After reading this thread where people declare their witchiness, I wondered exactly what kind of witches we had around here. Gardnerians? General occultists? Catch-all Wiccans? People who celebrate the Norse or the Gaelic gods?
What do you call yourself in front of others? Do you admit to witchiness, even through the wearing of certain symbols? When you do inform people of your beliefs, are they surprised (negatively or positively)?
If male, do you prefer one of the alternate terms to ‘witch’?
Do you do spellwork? Do you participate in any festivals (i.e. Beltane)?
Sorry about all the questions, but honestly, this is very interesting to me.
I’m a stregha. This is an old Italian school, somewhat feared even in the Wiccan/witch community (we’re famous for our evil eyes, after all). I do borrow the symbol of the pentacle and often wear one I fashioned around my neck. If people ask about my religion in someplace I feel might be intolerant, I tend to hedge my bets (sad, I know) and say I’m a pantheist. But generally, I’m pretty proud of being a witch. Most people react well enough (when I’ve gauged the crowd correctly), though I do get tired of explaining.
I light candles, but do no spellwork beyond that. Except what I come across at the occasional full moon festival I attend. I’ve never been to any larger celebration of paganism than one of those.
I’m female, so I have no problems with saying I’m a witch. Most male Wiccans I know just say they’re Wiccan. I’ll ask my SO tomorrow for his opinion.
I do spellwork, though nothing too flashy. Incense, candles, herbs, and rocks are about the extent of it. I’m also somewhat inclined towards visualization, and sometimes towards traditional prayer.
I don’t participate in festivals. I’m solitary, and. . .I’m a little forgetful :o. I’m lucky if I remember what day today is. So it’s even hit-or-miss as to whether I celebrate the various festivals on my own.
I’ve never practiced with anyone else, save for one time with my friend, and that was just a visualization. I have practiced Satanism with others, but that falls into the “Stupid Things I Did When I Was Younger And Really Regret And Don’t Want To Get Into” category of things. I’ve practiced Christianity with others on numerous occasions.
I’ve been studying Witchcraft for nearly 5 years now. I don’t call myself a Witch, or Wiccan as I don’t like pigeon-holing myself. I generally say I’m an Athiest. But if I was forced into a corner and made to reveal what kind I am, I’m a Solitary-Hereditary Witch affiliated with no real path - still hunting.
My mother is a Witch/Wiccan [has been for 25+ years] and my grandmother dabbled in Witchcraft/Divination.
As I’m still trying to fine the art of spellcrafting, I keep it to a minimum.
I don’t tend to wear anything that would deem me as a Witch/Wiccan as I don’t like the stigma attatched. We still have a long way to go before we have freedom of religious expression.
I’ve been to a few festivals, one for Beltane. It was an absolutely beautiful experience and that is what pushed me, I guess, to study Wicca/Witchcraft further.
As for my background: was brought up Catholic, went athiest for a few years and then discovered Witchcraft. When asked about why her children were brought up Catholic in a Pagan household, my mother simply said that she wanted us to see many different religions and to choose our own path later in life. My siblings are fully Athiest and I’m a Witch, but we are all open to different religions and I thank my mother for that. My dad on the other hand is a devout Christian. You work that one out.
Oops, sorry for going off on a tangent - I got a little carried away.
While there are wiccans who worship the Norse pantheon I thought I would mention that there is a religion devoted exclusively to the Norse/Germanic Gods called Asatru. Asatru is a reconstruction of the old religions of northern Europe and is practiced throughout the world. Asatruar are NOT Wiccan or witches, we are a seperate and distinct faith and are always quick to point that out. ;>
Another person who wears a Pentacle beside her Cross checking in…
Do I call myself Wiccan? Nope, mostly because I find that Wiccans tend to not appritiate the Xianity. But, the same is true of Xians who don’t appritiate the Wiccanism. So I am also Solitary as well. I studied with the now disbanded Northern Lights Coven (Bless you Bear Heart where ever you are) And got to know the religion. I can’t say as I am Wiccan, but I do borrow elements of Wiccanism for my peticular brand of faith. Seems to me that Traditional Xianity is missing out on a whole lot, and my quest is to fill those gaps by whatever means nessisary. If I must borrow from other religions, so be it!(the One god who sees, understands)
Needless to say, the Holidays and Sabbaths pass by as if they didn’t happen.(but, so does Easter and XMas) I do however celebrate the Solstice/Equinox, when the new season begins, as it is the finest examples of a new begining along with an ending as one can come up with. ( Cycles IMHO being very important in my practice)
As far as spellworking goes, I do a bit of Candle magic (Related to Element by color)and energy transmutation. I can’t see myself calling upon the god to do my ‘dirty work’.
[Hyjack Q]I was raised Catholic. I have an Ex-Roommate who swears every ex-Catholic girl he knows is either a Pagan or a Homosexual. I think the statement to be rather close eyed, but to add a hyjack question… Do any Ex-Catholics out there find thier upbringing a help or a hinderance in practice? I ask because I believe my Catholic upbringing (IE: Saint adoration, just one example where Catholics can be so ritualy driven) to be closer to Paganism than it is to “Traditional Christianity” Anyother opinions on that one? [ /Hyjack Q]
I attended a pagan students meeting at my university and the topic of catholic upbringings came up. Many of the pagan students who were raised in catholic families said that it almost makes it easier to practice paganism because of a female figure (the virgin mary) and the many worshipful beings (the multitude of saints).
I wasn’t raised in a practicing christian family so I really could not say. My dad was raised protestant but is pretty much an atheist now, has no belief in the afterlife or in any ‘higher beings.’ My mom was raised to believe in a Catholic/culturally based buddhist religion (she is Chinese), and while she is not practicing now, she believes that there probably is a God, God give you life and junk like that, and we should just all be good in our lives.
I did not grow up with any particular religion. As a child I ‘believed in God’ and stuff, but any prayers I did were self designed and were focused on making sure my family were always safe. I never went to church as a child nor learned any specifics about the Christian faith aside from personal study. Starting in middle school, I became interested in ‘alternative religions’. I started reading a lot about wicca, witchcraft and druidry. I never prefer to name myself as a follower of anything in particular, ie. I will not call myself a wiccan or a druid. But, after sporatic readings and studies for about 8 years, I have settled on learning more about druidry. I think I may always be in a ‘learning phase’ and don’t think I’ll ever fully lable myself as a druid. For one thing, I feel that before I do, I should be able to dedicate myself fully to it. I do not have the time (and possibly not the will), to learn everything I need now, to practice the religion, or to celebrate its holidays. Until that time, and if it is necessary, I will simply lable myself pagan, as I definitely do not follow any Christian paths.
I’m a general eclectic witch - I often use “Wicca” to describe my faith, but that’s as much for ease of understanding as anything else. I’m mostly a solitary practitioner, but I attend rituals with a particular group, and have been initiated through several degrees with them. I’d probably call us half-assed semi-druids, with a smattering of everything else thrown in. Since when do any two pagans agree, anyway?
Do I admit to witchiness? It depends. I don’t wear pentacles to my office job - but I think any religious display is out of place there. All my friends know, and I certainly don’t hide it if asked. When I told a new friend I was a witch, she smiled and said “No shit.” So I guess I’m not fooling anybody. My husband is a witch as well, and uses the term with no qualms.
As I posted in the other thread, I do very very little spellwork; I tend more toward practical solutions. I do participate in rituals - not every one, you understand, since being a flake is a almost required of every pagan, but out of eight yearly holidays I show up for about four each year.
I was brought up as a Catholic, but that isn’t what I credit my current faith to. I blame my mother because of the set of mythology books she bought for me. Hey, I blame my mother for everything.
I am an eclectic(catch-all Wiccan). I practice a little bit of everything because I still relatively new to Wicca (8 months) and I want to keep my options open. I don’t have a specific pantheon yet(none have called out to me thus far), but I do have leanings towards Assyrian/Babylonian belief structures.
I don’t generally divulge my beliefs to anyone. If a stranger asks, I will tell them I’m duotheistic and let them marinate on that for a while. I wear a symbol that would be blatantly obvious to anyone in the craft, but everyone else just sees a happy sun. When I tell people that I am Wiccan, I am already sure that they’re response will be positive.
By the way, you shouldn’t be ashamed of hiding your beliefs. Keeping your beliefs private is an important tradition of the craft IMHO.
Nope, witch is just fine. The notion that a witch is always female is just an invention of popular culture.
I do spellwork on occasion, but only to change something psychological in me. Anything I can do with my bare hands I will do that way. I do celebrate all 8 sabbats in the wheel of the year.
By the way I used to be Catholic too. I went to Catholic school for 12 years as a matter of fact. Catholicism actually helped me to appreciate ritual in Wicca that much more.
I suppose I could be called an eclectic with druidic leanings. I never call myself Wiccan, because I am not. “Witch” or “Pagan” suits me well enough. Most people outside of the Craft make the common enough mistake of using witch and Wiccan interchangeably. Wicca is to Pagainism as Baptist is to Christianity: a facet, a denomination.
I do wear a silver pentacle necklace. It’s only a half inch across and quite pretty. I don’t think anyone ever thinks twice about it unless they’re a witch, too.
I never hide my religion. If someone asks, I’ll either say witch, pagan, or druid. It all depends on how I think they will react.
I hardly do any spellwork at all. Only one true “spell” so far. Spells make me nervous and they are only a last resort. I’d rather try things every other way before I try to mess with power and energy I have a very tenuous control on. I do participate in the sabbats if I can remeber. I went to a lovely Beltane ritual in a gorgeous grove right in the middle of Baton Rouge last May.
Even though I don’t do spells, I love the feeling of magick that surrounds me. One of the most joyful things in life is walking barefoot in soft dew-covered grass on a full moon and just raising your arms to be drenched in its light. sigh
Oh, and I, too, was Catholic. Don’t think it helped me become a witch. Well, it did make me feel like something big was missing and set me off on my search for a religion that ‘fit’.
Solitary eclectic pagan here. Don’t call myself a witch, as I don’t practice Wicca. I used to call myself a heathen, until I discovered that that term seems to have been appropriated by the Asatruar. (And while my primary goddess is from the Norse pantheon, I make no claims to be practicing Asatru.)
I try to avoid terms that would (falsely) connect me to any particular sect, so I generally just use plain-old “pagan” to describe myself. I have no qualms about identifying myself as such if the subject comes up. The person who was most surprised when I explained my beliefs was my sister.
I usually wear a pendant with a pattern of interlocked crescent moons. It just looks like a fancy Norse-Celtic design; I don’t think it exactly screams “PAGAN HERE”.
My use of spellwork has yet to progress beyond the incense/candles and visualization stage, and I don’t really expect it to.
I celebrate Samhain, Beltane, Midsummer and Midwinter.
Truth be told, I do find disdain for Christianity prevalent in my local Wiccan community, and it disturbs me. I do realize that some people turn to Wicca because they wish to rebel against what they perceive to be the wrongs of Christianity. What really gets me is that these same people do their utmost to be rude to Christians and make diparaging remarks about them at every turn. Wiccans IMHO should be tolerant and respectful of other faiths, just as we want others to be. It’s not enough to pay lip service to this idea, and then be selective about which faiths to respect, and which not to.
When pressed, I tell folks that I am Pagan. I have done a lot of research and reading, and firmly believe in this system… or lack, as it were.
In my younger days, I got into the whole “Wiccan/Witch” thing, but I honestly feel that… well…
Ok, I belief in Magick, I believe in it’s powers. However, I don’t think they work for me. I’ve tried some, with rather limited effects.
So, I tend to think of myself as many christians do… I am a general pagan. That does not make me a candleburner, nor a spellcaster of any sort.
You would be amazed how few like me I find. Most everyone of “alternate religions” tends to do some form of spellwork.
I avoid using “witch” these days because there are so many misconceptions about what it is, and “Wiccan” also opens the door for the curious to ask questions.
I’m solitary because I haven’t found a coven that wasn’t marinating in politics. If I could find a level-headed group, I would probably join.
I’m eclectic in that I am open to most of the different traditions of Wicca and employ many of the tools, views, and rituals espoused. I have a hellishly hard time keeping track of holy days (What do you mean yesterday was an equinox? Oh, bugger.).
I am open to friends and family, but tend to keep fairly quiet about it in my public life. I live and teach in a small town, and until I have tenure, I probably won’t discuss my beliefs anywhere I feel vulnerable. However, the first day of my third year teaching, I’ll be putting on my pendant and answering whatever questions are thrown my way.
I’m a solitary Wiccan. I have no real desire to join a coven, although I wouldn’t be opposed to practicing with other people. I believe that the Goddess and God are only aspects of one “higher power” and this gels nicely with my Catholic upbringing and it allows me to incorporate ideas about gods from other sources. I tend to gravitate towards the Ancient Roman and Egyptian pantheon, but I’m pretty open about this [for example, I’ve read Small Gods by Terry Pratchett a couple of times, and I now have small statue of a turtle on my alter].
I prefer “Wiccan” to describe myself over “Witch,” but not because I’m male, more for the reasons that phouka mentions. If I am pressed into talking about my religion in a setting where I feel I would be met with intolerance, I’ll say I’m agnostic. [I’m not really proud of this.]
I do spellwork as a kind of advance form of praying. Mainly using visualizations/meditation, but if I find that doing something physical will help me focus [lighting candles, chanting, burn a piece of paper I’ve written on, etc.] I’ll certainly do that as well.
I try to celebrate the eight sabbats as close to the actual days as I can. My partner knows I’m a Wiccan and is completely supportive, but I prefer to work with the house empty so I don’t always get the chance to celebrate on the exact day. I try to celebrate with both a formal ritual as well as doing something in my everyday life – having a special meal, or decorating, or something like that.
TelcontarStorm,
Being a former Catholic has certainly affected the way I practice today, but I don’t know if I can label it as good or bad. For example, I really enjoy the ritualistic aspect of worship [add three pinches of salt to the water, sprinkle it around the circle, light the candles starting in the East…] and I think I get this from all of the ritual in Catholic masses.
I am currently a solitary eclectic Druid. I follow a rough belief that follows a series of various Celtic gods (not just Gaelic) and absorb in what some of the other older European cultures had to offer. I have belonged to both Druidic groves and Wiccan circles but have found that I enjoy myself better as a solitary since I am not told what and how I should believe.
I typically just call myself a pagan or heathen when asked. If I think it would get a really negative reaction I call myself a devil worshipper. (I wish there was an evil smiley) I tend to only do that when meeting the farthest out of the fundamentalists because it is funny and I figure it is what they would think anyway about my religion. I currently have a tattoo of a pentagram on my arm and am thinking of getting a greenman on the other arm.
I am male but don’t really care if I am called a witch. However, as stated above I typically call myself either pagan or heathen. If the person is particularly enilightened and ask me what path I follow I tell them I am an eclectic, solitary druid.
I do spellwork even though it isn’t one of the biggest practices among Druidry. Science is revered in Druidry (as well as Asaturu) and depending on which path you follow neglects spellwork. I personally see it as a form of ritualized prayer and have taken it into my own eclectic practices. I attend rituals in groups infrequently but I have a mistrust for larger religious organizations for many different reasons, the main being I don’t like the politics involved. The rituals I tend to attend are typically around festival times (the summer and fall harvests and the beginning of the seasons) when it is nice to have a sense of community.