gardens, and made a point of telling
  his followers that he had no house to live in. Frankly, it's hard to
  imagine him driving an SUV or worshiping in an air conditioned church.
  If Jesus were here today, I suspect he'd live in an ecologically
  sustainable intentional community, and he'd advocate a sacred duty to
  the Earth with the same zeal which which he advocated care for the poor
  and the downtrodden.
  
  5. Jesus believed in magic. Matthew 7:7-11. Only he called it prayer.
  "How many of you, if your child asks for a fish, will give them a
  stone?" "If you ask for it in my name, it will be done." Church-goers
  often see magic as different from prayer, because prayer is timid and
  uncertain: "Not my will, but thine." By contrast, magic assumes that the
  Divine Spirit loves us and wants to bless us in accordance with our
  highest desires. When Jesus prayed, he prayed with confidence, not
  timidity. And he taught his followers to do the same. Nowadays, magic
  may have fancy window dressing (light this candle, recite this
  incantation, etc.) but it still comes down to the same thing: making a
  request for spiritual blessing. Jesus' vision of prayer is like Wicca's
  vision of magic: it's based on trust and love, unlike the prayer of
  church religion, which is based on fear, self-criticism and self-doubt.
  
  6. Jesus could command the weather. Matthew 8:23-27. Witches have a
  long-standing reputation for being able to conjure up storms and
  otherwise control the weather. Jesus, like any accomplished
  weather-witch, possessed a similar set of skills. He did this both
  actively (like when he calmed the storm out in the Sea of Galilee) and
  indirectly (as he was dying, he caused darkness to reign in the middle
  of the day).
  
  7. Jesus had a profound relationship with the elements. Matthew
  14:22-26; Luke 3:16; Luke 8:22-25; John 9:6. Jesus could walk on water;
  he could command the wind; he baptized with fire, and he used the soil
  of the Earth to make healing pastes. His spirituality was primal and
  grounded in the power of the elements. Modern-day Christianity is
  abstract, sterile, and anti-septic -- it is a religion of books, words,
  and mental concepts. But Jesus, like most modern-day Wiccans, found
  vitality in the energies of the natural world.
  
  8. Like a shaman, Jesus could channel spirits. Mark 9:2-8. One of the
  most profound stories in the Bible is that of the transfiguration, when
  Jesus conjured the spirits of Moses and Elijah. To his followers, this
  demonstrated Jesus' authority as a spiritual leader. Later on, Jesus
  tells his followers that they will do greater works than his (John
  14:12); ironically, though, Christianity does not permit its followers
  to invoke or conjure spirits. But invocation of benevolent spirits has
  been a part of shamanic spirituality since the dawn of humankind, and
  modern-day Witches follow in this shamanistic tradition when they Draw
  Down the Moon and the Sun, calling the spirit of Goddess and God into
  their Circles.
  
  9. Jesus was comfortable with sensuality and eroticism. Luke 7:36-50.
  One night, while dining at a respectable home, Jesus received a sensuous
  foot washing from a woman, who used oil and her hair to wipe the
  teacher's feet. The host and the other guests were scandalized, but
  Jesus saw it as a perfectly lovely statement of affection and
  hospitality. In fact, when comments were made to Jesus, he responded by
  saying basically, "What's your problem?" Alas, the religion that bears
  his name has evolved into an erotically-repressed spirituality, more
  like Jesus' uptight host than Jesus himself. Paganism and Wicca,
  meanwhile, are spiritual systems that celebrate sensuality, sexuality,
  and the basic goodness of pleasure. Jesus, who got criticized for being
  a pleasure lover himself (Matthew 11:19), would no doubt be at home in
  Wicca's celebration of the goodness of nature and the body.
  
  10. In his own way, Jesus practiced the Wiccan Rede. Matthew 5:21-22;
  Matthew 22:33; John 8:32. The core ethical principle in Wicca is the
  Rede: "If you harm none, do what you will." There's two components to
  this teaching: non-harm, and freedom. It's a basic principle; you have
  spiritual freedom, but not to the point of harming your self or others.
  Compare this to several of Jesus' teachings. Matthew tells us that Jesus
  was so committed to the principle of non-harm that he regarded the
  intent to do violence as bad as violence itself. Meanwhile, John quotes
  Jesus as saying "Truth sets you free." But what is the truth that sets
  us free? The truth of love, trust, healing, and divine grace; in other
  words, the universal truths that can be found in any spiritual path. The
  opposite of harm is love. "Harm none" is another way of saying "Love
  your neighbor as yourself."
  
  11. In his own way, Jesus advocated Perfect Love and Perfect Trust.
  Matthew 5:48; Luke 6:32-36; Luke 12:22-34. John quotes Jesus as saying
  "Do not let your hearts be troubled" and "love one another as I have
  loved you." Throughout the Gospels, Jesus says "Do not be afraid." He
  suggests his disciples "become like little children" -- in other words,
  be trusting and open-hearted. It's such a simple message, and today
  Wicca embodies the spirit of perfect love and trust; indeed, traditional
  covens require the phrase "Perfect Love and Perfect Trust" as a password
  to gain entry into circle. Christianity, meanwhile, preaches a message
  based on perfect anger and perfect fear: God is wrathful, and unless a
  person is fearfully obedient, he or she will be tortured for eternity.
  That's the opposite of what Jesus stood for. Love and trust leads to
  healing and liberation, whereas fear of judgment leads to depression and
  spiritual passivity.
  
  12. His enemies accused Jesus of being under the influence of demons.
  John 8:48; John 10:20. It's an old tactic. When the people who have
  religious power want to dismiss their critics, they accuse the critics
  of being demonically possessed. That's what the Pharisees said about
  Jesus, and nowadays that's what the religious right says about Wicca.
  Jesus was someone who loved the average person on the street, but had
  little patience for religious bigotry and self-righteousness. No doubt
  Jesus would feel he has more in common with Wiccans than with the
  fundamentalists who attack them.
  
  13. Jesus was killed, unfairly, for his "blasphemy." Mark 14:63-64.
  Thankfully, Wiccans nowadays don't get burned at the stake. But tens of
  thousands of people -- mostly women -- did get killed in Europe for the
  "crime" of Witchcraft. Even if these people weren't Witches, the fact
  remains: they were brutally murdered for religious reasons. Well -- so
  was Jesus. Modern day Wicca looks to the victims of the Witch burnings
  as heroes of the Goddess faith, just like Christians see in Jesus their
  own spiritual hero. Jesus, meanwhile, was the kind of man who would
  rather side against the killers and the executioners. Given the fact
  that, throughout history, far more Christians have killed Witches than
  vice versa, it's easy to see Jesus embracing the Goddess, working to
  heal her children, and calling those who bear his name to repent of
  their violence.
  About the author: Carl McColman is an independent spiritual writer. His
  books include Embracing Jesus and the Goddess, The Aspiring Mystic, The
  Well-Read Witch, and Spirituality. He lives in Stone Mountain, GA.
  If Jesus Were Here Today, He Would Love the Goddess