What is a Witch?

[Jen]

Goth- I agree that a wiccan can not be Christian. They are two very dogmatic religions that are both very different from eachother. I do think a pagan can be christian however.

[Jen]

sorry, just re-read what I wrote and I should've put a witch can be christian.

[angeleyes]

wow that was a lot of very intresting input

Aud

[vermindaspirit]

A witch to me is a wise man or women, who happens to work with Mother Earth and her elements....Having the power to heal either through crystals, herbs or energy....Some witches have a belief in a lord and lady while others don't, some can even follow the path of the 'little people' other wise known as the fae.....A witch is a healer, teacher, leader, and a seer....

I wrote this a while back for my own personal space, so maybe it will explain it better to how i see it....

The way i see it....

I suppose some of you would like to know what a witch is all about....Most of you will have that image of the old crone with a hooked nose and warts, sacrificing animals and children at full moon while dancing naked round a fire....Well, sorry to shatter all your illusions, but that's not really what a witch is all about...That information has stayed with us since the Medieval times, when the Christians of that era wanted to scare all the masses into their religion.......The truth is, we are normal people going about normal lives...

The word witch means wise one and they are male and female...We follow a spiritual path that is as old as the earth herself......Before any of the secular religions came into existence, mankind all over the world worshiped many Gods and Goddess...We know this by the information the Egyptians and the Classical Greeks left behind for us....Back in the Stone-age times, Neolithic man worshiped a female Goddess, there's no getting away from this, artefact's have been found that show they worshiped a female........

The Celts and the Saxons also had many Gods and Goddess, this was evident even when the Romans brought Christianity to the shores of England, they called them Pagans, which means 'country dweller'.....In order to scare the inhabitants of the British shores, the religious leaders and the monks used glass paintings to depict horror scenes of hell, where all those that didn't worship their God would end up....Did you know that the devil is a man made concept?...Lucifer is a fallen Angel not a devil, the pictures you see of a horned demon actually come from one of the pagans Gods....The pagans worshiped a God who had the antlers of a stag, hence the horns, and that is why now days Pagans, witches even Satanist are given the title as devil worshipers, sad really.....



Ok, lets get onto the religious festivals that many of us celebrate - Pagan!...The Christian church incorporated the pagan festivals into their own, i could write a book upon this, but if you don't believe me, research it, you have the tool right under your nose, go ahead, see what you find......Also next time you are in a church, take a really good look around you, look up into the eaves and what do you see?....You will find Pagan symbols, even in the church grounds will there be evidence of the Pagan religion, is there a well?, are there some yew trees?, check it out and see what you come across......The reason for this, is because the two religions lived quite happily side by side....The Christian missionaries wanted to convert the pagans and so in order to do this they built their churches near sacred springs, wells and trees.....Im not here to undermine the Christian religion, I'm just stating the facts.......

Ok, lets get back on track...What is a witch?....A witch is somebody that follows an earth based religion...They may or may not worship many Gods and Goddess and some may even do incantations and rituals.........They believe in a balance of dark and light, good and evil, male and female...Some will heal, others will do divination, some if you really piss them off will hex you.....There is no white witch, for a witch can do good deeds or bad deeds, just like anyone....For me, being a witch is being in tune with the divine ones, by listening to the signs and respecting the earth...Some witches may call them selves Wiccan, many don't, some follow a solitary path others follow a tradition...Im a solitary green hedgewitch, and I'm not a wiccan, and i don't follow a tradition, i find things out for myself and i listen to what the divine ones want from me......I have a family and i love animals, i have pets and i even work with animals, so theres no sacrificing on my part, maybe the odd vegetable or bundle off corn but certainly no animals, or children.........

I don't have a hooked nose and i don't have any hairy warts....I don't fly around on my besom, hackling against a full moon, shame really, i quite like the idea of flying around my neighbourhood.....I spent many ,many years searching for where i belonged with my spirituality, until one day, i called upon my God and said, my life is in your hands i need guidance, and before i knew it i was shown my path, a path i had been treading all my life but was to blind to see what it was or where it was heading...All i can say to anyone that may fall upon this page, follow your heart and listen very closely, for you too will be shown your path....

Please note that I'm not out to upset anyones personal beliefs,I'm telling you what i know and what i have found out while on my journey...I have spent many years researching and I'm still researching and learning....May i at least have opened your mind just a little bit, the rest is up to you...May you be blessed and continue to follow the light......Please feel free to ask any questions and i will do my best to answer them...

[Goth]

Nice post verminda ;D However, there is one thing I disagree with...

vermindaspirit said:

A witch is somebody that follows an earth based religion...

IMO, witchcraft is just that.....a craft. Religion has nothing to do with it. I'm a kitchen witch, but I don't follow any religion. I would say that a witch is someone who walks an earth based path, not religion.

Of course there are many witches who follow a religion and some who even class witchcraft as their religion...but this is not a necessity.