Is the Practice of Witchcraft or Magic Allowed?

By Edwin

If you’re interested in witchcraft but come from a Christian, Catholic, or otherwise biblical religious background, you may have asked yourself a straightforward question:

Does the Bible actually forbid witchcraft and magic?

The short answer is that the Bible contains clear prohibitions against several practices that modern readers may associate with magic, divination, spirit communication, and sorcery.

But that doesn’t mean every modern practice called “witchcraft” maps neatly onto a single biblical category.

The language, historical context, and translations matter.

So instead of repeating a giant list of everything supposedly “forbidden,” let’s look at what the biblical texts actually say and what those passages can—and cannot—tell us about modern witchcraft.

What does the Bible actually prohibit?

One of the clearest passages is Deuteronomy 18:10–12.

The passage lists practices including divination, interpreting omens, sorcery, spell-casting, consulting spirits, and seeking the dead. Different Bible translations use somewhat different terminology for these practices.

The important point is that the passage is not simply a list of modern occult hobbies.

It addresses specific practices within the religious and cultural world of ancient Israel.

That distinction matters.

A modern tarot reader, ceremonial magician, folk practitioner, or witch may use language that overlaps with these categories, but the biblical text itself was not written as a modern handbook categorizing every contemporary occult practice.

Divination and spirit communication

The Bible also explicitly addresses mediums and spiritists.

Leviticus 19:31 tells the Israelites not to turn to mediums or spiritists.

The basic point is clear: within the biblical framework of this passage, seeking supernatural guidance through mediums or spirit communication is prohibited.

That is different from saying that every person who calls themselves a witch is practicing exactly the same thing.

It is also different from saying that every modern form of divination is historically identical to the practices described in the biblical text.

What about witchcraft?

This is where translation becomes important.

English Bibles use words such as:

• witchcraft;
• sorcery;
• magic;
• sorcerer;
• spell-caster;
• diviner;
• enchanter;
• wizard;
• medium;
• necromancer.

These words don’t always correspond neatly to one another.

For example, Deuteronomy 18:10–11 contains several different categories of prohibited practice rather than one single word meaning “all witchcraft.” Some translations render particular terms as sorcery, witchcraft, spell-casting, consulting spirits, or necromancy.

So when someone says “the Bible forbids everything called magic,” that’s a much broader claim than the individual passages themselves establish.

Does the Bible distinguish between different kinds of magic?

Modern witches often use categories such as:

• folk magic;
• ceremonial magic;
• divination;
• healing magic;
• protective magic;
• baneful magic;
• spirit work;
• chaos magic;
• religious witchcraft;
• secular witchcraft.

The Bible does not organize supernatural practices using this modern classification system.

Its prohibitions are framed around particular practices and religious boundaries.

That means you should be cautious about taking a modern category and assuming that every biblical reference automatically applies to every version of that category.

What about tarot?

Tarot is not named in the Bible.

Neither are modern tarot decks.

The relevant question is whether someone understands tarot as a form of divination or spiritual consultation.

That matters because divination is explicitly prohibited in passages such as Deuteronomy 18.

So a Christian who believes biblical prohibitions remain authoritative may reasonably conclude that using tarot for divination conflicts with those teachings.

A witch working outside that religious framework may interpret tarot very differently.

The two positions don’t need to be confused.

What about astrology?

Astrology as practiced today is also not described in the Bible using modern terminology.

However, biblical passages do criticize certain forms of divination and omen-reading, and some readers therefore include astrological divination within the broader category of practices they believe Scripture prohibits.

Again, the exact practice matters.

Studying astronomy is obviously not the same activity as using planetary positions to predict someone’s future.

Those should not be treated as identical simply because both involve the sky.

What about communicating with the dead?

This is one of the clearer areas.

Leviticus 19:31 explicitly prohibits seeking mediums and spiritists, while Deuteronomy 18:10–11 includes consulting spirits and seeking the dead among the prohibited practices.

For someone following biblical law, this provides a straightforward reason to avoid necromancy or mediumship.

For someone practicing witchcraft outside Christianity, the question becomes one of personal magical tradition rather than biblical obedience.

That distinction is worth making.

Does this mean Christians cannot practice witchcraft?

If someone accepts the relevant biblical passages as binding religious instruction, then practices such as divination, sorcery, spell-casting, mediumship, and necromancy present an obvious conflict with those teachings.

That is the straightforward biblical answer.

The more complicated question is what happens when someone leaves or reinterprets the religious framework in which those prohibitions were given.

That becomes a matter of theology, personal belief, and religious interpretation.

There isn’t a single answer that applies to every person who uses the word “Christian” or every person who uses the word “witch.”

Why do some witches still come from Christian backgrounds?

Because religious identity and magical practice do not always develop in a perfectly linear way.

Some people grow up Christian and later become interested in witchcraft.

Some retain Christian beliefs while practicing forms of folk magic.

Others leave Christianity entirely.

Some study Christianity academically while practicing an unrelated magical tradition.

And some discover that the biblical prohibitions themselves are one of the reasons they want to explore witchcraft.

The important thing is to be honest about the tension rather than pretending it doesn’t exist.

If your religious tradition says something is forbidden and you knowingly practice it anyway, understand what that means within that tradition.

What about Catholicism?

Catholic teaching has its own theological framework around divination, magic, and occult practices.

So “Christianity” should not be treated as though it were a single institution with one identical position on every question.

If you are Catholic and this question is important to your religious life, consult Catholic sources for Catholic teaching rather than assuming that a generic internet article represents it accurately.

The same principle applies to Orthodox, Protestant, evangelical, and other Christian traditions.

What about the idea that the Bible was written to control people?

The old version of this article claimed that the Bible was essentially written as a tool for controlling the masses and that prohibitions against magic were primarily about fear and control.

That is an interpretation, not an established fact.

There are historical arguments about how religious laws functioned socially and politically, but reducing the biblical material to “control” doesn’t explain the texts themselves.

For this article, the more useful question is:

What does the text actually prohibit?

Once you know that, you can decide what those passages mean within your own worldview.

Does the Bible say that every witch is evil?

That’s a much broader claim than the specific prohibitions support.

Biblical texts condemn particular practices and, in some passages, particular practitioners.

That does not provide a neutral definition of every person who identifies as a witch today.

Modern witchcraft includes people with very different beliefs, ethics, and practices.

A Christian interpretation may regard those practices as incompatible with Christianity.

That is a theological judgment within that religious framework—not a factual classification of every modern witch.

What if you are worried about your soul?

If you’re still Christian and considering witchcraft, don’t ignore the conflict simply because you want permission to practice.

Read the relevant passages for yourself.

Compare several reputable translations.

Study the historical and theological context.

Then decide what you actually believe.

You don’t need an occult website to tell you what your religion requires.

And you don’t need a religious authority to tell you what you personally believe.

But you should understand the position you’re choosing.

A better way to read the biblical prohibitions

If you’re researching this subject seriously, work through the passages rather than relying on internet lists.

Start with:

1. Deuteronomy 18:9–14 — divination, sorcery, spell-casting, spirit consultation, and necromancy.
2. Leviticus 19:31 — mediums and spiritists.
3. Leviticus 20:6 — another prohibition concerning mediums and spiritists.
4. 1 Samuel 28 — the story of Saul and the medium at Endor.
5. Exodus 22:18 — a frequently cited passage concerning sorcery, though its translation and interpretation deserve closer study.

Don’t just collect verses.

Read the surrounding chapters.

Look at multiple translations.

Check the terminology.

Then compare scholarly interpretations if you want to go deeper.

Why that order?

Start with the primary texts before looking at modern occult arguments.

First determine what the passage actually says.

Then examine what the Hebrew terminology and historical context may indicate.

After that, compare Christian interpretations with modern magical interpretations.

This prevents the same mistake in either direction: accepting a preacher’s simplified explanation without checking the text, or accepting an occult website’s simplified explanation without checking the text.

So, is witchcraft allowed?

There are two different questions hiding inside that sentence.

Is witchcraft allowed according to the Bible?

Several biblical passages explicitly prohibit practices associated with divination, sorcery, spell-casting, consulting spirits, and necromancy.

Is witchcraft allowed for a person who does not accept those biblical rules?

That becomes a question of personal religion, magical tradition, ethics, and individual choice.

Those are not the same question.

If you are Christian and want to remain within traditional biblical teaching, the relevant passages give you substantial reason to avoid the practices they prohibit.

If you are exploring witchcraft outside Christianity, those biblical prohibitions do not automatically function as the rules of your magical practice.

The point isn’t to give you permission

This article isn’t here to tell you whether you should become a witch.

It is here to separate the biblical position from the assumptions people often add to it.

The Bible does contain explicit prohibitions concerning several practices associated with magic and divination.

It does not, however, provide a modern taxonomy of every practice that can now be described as witchcraft.

That distinction is worth understanding.

If you’re going to practice magic, study the tradition you’re entering.

If you’re going to remain Christian, study the religious tradition you’re choosing to follow.

And if you’re caught between the two, don’t let an internet list make the decision for you.

Read.

Study.

Then decide what you believe.