Ask a witch....

[Tylluan Penry]

Re: Ask a witch....

[quote author=shadow1982 link=topic=594.msg9354#msg9354 date=1288732933]
As witches how would you define magic? Thalassa already answered this in her above post but I would be interested to hear other ideas
[/quote]

I think we often think of magic just as doing spells. It isn't. Magic is all around us, whether or not we do anything about it.

[Ophidia]

Re: Ask a witch....

Back when I considered myself a witch (I'm of the school of thought that 'witch' means actively working spells and using magic, not just being Pagan)... I was at first a solitary practitioner, then an Alexandrian Wiccan.

[quote author=Corvus link=topic=594.msg8567#msg8567 date=1288549118]
1) Do you have any deities, if so who are they?[/quote]

When I was a solitary witch, I didn't involve any deities in my magical work. I felt the energy behind the spells came from the Universe, with me as a channel for it. When I was an Alexandrian Wiccan, the group I belonged to honored Cernunnos & Aradia, along with the Oak and Holly King, which were somehow separate from Cernunnos. Personally, during that time I worshipped the Goddess as the Great Mother and the God as the singular Horned Lord. Now that I'm a Pagan, I have a wider variety of deities, totems, guides & spirits that I honor and worship, none of which are Cernunnos, Aradia, the Great Mother or Horned Lord.

2) Do you follow any moral code (Wiccan rede for example)?

When I was a practicing witch, not really. Of course, it was between the ages of 10 - 16, so most of my magical workings were done with the mentality and emotions of a pre-teen to early teen-aged girl. As an Alexandrian, I tried my best to stick to ye olde Wiccan Rede and the Threefold Law. After leaving Wicca, neither felt practical or honest. My current ethics and morals came with age and experience.

3) What does your work concentrate mostly on?

Back then, it was things like making myself attractive, attracting lovers, success, money, fame, zapping people who'd made me angry or annoyed me. I spent some time doing ceremonial magic, and most of the spirits I conjured were harassed for all of the above. Of course, I'm not beautiful, talented, successful or rich, so you see how agreeable those spirits were :P

4) Do you work with nature/protective/seasonal spirits? If so do they have names?

While I was a witch, I didn't work with any elemental or natural spirits. As an Alexandrian Wiccan, the only contact I had with any elementals were the four quarters, summoned by direction & envisioned as a bull (south), an eagle (east), a serpent (west), and some other animal I can't remember for the north. I learned about the elementals of earth, air, fire and water as being called gnomes/dwarves (earth/north), sylphs (air/east), salamanders (fire/south) and undines (water/west). There were also the Watchtowers themselves, which for some reason I always visualized as being like the Beholders from D&D.

Now as an eclectic Pagan, because of shamanistic leanings, I work more with local land spirits, weather spirits, and the elementals.

5) What makes one a witch?

To me, you gotta practice witchcraft of some kind. I no longer practice witchcraft so I don't consider myself a witch anymore.

6) Is it true one anyone of any religion can be a witch?

From my standpoint, no. Christianity, Catholicism, Muslim and Judaism all have very clear prohibitions against the practice of any number of types of witchcraft. Therefore, if a person is practicing witchcraft and still calling themselves a Christian/Catholic/Muslim/Jew, they are either lying or a hypocrite. People try to argue this point with me, and I respect their right to believe as they want, but I think they're fooling themselves. Sorry, but the whole concept of a 'Christo-Wiccan' is flawed and misguided.

7) Being Wiccan isn't the same as being a witch is it?

Much like not all Pagans are Wiccan, not all Wiccans practice witchcraft. Wicca is the religion founded by Gerald Gardner in the 1950s, witchcraft is the practice of magic.

8 ) Do you follow the teachings of any figure heads?

I refer to several well-known authors and spiritual practitioners, but I wouldn't consider any of them to be gurus or 'Popes'. I've always been fairly eclectic, even as a Wiccan. I might look to Aleister Crowley one day and Douglas Adams the next.

9) Do familiars really exist? If so what is their purpose?

Familiars are helpful spirits that may be embodied in a physical animal or may be purely spiritual. They guard the witch when he or she leaves their body to travel in the astral, they act as messengers and go-betweens between the witch and the spirit world, they can be spies, sometimes they take on greater responsibilities as teachers or tutors as the witch progresses in his or her work.

10) Do all witches have familiars? Do you have a familiar?

Not all witches have, work with or believe in familiars. I've had familiars in the past.

11) What is the length of study for a witch?

A lifetime Typically, in a Wiccan-structured coven, it's a year and a day between each grade or degree. Your mileage may vary.

12) Is being an apprentice to a senior necessary? Have you ever apprenticed? Do you take apprentices?

I believe that most novice witches could benefit from some contact with experienced practitioners. Nowadays, it's hard to find anyone who is legitimate that will teach someone. There are a lot more cares and concerns, especially if it's an adult teaching a child. I've had several teachers in my lifetime, in witchcraft, Wicca and Santeria, but nothing formal. I've also taken rigorous classes through an occult shop. I don't currently practice witchcraft, so no, no apprentices.

13) Do you cast circles?

Only while I was a ceremonialist & later a Wiccan. This quote sums up my opinion of the 'magic circle':
The Shaman has developed his will to the point where he can direct the fire that fills him. At the same time, he remains open, allowing his ego to dissolve under the direct onslaught of the spirits. It says something about our culture that our wizards stand inside magic circles to make sure the demons cannot touch them.
- Rachel Pollack, 78 Degrees of Wisdom

14) Bubble, bubble toil and trouble, a movie myth?

A little bit of both. Many of the ingredients listed in the cauldron recipe are traditional ingredients for witchy brews... but most of it probably came out of Shakespeare's imagination.