What does it mean to be a witch or practitioner of magic in this time and era?
In the past it meant to be part of the community and being known as person with wisdom and helping advice
Either through herbal remedies or spells. They were revered and respected and being known as wise or medicine people. Traditionally women were called witches and men alchemists. If one wanted to learn the art one was apprenticed to that person. Sometimes it was tedious work from cleaning to running errands but one was taught the art and knowledge of witchcraft. As knowledge obtainable easily its the experience needed to become respected and wise.
These days magic is seen as being able to do wondrous flamboyant acts.
People want to be able to control the weather and people, make things fly through the air and summon all kinds of creatures.
With society today one can't apprentice anymore as against beliefs and the experienced ones too scared for lawsuits, so how do we learn?
Yes lots of books around but want to learn hands on. And how does one discern between authors of high regard?
So back to my question what does it mean to be a practitioner of magic in this age?
Re: Witch in Modern Era By: lindacash420 Moderator / Adept
Post # 2 Mar 08, 2013
These days magic is only seen to do "wonderous flamboyant acts" by the immature, the superstitious, the uninformed and the overly imaginative. I do not think that has changed with time. The difference is the trendiness of the occult and new age in modern culture. When you say people want to summon and control and fly you are refering to the very young members of this site and the magical community. The adults tend to be more based in reality. I was taught the craft as an apprentice, but I was a legal adult at the time. It is correct that few will formally teach a minor because that is legally someone elses child and because a certain maturity is desired if not required for one to learn the craft. The continual "fluff" one sees from younger members here should make that position understandable. If you want to find an author of "high regard" I would suggest going with some of the more established authors such as gardner and cunningham. Aside from that read about biology, botany, physics, mythology, history...understanding the natural world is of crucial importance. We can still be healers, and respected as such. In regards to your original question, being a practitioner of magic means in this age, as in the ages before, using your intelligence, intuition and observation, taking charge of your life and being proactive, it means connecting with the natural world and using its energies.
I love the title of your thread. It is a question that indeed needs to be pondered and discussed heavily among us.
You mentioned the good, dare I say, “lighter” side of being recognized as a witch, but left out the more important, dark chapters of witchcraft history: the ever-present persecution, the burning of temples, idols, adoration sites, not to mention of the witches themselves, their familiars and their homes. How many men and women were unjustly tried and found guilty of siding with the Devil? How many men and women were branded, stoned, dismembered, dragged behind carriages or drowned simply because a neighbor’s cow died or an infant child was sick with fever? Many witches lived alone in the woods or in caves near riverbanks or the ocean. They had no one to care for them, no man would marry them, and so they relied solely on their skills and knowledge to survive. Few had apprentices because people feared them; most lived their last years impoverished and isolated.
People keep asking me the same questions over and over: how do I become a Witch? How do I learn Magic? Can I learn Magic fast? I always roll my eyes because there is no easy answer to any of these questions. I’ll try to elaborate as succinctly as possible.
To be a Witch in today’s Modern world is to be a Believer. A man or woman that Believes in the power of Nature, that Believes in the power of Creation and that Believes that the Universe will provide everything and anything you need in excess as long as you respect and abide by the natural laws that govern it.
To be a Witch in today’s Modern world means to experience the world through modern media but also to retreat in solitude to find your own voice and recharge your spirit being. Sometimes, it means being in the crowd but feeling deeply and utterly alone.
The sad truth is that as Practitioners and Devotees we are still struggling between our real-life personas and our Magic ones, trying to make the ends meet with every lunar cycle. We talk about Magic, Spells and Rituals yet our families, our closest loved ones, are completely oblivious to this. Many cannot even begin to explain their beliefs to their parents or co-workers for fear of being laughed at our losing their jobs and with that their livelihoods.
And so, we meet here in SoM, to vent, to share and to enlighten each other. And yet, when we get up and get away from our laptops we are, once again, mere humans going through the same experiences as everyone else. We fail sometimes to capture the meaning of our beliefs, and so we fail the Craft altogether.
I now live alone, as many of you know. When I was living with my ex I could not practice or cast spells in front of him. Now that he is gone it seems even more difficult for me to concentrate and make daily practice an enjoyable experience. Somehow, opposition made everything worthwhile. Now, as master of my own home and castle, I can do anything I want but I am overwhelmed by all the things I can do and so I do nothing.
I don’t think people do not take apprentices for fear of lawsuits. I think it’s because there are no suitable apprentices, period. There’s a Japanese martial arts saying that goes like “when the apprentice is ready the teacher will show up.” I find a lot of truth in this. Today’s youth is influenced heavily by the media’s portrayal of witchcraft and cannot even begin to comprehend what it really means to be a Witch. And some of us, the old farts that we are, we get tired easily and have minimum tolerance for undisciplined children.
It’s not up to you to decide if you are ready to be an apprentice. It’s the teacher that recognizing true potential will approach you and will teach you everything he or she knows. Because he/she recognizes him/herself in you.
OK, enough rambling. Thank you for posting this thread.
Yes thank you for the post. I think as you said in today's era one to scared to admit we do dabble in the art. I have 1st hand experience in the tribulations as my own mother had me at our local priest as I have the knack to be present when the unexplained happens. He ruled out possession and I was banned from cathecism as I ask to many questions. And I appreciate your honesty and that of Lindacash on the authors.
The point I tried to bring across as that we tend to look at the wow factors that we overlook the trivial attributes. For example to be able to walk into a room and just our presence have a soothing effect or to learn the art of patience. Witchcraft as you pointed out takes years to master and there are no shortcuts but would like to learn from the start the real stuff from respectable sources and not waste time sifting through the more disputable ones.
