Reclaiming an Archetype
Our Source of Power
by Dobhair

“And more important, all the life-potentialities that we never managed to bring to adult realization, those other portions of ourselves, are there [the Unconscious]; for such golden seeds do not die. If only a portion of that lost totality could be dredged up into the light of day, we should experience a marvellous expansion of our powers; a vivid renewal of life.”
-Joseph Campbell, Hero with a 100 faces

Many within the NeoPagan movement question the usage of the word Witch considering the animosity it attracts from the general public at large. “Why self-identify as a Witch when it will only cause confusion and quarrel,” they ask? Then again within certain spheres of society (i.e. conservative left-wing religious communities), the words Pagan and Heathen can also detract from the image of our earth-based spirituality. But when it comes to the word Witch there are several reasons that justify immediately why it is that those who choose to embrace the word honour and uphold it, even today. The core of which, being the matter of where we, in truth, draw our power from.

Joseph Campbell, a leading literary expert in the field of archetypes and parapsychology has written of ‘life-potentialities’ that exist within us all as “golden seeds [that] do not die”. In his opinion these seeds are to be acknowledged and nurtured so that they may bear fruit which will eventuate in a “marvellous expansion of our powers”. Abiding by this strain of thought is it not also possible that by reclaiming the poisoned term ‘Witch’ that we will, in fact, resurrect within ourselves hidden and occult powers that will not only provide a “vivid renewal of life” but that will also heal cultural wounds and inspire us to create and weave our own destinies? It is just this philosophical and psychological foundation that nourishes those who choose to honour and take pride in their identity as Witches of this day and age. Psychologically it causes an awakening of the unrealized potentialities contained within our unconscious, which therefore lays claim to our spiritual success. And this is only the beginning of an unfurling of vital energy.

As the term Witch is believed to derive from the Indo-European root “weik” referring to both magick and religion and the connections between them it can be ascertained that it was largely a descriptive term applied to individuals who performed magickal acts by a second party and not by the practicing individual him or herself. Whether or not Witches in the past ever chose to describe what they did as Witchcraft or even as Magick is up for debate, however it is certainly now the case. *

The Shamans of Old Europe were mediators between this world and the next, with the ability to shapeshift and alter consciousness at will. Was it not the latter talent that is now the definition of the art of Magick itself? It is this skill of inducing trance and altered states of consciousness that is also the aim of practicing Witches. The underlying desire for which to attain such states is that of acquiring some fraction of divine light; to take on the mantle of the priest/ess and to exist wholly and simply as a vessel for the down-pouring substance of Deity. A Witch is then not simply a caster of spells and a diviner of fate, but also a Priest/ess of Divinity.* It is not by the light of literature and historical record alone that this conclusion of a spiritual Witch is reached, but by practical parallels between what anthropologists call a Shaman and what both we and etymological insight calls a Witch.

Witchcraft, according to my personal definition, is a methodology. It is a craft that aligns the spiritual with the tangible/sensual elements of life, teaching the individual to embrace their unique energy blueprint and to officiate over their own journey. Within this subtle, yet mysterious practice lies a divine, archetypal dynamic, a residual beauty that empowers and entrances all those who wilfully connect with and adore the spirit of the Witch; that timeless design deeply entrenched within the human psyche. The outsider, the dweller on the heath, the hedge-witch, the fate, the priestess, the crone, the midwife, the village healer, the wise-woman, the medicine man – these are the true Witches, and they still exist, for the Witch can never die. She is the force of Magick that inspires us to take to the wilderness and invoke the Old Gods; that immerses us in the cool quintessence of Life’s vibration; that weaves synchrony into all things and that enlivens the spirit and heightens the feeling within the simple joys of existing.

“She is the whisper of the wind
The soft and distant call
She is the veil ‘tween the worlds
The mover of them all
She is in light; and shadow-dwelt
The pale moon; bright sun
She weaves her path through the heavens
The star-born, gentle one
She is the chant, the rhyme, the spell
The dancing fire’s spark
She casts a Circle to contain
And protect the ancient mark
She is the Witch now and forever
The spirit and quintessence
She knows and sees in darkest night
And teaches me the lesson
That all that is, is of but one
That thought and feeling flair
That love is kindled in the soul
Where knowing is the dare."

Ode to Power
by Gede
e-mail: popinfresh73@hotmail.com

"Witchcraft is very much a personal and intimate spiritual journey. It can not really be typified or boxed up and sold at the recommended retail price to the demanding public, rather you need to look within yourself and discern your Will; the truth and purpose that resonate at the heart of your being. No book I have ever read has quite conveyed this issue and while some profess to be aimed at the "progressive" individuals in our community they never quite reach the bar.

I have found that to further our awareness of ourselves, the people around us and indeed the very Universe and all its facets we need to break out of our preconceived moulds and embrace the totality of experience. Yes we may walk a path that reflects certain traditional creeds and precepts as testimony to our own studies but in order to advance we need to re-evaluate the core meanings at the heart of all spirituality. For that reason I don't restrict myself to Wicca or even what is popularly conceived of as being Pagan; I look into the Kabbalah, Gnostic Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Tantrism, anything and everything really to draw inspiration from, to respectively cultivate cultural difference and to embrace the Eclectic in me.

I do not do this unnecessarily or disrespectfully, as I absolutely resent those who plough through the diversity of cultural custom and take what they want, rejecting what doesn't work for them. Witchcraft is a methodology. It is not a religion (at least not in my belief). It is a system of attaining spiritual power, and yes this can translate as authority. Authority over oneself, over the inner tides of power and passion; authority over one's internal and external dialogues and symptoms of societal oppression. Witchcraft was and always will be about reclaiming power, and from that perspective may it set us free~"

The quote above is a response I posted on the popular magickal online forum 'Mystic Wicks'. It was in reference to an individual's desire to train with a concrete group – to receive expert-tailored lessons in divine order and to ascend to a higher note of being. What many people forget is that Witchcraft is not an organised cult of factions dedicated to the passing on of sacred knowledge. If ever there was a romantic vision equated with the history of the Craft, that is it. In my view Witchcraft is based on the individual's relationship with their inner Self and the natural energies that course through the Universe.

The art and craft of Witchcraft is the cultivation of these energies in correspondence with the individual's needs and desires. We sow our seeds of Magick in the fertile fields of a celestial kingdom in order that they bear fruit on our material plane, however this is not the detached Heaven handed down to us by Abrahamic lore, rather it is the underlying reality that forms our own physical existence here on Earth. And what animates these principles, what invigorates our own will to further our spiritual awareness and live a life of our own devising? It is the pursuit of power, and not necessarily in the sense of politics or 'power-over', as Starhawk puts it, it is the power that is designed essentially to fan the fires of our passions and to encourage us to continue; to move closer to the light that coaxes us into the twilight of a conspiring horizon.

The Wiccan faith is a perfect example of a modern Pagan religion that has, throughout decades of pre-packaged loyalty to the public consumer's needs, denied the passage of power for the practitioner. Now before you boo and hiss and insist that Wicca is a spiritual reckoning based on the immanent Divine and on their sacred mythologies inherent in our collective unconscious I need to remind you that Gerald Gardner, the father and propounder of Wicca, regarded Wicca as the religion of the Witches, and what, may I ask, is a Witch known for? Power. The very reason the Catholic Church instituted papal bulls against the heresy of Witchcraft was because they envisioned it as a cult of Satanic rebels that could, in theory, undermine the authority of the Holy Mother Church of Rome. And that, they could do…in theory.

For a moment clear your mind of all you know concerning Wicca, Witchcraft and the Pagan faiths. Now imagine that you are an average village-dwelling peasant and that by all standards you are considered a pious fellow in your God-fearing community. Now you are certainly no priest, after all you are illiterate and are not able to read the holy scriptures of the Bible, so you merely sit quietly and subserviently among the pews and accept all that is preached to you as gospel truth. Suddenly the atmosphere in the modest little church changes and the priest fires a declaration of war against the treacheries of Witches who abuse the spirit of the divine son Jesus Christ, who is your saviour. You quiver in fear as stories of malignant and gruesome deeds of foul Magick are shouted from the pulpit. You gaze at your loved ones and send swift prayers of protection against the black arts of Witches and hope to God that when you return home your milk hasn't been soured and that your crops have not failed by some inhuman spilling of blood. But then the tide turns and you feel your heart quiver. The sweating priest has now turned his attention to the inherent carnal lust of Witches. An irrational temptation overwhelms you as you try your hardest not to give in to thoughts of dancing wildly through the night and celebrating your sexuality with others, naked and slathered in intoxicating oils. You begin to shake compulsively, the crude slate of wood beneath you rattling in a deceiving rhythm. Suddenly a hundred pairs of eyes turn to look at you and in each wavers a fickle flame of fear, intrigue and corruption. "Witch! There's a Witch!"

The exercise illustrated above is one in perspective. Suddenly everything becomes clear. It could've happened to you. You may have been the innocent stripped of all worldly sanity and condemned to the searing flames of eternal torment. Or perhaps you were the Witch the old priest spoke of so heatedly. But because you knew of the twisted arrogance he proposed you kept your mind in calm reserve and when the unfortunate was abruptly charged of Witchcraft there and then you sadly cast your eyes to their haunted frame and sent a wave of strength to help them through their ordeal, hoping that his/her fate would never be yours.

The power we Witches have held over society has persisted through the ages. Nowadays it manifests as a keen curiosity in all things supernatural. The Harry Potter phenomenon is just one example. Millions of children and adults around the world share a common adoration of the Harry Potter series and willingly surrender themselves to the whimsy and fantasy of a magickal realm which lies as a deep-set yearning within the hearts of all. Who doesn’t wish they could fly through the air on a broomstick or meet with creatures only spoken of in myth and legend? I know I do, and yet I am a Witch. Shouldn’t I be able to do these things? The general assumption would be yes. However the power that I have within myself and the power I imbue in my life’s course is not that of transcending the laws of physics or rejecting the harsh realities of modern living.

The power that my practice of Witchcraft has given me is that which relates to my innermost Self. It has allowed me to become much more self-confident and speak my mind. It has healed my life through truth and opened my awareness to realities I never knew existed. This power is concerned not with the attainment of material possession or wreaking vengeance on those who do wrong by me; in fact it is not concerned with much at all, except Life. And by Life I am referring to the splendid glory that is our existence. Think hard and long about your presence on this Earth, and for one moment dismiss all harrowing thoughts of “you’re not this and you’re not that” and consider for one second the fact that you are here, present and breathing the air that was your first taste of life. Is power yours now?