What do you mean by ‘scary’?

Last updated on: October 4, 2012 at 9:00 am by Niki Whiting

What do you mean by ‘scary’? 2012-10-04T09:00:36-08:00 Niki Whiting

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.

I’ve met a new friend. We jumped right into some deep waters. She’s made some less than conventional life choices and has faced the consequences of people she loves telling her that she needs to get right with Jesus. I can relate, I told her. I’ve given many people many reasons to stop talking to me. Not only did I get a divorce in my early twenties, I ran off with a younger woman. Two good reasons for excommunication right there. But, I added, now I practice witchcraft and blog publicly about it, too.

Upon hearing this, my new friend asked ‘scary witchcraft or just pagan stuff?’ After an amused silence, debating in my head what constitutes ‘scary,’ I said: I definitely practice the scary stuff. See, she’d known someone who practiced witchcraft and he started cursing people. I wonder what ‘just pagan stuff’ means. I’m guessing it means nice nature worship and white light blessings. And yet…. even nature worship can be, and often is, scary.

So what exactly is ‘scary witchcraft’? If it’s about using power, cursing and hexing people, then I’ll own that. Plenty of people abuse power, and plenty of people are scared by power. There’s a witching maxim I’ve seen around: that which cannot hex cannot heal. I take that to mean, if you don’t have the power to hex (or curse) then you likely don’t have power to heal either. If your magic only works one way then I’m going to doubt you’ve got magic at all. I’ve never cursed anyone, but I want to reserve the possibility to do so should I feel it is necessary. I have kids, and this mama bear would fight tooth and nail and use any means necessary to protect them. You better believe that includes magic!

But what the question is really getting at is: how do you use your witchcraft? What are your ethics? And that is a much more slippery question. The tradition I practice is big on ethics, not morals. There is no Three Fold Law, where whatever you put out automatically comes back to you three times over. In many ways this is true. We almost always reap the consequences of our actions in some form or another, so ideally that is a deterrent to any unwise action. Yet, we’ve all met plenty of people who do awful things in the world and seem to get rewarded, living the high life; just as we’ve met many wonderfully kind people who have endless obstacles in their path.* Power is merely a tool; it’s how we wield it that matters most.

Morals imply inflexible, black and white rules from without, the opposite of which is immoral. Something is either moral or immoral, good or bad. Whereas ethics imply a set of values determined from within that allow a person to respond to situations as they arise. I choose to have strong ethics and that can appear amoral to many people. That can also be very scary to people.

I’m drawn to the ‘left hand paths,’ traditions and practices that fall on the mystic side of things. Mystics are often perceived as dangerous – even Christians have their mystics! The Tantric branch of Hinduism is perhaps a left hand path, but even within Tantra there is a left and right hand ‘side.’ I can’t say why I’m always finding my way to the left hand side of things. A cheeky response is that I’m so very left-dominant! Even I am amused at my predilections. I’m a happy, mainstream-looking, family gal! Why should I adore Kali, Ana, and feel most comfortable in the dark half of the year (among other things)?

I guess I see the world, nature and the divine as ‘red in tooth and claw.’ It’s not always safe. I don’t think humans are at the utmost pinnacle of importance in our world and therefore set aside for Super Special Status, with a god who has a specific plan for each one of us. I think we decide on our plan and work with the Larger Forces That Be to make those plans happen. Taking our lives into our own hands is scary work, indeed.

*While I do think intent can help us achieve good things, both material and otherwise, I am absolutely no fan of prosperity gospels or The Secret type ideas. It is horrible, terrible theology.

Previous Post

October 2, 2012

The weekend's Harvest Moon

Next Post

October 8, 2012 Maxim Monday: Do not use an oath

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Alaska altar altars Ana Ancestors Anderson witchcraft Arddu Bhairava Biography bodies books Christianity Christmas community current events death Delphic Maxims Dhumavati dual observance Durga Faery family life feminism Feri Feri tradition Feri witchcraft food ganesha gratitude Guest Post guru health Hinduism holidays Jesus Kali Lakshmi land links magic Many Gods West movie review movies music my heart mystery myth Navratri Orthodoxy pagan pagan culture paganism pantheacon parenting Place politics polytheism practice pratice prayer Red Goddess review ritual sacred arts Samhain Saraswati Shinto Shiva singing Star Goddess Tantra tarot the Gods theory Uncategorized values virgin mary wales washington winter witchcraft year in review yoga

Select a Month September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, 'For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life'?

Select your answer to see how you score.

James John Peter Paul