Hi pornies! How are you today? As I said before, I’ve been reading a freaking lot, and I just came across an enlightening line (try to day that five times and fast, ha) that I wanted to share. This line is taken from a review copy of A History of Magic and Witchcraft: Sabbats, Satan and Superstitions in the West, by Frances Timbers (thanks to the publisher, you rock!) which I will review in the near future, so stay tuned!
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| Three Witches, MacBeth, by James Henry Nixon, British Museum, 1831 |
One method of distinguishing between religion and magic is to examine the intent of the practitioner. The religious officiant offers prayer and sacrifice to the gods submissively, in the hopes that the gods will be pleased and smile kindly on him or her. The magician, on the other hand, tries to manipulate and control the supernatural spirits to obtain his desires. But this still leaves the question of why Circe is considered a witch but Odysseus not.
It would be too easy, way too easy, just to scream and shout “because patriarchy!” However, after reading the myths of each in the book, the difference is crystal clear to me. Circe is a witch because she harmed Odysseus, while Odysseus simply contacted the dead Tiresias to answer a question. That’s it.
What? Yes, I’m serious about this, and if not, read the book (which is giving me an amazing while at the time of this writing) and you’ll see why. We witches have been perceived as wise and dangerous, mostly that last one.
To know how to heal is to know how to harm. To know how to defend, you must know how to attack. There’s no other way. It doesn’t matter that Circe then helped Odysseus, because in doing harm, she would be labeled as a witch in the future. If she was the daughter of a false God, according to the Catholic Church, said God had to be Satan, which in turn would make her a demon, a witch.
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| Départ pour le Sabbat, by Albert Joseph Pénot, 1910 |
How does this affect my practice? Not too much, to be honest. Although I don’t do harm on purpose, I doubt it not to give back what I got. Whether you wished me luck or ill, I wish you thrice. Yeah, I still carry that bit of my beginning as a Wiccan, with the difference that now it’s me who gives back, not only the Gods.
You may think it is ridiculous or silly, but having a clear definition of what I am, even though I’ve been it since I was 13 years old (okay, I was mostly a caster of spells I found on a magazine, but we all got started somewhere,) is important for me. I have imagined a countless times what I would say if anyone asked me about this very difference, and I wouldn’t come across a solid response. Thank you, Miss Timbers!
This doesn’t mean that you must do harm to be a witch. It means that you need to acknowledge that you know how to do it. I used to say that magic shouldn’t be poised with harm and curses, that it preserved the stereotype, but there always comes a time with you must come back from cloud 9, stand your ground and say “You don’t wanna mess with me, sweetheart.”
To harm or not to harm is a personal question everyone should consider. For example, if someone punched you in the face, what would you do? You’d probably ask them to get away, but what if they keep doing it? Or if they don’t even let you speak? What if they punch your BFF, your sibling, your parent, child, spouse, partner, pet…? I can only speak for myself, and so I can tell you this: I would not hold a puck back, although I’m still waiting for someone to really ask for it. Think about it and let me know what you came up with.
PS: Although this wasn’t written at Midnight, but at 8 PM, I’ll keep the name for this regular section.
Kinky regards, K!
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