witchcraft and transcendence

Witchcraft and Transcendence

witchcraft and transcendence

Having recovered from Religious Trauma earlier this year, I’m now looking back. We are in Mercury retrograde season, after all. Pluto is retrograde too as it happens and the eclipses are doing their thing, clearing away all that no longer belongs in our lives. So what does still belong? In today’s post, I’m taking a look at witchcraft and specifically witchcraft and transcendence.

Witchcraft was an important system of transcendence for me to work with for many legs of my spiritual journey. But is it something I can or indeed should return to now that I have cleared out the guilt and shame remnants of organised religion? Do I need witchcraft to transcend? Would it fill my life with meaning and a sense of significance? Does it align with my core values?

I have been listening to Thorn Mooney’s The Witch’s Path on Audible and it has given me fresh eyes for revisiting this old on-again-off-again path of mine. I’m at the stage where I’m allowing myself to ask lots of questions without feeling a need to commit. It’s fun and life-giving to feel like it’s okay to just keep asking lots and lots of questions. It’s exciting because connects me with that beginner’s mind I had when I first started exploring the Craft.

Am I a Witch?

It depends on who you ask. Many traditional ‘gatekeeper’ witches would be quick to tell you that I never was even though I have been practising off and on for 20 years. And here we face the same dilemma that I always faced in organised religion. Trying but never quite succeeding to fit in. It’s definitely time to stop trying!

A real witch doesn’t care about fitting in, of course. To be a witch is to be powerful, after all. And when you are truly powerful, people-pleasing is the last thing on your mind. You have more important things to get on with.

But looking at the witchcraft community in general, I detect a trend of it becoming less elitist with the younger generations stepping forward and taking the reins. I’m thinking of people like Astrea Taylor and her book Intuitive Witchcraft. There are more and more voices affirming that ‘Yes, your Witchcraft is valid’ even when it is different from what everyone else is practising.

These voices are not negating the need to learn the basics or the history of witchcraft. What they are affirming is that witchcraft is a form of self-expression. And really, how could it be any other way? If you want conformity, dogma and fitting in, there are already plenty of organised religions to choose from.

Are All Women Witches?

When we are in tune with our inner divine feminine, we are inherently intuitive and attuned to Mother Nature. This probably always appeared ‘witchy’ to people who are more left-brained and keen to obey the rules of patriarchy.

Traditionally, women have been more inclined to tap into their inner feminine. However, men are able to do it too, just as many women have a strong inner masculine which is very handy when it comes to worldly power.

But witchcraft has been associated mainly with women throughout history for a reason and it is not hard to see why.

In a sense, I believe that all humans who are in tune with the Divine Feminine practice the Craft in one of its multitude of expressions. This is akin to how Christians who honour Mother Nature engage in ChristoPagan practices and not necessarily by intellectually going through the process of ‘blending paths.’

So is there any need for labels? No, not really. But we still can’t help but use them. It’s human nature. And as long as we use them playfully, realising that the world is our stage, I don’t see anything wrong with it.

Witchcraft and Transcendence

Witchcraft helped me transcend duality in the past. I feel it can do the same again, even more powerfully, especially now that I have left the final vestiges of religious dogma behind.

I found the Rede below that I created many moons ago during a period of self-empowerment on my path. And I feel the words still stand. This is a true expression of who I am and how I transcend. This is how I connect Heaven and Earth, honour and give expression to both.

The journey back to this truth has been long, arduous and not without collateral damage. And to sum it up, I would have to say that it is about believing in my own power. Not only believing in it but no longer fearing it.

To be fair, this has been a longer-than-usual journey because it involved recovering from CPTSD and RTS. But I am proud of what I have achieved and immensely grateful for the grace and assistance I have received along the way.

the solitary witch's rede

The Solitary Witch’s Rede

I bide no law but the Law of the Heart.

My coven kith and kin are spirits fair.

Growing in wisdom, honing my Art,

I turn to the East, inhaling the morning Air.

Standing in my power, reaching ever higher

I open my arms to the Sun and greet Fire.

Stella Maris, Heaven’s Queen, I am your daughter;

Facing west, I drink in the love of your sacred Water.

Accepting this form, I honour my body and blood.

Blessed by my kin, I turn North to kiss the Earth.

Surrendering completely to Father Sky above,

I see the Light of Spirit descend like a dove.

What I send out comes back to me;

This holds true and is clear to see,

So I need no law of three times three.

My rede is my own, I do not take part–

I bow to no one and I trust my heart!

Check out my post about the pros and cons of being a Solitary Practitioner and this one about Angelic Witchcraft!

love raven liora

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