thewitch.htm

The Witch

Witchcraft means "Craft of the Wise Ones" and is also known as the "Old Religion". Its practices can be traced to Neolithic ("Stone Age") cave paintings. In early times, the Witch was the local lawyer, psychiatrist, and doctor. The field of modern medicine can trace its origins to the herbal medicines of the Witch.

Dictionary meaning for Witch “n. woman supposed to have dealings with the Devil or evil spirits;

old hag.” Dictionary meaning for hag “n. ugly old woman, witch”

Is this what we work for? Should we let them call us that in dictionaries? Think about it. What if you read a book and all of a sudden it’s really bad to read that book, even though you might be gaining information? I don’t think I’m an ‘ugly old woman’. I’m actually quite young, and not that ugly (I hope).

Also males practice the craft not only women. There’s lot’s of different names for what we practice. The craft, wicca, witchcraft, paganism and the list goes on and on. I think paganism is the all round religion and then you start specifying into different ones.

There's a lot to say about the witch. If you've just started I recommend "the Teenage Witch" by Silver Ravenwolf, or basically any beginner book which doesn’t go into THAT much detail, because that can become confusing. There are a lot of good books out there. Unfortunately prices aren't really on our side. They can get quite expensive, but then again you don't need a whole library full with books about the craft. You might even find them on the web, cheaper so you can order them, or in the library. It all depends on where you live. I only used 2 books for the first couple of years of the craft and I'm still going.

So what exactly do witches do, well they live a normal life like any other person. They do not go around saying "look at me I’m dressed in black and I’m a witch" and they do not worship the devil! I mainly focus on healing, since I seem to kill my body a lot! But some people just do all round Wicca until they know exactly what they want to do. I also don't believe in love spells. I believe that love is something, which has to happen between the two people, the connection has to be made by itself, not with help. I also don't believe in forcing anything or anyone against his/her will. That's why love spells don't usually work. People's free will is stronger than any magic and you can't change that with anything. You've heard the saying 'where there's a will there's a way'.

13 things a witch wants to achieve:
· Know yourself
· Know your craft
· Learn
· Apply knowledge with Wisdom
· Achieve balance
· keep your words in good order
· Keep your thoughts in good order
· Celebrate life
· Attune with the cycles of the earth
· Eat and exercise your body
· Accept that you are a human and prone to mistakes
· Meditate
· Honour the God and Goddess.

The goddess is seen as Mother Earth, and/or Mother Nature. The moon represents her. That's why the witch is most powerful when it's full moon. She is seen in the fertility of anything of nature.

The God is seen as the grain, sun, and the hunt. In prehistoric times most hunted animals were horned animals so the God is also known as the Horned One.

Witches don't mess with evil. Their rede is "If It Harms None, Do What You Will" which means, "Do whatever you want as long as you don't harm anyone, including yourself. Also they believe in the times 3 law (3 fold law) which means, whatever you send out comes back times three, good or bad.

The pentacle is the symbol of out religion; it's the 5-pointed star, with the circle around it. Lot’s of people are confused with the pentagram which is just a plain 5 pointed star and the pentacle. I’m actually working on a symbols page at the moment, as soon as I get my scanner going I can show all the meanings etc…

We have a lot of other symbols as well. The pentacle is most commonly used, which is just the 5-pointed star with a circle around it. There are also symbols for the Goddess, God, Earth, Air, Fire Water Magical Energy, purification etc. Also the a "Witch"'s colours are black and purple.

These are helpful in the evaluation of a spell or just to study the philosophy of Wicca.

The Law of Knowledge- to affect a thing you must know that thing.
The Law of Names- to know the true name of a thing is to have power over that thing. And to give something a name gives it power.
The Law of Contagion- anything that has been in contact with something else maintains contact with that thing.
The Law of Association- if a thing reminds you of something else, it can be used as a simulacrum for that something else for magical purposes.
The Law of Polarity- everything contains and implies its opposite.
The Law of Identification- by your will you may become anything.
The Law of Invocation- there are forces outside you that you can tap.
The Law of Evocation- there are forces inside you that you can tap.
The Law of Infinite Data- there is more in the universe than we can sense or know, learning never stops.
The Law of Infinite Universes- Change your perspective and you change your universe. There are always three choices available.
The Law of Cause and Effect- the same actions performed under exactly the same conditions will always produce the same results.
The Law of Pragmatism- If it works, it is true.