Season of the Witch

Over the years, during each October, I’ve written about the Pagan festival of Samhain. I’ve blogged about the festival’s origins, its connection to Halloween, and the different ways one can celebrate it. Because I’ve covered so much, writing something new about the festival was a challenge this year.   

While watching the miniseries Agatha All Along, I got an idea. At the end of the first episode, they played a great cover of Season of the Witch by Donovan. This made me think. While various supernatural creatures, such as ghosts, werewolves, and vampires, haunt pop culture during this time, probably nothing represents October and Samhain/ Halloween more than the Witch.  

But what really is a ‘Witch?’ 

 

The answer isn’t as simple as it might seem. Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary illustrates the complexity of defining the term ‘ Witch.’ It provides five possible meanings of the word: 

1.    Fiction and folk traditions,
2.    Adherent to a neopagan tradition,
3.    A mean or ugly old woman,
4.    A charming or alluring girl or woman,
5.    Witch of Agnesi.

It’s tempting to go down the line of these meanings one by one. However, I think taking them out of order might work better. So let me start with the last, the Witch of Agnesi.

The Witch of Agnesi isn’t really a reference to a witch. It’s an algebraic curve. The “Agnesi” comes from the Italian mathematician Maria Gaetana Agnesi, who published it in 1748. The Italian name la versiera di Agnesi was originally given, which is based on the Latin versoria (sheet of sailing ships) and the sinus versus. This was read by John Colson as l’avversiera di Agnesi, where avversiera is translated as “woman who is against God” and interpreted as “witch.”

Jumping up to the first meaning, the fiction and folk tradition is a reference to classic stories. Think about the Good and Bad witches of The Wizard of Oz. Or the evil cannibalistic Witch in Hansel and Gretel. This includes modern fictional Witches such as Agatha Harkness or Sabrina Spellman.

I find the third and fourth meanings to be examples of the Catch-22 imposed on women by our misogynistic society. A Witch can be “a mean or ugly old woman” or “a charming or alluring girl or woman.” Taken together, it shows the ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ that’s so much a part of misogyny. 

This leaves us with the second meaning, a practitioner of neopaganism. While commonly associated with Gardnerian Wicca, not all neopagans who self-identify as Witches are Wiccan. There are self-identifying Witches found in a variety of neopagan traditions. And there are eclectic neopagans who proudly wear the name ‘Witch.’ 

Witch as a being one who practices neopaganism is better than the other four meanings, but it still falls short. Understanding what it means to be a Witch requires understanding the word’s etymology. Its origins also give us insights into why witches have been historically feared and revered.

According to the Neopagan elder Raymond Buckland,

The actual meaning of the word Witch is linked to “wisdom” and is the same root as “to have wit” and “to know.” It comes from the Anglo-Saxon wicce (f) or wicca (m) meaning “wise one,” witches being both female and male.

Source: Encyclopedia of Witchcraft by Judica Illes, page 3

Witches are those with knowledge. Not just any knowledge but knowledge far beyond everyday matters. This knowledge gives witches the ability to cure and bless. To help their loved ones and the rest of their community. 

As the saying goes, knowledge is power. Witchcraft is a power drawn from an intimate understanding of the occult (i.e., hidden) nature of reality. The power of witchcraft is an egalitarian power available to everyone regardless of wealth, status, gender, or sexual preference. 

This kind of power makes Witches a threat to the establishment.

One way the establishment attempts to counter-act a perceived threat is to demonize it. Hence, witches are shown as evil and dangerous. They’re portrayed as either young and beautiful sorceresses who seduce men or ugly hags who eat babies. 

Thanks to neopagan elders such as Fortune, Gardner, Leek, Buckland, and the many that have come since, the title of ‘Witch’ is being returned to its rightful place of reverence.

Blessed be the Witches.

Walpurgis Night

April 30th, 2022, is a magical night for several reasons. One reason is that it’s a rare Black Moon, which occurs when there are two New Moons in one month. The other is that this Black Moon coincides with the ancient festival of Walpurgisnacht, also known as Hexxennacht. Tradition holds that Walpurgisnacht is named after Saint Walpurga, who supposedly founded a monastery in Heidenheim and had the power to fight disease and witchcraft. However, like so many Christian saints, she was probably a myth. Her true origins rest in the Teutonic pagan Earth goddess by the same name.

According to Judika Illes in her book Encyclopedia of Spirits, Walburga is the goddess of beauty, warmth, fertility, the renewal of life, and grain. The Wild Hunt pursues the goddess Walburga for nine days before May Day. In the past, villagers would leave doors and windows open to give Her refuge. There’s a myth that the goddess was given shelter by a farmer who didn’t know who She was. In the morning, She was gone but had left grains of gold sprinkled in with his rye crop as gratitude for his kindness.  

The wizard and author Oberon Zell-Ravenheart explains that on Walpurgisnacht, the veil between the worlds becomes thin and is traditionally a night of insanity. It was also known as the Festival of Hades in the classical world.  This dark aspect is likely why Saint Walpurga and the Walpurgis Night festival are associated with witchcraft and dark magick. Goethe wrote that Faust was taken to Brocken in the Harz Mountains on Walpurgis Night to celebrate with demons and witches. This Faustian festival of demons is famously depicted in the Disney animated film Fantasia to the orchestral piece Night on Bald Mountain. Hence, the alternative name of Hexxennacht or Witches Night.

So, dear reader, go ahead and celebrate Beltane by dancing around the (very Freudian) Maypole on May 1st. Don’t forget the political side of May Day and make sure to show solidarity with the working class. However, remember that tonight is special in its own right. Tonight is Walpurgisnacht, a night of dark magick and dark desires.

Defining the Self

In my introductory post, I defined Dark Paganism as a positive, life-affirming Pagan spirituality focused on honoring and cultivating the Self. However, this definition begs what is meant within Dark Paganism by the “Self.” For this, we begin with the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung.

Carl Jung believed that four universal, inborn models within us influence human behaviors. He called these four models “archetypes.” The four archetypes are anima/animus, persona, shadow, and the Self.  

Jung defines the Self archetype as being not only the center of a person but also the totality of that person. The Self is a phenomenon that encompasses both the unconscious and conscious mind. It’s the center of the individual while also the person’s totality. 

The Self is “nothing” or “not a thing.” It’s an ever-changing, dynamic phenomenon that’s an emergent property of the physical and spiritual bodies. While we exist in this material realm, it’s the product of complex interactions between biology, environmental conditioning, and cognitive functions. During our existence in the Otherworld, the Self is the emergent property of the Soul’s or subtle body’s unique conditions.   

Blessed Be.

Please Allow Me to Introduce Myself

Welcome to my new blog. I’m an author, philosopher, and practitioner of Dark Paganism. What is Dark Paganism? I’m so glad you asked. As I define it, Dark Paganism is a positive, life-affirming, Pagan spirituality that’s focused on honoring and cultivating the Self.

In his work, Out of the Shadows, John J Coughlin proposed the existence of two approaches to spirituality. Both approaches address existential questions of meaning and ethics. However, they look for answers to these questions differently.

One approach is “external” in that it looks outside the person for answers. In the external approach, the primary question is, “What is the meaning of the universe?” By discovering this Cosmic meaning, the individual can find their purpose.

The other approach is “internal” in that it looks inside the individual for answers. In the internal approach, the primary question is, “Who am I, and how do I fit within everything?” Meaning isn’t something handed to a person but is something the individual creates.

Dark Paganism is an internal approach to spirituality. Self-knowledge is paramount in Dark Paganism. It avoids the two extreme errors of selfishness and self-denial. Autonomy, healthy relations, self-acceptance, and self-cultivation are all elements of Dark Paganism.

I look forward to sharing Dark Paganism in future blog posts.

Blessed Be