No, I do not know everything, no matter how long I've been learning or practicing, I am not the "Witch of infallible wisdom". I still have much to learn as many people do, and I do not claim to know more that anyone else on a similar path. To any newbies who are just starting out or have read a little and wish to know more, in many ways I am still just like you: reading, learning and experiencing new things all the time. So don't take my word for it; look around, learn things for yourself and make your own conclusions. Become your own person, don't follow someone else's beliefs blindly. Use what you learn to become a better person in yourself. After all, it is the fruit of your knowledge which defines who you are, not the knowledge you possess.
Will you teach me to be a Witch?
I am not a teacher, I have no qualifications to be a teacher and I will not teach the "basics of Witchcraft", or answer the "how do I become a Witch?" questions through email. Read a book! Surf the net a bit more! I now have a page on Becoming a Witch, but mine is not the only site out there. I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just saying that if you ask me to teach you everything then the chances are, I won't, as I don't take myself to be a good teacher (Hel knows I can explain things about as well as a wet teabag). I get a lot of emails and I will help those with a specific question such as "where did you find the info on such-n-such?" or "such-n-such is happening when I do this, is this normal/how can I change this?". But if the question is too general such as "I want to learn to be a Witch, can you teach me?" I will simply ask you to be more specific, or I'll say to you "Where would you like me to start? There's too much for me to teach you in one go, try reading a book about it."
Can you tell me about -kinesis? Will it work? Can you teach me?
This is probably the most popular email I get, and to be honest, I'm quite sick of them. Although I have techniques of various kinesis's on my site, I do not practice them myself (well, not anymore, I haven't managed any successfully in a veeery long time), nor do I know any more about them other than what I have put up already. So don't email me asking for more info or advice because I don't have any for you, sorry. Try the links on my Links page for more info.
Are you rebelling? Do you hate Christians?
I DO NOT hate Christianity. I had a couple of emails a while back, both very different but both requiring a similar reply. One was a result of my own mistake because I forgot to note that one of the articles in the BoS isn't my own. The other was just someone's question to me. This was my reply, in essence:
I respect every bit of Christianity's traditions, I used to be Catholic myself, and I do not see the image of the crucifix offensive in any way. I not only take pride in my own faith, but I also feel a sense of pride to see other people being dedicated to their faith, whatever it may be. It was not so long ago that I wrote a note to a Christian website praising them on their techniques of witnessing to Witches and Wiccans. I thought their approach was very understanding of our faith, while still putting across all the points of their own beliefs (hmm, they never did get back to me...). So as you see, I bear no ill will to those of different faiths, including Christianity, as I respect each and every one of them for their own uniqueness. I may not be Christian but I agree that Jesus was a very enlightened and wise man, who only wished that people become closer to God, which is, after all, what we're all trying to achieve.
Also, no I'm not rebelling, I have no reason to! I love my parents and have great respect for the adults in my life. I am simply finding my own path in life.
Did you ignore my email?
I don't ignore or automatically delete any emails I recieve. If I do not reply then you either asked something I already stated not to ask me about, or I really had no idea how to reply. Although I take all emails in all seriousness, I do get some weird requests and stories from people, and I honestly have no idea what to say. Sorry, but as I said, I don't know about everything.
HAHAHA yeah right, prove it! Magick isn't real!
That would depend on your definition of magick. Magick, as I like to describe it to those curious few who ask me with sincerity, is similar to prayer but with a bit of added will power. There's no "hocus pocus", no twinkly lights or instant changes. No business of changing misfortunate miscreants into frogs.
Our magick is about change, whether it be outer or inner. To work magick in our lives is to learn from our mistakes, to become better people, and to learn to be there for our friends and family. To do these things is to make transformations, and transformations are the stuff of magick. Magick is no more provable or disprovable than God(s); some people believe in it, others don't, and I accept that. I'm not trying to force my beliefs on anyone.
Is Wicca and/or Witchcraft only for females?
No-one ever said that Wicca was only for women. I know several Witches and Wiccans and a fair few of them are male. The only reason it seems to attract a lot of females is that Wicca looks at both the masculine and feminine side to the Divine. And just for the record, male Witches aren't warlocks! Male Witches are just that: Witches.
Isn't Wicca an old religion? Isn't it based on ancient Pagan religions?
I hear and see people all over the net saying that Wicca is the Old Religion that predates Christianity. This is total bunk. Wicca is an entirely new religion created in the 1930s/50s by Gerald Gardner. There is no record of any religion referred to as Wicca before this time, if anyone claims there was then ask them for evidence because none has been found to date of any such religion pre-Gardner.
As for what it's based on, you'd be surprised how much of Wicca is actually entirely modern invention. Wicca is the first known ditheistic religion, it's concept of the diune God and Mother-Maiden-Crone (MMC) Goddess were ideas developed in this century. The three-fold-law was created by Gardner, possibly to help keep his followers in line. The Wiccan Rede, though worded to sound like Old English, was thought to be originally written by Adriana Porter in 1910, and Doreen Valiente later wrote a longer version. The majority of magickal tools and symbolism used in Wiccan ceremony is borrowed from Ceremonial magick and the Order of the Golden Dawn, of which Gardner was a member. Only the Sabbats appear to be from older religions, a mixture of Celtic and Asatru holidays.
Can you fly?
This is a good one. I often get comments from fellow peers who love to take the p**s out of those who are different, and one I sometimes get is something along the lines of "hey Witch! Do you fly on a broomstick?!". As much as this annoys me, I shake it off as usual. But honestly, do people really think that? Probably not but it's still something which we have to repeat over again to the ignorant.
Witches don't fly on brooms, or fly at all for that matter. Goddess only knows how much I've dreamt of flying as a child, and still even in my teens! I would love to fly but alas, there's that thing called
g-r-a-v-i-t-y. Yes, you know that thing which keeps us on the ground? Despite popular belief we don't defy the laws of physics.
Brooms? Now there's another story. The traditional Witches' broom is used for sweeping the negativity from a sacred space. There have been a couple of theories behind how the flying myth came about. One is perfectly innocent and very superstitious, the other? Well, lets just say it's not quite so innocent. The first states that back in the days of growing your own crops for food, there was an apparent superstition that the crops would grow as high as you could jump. So the pagan farmers would sit astride a broom or pitchfork like a hobby horse (bristles/fork facing forwards!) and jump in the fields in hope of encouraging the crops to grow.
As for the other theory, I wont go into detail as there may be minors reading this. Lets just say that the "riding" of a broom included psychedelic herbs which caused the "flying" sensation. Oh, how I laughed when I found this theory. If you want to know more about it or the traditional "symbolic carving" concealed in the bristles of a Witches' broom, look for another site. I wont lower the tone :-P
Do you perform sacrifices?
Here's another not-so-nice assumption about us Witches. Let me start off by saying: yes we do make sacrifices. Sometimes we sacrifice our time for work or friends, sometimes we sacrifice our possessions for a good cause, and sometimes we sacrifice the respect from our friends for our faith. There are many things we sacrifice for the simple reason that we are different to others, or even just for being good people. However, we do NOT sacrifice anything such as animals or people. We believe that all life is sacred and to take that life away from another living being would be a terrible thing to do. If the particular Witch is a Wiccan then they believe in the Wiccan Rede which states that "if you harm none, do what you will". This means that we should not purposefully cause harm to anyone. A lot of non-Wiccan Witches also tend to live by this rule.
Can you curse someone?
There are generally two trains of thought on this subject.
Some Witches believe that if you believe a curse wont work, it won't. For them, the power of belief in the curse-ee is what gives curses power. It's like the Friday 13th effect. My point is one of psychology. It is a known fact that more accidents happen on Friday 13th, not because it is unlucky in reality, but because people believe it to be so. Also, people notice when things go wrong more if they think they are cursed, they look for mishaps and so they find more, when really there are no more bad things happening than any other day.
However, others hold the belief that curses do indeed have real power and can have an effect even if the person doesn't know they are cursed. I personally, am somewhere in between on this matter.
Is magick all in our heads?
Yes...well, mostly....partly. Whether it be positive or negative, the majority of it works on a psychological level (the rest would depend on your faith in divine entities and such). For example, if you work magic to become more confident, you have planted a belief in your mind that makes you think more confidently, because you believe the magic has worked and you are thus more confident. This is what I try to tell people who say it's a load of BS, it's not supposed to make the impossible happen, it is supposed to cause subtle influences to your subconscious, like a placebo. It works if you believe it will.
However, I and many others also believe that there is genuine power in Witchcraft, and this power can come from several sources including the Gods, the Earth's energies, and our own energies.
Do you cast spells?
Witches don't cast spells all the time. I know that most of us only ever use magick when needed, and even then we still need to take physical action to achieve something we desire. It is not the instant answer to everything, we need to work as much as anyone to get what we want, we just approach it differently sometimes. In some cases, the magic we work is not to cause change outside ourselves to solve a problem which we do not wish to face, it is done to cause a change within in order to gain strength and face that problem to do something about it. So don't be lazy and assume you can do a quick spell and everything will go away, because it wont. We are the magick, and only we can make things happen.
Do you do black or white magick?
Magick doesn't have a colour, magick is magick. Compare it to a knife: a knife can be used to cut a person or cut fruit but that doesn't make the knife "black" or "white", magick is the same, it is just a tool to be used in any way.
A friend of mine makes a good point comparing magick to a hammer:
Tools don't change color based on use - up to and including magick - and to claim otherwise is to take a very limited view of the world. One person's good is another person's evil; the rain spell done by one drowns the crops of another; to believe any action could be defined as either "good" or "evil" is a frighteningly naive point of view, and as ridiculous as thinking a hammer turns black if it's used to kill someone.
Also, the lines are so blurred these days that I don't use the terms "black" and "white". See, you can class a curse as black magick but what about cursing a murderer or rapist so they get caught by the police? Is it not then white because the ends justify the means and it is for the greater good? Any type of magick can be good when used in the right circumstances, and vice versa: any magick can be bad when misused. Thus, I don't believe magick has colour.
Is Witchcraft evil? Do you worship the devil?
The vast majority of Witches don't believe in the devil, let alone worship him. The Bible was written by man, possibly inspired by a God, and one who was jealous of other Gods at that. He said so himself (I forget which verse). If you were a jealous God who wanted to control people so that they would worship you, then you'd say things to make the opposition sound bad. The Gods are only "devils" in Yahweh's eyes, because they are the opposition. The Bible originally said not to let a "poisoner" live.... it was changed to "witch" after the Catholics wanted to become the main religion. It bashed a lot of spiritual, dedicated healers in order to become the patriarchal dogma we know today. And I'm fine with the teachings of Jesus, just not people who think they need to bash every other religion because they're "wrong".
God is different for everyone, we cannot pinpoint what God is like because He/She/They are beyond our comprehension. That is one of the key definitions of God: "that than which nothing greater can be conceived" -Anselm, It is beyond our scope as humans.
Nothing is inherantly evil, anything can be good or bad in the right circumstances. Good and evil are subjective to human interpretation.
Witches aren't real!!!
So who are those thousands of people practicing Witchcraft? Whether magick is real or not is irrelevant, it's the fact that they practice it that gives them the title.
Do you proseletise?
One myth that stemmed from the idea that Witchcraft and/or Wicca is a cult, is that we actively go out and seek to recruit new members. This could not be further from the truth. We believe in inclusivism, which means that we think all religious and spiritual paths are valid. If we feel that our path is right for us, whether it be Wicca, Christianity, Hinduism, etc. we don't think it is right for everyone else. We allow others to think for themselves and allow them to make their own choice on the matter. If someone wishes to know more about Wicca or Witchcraft then we may teach them, but we will never force them into believing or practicing anything they do not wish to. God may be called by many different names, but we are all calling to the same Divine Being. In other words, although we may pull out a different piece of fruit, we're all still dipping our hands into the same bowl.
Is Wicca and/or Witchcraft a cult?
Wicca is a legally recognised religion in several countries including the USA and the UK. By definition, all religions are cults, but not all cults are religions. So technically, Wicca is a cult but it is also a religion.
Witchcraft on the other hand is neither a cult nor a religion. It is simply a practice that holds no set doctrine or religious belief, and therefore cannot be a cult or religion.
So what makes you so different?
To put it simply, we're not. In reality, Witches are just like everyone else. We are your neighbours, your friends, your co-workers and your relatives. We live just as anyone else, with the exception of a little magick ;-) In terms of dress sense the vast majority look like everyone else, apart from the few that like to go all out on the gothic/medieval/hippy thing (which I must confess to sometimes! Hey, you gotta admit it's fun :-P).
