Welcome To Witchcraft

Witches…we exist.

This may not come as a surprise since scrolling through any social media platform reveals influencer after influencer posting pictures of their sage bundles, crystals and tarot cards. This is a far cry from when I began my own practice over two decades ago. Back then, we witchy folk were limited to the few books on Ebay, the forums of the first internet and of course about.com/witchcraft (R.I.P.).

Guess who got suspended from the schools computers for printing literature about witchcraft? This person. And yes, I still have them!

Now, with #Witchcraft featured in over 6 Million posts on Instagram, and the content of magazines like Vogue amassing a collection of witch related titles, it would appear that witchcraft is becoming mainstream. (What else would you expect from the generations of Pluto in Scorpio and Sagittarius?) It is easy to say - there are more witches than EVER.

Yet as much exposure as we all experience to witchcraft, so much of it remains a mystery.

Well welcome to our Enchanted life.

Part of the reason that I carved out this sliver of the Universe was to share the love, experiences and understanding of Witchcraft so that others would have access to such a powerful practice of exploration, empowerment and expansion.

So today, and indefinitely, we are going to explore Witchcraft - What it is and the reasons that make it such a powerful resource for anyone who would like to live an enchanting life.

Let’s get started.

So what is Witchcraft?

Is it Science? An Art? Magic?

Is it spirituality? A belief system? A practice?

Is a trend? An aesthetic?

Is it a lifestyle? A culture?

A way of viewing and moving through the world?

Yes.

Witchcraft is actually all of those things.

It is said that if you ask thirteen different witches what witchcraft is and what it means to them - you are going to get at least fifteen different answers.

That's because witchcraft means something different to everyone who practices it ( and even those who don't). For that reason, witchcraft fits into a lot of different boxes but doesn’t completely fit into any single one.

That's the true power of Witchcraft - it is what it is, and most importantly it is what it is to you as a practitioner.

Now of course this is Witchpowerment, and I knew that if I wanted to share about witchcraft and represent witchcraft to the best of my ability, that I would need to be very clear about my own beliefs and definitions. I began exploring, defining and refining.

The definition that felt most inclusive to all that is witchcraft without eliminating any of the nuances that differentiate it from other paths is:

 Witchcraft is the practice of consciously shifting one's reality or the reality of another in a way in which the practitioner desires.

And as witches, we do so by leveraging the knowledge and power of one of 3 modalities - Science, Art, and most infamously Magic - to create the changes we wish to experience.

Consider these the Holy Trinity of Witchcraft.

Witchcraft + Science

Though often portrayed as at odds with one another, the separation between Witchcraft in Science is an illusion.

Science is the “systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.”

As human beings who exist in a physical reality, who learn through observation and experimentation, in part we are all scientists. (Just ask Neil deGrasse Tyson)

As witches, if we seek to influence and effect change in our reality, we have to understand HOW it actually works.

Biology? Ecology? Anatomy and Bio-Chemisty? Physics? These are the collective explanations for what all of this - gestures broadly at everything - is and how all of this it works.  

Science is our greatest teacher of cause and effect. The information that we use

And on the flip side - Natural magic, alchemy, and astrology have all played prominent roles in inspiring some of the most influential scientists through out our history including Galileo, Isaac Newton, and Albert Einstein.

Witchcraft is Science

Witchcraft + Art

Unlike the other creatures whom share our world, our consciousness has expanded beyond the need for pure survival.

One of the ways this manifests is our ability and drive to create ART. We create for expression, communicating ideas, recording events and just for the sake of creating.

If Science is the mind, Art is the heart.

Art is the expression and application of creative skills and imagination.

By exploring the arts, we learn the many ways in which we, both ourselves and others, express and embody our emotion realities.

If we then work with these expressive skillsets and craft works to purposefully illicit a desired response from ourselves and others, deliberately shifting realities….that is Witchcraft.

Witchcraft is Art. 

Witchcraft is MAGIC

Magic is of course the most notable of the Witch’s Holy Trinity.

Magic is one of the most ancient and traditional aspects of human culture and therefore has been interpreted differently through out history.

 So let's explore,

• The most widely accepted definition of magic within the modern witch community is, "The Art and Science of conforming reality with Will."  This definition is attributed to the world renowned occultist, Aleistor Crowley.

  In addition, he believed that all intentional acts had the potential to become magical if preformed in alignment with one's soul mission or purpose. (Will, Soul, Desire - Remember these terms, they’ll be important later)

• Magic is an application of beliefs, rituals and actions taken to acknowledge and/or influence natural or supernatural beings and forces. This is often viewed as separate from religion, but find me a religion where there isn't magic. Deities are SUPERNATURAL BEINGS. Now, no one is required to recognize spiritual/religious entities but because some do…all magic.

• Magic is used to reference the energy and connectivity of all things. And we use it to describe people, places, experiences and ideas in which we feel that connective resonance.

ALL of the previously mentioned can be considered Magic, or attributed to the "supernatural", because ALL lack one thing - quantifiable measure and proof.

 Why?

Magic manifests through synchronicity.

Synchronicity is, "the simultaneous occurrence of events which appear significantly related but have no discernible causal connection".

However, in the case of magic, the discernable connection is the individual.

No two human beings experience life exactly the same. Regardless of which definition you choose, Magic is based on an individual's interpretation of their reality and experiences.

Therefore, there is no way to provide PROOF and thus, supernatural.

Consider Magic the “AND “EVERYTHING ELSE” of our existence.

BUT for the sake of clarity, how I would define magic is,

“Magic is acknowledgmentand exploration of consciousness, sacred mysteries and the supernatural.”

If you are working within the realm of wielding what you understand of the supernatural to shape your reality…that is Witchcraft.

Witchcraft is Magic.

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So is Witchcraft,

Science? Art? Magic?

Yes.

And it may also be a spirituality, a belief system, a practice.

And a trend and an aesthetic.

A lifestyle!

Yes, it’s all of those things and more.

Witchcraft means something different to everyone who practices it. For that reason, it fits into a lot of different boxes but doesn’t completely fit into any single one. (ALL of which will be exploring in future posts - Stay Tuned)

And if you find yourself, seeking to consciously change your circumstance to align with your dreams, your desires…well darling, you're a witch.

Welcome to Witchcraft.

And Welcome to Witchpowerment.

Part of the reason that I carved out this sliver of the Universe was to share the love, experiences and understanding of Witchcraft so that others would have access to such a powerful practice of exploration, empowerment and expansion.

Witchcraft is what it is, and most importantly it is what it is to you the practitioner.

Witchcraft is a Science, Art, and Magic. Regardless of whether you tend view the world through one of these lenses OR a mixture of all three, there is a way for you to practice Witchcraft; empowering YOU to explore your own reality and relationship to the Universe. And in doing so grant you the knowledge and power to shift reality as you favor.

So are you “feeling witchy”? Which modality tends to suit you? In what order? Percentage? Why?

See what I mean about exploration? Empowerment? Expansion?

Stayed tuned darling. Until next time,

May You Live Enchanted,

Randi Ruby