In what I've been taught by other people to believe, yes. Once I realized that you shouldn't believe everything that you hear, I went out and learned about each one for myself. Witchcraft and satanism are two very different things, and it's ignorance or idiocy ( http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/335516) that lead people to believe otherwise.

no, people fear things that they don't know or are different to the stream of society. and with fear comes name calling and the need to cleanse this to return all to a uniform standard. many things have been called satanic, because people were too ignorant to accept change.

Since I live with someone who, 500 years or so ago, would have been burned, hung, stoned or 'ducked' for her odd powers; and since I see no pentagrams or animal bits around the house, I'd have to say 'no'. I could, however, be exhibiting my own ignorance. What's up in the loft I wonder?

Absolutely not. There's a long history of equating witches or female consorts witht he devil, but actual witchcraft or paganism has nothing to do with Satanism.

Witchcraft is the use of 'Magick': "Magick is not capable of producing "miracles" or violating the physical laws of the universe (e.g., it cannot cause a solar eclipse), although "it is theoretically possible to cause in any object any change of which that object is capable by nature"." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magick Satanism is the religion that one should worship Satan, "Believers may place a great emphasis on the Serpent in the Biblical tale of Genesis, whom they perceive to be one of the many emanations or incarnations of Satan. According to such teachings, Satan blessed mankind with the "forbidden" fruit of knowledge of good and evil. From this perspective, knowing both good and evil is the birth of wisdom." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theistic_Satanism The two are completely different. It's like nuclear power and government. Nuclear power doesn't defy the physical laws of the universe but can be used for both good or evil. Government is the persons to whom you listen and follow. Nuclear power and Government are not synonymous.

No. I'm a Witch, and I'm certainly not a Satanist.

Yes. Simply because I believe in the Bible and my God is against all witchcraft and sorcery. -In the Master's service. Thank you and God bless you!

Wiccans do not believe in Satan. Christians do, so they think everybody should either believe in 'him', or worship 'him'. Stupidity.

I've been taught that all religions outside the true one are the doctrines of demons, having their origins from Satan and his angels.

No. And I'm going to risk the negatives here, and put in my two cents and say that most people who say something is Satanist say it because it is something they are afraid of and don't believe in, themselves. If they don't agree with the conventional beliefs, "it's not right." And if it's "not right," it's the work of a Satanist. I know from experiences with other people.

Ignorance and fear may cause close minded people to believe this but it is not true. I know several witches and they do not worship satan.

I learned a few things about LaVeyan Satanism a few days ago, and was surprised to find it has some positive aspects in its philosophy that are not in the least bit offensive to me as a Mormon and a Christian. By the same token, my Wiccan niece has tried very hard to open my eyes about her way of thinking. She is a really fine person and I simply cannot ever win an argument with her, even though she would capitulate if I let her do so out of respect for me. . So, armed with that little bit of knowledge I have recently and previously obtained from a deeply intimate source, I say they are decidedly not equal, if even close. . Without going into details of each, they appear to be headed in different directions entirely, but I'm certain I have a lot more to learn about both, time allowing.

ibeleive in reality not magical spells and demons. there are self-proclaimed witches but magic is not real or just an illusion. i do think that people who beleive in this sort of thing probably also suffer from dimensia schitophrenia or some other mental illness.

No it doesn't :)

no witchcraft=fantasy.

No. The way I learned it, the practice of Witchcraft predates the concept of Satan. How can Witches be Satanic is Satan hasn't been invented yet?

Yes. Anything not for the Lord is against the Lord and of Satan.

Nope. The church equated the two to undermine the old religions. And persecute people, mainly women.

Both are anti-Christian, therefore evil in their own rights. Whether they are equal to each other is irrelevant.

No Satanism means you do not believe in religion, you "appose" religion. most people who practise witchcraft follow a religion called wicca. so it isn't true.

Not even close. Witchcraft doesn't have to do with Satanism at all, nor does Satanism Witchcraft. Hell, Satanism is more of a philosphy then anything. Also, the Pagan religions are FAR older then the idea of Satanism, or even Satan himself, as Jervinator pointed out eariler.

I don't believe that at all. bad witchcraft CAN equal satan but witchcraft in general doesn't equal satanism. WITCHCRAFT DOES NOT EQUAL SATANISM.

I thought that witchcraft came about BC through the wise (wiccan) women of a village who were able to make up lotions and potions to cure ailments and it extended from there. They were able to use their gifts for 'good' or 'evil'. So the basic concept of Wiccan - such as most beliefs is based on the forces of good v evil, heaven v hell.

think of it this way: in your eyes, or in what you've been taught to believe, does (your religion here) equual satanism? no. people who believe in witchcraft obviously don't, so i don't, because people can believe in those things if they want.

All a bunch of horseshit, imho. ;-)

I don't give a sweet rat's ass! ;-)

Tis nothing but the Devil.

Some say so.

no not really i think its pretty cool a little satanism but i don't really mind but of course it dose because the pentagram has to do with witch craft and satanism but i don't mind

i can understand how people can think that it is satanic, satan being the "root" of evil, but witch craft is like any other religion! it has it's own law's or comandments! it's has it own saints and angel's it even goes in hand and extreamly far back with christianity where they believe that god is not only a man but woman to, as the universe was created in equal balence by an equally balanced god, or god and godess. Ultimatly witchcraft is like any other religion, you can take your belives to an extream level like you see in todays society, bombings cast in great belifes for whome ever's got it maybe that they culprit is doing the boming for. also are a witches spells like a christians prayer, we both ask our god/gods for what we would like or what we would need. E.G we pray to win the lottery, they cast a spell to win the lottery! we pray for loved ones to get better, they cast a spell to help them get better. witch craft is not satanism, unless the user wishes it to be! A Friend.

In my eyes I have more important things to muddle over

Take it from me, I am a witch, and we have nothing to do with satan or any of his followers. They can believe what they want, and we believe what we want. Most of us don't even believe in satan.

no not at all, anyone that believes that does not know any real info about witchcraft. most people who do witchcraft dont even believe in a hell or a devil. For the most part they are very peaceful peole.

Yes, in my eyes and beliefs are equal. My 2 cents.

''Witchcraft'' predates Christianity as a concept, so Satan can't have anything to do with it, logically, and also speaking from one who believes in neither. Satan is a Christian thing, and used as a scapegoat to devalorize and dismiss any belief that doesn't pertain to Christianity. Satan is God's creation, it has nothing to do with other cultures and beliefs as far as attribution goes, aside from by the Christians themselves. Secondly, the ''concept'' of good and evil may always be given a physical image, so anywhere in the world, nobody wants to cater to what they perceive as wrong or ''evil'', which is always derived from primal human nature, just as much as is the Devil himself is. Being refined doesn't make it any more deep. Most defined forms of witchcraft deal with ''using'' the forces of nature and expending their functions for one, or someone else's benefit, or again drawing out seemingly magical properties given to certain natural elements like plants attributed to whatever cultural deity said witchcraft would belong to. Example. In many cases it's the 'worship'' of nature itself and the acknowledgement of it being the source of all life, and older Pagan forms of witchcraft were used to worship more evident natural aspects like the Sun, and the concept is actually pretty close to that of God's, adding in the practice of magic. Only it's a lot more real, since the Sun is actually something we know to be there, as well as knowing that water is vital to human life and so on. All this to say that since people past and present more or less have the same idea in mind, the whole of witchcraft caters to the same sense of security, peace and guidance that Christianity revolves around. In my opinion, placing your Wicca dagger a certain way to allow positive energy to flow and fill your environment is pretty much the same as going to Church. Christianity evolved but most other religions or beliefs really didn't aside from social shock value or the transition to unconventional philosophy which allowed them to prevail under the shadow of God on this side of the ocean and most of Europe, so some of it retained their more original roots, but either way if we consider this, nobody would want to practice magic if it was attributed to a representation like that belonging to the Devil. Witchcraft still exists today as a belief and practice especially in other countries, they belong to different sets of beliefs, cultures and doctrines completely irrelevant to Christianity. In fact I can't even understand much of the attribution. Most of what pertains to Satan in Christianity is not giving in to his temptations, but I've heard relatively little about ''Satanic magic''. Is there anything like that in the Bible? Maybe it was different before, like with the Witch hunts, but let's not forget that Christians were the ones that make the accusations without basis, and that the only time a women would admit to intercourse with the Devil after summoning him was after she had both her knees broken and fingernails ripped off. Satan belongs to Christianity indeed. I wasn't really taught much about Satan other than him being the curator for a shitty life on Earth. I was taught that I had to fear God, and later, that not following His words, or rather not pretending to do so, would lead to miserable social status. Therefore, the vehemence of these people in my life concerning free thinking showed me a behaviour that doesn't make it hard to believe that Satan serves only to throw around when they have a hissy fit.

No. I used to belong to a radical Christian church which preached that any religion that did not follow Christ was following Satan. They said that even if a person didn't believe in any such thing as a devil, that person was a Satanist if their religious practices elevated anything other than the Holy Trinity. Years since of listening and reading has shown me that neither witchcraft, Satanism, nor any other religion was being accurately represented in that church (even Christianity, as a true Christian does not feel threatened by freedom of thought). As you might imagine, my road to spiritual openness was long and dark. Having seen things (however unclearly) from the other side, I hesitate to condemn those ignorant enough to equate witchcraft to satanism. I have been taught to believe many things. The important thing is what I choose to believe.

witchcraft has nothing to do with Satan. satanism has nothing to do with Satan.

Satan is a purely Christian concept. The older earth based religions did not have a Satan. All Gods and Goddesses of old had both good characteristics and bad ones as well.

NOPE- Christians invented Satan- he is belongs to them Not us Witches! Want to learn more? Check this out: http://wiccateacher.synthasite.com/

No. I can't stand satanists. They are completely different.

How many do you know? Did they show you their membership card? (if not, well...they are not real satanists...they are claim to be's)

In my opinion, Witchcraft, Satanism and Christianity are all equal in that they are a belief system and lifestyle people choose to follow.

Great question but definitely not. Wiccan's mostly don't believe there is a "devil" or "satan". Wicca is an extremely peaceful religion and it should be recognized as such rather than seen as something scary.

not at all!

Nope. Satan is a Christian construct.

No not in the slightest. Wicca is about appreciating nature. Worship of Father Son and Mother Moon. Or rather the spirit in them. Satanism is about worshipping Satan.

Witchcraft is confused with Satanism for a couple of reasons. First, Christians are apparently taught in their Bible that pagan gods are really demons. If Satan is at the top of the demon chain, then according to their belief we are all worshipping Satan. Second, Christians believe that any supernatural power that doesn't come from God/acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God is demonic. Third, the pentagram, for reasons you already know. Fourth, when you believe you have the One-And-Only Truth, you usually don't really invest a lot of yourself in trying to understand other beliefs. After all, everyone but them is wrong; why waste your time trying to understand the ins-and-outs of falsehood? Obviously, if you're a Witch, you don't believe your religion is Satanism (unless you're a Satanist who has appropriated the label of "witch"). And, if you're a fundamentalist Christian, it doesn't matter whether you call it "Satanism" or "demonic"; it's all "of the devil" and its practitioners are lost. This is not a question I would spend a lot of time on. There are better things to do. Fundamentalist Christians aren't going to listen to you, anyway (unless, perhaps, it's your mother). Better to simply live your life and let them live theirs. For what it's worth ...