Are Witches Actual? We Requested Trendy Witches to Debunk Magick’s Greatest Misconceptions

Are witches actual? Sure, they’re, and we’re in the course of a witchcraft renaissance. Whether or not you have got a favourite TikTok tarot reader or need to deepen your follow past checking your horoscopes, you could have questions on exactly what it means to be a witch. All the world over, from Africa to North American Indigenous cultures, to the Puritanical assaults of the Salem Witch trial, the witch is a determine of hope and therapeutic or evil and hazard, relying in your perspective. 

As a training witch and Attract’s resident astrologer, it is important to me to get the report straight about witches, who traditionally, have all the time been badasses. Whereas sadly, Voodoo queen Marie Laveau is not residing, there are many witches nonetheless alive right now who’re down to speak concerning the craft. Kristen J. Sollée, writer of Witch Hunt: A Traveler’s Information to the Energy & Persecution of the Witch, cites Joan Wright, the primary lady charged with being a witch in North America, as one in all her favourite witches of all time. “She made the badass transfer of creating gentle of the accusation and forgave her neighbors for talking ailing of her,” Wright says. “Though the decision from her 1626 Jamestown, Virginia trial is misplaced [to history], historians imagine she was most certainly acquitted.” 

Regardless of the position of the witch as a healer able to each nice energy and unbelievable forgiveness, society’s concern of their energy is deep-rooted. In medieval England, people associated makeup with Satan, and there are even popular myths about the government outlawing lipstick to combat witchcraft. The connection between cosmetics, perceived evil, and witchcraft is not unusual. Witches have been paying the price for enjoying life, be it by dancing naked or wearing lipstick, for far too long. 

When asked about her favorite historical witchcraft moment in modern history, Sollée calls out Bri Luna’s founding of The Hoodwitch website and community in 2013, which helped usher in the current witchcraft revival. Adding a witchcraft practice to your life can be a powerful act of rebellion, self-care, and even activism. But first, we must debunk some major myths lingering about witchcraft. (For instance, did you know that a person of any gender can be a witch, and that the whole black magick versus white magick thing is rather racist?) Keep reading, and regardless of your orientation, race, gender, or economic background, you’ll see that you will always have a home with the witches. 

What is magick?

Witches are people who practice magick. Magick, which witches like to spell with a “k” to differentiate it from stage magic, is real, too. The practice of magick is about raising and directing energy to fulfill your intentions. Witches believe that everything contains energy: This includes nature, orgasms, and of course, yourself. Have you ever had a vivid dream about someone, only for them to text you the very next day? It’s possible that your psychic intuition was burning bright. When you’re overwhelmed and stressed, do you ever turn your bathtub into a cauldron by filling it with soothing salts, perhaps lighting some candles to set the mood further? That’s a self-love spell. In today’s busy world, finding a way to unwind, relax, and re-connect with yourself is a powerful spell indeed. Simply writing out gratitude lists or repeating a mantra is casting a spell, as it means you’re injecting reminders of your self-worth into your life. The act of manifestation, and magick itself, is simply focusing energy to produce the desired effect, and it’s much easier than you think. 

How does one become a witch?

While some organized spiritual groups may have initiation rites, all that you need to become a witch is yourself. Many practicing witches describe a life-long connection to nature, intuition, or the heavenly bodies such as the moon or stars. Most Pagan practices tend to be rooted in nature and community, after all.