Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Becoming a Witch

I'm sure there are witches out there who have been born into families who celebrate a rich tradition of ancient belief and follow occult practices handed down from generations. That may indeed be a beautiful thing depending on your perspective. For the rest of us who have come to embrace a way of life, or a spiritual path, the title of our belief system may have come from years of research, soul searching, and practice. I write poetry on an international Wiccan site and I although I have many readers from around the world I am never asked questions regarding the meaning of my poetry, or the inspiration behind it. That suits me fine, for I am of the belief that good poetry affects each reader differently and there should be a deliberate separation of the poet and the poetry. I would not try to explain what I meant, as the meanings are often hidden in the color of language. The usual question I am asked by readers is "Are you a real witch, and how can I become one too?" A six year old child once said to me, "You are what you think you are." I thought the words precociously profound and with all I have experienced in my life I would have to agree. I do not have a witch certificate, although I am sure you can join a school of thought and get one for a fee. I have no interest in that. I have studied every book I could read on the subject of the occult early in my life and seemed to gravitate to those specializing in Witchcraft or Wicca. I can tell many of those who pose the question are young, and so I try to be sensitive to their curiosity without too much interest or commitment. Ultimately, there is also the expressed desire to perform spells, which to young people of the Harry Potter generation must seem very enticing indeed. My standard answer to someone seeking to learn spells is to read a short book by Carl McColman called "Before You Cast a Spell." It is a how-to that does not give specific recipes, only underlying principles. It probably wouldn't be completed by someone who just wanted to catch a love interest or win a huge sum of money... they would probably just get bored. In response to the question, " How do I get started to be a witch?" I will refer the young seeker to Scott Cunningham's, "Wicca, A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner." I feel he has a very caring style of presenting the occult and encourages the practitioner to follow their own path to discern what feels right and what doesn't. Although I have read literally hundreds of books and articles on the subject, I have used my own intuition to determine what I embrace as sounding truthful and what I discard as... well chaff. I have a responsibility to be my own Guru, and that's why my practice is so successful for me.

No comments:

Post a Comment