Spirited (13 page)

If you ever meet someone who claims to be a white/black Witch, ask them why they use the label. If you receive a flustered retort, then I suggest you finish the conversation quickly. If someone gives you a straightforward and informed answer, then continue your conversation and delve into the deeper meanings behind the reasons. It's always nice to see how other people live their spirituality.

Today, if someone calls themselves a white Witch, the Pagan community is generally sceptical toward the individual. There is no need for anyone to actively reinforce stereotypes that merely confuse the public. White and black are unnecessary subtitles that disappeared with the belief that a Witch must be coven-bound to be a Witch at all.

There are some organisations that use these labels. White Magick has been defined as a system of communicating with the divine in selflessness and for the ultimate purpose of purifying the soul and rising through the spheres to the divine (theurgy). Adversely, black Magick is defined as selfish acts that consciously result in harm being done, at least by those who profess to practice white Magick. The modern attempt at blending these two forces has birthed a new colour-specific practice: grey Magick. All these labels and terms are unnecessary, as many ethical Witches practice Magick for personal gain!

Colouring Magick is an insult to the universe; Magick is a proverbial rainbow. It is not divided into subcategories in order to allow an individual to feel self-righteous. It is the individual who works with Magick, imbues it with their intent, and releases it into the universe. It is through intent that magickal energy becomes specified. If the results of a particular spell are intentionally harmful, the fault is not on Magick but on the individual who cast that spell.

Ethics must be kept intact and whole, untainted by religious convention and allied with reason and intuition. When you feel you are doing something wrong, don't do it. Trust and know yourself. Placing the blame on something or someone else is weak and disempowering.

Below is an excerpt from an article that I wrote for
Bizoo
(issue #19), an Australian youth/music zine. It is a poetic commentary on the black and white issue within the Craft.

The Black and White Doors

She stood nervously in the hallway, her agitated eyes flicking back and forth over the smooth panelled walls. The watch wrapped lovingly around her wrist now loomed up at her, hissing menacingly. The honey-like light of the crescent moon played gingerly across the tarnished floorboards. Despite the peace, the stillness of this place, there was still a choice to be made.

The inward chatter of her mind slowly dissipated, and a dim focus ignited within her.
Hurry up
, she thought anxiously,
make the choice!
She stepped forward, but hesitated and withdrew again. A soft rattle droned across the rusting metal sheets of the roof. Determined, she lifted her gaze and looked ahead.

Two doors. On the left, finely crafted ebony painted black. On the right, well-sanded pine painted white. Which one to go through? Her two offered paths lay before her, both imposing and frightening. But her mind remained jarred, static, and uncompromising. It sang for her to relent to the precious gift of free will, though as she stood awkwardly by the thresholds to her future, her free will became the spitting serpent of her nightmares.

Black. White. Left. Right. Her inner voice flailed anxiously.
Choose
, it screeched incessantly.
Why?
Her word hung in the limbo of silence, impressively carved into the currents of air. The eternal question: which way is right? Though does this automatically identify the opposite and other path as wrong? Like vengeful harpies, each question sprouted wings and circled the young woman ravenously.

Then, as if a flame had ignited upon the crest of her beating heart, she began to understand. She had been imprisoned within the house for longer than memory could comprehend, and for just as long she had stood expectantly before the black and the white doors, forcing herself to choose between them. Her only comfort was the consistent, vague drumming coming from deep within the house, travelling to her ready ears through the corridor stretching a stunning length.

Yet in her primal state she had seen the doors and clung to them needily, hoping that one day Fate would chance upon her and turn the knob of the
right
door. Glancing to her left, the dark expanse of the corridor lay before her. The nervous shift of her feet rocked her gently forward, an invisible string pulling firmly from her navel.
Within is the secret. Within is the mystery.
Turning from the doors, she shivered at the void, gaping and plain before her. It is on this path her feet must travel …

The muffled sound of her feet timidly shuffling over the floorboards came like a breath of moist air to her ears. Her heart fluttered nervously, exhilarated by the foreign shadows weaving shapes and figures across her chest. There was something sacred and ancient about the way her resolute hands hung gracefully by her sides … something nostalgic about the curves and turns of the labyrinth-like path she was walking … something familiar about the walls nursing her body.

Deeper and deeper her feet took her as her spirit rushed excitedly forth, bursting from the walls of flesh and bone encasing it. A velvet voice singing a sweet song of faith, beauty, love, betrayal, and loss soared elegantly alongside her. She was free, pure, raw, and unafraid. This was truth. This was simplicity. This was the path she had longed for.

Far behind her, a young man covered in sweat and dressed in dust came upon two doors—one black and another white …
Which one?
he thought.

Karmic Confusion

The philosophy of karma as it is expressed by current Pagan traditions is filtered directly from Eastern traditions. Hindus view karma as the universal law of action; it is the sum of all that the individual has done in all their lives. Generally, karma is believed to be repaid in the next incarnation and is seen to take the form of severe retribution or reward. In saying this, it must be said that Hindus specifically work within a caste system and see life as made up of lesser and greater forms according to spiritual evolution. Therefore, if you have been particularly wicked in your current life, it is possible you will incarnate again—as a catfish. However, Pagans actively acknowledge that all life is sacred and equal, and that reincarnation is not a system of hierarchy but a spiritual journey of learning and growth.

Pagans see karma as being repaid in the current life, teaching the individual about the good or bad in their day-to-day activities. However, who's to say what is good and bad? Does the universe truly run on an ethical system as conceived by humanity or is it far more simplistic/complex than this? I personally believe that karma is not so much “Oh, I missed a sabbat! The gods will strike me down!” but a spiritual reality that teaches how actions affect ourselves and others.

If we violate another's free will, then karma comes knocking. Leading a negative life is bound to activate the metaphysical principle of “like attracts like.” If you choose to concentrate on the positive aspects of life, then you will consequently meet with them in your future. However, we must remember that Paganism is not a deluded spirituality. Bad things do happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people. However, it's your attitude as an individual that will colour your perception and discern how fast and how well you deal with the natural problems you encounter.

Wicca's Threefold Law teaches that all actions incur a threefold response. Whether Gardner truly adhered to the Threefold Law as a central Wiccan tenet is debatable. It is believed that Raymond Buckland and the other early Wiccan practitioners who actively taught after Gardner's death took the prevalent threefold symbolism in the initiation rites literally and, focusing on Gardner's promotion of karma, established the Threefold Law as a major operative tenet.

Three has always been a magickal number, representing the balancing and neutralising factor between two forces. It is also a mystically significant number within Celtic spirituality, and many deities appear in triplicities. This traditional interpretation of the number may also hold some clues to the origins of the Threefold Law.

It is clear that Wiccans today have embraced the Threefold Law as a major part of their religion. I have heard that the Threefold Law works within the individual's world, or microcosm. It is said that when a person acts, they send out psychic ripples, or waves, and because of the boundaries that paint one's identity, the waves return three times as strong.

Threefold should not be taken literally. It is simply an expression of “greater” or “more”; it does not necessarily mean that you will be subject to three instances of bad/good luck. In science, we are taught that all actions receive an equal and opposite reaction. Ironically, after being particularly horrid towards my sister one day, I walked into a door, squashed my foot under a chair, and broke a glass jug full of water over my feet. Three strokes of bad luck! Who's to say whether this was a sign of threefold return or simply the universe having me on? Personally, I see being compassionate in life as more of a priority than constantly assessing how the threefold machine will dole out my fate.

Many Wiccans tend to view karma or the Threefold Law as directly influencing their magickal work rather than life in general. Before a spell is cast, several precautions are taken to honour the spiritual significance of the Threefold Law. Phrases such as “for the good of all” and “with harm to none” are included in the wording of many chants to ensure that no backlash occurs.

Pagans in general accept karma as a valid spiritual tenet that promotes acts of kindness. Take an active role in your spiritual life and determine what makes sense and feels right to you and what doesn't. Keep in mind the blessings of upholding the positive aspects of humanity as well as the peace of mind that comes with the right to the negative ones as well.

Situational Magick

It's not always possible to consider ethics in times of desperation and disaster. Often the obligation to do what needs to be done precedes thoughts of karmic backlash. So what's an ethical Witch to do when they come to the crossroads concerning what needs to be done and ethics? Sometimes a choice needs to be made between the two.

If you are being continuously harassed by someone and you have tried every possible method (mundane and magickal) of deflecting their attention, then the time comes to consider more drastic options. Things like binding and cursing fall into this category, and while many would be horrified that I have even mentioned it, sometimes cursing is the only option left.

Binding

Binding is the act of
magickally
restricting the movement and thoughts of another. When it comes to troublesome people, binding usually comes as a last resort. To bind someone is to impose walls of constraint and force on another to encourage them to reconsider their actions. This is an infringement on another's free will and is ultimately unethical.

If the problem gets to the point where you cannot tolerate any more mistreatment, binding is a possible solution. I have bound three times in my life, and it has always been successful. Binding is a very precise form of spellcraft because of the intense emotion involved.

The first time I used a binding was during my first year of high school. A girl at school was being particularly awful to me; the difficult thing was she sat with my group of friends. I returned home from school one day with everything I needed to bind her and cast the spell. A week later, the rest of the group began to talk about the girl behind her back. By the end of the term, she had been officially kicked out and had gone to sit with another group. From there, she became absorbed into a world of depression. For two years she remained bound, and I had no idea that the pain she was living through was an extension of my spell. I had completely forgotten about the spell and had left the girl to her own devices. I recounted this to a Pagan friend of mine over the phone one night, and he advised me to lift the binding from her straightaway. I reversed the spell immediately.

Knowing that I was involved in causing her depression really impacted me. I had no idea that what I had done all that time ago had affected her so deeply. Removing the binding really helped to release a lot of the tension I had built up over the years as well. It allowed me to confront some of my own issues and helped to restore some of my self-esteem. In retrospect, I wish I hadn't done the binding and that the girl could've developed independently, but at the same time I can see that in a way, the binding helped her to take a look at herself, reevaluate who she thought she was, and grow.

Don't take binding lightly. You need to do a lot of thinking before you decide to encage someone “for the good of all.” You may find that binding goes against all your ethics. However, you also need to consider yourself in the grand scheme of things. Downtrodden and compromised is not a respectable state of being. You are entitled to a life, just as your persecutor is, and both of you need to learn that kindness and compassion are empowering. For more information on binding, see the recommended resources appendix (particularly Christopher Penczak's
The Witch's Shield
).

Cursing

A Witch cannot heal if a Witch cannot harm.

—Traditional Saying

Curses disappeared when the stereotypical image of the Witch was thrown out with the bathwater. Unfortunately, many people still consider a Witch to be a diabolical, warty-nosed hag; therefore, many people still believe that a Witch has the propensity to curse. In all honesty, Witches can curse just as they can heal; however, considering modern ethics, it's simply not thought of.