Sometimes, though, I come across something that is relevant to me, and to the wider Pagan, polytheist, and witchcraft communities.<\/p>\n
Last week I came across this post on the Patheos General Christian Channel titled A Journey to Freedom from Witchcraft<\/a> by Dr. David K. Ewen. Of course \u201cwitchcraft\u201d got my attention and I read the post. I had low expectations going in \u2013 they were pretty much met. You can read it yourself if you like, but there are better uses of your time. This is something I would expect from someone like book burning pastor<\/a> Greg Locke, or from a part of the world where Christianity and Islam are still trying to wipe out what remains of indigenous religions.<\/p>\n That Ewen writes this just as fundamentalist Christians attempted to disrupt a major witchcraft conference<\/a> in London is disturbing. That he discusses counter-witchcraft practices in Africa without even mentioning the people murdered there because they\u2019re thought to be witches is journalistic malpractice (blogging isn\u2019t necessarily journalism \u2013 and this piece certainly isn\u2019t \u2013 but telling the whole truth is still important).<\/p>\n I\u2019m not going to rebut Ewen\u2019s post on a point-for-point basis \u2013 I\u2019m not going to debate him on his own terms. I\u2019m simply going to offer an alternative view. Ewen is promoting \u201cfreedom from witchcraft.\u201d I say he has it backwards.<\/p>\n Witchcraft IS freedom.<\/p>\n From time to time we talk about the problems with gatekeeping<\/a> \u2013 when people try to keep others out of their traditions for irrelevant and mean-spirited reasons. But gates work both ways, and Ewen\u2019s piece is trying to close the gate in his own Christian sect to keep people from leaving.<\/p>\n He\u2019s not trying to convert me or Jason Mankey or Heron Michelle or the people attending Witchfest International. He\u2019s trying to keep people in his own tradition \u2013 especially women, especially young women \u2013 from looking outside the doors of his church and seeing what else is out there.<\/p>\n We live in a marketplace of religions<\/a>. People have options, and they\u2019re increasingly choosing to leave conservative, restrictive, and fundamentalist traditions.<\/p>\n Ewen is trying to close the gate. He\u2019s trying to scare members of his own sect into fearing witchcraft and promising them \u201cdeliverance\u201d if they\u2019ll only do what he says. He and people like him manage to win a few battles here and there, but they\u2019re losing the war.<\/p>\n Ewen\u2019s arguments against witchcraft are not new. His use of the Bible as a source of authority demonstrates the weaknesses of those arguments in contemporary society. The Bible is a set of writings by and for a particular group of people in a particular place and time. While parts of it can be inspiring, it is not a source of Universal Truth \u2013 as is clearly demonstrated by its condoning of slavery and genocide.<\/p>\n Conservative Christians such as David Ewen have a very different worldview from witches and Pagans \u2013 different foundational assumptions about the world and the way it works. Because our wider society is still dominated by Christianity, these arguments convince some people who haven\u2019t done the hard work of examining what they really believe and why they believe it.<\/p>\n I just finished teaching a 7-week course in Modern Pagan Metaphysics<\/a>, where we started with the question \u201chow do we know what we know?\u201d and built a robust Pagan worldview based on reason and experience. The course is on-demand, meaning you can take it any time you like. I\u2019m not trying to sell classes, but I am encouraging everyone to examine your worldview and consciously decide what makes sense (rationally, spiritually, ethically) and what doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n Those who are selling \u201cdeliverance\u201d from witchcraft are counting on people not being able to separate assumptions from facts. Freedom requires the willingness to do the hard work of thinking for yourself.<\/p>\n Why would anyone think they need \u201cdeliverance\u201d from witchcraft, anyway? You probably haven\u2019t been hexed, or cursed, or attacked by spiritual forces. Most people who would hex you don\u2019t have the necessary skills to do it. Those who have the skills have better things to do than to spend their time hexing you.<\/p>\n Most people who think they\u2019ve been hexed or cursed are just having a run of bad luck (i.e. \u2013 random chance is not in their favor), or they\u2019re suffering the consequences of their own bad-but-ordinary choices.<\/p>\n Now, they may be under attack by the forces of late stage capitalism<\/a>. Sometimes the problem doesn\u2019t have anything to do with you personally \u2013 it\u2019s the system you live and work in. Witchcraft can be an effective response to late stage capitalism, but that\u2019s another topic for another time.<\/p>\n Still, hexing and cursing does occasionally happen. Prevention is the best cure. If you have a solid, consistent spiritual practice that includes regular cleansing and warding, you\u2019ll deflect all but the most skilled and determined attacks. I wrote What To Do When You Think You\u2019ve Been Hexed<\/a> for those times when things go beyond that.<\/p>\n David Ewen is selling an ineffective cure to a problem that for the vast majority of people simply doesn\u2019t exist.<\/p>\n We\u2019re living in a golden age of witchcraft and magic. Margaret Murray\u2019s theory that medieval witchcraft was the remnants of an ancient Goddess religion turned out to be historically wrong but mythically very, very right. Today, more and more people are embracing the archetype of the witch.<\/p>\n For some, it\u2019s about religion \u2013 worshipping one or more of the many Goddesses and Gods instead of a sole (supposedly) patriarchal God. For others, it\u2019s about the mystical and healing aspects of Nature. It can be about political liberation and empowerment \u2013 something the promoters of fundamentalist religions are always against. There are many kinds of witches<\/a> and many ways to be a witch.<\/p>\n For me, it\u2019s about magic \u2013 especially the kind of magic we\u2019re told not to do.<\/p>\n Every society has authorized magic: what the priests and politicians do. They may not call it magic, but that\u2019s what it is: creating change in conformance with will. These practices are closely guarded \u2013 they\u2019re restricted to authorized people doing officially sanctioned things.<\/p>\n But there are always those who work magic outside of official boundaries. Those who know the power of herbs and stones. Those who consort with spirits<\/a>, who know what can be done with blood and piss and graveyard dirt. Those who know the magic of words, both spoken and written.<\/p>\n And they use these skills for their own reasons, in support of their own goals.<\/p>\n Which is not to say \u201canything goes.\u201d The witches I know are some of the most ethical people I know. But they live by their own ethics, not by someone else\u2019s rules.<\/p>\n Especially not the rules of anyone\u2019s fundamentalist religion.<\/p>\n Sadly, \u201cfreedom\u201d has become a loaded word in our contemporary society.<\/p>\n For too many, it means the ability to force others to conform their own religious and political views. It means the privilege to never have to see people who worship different Gods (or no Gods), or whose orientation and ideas around sex and gender are very different from their own. It means never having to recognize the impact their lust for power and control have on other people, especially people with less money, especially people in other lands.<\/p>\n Witches are having none of that.<\/p>\n Witchcraft is the knowledge, skills, and practices that enable the witch to live as they see fit and not as they\u2019re told. But before that, witchcraft is the mindset that reclaims the sovereignty<\/a> of the witch, that says \u201cI will not live by your arbitrary and oppressive rules.\u201d<\/p>\n Witchcraft says \u201cas I will it, so mote it be.\u201d<\/p>\n If someone is trying to sell you \u201cfreedom from witchcraft\u201d ask yourself what they\u2019re really selling. Also check the price \u2013 it\u2019s your soul. Not your immortal soul in some Faustian bargain (that\u2019s not possible \u2013 the essence of who and what you are can\u2019t be bought or sold), just your dreams, your desires, your ethics, your values.<\/p>\n Nothing is worth that price \u2013 especially something you don\u2019t want to begin with.<\/p>\n Witchcraft is not for everyone. But for those who are called to this path, and for those who choose this path, witchcraft is freedom.<\/p>\n Want to get my personal weekly newsletter? It covers things that don\u2019t fit into the blog format, mostly in my usual range: Paganism, polytheism, and witchcraft. Current events and politics. Interesting stuff from other people. What I\u2019m working on that you\u2019ll see in the near to medium future \u2013 be the first to find out about new classes, appearances, and such. The newsletter goes out early morning my time most Fridays.<\/p>\n Sign up on my teaching site:<\/p>\n![\"photo](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2023\/11\/Witchcraft-is-Freedom-01-780-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nGatekeeping to keep people in<\/h2>\n
![\"photo](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2023\/11\/0531-130-Denali-NP-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nA difference of worldview<\/h2>\n
You probably haven\u2019t been hexed<\/h2>\n
![\"photo](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2023\/11\/0530-060-flowers-in-Alaska-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWhat is witchcraft?<\/h2>\n
Witchcraft is freedom<\/h2>\n
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