{"id":337,"date":"2015-03-03T22:51:00","date_gmt":"2015-03-03T22:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/waterwitch\/2015\/03\/201503where-light-is-brightest-shadow-runs-html.html"},"modified":"2017-02-08T11:57:41","modified_gmt":"2017-02-08T19:57:41","slug":"where-light-is-brightest-shadow-runs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/waterwitch\/2015\/03\/where-light-is-brightest-shadow-runs.html","title":{"rendered":"Where the light is the brightest the Shadow runs wild"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><div style=\"text-align: center;\">Years ago when I first became aware<br>\nof the path I was on, I did what many pagans do. They find they are on<br>\nthis path and then begin to explore, looking to labels to define them.<br>\nWhen one comes from the Christian church they are very hesitant on this<br>\npath. They find Paganism, Wicca and OH MY! Witchcraft. Immediately years<br>\nof brain washing and conditioning comes into play. I even remember once<br>\nthat I told a friend I was very much NOT a Witch but in fact was<br>\nWiccan. My how the years change you, and how the craft reveals itself in<br>\ntime.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"rg_hi\" class=\"rg_hi uh_hi\" style=\"height: 227px; width: 222px;\" src=\"https:\/\/encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com\/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQmVSd_-785ugmdT4dSzZfmP5TjSf9wUntJqxcGA5Q-RgQfu9pj\" alt=\"\" width=\"222\" height=\"227\" data-height=\"227\" data-width=\"222\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">I<br>\nwas solitary for a while like most, then found a circle, then was<br>\nsolitary, then tried to form a coven, gave up and joined one. This was<br>\nthe turning point. Of course at the time I didn\u2019t know. All I knew is I<br>\nwanted to learn, but I was righteous and would NEVER deal in the dark.<br>\nYears later, how the black and white has faded into just shades of grey.<br>\nIt is nievity and conditioning of the church that sets one up for this<br>\nblack and white thinking. If its not light, then it MUST be bad.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">I<br>\ntell those that want to study with me that we really embrace both<br>\nsides, the yin and the yang. This is a simple way to explain that we<br>\nembrace both the dark and light. In reality it is much more complicated<br>\nthan that. In fact true balance is not in the extreme of one or the<br>\nother, or even the extremes of both together. It is a path of \u201cgrey\u201d I<br>\ncall this the crooked path. It is not the right handed path (only light)<br>\nor the Left (only dark) in fact it is a path that weaves back and forth<br>\nassessing every situation, every need, every ritual and bringing in the<br>\naspects of what we\/I need at the time.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">Before<br>\nI go further I want to say that I am in no way trying to tell someone<br>\nhow to walk their path. Only trying to give my personal opinion, and one<br>\nthat I share with many others on this path. I have this opinion because<br>\nI have seen the destruction of pure light and pure dark. I have seen<br>\nsomeone who wants to desperaly change cling so hard to the light, that<br>\nend up miserable and unable to go to the dark places of the soul to find<br>\ntrue healing.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">For<br>\nmany that start on this path, they find\u00a0 Light workers and think \u201cLight<br>\nworkers seam to have it right\u201d They have found a path that doesn\u2019t<br>\nembrace the dark, it rejects all things bad, dark, negative, baneful and<br>\nthe like. Unfortunately this is so one sided. I remember thinking this<br>\nand I soon found out how wrong I was. They say that where the light is<br>\nthe lightest the shadow is the darkest. I think where the light is the<br>\nlightest the shadow runs wild. It is darker, is it concentrated, it is<br>\nso opposite. If for one moment you were to turn the light off you would<br>\nbe consumed with darkness. This has to be the most tiring path ever!<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">Then<br>\none finds Wicca and thinks \u201cThis is great! I can work in the dark and<br>\nbe Witchy, but not work with dark things, and I can never harm anyone!<br>\nThis is great, it is good, this is the right path\u201d. After a while though<br>\nI began to find that Wicca (in general) was no different than the<br>\nchurch. So many rules, of what you shouldn\u2019t do, how to do them, how to<br>\nact, and how to behave. Just like the church it has produced a bunch of<br>\njudgmental practitioners that have no problem throwing the Rede at you<br>\nall the while \u201cShaming you\u201d for eating meat, binding someone or stepping<br>\non an ant. I was once Wiccan, I find that I no longer fit the mold and<br>\nnow simply go by \u201cWitch\u201d (This is not true for every Wiccan, this is a<br>\ngeneral sweeping statement don\u2019t send me hate mail)<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">Those<br>\nthat follow a Baneful path, follow a path that is so dark that there is<br>\nabsolutely NO room for light. This is where fear, anger and hate<br>\nfester, feed and devour ones soul. This has got go be the most painful<br>\npath. Everyone is familiar with Newtons cradle. It is the device where<br>\nballs are hung and one is lifted and let go to strike movement in the<br>\nothers. Unfortunately when one person follows one of the above extream<br>\npaths they risk the ball being raised, and let go so hard and fast that<br>\nit causes an equal and opposite reaction. It is a collision course for<br>\nmassive disruption and possibly destruction.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">This<br>\nis why I follow a Crooked or grey path. Sometimes I like to work the<br>\nlight, I love to heal, and work with beautiful colors, energies and<br>\nthings of high vibrations. I also love to work in the dark. I love to<br>\nnecromance, and speak with the spirits. I love to hold death in my<br>\nhands, and create change through deep and dark shadow work. If one is<br>\ntoo afraid to travel through the dark depths of the soul one will never<br>\ntruly be able to reach and face the Shadow.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">You<br>\nmight be wondering now, well where does cursing come in, do you curse?<br>\nWell the answer is not so simple. Lets ask instead, Will I curse? The<br>\nword \u201cDo\u201d implies that I am actively cursing someone. I am currently not<br>\nactively cursing anyone. I can promise you though, if you mess with my<br>\nchild, family, or coven mates. You will get a nasty curse. It has to be a<br>\nreally good reason, and I tend to send the \u201cCurse of the fluffy<br>\nbunnies\u201d before it has to get nasty. The dark hates nothing more than<br>\nbeing invaded with glitter and annoying cartoon like light, and it makes<br>\nme laugh. I consider this a VERY dark grey section. Sometimes it is<br>\nworth the consequences to protect the ones you love, and YES I will if I<br>\nhave to. For the most part I like to find other ways, Binding, and<br>\nconfusion spells are always a great alternative. If this does occur I<br>\ntend to naturally and now consciously move into a place that is lighter.<br>\nI grab some crystals and perform healing rites for myself.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">If<br>\nyou look at water in her many forms, she is the bringer and sustainer<br>\nof life, but with ONE swift movement she can tear a town apart or claim a<br>\nchild\u2019s life. She has no mercy, but at the same time she gives so<br>\nfreely, and with so much, she allows us to feed from her, and bath in<br>\nher, but doesn\u2019t hesitate to claim a life in an instant\u2026\u2026.. So like<br>\nthe water I try to find\u00a0 balance, and walk in shades of grey. Sometimes I<br>\nam in the dark and sometimes in in the light, I prefer to be in both at<br>\nonce.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Years ago when I first became aware of the path I was on, I did what many pagans do. They find they are on this path and then begin to explore, looking to labels to define them. When one comes from the Christian church they are very hesitant on this path. They find Paganism, Wicca [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2917,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Where the light is the brightest the Shadow runs wild<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Years ago when I first became aware of the path I was on, I did what many pagans do. 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