u/Twisted_Wicket

We've seen a lot of posts lately with people who "believe in magic" but feel incapable or "want to believe" so they can be a witch.

Belief doesn't define whether someone is a witch. Practice does.

lets talk about belief, faith and skepticism and the role they play in witchcraft as a generalization, not a detailed essay. I'll start with faith, a concept that I personally am not a fan of.

FAITH is belief without supporting knowledge or experience. Its blindly following someone else's idea because the told you to. Seems like a foolish way to approach anything, much less witchcraft. I see this as a form of psychosis.

BELIEF (in my opinion) should be supported by experience and observation. I believe in witchcraft because I have observed my spellwork coming into fruition and I have experienced the effects of it. That is personal knowledge.

I am SKEPTICAL of everything magical or spiritual until I have personally observed or experienced something that directly supports it. I personally consider that to be a healthy approach.

A ridiculously long time ago when I was in Outer Court I was asked what I believe. My answer was simple. "I believe this chair is uncomfortable". Why? "My ass hurts." The coven elder that was teaching that day got a good chuckle out of it and said "that is the way to approach life".

Skepticism in witchcraft is a good thing as long as one doesn't let it be a defining factor. Don't allow yourself to disbelieve everything because you're a "Skeptic" in spite of supporting evidence, but observe and learn. Use that Skepticism as a tool to help you analyze what you see and feel, and what caused it. Question everything, but with an open mind.

Document what works and what doesn't with equal precision, its vital. Everyone has a different practice, and the documentation is where that becomes evident. This is where belief builds into knowledge, and knowledge is power.

So, choices to be made....

Are you the kind who blindly does what your told ? Hopefully not

Are you the kind with a skeptical view of everything and a mind open to exploration? Hopefully so.

What's on the spring planting list?