Dispelling Some Myths: The Truth About WitchCraft

Honestly, if I were to count all of the movies, novels, newspaper articles, and television articles that falsely embodied the religion of WitchCraft - well, I'd need a whole army of fingers just to count them all! Granted, there are some decent movies that portray WitchCraft in a good light, but even most of those are exaggerated. The first thing I'd like to get out of the way is some common myths, and then explain how many of those actually have some degree of truth to them.

Common Myths

• WitchCraft is merely a group of Satan-worshipping, diablorie-delving, demon-summoning fanatical cult members. To call this group a religion is pure madness.

• Every full moon, Witches drink each others' blood, as well as the blood of animals, consume narcotics, and run naked through the forests.

• Witches aren't even religious! There is only one God, after all, and they claim to worship many.

• Witches are depraved members of society who lead double lives and hide between what is known as 'WitchCraft', which is only an excuse to act like savages.

• Witches work all kinds of spells to harm the general population, and don't have a single care in the world.

• You can always tell who are the Witches by the gaudy jewelry, the gothic black clothing, and scantily clad members.

• Witches hate Christians and Catholics and take every opportunity to spite them, in whatever manner possible.

Wouldn't you like to know the truth of this matter? I think you'll find that the truth is far from what the movies and novels tell you. There is a reason they are called fiction, you know.

The Truth

• First of all, Witches - real Witches - don't even believe in Satan. The concept of Satan - giving an "evil" thing power - is purely a Christian concept. Witches are not Christian; they are Witches. Second of all, when you give anything a name, you give it power. Think about it; if you, as a human being, didn't have a name but, instead, a serial number, how important would you feel? Because you have a name, you are individual, unique, and have a sort of liberty through that name. Lastly, WitchCraft is an official, recongnized religion, whether people like it or not.

• While we do rituals at the full moon, it has nothing to do with devouring anyone's blood. When'd we become vampires? The rituals that we do are called Esbats, and we get closer to the God or Goddess that we follow (more on this later). Also, if we did all of the above (consume narcotics, run naked through the woods, and drink blood), don't you think someone would have been caught by now?

• One God is, again, a Christian concept. We believe many Gods and Goddesses, but the path leads to the One. More on this below in My Version of the Divine.

• Indeed, we do lead double lives, as everyone does. You, no doubt, go to work and act like a responsible adult. Some go home to play with their kids, go to church on a daily basis, or go barhopping seven days a week. Is that not a double life? After all, a double life is acting like one person in one place, and acting like another person in another place. Besides, why should we have to spout our religion if it's something that we believe in? When did it become a requirement to prove to the world what you believe in order to have faith?

• Yes, Witches DO do spells and rituals. We would never, however, do any spells or rituals to harm a living being. Furthermore, if we do wish to involve another being (be it for healing, love, or luck), we ask the permission of that being, even if it's just a small plant. Why do we harm none, you say? Why, it's one of the basic rules! Ever mind the rule of three, whatever you give out comes back to thee, times three. Whatever we do, for good or ill, will come back to us in the form of karma. None can escape this rule.

• Gaudy jewelry? Goth clothing? Scantily clad? We're not THAT easy to recognize. Some of us wear black clothing and wear jewelry, yes. Some of us lead simply lives, too. A Witch can be the hooker on the street, trying to make money to support her family, the CEO working 60 hours a week because he just can't stop, the poor alcoholic at the bar musing over his sorrows, your professor, or even your closest friend. Not all of us feel comfortable coming out, since there is simply too much persecution still.

• We don't hate Christians or Catholics nor any religious path. Granted, we do get aggravated when followers of other paths try to shove their religion down our throats, but to each their own. Each and every path leads to the same result. If others respect our path, so shall we respect theirs.

My Version of the Divine

I (and most Witches, too) believe that there is what can be called the "Divine Family Tree". At the top of the Divine Family Tree is the Spirit, Akasha, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost, or whatever you wish to call it by. This is the essence of all life. It has no physical body; it is a "blob" of holy, divine life force that exists within and throughout everything and everyone. Next, we have the Lord and the Lady. The Lord represents the sun, of course man, and all things wild (the animals, plants, the like). He is physical strength, and governs over the earth. The Lady represents the moon, women, fertility and beauty. Together, they are One. Next on the Divine Family Tree, there are individual pantheons, each with their respective gods and goddesses.

We Witches believe there is no one, right path to the Great Beyond or Summerland or Heaven or whatever you choose to believe in. There are many. God, Buddha, Athena, Zeus; these are humanoid representations of the divine. After all, we feel much more comfortable worshipping something that looks like us than an essence of unidentifiable mass of infinitely divine energy. In the end, they are all the same thing: Spirit. Think of it as many facets of the diamond. Each may have their own uniqueness, may look more beautiful than another on the outside, or may have scratched up; but they are all part of one, same thing. Many parts to a whole.

There's much more to Witchcraft, like all of the symbols that Witches use. By now, you've seen the symbol of the pentacte (the five-pointed star surrounded by a circle). You probably haven't seen the equal armed cross, the athame, or any of the elemental symbols, though. Proceed here to find out more about the Common Symbols of the Craft.

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Last Updated 10/04/05