Witches don't have warts . . .

Hello again! Took my final and feel really good about it! One of the first to finish and did it in record time (and hour and 30 minutes). I must say that reading tarot cards and writing before taking my final was definitely a great preparation for some critical thinking, and I am going to make that a habit as time progresses.

I would like to take a moment to talk about something I have found to be very significant in the new life decision I have made in being a witch. Now, I would like to clarify that my being a witch does not make me a Wiccan. I still need to find out what a Wiccan believes and how they worship before claiming their religion as my own. I do have the fundamentals for being a witch, and am indeed someone that hearkens to the call of the wild like any other witch before me. I appreciate nature and the world around me more than my counterparts, and can relate to and see worth in creatures and things that most people take for granted. Yes, I am most definitely a witch; I can stick to my guns in that regard.

The definition I found immediately provided on the web.
Does it seem adequate to you?

But something that has been troubling me as I have been researching my new identity and trying to network (through other blogs and in social networking groups); I have found a common ground for complaint as a witch in a majority monotheistic society. With any minority in society comes the stereotypes that are attributed to them; most of them are racial or class sensitive, but I have just begun to find it is very religious as well. None of these stereotypes are deserved or even logical--most are founded on fear and negative stigmas, not logic and well-tested hypothesis. But because these stereotypes and stigmas have withstood a long duration of time without much rebuttal (in some cases the rebuttal is seen as insignificant and is therefore ignored), they have been accepted as the authority in regards to their subject matter. Today I saw a whole bunch on social media about the Pool Party in Texas and the police officer that exhibited strong racism towards African Americans present at the party. Stereotypes can do significant damage in the perception of a single characteristic in society, even if you did not have a choice in the matter!

And this brings me to my main point; witches have their fair share of stereotypes. I could best demonstrate this with an example: if someone would have approached me before coming to college and ask me "What do you think when I say the word witch?" I would have probably giggled awkwardly and said "Well, its a Halloween costume isn't it?"

I admit to my very sheltered life as a child and wear my early childhood like a brand on my forehead. I make it no secret (even if this happens to be news to you) that I lived my life out as a devout Christian that believed there was only one way for me to celebrate my spirituality. I never watched the news, loved Disneyland (still do, that place is full of magic!), never left the house except for work and obligations, focused on AP classes and academics, never considered drugs to be within my reach, and most definitely never considered changing my spirituality. I loved my childhood, and covet it more than I probably should. Now that I am older and have been able to take a step away from my home life through sheer distance and exposure, I have been able to identify where my life was restricted and where my parents were probably wrong in their actions at home.

An example of where a white, middle-class family like mine could go wrong was in the sex-ed I received from my family. Here was the gist of it--I didn't have sex, and shouldn't even consider it. My mom would fill my head with thoughts that men, even boys, were disgusting creatures that had no buisness interacting with me on a level greater than strict friendship. I believe that kids that seek out relationships when they are in elementary and middle school probably should have everything explained very clearly for them to understand exactly what relationships are like in the real world (something they shouldn't make a priority ever, but can be experienced when both or all individuals participating are consensual and mature enough).Not only was I discouraged from expressing my sexuality, I was also told that any other sexuality besides heterosexuality was wrong, and I was not allowed to express this.

Some examples of stereotypes in America based on race

Now that I have had time to experience my identity without the influence of my parents, I have seen that I am in fact more bisexual than heterosexual (go me for being different!). I also have a better understanding of sex and gender through the classes I have taken through college, as well as my own experiences of dealing with it. I just wish I was exposed to all of this before I embarked on my journey in college. As a result of all the dramatic changes that have occurred, I have returned home a different person, resulting in my family feeling betrayal because of my experimentation and shift in identity.

Everything that my culture or religion or parents deemed as extreme or counter culture was shut down, and I was not allowed the chance to experience these things for myself. Of course, a child doesn't need to be deciding whether they are into BDSM or orgy style sex, nor do they need to consider political activism and feminist theories like adults do. In fact, that stuff can be extremely confusing for children. Knowing everything about the world can destroy the childish spirit of innocence and magick that we all are capable of at a young age. But what I did not approve of was how intolerant of my experimentation and learning of different aspects of life and culture was received by my family.

My mother was absolutely shocked that I would have sex outside of a committed relationship, not to mention she has no clue that I can be attracted to women in addition to men. She felt betrayed that everything she instilled in me was not completely written in stone, and when it came down to it I did not have the same ideal of values as she did. She felt like she didn't know me anymore, that my having sex changed me to a more profound extent than before conceived. I wasn't Nikki anymore, I was a stranger in her house that lived abhorrently in sin.

This whole issue of sex and sexuality is a result of deeply-rooted stereotypes of women in American society, a new topic I could devote a whole other blog post to. It is unfair to have people tell you that everything you believe is wrong, and has no consequential meaning as a result. I was shut down, left out, ostracized and the subject of contempt just for being different.

Being a witch is no different. Witches have been the victims of hate and ignorance for as long as the Christian religion has been in power. They have been terrorized, killed, tortured and disrespected. A witch's identity has been devalued to the point of being completely absent in modern society. Not everyone can identify a witch and their beliefs accurately like they could a Christian or Buddhist. The word has been restricted to a costume worn on Halloween or in shows for contemporary fantasy fascination. There couldn't possibly be a witch that really casts spells and dances in the moonlight, that would be crazy! But the reality is the modern witch is much different than what American culture perceives them to be.

Therefore I would like to point out for any viewers that do not understand what a witch is:

1. We don't have warts or long noses; and we certainly don't make a point to cackle all the time.

Witches are not some strange and eccentric characters that dress and look like the Witch in Wizard of OZ (though there might be those out there that attempt to--the point is not all of us do). We dress, act, laugh, cry, get angry, and grieve just like any other human being. If you were to try and pick one out from a crowd of people, chances are you wouldn't be able to. There is nothing amazing, crazy, or obvious that defines a witch.

2. We do not worship Satan and demons as much as contemporary religions/authorities would like you to believe.

The thing about witches is normally we don't worship devils. As I understand it, they worship nature, spirits and gods/goddesses that have been recognized in religions all around the world, even deities that are not commonly worshiped anymore. I know I have no intention to worship demons or evil spirits because that is not the religion I want for myself--I am a positive person that likes to reciprocate that attitude through everything I do, including my religion. I have not had sex with the devil, don't plan on casting curses and negative hexes on people, and don't plan on being a menace to society. I only want to experience my spirituality and live in a way that I feel is more attuned to who I am.

3. It is a livelihood as much as it is a religion.

I don't mean livelihood as in an occupation, more like it defines the way people perceive the world around us, enough to make a constant impact on how people act and live on a daily basis. After making the switch, I now try to fit meditation into my daily routine, and always seek to identify with the environment around me in a more spiritual manner than previously. I have also begun to be more environmentally conscious. Because being a witch makes me want to commune with nature more, I am always filled with the temptation of walking barefoot through grass, lying down and napping under trees, and listening to the rain and sound of ocean waves. I have become so much more sensitive to my surroundings that I have to surround myself with mass amounts of people and energy to dull myself enough to write or study; I find myself distracted and deep in thought while in solitude and invested in others when perhaps I know my roommates are in the room talking adjacent to me. I have never felt so alive and naked to what happens around me; being a witch has changed how I interact with the world. And I love it.



So there you have it. Being a witch doesn't make me any different from any other human on this world, other than my faith and expression thereof. I can be nice and considerate or as stupid and reckless as any other person I know. I can do any job, and will in fact be commissioned shortly into the Army. I am not limited in any way by my beliefs, only strengthened through them.

Sadly though, the outside world does limit us because of who we are, even though we feel no limit within our own spirit. I know if I were to tell my mother about being a witch or being bisexual she would instantly reject it on the terms of it being perceived as "wrong" in society. As much as I love who I am, I feel that staying inside my tight little broom closet is the most preferred option as of late instead of wearing my identity on a metaphorical billboard for all to see. But the time will come where I will expose myself to my family for who I am, and make of it what I will.

Enjoy your faith(s) or religion(s) with abandon--it doesn't matter if you're Sikh, Buddhist, Christian, Wiccan, Deist, Satanist or a combination of religions. I believe that modern society is a ways off from being tolerant and progressive enough to practice this theory, but I believe the more people that feel this way, the more peaceful our world will become.

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