I recently subscribed to the Llewelynn mailing list and this article has just come through via e-mail and after my post about voodoo, I thought it sort of "fitting" to copy across. Please note that this is not a post which I have written, but is an extract from an email.
Being a Witch: Inner Recognition, Love for the Earth, and Ethics
In my latest Witchy Update, I asked readers "What makes you a witch?" Your answers varied from the supremely practical - as BlackSerpent Nightshade put it, "My 'church' can be anywhere I like ... outside, inside, at my home or someone else's. I can pray in the shower, in bed, at work, alone, with others, during the day, at night ... whenever I like" - to the utterly poetic.
Here I have to share the words of Aurora Jet with you: "To be a Witch is to worship the Goddess, in all Her forms and ways, and to follow the Craft of the Wise. This can manifest in my awe of a misty orange-pink dawn, a blustery storm, the trembling of an earthquake, the tides of the sea, the stones that speak. It can be the hummingbird hovering just six inches away from my nose, its tiny black-bead eyes gazing directly into mine. It can be the raven flying over head, 'cawing' a greeting. It can be the grizzly she-bear who follows me in my dreams. It can be the ability to perform a spell and see it come to fruition. It is power, tempered with wisdom and compassion. It is remaining calm when dealing with those who may be difficult. It is trust in the face of adversity. It even prompted me to write poetry again, a way of expressing myself in spells, chants, or my inner voice."Most respondents in some way had always felt deep inside that they were witches, whether they knew what that was at the time or not. This sometimes manifested as a sense of being different; Laura says, "I was more attuned to nature than others and recognized an inner 'gut feeling' that guided me in everything I did. I always felt that my higher power was female and a goddess, not a god."
For many of us, it just took time to recognize what this different feeling was. Phoenx writes, "My answer is, the knowing...even when I don't want to. It had been suppressed for so long, but one day I couldn't hide from who I was anymore."Other times this feeling was simply one of not being able to connect with traditional religions and searching for something more. Venessa remembers "even as a small child being fascinated with the living planet and having a great deal of difficulty understanding (at 5 years old) the concept of a Christian god. After all, don't both parents nurture and protect?"
And BlackSerpent Nightshade wrote, "I have contemplated many religions in my area and none of them seem to 'fit' me. I saw a lot of talk and not many wanting to follow what they were preaching. For me, that wasn't what I wanted to do. I was a baptized Christian, and maybe somewhere else there is a better ... connected church, but here there is not. And I didn't fit in really. [...] When I was at my lowest times, these places weren't there for me...I was alone spiritually."Another thing you'll notice about the responses is that witchcraft really leads us to want to be good people, which should be the bottom line in any pursuit of spirituality! This includes acting ethically with other people and with the environment.
Laura shares: "I recycled when I was a child in the 50's and still do. I pick up garbage on the beach or in natural surroundings in order to bring nature's bounty into balance. I have always been aware of the harm we do to our environment and I have always - always - tried to do no harm to anyone or anything. It is as if Mother Nature herself asks me to tidy her up. I sense her at all times in my life. [...] I have recently changed my buying habits after shutting off my TV for over a year while I returned to school to get my bachelor's degree. I buy natural foods and respect the power and the symbiosis of mind and body. I strongly respect and am grateful for the blessings that Mother Earth has given me in particular. I care for myself now. I am in better health than I was in my 20's, 30's & 40's. Turning off the TV has made me more aware of the loud noise and the psychic influence of marketers in American society. I am no longer easily influenced and am actually quite ashamed of being manipulated by mass media and advertising for so many years. I believe that being a pagan and a witch has created a higher ethical standard in my life than in other people. It is a question of devotion, love, and respect for all living creations."And she's not alone.
BlackSerpent Nightshade writes, "I acknowledge the animals that live on the Earth as my brothers and sisters now, and not just as creatures that humans can move wherever they want whenever they want. I feel the pain the Earth goes through as we continue to destroy the gift she has given us ... a place to live ... that we carelessly throw away. I try to recycle whatever I can and not buy things in aerosol form. I try to do things every day that helps someone else, without expecting something in return ... treating others as I would like to be treated."Being a witch is really a full-time job, not just something to drag out of the closet at Halloween.
Heather writes, "I am a Celtic earth witch 7 days a week 24 hours a day and EVERYTHING I do is why, how, what and because of it!" BlackSerpent agrees: "I don't just try to practice rituals and celebrate the Sabbats ... I try to live being a Pagan. Let it seep into every part of my life, every part of my day and night so that it is my life that is lived Pagan, and I am not called it just as a term to be called."And one reader, Josephine, reminded us all of a key factor in being a witch: tolerance."Part of being a witch is to understand and accept that others will have their own beliefs. Not just other witches, but the Christians, Judeo, Muslim, Native American, Buddhists. None of us is wrong, we simply have different beliefs. We ask for understanding, but first we must understand, tolerance begets tolerance and so forth. So let's celebrate each other's differences! [...] While saluting our flag the words may be 'In god we trust.' I can think 'Goddess' to myself, while acknowledging and respecting that this country was indeed based on Christian values.
We can attend a Christian (or whatever) church service and respect those who believe--we are their guests in their church. I would not miss a dear friend's wedding or funeral because there would be a service from a different faith. And I even proved a point recently at a friend's mother's funeral--witches do not melt when splashed with holy water. Just a thought from this old crone."
Well said, Josephine.You'll find below an excerpt from our new book, Witch in the Bedroom, which further enhances the way you bring your spirituality into your attitudes and beliefs about relationships so you can find one that truly works for you. Then more summertime love and pleasure follows in an article by Stephanie Rose Bird. Don't forget that a great way to be pagan everyday is by getting together with the community, so in the links section you'll find a few links to group and festival calendars. Get out there and have some fun this summer!
—Elysia Gallo, Acquisitions Editor - Witchcraft, Paganism, Magic
Friday, June 23, 2006
Voodoo
I have, suspiciously, always steered clear of voodoo, its connectations to me were dark savages on plantations doing dark magic to oust the owners, of slaughtering animals to use their blood in rituals and other such nasty things. These images mainly come from reading "historical" romances whilst growing up set in the South (of America), New Orleans etc. and also a few dark movies like Angel Heart back in the 80's.
I was on the BBC news website and found a pictoral interview with a voodoo priestess. The photos spoke of deep devotion, her words of honouring their Gods were deep and beautiful and I actually berrated myself for - one moment - forgetting that other people look down on paganism in general and seeing it as nonsense, or something less impressive than the Judao Christian religion so predominant in the world. I was being negative and biased. Voodoo is stil a scary religion to me, as preconceptions are very hard to let go of, but just reading her words and seeing her do some of the rituals made me realise that religion, no matter what its brand or "primitiveness" is, is the practice to honour and revere the gods, take care of one another and help others and yourself to be better people, to struggle with your own spiritual demons and have someone be there to help struggle with you.
I will copy and paste the text from the Beeb here, and hopefully some of the pictures if Blogger doesn't crash, as it has been doing.
Nope, it isn't allowing me to post any pictures. And blogger isn't allowing me to post the html code, which is annoying, but I am sure if you go to the bbc website and search for voodoo priestess it should come up.
Spiritual force
Voodoo is a state religion in Benin - the West African country where the practice started, before being taken to Haiti and elsewhere by slaves.
Some 65% of the seven million population are adherents. They say it is a positive force, bearing little resemblance to the popular image of people casting evil spells by sticking pins in dolls.
Priestess Na Danon says the word "Voodoo" means both the religion and the spiritual forces within natural phenomena such as water, fire, earth and air.
Sacrifice
"When you want to ask the voodoo for something, you have to give something in return - as a sacrifice.
"This is usually something to eat or drink, such as a chicken or some alcohol.
"Now he can help you. If he helps you, and you get more money and goods, you can come back with more offerings to ask for more."
Sand heap
"For a sacrifice, I cut the throats of two chickens, one male and one female and feed them to the shrine.
"When you see the voodoo [spirits], you see a heap of sand. But inside this sand are the spirits. So when we pour blood on the sand heap, we get a reaction from the spirits inside the hill.
"There is Mary and Jesus in Christian belief. In voodoo, there is male and female. When we want to make sacrifices, we call on the female first, before calling the male."
Worshippers
"I became a voodoo priestess like Jesus Christ came to earth. Jesus came from the skies. I came back to this life as a voodoo priestess.
"You cannot volunteer to become a voodoo chief, it is your life, and your only way of staying alive.
"I cannot count how many people come to see me. I have more than 200 followers. On big festival days this whole house is full of worshippers.
"People come to ask for help - to get a job or to cure an illness."
Abusing voodoo
"When you are ill, we perform ceremonies here and the person gets better.
"If people say voodoo is bad, that means they don’t understand it.
Voodoo is God. If God says: 'Follow me, do not turn to the left or turn to the right, just walk straight ahead,’ then you do that.
"Voodoo is the same. Voodoo is not used to do bad things, only for good. There are people who use it for evil purposes, but they are not respecting the religion."
"There are eight voodoo priestesses in Ouidah - Benin's voodoo capital. My grandfather was a voodoo priest. When he died I succeeded him."
Long life
"When I get up in the morning I go to the house of the voodoo, and ask for peace for everyone in my house, in Ouidah, all over the country and the whole world. My role is to ask the Gods for peace.
"A voodoo priestess enjoys good health and a long life. If I do a ceremony for you, good things will happen for you. You will remember me, and maybe send money to me."
Protect others
"When nobody comes to ask for a sacrifice, I sit down on my favourite chair, and I watch television. I look out for everything that is happening in the world.
"If there is a war somewhere, I will pray for peace. It might be in Ivory Coast, or Iraq, I will pray for peace there.
"I will tell you one thing: if you are a voodoo priestess, your only work is to protect others, and ask favours of the voodoo spirits."
Interview and photos: James Copnall
I was on the BBC news website and found a pictoral interview with a voodoo priestess. The photos spoke of deep devotion, her words of honouring their Gods were deep and beautiful and I actually berrated myself for - one moment - forgetting that other people look down on paganism in general and seeing it as nonsense, or something less impressive than the Judao Christian religion so predominant in the world. I was being negative and biased. Voodoo is stil a scary religion to me, as preconceptions are very hard to let go of, but just reading her words and seeing her do some of the rituals made me realise that religion, no matter what its brand or "primitiveness" is, is the practice to honour and revere the gods, take care of one another and help others and yourself to be better people, to struggle with your own spiritual demons and have someone be there to help struggle with you.
I will copy and paste the text from the Beeb here, and hopefully some of the pictures if Blogger doesn't crash, as it has been doing.
Nope, it isn't allowing me to post any pictures. And blogger isn't allowing me to post the html code, which is annoying, but I am sure if you go to the bbc website and search for voodoo priestess it should come up.
Spiritual force
Voodoo is a state religion in Benin - the West African country where the practice started, before being taken to Haiti and elsewhere by slaves.
Some 65% of the seven million population are adherents. They say it is a positive force, bearing little resemblance to the popular image of people casting evil spells by sticking pins in dolls.
Priestess Na Danon says the word "Voodoo" means both the religion and the spiritual forces within natural phenomena such as water, fire, earth and air.
Sacrifice
"When you want to ask the voodoo for something, you have to give something in return - as a sacrifice.
"This is usually something to eat or drink, such as a chicken or some alcohol.
"Now he can help you. If he helps you, and you get more money and goods, you can come back with more offerings to ask for more."
Sand heap
"For a sacrifice, I cut the throats of two chickens, one male and one female and feed them to the shrine.
"When you see the voodoo [spirits], you see a heap of sand. But inside this sand are the spirits. So when we pour blood on the sand heap, we get a reaction from the spirits inside the hill.
"There is Mary and Jesus in Christian belief. In voodoo, there is male and female. When we want to make sacrifices, we call on the female first, before calling the male."
Worshippers
"I became a voodoo priestess like Jesus Christ came to earth. Jesus came from the skies. I came back to this life as a voodoo priestess.
"You cannot volunteer to become a voodoo chief, it is your life, and your only way of staying alive.
"I cannot count how many people come to see me. I have more than 200 followers. On big festival days this whole house is full of worshippers.
"People come to ask for help - to get a job or to cure an illness."
Abusing voodoo
"When you are ill, we perform ceremonies here and the person gets better.
"If people say voodoo is bad, that means they don’t understand it.
Voodoo is God. If God says: 'Follow me, do not turn to the left or turn to the right, just walk straight ahead,’ then you do that.
"Voodoo is the same. Voodoo is not used to do bad things, only for good. There are people who use it for evil purposes, but they are not respecting the religion."
"There are eight voodoo priestesses in Ouidah - Benin's voodoo capital. My grandfather was a voodoo priest. When he died I succeeded him."
Long life
"When I get up in the morning I go to the house of the voodoo, and ask for peace for everyone in my house, in Ouidah, all over the country and the whole world. My role is to ask the Gods for peace.
"A voodoo priestess enjoys good health and a long life. If I do a ceremony for you, good things will happen for you. You will remember me, and maybe send money to me."
Protect others
"When nobody comes to ask for a sacrifice, I sit down on my favourite chair, and I watch television. I look out for everything that is happening in the world.
"If there is a war somewhere, I will pray for peace. It might be in Ivory Coast, or Iraq, I will pray for peace there.
"I will tell you one thing: if you are a voodoo priestess, your only work is to protect others, and ask favours of the voodoo spirits."
Interview and photos: James Copnall
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