See Witch for definition and explanation of Witch.
The most famous kind of Witchcraft is Wicca, but there are many other kinds of Witchcraft both modern and ancient from cultures all over the world.
Witchcraft is the oldest known religion (based on archaeological evidence, including small Goddess figurines, burial rituals, ivory witchcraft tools, and botanical plant remains) and witchcraft is the fastest growing religion in the United States.
Reliable archaeological and historical evidence on traditional witchcraft is limited and consists mostly of accounts of Christians falsely accusing other Christians, Jews, and women of being witches during the Burning Times. Most modern witchcraft is based on some combination of archaeology, family oral traditions, modern reconstructions and interpretations, and such activities as dreams, visions, divination, and other subjective sources.
Witchcraft is the fastest growing religion in the United States and Great Britain and has surpassed (or will soon surpass, depending on who does the polling) Judaism as the third most populous religion in the U.S. (Christianity is the most populous religion in the U.S. and Islam is second). Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world (primarily because of high birth rates, not because of new conversions). Buddhism is the fastest growing religion in Australia. The Falun Dafa or Falun Gong religion is the fastest growing religion in China.
The leading voice among world Witches is witchvox.org [external link]. Witchvox is a great web site with listings for a wide variety of witchcraft practices and beliefs.
- witch
- A witch is a female shaman, typically including divination (astrology, palmistry, Tarot, I Ching, etc.), healing (herbal medications, aromatherapy, massage, sacred sexuality, etc.), and magick. (see note below about male witches)
- witchcraft
- The practice of any of the arts of a witch or the religion of a witch.
- warlock
- Wizard; traitor. From Old English wær covenant + -loga one who denies (related to leogan to lie), literally meaning “oath-breaker”. This term reflects medieval Christian propaganda and does not accurately describe a male witch.
There is a lot of confusion over exactly what witchcraft is. Part of this confusion is because “witch” has a lot of different meanings, and the number of meanings is expanding rapidly. The preceeding definition is a root definition, from which the many modern defintions are derived. Obviously there will be a lot of modern witches who don’t match the root definition. Teen Witch is not trying to exclude them. Once you understand the root definition, it becomes easier to understand how the many modern varieties came into existence.
In particular, Teen Witch is not trying to discriminate against guys. Of course men can be witches. Traditionally, witches are women, but there have always been a small number of male witches. In modern times it is much more common for males to become witches.
early witchcraft
The origins of witchcraft were early human efforts to deal with women’s mysteries, particularly the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and childbirth. Nobody is certain when witchcraft first started, although it probably started around the same time that pre-humans mastered fire (around 400,000 years ago). The oldest evidence of witchcraft is a piece of whalebone from 106,000 years ago that has a crude calendar marking the phases of the moon and a woman’s menstrual cycle.
Early witchcraft combined magick ritual with herbal preparations, built on millenia of lore passed down through generations of wise women.
As one example, consider the use of the rose. Modern science has revealed that the rose hip (the sweet part at the center of a rose) has the highest concentration of iron of any plant (it is also an excellent source of vitamin C). A woman loses a lot of iron during her period, and a natural supplement of iron has obvious positive benefits. Additionally, there are a few dozen minor trace ingredients in rose hips, many of which help stabilize a woman’s emotions and moods while on her period.
Obviously early witches didn’t know the scientific details, but they did know that eating rose hips (either fresh, or dried rose hips used to make rose hip tea) helped during menstruation. So, taking rose hips during menstruation became a fairly standard part of witchcraft.
In fact, it is this witchcraft practice that led to the association of roses with romance. Before Christianity, the use of rose hips or rose hip tea during a woman’s period was fairly common knowledge. The men who were close to a woman (particularly her husband or mate) would make sure that they brought their lover plenty of roses during her period. And obviously a man would have to be on intimate terms with a woman to know the right timing for when to bring roses.
Several Christian popes attempted to eliminate the practice of witchcraft, including outlawing growing or possessing flowers with the death penalty (because witchcraft made so much use of various flowers for herbal preparations). This harsh penalty caused a lot of the common knowledge about the herbal effects of various flowers to be lost in Western civilization, but the association of roses with romance and love remained long after the actual witchcraft meaning was lost.
Witchcraft, like any living religion, has blossomed and grown and changed through the millenia, and now has lots of different forms. But all of those new forms can be traced back to early female shamanism.
kinds of witchcraft
Just about every culture in the world had at least one form of witchcraft. There are several hundred common forms of witchcraft practiced in the United States, Great Britain, and around the world, the two most common being eclectic withcraft and Wicca.
Eclectic Witchcraft is an individual approach in which a witch picks and chooses from many different traditions and creates a personalized form of witchcraft that meets her needs and abilities.
Wicca is a loosely connected group of about 150 modern Western witchcraft religions.
Tameran Witchcraft is any modern form of witchcraft based at least in part on ancient Egyptian witchcraft, including some forms of eclectic witchcraft and some forms of Wicca.
Kemetic Witchcraft is an attempt to exactly recreate ancient Egyptian witchcraft, usually one particular time period in ancient Egyptian history.
Paganism
- pagan
- Originally “pagan” was used as a term of derision by city dwellers in the Roman Empire to make fun of the more superstitious version of Hellenism (the Greek religion) practiced in rural areas (from Latin paganus for “rustic”).
- When the Christians took military control of the Roman Empire, they quickly stamped out non-Christian religions in the cities, but many witches, Jews, Hellenists, Gnostics, Zoarastrians, Mithraists, Hermeticists, and those of many other smaller religions fled to the mountains or to India or China. The Christians picked up the term “pagan” and applied it to all non-Christian religions, including witchcraft.
- Later, Muslims (members of the religion Islam) borrowed the word “pagan” to mean all non-Muslims, including witches.
- While some Christians continued to use “pagan” to mean non-Christian and some Muslims continued to use “pagan” to mean non-Muslim, the word came to mean any person who didn’t worship the “One God”, that is, everyone except for Christians, Muslims, and Jews. [NOTE: This is the most common meaning.]
- Another variation of “pagan” was everyone except for Christians, Muslims, Jews, and atheists.
- And then yet another variation was everyone except for Christians, Muslims, Jews, atheists, and members of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucionism, and similar aesthetic Asian religions (that is, “pagan” meaning those who are members of pantheistic, polytheistic, or witchcraft/shamanic religions).
- “Pagan” could also mean anyone who wasn’t religious in a society completely dominated by either Christians or Muslims, that is, atheists, agnostics, and “wayward” members of Christianity or Islam, whichever was dominant.
- And in recent decades, the term “pagan” has often been used as a shorter version of “Neo-Pagan”, including witches.
Christian Witches
There are many Christian Witches right now today — and have been for as long as the Christian Church has existed.
But the official Roman Catholic position is that Witchcraft (of any kind) is heresy — and they used to put Christian Witches to death for it.
Some modern Wiccans honor Jesus as their male God and honor Mary (or Isis, who is also known as the Black Madonna) as their female Goddess. There are Witches that only worship the “official” Christian trinity, or just Jesus, or just the Christian God. And there are Witches that combine worship of Jesus with other Gods and/or Goddesses.
You have to decide in your own heart what you think is right for you.…
Natural Witches
A natural Witch is someone who has a natural Witch talent. If you are a natural Witch, your natural Witch talent will become obvious. Usually this happens fairly early in life, but it can be delayed until late in life.
The most common natural Witch talent is having dreams that foretell the future. Another common natural Witch talent is being naturally accurate with runes, tarot, or other divination.
Anybody can become a Witch, but you have to be born with a Witch talent to be a natural Witch.
If you have a natural Witch talent, learning about Witchcraft and magick will help you learn how to control your natural Witch talent.
Becoming a Witch
Becoming a Witch is pretty much the same as becoming a Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Jainist, etc. If in your heart you know it is right for you, then you make the decision to become a Witch.
While there are some forms of Witchcraft that have specific entry requirements, most forms of Witchcraft are a personal decision. If you believe that you are a Witch, then you are a Witch.
You can perform meditation or other ritual to help you determine if Witchcraft is right for you.
You can also perform some kind of initiation ritual. Some Witchcraft traditions have specific initiation rituals. Other Witchcraft traditions call for the individual to create their own initiation ritual. And some Witchcraft traditions have no initiation at all.
It is best to learn about Witchcraft from a practicing Witch, but many Witches are self-taught.
Learning about Witchcraft can take a lifetime. There are many books out now that are designed to help beginners. The one we recommend is “Wicca for the Solitary Practitioner” by Scott Cunningham. A link for purchasing the book on-line is at Beginner’s Class.
We also recommend “The Teen Spell Book” by Jamie Wood.
If you have an AOL account, there is a scheduled class “Wicca 101” for beginners on Tuesday nights (twice, once for the east coast and once for the west coast) and a “Beginners Chat” on Thursday nights at keyword “Pagan” (then select “The Circle” Chatroom).
Witchvox.org also has resources for beginners.
beginner’s group
We are starting our first on-line class in Wicca, especially for teenage witches. The class is based on Scott Cunningham’s “Wicca A Guide For The Solitary Practitioner”. This is our first experiment in running an on-line class, so we’ll probably make some mistakes. To participate in the beginning Teen Witch Wicca class, click here.
magick
essays
- We Really Are Different
- ~*Wicca Saves*~
- Pagans Plan Response to Labor Day Anti-Witch March in Texas
- Bonewit’s Cult Evaluation
- Commemorating the passing of Kitty Cat
This web site appropriate for teenage witches, those interested in teen witchcraft, Wicca, eclectic witchcraft, or other forms of witchcraft, shamanism, paganism, and earth religions.
Teenagers (and interested adults) are encouraged to actively participate in the Teen Witch web site. You are invited to write essays, to ask questions, to post your own answers to the questions of other teen witches, to make suggestions and constructive criticism, and to otherwise help make Teen Witch a useful and friendly place on the web for teenage witches.
Please continue to the main teen witch web page (and book mark it for future reference).
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no spell begging
If you follow any of the links offered on this web site, no spell begging. Especially no love spell begging.
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