WITCHES? MAGIC? SPELL?
For many organized religions, the practice of using metaphysical techniques and rituals to transfer energy, affect transformation, create spells, or communicate with a higher force, generally known as witchcraft, has existed for a long time. Yet, the understanding of witches by many people is based on media portrayals and how witchcraft is dealt with within their own religious or spiritual traditions.
The use of magic was related to the worship of the devil during the Medieval and Early Modern European periods, so it was seen not only as illegal but as blasphemy or a sin against God. This meant that someone accused or convicted of using magic was in trouble with the church, not just with the law. Throughout culture, representations of witches have appeared in different ways, from wicked, zit-nosed women crawling over a cauldron of boiling liquid to crone-faced, cackling creatures on brooms with pointy hats riding through the sky. The witch has been described as a benevolent, nose-twitching suburban housewife in modern culture; an insecure girl learning to harness her powers; and a group of charmed sisters fighting forces of darkness. In this modern time, what exactly does it mean to be a witch and practice witchcraft? A witch is a person who uses spiritual practices, whether they be ancestral, or maybe present-day, types of Western theology.
Witches were also described as having many different ideologies, practices, and guiding principles in this modern era, so it is difficult to describe onesize-fits-all. These witch concepts challenge typical assumptions about witches and what they do by implication. Many people believe that witchcraft's typical principles are curses, concoctions, and "glorifying the demon" within coven circles. This may be true for some subgroups, but many practitioners also work alone as they concentrate on affirmations, intentions, healing, guiding energy, and other positive things. Through natural substances, tarot card reading, and warding off negative energy, some witches work heavily on confirmations, healing, and wellness. With plants and devotion, some help cure individuals. They also see clients who in some way feel trapped, and many ask for their advice on their professions or matters of the heart. Such witches do not associate with magic that alters situations outside of themselves. They don't produce love potions, for example, but they could make a potion or a drink to prepare the heart to give and receive the kind of love that a customer is looking for.
There are a variety of problems with subscribing to value structures that fall outside of social norms. Witchcraft is an activity that often frees oppressed individuals so that a lot of misrepresentations and stereotypes are applied to witches to demoralize and hurt them. To evade divine retribution, many witches often enjoy the right not to obey the series of laws or to conceal their true selves. This is especially true for LBGTQ+ witches. This liberty is extraordinarily essential since many religious institutions reject their truth. This is what today's witches and witchcraft look like. It is about pulling a tarot card to guide their day, thanking their predecessors for their quests, and paying tribute to their inner magic. It is allowing astrology to direct them; it is bringing out their box to spend time at her beautifully made altar for peaceful meditation. Witchcraft is full of variety and a rich past that goes deeper than what is currently discussed on screen. It is sacred, transcendent, empowering, uplifting, and a road to becoming a better person for those who adhere to it. It is very likely that people who believe in witchcraft have seen them at work for themselves or in the hands of a professional witch, and have personally witnessed their ability to access knowledge and insights that are not possible through any means.
