Becoming a Witch

If you decided to become a witch today, and you went out in search of a coven to join, you would soon find yourself in a state of utter confusion. You would find Satanists claiming to be true witches, Gardnerian covens (followers of Gerald Gardner), covens of Continental witches, streghe (or Italian witches), feminist (or Dianic) witches, and self-styled neo-pagans of every description (from those who worship Aphrodite and call themselves Aphrodisians to Ferafarians who believe in the celebration of “Wilderness Mysteries” and devote themselves to the lyrical union of ecology and art).

Most of these neo-pagan groups have pieced together their rituals and beliefs from fragments of ancient religions, liturgies written by their founders, and bits of orally transmitted magical traditions. But underlying all this is a powerful and quite sincere need for religious ritual that speaks relevantly to today’s concerns.

What tendencies unify neo-pagans? A preoccupation with ecology and the way the planet has been plundered in the name of Christianity; a vision of the feminine principle present in the creation (whether we call her the Mother Goddess, Mother Nature, Persephone, Ishtar, Aphrodite, Astarte, Innanna, or Mary); an understanding that the male-dominated religions upon which our culture is based often serve as apologias for destruction and war rather than as spurs to creativity and peace; and a passionate craving for ritual and self-dedication—in short, for religious practices that will both ease the individual’s progress through life (and death) and at the same time join us to one another in a meaningful community.

There is a sense among neo-pagans and others that Christianity, Judaism, and Mohammedanism have failed to meet these needs. Feminists find themselves unable to support religious traditions that have institutionalized the inferiority of women. Pacifists are outraged by religious establishments that speak of peace but covertly support war. In general, our religions seem out of touch with our lives. The neo-pagan movement, such as it is, grows out of this restlessness.

It would be foolish to pretend that it is a mass movement or that it seriously threatens any established church. It does not. But its very existence is an indication of changing consciousness and the ongoing reevaluation of dominant religions that is proceeding beneath the surface of our much-publicized revival of born-again Christianity. People need rituals, techniques of meditation and prayer, a conviction that singly and communally they can influence (if not control) their environment. They need prayers for the dead (and for the living), celebrations of the seasons, celebrations of births, and mourning rituals for deaths. These rituals must comfort and center the self, provide strength in times of hardship, serve to unify families and communities. The attraction to neo-paganism, witchcraft, the occult, as well as to Eastern religions is an indication that our established Western religions are not adequately fulfilling these needs. They have become too worldly, too concerned with the preservation of their own hierarchies; they have come to mirror the worldly powers they were designed to balance. They are no longer truly spiritual entities.

The revival of interest in witchcraft is part of the whole neo-pagan movement. Often people are attracted to witchcraft for the wrong reasons—the desire to hex their enemies, to attend orgies, to shock their parents. But there are poignant and quite reasonable bases for the attraction to witchcraft: the desire to return to a religion that honors nature; the desire to acknowledge the potent force of sexuality in our lives; the desire to question the failings of organized religions; the desire to learn ancient techniques of meditation and healing.