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learn witchcraft, Magic, Modern Witchcraft, Pagan, paganism, Spells, Spellwork, The Witch House, What do witches do?, witchcraft
When Danny Robins interviewed me for “The Witch House” (which I didn’t realise would be a horror until months later!) I taught him a healing chant and a rune for self-protection, and he asked me;
So, what do witches actually do?
Danny Robins (and so many other people I’ve spoken to!)
And I answered, something like:
In my tradition, we tune into the flow of magic, build relationships with the spirits, and work magic to change our selves, our lives, and the world for the better.
Me, paraphrased, from memory
And then… he asked me again. Twice more.
I was completely confused, until about two hours later when I realised that he wanted to know :
How do witches do what they do?
(At least, I guess that’s what he was asking?)
Now, ask 13 witches what they do and you’ll get at least 3 dozen different answers, but I can give you some idea of the most common things at least!
SIDENOTE: When I say “witch”, I mean those of us choosing it as a religious and spiritual term, and not the nasty meaning (wicked magic users) or the aesthetic (Halloween-tastic) or the political feminist (Woman In Total Control of Herself) – though I enjoy that it can mean so many things. I love that “Witch” is a shapeshifter term used, today, most often as an empowerment for those of us magical folk outside the mainstream. (Read my thoughts on why I use the term “witch” even though some people still see it as negative!)
Generally, though, Witches today often:
- Make offerings of incense, food, drink, and song to build relationship with spirits, deities, ancestors, and the beings of the land
- Honour the land with environmental action and/or energetic healing and mindfulness of our impact
- Use household or found objects like candles, herbs, string, pebbles, shells to cast spells (sympathetically enacting the change we want to happen in the world – I’ve got a whole course on this!)
- Work on knowing ourselves – through journaling, meditation, paying attention, exploring our stories, ritual, reflection, divination…
- Work on being the best version of ourselves – better at magic, better people, better at being the most us we can be
- Use ritual and magical tools to improve ourselves and our lives – and the lives of people around us, if they choose (or we’re responsible for them)
- Pay attention to the land and the energy of the world to work with the flow of magic
- Healing! Through ritual, spellwork, or healing modalities we’ve learned! (I trained as a holistic therapist in my teens to improve my healing skills!)
- Divination – tarot, runes, ogham, tea leaves, pendulums, coffee grounds… so many different ways to Listen to the Divine in the world.
- Celebrate the turning of the seasons and our communities – picture from our Samhain ritual, as we moved into the winter.
- Explore different states of consciousness – such as through dream, trance, ecstatic ritual – to learn about ourselves and the world, to connect with magic, and to change things for the better.
And whatever else we want to do, because, honestly, we make our own rules!
I probably need to talk a bit more about a lot of those, so watch out for future blogposts…
And I’d love to hear from my witchy folk in the comments… if someone asked you “what do witches do?” what would you say???
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About the Halo:
In case this is our first meeting, hi! This is me, Halo Quin.
I am a witch, storyteller, pagan author, singer-songwriter, poet, Dr of Philosophy, Tarot Reader, Faery-Lover, ADHDer, and general delighter-in life.
And I’m delighted to meet you!
Halo Quin 