What Does it Mean to Be a Witch?

Witchcraft has become quite trendy, and with social media promoting things like #witchtok and the witchy aesthetic, it's important to remember why we practice and what our practice means to us. Today I want to talk a little about being a witch and what witchcraft means to me.

My journey into witchcraft started when I was about 15 or 16 years old and began to question the religious beliefs of those around me. I've always been fascinated by what people believe and why. I am grateful to have a mother who allowed me to explore religion and encouraged me to educate myself on the religious beliefs of many cultures. Though today I recognize the cultural appropriation that runs rampant in the New Age, Spiritual and modern witchcraft world, it was not apparent to me in the 90s. I began by learning about Buddhism, Taoism, and Daoism. I was most attracted to the concepts of reincarnation and the tenets of those faiths that encouraged pacifism and finding inner peace and higher meaning through enlightenment. The concept of reincarnation drew me in because I am a believer in the life force or soul as energy and in science, we know that energy doesn't dissipate. My questions began around the very simple question of what happens when we die. Where does our energy go? As a scientific thinker, having blind faith that there was a place above the earth filled with puffy clouds, angels and pearly gates didn't quite make sense to me.

I have been practicing for the better part of 20 years now, and I say this not to impress you or make me seem more of a witch than you, I write it here simply because in all of those years my experiences have led me to where I am now. To me being a witch is in everything I am. It means being one with nature and caring for the Earth. It means honoring those that have come before us, our ancestors, our families, and our heritages and cultures. It means learning about other practices and other cultures, closed practices so that I can strive to not contiinue to harm or appropriate from the people of those practices. It means working with the spirits of the land, sea, and sky as opposed to against them. Being a witch is in how I parent, how I work to break the generational trauma of my ancesteral line and in myself. Being a witch is in how I fight for those who are oppressed and those who are less privileged than myself. It is ingrained in every fiber of my being. 

That said, your journey may look very different than mine and that is okay. Your experiences and your research and your learning create the path that you follow. Keep doing that. Keep learning. Keep growing and embrace the power an energy as it comes.