witches!

I'll bet this really burns the butts of the religionistas. Bad enough that so many young people are rejecting Christianity (yea!!), but it seems they are turning instead to astrology (boo!) and witchcraft (eh!). Kinda strange.

from Newsweek

NUMBER OF WITCHES RISES DRAMATICALLY ACROSS U.S. AS MILLENNIALS REJECT CHRISTIANITY

Witchcraft and other pagan religious practices increased in the U.S. over the past few decades, with millennials turning to astrology and tarot cards as they turn away from Christianity and other traditionally dominant Abrahamic religions.

The number of witches and Americans practicing Wicca religious rituals increased dramatically since the 1990s, with several recent studies indicating there may be at least 1.5 million witches across the country. A Trinity College study conducted in 1990 estimated only about 8,000 Wiccans in the U.S., but the increase has been led by a rejection of mainstream Christianity among young Americans as well as a rise in occultism.

With 1.5 million potential practicing witches across the U.S., witchcraft has more followers than the 1.4 million mainline members of the Presbyterian church.

Data collected by the Pew Research Center and Trinity College in Connecticut show witchcraft and pre-Christian traditions have been revitalized by young adults, Quartz noted. Millennials are seeking more freedom in their spirituality and interest in astrology and tarot card readings have spiked in recent years. 

Millennials, celebrities, and even critics of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh have embraced the "witch aesthetic" over more repressive Christian beliefs, Quartz reported. 

"From 1990 to 2008, Trinity College in Connecticut ran three large, detailed religion surveys," said Quartz. "Those have shown that Wicca grew tremendously over this period. From an estimated 8,000 Wiccans in 1990, they found there were about 340,000 practitioners in 2008."

The Trinity College data also revealed there were about 340,000 Pagans in the country in 2008. The Pew Research Center, which has long pointed out the ongoing decline in U.S. Protestant and Catholic membership, released a June survey which found adults under 40 are far less likely to say religion is "very important" in their lives. 

"It makes sense that witchcraft and the occult would rise as society becomes increasingly postmodern. The rejection of Christianity has left a void that people, as inherently spiritual beings, will seek to fill," author Julie Roys said in comments emailed to The Christian Post last month.

"Plus, Wicca has effectively repackaged witchcraft for millennial consumption," Roys continued. "No longer is witchcraft and paganism satanic and demonic, it's a 'pre-Christian tradition' that promotes 'free thought' and 'understanding of earth and nature."

More at the original.