Babies are generally cute. They bring out coos and babbling from otherwise articulate people, and games of “peek-a-boo” or “got-your-nose”. They need caring for, protection, sustenance, warmth, and attention. They have no ability to fend for themselves and are completely dependent on those around them for their very survival.
For this reason alone, the term baby witch tweaks my nerves like dealing with the frustrations of a toddler who decides halfway through their fruit snacks they suddenly no longer want the red ones, or any of the others because they touched the red ones.
Babies have no personal agency, no power, no real understanding of who they are. This is not the mentality one should possess or the identity one should choose when setting forth on a magical path.
Magic and Witchcraft require discipline, focus, will, personal strength — things that even beginning witches have to possess on some level in order to embark on this way of life.
Witchcraft is not for the weak. It’s not for the faint of heart. It’s not for those who can’t look out for themselves.
It’s not for babies.
Beginner witches are just that — beginners. It’s perfectly fine to use that term because it defines someone just starting out, someone new to all of this, open to wonder and seeking knowledge and understanding. Someone who wants to learn what makes the universe tick.
My point of not being for babies doesn’t mean I have anything against young people seeking out Witchcraft. I started seriously studying the path when I was around 12 or 13. I did my self-dedication at 17. Many of my closest friends and teachers likewise started out young. Age isn’t the marker of intensity or desire. Some will devote their life to it, no matter the age they begin. Youngsters are notorious for wanting to experiment and try things out, and not all who dabble with magic will make it their life’s calling.
But they’re still not babies.
It takes guts and motivation to seek out things that are outside of the norm, the strange, the forbidden, the mystical. Calling oneself a Witch is already a declaration of self-identity and claiming of personal power. Why would you choose to diminish that by tacking baby onto it?
I’ve seen grown men and women in their 30s and older using this term as they newly discover the Craft and seek to study it.
I can’t take a middle-aged person seriously who wants to refer to himself or herself as a baby anything.
Words have power. What you call yourself will resonate, here and in the Ether. I don’t want to stand in circle, invoking ancient and powerful entities with someone who considers themselves a baby.
And neither should you.
The Keeper's Path 
This is an interesting take on the term – one that I’d never considered for sure! As a kind of “baby witch” myself, I always thought of the term baby as referring to a being that has just arrived from the spiritual realm, someone filled with wonder, excitement, and maybe even fear, who needs occasional help and guidance to stick to the path of growth and discovery. I think we’ve attached a very negative connotation to the term “baby” especially with phrases like “they’re being such a baby” or “stop crying like a baby” but I feel like children, when babies, are truest to themselves. They know no politeness or “people-pleasing” or clever alterations to fit their personalities to the people around them, and I like associating my journey as a beginner to that idea!
It was definitely interesting to read your opinions, and they’re 100% valid. I guess, like with most things, there really is no right answer!
Also wow, it’s so amazing that you started your journey so young!
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