So, this blog is the Challenges of being a Witch in today's society.........
My first thought was Help!! followed by hmmmmm - what challenges do I face....... well, I have to be honest and say I am one of the very, very lucky Witches as my family accept my Path and I haven't encountered any real intolerance from friends or acquaintances. For that I do give thanks daily.
So, lets broaden my horizon and look at my sphere of FB Witch friends and whilst I haven't got nearly the same number of 'friends' on there as I used to I was still pretty surprised by how many I had - and after I read some posts a picture began to emerge and then I got to the researching on t'net!!!
Intolerance teemed with ignorance seems to be one of the biggest challenges we Witches face today, from the typical response of someone when you say you are a Witch (do you sacrifice animals??) to the outrageous and stomach churning case in the papers of poor Kristy Bamu (trigger warning - only open the link if you are well shielded).
How do we change society's perception of us..... well, my method is one person at a time........ If they engage me in conversation!!!
I am very open about who and what I am - but I know many of my fellow Witches can't be that open and so the challenge they face each day is how to stay 'in the closet' and yet still honour their path and the Divine, one of the things i've read many times that seems to challenge these Witches is the Altar and either not having space or not being able to have a permanent Altar due to conflict of space or attitudes.
Or you could use oracle or Tarot cards (The Well Worn Path oracle cards are particularly good for this).
I am fortunate in that I do not face many challenges (well, apart from trying to convince my Father than I don't kill demons on an hourly basis ........ he loves Charmed and as he puts it .... "You are into all that Wicca stuff")
I can talk about my faith, my craft openly and honestly. I can have my Altar (in fact I have two) and I don't have to hide who I am.... but I know that this is not true for everyone and that for every closet Witch there are four or five closet Witch Hunter Generals out there ........ the burning times may have been in the past but I do fear that they are but a heartbeat away in this intolerant time!
These are some of the challenges we Witches face in today's society, I'd be interested to hear what Challenges you face and how you overcame them ..........
love and blessings to all
bunni x x x
Great post, and like yourself, I have never met with much opposition either. Of course I get the usual kind of thing...are you a black or white witch (as if there is a difference!!!), do you curse people, do you run around your back garden naked on a full moon (well, yes actually sometimes I do but not in winter...far too cold). you know the type of thing. But you're right...ignorance does breed intolerance and I think that's the same no matter what one's spiritual path. There are definite challenges for some witches but I also think sometimes witches make the matter worse by 'hiding'. Although in some cases coming out of the broom closet has been extremely traumatic for them. I guess I'm very blessed to be able to work my Craft openly with minimum hassle, if any at all. I have to say I'm glad I live in a country where witchcraft is tolerated (and in my experience mostly ignored). I'd hate to live in Bible Belt USA. Our brothers and sisters face far more challenges and prejudice there than here in England.
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Deep~Glade
Like you, I haven't faced many challenges at all practicing my faith - I've been out of the closet since High School and it's been a considerable amount of time since then and the worst I've gotten is "So, what does that mean?" Except online - I posted a short series of tutorials on YouTube and got some atheist hate for them.
ReplyDeleteI've heard really horrific things from other people, though, and am so grateful I've lived in such open and accepting regions.
I'm also one who hasn't had many challenges practicing my faith. The most challenging encounter I had was when my mother came home to find me cleaning my athame (I was living at home at the time after college). Now I live over in California and have a great group of friends who are pagan or pagan friendly. I'm even out to a few folks at work and there's no issues so far. I hope it stays that way!
ReplyDeleteThere are definitely areas where pagans have a much harder time of it! I'm glad I don't live there.
I'm another lucky one living in a pagan-friendly society locally and in my circle of family, friends and acquaintances. I find it hard to get my head around the idea that in some cultures and countries today people are still brutally killed for practising witchcraft. I can't imagine how I'd cope living in such a place!! :(
ReplyDeleteAdmit I'm lucky as far as not facing any major acceptance challenges, my mother just doesn't mention it and I'm ok with that. My biggest challenges have actually come from within the pagan community and the snarky bitchy ego trips that can occur.
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