Image: Daniel Waschnig

“The first time I called myself a ‘Witch’ was the most magical moment of my life.”

Margot Adler

This blog has been brewing inside the cauldron of my mind for a while now; finally I am ready to put it all together and tell my story.

I found the inspiration for this piece during a session of insomnia and aimlessly flipping through early morning TV– full of infomercials and Christian’s proclaiming how this or that church/program and God saved their life.

I am anti-religion but I know that it’s a necessary evil in our world for some type of structured belief system to be put in place for society to work properly; sad but true.

The problem with this is that religion is used as a form of control, division and far too often the dumbing down of humanity.

Within the more conservative, orthodox, fundamental, and/or extremist sects (which seem to be all religion has become) people lose logical, critical thought processes and individual thinking; this is when the herd mentality is seen, and displayed negatively; not for nature’s intent of it being survival instinct.

I believe it’s a true sign of character to question authority; it shows courage, but society tells us it’s wrong, that we always have someone to answer to, there is always an authority figure.

Call me crazy but, I not only had the notion and concept of being equal to everyone well established as a kid, it was also one of the main lessons taught to me by my late Grandfather.

You can believe you are equal to everyone and not come off pretentious, elitist, superior or condescending; all you have to do is show some compassion and respect.

People have lost respect for themselves, for each other and for this planet; respect for yourself and others, along with seeing the bigger purpose of fighting for this planet will allow you to transcend and ascend.

A point missed by so many.

There is so much healing and deprogramming that must occur for the human mind and soul to understand and accept there is something outside of themselves. However, when you get down to the bare bones of Magick you will come to the realization that YOU are all you will ever need; you never truly have to look outside yourself because everything and everyone is a reflection of you; the universe is inside of you as you are a inside it.

Religion has many dark sides, the main being that people fail to rely on themselves and take personal responsibility.

Nothing saddens me more than when people give credit for their hard work to God.

Such as, “I beat Cancer, God is good”—I am sure it had nothing to do with the 10+ years of schooling your Oncologist and team of Doctors went through.

My favorite recently was an acquaintance who had gastric bypass surgery to lose weight and practice a healthier lifestyle. I tip my hat to her.

If you are unfamiliar with the process, it’s not easy to get approved for this surgery and you need to show weight loss on your own, through diet and exercise before they will rubber band your stomach; I say it like that because no one wants to talk about the roots of the problem which are our appalling food industry, lack of fresh fruits and vegetables (at affordable costs) for those on and below the poverty line, and emotional binge eating–they only want to talk about the end product, “fat people” and how to shame them.

Needless to say 3 months after her surgery she looks and (assuming) feels fantastic but her posts on fb made me want to bash my head into a wall: “God is good, look at this weight loss.” Or “Won’t He do it, down another 20 pounds!”

Yes, because that is exactly what happened, God was so busy ignoring all the other woes, and ills of this world that he helped you with your weight loss, and had absolutely nothing to do with modern science, your strong will, and the drastic personal changes in your lifestyle.

Nope. It was all God.

The point I am trying to make is that I see testimonials of how Christianity or God saved someone, or helped someone along; I see praise being given time and time again to a Divine being, but never, or rarely do I see someone give some credit to themselves without being torn down by other’s who don’t understand that it is okay to pat yourself on the back, and give credit where credit is due.

There are stories galore about how Christianity saved people from other belief systems, addiction, bad situations, etc.

In fact, I recently read an article about a lovely Woman (much sarcasm) who gave a disgusting representation of the Craft, and said that her experience with Witches is what made her become a Christian. So much ran through my mind in that moment, what could have possibly happened within the craft to make this Woman run to a religion that has done nothing but persecute us, and everyone else that is not of their faith?

Fun Fact: A majority of “Witches” executed during Puritan Witch Trials were Christian, the actual Witches had fled to “New Salem” aka New Orleans when the Witch hunts began, or they found seclusion, solitude, and safety in the deep woods.

To put it simply, Christians were killing Christians.

Shocker.

I am going to say it loud and proud, Witchcraft saved my life.

The Craft helped me heal and understand my physical and mental illnesses, it saved me from many dangerous situations, it has allowed me to heal and hex, it has granted me a level of self-awareness I cannot put into words but most importantly, it saved me from myself.

Without Magick, I would be dead, and this is not something that’s questioned, or exaggerated, it is fact.

The thing with Magick is that it doesn’t come naturally or easily; when I say it doesn’t come naturally I mean that we have to put in work–I believe in natural Witches.

We are tested, brought to our limits and beyond; thrown into the Abyss where we learn to swim, or get swallowed up.

Magick itself is a test, it’s a challenge; those who choose to step on this path are tested by deities and Spirits we work with.

Often times though, the hardest test comes from the depths of our own psyche.

We lose concepts of comfort and security which are falsely placed anyways; we lose everything we thought we knew, everything we thought we loved, and all we can do is put the faith in ourselves, and our Craft that we will survive–that in our metaphorical death there will be purpose and rebirth.

I lost everything, quite literally, everything.

Once I truly devoted myself to Magick it was like a switch was flicked, a light had been turned on and suddenly the illusion that I had been living in, the lies I had been telling myself were seen for what they were: self-destructive behavior and suppressing my Magick.

I knew my Magick was there, I had experienced things since I was a kid, dabbling since I was 5, but I never fully embraced my Witch, I ran from her, she scared me; it took me years to face her and embrace her as part of my whole.

The process was the most painful thing I have ever experienced in my life, but not a day goes by where I am not grateful for that pain; through suffering comes understanding.

I grow every day, I change every day, and I learn every day.

I am constantly evolving, constantly moving forward, seeking knowledge, and challenging myself.

It hasn’t been easy, and it isn’t easy now, but I have never experienced such life altering, mind blowing, soul shattering experiences before, and they continue to manifest in the most glorious ways.

Once your inner Witch awakens there is no denying her/him; you can suppress it for so long before the Universe will force your hand.

Once you have seen Magick, I mean, really seen Magick, there is no going back.

And, why would you want to?

Blessed Are The Witches.