Perspectives on Natural Witchcraft
I had a chat with a solitary friend recently. She’s what a lot of people call a ‘natural’, meaning she was born with an innate ability. She isn’t necessarily bound by karmic rules, although she does believe that you get what you give. She has had a few instances where self-righteous Pagans have told her that she is using dark magic because she doesn’t adhere to guidelines against hexcraft. Personally, I have no qualms with hexes. She told me that some people that she has met have stopped spending time with her when they see what she can do. So a witch tells the truth and then puts her money where her mouth is, and scares away the kiddies-in-costume. If they were really her friends, they would stand by her side even if she had a demon for a pet (not that I think demons should be treated as pets, or that they’d even make good pets. Oi). She isn’t the first that I’ve met, and she won’t be the last.
I’m emphatic on otherkin and witch discourse because of the concern that many exhibit about the natural versus the self made witch. Authors, community leaders and self ascribed bloggers of the craft (present company included) can debate which is better all day long, but the driving force behind this concern may be based on just another form of cliquish elitism. Some of us seek a place to belong, whereas others are motivated by learning and whose goals are to truly know thyself.
I’m less concerned with the debate, and more concerned with how it is we identify that certain “je ne sais quoi”. Is it an expression or style of dress? I’m a tshirt and jeans girl. Yet I’ve attended gatherings with nearby covens where I found myself being lectured on the clothing-optional preferences of Pagans as though they were very generalized assessments.
Is it an energy signature? I’ve been to places like malls and bookstores where I have attracted other witches who truly ‘look the part’ and who have offered to school me in the craft. I have also attracted the attentions of people from different subcultures whose parents apparently never taught them that it is impolite to stare let alone gawk at people in public. Although many would scoff sacrilege at my mention of otherkin and witches in the same sentence, I mention otherkin because there is a common thread present. At a workshop I attended two years ago right here in Saint Louis, I learned from other people who identify themselves as otherkin that there is an energy signature that certain people radiate that is different from the average Joe (although I didn’t need to attend a workshop to figure that out).
But how exactly do we identify a natural witch? Is it someone who is skilled with hexcraft? divination? weather manipulation? Is there a link between psychic powers and natural-born witchcraft? Maybe the reason we differentiate between them is because by calling them psychic gifts, the subject becomes slightly more acceptable and approachable for non-Pagan members of society, who are afraid if they call it witchcraft they might catch the wrath of their own God for even thinking about something their religions ’supposedly’ outlawed several millennia ago. That’s quite a guilt complex.
Scenario 1: Suppose for a moment there are people born into Christian, Jewish, or Muslim families, who know absolutely nothing about any kind of extraordinary or unexplained powers in their bloodline. Suppose also that they themselves experience it before ever becoming aware that there are people who practice witchcraft and who acknowledge those abilities as very real parts of an individual’s life.
Scenario 2: Then suppose that there are people who experience extraordinary or unexplained powers, and who have witnessed similar events in the lives of their parents and grandparents. But the elder generation never speaks of it and suggests through their silence that they have no knowledge of it whatsoever.
Scenario 3: If it were the other way round, and the elder generation experienced extraordinary or unexplained powers, and accepted them for what they were. Suppose then they saw similar actions manifest in their children. Suppose then they chose to explain to their children what was happening and that its nothing they should fear. The latter scenario most commonly occurs in the households of hereditary witches, as well as the families of pagans and native spiritualists.
If the latter scenario can be aptly identified as an example of hereditary witchcraft, then why can’t the previous two? In the second scenario the subject has no choice but to work backwards, studying their own experiences and comparing what they see going on with their ancestors with the only frame of reference that they possess; life experience.
What prompted me to think about ability in this way came from my own experiences. As early as age 5, before I ever knew anything about witchcraft, I was having episodes of empathy, astral projection, and clairvoyance. It wasn’t until the last year or so, after I lost my father, that I really began to think back on my life with my parents. The more I thought about it, the more I began to see connections with the things they believed. My father for instance was emphatic about weather folklore, esp. surrounding lightning storms. My mother was an empath, emphatic about the stars, and she had a habit of casting the evil eye. However both were practicing Roman Catholics who believed that witchcraft was evil, yet somehow failed to identify the folklore they brought from their respective backgrounds (my father – english and cuban; my mother – croatian) as folk practices.
I should add that I don’t feel that one’s religion detracts from their natural abilities, but do feel that practice can certainly enhance it. Say someone is Catholic but has a penchant for praying over candles. How does that really differ from candle magic? In another article, http://www.helium.com/items/719102-magic-as-compared-to-prayer , I drew parallels between prayer and spellwork in which the same means are utilized, but perceived in two completely different ways. Imagine a Catholic and Wiccan are both uttering a metered or rhyming composition over one or a series of candles. Both use their energy and will to fuel the message and utilize the candles to enhance the goal. The Catholic prays for an improvement in his or her life. Similarly the Wiccan casts a spell for the same purpose. Christian witchcraft is not unheard of in this day and age, and likely dates back to Roman occupation of Britain, in which the only way to preserve the folk practices was its amalgamation with early Christianity.
I don’t mean to suggest that a genetic predisposition for witchcraft negates the need for study. Not at all. Simply that a natural propensity exists, and what we might think are people who study without any skill whatsoever may be totally wrong. What I really want the reader to take from this is that there is so much we still do not understand about the universe, ourselves and our place in the world.
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