The practice of witchcraft has undergone many changes throughout the years. Some of these changes have been good and some of them not so good. Some changes are being touted as “modern ideas”, while older practices are regarded as “outdated” or “no longer relevant”. The ways of the Witch have become sanitized and diluted to make them more acceptable to the masses. Witches are not feared as they once were. The witch is more than just someone who wears pretty crystals and lights scented candles, while chanting healing words under a full moon, with New Age music playing in the background. There is a place for this, but we must not become too attached to a romanticized image. A witch can make someone’s life easier. A witch can also make someone’s life very unpleasant, and sometimes it is necessary. We are not docile and harmless. For the witch, Light and Dark are two sides of the same coin. In the old days, you wanted to be on the witch’s good side. To provoke a witch could be quite dangerous. For a very long time, witches were respected and feared in equal measure. Then along came the Wiccan Rede. The disclaimer “Do what you will and harm none” made it socially acceptable to be a witch, as in “I’m a witch but it’s okay because I follow the Rede”. This generated the false notion that “good” witches follow the Rede and “bad” ones do not. Before Gerald Gardner and Doreen Valiente, there was no Wiccan Rede, no Threefold Law. Witches were simply witches, living by their own ethical codes and moral standards. They were sovereign, each living according to their own rules. This is the way of the Old Ways Witch. It is not because of the Rede that the innocent are not harmed. The reason the innocent are not harmed is because they are innocent. The other side of this coin is that those who provoke a witch can no longer claim innocence. Back us into a corner and we come out fighting. If someone has a knife to your throat, throwing “love and light” at them isn’t going to save you. You will do what is necessary to protect yourself. There are times when banishings, bindings and curses are absolutely called for, such as when dealing with a stalker or someone seeking to harm your family. There are also times when they are definately NOT called for, such as when an insecure High Priestess chooses to banish from the community anyone who disagrees with her. I do not completely agree with the idea of doing something to make their lives better so they leave you alone. It’s a bit like that ridiculous Bible verse that says “bless those who persecute you”. Sure. Bless them so they can persecute others. Sorry, NO. The witch must remain someone who is both respected and feared.

The Witch and Sovereignty

As a witch, it is your right be sovereign. You develop your own practices, rituals and spells, using methods that work best for you. The way you practice witchcraft is not subject to anyone’s approval or permission. There are far too many people on social media trying to police how others practice. It is childish and ridiculous. I have seen both extremes. There are those who say you’re not “authorized” to engage in certain magical practices unless you belong to a particular culture or tradition. There are casual, lazy types who spout such nonsense as “you don’t need anything, you have all you need within you” and “the only important thing is intention”. They make witchcraft seem so simple, so easy, as if you could cast spells while you’re eating a cheeseburger or watching a movie and you don’t even have to get up from the couch. Witchcraft is not as simplified as people try to make it seem.

The Witch and The Night

The most powerful witches make a connection with the energies of the night. When the moon rises, and many begin preparing for sleep, this is when the abilities of the witch are strongest. It is during the night-time hours, particularly between 3am-5am, when astral interference is at it’s lowest ebb. The chaotic energies generated by social interactions, cellphones, traffic and other anxieties of the day have ceased, if only for a short time. During this time the spells cast by a witch can flow unhindered through the ether. The powers of psychic suggestion and magical intention reach their destinations with less impedance. The night has a special kinship with the word occult, which simply means hidden. In the same way that the night hides and obscures, occult wisdom is hidden from those without the awareness to comprehend it. Witches are the hidden ones. They do not fear the night, for they wear it as a cloak. Witches have long been associated with the night, as they themselves are creatures of the night.

The night is a conscious force with it’s own tangible energy. The darkness of Night is the realm of potentiality, the nothingness from which all things emerge. All things are birthed out of darkness, from the plants that rise from beneath the earth to the child that emerges from the darkness of the womb. To tap into this force, simply wait until the midnight hour has passed and turn off all lights. The only light should come from natural sources, such as moonlight or candlelight. Open a window, close your eyes and take several deep breaths until you reach a meditative state. Isolate that sound of night-time stillness. This can be difficult to do if you live in a metropolitan area, with constant sirens, car horns and people shouting in the street. If this is the case, treat it as an exercise in concentration and focus. If you live in a rural or wooded area, it will be much easier. Tap into the indefinable energy of the night.

When we look up into the night sky and gaze upon the moon goddess in all of her fullness, we can feel a sense of nurturing and maternal love. Old witchcraft lore tells us that the moon has a strong link with the spirits of the dead. Communication with the spirit world can take place with much less restriction during the late night hours. Those who interact with spirit guides and the departed dead find that their communications are much clearer and easier to interpret during the dark of the night. Divination tools such as the tarot and the crystal ball seem to be particularly enhanced in the night-time hours.

The Witch and the Liminal

Many modern witches seem to have forgotten that we are meant to “walk between the worlds” of the seen and the unseen, the living and the dead, the magical and the mundane. A witch of the Old Ways communes with many spirits, not only of the departed dead, but also the spirits of plants, stones, trees, bodies of water, animals and planetary forces. Like the Long Man of Wilmington, we stand in the doorway that separates this world and the Otherworld.

The Witch and Blood, Bone and Shadow

A truly powerful witch does not shy away from the use of blood (usually their own) in rituals and spells. Our blood contains the essence of our ancestors. Blackthorn Witches place three drops of their own blood into their wands. This infuses the wand with their life force and forges a stronger bond. Blood is a powerful addition to spells. There is nothing evil or malevolent about using blood in witchcraft. It produces quick results and connects us to those who came before us. Many witches also frequently use bones, particularly animal bones and skulls. This helps us connect with animal guides and partake of their wisdom. Many will also use artificial human skulls as a tool to contact the dead, as bones contain ancestral DNA. Working with ‘shadow’ in witchcraft not only refers to the Shadow Self, those things we keep hidden from others, but also to the retrieval of hidden wisdom. The late Raven Grimassi has written some very informative works on this topic. Blood, Bone and Shadow are also linked to three colors of traditional witchcraft: Red, White and Black. You may have seen traditional witches wearing cords made from these colors. Red is linked to Blood, White to Bone and Black to Shadow.

Re-Awakening The Witch

These concepts and ideas are not often seen in the lives of many so-called “modern” witches, those who view witchcraft as a hobby or something fun to do on the weekend. Witchcraft is not all love and light, incense and candles. Those who choose to call themselves “witch” must also embrace the necessary darkness that it holds. It is equally important that others see us not only as someone who can help them, but also someone who is not to be provoked without consequence. The time has come to re-awaken the witch and return to the Old Ways.