Witches

by Sirona 42 Replies latest jw friends

Sirona

Hey! I'm glad this thread got some good positive responses!
Yes, we witches look like "normal" people! LOL. Thanks for the extra info posted here too about the different paths etc. More info on pagan paths can be found at www.witchvox.com where pagan groups throughout the world are listed.
One thing I would point out is that there are people out there who are not wiccan but who are witches. Some witches are not religious at all and have been raised to practise witchcraft as just something they do in their life. These individuals often don't believe in god(s). Wicca however is a religious path and witchcraft is just a part of it. I could be wiccan without ever doing witchcraft.
As for me, I'm an initiated member of a British Traditional coven. I am shamanic. My skills centre mostly around being able to see spirits and energies and I'm empathetic to peoples emotions and physical ailments. I'm not great with divination tools but I do use Tarot (for myself, I don't really do readings for others). I'm drawn to the egyptian pantheon, in particular Het Heret and Anpu.
Do any of you have a patron god(dess)?
Sirona
neverthere

I feel a strong affinity to Hera and to Artemis. I am an eclectic solitary kitchen/green witch. I believe that you don't need degrees or covens to be a witch. I follow my own path and it works as well for me as a coven does for others.
Sirona are you in a coven? Do you find it difficult to get so many people to work together? I found the few times that I did join a circle that the people involved were all trying to achieve their own "agenda"
Diana
alias

Sirona & Gretchen,
I always find it fascinating to read about this path.
I'd love to be an observer (visitor, friendly what-goes-on-here person) at a coven meeting, but think I'd be too afraid. You know... fear of the unknown.
Thank you for the info and insights. For the most part, I don't think anyone is a flake when they are consciously choosing *whatever* they are doing, especially when it acts as a positive in their life.
alias
Sirona

Diana
I believe that you don't need degrees or covens to be a witch. I follow my own path and it works as well for me as a coven does for others.
I agree completely. I simply chose to be in a coven because I wanted the structure, and I enjoy our group rituals for the sabbats.
Sirona are you in a coven? Do you find it difficult to get so many people to work together? I found the few times that I did join a circle that the people involved were all trying to achieve their own "agenda"
Yes I am part of a coven. The coven I'm with comprises of a main "mother" coven and a training coven. I did a year's training with the training coven and then was fortunate enough to be invited to the main coven. The others that I trained with went on to form their own young coven. I joined a coven which had been established for many years and so I had to fit in with a group who all knew each other very well.
It is difficult sometimes. There are personality differences and varying experience / abilities. Overall we work together very well in magickal workings etc. and there is a definate increase in power working with a group IF you can all remain focused and not be self conscious. Initially I found it strange to anoint a candle in front of people etc. but eventually you get used to being with those people and just being yourself.
I have thoughts about the coven I'm with in terms of I wish things were slightly different, but I think that overall I'm blessed to be with them and I cannot dictate how I think things should be. You are right about people's agenda but honestly that is just a way of learning about yourself and others. The thing with a coven is you can't hide!! It does force you to see the bad things in yourself and keep great perspective. When I was solitary I rarely met someone with my views or knowledge of witchcraft, but when I joined the coven I realised I know so little in comparison to some of the people who have worked for years. They don't spout off about how great they are either and psychic experiences are kept quiet unless there is some other purpose to discussing the matter. (e.g. you don't find people saying "hey guess what, Aphrodite came to see me the other day!" but you would find someone asking questions about how Aphrodite is percieved within the group etc.)
Another reason I joined a coven springs to mind: as an EX JW I found it difficult to overcome my fear. I felt that joining a group would provide me an environment where I could let myself go in terms of what I was doing and also have a cushion of the experienced members to fall back on. As a solitary I could screw up and call up something dodgy and not know how to solve it - in a coven I could always turn to someone who knows how to get around the problem. As it turns out I don't go calling stuff up anyway, but you know what I mean. Most ex JW pagans I know went through a real problem with fear.
Alias:
I'd love to be an observer (visitor, friendly what-goes-on-here person) at a coven meeting, but think I'd be too afraid. You know... fear of the unknown
Exactly. I was very afraid when I first started training with the coven! I was really really scared! I knew what I believed but I didn't know how it would be with a group. I thought that spirits would walk straight in in front of us all and we'd all be chanting and get possessed or whatever! LOL. That didn't happen of course! The only time I've actually seen spirits within our circle is at Samhain when we invite them in. Even then not everyone in the circle can see them. Most rituals we invite the God and Goddess and simply cast our circle with elementals at the quarters.....sorry you probably don't know what I mean by that .... erm....
Anyway, the biggest moment for me was during my initiation when I left behind allegiance to other religions. That has repercussions in this life and the next so I didn't take it lightly at all. I do not believe that a witch should be initiated by a coven to call herself a witch, but I do think that a formal initiation ceremony is a significant step which brings great changes on many levels. I'd advise solitaries to initiate themselves, most definately.
Sirona
gitasatsangha

I was working in New Orleans for a few weeks last year and a hotel room in the French Quarter, and so I tended to spend time walking around. Anyway it was getting late one night, and I was way up on Rue St. Anne looking at the buildings and just generally thinking about life and loneliness and what not, and I had gotten a bit lost, to tell the truth.
There was this dude following about a half block behind me and the street was empty. "Great, one mugging coming up." I thought. I reckoned I was probably going to fight it out, unless a gun was involved, just because, well, I wasn't in much of a mood that I lived or died at the time, and kicking someone's ass who had it coming didn't sound too disagreeable, either. I did try to get back in the general direction of Jackson Square, though, figuring that if I made it into an area some other tourists were at that the dude following me would slink back off up the rue and wait for better pickings.
Well he was closing in. I saw a shop with no sign or anything I could see, but I just opened the door and I was in a nice magick shop. The lady that owned it was a witch. Very nice to me. I told her what had happened and she suggested I stay awhile. We talked awhile and I let her know I was in a R+C/GD order, which seemed to at least be a common link. I don't think she was Gardnerian (Gardner, was, btw, a Rosicrucian of an obscure European order, before inventing his wicca). I didn't have much money, which the mugger would have been sad to discover, so I didn't by anything, but she gave me a little good luck charm. I still keep it on my desk. She was very attractive to me, witty, interesting, and while she did not have a black dress and pointy hat on, the pvc micro-mini was pretty cool. Anyway, I figured the odds were pretty good she was a lesbian, as so many witches tend to be, at least in this part of the country, so I didn't bother to even make a try for "it", figuring a bit of friendship at the right time was more then enough that night. I left after awhile.
Yep, she's my favorite witch, and I would like very much to return and say hello one day.
Sirona

Rachel
Its GREAT that you will share the truth about these things with your daughter. I can tell you the basic beliefs of Wiccans if you like:
We believe in God and Goddess (Lord and Lady). They are seen as Lord and Lady to represent the different aspects of GOD or the ALL. (The ALL doesn't have a sex). Human beings can better understand the ALL by seeing it as God and Goddess. All of the gods and goddesses from all cultures have various traits which reflect something about the universe and ourselves. Everything is connected on an energy level and Wiccans believe that the outer universe can teach us about our inner selves (this is often represented by the phrase "as above, so below"). Therefore the Goddess is represented by Earth, but she also IS the Earth. She is fertility, bounty, life and death (from her womb springs life but back to the womb of the earth go the dead). The God is the Sun, vital energy, life giving seed, hunter and provider. The seasons hold the story of their union and the sacrifice of the God of himself for mankind. She is the virgin, then the mother giving birth to him again at the winter solstice (Dec 21).
So, what do I tell her about ghosts? LOL
LOL ! That I think will be the subject of another thread!
Sirona
Sunnygal41

You asked if anyone had a connection or affinity to any gods or goddesses......well, when I was younger, I was very very attracted to Diana, Goddess of the Hunt and her affinity with animals, etc. Then, when I was coming out of the borg, I was just interested in native american beliefs, etc., and have my power animals and totems. Lately, I've been very very interested in Thoth. Not exactly sure, but, I am just drawn to him. My overall affinity is for the "air" element. Most of my totems are birds and my main power animal is Raven. When the shamanic medicine woman gave me my spirit name, Blue Raven, she confirmed that I was of the Raven Clan and a walker of the Blue Road. Oh, and, then there's my maiden name: Crowe. LOL!
Ter
Tefcat

Hi,
Just my sixpence worth:-
It is perfectly possible to be a Witch who follows a religious Pagan path without being Wiccan.
Wicca is Post Gardnerian, (1950's) whilst Witches have been around in one form or another for quite some time although never in a "long unbroken lineage going back to Matriachal Stone Age Times ";-).
Best Wytches,
Tefcat
Sirona

Gita,
Great story! You say many witches are lesbians - well I don't know of many...maybe one is a lesbian that I know of. I think many witches are pretty sexually open in that they don't condemn other peoples preferences. Most female witches are strong women because they don't believe that men are superior.
Terri:
That is cool! It is great when things like that come together. I'm still sorting out what my other name is....LOL I have one but since I was initiated it has changed. I too have a connection with the Raven that I am going to explore more.
Tefcat
It is perfectly possible to be a Witch who follows a religious Pagan path without being Wiccan.
Certainly. Thanks for mentioning that. I may have given the wrong impression with my talk about wicca. The thing is, I don't claim to know enough about the other paths so I can only talk about mine. You are right that wicca is a modern day invention which takes some things from older religions. Mostly wicca is a modern invention though. I have utmost respect for other religious paths within the pagan community.
Sirona
Sunnygal41

Sirona, according to another shamanic healer I was involved with for a short time, Raven usually is seen and involved with any "journeying" work as Raven is a psychopomp, an escort to the otherworld. When I did journey work in her classes, invariably a number of us would see Raven during our journeys. One time, I saw her come out of a central bonfire, as a straight white pillar of white, with silver eyes! THAT was awesome!
Ter

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