{"id":6486,"date":"2015-10-02T18:53:13","date_gmt":"2015-10-03T00:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/panmankey\/?p=6486"},"modified":"2017-09-24T16:07:22","modified_gmt":"2017-09-24T22:07:22","slug":"10-things-i-wish-everyone-knew-about-modern-witchcraft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/panmankey\/2015\/10\/10-things-i-wish-everyone-knew-about-modern-witchcraft\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Things I Wish Everyone Knew About Modern Witchcraft"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I am a Witch. I don\u2019t think I match most people\u2019s perceptions of what a Witch is, but I am one none the less. I practice magic, worship many deities, and do my ritual business in a well cast magical circle. I also watch a lot of professional football, wear Batman underwear most of the time, and think buffalo chicken is the height of modern culinary culture. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Night of Enitharmon\u2019s Joy by William Blake. From WikiMedia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Modern Witchcraft is a vital and living tradition, but one shrouded in mystery and misconceptions. This is one Witch\u2019s attempt to lift up the veil a little bit. <\/p>\n

Witchcraft Can Be a Religion<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For me Witchcraft is primarily a spiritual discipline. In the early 1950\u2019s an Englishman named Gerald Gardner claimed to be a practicing Witch who followed a Witch-religion. His interpretation of Witchcraft became one of the most popular interpretations of Witchcraft in the Western World, especially amongst practitioners. The Witchcraft he articulated is also called Wicca<\/em>, and for many Witches there is a clear line between the two disciplines. I\u2019m much like Gardner though, I use Witchcraft to describe my religious faith. A faith that revolves around various goddesses and gods, including a few horned and\/or antlered male gods. <\/p>\n

There Are Many Different Types of Witches and Various Forms of Witchcraft<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 While Gardner may have been the first public person to self-identify completely with the terms Witch and Witchcraft, his version \u201cThe Craft\u201d is not the only one out there. There are many different types of Witches and various types of Witchcraft, some related to the vision of Gardner, others not. Both words have always signified a variety of things<\/a>, some positive and some negative, so this shouldn\u2019t be all that surprising. <\/p>\n

For some people Witchcraft<\/em> is used to simply describe a magical pursuit, one free of religiosity. I\u2019ve met Christians who use the term Witch to describe themselves because they do magic in the name of their gods, or perhaps worship Jesus in a Witch-like spiritual setting. (Meaning that perhaps they create their own sacred space instead of heading to church.) Many Witches also self-identify as Pagans too, though not all Witches do, and certainly not all Pagans are Witches. <\/p>\n

\"From<\/a>
From WikiMedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>Witches Use Magic, Just Like Most People Throughout History<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Many Witches practice magic, and sometimes it looks exactly like you think it does: candles, impressive looking books, herbs, and wands . . . and sometimes it looks completely different too. There are many definitions of magic, I think of it as a way to change and\/or improve circumstances by raising and releasing powerful energy. One well known Witch once described magic as \u201ca well focused prayer.\u201d There\u2019s really not a whole lot of difference between a prayer circle for healing and a Witch ritual for the same type of thing. <\/p>\n

Magic has become a scary word in our society, but the Western World has always been interested in magic, regardless of religious faith. Superstitions like knocking on wood or throwing salt over the shoulder are really just magical \u201cspells\u201d to prevent bad luck. Most spells are simple things and many of them look more like \u201cherbal cures\u201d or \u201cnatural remedies\u201d than something out of Hollywood. Speaking of Hollywood, magic is often a very internal thing. I\u2019d love to tell you that my magical work looks like something out of Harry Potter<\/em> but that\u2019s not really the way of things. <\/p>\n

We Are Serious, and This Isn\u2019t a Game to Us<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s true, a lot of Witches wear robes to ritual, and many of us like dressing in black (it\u2019s not only slimming, it repels negativity), but that doesn\u2019t mean we aren\u2019t serious about what we do. No one would ever accuse a Christian minister of not being serious because she or he are in a robe, why should it be any different for Witches? <\/p>\n

For some people Witchcraft can be a passing fancy, something \u201cdabbled\u201d with for a few years before moving on to other spiritual pastures, but for many of us it is truly a way of life. I\u2019ve been a practicing Witch for over twenty years now, if this is a \u201cfad\u201d in my life it\u2019s certainly a long-lived one! Witchcraft speaks to many of us, and just works in ways conventional religion doesn\u2019t, hasn\u2019t, or should. There are certainly some people who get involved with it for \u201cshock value\u201d but most of us are here out of a deep and sincere belief. I\u2019m cool with your right to exist as you choose, why not extend me the same courtesy? <\/p>\n

\"Pan<\/a>
Pan at the British Museum, picture by me.<\/figcaption><\/figure>Witches Aren\u2019t Anti-Christian, or Really Anti-Anything Else<\/em><\/strong> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ve always felt as if there\u2019s a perception out there that Witches are \u201cout to get\u201d certain religious groups, and nothing could be further from the truth. Witches are generally against certain things: bad behavior, intolerance, racism; but we would never target a specific religious group. And our rituals aren\u2019t done in a way that parodies any one else\u2019s faith. There are no \u201cblack masses\u201d going on during the full moon in the name of Modern Witchcraft, no defiling of \u201cthe host\u201d or any other such nonsense. <\/p>\n

Many Witches have had bad experiences with other religions, especially Christianity. Monotheistic religions do some times have trouble with alternative spiritualities, and no one is winning any friends by saying \u201cyou are going to hell!\u201d or when they throw away the books of a 16 year old Witch (and it happens). Witches don\u2019t always necessarily like everyone, but we aren\u2019t out to get anyone. <\/p>\n

I Don\u2019t Think I Worship \u201cthe Devil.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One of the problems when talking to people of other faiths is that sometimes our gods are your demons. Fair enough, but no Witch I know actively worships something resembling or claiming to be the Christian Devil. If someone looks at my guy Pan and sees Lucifer in his goaty-grin that\u2019s on them, but it\u2019s not something the rest of us are doing. Worshipping the Christian Devil would mean believing in Christian doctrine, because you can\u2019t really have one without the other can you? <\/p>\n

We Are Your Friends & Neighbors<\/em><\/strong> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No one is sure exactly how many Witches are out there in the world today, but it\u2019s not an insignificant number. Estimates on the number of Pagans in the United States range from 200,000 to one million<\/a>, and sometimes even higher. (I\u2019ve seen the number two million shared on a number of occasions, and I certainly think it\u2019s closer to two million than 200,000.) We\u2019re out there in every state of the union and basically around the world these days. You could live next door to a Witch and not even know it, and I\u2019m pretty sure everyone in the United States has met at least one Witch, there are just that many of us.<\/p>\n

\"Witches'Familiars1579\"<\/a>Witches Love Science<\/em><\/strong> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Because many Witches practice and believe in magic I\u2019ve read criticisms online that Witches \u201cdon\u2019t believe in science.\u201d That\u2019s absolute crap, and every Witch I know believes the Earth is several billion years old (about 4.5 billion I think). One can be a spiritual person and still believe in science to suggest otherwise is foolish. <\/p>\n

Today\u2019s Witchcraft Is, Well, Modern<\/em><\/em><\/strong> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Many Witches look to the past for inspiration, and certainly many of us feel very close to our ancestors, but today\u2019s Witchcraft is a product of today. It\u2019s not thousands of years old, and it doesn\u2019t go back to pagan antiquity in some sort of unbroken chain. The innocents executed in Salem, Massachusetts in the 1690\u2019s weren\u2019t practicing Witchcraft (they were nearly all Christians). Witchcraft has certainly been influenced by past practices including: English Cunning-craft, ceremonial magic, the grimoire tradition, faith healers, and nearly anyone who has uttered a cantrip or incantation. Witches live in the here and now, not some medieval fantasy land. <\/p>\n

\"Yup,<\/a>
Yup, I have a black cat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>Not All Witches Own a Cat as a Familiar (But Maybe They Should)*<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A familiar is a magical animal companion, and if you own a cat, you know they are magical (even if you aren\u2019t a Witch.) That being said I do know some Witches who foolishly own a dog instead of a cat. There are a few of them out there who even own turtles, snakes, and ferrets. I know some Witches with just goldfish and some with no pets at all. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m of the opinion that owning a cat is a fine thing, especially a black cat. I\u2019ve got to do something that\u2019s a little Witch-cliche! <\/p>\n

*In this spot I originally wrote \u201cAll Witches Own a Cat as a Familiar,\u201d most definitely as a joke, but the humor was lost on some people so I changed it around. Not all Witches are owned by a cat, but I\u2019m pretty partial to it. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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