How to Become a Witch (17 page)

Children
To Love and Protect

The care of children is a special and sacred responsibility. Parents, teachers, and anyone in a position of authority over children—pretty much all adults—must respect and protect children and young people.

Lots of Wiccans have children, and they are precious to us. One might expect a Witch-raised young person to be a little different from the average kid, and we think they are. They tend to take after their parents: independent-minded, individualistic, resourceful, and strong. Most Wiccan families encourage their kids to follow their own dreams and to think for themselves when it comes to religion.

Beyond this, it’s quite difficult to generalize about Pagan children and youth. Only a few decades ago, most people who came to Wicca had been raised in a mainstream faith. Now we are seeing a generation of young people who were raised in the Craft. They are teaching us, the elders, what that means and how they will tackle life’s challenges. Stay tuned as an extraordinary new generation brings Wicca to the next level of evolution.

Pyewacket And Fido
Animal Companions

Some Witches do have black cats around the house…and so do some Methodists. Many Witches have cats of other colors, and many Witches are really dog people. Some Witches put up bat houses, but more put up birdhouses. The occasional Witch will enjoy the companionship of a snake or six. There are even Witches who live with hamsters and gerbils and poodles.

Virtually every Pagan loves and respects animals, both wild and domesticated, and will share their homes with the tamer ones wherever possible. A shaman friend rehabilitates injured raptors and always has a few owls and hawks and crows around the house. Another friend supports a sanctuary for wolf hybrids, and many have made their back yards into mini wildlife sanctuaries.

Note:
Our family dog, Kyoshi, has read and approved this message.

What familiars do

A Witch’s familiar can be any animal, but often they are cats, dogs, or toads. In some of the old Burning Times stories, they have names like Pyewacket and Greediguts.

Technically, a familiar is an animal that helps the Witch in her or his magickal work and is not “just” a pet. Because animals have keener senses than humans, they can act as sentries and let a Witch know when a spirit being is close by or whether the energy is positive
or negative. Some familiars can help with grounding energy,
and some can even assist with divination or love spells.

Gods and animals

Many or most of the Pagan deities have their favorite critters. For example, cat lovers will want to talk to Freya, the Norse goddess of love and war, or Bast, an Egyptian sun goddess in a cat’s body. Like dogs? Hang out with Hecate or Artemis. Horse people will have much in common with Epona (Celtic), Rhiannon (also Celtic), or Poseidon (a Greek sea god). You can read about Athena and her owl, or Odin and the Morrigan and their ravens. Brigit loves boars, foxes, and farm animals…and so on. Seems like most Pagans, divine or mortal, are animal lovers.

Witches in the workplace

What do Witches do for a living? Almost anything, but we do seem to be strongly represented in two areas. One is health care: doctors, nurses, doctors of oriental medicine, chiropractors, massage therapists, medical technicians, naturopathic doctors, herbalists, reiki masters…the list goes on. After all, we do have a very old tradition of healing, originally as the wise women and cunning men in rural villages.

The other field that has lots of Witches is technology: computer programmers, Web designers, online networkers, and so forth. Just because we are treehuggers doesn’t mean we are technologically backward—quite the contrary!

Wiccans can be found in almost any field. Whatever field you’re in, work consciously, with respect for the planet, knowing that all people and creatures you interact with are sacred.

Does your employer have a recycling program…promote energy conservation…use healthy cleaning materials…and do environmental impact studies? Do they treat all people well, regardless of race, religion, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and so on? If your employer is way out of line with your values, can you help them become greener or more respectful and compassionate?

If that’s not possible where you work, why are you in that job? And if your job is not the work you dream of doing, what
is
your dream job and why aren’t you doing it? As far as your vocation or livelihood, what is your true will?

Witches and Wealth

Most Witches believe in the abundance model of the universe: “The Goddess provides.” She will give you what you need, or a lot more. (However, it won’t be handed to you on a platter—work with the gods of abundance, then do the work to make it happen.) This contrasts with the common scarcity model, which proclaims that resources are finite, competition is natural to humanity, that it’s a dog-eat-dog world.

The abundance model doesn’t mean you can be careless or spendthrift with resources. It means that with wise planning, careful use, and minimum waste, there will be enough. We should reduce, reuse, and recycle, because it’s kinder to the planet. If everything is sacred, so is abundance—to be used well.

Truthfully, there is also a “poverty is spiritual” mentality among some Wiccans. This has been a recurring theme in religion for millennia. However, poverty means inadequate housing, poor nutrition, lack of health care, limited education, and crime…none of which promotes spiritual growth.

Now in some circles, wealth has a bad name because people see it misused. We see a lot of conspicuous consumption in our society: presidential candidates with seven houses, corporate executives who make millions every year even as their companies fail, people who have several fancy cars, folks who gamble away thousands in an evening, and so on. We find that rather revolting.

But, in fact, money is neither good nor evil; it’s just a tool, another form of energy that can be used or misused. Remember that a Witch has the use of all things but is addicted to none. Money is fine to have and spend when it is in service to the Goddess-in-all; it’s not fine if it addicts you or corrupts you into a greedy, selfish, wasteful person.

A custom popular with some Witches is tithing, the ancient idea of donating ten percent of one’s gross income to Spirit, usually in the form of charity. It makes us think about what is really important and deserves our support. It encourages us to be more careful with the income that’s left. And it doesn’t even require a sacrifice, because according to the Law of Return, our generosity will return to us three times over.

Many people feel they don’t deserve abundance—maybe you’re one. Your beliefs create your reality. Work on believing that you are sacred and deserving, and that it’s perfectly fine to gather abundance
if it’s well used
. Be a rich Witch.

Pagans and Consumerism
Buy This, Buy That!
New! Improved! On Sale Now!

Buy more clothes, more food, more cleaning products, more cosmetics, more electronic communication gadgets so you can share inane comments with your friends 24/7—are all people in industrialized societies first and foremost consumers of products? How do Witches relate to this buying and selling frenzy?

There is no simple way to explain Wiccan attitudes toward material possessions. On the one hand, we like to enjoy the material world and all the sensual pleasures associated with it. We have no belief that earth is sinful and heaven is pure, or that there is a division between the material and the spiritual. So eat, drink, and be merry, and enjoy things while you are here, as long as no one is harmed.

But that’s the tricky part—“as long as no one is harmed.” On an overpopulated planet, if some people have more than they need, does that mean that others have less than they need? Or is there plenty of everything—food, water, energy—to go around? More and more, people have to think about the impact on the earth of manufacturing, transporting, and possessing
stuff
. Witches too are asking the tough questions:

• Where does the product come from?
  
• What is the cost to the planet (including the carbon footprint involved in gathering the raw materials, manufacturing, and transport)?
  
• What is the impact on the workers who make it, move it, and sell it?
  
• What does it do to the planet during its operation or functional lifetime?
  
• What happens when it’s no longer usable? Can it be recycled or do we “throw it away” (except there is no “away”)?
  
• If we did not have a certain product, or made and used it only locally, what would be the effect on the planet and humanity?
  

For a one-stop website that explores these questions, go to www.GreenAmericaToday.org.

Maybe there is a clue in the little marketplaces, or merchant rows, that are part of every Pagan festival. There you can find brightly colored, festive clothing; jewelry; books; polished stones; drums and flutes; and ritual tools. Rarely are there mass-produced products of plastic. Many of the goods for sale are handmade and unique. Yes, Witches like stuff…but they
really
like stuff that is beautiful, practical, and can be made with little or no harm to the earth.

Transportation
My Other Car Is a Broom

What do Witches drive, or do they? Sadly, we can’t really fly brooms, apparate, or use floo powder as Harry Potter does.

Owning a vehicle is a trade-off between convenience and the cost to yourself and the earth. Do you really need to own a car? Do you live in midtown Manhattan and hardly ever travel outside it? Use public transportation and rent a car when necessary, or pool ownership with family or roommates. City dwellers in Europe ride bicycles and use buses, trains, and subways; what a concept!

If you live in the country, do you really need a Hummer? Maybe you need a car and a truck, but do you need a gas hog or can you drive a hybrid, or at least something fuel efficient? Whatever you drive, keep it tuned, watch the emissions, inflate your tires properly, and minimize trips. Mother Earth would prefer we ride brooms, but when we can’t, let’s do the alternatives responsibly.

Purchase carbon offsets to balance out the carbon your lifestyle puts into the environment. Search the Web for “carbon offset.”

For Goddess’ Sake, Get Some Clothes On (or Off)

Can you recognize a Witch by his or her clothing?

Well, at rituals the robes and stag crowns probably give us away. And in areas with privacy, the nudity of some traditions provides a hint.

But in public, don’t expect Witches to walk around in ritual gear or raggedy black robes and pointy hats (although we might at parties, just to mock the stereotypes). And not many Witches are really suit-and-tie or skirt-and-pantyhose types. In the range between, anything is possible.

Going skyclad