What Witchcraft means to me

I am frankly still reeling from meeting the newcomers to our group last week, & the shock of meeting someone who actually believed that the Law of Threefold Return is an actual objective physical law. One of them seemed to own a greater influence from Buddhism & the other was so busy trying not to be pigeonholed that I'm frankly unable to tell what his major influences were, although there must have been a Neo-Pagan influence at some point for him to take the LoTR so seriously.
If it is any indicator of the difference in milieu between their Pagan/Buddhist approach & we witches, they went home at 10ish to meditate & we carried on drinking in the pub, divining what the sexy one's penis was like with tarot cards. Whatever else, witches have more fun.
I already posted why I think the Law of Threefold Return is an existential nonentity, the via negativa approach, so now I'll post a few thoughts on what I perceive witchcraft actually to be, the via positiva approach. This is not really a final statement even for me personally, nor does it represent the views of any group, & even before I've started this post proper I just know that I am going to contradict myself multiple times!
Witchcraft is a nebulous, multivalent entity, almost impossible to define because of the multiple uses of the word over the centuries, most of them negative. We who call ourselves witches in modern times are plugging into this entity of egregore which exists in our communal mind. Witchcraft is the very simple, yet radical & to some extremely dangerous, idea that as individuals we should be sovereign over our own lives & destinies. This should be reciprocal so that it does not mean infringing the sovereignty of another. Witchcraft is to live as divine in a divine world. We recognise other entities as gods & goddesses, but our refusal to create an artificial separation between the divine & everything else means we see events around us in an almost epic way, & the smallest actions assume an importance they would not otherwise have. From individual sovereignty follows the idea that we need not feel obliged to accept whatever comes in our direction, whether by the actions of another person, or seemingly by fate. Witchcraft means having an obligation to discern all parts of a situation, including making a full & frank inventory of the part we ourselves play in it. The classic example of this would be the woman who keeps marrying abusive husbands: yes, the husbands are wrong, but if you keep on doing something you have to own the part you play in it sooner or later. Sovereignty means you have no choice but to accept ownership of your actions. From sovereignty & ownership come consequences, responsibility & privilege. Actions are both more & less important for us, I feel no obligation to beat myself up if I cock it up, knowing that a messed-up opportunity will come round again. I will resist with every last breath in my body, any notion of divine, existential or temporal punishment for myself or others. The fact that the majority of the world's population starves in poverty is because of the minority's greed. This does not always provide an explanation for when shit happens of course: my feeling is that the witch's way here is not to over-analyse but to get on with dealing with it. Witchcraft is having an obligation to treat those who come to you for ministration (and believe you me, they do come, even when they have no idea you're a witch) with respect & what they tell you with confidentiality. To be a witch is to be presented with situations where you feel a duty to improve something or to correct something, & often you are the only person who can do anything about it. This is both a privilege & a challenge, because... Witchcraft is to find your daily life wrapped up with your own & others' ontological development, so that your simplest actions attain a seemingly disproportionate importance. There is no comfort here since usually what you are placed in a position of having to do the one thing you don't want to do. Conversely, witchcraft is to know the ecstasy of the Goddess: this is attainable to all without need for 'conversion' or to believe anything. However if you're a witch & you're not also having more fun than the muggles even in the midst of matters of great moment, you're doing something wrong. (Ah ha! Think I've found a way in to my post on 'mirth & reverence' that has been giving me so much trouble). Now, to anyone who says, 'That isn't in Scott Cunningham!' - I say, Great! I'm a witch, not the pope! I actively want people to do what I outline above, & am very happy to have people disagree with me, because that is you accepting your personal sovereignty. Anyone who would see me as beginning some kind of tradition of witchcraft or laying down rules for others to follow, really hasn't been paying attention & should begin reading this post again at the top.
------------------