What Makes a Witch? Calling oneself a Witch does not make one a Witch, but neither does heredity, or the collection of titles, degrees and initiations. A Witch seeks to control the forces within (and without) themselves that make life possible in order to live wisely and well, in full knowledge of what they seek to achieve and acknowledging any price that may be asked of them to do so, yet living in a manner that is in harmony with nature and their own inner self. Redwytch 2005 As has already been discussed upon the What is a Witch page the Title of Witch carries different meaning for different people, each self definition is equally as valid for the individual person that so defines it, as it is for us, however, for us the title of British Traditional Witch is one that can only be claimed by those who share certain practices, connections and beliefs, others definitions are as we have said equally valid, but for us who consider ourselves to be BTW, the context is definitely different. Having said that, each individual persons journey to Witchdom will be different, not for nothing is it often called The Crooked Path! Most newcomers to Paganism, Wicca and Witchcraft will look to find what information they can to begin to understand their path, firstly most will look to the written word to learn what they can, whether from the myriad sites available on the net or from the large (and growing) number of books that are available. Book learning has its place, it provides background and can facilitate understanding for the individual, but book learning alone cannot make one a Witch, at best it can impart information which can be commuted to Wisdom through experience, at worst it makes the seeker academically adept and gives them a self belief that they know what it is to be Witch but imparts nothing of the true visceral nature of Witchcraft. Books and research have their place, ask any seeker and they will tell you that knowledge, inspiration and information can be found within pages of books, but without putting that knowledge into practice and just getting out there and doing it, well, no real progress will be made internally towards becoming a Witch, experience commutes knowledge into wisdom, the journey of finding just what works for yourself is as important as the end result! Within the more prevalent form of Wiccan Witchcraft - be it Lineaged Traditional Wicca (Gardnerian, Alexandrian, etc.) or the more Eclectic forms (Solitary or Group or Coven based) - there is usually some form of syllabus that each Learner has to follow to become proficient in that Tradition and to then be acknowledged as having reached a certain point in their personal development. This syllabus could be one of regular meetings and face to face training via a series of talks and lectures, with interactive questioning, or it could be a syllabus of books to go away and read or even a series of topics that the individual has to research, understand and present back a written report upon, or it may be a combination of all of these and could also vary depending on the individual, their needs and the level of training they are undertaking. Depending on the group there could also be some form of assessments involved with the syllabus, this could involve both knowledge assessment and hands on practical assessment in order for the Learner to display competency, and it may also include having to face and pass various Trials, Ordeals and Tests to prove to the group / coven / family your personal commitment, honour and ability, and equally to also prove to yourself that you can do these things. Shared training, experiences and trials, and overcoming them - whether as a group or as an individual - help those within a group to build trust and respect for one another, and also build personal confidence and experience within the individual themselves, if you found yourself in a place where you face danger or difficulty, then how much better is it if you know that those around you have already faced it and have got your back covered, or that you have already proven to yourself that you can endure and prevail? Again, as is my want, I digress, apologies, a syllabus of training for those within any Magickal group to follow is generally a good thing, it ensures all get the same information over a period of time and allows the training to be repeated in future in order to pass the same knowledge on to a further group of students, however, having merely attended and passed a syllabus of training in itself does not automatically make one a Witch. What it does prove is at worst that you have attended classes and perhaps have learned some of what was offered, at best it could prove that (at least academically) you have some knowledge and understanding of what it is to be Witch. Practical aspects of a syllabus are also sometime taught, whether this is merely allowing the Learner to attend full blown Coven / Family / Group Rites and to gain some experience, or also (as we do) taking the individual out into the woods and working with them first hand to build their ability, focus, intent and connection, again, these parts of a syllabus on their own may pass some of the practical Magickal skills of what a Witch does to the individual, but they do not on their own make that person a Witch. No, for us as a group, we believe that for the individual to be able to validly claim the Title of Witch there has to be something more, not only learning on both the intellectual and magickal level, but there has to be both Spiritual and Psychological growth also involved. Once again depending on your viewpoint we have to acknowledge that to be a Witch does not necessarily mean that you have to be of a certain faith (please see the What is a Witch page for further information), those whose definition of Witch is one who is able to use Magick can be of any or no religion as they see fit, but for those of us within our group we include in our definition of Witch not only that we practice Magick, but also that we follow a Pagan based belief system, one where the Goddesses and Gods of Witchcraft are equally acknowledged, the Ancestors are also acknowledged and balance is considered key. It is also believed in our group that in order to achieve the state of being known as Witch you have to have a deep connection to more than the mundane plane, your awareness and connection should be able to move the focus of the awakened mind between the mundane and magickal and between the mundane plane and the Otherworld, you should be able to sense what is going on around you and to acknowledge it, wherever it is occurring. This Spiritual part of our Crooked Path is something that is definitely experiential in nature, we can talk about it, we can provide experiences that will allow you to experience it, but it is something personal that has to be forged by the individual and maintained in order to become Witch, it is one of the things that set us apart from other Pagans. Do we truly need to grow psychologically in order to be Witch? Only you can answer that question for yourself, but in order for you to progress beyond the basics of studying the Occult then we have to acknowledge that everything we learn changes us and our worldview (see the Nature of Reality article), and that if we wish to approach the Mysteries and to gain in our understanding of ourselves and our place within the Universe then we need to do so with open eyes. Occult does not mean evil, it means hidden, and the knowledge hidden within the study of the Occult often only comes through hard work and deep thought, anything worthwhile will involve some form of payment (time, energy, thought) and often some form of risk (psychological risk as well as physical and spiritual risk), otherwise if it came too easily and without risk, then the revelation would not be considered worthwhile, the journey is often as important as the destination, especially upon the Crooked Path. So, Psychological growth is something else entirely, generally it comes from experiences - it can be triggered through revelation or trial from any source, physical, research or reading, or from contact with those not usually resident upon our mundane plane, but generally it occurs through trial and from facing adversity and is often accompanied by pain, confusion and crisis - although not always. Vivianne Crowleys book Wicca, the Old Religion in the New Millennium contains some excellent words about the psychological growth profiles of a person at each of the Degree levels within her Tradition of Wicca, read it if you wish to gain a greater insight into the psychology of the mind at each point along the growth Cycle from Dedicant to 3rd Degree Initiate within a Wiccan Coven, but, again, I digress, my apologies. Although as a group we do retain the 3 YAAD Levels of training, for us these are not in place in order to follow some internal psychological growth profile, some Jungian or Freudian concept of allowing the Ego to die and balancing the inner Anima and Animus, no, the 3 YAAD levels for our group are there to acknowledge the experience and achievements of the individual and to pay them respect for their work and abilities (please see the Degrees and Titles article for more information on this subject). So, to continue, for us as a group, those seeking to awaken the Witch within, to gain entry into Witchdom, to receive Initiation as a Witch Incarnate and to be able to validly claim the title of Witch are those who have also psychologically grown to the point where they have passed through the psychological crisis and achieved or are in the process of achieving that inner balance where the Ego has been suborned to the true self and the individual is no longer ego led within a Craft framework. This generally will manifest itself with the individual suborning themselves to the group mind and working for the good of all as opposed to working for personal gain. Having faced many trials ourselves in the past and having seen the damage that ego led individuals can wreak upon others and upon a group we are adamant that all agree that the group comes first and that everyone is treated as an equal. Those who cannot accept this and think they are something special, worthy of special treatment will not find our group the place for them. So in summary, according to our group, what makes an individual a Witch will be different for each individual attempting to make that connection, however the growth pattern for any individual will follow a similar course, it will involve learning, possibly both personal study and group learning, it will involve practical aspects and experiences, it will involve building a connection to the Otherworld, Ancestors and the Gods, listening to your gut instinct and your intuition and it will involve personal psychological growth, possibly involving crisis or Trial / Ordeal or Test - possibly instigated by their Initiation or possibly occurring before or after Initiation, but all of the experiences involved will allow the individual to grow to the point where they have the knowledge, ability, connection and psychological growth has occurred so that they can then validly claim the title of Witch Incarnate as we see it. FFF Breaca of Albion
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 15:43:52 +0000
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