Are You A Good Witch Or A Bad Witch?

Coming out of the Broom Closest

I remember when I first started to come out as a ‘Witch.’ My mother’s first statement to me was, “I don’t want you hanging out with “those” people. I was thirty-one at that time. Perhaps it was a flashback for her as when I was only six years old, my grandmother asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I love my grandmother, but come on, how did I know? I was only six. I can still hear my mother’s gasp, as I stated loud and clear, “A witch!.” Growing up in a Roman Catholic family, that response went over like a fart in church.

When my mother died in 2008, my world was turned upside down. We had just started to get close. She had a somber funeral which included a Catholic mass. The deep tones of Frankincense brought me some peace but not much.

When I walked out the church doors that day, my aunt gave me the biggest bear hug. At first, I felt content in her strong arms but shock rose quickly when she whispered in my ear, “Come back to the Catholic Church, that is what your mother would have wanted.”

I stood frozen in disbelief, How did she know what my mother wanted? She hadn’t seen her in years, maybe even decades. What I knew, was that my mother had finally come to accept me for who and what I was. I think that is what made losing her at this time so difficult.

Are you a GOOD witch or a BAD witch?

I do not think that I really ever hid that I was a witch but I didn’t exactly put it on a billboard either. That was, of course, until I started working in Salem, MA. From that point on, I have gotten asked if I was a good witch or a bad witch almost daily.

Okay, let’s talk about that. First of all, something good is something that we humans associate with pleasant feelings, with comfort and being happy. Something bad is uncomfortable, can have feelings of sadness or just hurts. We all know that something bad can lead to something good.

For example, going through a break up can really hurt and make you miserable but when you meet your next Mr. or Ms. Right, who treats you better than you ever imagined, you realize that the pain of your break up was so worth it.

Good and bad are just labels. If I am a good witch, I must be like Samantha Stevens of Bewitched. If I am bad, I must be the Wicked Witch of the West. Television and movies have only confused what a true witch is. The truth is, that nothing is 100% good or 100% bad.

Everything has to have balance. If you disagree with this, ask yourself when the last time you cursed at someone who cut you off on your drive to work or while you were rushing home? What do you think you are being? A good witch or a bad witch?

The point is that no one, not you, not even me, can be good or bad all the time. So the answer to the question…