.png)
.png)
You may have noticed the increasing fashion for 'witchiness'.
'Witch' has suffered the same fate as many personal and powerful things - it has become a brand, a marketing opportunity, an easy signifier for something that offers the promise of female power and autonomy.
In the 1960s and 1970s, 'Witch' suffered the same fate. In amongst all the incredible healing work, revelations and revolutions, commerce found a way to capitalise. Same with the 90s and 00s. What was once potent, when co-opted and swallowed by commerce, begins to lose its power.
Recently some clients and students who work with me for spiritual insight, psychic development and strengthening intuition are questioning the authenticity of some of what they see, and are sharing their thoughts, feelings and concerns with me. This questioning is a good indication that they have arrived at a place where they are trusting their intuition for discernment, and this comes only with lived experience of spiritual and crafting practices, and ofcourse listening to your gut. (One of my flower essences - Potentilla, is a wonderful teacher for this. She's all about strengthening intuition and developing discernment to know what is ‘trick’ and what is ‘treat’/truth.)
You're a Witch, aren't you? A White Witch. You do spells?
This was a question I was asked recently by an acquaintance. I cannot tell you how many times over the years I've been asked if I am a witch. It's a natural question. Witch is not a name I have chosen to use for myself, have never used personally for myself, as there is much to my practice that is not necessarily defined as this. Strange then perhaps that the medicine garden at my practice is called WytchWood - it named itself, I did not choose it! I am, however, the definition of a Witch, a medicine woman who communes with the Earth and works with these gifts for the healing of her community. We each have the names we prefer to go by. Whatever you go by, it does not matter. What does matter is that, if you are pulled toward a spiritual life, a life of deep connection, we all have a duty to honour our practices.
Samhain
Once there was the celebration of Autumnal harvests, the berries, nuts, seeds, apples and there are still honourings of this - many Pagans continue to observe this celebration - but it has sadly been replaced in the mainstream. In Scotland a common practice at Halloween was dookin’ for apples. Apples were placed in a barrel of water and the aim was to dunk your head in the water and catch an apple in your teeth - being soaked in the process is half the fun! For me, Halloween as a child at my grandmother’s house, it was the kitchen sink basin, brought into the living room, with a bath towel underneath. We each were given a fork, the handle gripped in our teeth and dropped it into the basin to ‘spear’ an apple. Another tradition was guising, now Americanised as trick or treat. We each had to have a ‘turn’ - that is a joke, song, poetry or party piece - where we entertained our family and neighbours before receiving monkey nuts, toffee apples and sweets.
These may seem like sentimental memories of childhood - and I suppose in one way they are, a mourning for lost traditions - but they are reflective of a connection with the Earth, the seasons, rituals and honouring the beginning of the season of death, where the last of the fruits are dropped alongside the leaves, and the natural world begins to hibernate. Samhain was, and still is, a time to honour the dead. It is a time where we too begin to draw inward, reflecting and exploring the darkness, the cycles of life and death, the cycles of the seasons. Time to honour those people and things we have lost, to hold our glowing lanterns aloft and light the way for their safe passage.
Reclamation
Samhain involves re-acquainting ourselves with Death, the Harvester we spend our lives in fear of, desperately trying to avoid. In modern times, Halloween has slowly but surely morphed into an idolising of horror characters and general terror. In the old ways, Death, and those She took throughout the year, were honoured, respected and revered at Samhain; now it is replaced by the worship of movie psychopaths. We also seem to have forgotten the sensitivities and innocence of children. Some of the decorations in shops and on the outside of houses, as well as some of the costumes for children, are an indication of a lack of reverence for both death and life.
This is what we do when we step into a costume, a ‘disguise’. Shamans throughout the world have specific robes and clothing they reserve for shamanic work - I have my own adornments reserved solely for this sacred work - and this is to be able to place ourselves in the mindset and energy of what we are embarking upon. The sacred clothing and tools are imbued with the energy of the work so that each time we step into these specific items, we are communing with the energy of that which we are calling upon. If you have a specific outfit you like to wear because it makes you feel confident or a pendant that helps you feel protected, this is similar. We all have a robe and talisman of one kind or another.
We must be mindful of those energies which we commune with, those which we request, that which we draw down into the earthly realm. We are stepping into the energy of these ‘characters’, we are calling upon them. We are idolising and worshipping them, strengthening their energetic anchor in culture. When we think of costumes in these terms, the implications of modern Halloween - and the huge focused energy behind it - actually does become rather scary. We must reclaim Witch and Samhain, wrestle them from the grasp of commercialism, of ignorance, of fashion, of the ego and the self.
Which Is Witch
It is important to explore those things we come across that don't 'ring true'. We are doing ourselves and the world no favours if we do not look at the shadow aspects, those things hidden under the cloak, under the guise of celebration, under the banner of ‘witchiness’.
We also have the tendency to externalise those things that require inner work. Because the inner work is hard. Nothing cast or invoked will effectively change anything if we do not do the inner work. We need to develop our skill in communing with both the inner and outer worlds, seeing how we relate to each other, how the relationship can strengthen and this requires dedication to truly knowing ourselves, exploring the world around us, communing with a higher power and being mindful of what we bring into this world. Then, and only then, can we begin to see which is witch.
© Copyright Flourish and contributors. For personal information only.