Beginning as a Witch

I started consciously following the path of the witch just over a year now. After a few personal experiences that almost made me think that I was going mad, I decided to look into these and after adding the situations together, I decided this would be the right path to follow in order to understand these experiences and use them.

At the time, I had no idea what my first step should be, do I read a book or do I find someone to teach me? In this case, what books would be more appropriate that wouldn't feed me with false novelties? And if I needed to find a teacher, where would I begin to look for them?

There is one definite teacher out there who can teach you the path, or to use a better word, a guide that will be able to guide you better than anyone else. That is your intuition. Everyone has one and I am not very sure why this didn't daunt on me back at that time. I recently realised that, no matter how many books you read, or whether you have the best teacher to guide you, intuition is the one tool at the disposal of every witch and non-witch that cannot be replaced.

The Path of The Witch:

The path of the craft may sound like the appealing voodoo doll, nature-worshipping, energy-harvesting path that you are visualising in your head, but in reality it's a lot more than that. It is a path of hard work and dedication, even though a familiar will most likely not appear to you the moment you title yourself as a witch, and especially when people around you will do anything to make you sound crazy.

If you are not willing to put in the work in your craft, it won't work as well as planned, and that's ok. If you don't try, you will not know.

How does one begin to walk the path?

Accept that you are already a witch.

The biggest myth people think about witches is that a witch will follow the path if he or she is a natural one or one who is born in a family of witches. These are the biggest lies that ever existed. The truth is that from the moment you were born on this earth, you are an earthling, which means, you are naturally a witch. You have at your disposal to use the natural energies that are part of our planet. So, go in front of a mirror, look into your eyes through the reflection and make yourself believe it when you say "I am a witch!". When you see that spark in your own eyes, congratulations, you are officially a witch. This is all it takes, name yourself that and you shall be that.

Don't be afraid of words that were stamped with negativity.

Words like "witch", "witchcraft", "spirits", "ghosts" and many more strike a slight fear in all of us. When I started in the path it took me a while to feel comfortable with these words, and that's predominantly because they have been given these negative associations that were engraved in our subconscious. Take the time to get used to these words. They won't hurt you. Only your perception of them will hurt you.

Read! Read! Read!

Go on amazon, ebay, or any other online store and just type "witchcraft" and get the book that you are drawn to the most. I used to be a bit scared of buying books because I wasn't sure whether they were the right books to buy, or whether they would make me attract negative entities or spirits (which is another myth - if you excluded powerful booking like the 7 Seals of King Solomon - I would keep away from this one).

The first book I bought was a book on chakras and meditations, such a simple book that wasn't necessarily directly connected with the craft. Once I finished that book, I knew what I wanted to read after that. From then on, I jumped from book to book.

Again... Follow your intuition!

Don't take things too seriously.

Not everything written in books should be taken as granted. I can't encourage reading more, but don't confuse some information with facts. The writer's point of view is just that, the writer's. Your point of view and experience will be different in the path than anyone else's. Take everything with a pinch of salt and pick up whatever makes sense to you. If something doesn't make sense to you or doesn't feel right to you, you can ignore that information.

You don't need to follow a particular belief to be a witch.

The biggest myth out there about witchcraft is that it is the work of the devil. And as I'm typing this sentence I'm laughing out loud. Witchcraft is about using the energy (or life force) that is available to us (humans) and directing it to create situations by ways other than mundane.

Sounds pretty natural to you? That's because it is.

Another thing that you will realise when you start reading books is that most witches are pagans, which in general definition, is the spiritual path based on worshipping nature. It is also my favourite belief system (simply because it doesn't have a system), having said that, this does not mean that you have to change your religious believes in order to be a witch.

Remember: Witchcraft is a spiritual path, not a religion.

You can be a Christian or Jewish and be a witch at the same time. In fact, that is how I started. I didn't turn pagan as soon as I started practising, I still considered myself as Christian, and even though I now identify myself as Pagan, I still follow some Christian customs, so yes, your religion can be anything you feel comfortable with.

Don't let anyone make you feel any less of a witch.

Keep in mind that even though most witches are very intact with their spirituality, you will come across some that may not be very pleasant. They might make you feel like you're not a witch enough, or that they know more than you, or that you're still a baby witch.

Keep in mind, that each and one of us may be following a similar path, but that path is different and unique to each and every one of us, and some may be progressing slower than others, or they may be using some tools or ingredients differently. That doesn't mean anything other than you following the divine path that unfolded in front of you and you are walking it brilliantly.

If you feel this is the path for you, put on your pointy hat, your black robe, pick up your staff, and walk that shit with fire in your eyes!