"You've got to pick up every stitch
Beatniks out to make it rich
Two rabbits running in a ditch
Oh No, Must be the Season of the Witch
So it only seems appropriate that I write a bit on witchcraft today.
For my money Witchcraft is just magick that favors a certain end of the spectrum over another. It values the feminine over the masculine, the intuition over the intellect, the lunar over the solar, the nocturnal over the day light, the ecstatic over the ceremonial, outdoors over temple, the chthonic over the uranic, and so on. It doesn’t reject the latter in each case, it simply emphasizes the former.
As far as I am concerned its got almost nothing to do with Pagan vs Monotheist views, which is a false dichotomy anyway. A large bulk of the worlds witches are Christian. A lot of my views on the craft are expressed extremely well by Robert Cochrane (aka Roy Bowers) in his various letters and essays. Most of which can be found HERE. My favorite quote from him on what makes a witch is from a letter from him to William Gray:
“If one who claims he or she is a witch can perform the tasks of witchcraft, that is they can summon spirits and spirits will come, they can turn hot into cold and cold into hot, they can divine with rod, fingers and birds, they can claim the right to omens and have them. Above all they can tell the Maze and cross the Lethe. If they can do these things, than you have a witch”
I strive not to favor any of the above qualities over the other. I try to strike a balance. As I learned from my Chthonic Auranian bretheren, I strive to achieve both weddings. Thats why I like the term Sorcerer. It brings to mind a bit of the witch and a bit of the magician.Than I move beyond the difference entirely, which is where my real work actually rests.
Happy Hallowmas Everyone.
3 comments:
Where's my stake! Where's my matches! Damn, out of lighter fluid. Well... next time, by Christ...
Totally kidding. My wife's a Christian witch. I'm glad you mentioned that in the post. In learned a lot of cool techniques from "Christian" witches and wise women by reading up on folk traditions from different cultures.
My favorite is the Russian wise women. They do all kinds o' neat stuff with wax and lead and prayers from the Orthodox priests.
What do "tell the Maze" and "cross the Lethe" mean? Googling variations of these phrases only really shows you quoting them in various places.
Tell the maze refers to the use of maze walking or gazing to enter into a trance.
Cross the Lethe refers to the river of hades that causes forgetfulness of previous lives. If you can cross the lethe it means that you can remember beyond just this life.
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