I haven't written in a while and someone I hold in high esteem gave me the idea to examine what a 'bad witch' looks like. A Bad Witch™ being someone who does not practice their spirituality as they perceive it should be in their own head.
Let's start, first, with one of the foundations of most practices: meditation. New witches are told, "To be successful learn to meditate." Then, they are never told how to actually do this practice. More importantly, it is never explained to them that there are different types of meditation. This sets them up, immediately, for failure. We usually think of zen meditation, the perfect stillness of body and mind, when we think of meditation or we think of transcendental meditation where one sits still and silent and repeats mantras. Yoga is an excellent form of active meditation. Running or walking is as well.
Active meditations give the body something to do so that the mind can focus on breathing or mantras or even just chanting. How easy is it, while walking, to just repeat 'step, step, step, step'? That becomes your chant. This time could also be used to say positive affirmations or to list good qualities about yourself. As a pagan, chanting the elements or picking one element and chanting its correspondences. Even if you only know 2 or 3, chanting it over and over again: "Air, Spring, Yellow, Sylphs". This helps to reinforce your relationship with that element and it gives your mind something to focus on. If there's a slip-up, "Oh! a dandelion!" kind of stray thought, incorporate it into your chant (because dandelions and bees are also associated with the Air elemental).
One of my own favorite elemental meditations is showering or doing dishes when I am angry or in my feelings. I take those thoughts and give them to my water elemental helpers. I get rid of the tsunami of emotions and they get a little extra energy boost. Other active meditation techniques are reading and, this will probably make some people rage, playing video games. If it relaxes you, it can be a form of meditation. If it gives you anxiety or other types of not-so-great feelings, it is probably something that needs tended to while doing Shadow Work.
Let's go back to thinking one is a Bad Witch™. The meditation example above isn't the only reason people like to think they are failing in their spirituality. Sometimes it is about observing the esbats and 'not doing enough ritual', other times, it is about 'not working with a group' or 'not serving one's deity' appropriately. My personal favorite because it is something that I do, letting one's spiritual space get cluttered or, another cornerstone of the Craft, not journaling or writing things down.
Journaling is a must when doing dreamwork or journey work. Journaling is a must when creating and working spells. Journaling is where I fall into the Bad Witch™ category. It is where all of my considerable willpower and discipline get chucked out of the window. Journaling gives me rage. A kind of indescribable rage that goes beyond white-hot. Why? I'm reasonably sure that it has to do with forcing myself to do my Daily Pages when I was going through The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. Those daily pages ignited in me something that has never cooled when it comes to journaling. This is probably a thing I need to focus on this year while doing my Shadow Work.
Being a Good Witch™ goes beyond observance, practice, or action. Yes, those things count, however, sitting and brushing or petting your dog or cat can be an exercise in grounding without some elaborate gesture. Cleansing your space (which is what I am avoiding right now XD) can be its own ritual. Planting a garden, harvesting fruit, or sitting on the bank of a pond or lake can put one in touch with the local spirits. Feeding the bees or ants at the end of the summer by buying an extra melon while they are cheap and putting it in your back yard is a way to honor your land spirits or even the Fae. Bird feeders in the winter is another way. Simply remembering that you are a spiritual being having a human experience when you're having a bad day allows one to pause for just a moment in the midst of whatever perceived personal failure one might be having.
There is no Good Witch™ or Bad Witch™ when it comes to the personal walk. There is a time for planting in life. There is a time for growth in life. There is a time for the harvest. There is a time for things to lie fallow. Finding out what season you are in can make all of the difference in your life's perception. Trying to grow in the fallow season is futile. Planting at the harvest will cause the vine to wither before it fruits.
Thanks for the idea, Lady.
Blessings,
River
No comments:
Post a Comment