Witchcraft as the religion of what is right

If there is one certainty in the history of modern witchcraft, it is that witchcraft was never 'the old religion'. Until it was attached to our movement that phrase was used by Catholics to refer to Catholicism over & against the new religion of Protestantism.

There is even some controversy in the movement as to whether it is a religion at all. Certainly we lack some of the things which make other religions: witches are famously non-joiners & the group aspect of religion can sometimes be missing for us. While the solitary thing may have started because of the sheer numbers of people who couldn't get into covens, a number of solitaries now wouldn't have it any other way. Since a lot of Wicca & witchcraft practices have been developed in reaction to existing religion - Christianity foremost - we can look like the exact opposite of a sensible religion.

However one aspect of religion is very present for us. The word religion comes from two Latin words, re & ligare - to bind up again, reconnect, tie together. There are overtones of law & order in this, especially in Mediaeval Latin: this is why Roman Catholics who are members of religious orders are called religious.

The sense of 'right order' is very important to witches: strange given that that is virtually the exact opposite of how the uninitiated see us! As a witch I must know for a certainty that if I go around using other people, bullying, abusing, even generally being an idiot, I cannot expect this to bite me in the bum. As a witch I have to have a sense of right: I have to be passionate about what is right & bound to it. I have to do & in fact be what is right, because there will be occasions when I am the only one who will.

This sense of rightness - as opposed to a code of ethics - is another reason we are a scandal to outsiders. Proper religions tell you what to do, often in excruciating detail. We have the gall not only to build the maligned witch figure into our religion, but even to claim that we are so bound to what is right that we don't need a developed ethical code.

We even manage to turn the witch figure on its head by being passionate for what is right, rather than the wild orgiastic hedonism envisioned by the media. The implications of rightness, as in right order, law, even natural law, can be quite unexpected. It is clear that evolution is not the steady unbroken line pictured in school textbooks - there are sometimes unexpected leaps, & sometimes we can be called on to be that leap. Crowley defined 'black' magicians as those who will not embrace change but only want things to remain as they want them, & when we venture out into the unknown it can simply be because of our attachment to the right.

The dreadfully unfashionable subject of purity raises its ugly head here, & I don't mean by that not having sex & wearing immaculate white underwear. My mother was brought up a Primitive Methodist & as a result has a strange relationship with alcohol - you keep it in the house, but that's only for visitors, if you drink it yourself you're an alcoholic. She seriously has made out that I'm an alcoholic because I will have a drink before my evening meal.  Once again anyone who would restrict purity like that is doing it a disservice - it is far more an attachment to the one thing necessary, a getting rid of distractions from your life that prevent your single-minded pursuit of what is necessary. Alex Sanders used to say 'Nothing on my altar, only truth,' but my personal preference would be to have 'Impossible is nothing' written on every altar. If I restrict myself by making some things impossible I may prevent myself doing what is right.

Last night I did a spell while on the phone with a friend. I took the poppet I already had - actually a doll I bought in a charity shop that reminds me of the person - ground its head under my foot, banged it against the wall repeatedly. Perhaps I should say I was feeling phenomenally wound up by this person's pettiness & bullying - that is something which will never receive mercy from me - & both needed to get rid of that & also felt it was time to do what I had planned. I invoked the Goddess into me - & boy is she pissed. Not only my curse is invoked but this woman is under the judgement of the Goddess.  Together with my friend mentally, but me doing the actions, I slammed the doll into a tupperware box, slammed in garlic with such force the bulbs burst - all the time muttering incantations - poured over vinegar & then emptied in enough of a certain herb to choke her, before putting the lid on & wrapping it in foil with shiny side inwards. It's now in the bin with the contents of the cat's litter trays.

I think I can truthfully say that spell breaks pretty much all of the rules in the books, but that's the point. It is to illustrate my point that to do what is right - in this case get rid of a bully - you sometimes have to do what you're not supposed to to attain the 'impossible'. To make impossible possible you have to rid yourself of all such limiting phrases as can't mustn't shouldn't.

In fact this kind of post is exactly the sort of post I envisaged when I started this blog, in reaction to a lack of advanced witchcraft books. Because this is advnaced witchcraft, free of the limits imposed by many beginners books. By following the rules of beginners books you prevent yourself attaining the impossible.

And is important for the witch to remind herself of what she's done in the past, since although we are bound to what is right it can be easy to despair. I personally have a list which lives on my altar, which I can look at to remind myself of the impossible things I've done before.

Since as witches we must not only wish for miracles but in fact expect them here's one now. Two and a half years ago I was diagnosed with Chronic Open Angle Glaucoma. In this disease pressure builds up in the eye, distorting the optic disc - although not changing your sight until there is marked damage. At the time I was diagnosed I had damage to both optic discs, which is not curable & cannot heal itself. The best outcome with treatment is to prevent progression of damage & sight loss.  Glaucoma is also chronic - you have it for life. The damage to my optic discs has now gone. This is 'impossible' but has happened. There is no way the position could have reversed itself but it has - I now have the disease before glaucoma - ocular hypertension - & remain on eyedrops to reduce the pressure & of course under medical care - only an irresponsible witch would not take care their eyes were receiving specialist care in the circumstances.

Impossible? Meh.

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