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Ask Angus #37: Witches Know Differently

Ask Angus #37: Witches Know Differently

Last updated on: July 4, 2017 at 9:16 am by Angus McMahan

Ask Angus #37: Witches Know Differently 2017-07-04T09:16:47-07:00 Angus McMahan

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Pokemary: I have several questions.

Dear Pokemary: Bring ’em on!

Is Wicca a religion?

It is to me. But it doesn’t have to be to you. If you wanna get devotional with your practice, by all means have a dance party with all the deities you like. But if the Spirit of Nature keeps your love bucket filled, then that’s okay too.

2. Do you worship only female deities?

I work with two deities, one male and one female. But that’s just the easy way that my old school brain categorizes them. In (my) reality they have shown themselves to be a remarkable amalgam of both-many-all genders, and also all ages; from conception to past-death.

3. Are you a feminist?

I was a feminist long before I became a pagan. Treating women as (at least) the equal to men, paying them equally, and promoting them meritocritally just seemed like a no-brainer. I’m proud (and a little amazed) that I was able to come to this conclusion as a 15 year old male.

4. What is Magick and is it widely practiced?

Magick, to me, is bending the energy of the natural world to suit your needs. Widely practiced? Try every single person who has ever lived, or ever will. As a by-product of our unique consciousness, it is simply our human nature to want to influence that which seems impartial and permanent. Most people suck at Magick, however, because they don’t really believe people are capable of doing such things. Witches however, know differently.

5. Are there any rules?

There are ALWAYS rules. The fun part is that in Occult religions you construct your own rule system. This is also the exasperating part.

6. What about all the sexual stuff?

Mostly empty circle after the Maypole dance – but the woods are full!

PM me, please.

Oh……okay. Let’s put it this way: Wiccans align themselves with the energy and cycles of the natural world. And a lot of what is on plants and animals ‘minds’ is the drive to get funk-i-fied with the partner(s) of their choice. I mean, the symbol of Easter is the rabbit not because of its cotton tail but its insatiable ability to get tail. Springtime in general is a feverish time for the living world, and we humans have often chosen to deny our animal nature and earnestly pretend that we can rise above such base instincts. (And a lot of the misery of the world is the result of such a pointless and cruel mindset.) Pagans on the other hand choose to celebrate lust as a normal and natural part of the cycle of the seasons.

To put it another way, much of the western world is familiar with the abundance of “June Brides”, but never stops to wonder how they came to be. Witches, however, know differently. She had to get married because she got busy with her beau after the Beltane rite, and June was the first time she knew she was pregnant.

The Grumpus: Do you really believe all of this Witchy Stuff?

Dear G.Rumpus,

As a matter of fact, no, I do not believe in all of this witchy stuff. Here’s the definition of ‘Belief’ (from Wikipedia): “Belief is the state of mind in which a person thinks something to be the case, with or without there being empirical evidence to prove that something is the case with factual certainty.”

Working the Working.

The keyword is ‘think’. The key phrase is “without empirical evidence”. With ‘belief’ you ‘think’ something might happen. Witches, however, know differently. We don’t ‘think’ – we know – that something will happen, because we don’t have a ‘belief’ – we have a ‘practice’.

And also with ‘belief’ there is a corollary notion of inactivity. Read that definition again. It seems to imply that the action – the thing that makes the thing happen – is out of the person’s hands. With ‘belief’ there is no etymological variation for a hands-on role: You aren’t a Beliefinator. But if you ditch ‘belief’ and do the work it becomes a ‘practice’ and you become a ‘practitioner’.

So, Grumpysaurus, I do not believe all of this witchy stuff. I KNOW all of this witchy stuff, because witchcraft is not a ‘belief’ – it is a practice.

Emerybored: In a serious food fight, what would be your weapon of choice?

Dear Em,

Hmmm……..Corn Fritters? Strawberry Quik? Naah, I’ll go with prickly pear cactus and frozen chickens.

~Ask Angus

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