How to Become a Witch (5 page)

By 1949, Gardner was writing about the Craft, and in one of his later books he revealed himself to be an initiate. His two best-known works were
Witchcraft Today
(1954) and
The Meaning of Witchcraft
(1959). There has been dispute ever since as to whether the “New Forest coven” that initiated him really existed, and how much of the Craft that he passed on (the Gardnerian Tradition) was authentic and ancient, and how much was borrowed from ceremonial magick or invented by Gardner himself.

The 1950s arrived, with big red convertibles and rock ’n’ roll heroes. To the public, Witches were fantasy figures from fairy tales, as unreal as giants and trolls and unicorns. In 1951, one of the last surviving laws against Witches, the Witchcraft Act of 1735, was repealed in Great Britain. And Witchcraft, led by the Gardnerian Tradition, quietly spread throughout Western Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand.

The ancient traditions that inspired Wicca are dimmed by the mists of time, but the modern history is clear: a vital and creative spiritual tradition continues to grow and re-create itself. In the end, it may not matter whether Wicca is a survival, revival, or renaissance of ancient religious paths. Mere age is no good measure of a religion’s value, and to the extent that parts of Wicca are new—well, all religions were new at some time. The real questions are: “Does it work for the people who practice it?” and “Does it serve the communities where it is practiced and the planet we all share?”

The Craft As Art, Skill,
Knowledge & Practice

So, what is this “practice” of Witchcraft? In traditional terms, the arts of the Witch include divination, magick or spellcrafting, and healing, which was sometimes indistinguishable from magick to our ancestors. Along the way, many Witches gain skills in planning and leading rituals, teaching, group leadership, creating beautiful art in service to Deity, and more. We will explore these further in chapter 12, because each of these skills can become a spiritual vocation.

After salem

Many people have heard of the Salem Witch Trials that disrupted Salem Village and other towns in colonial Massachusetts in 1692 and 1693. Over 150 people were arrested, some after accusations by hysterical girls. Twenty people were hanged or, in one case, crushed with heavy stones.

No one knows exactly what prompted the whole crazy episode. Some say that economic rivals were using the girls’ nonsense as an excuse to destroy their enemies. Others say that ergot, a natural hallucinogen, got into the food supply and drove the people mad. We may never know.

Not many people know that within a few years, many of those involved—judges, jurymen, and clergy—began to repent their actions and ask forgiveness. Soon some of the convictions were reversed and monetary damages paid to survivors and relatives. But it was not until October 31, 2001, that the governor of Massachusetts signed a resolution by the House of Representatives declaring all the victims to be innocent.

Divination is the art of foreseeing trends and discovering hidden knowledge using tools such as tarot cards, runestones, a pendulum, or a scrying mirror. With such tools and sufficient training and practice, we can learn more about ourselves and the future than is apparent on a mundane level. We will discuss this in greater depth in chapter 10.

Magick itself has many definitions, which will be described in chapter 8. For now, it is enough to say that magick is a powerful tool for changing yourself and the world, and it is usually nothing like the fantasy magick we see on television or in movies.

Not every Witch considers herself or himself to be a healer, though all of us do healing magick occasionally. In the past, the village wisewoman was often the midwife and herbalist too, and the local “cunning man” could usually mix a healing potion or set a broken bone. Today many, many Witches have healing specialties within the mainstream (doctors, nurses, medical technicians) or outside it (herbalists, reiki practitioners, crystal energy workers).

A skill is a set of practices that almost anyone can develop, given time and instruction. An art is a set of skills with an added component of creativity. Most of what Witches do is a combination of skill and art; while anyone can learn the uses of herbs and first aid, we all know those who add something extra, the creativity and inspiration that turns an herbalist into a true healer. It is the same with divination or magick; anyone can learn the basics, but some have a natural gift for it.

Part of becoming a Witch is discovering your aptitudes and developing your particular esoteric skills, whether as healer, weather worker, spellworker, dowser, shapeshifter, or any of dozens of other special disciplines (see chapters 10 and 12).

The Craft As Spiritual Path

Witchcraft as a spiritual path is often called Wicca, although not all those who follow this path call themselves Wiccan—some just call themselves Witches.

Wicca is a religion, and like almost all faiths, it includes deities. Now, if you grew up in a family that had one god, and he was an old guy with a long white beard who was “out there” somewhere, then you’re in for a surprise.

Here are the basic things you need to know about Wicca and Deity:

First, Deity is immanent in Wicca. It’s not out there somewhere, above and beyond the world we live in; Deity is actively involved in the world, because it permeates all people and all things. In Wicca, God is not pure Spirit but Spirit embodied and expressed through matter—through us, among other things (and we mean all other things). Think Eywa and the Na’vi in the movie
Avatar
.

Working with deity

We’ve mentioned several times that Wiccans “work with” Deity—what’s that all about? Witches tend not to worship Deity—as in veneration and adulation—so much as honor them or partner with deities in whatever magickal working the Witch undertakes. For now, it’s enough to say that we view the deities as powerful partners in this magickal life. When we need something that is within the realm of one or more deities—for example, healing, for which Isis and Brigit are famous—we will do a ritual and invite them to join us, to lend their energies to our work. This is rather like asking your Uncle Charles, who is very good at woodworking, to join you when you decide to make a chair. On the spiritual level, we ask deities to join us as we work magick. And as we call them with love and respect, they lend their powers to the work at hand.

A common saying in Wicca is “Thou art Goddess” or “Thou art God.” When a Witch says this, they don’t mean that you are the Creator and Source of all things, but that you are an integral part of the Creator…maybe one neuron in God’s brain, for example. You are not just created by Deity, you are part of Deity; you are sacred.

Second, Deity can be understood as either masculine or feminine, or both—Goddess as well as God. To say that God is only male would be as wrong as saying that only daylight hours count as real, never nighttime hours. All things are part of the Divine, and that includes all sexes.

Third, all gods and goddesses of all religions are real in the sense that they reflect some true aspect, or part of, divinity. Do you want a glimpse of the Divine? Well, you can look at Jehovah/Yahweh and read the Bible, but you can also read the stories and myths of Isis, Apollo, Diana, Changing Woman, Thor…or any of the thousands of other deities worshiped by anybody anywhen.

No single one of these can give you a full understanding of the original Creator and Source—that would be a lot to ask. But any one of them can teach you something about divinity. Is God love? If so, then you need to spend some quality time with Aphrodite, the Greek goddess who knows a whole lot about love. Is God justice? Talk to Themis. Is God power? Meditate on Zeus. Is God truth? The Egyptian goddess Ma’at can tell you a thing or two. And so on, and on….

So are there really many gods and goddesses? Yes. Or just one? Yes. There is a saying that sums it up: “All gods are one God, all goddesses are one Goddess; God and Goddess are One.”

One way of looking at this is to imagine a disco ball
[1]
—a sphere made up of many small mirrors, each of which reflects a little bit of reality. In this analogy, each little mirror or facet is one named aspect of Deity—Diana, Apollo, Isis, Baba Yaga, etc.—and together they compose the whole, the One. What makes this really reflect (pardon the pun) the Wiccan worldview is that if you look at a disco ball, one of the facets is reflecting your image—as it should, since thou art God, thou art Goddess, you are a sacred being in your own right. And, given a large enough disco ball, it will reflect the whole universe, too.

Now, not all Wiccans agree with this all-in-one, one-in-all view. Some are monotheistic, working with one aspect of Deity exclusively; some work only with one pantheon of gods—Egyptian, Celtic, Norse, or other—and some work with whatever individual deity seems appropriate for the task at hand. The two favorite deities in Wicca are the Lady of the Moon (Maiden, Mother, and Crone) and the Hornéd God of the Wild. But it’s okay for any Wiccan to work with as many or as few aspects of Deity as they wish—each individual must come to terms with Deity in whatever way makes sense to them.

So are deities really symbols or archetypes, or do they have an independent existence? Can they hear our prayers and intervene in our lives? Are they sentient, individual beings? Again, the answer is yes; if you ask ten Witches, you will get at least thirteen viewpoints.

Some Witches believe that the deities have evolved to be independent, living entities. Some think they were always that way. Some see them as powerful symbols. Some prefer the broader “Goddess” and “God” and work very little with more specialized deities. Some work with Mother Earth and Father Sun, and so on. Since we cannot ever fully understand Deity, it seems right that each person should work with the divine power in whatever way, by whatever name or names, are effective for that individual.

Wicca is very diverse, with no set dogma or set of beliefs standard to all. Sometimes even the members of one coven will work with different deities. In our coven, for instance, one member can be counted on to invoke the Norse pantheon anytime it’s her turn to do ritual, another usually calls on the gods of the Celts, and most of the rest of us are eclectic, calling whoever is appropriate for the purpose of the particular ritual. On the other hand, some traditions, or branches, within Wicca work with a single pantheon.

Every religion has some central theme or goal, and Wicca is no exception. A Buddhist might say her goal is to release attachment and end suffering for herself and all other beings. Christians might want to achieve salvation, witness for their faith, and spend eternity in heaven after they die. A follower of Asatru might say his goal is to live and die with honor and then feast with his fathers in the Halls of Helgafjell, Valhalla, or Fólkvangr.

Most Witches would probably say that their aim is to live in harmony with nature and to become more like the Goddess and the God—that is, to grow in wisdom, love, and power through life after life, resting between lives in the Summerland. And the ultimate goal, if there is one? That’s for the Goddess to know. It’s our job simply to follow the spiral with all the skill, honor, and compassion we can manage.

Hecate and her black hounds