Witches Today and Mutual Respect

In this day and age, we pagans are incredibly lucky. We're free to practice without having to fear for our safety (at least in the more privileged countries, that is). We can be as open as we want about our practices and there are laws in place that protect us from loss of employment, violence, and any other kind of persecution based on religious beliefs. Yes, we still get judged by those who don't understand or agree. But You Guys: no one can drag us out in the street and beat us senseless because we're wearing a pentacle. It was NOT always like this, and it's currently not like this in other places in the world.

And of course, we have the internet now. We can post whatever we want on the internet. You know what that means? We all have access to each other. I can check the listings on WitchVox and find other witches in my area to hang out with. I can make a blog and post all of my opinions, knowledge, and spells for everyone else to borrow and use. If I'm at a loss for a spell or need a recipe for a tincture, all I have to do is hit up Pinterest and there are pages and pages of ideas. I can go to Amazon online and buy any book I want to on any single witchy subject I can possibly dream of. The entire world of witchcraft is right at our fingertips right now. Do you guys know how amazingly good we have it?

But what are we doing with this freedom? Lately, I see a lot of hate on the internet in the pagan community. Person One posts something that Person Two doesn't agree with, and Person Two just cannot refrain from commenting to "correct" Person One's obvious mistake. Person Two leaves a snippy, passive aggressive comment that is supposed to make Person One doubt himself. Person One then feels the need to defend why he practices the way he does, and now it's a full-blown argument.

It would be completely different if the commenter approached it in a way that is respectful and doesn't belittle Person One's beliefs, but that's not usually the case. I've seen it happen so often that I just can't take it any longer, I HAVE to say something!

We are taking what we have for granted. We can be out in the open with our practices, and we have all these different opinions and variations of practices to learn from, and we are taking this privilege and using it to belittle each other. Chew on it for a second. WE ARE BELITTLING EACH OTHER.

Maybe it's just that in this age of online interaction, we've all lost touch with our communication skills. Maybe we just forgot what the difference is between being respectful and polite, and being rude and condescending. Maybe we think it just all looks the same on the internet. Whatever the reason, we are handling our differences incorrectly. When we see something we disagree with, we get offended and angry. We get snippy and jump down each others throats about how that is NOT the way to do things. And when we respond like this, we come off as rude, judgmental, and stuck-up.

Consider things from the opposite point of view for a second. Maybe the person who dared to offend you is just starting out, and has gotten their information from questionable resources. What if they just really need to be taught and set straight? How does it make you look when you post a snarky passive-aggressive comment about their practices? That's not a very warm welcome. If this is the case and you just can't leave well enough alone, then jump in and help them. Suggest some resources that you deem credible. Just be kind. We all know it's not your responsibility to teach this person you don't even know. But if you're not going to help, then close the page and move on. Your comment is absolutely not necessary.

Or maybe this person isn't so new and impressionable at all. Maybe they just walk a different path than you. I see this one a lot, too. People make rude and snarky comments about other people's beliefs because they are different from what they, themselves believe.  If someone else's opinion offends you so much, stop what you're doing for a minute and think. Why are you so offended? Did this person say something rude about you or your beliefs? Is this person truly hurting you or someone else? If the answer to both of these questions is no, then check yourself! Is it really necessary for you to say something? If not, then close the damn window and go about your business.

What I'm trying to get at here, is that we are all sisters and brothers. We are all in this together, and we are all one in the grand scheme of things. If we don't have respect for each other, than what do we have, really? If we spend our time arguing and trying to prove one-another wrong, where do we end up in the end? We need to pull together and use our time and energy wisely. In this day and age, where we have such easy access to one-another, we need to take the opportunity to learn from each other! Don't judge, LEARN. It doesn't matter who you are or how long you've been practicing. There is something you can learn from everyone.

Imagine what we could all do if we stopped being so damn threatened by one another, started accepting one another unconditionally, and working together...

"So Mote It Be"

The phrase, "so mote it be" is popular among many witches, pagans, and Wiccans. It's widely used in spells and rituals as a closing statement, sort of an "amen." It is deeply rooted in Wiccan tradition, dating all the way back to Aleister Crowley and Gerald Gardner (who apparently borrowed the term from the Freemasons).

It was included in all of the books I used to teach myself the craft so, naturally, I adopted it myself. But nonetheless, I always felt funny using it in my spells. That one term seemed so out of place among everything else in all of my spells, like such an old phrase didn't belong as a conclusion to a spell that was otherwise written in the modern dialect that I am familiar with. I always felt uncomfortable using it and as a result, used it only half-heartedly.

But for me, that defeats the purpose of having it there in the first place. It's not just a conclusion, but a statement of power. By ending a spell like this, you are affirming to yourself and the universe that your words and intent have immense power. Because you will this spell into fruition, it will be so! That's why it was so important to me that I keep it in my spells instead of just scrapping it altogether. Without it my spells feel incomplete, like they stop abruptly and then just putter out.

I decided to tweak it so that it was something I was fully comfortable saying. It became "As is my will, so it will be." It is essentially the same phrase, and its meaning is exactly the same. I pretty much just got rid of the word 'mote.' No one in these modern times ever uses that word. Because of this, I feel that it just didn't have a place in my craft. I think that a witch's craft needs to be very personal and everything must mean something to the individual conducting the spell. Otherwise, it won't hold as much power.

Now, I can conclude my spells with complete confidence in the words that are coming out of my mouth. I am using words that I fully understand and am comfortable with, and that only enhances the potency of my intention.

This Witch's Rede: Laws of Balance

For the first few years of my study of witchcraft, I thought I was Wiccan. I read Wiccan books, studied up on gods, learned the Rede, and tried to find a tradition to place myself in. After a while, I realized that Wicca as a religion just isn't for me. In fact, religion and I just don't get along very well period, no matter what religion it is.

But I just couldn't give up witchcraft. A witch I am, and a witch I always will be! After all, you don't have to be Wiccan to be a witch, and you don't have to be a witch to be Wiccan either. So I decided to let go of Wicca and continue on with my practice of witchcraft.

Some people I know thought I was abandoning a light path for a dark one, so to speak. They thought I just wanted the witchcraft without any of the rules or guidance or accountability that (supposedly) comes along with being a part of a religion. But that's actually not true at all.

In fact, I'm a firm believer in karma. I've posted about it here before. Just because I don't worship a god who will punish me if I disobey him doesn't mean that I am not concerned with the consequences of my actions. I believe that there is a strong force out there that requires balance in all things. If you do something to upset that balance, such as intentionally cause harm to someone else, it will come back to you in some form in order to restore the balance that was tipped.

Even actions as simple as a small spell for attracting money. That money has to actually come from somewhere. Love spells are the same. Are you messing with someone else's free will in order to get something you selfishly want? That's going to cost you in the long run. Nothing is without consequences.

Some believe in the "rule of three," in which whatever you put out into the universe is going to come back to you three times. I'm not sure I believe it's quite that severe. That itself seems to be an upset in balance. Think of a scale full of pennies on each side. I tip the scale on my side because I want some of those pennies. What happens then? The scale certainly does not lean three times as heavy in the other direction. Balance is restored if an equal amount of weight is emptied from the other side.

This is my idea of a rede. I believe that the universe, or "karma," will find a way to restore all balances that were upset or otherwise messed with. Sometimes it's such a severe imbalance that it springs into action and knocks you on your ass. Other times it's a slow process and may not happen for a while. But it is always corrected eventually.

I'm quite sure that not all witches share this belief. Some don't live by any rules at all, while others have very strict rules they abide by. I may not worship a god, but I can certainly govern myself when it comes to right and wrong.

Am I a Wiccan Witch, or Just a Witch?

"So, are you a Witch or a Wiccan?"

This was the question I was asked recently, and I didn't really know how to answer it. First, I had to explain the difference between a Wiccan and a Witch.

To put it simply, I told the inquirer that a Witch is someone who works with and manipulates energies to help achieve a certain goal. A Witch may use crystals, herbs, tarot, etc to aid in their work. A Wiccan is someone who follows Wicca, which is essentially a nature-based religion. Someone can be a Witch and a Wiccan, or they can be either one and not the other. A Witch may even belong to another religion, like Christianity.

And still the question stands; which am I? I definitely consider myself a Witch, because I regularly practice Witchcraft. Many of my practices are very similar to those who call themselves Wiccan, but what it means to be Wiccan seems to vary greatly with each person who has an opinion on the matter.

I personally do not consider myself a Wiccan just because I do not work with deities. From my understanding, honoring and requesting aid from certain deities is a common practice in Wicca which makes sense because Wicca is a religion, after all. Since I believe that all of my power comes from within me and not from the aid of a deity, then I assume that I do not qualify as a typical Wiccan.

But that doesn't mean that my beliefs don't reflect those of a Wiccan. For example, I recently made and posted THIS IMAGE on Tumblr. I titled it "Witch's Pledge of Allegiance." In a nutshell, it states that I pledge my allegiance to the Earth and Moon, and promise to protect life and do good by all. The end. I immediately got a comment from a fellow Witch stating that this shouldn't be posted under Witchcraft because it was Wiccan and therefore didn't apply to Witches.

Well excuse me! I wasn't aware that Witches didn't work with the energies of Earth as influenced by the Moon, and that they didn't believe in using their knowledge and power to protect. MY BAD.

So I am just going to assume that the definition of Witch and Wiccan differs from person to person. I am a Witch, by my own definition. I am not a Wiccan, but I do share many beliefs with Wiccans. I guess anyone who disagrees should mind their own cauldrons!

 

Witch's Pledge of Allegiance