What Is a Witch?

[icymist]

I am not silly enough to suppose that everyone, or even a majority among Witches, will agree with everything I will be saying here. However, I have been thinking about this question for quite a while, and I think that some systematic consideration of the issues involved can provide some clarity.

The vast majority of Pagans in America are those who call themselves Witches. But what exactly does “Witch” mean? As linguists know, the etymology of a word often has very little to do with how the word is actually used. Instead, one must consider what people might mean when they use the word.

First, many people do still use “witch” to mean “someone who worships the Devil and/or evil and who engages in gratuitous malevolence.” Present-day Witches generally feel that such a definition of “witch” results merely from Christian politics and propaganda. True, there are now “Satanic” churches, the most prominent having been Anton LeVay’s Church of Satan and the Temple of Set, and its members do call themselves “witches,” which certainly confuses outsiders. However, as J. Gordon Melton has pointed out, the members of these churches are actually atheistic, hedonistic, and egoistic in their ethics. Pagan Witches regard Satanist witches as Christian heretics and not Pagan at all. Setting all that aside, we can look at the more positive usages of the term.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/aidankelly/2012/07/what-is-a-witch/

[DisabledAmerican]

1. My Aunt who has been a mentor to me is half Wiccan and Indian

She never defined herself as one single person of religion instead a mixture of beliefs. Witches all depend on different things because there is good magick and bad magick. Wiccans also believe more in natural and I can see why the Indian's in their belief system overlap the Wiccans. I will say one thing my Uncle once made the comment to me that if he had to choose between a so called Christian or a Wiccan he most likely choose the Wiccan they tend to be a little bit smarter on matters and all he have meet are good nature people.

I tend to agree with my uncle on that Wiccans have never tried to force me to join their religious belief. I consider myself more of a Elemental Mage if you go by Witch belief. Yet if you go by Indian belief I maybe a Star Child who soul has ascended, but has come back to teach others. I think my Soul itself is in tune. It is just a matter of what one believes and how one goes about creating that core belief system. I do know White Magic is about sending good will back. I respect all people no matter what they call themselves because we can all learn from them.

[icymist]

2. You know DA, I simply don't believe in 'good' magic or 'bad' magic... It's what the practioner does

Magic is simply the medium, kind of like the paint that the artist spreads over the canvas. You can have magic with religion (such as Voudon) or magic without religion (Hoodoo).