The Keeper's Path

Being a Witch in the public sphere, it’s not uncommon to receive an email from a “Concerned Christian” who wants to warn me of the dangers of Witchcraft.

People who approach me with this sort of thing always start off on the same wrong foot.

There are two points I’d like to address before sharing this particular experience of mine.

First, I’m not a dabbler. I’m not a beginner. Do not approach this kind of conversation like you’re going to drop some knowledge I’ve never heard before. Believe me, in 30+ years of doing this, nothing you say is going to surprise me. Trust that I’ve heard it all:

“I used to be a witch…”
“I was a high priest/high priestess of Witchcraft…”
“Demons started attacking me…”
“I started having nightmares and hearing voices…”
“I used to do spells/tarot/seances/dream walking/or just insert occult activity of choice here…”

Second, because of my extensive experience in the Craft; a background illuminated by years of study, practice, and training; a naturally curious and skeptical nature; and critical thinking skills honed to the edge of a diamond-blade surgeon’s scalpel, I can tell when someone is completely full of shit, often within the first paragraph.

It is well known and understood that Christians believe it is their duty to reach out and share the gospel with others. As a Pagan Witch, I accept that this is going to be what happens whenever one of these kinds of people cross my path.

I genuinely enjoy discussing religious topics if it’s done in a respectful, intelligent manner. Please, let’s talk about how you see God and why you believe as you do. But, be willing to listen to my words as well. I have no desire to be talked at, but am happy to be spoken with.

However, do not try to approach this topic by taking on a fake mantel of experience you do not have.

It is not necessary, and it adds no more credibility or weight to your testimony to falsely claim experience with Witchcraft. If you have done things like tarot, astrology, meditation, yoga, or even tried casting spells, or anything else that gets swept under the wide banner of being occult or New Age, I’m open to hearing about your experiences with those and why you feel they were the wrong spiritual path for you to be on.

It’s just my own experiences in the Craft have been absolutely wonderful. This is something that is difficult for these people to understand, and even more challenging for them to accept.

I wouldn’t still be doing this after several decades if it weren’t a positive, affirming, joyful, uplifting spiritual experience. If your time with being involved with anything like magic or witchcraft was upsetting or unpleasant, then you absolutely should not do it.

However, your experiences do not supersede my own when dealing with my own life.

That would be like me swearing to you that tomato soup will make you horribly sick if you eat it, simply because that has always been the case for me. You can’t possibly enjoy tomato soup, even if it’s been prepared in such-and-such way and you have the world’s greatest grilled cheese sandwich to go with it because every time I’ve tried to eat tomato soup, I’ve been violently ill.

No one should eat tomato soup!
Ever!
And manufacturers should stop making it!
And restaurants should stop serving it!
And it should be eradicated from all cookbooks and recipe boxes for all time!

Or, you could just say, “I understand that you don’t like tomato soup, Lady Serpent. But I’ve always loved it and it reminds me of cold days spent laughing with my grandmother.”

I will never enjoy tomato soup and no one will ever convince me otherwise.

This particular email I am sharing is several years old. I was going through my old emails and came across this and it inspired me to do a blog post on this topic. So, I’m going to summarize it and my response to it.

It is my goal that by doing this, if you are a person who feels the urge to reach out to someone who is practicing one of these forbidden, occult things, you will come to a better understanding of how a Witch might react or engage in dialog with you.

Or, if you’re another Pagan, maybe this will provide some insight as to how you can handle it when you are approached by someone trying to convince you to change your path.

So, this is how the email started.

She said:
I used to be a witch. I got into it when I was about 13 and practiced with my friends who all thought it was cool. One girl was basically our leader cause she was more into it. We used to do spells on people at school and our parents whenever they were mean to us. I got really mad at this girl who bullied me, so I did magic and the next day her locker door flew back and smacked her in the face. That’s when I started having really bad dreams and trouble sleeping. I kept hearing something calling my name whenever I went to bed, but nothing was there. It used to keep me awake because I was afraid to sleep. This went on for a couple of years and I got more into witchcraft because I was looking for a way to stop the voice. I tried protection spells and talking to a psychic but nothing helped. My mom asked me what was wrong because I was so tired and drained and angry all the time. I didn’t want to tell her at first, but I finally told her what was going on. She prayed for me, and I asked God to forgive me and take away the evil that was following me around, and he did! After that, I didn’t have any more problems with sleeping and never heard the voices again. That’s why I’m telling you this. Witchcraft is real…

It went on for a bit longer, but that’s the bulk of it. She mentioned that the ‘leader’ talked her and the others into doing some really disgusting stuff involving blood magic and demons and such, and that she got introduced to an older guy who wanted to initiate her as his priestess.

Ending with, “Jesus loves you and died for your sins…” and all that.

My knee-jerk reaction was just to roll my eyes and ask if she got that from a movie or a Jack Chick pamphlet or something, because that sounded so contrived and it’s the same story I’ve heard/seen a zillion times before. But, I didn’t want to respond with that, because I also know that there are young people who watch movies and shows and think that’s what Witchcraft is, so they imitate it to the best of their limited knowledge, acting out campy scenes that they think will cause stuff to happen. Or, one of them gets a book of spells and they all gather together to have some fun.

The really disturbing part is the mentioning of the guy who claimed to be able to initiate her as a priestess, because that crazy stuff happens. People are often drawn to the Craft because of feeling alone or misunderstood, so they become prime targets for predators like this guy. She said she doesn’t have any more contact with her friends or him since she ‘turned back to God’, so that’s good.

I took the details of the email with a large grain of salt, but I can totally understand the feeling she had of being frightened and not knowing what was going on. I didn’t believe her about the blood magic and demons, because I also have seen cheesy horror movies.

I will caution anyone that people are a hundred times more dangerous than any demon or spiritual force, so exercise careful judgment when interacting with anyone who claims to do something like this.

But because there might be a sincere nugget of truth buried in all the fluff, I was not trying to deny her entire experience.

Just understand that it’s people coming from a religious background that stresses things like Witchcraft being demonic are the ones likely to have demonic experiences.

I’ve yet to meet someone who has a frightening encounter with some supernatural or paranormal thing that isn’t already a part of their religious background or paradigm.

None of my atheist friends have ever been attacked by demons, basically. It’s always the Christians who have to deal with this kind of stuff.

So, if she hexed her bully and then the girl had an accident with her locker, it’s far more likely that the nightmares and demonic voice were manifestations of her guilt and fear about Witchcraft. This is totally plausible and not surprising given she says she “went back to God…”, so the feeling she was doing something she ought not to can certainly bring that experience about.

So, this was my response:

Thank you for reaching out to me and telling me about your experiences and the uplifting feeling you have now as you’ve left those people and activities behind. I agree that what you went through was very disturbing and scary, and I’m so glad to hear that you’ve left that and found peace.

Unfortunately, there are many people who think that what they’re doing is Witchcraft, but it all seems that they’ve gotten it from things like books or movies and not real, practical study or experience.

There are also creeps like that guy in all religions and practices, and Witchcraft is no exception. That happened to you as a young person, so I hope that you’ve continued to learn and grow so that you will know what to watch out for in the future. For your benefit, I advise you to continue to steer clear of these kinds of people and practices.

I also understand and can appreciate the sincerity in seeking to approach me and offer your insight. I have been actively practicing Witchcraft for many, many years— probably longer than you’ve been alive. What you describe having happened to you has never been my experience. I’ve never been afraid of what I was doing or afraid of something happening to me. I’ve never had nightmares or felt like evil beings were bothering me.

You say “Witchcraft is real…”

Yes, it is and it’s okay that it’s not for you. But as for myself, I’m keeping to it.

I hope that you continue to have a great life and an abundance of joy and blessings!

So, in conclusion:
If you’re going to reach out to a practicing Witch or Pagan and you have no actual personal experience with BEING a Witch or a Pagan, please do not falsely claim it as a way to build credibility or give more impact to your conversion attempt. We know you’re lying, and that just makes your whole story pointless.

This is ten times more true if you’re going to claim you were some sort of ‘high leader’ or ‘priest/priestess’ of something. Experienced witches in general know how to sniff these sorts of claims out. Save yourself from looking and sounding foolish.

Also, practices of different Wiccan/Witchcraft Traditions are so varied that being a High Priest/Priestess in one does not automatically convey any sort of authority to practitioners outside of that Tradition. Unless the Witch is seeking to join or study under you or what Tradition you claim, your title means practically nothing, and less so if you don’t even have it any longer.

If your spiritual message is worth anything, then it can stand on its own merit. If you feel like you must lie to make your point, you’re not really a very good spokesperson for the worth of your own faith, so why should I believe you?

And for other Witches/Pagans who are approached with this: Try to be earnest and understanding. Offer your position, and feel free to disengage if the conversation is not productive or you feel like you aren’t being heard or respected. You don’t owe anyone an explanation, and your choices are valid. In the end, all religions or spiritual practices are based on individual faith and experience. We don’t have the call to convert others to our practice, so let them be as they are. The gods call their own to them. Their god has called them. That’s all there is to it.