Book of Shadows

How to Become a Witch

(This is not mine, but the original site no longer exists, so I am posting it here. hecatescauldron.org)

"How to become a Witch is one of the major questions asked when they are just discovering the Craft. The answer to that question is one does not become a Witch... they are a Witch, and it is just reaching down and finding it within them. It is not a matter of "becoming" a Witch, but finding the Witch within and, while the answer is quite simple, yet; to some, it can be quite complex. For me, ever since I was a small child I had been fascinated with the mysterious Moon and the magick of the night. The mysteries surrounding a Witch was something that I did not frighten me but made me want to know more about this wort-nosed old hag portrayed in books and even movies. Finding your Witch self inside is really not difficult once you find that inner Witch within. But that is where it must come from and not from any book that you read. Reading books, joining covens and/or someone who initiates one into Witchcraft does not make one a Witch. It is you and you alone. One does not have to be initiated to a Witch. One has to be initiated to be a Wiccan because Gardner's Wicca created it that way. However, Witchcraft and Wicca are not one and the same. Finally, after many books being written on the supposedly Old Religion once called Witchcraft and now called Wicca, some people started doing their homework instead of parroting other books. They did their homework by research and found the true "truth about Witchcraft." Once you discover and decided that you are a Witch, you are deciding to embrace a life-enhancing and joyful spiritual path. You are declaring that you are willing to experience the wonders of the magickal web and encounter the Goddess. You are daring to be different in a way that facilitates your growth and empowers you. Most importantly, you are stepping into the spiral dance of life, celebrated by Witches all over the world. But remember, Witchcraft is really not a religion but the practicing of one's Craft. But because the Moon is so important to magick and Pagans love the Moon Goddess of many names, they combine the two to make one. Also, magick can be a very spiritual thing.

Becoming a Witch means learning how to work ritual and magick, methods of raising, containing and releasing power, how to work with the energies of the moon and earth and the principles of sympathetic magick upon which most Witchcraft magick is based. Witches are very unique individuals and some, no....... many, might call us strange. We look at life differently; we live life differently; and we experience life differently. We find beauty and laughter in the simplest things. We believe that magick is in life itself.

Some people who become interested in Witchcraft have expectations that Witches are gifted with amazing powers as the result of a particular ceremony or spell. The truth is more mundane than the fantasy. Witchcraft is about growing within your own spirituality, making contact with the web of magick, learning how to weave, and observing the way the world works. Witchcraft is about working with natural energies, observing how they work, and determining how you can gently divert them and not about moving things around at will.

The decision to become a Witch is not one you should take lightly. It is not a persona you can put on or take off at will. Witchcraft becomes your whole life and can drastically change your perception of the world in which you live. Becoming a Witch will affect everything and everyone around you. That it will affect them positively does not alter the fact that you will relate to them differently and you should be prepared for this.

To become a Witch is to become changed within yourself and a changer of things outside you. This is your inner magick. Encountering the Goddess, working with magick and connecting with nature will take a lot of time and energy until it becomes second nature to you. You may find that you get angry with those people who do not understand Witchcraft or paint it as "evil" but you will have to resist putting them right until you have grasped some of the key concepts for yourself. This can be achieved only through experience and this means practicing patience which means embracing the Crone energies of wisdom and patience, and this can take quite some time.