Submitted by Dichotomy on
Magick has more than just the ability to help us manifest our desires. It allows us to open wounds that never mended correctly, to clean out the rot that has been festering for decades. And then, it helps us to finally heal completely, liberated from our scars. Finding Witchcraft wasn't a huge leap for me. It was always right there, knocking on the door, waiting for me to invite it inside. When I finally did accept Magick into my life I became a whole, new person, free of the shackles that restrained and repressed the Witch I was always meant to become.
I spent a lifetime pretending I understood my strength. I presented myself to the world as a hardened survivor who could handle anything life handed me. The truth is, that wasn't true. I was still broken despite my facade. What's worse is that I wasn't even aware. I had fallen for my own lies.
But then Magick set me free. Witchcraft saved me not only from the traumas to which I had been subjected. Magick saved me from myself. It gave me a perspective on power, authority, community, and control I couldn't even fathom before beginning the long journey into self awareness that being a Witch led me on.
The myriad of ways in which spells, ritual, and connection to The Source has enhanced my life could never be enumerated. What follows though are the seven key ways that Witchcraft saved my life.
- My Higher Self and Intuition
Throughout my journey down the long, hard, winding road into truly accepting my power, I could hear my intuition, but I couldn't understand it. It was as if I had a voice in my gut trying to guide me and yet I didn't speak its language.
As I developed into the Witch I am today, it seems that my translator was turned on. Suddenly as if out of nowhere, I understood the guidance I was receiving. I started hearing: Don't make that move, avoid this opportunity, be patient. It began to ring clear for me and I finally started to see real change when I paid attention to these messages.
Accepting the guidance that my intuition was providing led me to some of the best choices I've made in my life.
- Ownership of My Flaws and Working on Myself
I am not perfect; if you ask my husband, he'll tell you that I am far, far from it. Some of this imperfection could be worked on, though. Other parts of it required my own acceptance.
While shadow work is not Witchcraft-specific, it does seem ever present in many Magick community conversations.
Understanding my shadow, seeing where traits were born and deciding whether these hindered or strengthened me, was a step I needed to take in order to make Magick work. It started with my ego. How much of my presentation to the world was actually false bravado? Self confidence is definitely helpful when dealing with the world. But there is a line, and it seems I was crossing it often in order to help me feel better about myself.
I alienated people due to my own insecurities. I was anything but humble. I was stuck in a cycle that would not change until I put in the effort to eradicate this behavior from my life. That meant digging deep and identifying why I felt the need to act this way. Once I could isolate the reasons, I was able to reel in my shadow self and allow my true self to shine.
Finding this sweet spot in my personality has allowed me to flourish in the Witchcraft community. Now that I am showing the world my true face, I am making deep and meaningful connections with people who serve as mentors, teachers, allies, and friends.
- Put in the Work, Gain Results
I don't think there is a single person who knows me that would ever say that I lack work ethic. I know the importance of putting in the work to earn the results. What I didn't always know was that mundane work was necessary for Magick to succeed as well.
Witchcraft changed my mundane life, but it took time and I had to learn lessons.
It used to be that I would cast spells for strictly financial purposes. This never worked. Mostly I failed because I was working magick for windfalls or successes. I hadn't actually made moves to earn anything that I wanted. Realizing that I wasn't going to win the lottery changed my world because I came to terms with the idea that having millions of dollars wasn't going to make me happy.
I thought that if I had all the finances I needed, then I could take the time to finally write. I never felt like I had the time, due to the full-time job I am required to hold down in order to make ends meet.
The truth, though, was that I didn't need to focus on making riches. I just needed to write regardless of how much was in my bank account. Instead of performing spells to gain money, I started to work Magick to help me find the writing opportunities I was seeking. Through road-opener and gate-breaking spells, I did exactly that. But I needed to seek out writing gigs also. Next, I had to wake up earlier than anyone wanted to just so I could complete my passion work well before my mundane job was scheduled to start.
Aligning my Magickal practice with my mundane work ethic proved to provide the for which success I was longing.
- Connecting to The Source and Not Screaming Into the Void
Prior to Witchcraft, I did a lot of searching. I sought out myself, a connection to the universe and the world around me. I tried my best to find a spiritual source that lined up with both my scruples and a system of belief behind which I could stand confidently.
Throughout my life, Witches came and went. They taught me ideas and practices that never fully resonated with me. I was eagerly attempting to find power, control, and a release. I felt stuck in a world that seemed as though it had me pinned into submission.
When I finally decided to call my Witch's power to me, the idea struck as if out of nowhere. I planned a full moon ritual and decided on the deities with whom I would work. When the time came to call upon these gods I had chosen, I did not speak their names. Instead, "Hekete" was all I could say.
This Goddess presented herself in a moment when I didn't even know who she was. I had found my source, though.
Diving into Hekate taught me all the lessons that, if I had learned in the past, would have helped me reach the point I am at now much sooner. Finding the Goddess was a shift for me. I no longer felt as though I was shouting into the void. I started seeing results when I petitioned her for help. And more than that, I felt guided, protected, and educated the more I turned to her as the source of my Magick.
- Understanding True Abundance
As I mentioned earlier I wanted financial freedom because I thought it would release me of the struggle. But really I was under the impression that this was the only form of prosperity available, not only to me but to everyone. It was my contention that a pot of gold was what abundance looked like for you, me, and anyone else.
I was wrong.
I can look at my life through my Witchy eyes and see now that I have always possessed a formidable bounty, only it has never been money but rather talent and insight.
I was an eight-year-old boy when I decided I would be a writer. All I ever had to say was, "When I write a book.”"To many, it was a pipe dream. I only ever saw it as a reality. I knew I had a gift and that one day the world would witness my ability.
I spent most of my childhood being the black sheep in any situation. I had ideas that were not yet acceptable; I believed in radical acceptance of all people, I held tight to the idea that anyone could do anything. Only now are these points of view becoming commonplace.
As a practitioner, I have held these beliefs and found a community of people who support them. I learned that owning my gifts wasn't pompous but rather empowering.
Witchcraft led me to write my first book, and my insights are what filled it with content. Had I never stepped onto this path or developed my practice, I'd still be longing to see the fruits of my labor ripen, ready to harvest.
- Gratitude
No one has it easy in life. To assume that my traumas hold more weight would be folly and completely untrue. But these are the things that built me, that built all of us. For this, I learned to be thankful.
It wasn't until I could look at the pain I have experienced and feel true gratitude that I was finally free. I was liberated knowing that every step I have taken, every bump in the road, created the man and Witch I am today. So I express thanks for it everyday.
Walking through the world, pissed off for having been homeless, outcast, marginalized, beaten, broken, and neglected was a pity party I was happy to participate in for much longer than I want to admit. I believed I was entitled to sympathy, that I deserved an easy break, but I couldn't justify these feelings. When I caught on to my delusions, when I recognized that feeling this way was holding me back, I let go.
I released my pain and found it within myself to be grateful for it instead. I was introduced to a whole new understanding of why. Why I had the struggles, why I was abused, why I was left to navigate the world on my own. It was in order to create a being that knows what it is to survive, to thrive against all odds.
If I never learned to be grateful, I wouldn't be the Witch writing this article. It was my lessons in Magick that taught me to see the world in this way, to know that my trials had a purpose, to have gratitude for all the things that didn't go my way.
- Community
The best part of being a Witch in the modern world is connectivity. We have access to the whole world, and the spaces between everyone is growing smaller and smaller all the time. Access to Witches that are oceans away have helped to open my eyes to the idea that I am not alone in my struggles, that we are not alone in our pains or our joys.
Finding community can change a person's perspective. It wasn't a shock to me that connecting to others with similar stories made me feel enlightened and empowered.
While the Witchcraft community is small and can sometimes be difficult to navigate amongst infighting and popular opinions it remains vast enough to find your own tribe. Doing so, identifying your people, is a sure fire way to not only save yourself but to potentially help save another.
Vincent Higginbotham
https://www.llewellyn.com/journal/article/2917
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