"On Being a Witch"
This little gem was circulating on the pagan cybercircuit: "A woman was asked by a co-worker, "What is it like to be a witch?" The co-worker replied, "It is like being a pumpkin. The Goddess picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. Then She cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff. She removes the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc., and then She carves you a new smiling face and puts Her Light inside of you to shine for all the world to see." This was passed on to me from another pumpkin. Now, it is your turn to pass it to a pumpkin. ~author unknown~ |
My response:
Oh, spare me the sparkly pabulum. There’s nothing wrong with looking at one’s relationship with the Divine in a positive light, don’t get me wrong. I’m all for the idea of removing one’s less savory aspects and concentrating on being a better person. But this little ditty is unrealistic to the point of being delusional.
So, the Goddess does all this work, eh? The perfect Mother who wipes the slate clean, takes away all those nasty-bad traits and gives you a brand-new body, with "Her Light inside of you." Sounds more than vaguely….. Abrahamic? The acceptable "we’re really good people, just flawed, and unable to change without Divine intervention" story with the Deity changed out?
I’m sorry, that’s not what I define as being a witch.
A witch is someone who studies and seeks to understand the natural world around them, and manipulates the forces of nature to effect change. And for the record, that doesn’t always involve a Divinity at all. It DOES involve an acceptance of the intricacies of human nature, and that there aspects to that within ourselves that are not just good and compassionate; we all have darker sides which are capable of some crappy actions. But, to gloss over that balance with a “new smiling face” is to create an even greater enemy within. To acknowledge all of our self is to take control of it, to have a deeper well of experience from which to draw when we are faced with life’s sucky moments. To acknowledge that dark twin does NOT mean we will be overcome by it, but it can hit us unawares if we ignore its existence, and its role.
Pagans are fond of saying, "we are all God/desses." But how many of them have you heard say, “I am my own devil?” Not many, I’d venture. But we are. The greatest obstacles we will ever face are the demons of our own creation. I also hear a lot about someone’s “friendly, helpful animal spirit” who guided them gently through an experience. But how many have had that animal spirit turn on them, providing another necessary experience? I doubt most pagans want to relate that, somehow feeling they failed or that it would be interpreted by others as a "psychic attack" or some other such thing. But was that spirit attack "yucky stuff," or a greater good on the spiritual journey? Go ask a shaman. Not a New-Age “I like to drum and work with crystals and happy feelings” shaman. An authentic, "I could die in real life on an astral healing journey, but I accept that risk for you" shaman.
The above ditty, to me, is a singular act of denial of self, a “happy face” mask designed to give a false impression of security and stability. Deity sheltering us from the realities of life. But at what cost? Doubt is an instinct that makes us question what doesn’t make sense, that hones our intuition, that stops us from being sheep. I don’t WANT such a valuable tool removed. The other emotions listed could also be picked apart as to definition and circumstance. But we don’t like to admit that these less-than-pleasant emotions are also part of who we are.
And what exactly is this dirt that needs to be washed off? All the mean, nasty things that other people do to us in the process of living? That “dark night of the soul” triggered by bad, violent and/or otherwise emotionally devastating experiences that drag us down? The difference being, we want someone to take away the fact that it happened, rather than using it to make us more resilient. One cannot stop traumatic things from happening, but we have the power to not let it control the rest of our lives, and our interactions with other people therein. That, in the end, is more debilitating than any singular experience, because it puts barriers in our path against people we connect indirectly to the bad experience. And so, we might end up losing out on an encounter that could truly enrich our life. And then, the negative experience (and whoever did it to you) has truly won.
Rather than face that reality, we instead turn to the illusion of “Goddess will make it all better.” Scoop out all the emotions that make us feel bad; create a hollow waiting to be filled by an outside force. But don’t you see? To create that mask, the living, viable, growing life must die. It is cut from the vine, severed from the life force, and molded to our specifications. And how long will it last without sustenance? Not long. Soon, we will need to create another, and another…. all without serving a useful purpose beyond a momentary illusion. It will never fulfill its function, to sustain others by the sharing of itself entirely, seeds and all. How can that which is emptied of all its flavor and life-sustaining essence possibly ever be truly called whole?
Superficial and naively upbeat spirituality does not heal and enrich the soul; it’s the transitions based on the rich variety of life experiences that liberate us, define us, and provide the deep, authentic, healthy spirituality that we seek.
Recorded in my LiveJournal on October 4, 2005.
Oh, spare me the sparkly pabulum. There’s nothing wrong with looking at one’s relationship with the Divine in a positive light, don’t get me wrong. I’m all for the idea of removing one’s less savory aspects and concentrating on being a better person. But this little ditty is unrealistic to the point of being delusional.
So, the Goddess does all this work, eh? The perfect Mother who wipes the slate clean, takes away all those nasty-bad traits and gives you a brand-new body, with "Her Light inside of you." Sounds more than vaguely….. Abrahamic? The acceptable "we’re really good people, just flawed, and unable to change without Divine intervention" story with the Deity changed out?
I’m sorry, that’s not what I define as being a witch.
A witch is someone who studies and seeks to understand the natural world around them, and manipulates the forces of nature to effect change. And for the record, that doesn’t always involve a Divinity at all. It DOES involve an acceptance of the intricacies of human nature, and that there aspects to that within ourselves that are not just good and compassionate; we all have darker sides which are capable of some crappy actions. But, to gloss over that balance with a “new smiling face” is to create an even greater enemy within. To acknowledge all of our self is to take control of it, to have a deeper well of experience from which to draw when we are faced with life’s sucky moments. To acknowledge that dark twin does NOT mean we will be overcome by it, but it can hit us unawares if we ignore its existence, and its role.
Pagans are fond of saying, "we are all God/desses." But how many of them have you heard say, “I am my own devil?” Not many, I’d venture. But we are. The greatest obstacles we will ever face are the demons of our own creation. I also hear a lot about someone’s “friendly, helpful animal spirit” who guided them gently through an experience. But how many have had that animal spirit turn on them, providing another necessary experience? I doubt most pagans want to relate that, somehow feeling they failed or that it would be interpreted by others as a "psychic attack" or some other such thing. But was that spirit attack "yucky stuff," or a greater good on the spiritual journey? Go ask a shaman. Not a New-Age “I like to drum and work with crystals and happy feelings” shaman. An authentic, "I could die in real life on an astral healing journey, but I accept that risk for you" shaman.
The above ditty, to me, is a singular act of denial of self, a “happy face” mask designed to give a false impression of security and stability. Deity sheltering us from the realities of life. But at what cost? Doubt is an instinct that makes us question what doesn’t make sense, that hones our intuition, that stops us from being sheep. I don’t WANT such a valuable tool removed. The other emotions listed could also be picked apart as to definition and circumstance. But we don’t like to admit that these less-than-pleasant emotions are also part of who we are.
And what exactly is this dirt that needs to be washed off? All the mean, nasty things that other people do to us in the process of living? That “dark night of the soul” triggered by bad, violent and/or otherwise emotionally devastating experiences that drag us down? The difference being, we want someone to take away the fact that it happened, rather than using it to make us more resilient. One cannot stop traumatic things from happening, but we have the power to not let it control the rest of our lives, and our interactions with other people therein. That, in the end, is more debilitating than any singular experience, because it puts barriers in our path against people we connect indirectly to the bad experience. And so, we might end up losing out on an encounter that could truly enrich our life. And then, the negative experience (and whoever did it to you) has truly won.
Rather than face that reality, we instead turn to the illusion of “Goddess will make it all better.” Scoop out all the emotions that make us feel bad; create a hollow waiting to be filled by an outside force. But don’t you see? To create that mask, the living, viable, growing life must die. It is cut from the vine, severed from the life force, and molded to our specifications. And how long will it last without sustenance? Not long. Soon, we will need to create another, and another…. all without serving a useful purpose beyond a momentary illusion. It will never fulfill its function, to sustain others by the sharing of itself entirely, seeds and all. How can that which is emptied of all its flavor and life-sustaining essence possibly ever be truly called whole?
Superficial and naively upbeat spirituality does not heal and enrich the soul; it’s the transitions based on the rich variety of life experiences that liberate us, define us, and provide the deep, authentic, healthy spirituality that we seek.
Recorded in my LiveJournal on October 4, 2005.