Welcome to the Witching Hour Part 6: Today's Witches

Fall has finally arrived!

The equinox was yesterday in the northern hemisphere (Saturday September 22nd for those of you not reading this post on the day it was published), so now we get to fully celebrate all things fall. In my case, a month and a half long Halloween binge!

Yesterday also marked the Sabbat known as Mabon or The Second Harvest Celebration for many of today's Witch and Pagan communities. A Sabbat is essentially a modern Pagan and/or Witch's holy day or holiday. Depending on which tradition a Pagan or Witch follows, the practitioner might celebrate all of some of these holidays.

Picture from: this site

Today I'm not going to go over the Sabbats (I'm saving that for another post). Instead, I want to write about how Witches continue to practice into the modern age and the many different types of Witches out there.

Here's an important fact about the Witch community: anyone can be a witch.

There's no specific gender, identity, or religious requirements. Witches can be men, women or non-binary people. You can be religious, spiritual, secular, or even atheist to practice Witchcraft. There are solitary practitioners or a Witch can find a coven to join.

What binds Witches together?

Witches are bound by their practice of magick (the type of magick spelled with a "k"). From what I have come to understand, Witches draw power from the world around them as well as from within themselves. They have a preference for and connection with nature, but some don't mind using technology with their spell work. Some invoke gods, goddesses, angels, or spirits in their craft, but it isn't necessary.

One of the more well known practitioners of magick and witchcraft today are Wiccans. People who follow the Wicca faith also incorporate magick into their religious rituals. Most of my research on witchcraft, spell casting, and magickal rituals has been from Wicca sources. They have their own traditions and holidays such as the Sabbats I mentioned earlier in this post. There are also different sects or paths of Wicca a person can follow (click here for more on the different types of Wicca).

But you don't have to be a follower of Wicca to become a Witch.

Wicca happens to be one of the more well known religions that coincides with witchcraft. However, some Witches prefer a more spiritual or secular path to their practice. I hear it can ruffle feathers, especially if the person or group of people are misappropriating other cultures (please don't do this if you are curious about practicing witchcraft). However, there do seem to be some merits to striking it out on your own if organized religion isn't for the practitioner.

Personally, my curiosity has lead me to a lot of books about witchcraft, Wicca, and magick. I tend to prefer the solitary and connection with nature aspects of the practice. There's a lot of meditation and good philosophy involved with my spiritual empowerment.

One stand-out aspect of many modern Witch's paths involves the Rule of Three. The Rule of Three is basically the philosophy that whatever energy is put out into the world will be reflected back three times fold. It's meant as a reminder to use magick for good or positive things rather than curses or hexes. Putting something negative into the world such as a curse or a hex on another person could result in three times the amount of negative things happening to the caster.

I like this type kind of philosophy. It's a reminder to do good things in life.

Other than the Wicca, there are several other types of witches. I have a few listed below:

• The Eclectic Witch - combines different magickal traditions and witchcraft styles into their own practice. Their practice is the most likely to change over time.
• Hereditary Witch - much like Sally and Jillian Owens from the movie Practical Magic, these are practitioners who pass their knowledge down from generation to generation. They often practice as a family and have their own unique traditions. 
• Hedge Witch - these witches often work in the natural and spiritual world.
• Kitchen Witch - a witch that mainly practices in their kitchen. Their spell work is often incorporated into their cooking. They likely have an herb or vegetable garden which they cultivate their own ingredients from.
• Green Witch - these witches heavily relay on the natural world around them.They're often most in tune with the seasons and try to work their spells and rituals outside as much as possible.
• Cosmic Witches - these witches prefer working with astrology and astronomy into their spell work. Most of their rituals incorporate the moon and planets.

There are more types of witches that I haven't listed. Witchcraft and magick are as varied and unique as the many cultures that have influenced them. 

Credit for this picture goes to this site.

I do ask that if you are interested in looking into more research or spells, that you don't appropriate another culture. Just because someone on the Internet says it's okay to do something doesn't mean that it is. Some practices and traditions are sacred and should be treated as such. Further more, some plants are on the endangered or threatened species list and shouldn't be used.

If you are curious about learning more on witchcraft, check out published books and/or ask real witches about their practice. Though you can start on the Internet, take everything you read there with a grain of salt.

Blessed be!

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Until next week.

Welcome to the Iconic Part 1: A Religious History

If I'm going to be doing a series on icons, I might as well take a quick peek at the history of icons. Apparently when you look up the word "icon" on the Internet, the first definition that pops up indicates that the origin is religious. Google defines the term as "a painting of Jesus Christ or another holy figure, typically in a traditional style on wood, venerated and used as an aid to devotion in the Byzantine and other Eastern Churches."

An icon of St. Alexandra (or at least I think that's what this is).

Though the religious icon is traditionally a part of the Eastern Church, that's not to say that icons and iconic images didn't influence the western church's art. After all the English word icon comes from the Greek word "εἰκών" (pronounced as: eikōn) meaning an image or a likeness that represents something else. This doesn't necessarily mean a religious image, but it can be hard to separate the term from the traditional artistic style.

I feel I shouldn't be all that surprised that religion plays a role in defining what an icon is. For a good chunk of western civilization after the fall of the Roman Empire, the Christian Church held nearly all the wealth and power. One of the easiest ways to display their power was through art. Many art history scholars can tell you all about how the image of The Holy Mother Mary's image was constantly changing depending on the fashion and ideal beauty standards of the time. The Byzantine Mary from the 9th century looks very different from the much later portraits Rafael would paint.

This isn't the first time I've noticed how religion has influenced our society. Do any of you guys remember the Parable of Talents from the Bible? It's okay if you don't. I remember as a child thinking it was funny how the word English word for talent sounded similar to an ancient currency. The Sunday School teachers would explain to us that this parable was teaching us to spread our talents (as in our natural aptitude or skill set) and that we would prosper because of it. And though I'm not entirely sure what the origin of the English word for talent is, it can't be that much of a coincidence that the story and the modern definition work well together.

(Side Note: I recently reread the Parable of Talents out of curiosity and I'm 99% sure that Jesus is talking about the virtues of economic investment, not the investment into a person's natural aptitude or skill set. I'm not sure why I find this interesting, but I do.)

So that brings me to the modern school of thought on icons/iconic images. Today icons are seen as symbols, regardless if the symbol is a person or thing. Icons are typically thought of as images representing something. The fashion industry in particular seems to be full of icons like Tyra Banks, Marilyn Monroe, or Princess Kate (feel free to disagree with me).

But does the modern icon have the same reverence and devotion as the religious iconic images of old?

I'd argue from a cultural stand point that they do. Our society has a slight (possibly unhealthy) obsession with the famous, rich, and powerful. People, places, and objects can all be used to symbolize something, so why not turn them into an icon. There are many images that are hard to disassociate from a certain concept, whether it be the tragic yet glamorous Hollywood lifestyle from Marilyn Monroe, Woodstock from hippy culture, or the Eiffel Tower from Paris.

Icons, like everything else, have evolved over time. What started as images to aid in the worship of the Christian Religion have morphed into images that symbolize what society deems worthy of worshiping (mainly celebrities).

So, join me next week as I continue to discover what it means to be an icon...

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me.

Until next week...