What is A Witch

It seems that the whole world has an idea in their head about what witches are and what they do. This is understandable considering the role they have played in folklore, literature, and media. I wonder what images many of you readers once had before starting off your journey. Did your mind go to the real-life witches or did you have some version from media filling your mind? When did you learn what a witch truly was? Personally, I don’t think I remember what it was like to be in the dark. My sister got into Wicca when I was still in elementary school, so witchcraft has been a part of my life for a long time.

I think it’s safe to say that TikTok has started to remove the pop-culture vision of a green-faced cartoon villain from the top spot of where people’s minds go when they hear “witch.” However, I do believe the pen for this narrative has fallen into the wrong hands leading to a complete misunderstanding of what witchcraft actually is. Whether this be the narrative created by younger religions that condemn the practice, or the narrative created by social media icons who think that this is a cute and fun new routine for content. I think it’s time that the witches take the pen back and write the story ourselves, so I would like to begin with the most obvious question of “what is a witch, really?”

A witch is someone who uses one or more energies provided by the universe to access other realities of this universe. This definition is simultaneously mystical and scientific, which sounds like an oxymoron to those who don’t understand the craft. A witch can use both seen (plants, rocks, water, and fire) and unseen (spirits, deities, Chi, emotion) energies. As a witch, you know that we are inherently linked to nature. Why you know that link exists is where faith comes into play. Some believe that because we all came from the same atom and developed into different creatures and wonders, that nature and we are one. We had just as much a chance that the elements that made us human could have gone a different direction and made us a tree. Some believe we are linked by some cosmic or divine power. Regardless, the link is there at the core of the practice. “The realities we access” portion of the definition refers to a wide variety of outcomes. It refers to the more mystical ideas of literally accessing other realities, dimensions, and planes, while simultaneously referring to the changes of our current reality, such as using herbal remedies to cure back pain and manifesting. Which of the energies you choose to use along with the outcomes you focus on determine the type of craft you practice. (Chaos, Hedge, Lunar, Baneful, etc)

Before craft breakdowns, I truly believe (this is just my personal belief, not a universal concept) that there are two categories of witches: witches by fate and witches by choice. Each presents its own struggles and its own beauties. A witch by fate is a practitioner whose essence finds itself within a body that is already using universal energies before conscious action. (e.g. people born with Clair abilities). A witch by choice is a practitioner whose essence finds itself within a body that did not previously use universal energies until the practitioner found Magick. A witch by choice is driven purely by passion but may take longer to access all those energies. A witch by fate is driven by need but will find answers and access come more easily to them.

A witch is not inherently a “devil worshipper,” although there are those that do work with Lucifer (not evil) as their patron. Witchcraft is a strong but overall neutral practice that is capable of making great changes. Whether it is “good” or “bad” depends on whether the practitioner is a good or a bad person. Personally, I believe that because this power is so strong witches have an inherent responsibility to equilibrium. They should not use witchcraft in a way that messes with the universe’s need for balance. This applies to both “love and light” practitioners as well as baneful practitioners. Too much of a good can lead to excess (examples: confidence can lead to ego and love can lead to obsession). Baneful practitioners use magick often associated with “dark magick” in their practices such as hexing and cursing. However, a baneful witch can still abide by the universal balance in their practice. For example, using hexes as justice (witches that hex Rapists and child abusers). This type of magick still restores balance by bringing karma into fruition. However, if one were to hex a girl at school or work simply because they didn’t like her, that would be going against the natural balance, because the girl they are hexing didn’t do anything wrong.

This leads to my closing statements on what a witch is. My personal take on the more universal definition of witchcraft reads as so, “ a witch is a person who accesses the universal energies in order to bring about or maintain balance.”