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theeclecticwitchblog240 · 1 year

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What is a Witch?

The Definition of Witch

One of the most common questions I get as someone who has been studying witchcraft for more than a few years is, "what is a witch?" According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the definition of Witch dramatically differs depending on who is saying it. One definition is, "1 in fiction and folk traditions a: a person (especially a woman) who is credited with having usually malignant supernatural powers." or "b: a woman who is believed to practice usually black magic often with the aid of a devil or familiar [such as a] SORCERESS."

The dictionary goes on to define witchcraft as "2: or less commonly Witch: a practitioner of witchcraft, especially in adherence with a neo-pagan tradition or religion (such as Wicca); 3: a mean or ugly old woman [example:] HAG, CRONE; a charming or alluring girl or woman."

No wonder the definition of Witch feels like a gray area with so many interpretations. I think it is helpful to go to the word's origin in times like this. The source of the word is still disputed among historians, but the most agreed upon thought is that Witch is related to the word wise. Therefore Witch means wise person; witchcraft is the Craft of the Wise. In my own words, I define a Witch as a truth-seeker, a seer, and an alchemist of unwanted to desired outcomes by understanding the Laws of Nature and the Universe. What a mouth full!

Religion and Witchcraft

Witchcraft is not a religion, whereas Wicca is a religion. Witchcraft can be practiced secularly, meaning you do not work with deities. You can be atheist, agnostic, Pagan, Buddhist, Catholic, etc. Each Witch is free to choose their faith if desired according to the rules and restrictions of each religious path. Some witches will avoid any religious label because of these restrictions.

Witch is such an umbrella term. No two witches are identical, and we can vary significantly in values, beliefs, and traditions! You can be a secular witch. You can be a pagan witch. You can be a Hindu witch. You can be solitary or in a coven. You can be an eclectic witch, which means you take from many different types of witchcraft (becoming more common with technology, the internet, and global communication.) You can be a green witch, a chaos witch, a kitchen witch, and the list goes on and on. Check out 45 Types of Witches for more examples!

So many labels and sub-categories of Witch exist, and although they can be fun and helpful for description, the titles can be overwhelming and limiting. My advice is not to get caught up with the labels, especially when you are only a couple of years into learning! As you grow in your path, you will find avenues of the Craft that call to you. And you will find words to describe your practice that feel comfortable.

As for witchcraft and non-pagan religions, just because you claim a particular religion as a witch does not mean the religion will claim you. Christian witches exist. It's natural for someone to want to hold onto some traditions of their roots while adjusting their spiritual practice to what feels the most authentic to them.

Religions often melt and evolve into new branches of traditions. This evolution is valid, especially now, as the world is more multi-racial and multi-cultural than ever. But this does not mean that the philosophy of that religion will acknowledge your validity or that the values will line up when we compare the majority belief system. Contradictions need to be acknowledged on an individual level.

I don't say this to dissuade anyone from a path they feel called to; my point is that it can still be hazardous to claim witchcraft in certain religions, demographics, and areas of the globe. Not everyone keeps an open mind! I'm not saying to live in shame and fear; just be thoughtful about sharing.

I haven't identified as a Christian since my early twenties because I disagree with a few critical dogmas of the religion. I do value the teaching of Yeshua and see wisdom and value in different proverbs.

My family is predominantly Christian, and I find we use different words for similar things. They will say, "God called me to do this…" while I say, "My guides or my intuition is leading me here…"

While I find common ground in both these statements, some would be very offended that I compare my higher power to theirs. Many religions embrace us vs. them and my god vs. their god dynamic. I like to think truth-seekers are more clever.

Do Witches Worship the Devil?

In large parts of the Western world, Christianity and Catholicism are the only religions with the privilege to project their philosophy on other spiritual paths and ways of life. Paganism and secular witchcraft remain persecuted in many areas of the United States. I mention the US not because I think it's the center of the globe but because that's where I pull my life experience from, and I cannot speak for everyone and every country.

It's worth mentioning that Satan, Lucifer, or the Devil is a primarily Christian creation…not in origin but in energy. Judaism explores Satan but isn't nearly as obsessed over it as Christ-centered religions.

Even proclaimed Satanists do not believe in the literal Devil. They see him as an archetype that opposed tyranny, similar to the feminist acceptance of Lilith, but that topic is for another day. The story of Lilith is intersectional with the creation and vilification of the Witch. If you are curious about learning more, check out Lilith: The First Even, the Demon, the Witch.

While some forms of witchcraft parallel to Christ-centered religious influence acknowledge the saints and demonic forces, many witches use the Devil as a metaphor for restrictions or shadows inside each of us. Good versus evil is not nearly as accentuated as in Christianity or Catholicism but instead focuses on the balance between destructive and creative forces in equilibrium, each necessary for life.

How do I become a Witch?

Am I a witch? The answer to that question can only be answered by you. As mentioned above, the word Witch means "wise person," so if you are interested in energy work, the pursuit of enlightenment, and learning traditions of the old ways across the globe, you might just be a witch. A few factors that might signal a calling to witchcraft include:

A deep connection and compassion for nature and wildlife.

An interest in the occult or dark arts.

Heightened sensitivity to the metaphysical.

I am not the author. Found this article online and thought I would share with everyone.

Blessed be!

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idoldigidestined · 7 years

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I honestly hope voltron gets cancelled because of the fandom's horrid reputation. The show has been completely ruined for me. I've seen several of my friends endure appalling harassment and even threats to their wellbeing. I've seen a young family member get called a pedophile repeatedly after she posted her ship art on tumblr. I'm done and so are a lot of people. Good riddance to voltron.

I would like to say that this isn’t what I want. Shipping shouldn’t cause hate. I’m so sorry voltron been ruined for you. I’ve been very picky with who I follow on Tumblr because of this.

If you are seeing harassment report it. Try and stop the cycle of hate. Don’t be an ass about it they will use it to fuel the fire. Use facts and strong but non offensive words. Source it. Explain. Ask for reasons why some ships that are clearly unhealthy are accepted in main stream media. If they say because the people who support it are bad point out that unhealthy relationships have to be shown so people know they exist.

Social Justice warriors are taking things way to far. If you ever do want to talk with anyone I am here. Just inbox me with your blog and I will follow you so we can talk.

I love Voltron. I love my ships. I love all ships. What I don’t like is people who harm others.

People who harass you about ships can’t tell the difference between reality and fiction. They hurt fandoms more then they help. Just because a ship doesn’t follow the laws of *insert country here* doesn’t mean it’s harmful.

Don’t hate the show. DONT HATE THE SHOW. Celebrate the show. If things are getting too hard my recommendation is to report the offenders and move on with your life. Ignore tumblr for a while.

If people are giving you a hard time slow down, breath and just think about something you enjoy. Ignore the haters.

If someone is being attacked because of their ship surround them with like minded people. Tell them it’s ok. Show them art that you think they will like. Just try and brighten their day.

Do as I say not as I do.

I know it’s hard but save all hate mail. If you start getting death threats or if the insults start getting worse and worse go to the police. If you get constant hate and are being treated badly because of this bring it to the police and make sure they do something.

To summarize… if someone anon or otherwise sends you hate once ignore it. If it happens twice or more report the tumblr if not anon. If it becomes a constant go to the police.

If you are a friend or family try and brighten their day. Show them their ship isn’t bad. Show them they aren’t what they are being called. BE SUPPORTIVE.

This doesn’t just apply to Voltron or anime. It applies to everything.

Remember don’t hate the show. It’s not the creators fault.

(Pardon any spelling errors or wrong words I’m currently using mobile to type this up because I believe it’s important.)

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crazycatsiren · 3 years

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The Religious Witch with an Atheist Spouse

I have been asked this before: how does it work that I'm a witch and a religious person married to an atheist?

The answer is quite simple: it works very, very well.

Not only is it possible for a religious witch to have a meaningful, committed, long term relationship with an atheist/agnostic, but also it is healthy, in my opinion.

There's really no secret to it. Like with any other relationship, mutual respect and communication are the keys. Just like any couple, my husband and I are two different people in love and sharing a life together. He's a scientist, I'm an artist. He does Jujutsu, I do horseback riding. He's a gamer, I'm not. I'm religious, he's not.

During the 3 years that we were together before we got married, I was a practicing Catholic at the time. My husband would tease me about it, being the smartass that he's always been, but he loved the devout, god loving, Jesus praising, church going "good girl" that I was, even though he often wished I wasn't. I knew he wanted nothing to do with Catholicism, so I expected no participation from him. But when we were refused holy matrimony, I had no intention of asking my husband to convert in order for us to have a Catholic wedding ceremony. At that point, I was done with the Catholic Church. After eloping, with our marriage officiated in a courthouse, I picked up Paganism and then witchcraft. Later I would reclaim Catholicism without the Catholic Church in my life, but my husband was no closer to understanding all the libation pouring, food offering, incense lighting, along with the hymn reciting, Bible reading, rosary praying mixed in. He's never going to pretend that he understands much of what I do, at all, any more now than he did before we were married.

We're like an old married couple who each has their own territory in their house. We are a partnership, but we very much have our own lives. We have our own things, and we can do our own things separate from one another. I always say that the biggest contributor to our marital harmony is us getting away from each other on a regular basis. Do we spend time together? Of course. All the time? Hell no.

My faith and spirituality have changed and evolved much in the 10 plus years we've been married, but my husband remains the staunch atheist he's been his whole life. He lets me be to spend time with my "imaginary friends" because they make me happy. I never expect him to believe any of them exists and I feel no need to try to convince him otherwise. He plays his Magic: The Gathering that I will never understand or have any interest in. I practice my witchcraft and polytheism that he knows are important to me. I love and respect the atheist that's him, he loves and respects the religious witch that's me. I celebrate my holidays and festivals, he watches lovingly even though he wants no part in any of them. He leaves me in peace when I pray at my altars. I make fun of him when he gets a myth completely wrong, then leave him to his video games.

(Art by Olya Luki)

#personal #marriage #relationship #partnership #witchblr #witches of tumblr #paganblr #pagans of tumblr #witchcraft #hellenic polytheism #witch #hellenic pagan #paganism #life #religion #spirituality #witchy queue

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viduamor-moved · 7 years

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do u have any headcanons abt natasha's religion? i'm always interested how marvel chara muns tie in their muse's religion w/ the myth based nature of the marvel universe, and with natasha's cultural background it's especially interesting! xoxo

OF LOVE / OF DEATH. thank you SO MUCH for sending this in !!! & in fact, i do !! i’ve been meaning to write about it for … more than a year, honestly but just never got around to it. but that’s changing ———— SHORT ANSWER : I SEE NATASHA AS AGNOSTIC, with a tendency towards belief in some kind of higher power. whether that be GOD or FATE, she has yet to decide.

but i’m sure you’re here for the long answer. IT’S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT SOVIET RUSSIA WAS MILITANTLY ATHEIST. the government seized land & property that was owned by the orthodox church, persecuted & publicly ridiculed or arrested religious followers, & did all that it could to erase orthodoxy ( or even pagan superstitions that were both separate from or intwined with orthodox beliefs —– this marriage between superstition & christian orthodoxy was one of the biggest contributing factors to pre - soviet russia’s rich culture ) from the face of russia. natasha was born about six years after the soviet union was established, & was raised by a soviet soldier for the first ten years of her life before she was put into a soviet orphanage / training facility for about three years ( after which she returned to ivan’s care ). needless to say, natasha grew up without religion. & whatever tidbits of religion she did encounter were heavily implied to be foolish little habits, or archaic beliefs that nostalgic laymen who were useless to the soviet stubbornly clung to. but that would be an oversimplification, i think. there were still people who had not yet reached their middle age when nat was reaching her adolescence, who were born before the bolshevik revolution, who still held to orthodoxy or tradition in some way, who found it hard to let go no matter how much they tried to in public. in reading DEATHLESS by catherynne m valente, i found a small passage that i think perfectly sums up these people born before the revolution, still holding to their traditions:

IVAN HISSED THROUGH HIS TEETH & MADE THE SIGN OF THE CROSS. IT WAS A BAD HABIT, CROSSING YOURSELF, BUT LIKE BITING FINGERNAILS, HARD TO BREAK. catherynne valente - deathless, chapter 14.

no matter what the people soviet or the government did, they could never truly erase religion from russia. still, they tried their best, & their best meant a generation born into the USSR that found itself to be atheist. NATASHA WAS AMONG THEM. in her prime, she became a member of russia’s ELITE, married to the premiere test pilot, previously trained under THE WINTER SOLDIER himself, becoming the BLACK WIDOW in the early 1960′s. the concept of ‘ GOD ‘ was never on her mind. the only higher power she looked to was THE STATE, MOTHER RUSSIA, & THE PEOPLE SHE SERVED. but that changed when she defected in the late 60′s.

it is nothing less than understandable that once natasha defected from the USSR to the west, she underwent a major shift in thinking. she doubted her identity, she doubted her homeland, she doubted everything they made her believe, & when she finished doubting, she started BELIEVING.

I GAVE UP ONE COUNTRY FOR ANOTHER. ONE COUNTRY FOR AN IDEAL. I DIDN’T THINK OF IT THAT WAY AT THE TIME. CALL ME CRAZY. BUT I JUST WANTED TO BE FREE. natasha romanova, name of the rose (2010), #1

& free she became. free to love, free to choose, free to THINK & BELIEVE in what she wanted, how she wanted. the atheism she was raised with, she looked upon the same way as everything else the soviets tried to make her believe. she looked at herself critically, & she made herself someone new. but in terms of direct beliefs, natasha did not rethink them immediately. i’d say it was a slow process, via exposure rather than searching.

during the 60′s - 70′s, america was still a very protestant / evangelical nation, & belief in God was pretty commonplace, & natasha definitely picked up on this. her first real, substantial interaction with a devout believer was MATT MURDOCK, her on/off boyfriend for nearly a decade, her fwb ever since, who as we all know is fundamentally catholic. though never addressed on - panel in the 70′s daredevil run, i’d say that natasha was shifting from atheism to agnosticism during their relationship. however, religiously, things got a little more complicated when natasha began a relationship with HERCULES. yes, that hercules. ancient greek god, heracles, son of zeus, figure of myth. of course, we cannot forget that natasha also had a teammate in THOR when she joined the avengers. as someone who was not exposed to the concept of a god for the first thirty or so years of her life, this was no doubt somewhat of a shock, even if she never showed it. assimilating into a nation that believed freely, being close to a devout catholic, knowing two separate gods from two separate pagan religions … it threw her for a loop. but it also opened up a whole new world for her in terms of how people actually view their religions.

as a christian myself, God is a being that is so intrinsic to my life —— i literally do not know how i could live without Him. & i think that through the people she was around, especially matthew, natasha saw this. & through interacting with hercules & thor, natasha realized that all these ancient beliefs, these religions, could have some truth in them since their deities actually EXISTED. but still, there remains a distinction between how natasha views pagan religions whose figures she personally knows, & how she views a God that she cannot see. she knows hercules exists, she knows thor exists. she has been to mount olympus & conversed with the pantheon, she has seen odin, fought alongside brunnhilde, against loki ——– she knows without a doubt that these deities exist. but she does not pray to them, she does not devote her life to them, she merely acknowledges that they are there. & frankly, if we’re just talking about hercules, she’d much rather tell him what to do in a team setting, & sleep with him, than offer him prayers & supplication.

but if there were a God that natasha would believe in, if there were a God that would define natasha’s agnosticism, it would be the abrahamic God. she knows the pagan gods exist, but from what she sees of them, their power is limited. they fight, they make the worst of humans, & are far too hot headed & proud for her taste. what she has heard of the abrahamic God, however, is that he is good, merciful, perhaps omnipotent, & grants salvation even to those who do not deserve it. AS SOMEONE WHO HAS DONE SO MUCH WRONG IN HER LIFE, is steeped in sin, kills like it is nothing, & hides so many secrets within her heart, this God, this concept of a higher power is one that is attractive to her. but for a person this complex, it’s not that simple. as someone described above, she is also a person who has SEEN so much evil in this world. she has seen men fight, millions of people die in war & of starvation, & it is extremely difficult for her to reconcile such a world with a creator that lets it fester like it does. but she also believes that without a higher power, without anything watching over the world, she & everyone else is practically screwed. in terms of her own belief & how it applies to her, she also can’t quite … wrap her head around sin, & how her own sins can be forgiven. in MARVEL KNIGHTS vol. 1, natasha visits a church & goes to confession. the first time in a very long time, she admits, & what she says is quite telling.

BEGIN WITH THE LEAST OF YOUR SINS.AREN’T ALL SINS EQUAL ? DOESN’T EACH ONE OF THEM CONDEMN US TO THE SAME FATE ? IS THERE REALLY A DEGREE TO SIN, FATHER ? AM I EXCUSED BECAUSE THE SINS I COMMITTED WERE IN THE CAUSE OF GOOD ? CAN HE SEE THAT THE DEED IS SOMETIMES ISOLATED FROM THE SOUL ? DOES GOD SOMETIMES LOOK AWAY ? natasha romanova, marvel knights vol. 1, #1

these are not the words of a woman who does not entertain the belief in a higher power. NOR are these the words of a woman who believes with clarity that this higher power can be defined. & at the end of the day, though she may mull over what she believes about God when she drifts to sleep, she does not have the time nor energy to devote herself to a higher power, especially when her life is already given to helping people herself.

though she does not yet know where she stands, she does have a high respect for those who do practice religion, or even just for the concept of a God. & it has seemed to me that she thinks it is a concept that SHOULD be respected, & untouched by those who would seek to taint it. there are two instances that come to mind ( both from black widow vol. 5 ), the first when natasha is fighting against a man who calls himself the HAMMER OF GOD. natasha thinks this is ridiculous, insane, & tells him that she thinks that somehow, God cannot hear his prayers over his machine gun. the other instance is when the ‘ translator ‘ of CHAOS / the PROPHET, is offering natasha a part in their new movement to rid the world of evil, through means that natasha does not support. she ridicules him by saying that he cannot pretend to be jesus, that he does not have the right to be the final arbiter of good nor to take away people’s will. both of these instances are never explained in terms of natasha’s beliefs, & i think are left there to be interpreted as one wishes, but to me in context of natasha’s entire history, they are indicators of a leaning towards belief, of an acknowledgment of a God, a higher power, but nothing further.

ALL OF THAT SAID, i return to my short answer: natasha considers herself agnostic, & perhaps with a side of deism that she can’t quite put a finger on. to me, she is definitely NOT atheist, which is what fanon / fandom so loves to pigeonhole her as. but it’s not that simple, & there’s ample evidence sprinkled across her canon that says otherwise, much of which i probably haven’t even touched on here. i hope this answers your question, & i’m sorry if this was messy or complicated ——- there’s just so much to consider. religion is never something easy, because it isn’t just a set of frivolous beliefs, it’s a way of life. this is no different for natasha. & since she herself is so complex, so multi - faceted, it only makes sense that her own beliefs are the same.

#i. OSNOVNOY. ❝ ʰᵉᵃᵈᶜᵃᶰᵒᶰ / ᵐᵉᵗᵃ ❞ › remain hidden.#oh my go jfkdlsfsd this is so freaking LONG #i'm sorry this took a while too !!!#but this is ..... this is like two years of thought finally written down #i've been putting this off for so long but here it is finally LMAO #ii. VNE. ❝ ᶤᶰᵇᵒˣ ❞ › anonymous.#ii. VNE. ❝ ᶤᶰᵇᵒˣ ❞ › response.#long post for ts

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