Introduction | Occult Religion In T

What Is Non-traditional Religion?

Non-traditional religion is a belief system, religious practice or spiritual path that is unsuitable within popular, established religions like Christianity or Hinduism. It is not part of mainstream culture.They may be newer, less widespread and less practiced compared to traditional religion.

Witchcraft as Non-traditional Religion

Witchcraft is unaffiliated with mainstream western religious traditions. Most cultures, particularly North American and European culture, have been historically cultivated by Christian traditions. Witchcraft as a belief system is practiced by Wiccans, a non-traditional religion. It does not follow Christian beliefs, rituals or practices. It is separate from the norm. Witchcraft is a practice. It uses energy, intention, rituals, or spells to create change.

Witchcraft embodies various religious themes. These are

Nature as Sacred. Many witchcraft practices focus on natural elements such as the earth, plants/animals and the cycles of the moon and seasons as being spritiually significant or the embodiment of energy.
Divine or Spiritual Forces. Participants of witchcraft like witches and warlocks often believe in gods/goddesses, spirits, ancestors, elemental beings and a universal energy or life force.
Use of rituals and ceremonies for casting circles, chanting or prayer like words, altar-building and symbolic tools like herbs.These rituals often mark spiritual intentions or connect practitioners to the divine.
Morality and responsibility. Practitioners have moral rules they must follow. This includes cause and effect, a balance must be maintained, intent is important and actions have spiritual consequences.
Ancestral Connection. It is really important to honor the values and beliefs of your ancestors. Never go against your lineage. This includes speaking to ancestors for guidance, leaving offrings and keeping cultural memory alive through magic.
Life, Death and the Afterlife. Witchcraft includes beliefs about spirits of the dead, communicating with the deceased, reincarnation, soul journeys, liminal spaces (thresholds between worlds)

Witchcraft in the Vampire Diaries

In season 1 episode 14 titled “Fool Me Once” Bonnie and her grandmother Sheila use the natural elements (air, fire, water and earth or spirit) as well as witchcraft to perform a spell that opens up a tomb where Katerina (a vampire) is supposed to be trapped. Their power is rooted in nature, ancestral magic and balance between the elements.
Damon, one of the main protagonists in the show, wants to open the tomb beneath the old church ruin to get Katherine out. This is his goal. He requires a witch like Bonnie Bennett and her grandmother to break the powerful seal created by Emily Bennett (their ancestor and Katherine’s maid). They help him because the tomb must be destroyed to stop supernatural threats. However they inadvertently also help Damon achieve his objective.
This scene is a major moment in the beginning of the show because it demonstrates the power of the Bennett family and the future potential of Bonnie as a witch once she grows accustomed to her powers

In the Vampire Diaries witches draw power from the natural world, the balance of life and death, celestial events like eclipses and solstices and family lineage like the spirits of ancestors. The success of the spells and rituals that Witches conduct comes from the intention and meaning they put into it.

A major source of conflict in the show occurs when characters upset the natural balance. This always creates consequences that drives the main plot of the show. The consequences they may face include magical backlash, interference from the spirit world and loss of powers. This belief dictates the decisions of many witches in the Vampire Diaries diegesis.

Some examples of witchcraft include curses, spells, binding magic, resurrection attempts and vampire creation i.e Esther Mikaelson.

Witchcraft is an ancestral tradition. Magic is inherited through bloodlines. You cannot learn to be a witch you must be born as one.

Bonnie Bennett, one of the main protagonists comes from a lineage of salem witches. In Season 1 episode 7, Sheila, Bonnie's grandmother told Bonnie that her ancestors fled Salem in 1692 and relocated to Mystic Falls, Virginia. They lived in secrecy for over a hundred years.

Witch characters like Bonnie Bennett, Sheila Bennett and Qetsiyah represent the moral responsibility of power. They often act as gatekeepers of natural law, protectors of balance and judges of supernatural behavior. They are the middle ground between traditional religious thioughtand supernatural thought. (or rationality)
Qetsiyah is the oldest known ancestor of the Bennett bloodline and one of the most powerful witches in the Vampire diaries diegesis. She created the first spell for immortality as well as the first cure for immortality.

Religious Themes in the Vampire Diaries

Nature as sacred: