Working the Round

Here are some notes on what I believe in, in an effort to quantify my witchcraft practice into something more solid. This has come from years of introspection and working through my own thoughts and feelings regarding the answers to life, the universe, and everything.

Comparative Mythology
This is a big one for me, seeing which stories are a constant in different world mythos and construction of my own beliefs around it. I believe that there are stories that are passed down and told and retold for a reason, and those reasons are varied. This includes but is not limited to different tales of Heroes overcoming insurmountable challenges to arise into something more than human. This is the cauldron of Fire-in-Water or the sacred wellspring. The snake being a figure of transformation and a knowledge-keeper, the coyote being a trickster. They are all related to one another and stories are how we communicate important ideas like spirituality, thought, and imagination.

Belief in Spirits and the Underworld
This stems from Animism 100% - I fully believe that the world is inhabited by entities known as spirits, they have a hierarchy. Belief in what remains after Death. I think we all just end up wandering in a different mode of existence and become what is known as Faery. (This is from the Irish belief in Faeries being the spirits of the Dead) There is more to this, as well. The multifaceted soul being part of this - the soul that stays with your bones, the soul that returns to your ancestors, and the soul that reincarnates. There are many different realms beyond this one, and they are inhabited by spirits and other entities. Classing these spirits is tricky and there are many different courts within Faerie alone.

Belief in Cultural Traditions and Rituals
This is very important to me because it ties into community which we all need to cultivate more of. Rituals include things like superstitions common within folklore -> This is also complicated because of what defines a ritual can depend heavily. Watching Doctor Who every Saturday is a ritual many people engage in, therefore it is a cultural ritual that should be preserved and cherished. Holidays are integral to the human spirit, and are required for community nourishment.

Personally, I celebrate often and whenever I feel there is a need to! There is my monthly Deipnon wherein I feed Hekate's horde of spirits, there is the full moon when I bask in moonglow, among other rituals and rites left to the seasons. There is Walpurgisnacht on April 30th, There is Halloween on October 31st. There is the Summer and Winter Solstice. There is the calling in of the first snow, and the rite where the Spring Maiden returns from below. The seasons are embodied as spirits themselves and arrive with their retinue.

Practicing Witchcraft
It is an act in itself which does not require the belief of religion. It can be worked like a science, but still heavily relies on the game of chance: you are influencing the universe to a specific goal, not changing it fundamentally. It is a practice and requires skill. This also ties into belief and usage of Divination. I believe that divination isn't meant to tell a hard and concrete future, but to give us the tools needed to navigate toward the future we desire. It's meant to tell a story with you at the centre with possible outcomes and crossroads outlined.

Witchcraft can mean many different things for many different people, but to me, I believe that it is a cluster of rituals, practices, workings, and rites that are done primarily by people whom identify as Witches. It includes things like necromancy, divination, spirit flight, consorting with spirits, and shapeshifting. Witches often also practice pharmakopoiia - crafting any number of spelled unguents, oils, balms, and waters.

Science and Spirituality Are Not Opposites
I believe that spirituality can spur on scientific advancement. My main belief in this is through Robin Wall-Kimmerer's book Braiding Sweetgrass. I think the blending of traditional knowledge and science can help decolonize the field (STEM has a lot of issues, but my main belief is that everyone in a STEM field should take a humanities course at some point). There is poetry to be found in calculations, and there is magic to be found in chemistry. This ties into my interest with Ethnobotany -> the traditional knowledge and study of plant based medicine in indigenous cultures. We need to cultivate a mutual respect with people of differing cosmological beliefs so as to broaden our own understanding of the universe.