Introduction
(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org, please feel free to visit the school website)
The craft practiced by those who may be recognized as a “witch” is an evolving methodology. Webster’s Dictionary defines “craft” within this context as “a special skill, art or dexterity…an occupation requiring special skill…members of a skilled trade.” An exploration of what and who is a witch, and what special skills are involved, may help bring into focus what witchcraft is, has been, and likely will become.
The study of witchcraft is relevant to many in that according to recent surveys Wicca, the religion that embraces witchcraft, is the fastest-growing spiritual movement among certain age groups in the English speaking world. We read in People Of The Earth, during an interview with Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, “Well, the growth is exponential, and this explosion of growth will continue. As it does, we will have larger numbers of people…We have to find ways of dealing with that, because we will be getting more people all the time.” Though not all Wiccans are witches and not all witches are Wiccan, there is enough correlation to link the two for purposes of general study.
Non magick-using people generally consider magick to be “not real” Cultural conditioning enforces this belief in the adult population with a “get real,” “grow up” response to those fairytale ages in children. Other non magick-working people believe magick to be supernatural or paranormal. However, witches work from a context within which magick is natural, normal, and is in fact often necessary to successful healthy living.
Witchcraft is Paganism’s active arm: that is, it is the active response to a belief system in which humans coexist seamlessly with Nature. Nature includes that which can be seen, as well as that which is unseen. Modern majority religious expressions and beliefs, which is non-animist, non-pantheistic and largely monotheistic within the major sects of today, are the historical exception worldwide.
Charlene Spretnak says in Lost Goddess Of Early Greece (1978), “When compared to the religions of the Goddess in Europe and elsewhere, the Judeo-Christian tradition was born yesterday. In fact, the very notion of supreme deity being male, i.e., ultimate power, is a relatively recent invention. Zeus first appeared around 2,500 B.C. and Abraham, the first patriarch of the Old Testament, is dated by Biblical scholars at 1800 B.C.; in contrast, some of the Goddess statues are dated at 25,000 B.C.”
Witchcraft is an evolving human construct whose modern manifestation provides form and foundation for what is thought by some to be a vibrant, viable, psycho-religious worldview. For those who consider themselves as “witch,” a cultural identity is oftentimes formed through research and active participation in the contemporary “craft.” Witchcraft today is practiced by diverse people in a pan-global context that has a wide footprint with many differences, yet even more fundamental similarities.
Witchcraft is the technology employed by a pan-global minority population to accomplish the skill-set unique to them; that being magick or “The Craft.” Witchcraft is believed to be a natural reaction to life and a survival technique developed by humans as consciousness distinguished itself in social evolution. Witchcraft is also believed to be the external expression of humanity’s psychic connection to that which can be perceived of the Universe. It is an organic, cooperative relationship with the Universe carried on at deliberately heightened states of awareness and sensitivity.
The creation of magick is not unique to witches, but the populations of magick-using people are so small in ratio to non-magick-using people that a detailed discussion of the difference between magickal people is fit for further study elsewhere.
The terms “witchcraft” and “witch” as definitive identifiers has evolved. The power to name an aspect of life is long recognized as the fundamental step in acquiring power over that aspect, as stated in The Witch Book (2002), “To know the most secret name of a god is to have power over that deity… certain names are believed to have intrinsic power…” Therefore those in control of defining “witchcraft” have controlled the basic role of human relationship to those named. The use of the “K” at the end of the culturally excepted word “magic” is an example of reclaiming the definitive power process for magick-using people. Popularized by Alistair Crowley, the “K” is used to distinguish the work of the magick-users from that of the stage magician or illusionist.
The definitive term “witchcraft” is now in the hands of those who self identify with it. Therefore, what witches do now defines who and what witches are. Witchcraft therefore becomes uniquely discernible, as skill sets and a focused identity has emerged and continues to evolve a distinct form and face within a greater community of nature-based peoples. As practiced by modern people in an age of eclecticism, the boundaries of The Craft are wide, gray, and contain much overlap with other contemporary holistic practices. Also, as a non-dogmatic worldview, witchcraft coexists in belief and practice with whatever other religious, scientific, occult, spiritual, fantastical or agnostic concepts the practitioner might hold. For the purposes of this course neo-pagan eclectic witchcraft is the focus of study.
This
course will present witchcraft as an accessible form of worship, including
history, Wicca, magick, the tools
of modern witchcraft, herbs, the witch’s
calendar system, rites of passage,
techniques of The Craft, ethics,
and divinities, and will also include
meditation journeys, energy
exercises, example spells, chants, and castings.