'I am such a c*nt because no fewer than three times a day I go through some stupid act by somebody in my periphery & it makes me cantankerous.' - Christian Day
I commented recently on the witch saying from the Discworld about looking up, that is from the daily round. Here's a problem with all magical paths: they attract people who can't quite cope with their everyday lives. I mean the sort of people who might intend to, say, hold a job down, but don't quite manage to keep turning up on time so get sacked - that is unless they have the sort of management that I am obliged to challenge in my workplace all the time. I'm not cantankerous, I'm just surrounded by acts of stupid.
I'm somewhat torn here, between saying that actually the things that come to the witch's attention on a daily basis, whether they be rapists, murderers or just plain idiots, form a part of the hedge. In this approach these things *are* our school & textbook, so how we respond to even daily low-level irritation is crucial. On the other hand I also feel it is important not to get caught up in the daily round & lose sight of both the bigger picture & your own willed life. Feel free to call me an arrogant bastard, but I'm a clever, competent, capable chap. I *know* that one of the main coping strategies that idiots have is to attempt to bring capable people down to their level. They see capable acts - even such simple things as getting lunch on the table at the advertised time yesterday: when it is routinely three quarters of an hour late, the solution to that one is obvious, but apparently only to me - & they get jealous that for whatever reason I have managed to do this perfectly simple act. I suppose this is a polarity thing, that these two approaches are different sides of the same coin, to deal with it yet not get drawn into the stupidity. 'Stupidity' is not too strong a word, if you consistently arrive late for things, or a meal is consistently late, the solution is perfectly simple, it just means managing yourself, & perhaps this is the best description of the kind of people that are unfortunately attracted to magical paths.
You can tell them by the witch wars they start & the inefficancy of their magic. They will tend to be the sort of people who spend more time bitching about, say, Christian Day or me, than making change to happen in accordance with will. Their will is undeveloped & they frequently live in chaos (I'm leaving aside here the fact that any number of witches struggle with issues such as chronic disease, physical or mental, or addiction, which can be Hedge themselves & influence ones efficacy). These people cannot manage themselves, they cannot decide what they want & behave accordingly, let alone cause change to occur in accordance with will. They are attracted to magic seeking some kind of control over themselves & usually flip at some point into being control freaks or else seeking to wreck things for other people.
The witch who is seeking to live a willed life, however, needs to maintain a certain singularity of purpose. The books talk about daily practices designed to clear ones psyche & environment to enable the single-minded pursuit of the will. I would resist any tendency to divide ones 'spiritual' activities from ones daily life, so I personally like to see ones daily disciplines as part of this single pursuit. Of course it is possible to envision things such as bathing or cleaning as magical practices, but I mean here more things such as your daily routine. Do I actually fulfil my contractual obligations to my employer or do I steal whatever I can? Do I understand my persistent lateness as disrespectful of my colleagues, disrespectful of my job & actually letting myself down? Do I respect my own word as my seal & bond, or do I just say whatever will get me out of whatever situation I'm in at the moment?
I'm starting to sound like one of those little books that Catholics have with questions for what they call Examination of Conscience. This is partly deliberate, because I do think witches overlook the value of a frank self-inventory as a tool to recognise what I'm doing & what my progress is. This is interesting to me as an example of how a 'spiritual discipline' found in different traditions can still be useful to witches, although I would resist any idea of seeking 'absolution'. I have occasionally heard of witches confessing to divinity: the dangerous bit is where you can tend to think that's wiped your actions away & can just carry on, but that's another rant.
Another 'spiritual' discipline that we witches could do well to adapt & embody is that of aloneness. I think one of the reasons we don't do this is that we have a doubtful relationship with the idea of being alone. One of the classic textbooks of the hedge witch tradition is actually called 'A Witch Alone'. We also tend to associate it with suspicion, since in our modern tradition inspired by the witch figure, people have taken on board the witch hunters' slogan of 'You cannot be a witch alone,' although some have turned it around to indicate that you are never alone as a witch. Nonetheless some concept of aloneness or apartness can be necessary in not being dragged down by the daily grind, & in fact a radical aloneness can be one of the most enabling things there is. I feel this is at the heart of modern witchcraft, that the point is so often that the witch is alone, & is the person who will do something when no-one else will.
Another aspect of aloneness is one that we don't tend to practice much or at all (at least willingly) & that is chastity or celibacy. I'm quite sure many a witch in a relationship with a non-witch can feel very alone sometimes, since there is a whole slice of their life the other person will not 'get'. Nonetheless a relationship can almost be a hindrance at times to a magical person since it is one of the things that require maintenance. In a sense the value of unlimited wealth, space & staff to a sorcerer is partly realised by celibacy since it allows the psychic space. Celibacy has a bad name nowadays, not least to us who so value embodiment. I personally think it possible (as I do myself) to maintain several sexual relationships that can attain a surprising depth over a period of years, & maintain the psychic space needed for witchcraft as well.
The picture is of someone illustrating this principle: she is Sister Megan Rice. She is a nuclear protester who with two others broke into a nuclear arms facility & daubed slogans in blood. She's now facing twenty years in prison as a result. The rightness of this aside her case interests me, not least because she is 83, & may therefore be an example of someone living a willed life in later life, even though she is a Christian. The other thing of more relevance here is that I would think you would reconsider what she's done if you have family. If she were not a religious sister she may well have grandchildren or great-grandchildren that family are relying on her to care for (or else who wants to take the kids to prison to see their grandmother?). In her case she is actually a good example of celibacy freeing you up in a less psychic sense, to take the action you will, clearly an example of someone who can manage herself to take the action necessary for the end she has in mind. I think she may also prove to be an example of this working out slightly differently, since the outcome is really that she has proved it is possible to break into a nuclear weapons base, & hopefully the authorities will manage themselves to secure it better before some clown gets in & does something worse than paint slogans!
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