What is it about Earth Magic....?

I'm afraid the answer is quite a bit more complicated than simple prejudice (although that is, of course, an element).

By "people" I assume you mean what we collectively understand as "mainstream Western culture". One cannot examine this particular world view without looking at its most foundational Epics: the songs, tales, and myths recorded in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles (and the Koran). The Bible is an ancient document, which at one time was very dynamic. What I mean is that it was written over the course of a great many centuries, and different portions ("books") have a different historical and social point of view.

At many times throughout the evolution of the "religions of the book", particularly during the eras in which the so-called "Old Testament" or "Hebrew Bible" was crafted, there were numerous competing religious pressures. The ancient semitic peoples were not homogeneous in their systems of belief. Some were settled people worshiping divinities similar to those of the Babylonians and Mediterranean peoples, while others were hunter-gatherer people practicing what some neo-Pagans today might refer to as "Earth magic" (fertility cults, animist tribes, etc.). Over time, the dominant form of religious practice in the region would emerge as what we might call "proto-monotheism", growing out of the Zoroastrian movement from Persia.

Obviously, the practice of animist rituals was not tolerable to those people who wanted to use religion - specifically this new monotheistic understanding - to unite the semitic people (presumably under their control). Throughout this time, those forces seeking to impose one particular style of religious experience on all led to the development of taboos specifically targeting those other expressions of faith. In other words, rather than simply banning the fertility cults, for example, the ancient Hebrews enacted laws that prohibited women from participating as religious leaders, or having any contact with public society while menstruating, essentially making it impossible for the fertility cults (which were largely feminocentric) to practice.

The other way in which these forces brought religion under the control of a limited caste was by declaring that only those who were "ordained" by God, by the church, or by whatever power they could most easily control or speak for, were authorized (or even capable!) of facilitating intercession with the Divine. Pagans, Pantheists, Native Spiritualists, even humanists and tree-huggers all understand that they themselves are the only key they need to access the Divine. Nature provides the toolkit for God in each and every one of us. Unfortunately, no priestly caste means diffuse, rather than centralized, power, and that just won't do, now will it? If everyone was empowered, there would be no way to get them to do what those in power need them to in order to sustain said power.

Jump ahead to the modern day. Now our culture views the "tales and myths" of the Bible as a form of historical truth, or at least we tend to view the restrictions and prohibitions listed therein as having been written "for a good reason." Sorry, but no. They were written for a wide variety of reasons, but very few of which we would today defend as morally or ethically justifiable. Unfortunately, many of those prohibitions still exist today, completely separated from their original context. So much so, in fact, that most people raised in this culture have an instinctive fear of anything that resembles "the old ways".

In much the same way, we've collectively become so used to following the church, the priests, the ministers, the worship leaders, whatever, that many of us have forgotten it's all in us, individually, to make that connection. The idea that the power (and responsibility) of the Divine might be in all of us is just too frightening for most to imagine, let alone confront.

Or to put it quite simply, we've been burning "witches" for far too long to just stop overnight. Sorry for the very long reply. This is a monumentally important topic in our society today, however. The "religions of the book" have clearly failed human society in some extraordinarily significant ways. This is not to say the message of liberation and community found within those faiths is not a worthwhile and powerful one. Rather, we must acknowledge the ways in which the Bible, Koran, and the traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are built upon a need to dominate and control. Furthermore, the foundation of hate, ignorance, and prejudice upon which they stand is literally crushing the life out of our species and our planet.

Ok - I fit the "tree hugger" part... so I qualify...

I have never feared or hated Pagans/Wiccans... found them to be a little dorky at times... but never hated.

I LOVE Native spiritualists... they sync up very well with my Buddha Nature and I like open minded Christians as well (as in "follower of Christ" not the kind that "focus on the family".)

Earth magic is only a type of using the earth's energies to better your life. If your friend believes that you will get anything you want from doing any kind of magic, they are either deluding themselves or are just starting out in Wicca. Wicca is neither Satanic or "evil." It is a Nature religion that many people feel comfortable belonging to as it is in tune with Nature and the changes of seasons. There is nothing wrong with joining in, but it takes much learning, research, and working to make yourself a better person to really fully understand and be able to use Earth magic or any other type of Nature magic. Wicca, for the serious practitioner, is a way of life, not just something to do for fun or to get things you want. It means becoming responsible in every way for your own life, your interactions with others and with the Earth. It takes much introspection and study. No we are not deluded or have serious mental issues. Many people who practice Wicca/Paganism are very intelligent, responsible, well-balanced people from all walks of life, including doctors, lawyers, police, college professors, scientists, and the girl behind the counter at McDonald's. Most are very open-minded people who have an abundance of patience and give freely of their knowledge. But, if I were you, I would check out what your friend is talking about, research it for yourself. If it makes you uncomfortable after you have learned about it, then do what makes you comfortable. But, don't listen to the nay-sayers. Do the research yourself and go with your gut feelings and keep an open mind.

People have been taught toi hate it or just fear it because it is unkown. Most do not have a clue what Wiccan, Paganism, Neo-Pagans, ect. Are they just think it is evil and dark magic. It is not all their fault society doesn't help to educate people on these religions. So for the most part I would say it is fear of the unkown and that they are a minority group and thus easier to take out their fears and blame things on.

Good question. I'm a long-time pagan and my favorite response to this was one of my husband's aunts...

"You're an IDOL-WORSHIPPER? But you're so NICE!"

LOL. His family is Jewish, and this particular aunt actually was visualizing me bowing down to a golden calf...(as opposed to a statue of the Virgin Mary, but don't get me started...)

I think it scares people to think that a person can be moral or spiritual, or even make things happen with spell-work and prayers - without going to the "right" diety to do it. The thought of me asking for Isis to bless me with a close parking spot scares the sh*t out of them - cause it works as well as asking Jesus or Yahweh. My very hip, very spiritual Jewish husband gets it and isn't bothered, but most people don't.

I think people are also upset by the idea that "god" is in all things, oddly enough. When I discussed the idea of all of nature being inherently made "of god", I got a lot of raised eyebrows from Christian friends. I was really suprised by this, as my husband assures me that this is also a biblical idea, but in practice, most people don't want to hear that a tree has divine energy at all. They don't even want to admit that a non-believer is also "of god", from what I've seen.

The shift in the bible from "other gods exist but ours is best" to "other gods are pretend" happend pretty slowly. The early Hebrews, such as King Solomon, were simply choosing one god among many - he actually commissioned a temple to the Goddess Astarte for one of his wives. Christians would do well to be reminded of that.

I'm going to guess that they're pissed because some people actually have respect for the Earth, while some (i.e. Christians) are busily destroying it, since god is going to magically whisk them away and leave the planet in blazes....

Earth and white magic is considered by many to be bad because many make no distinction between white or dark arts. To many a witch is a witch.

The various followers of the desert god find him to be a jealous god who will have no other gods before him. His instructions to them are to destroy the unbelievers (meaning anyone who doesn't believe in Him). They kill each other for believing in Him in various ways so are not opposed to killing of non believers when they can.

YHWH is a god who gains power by creating followers and by eliminating competing faiths.

Read the Bible and you will see an instruction manual for treating anyone who is not a subscriber as a second class human at best.

People fear what they don't understand. Also, everybody stereotypes, even though many deny that they do.