What Is A Witch?

There are so many definitions of what a witch is. There are, probably, as many definitions of witches as there are witches… or of humans trying to define what a witch is.

What a Witch is Not…

Pagan…

I think, probably, one of the biggest misunderstandings out there today is that a witch has to be a pagan. Witch has become synonymous with Wiccan.

According to Miram Webster, paganism is:

spiritual beliefs and practices other than those of Judaism, Islam, or especially Christianity: such as
a: the spiritual beliefs and practices of ancient polytheistic religions
b: the beliefs and practices of contemporary religions or spiritual movements based on ancient paganism

It’s easy to see why people assume a witch is pagan.

Goddess Worshiping

If a witch isn’t necessarily Pagan, it therefore goes to suggest that a witch isn’t necessarily goddess worshiping. There are so many pantheons to goddess worship and so many people believe that their pantheon is the most right because of many reasons.

Devil worshiping

There has to be some kind of irony in the idea that witches worship the devil/Satan. I mean… if you don’t follow Christianity, it’s terribly difficult to follow Satan. How can one have a Satan if on doesn’t have a Christian God?

Women

Malevolent

Busty young woman

Warty nosed ugly old woman

Broom Riding

What is a Witch?

Healer

My dad was, probably, what would be considered to be a witch, if healer comes into the picture. I remember watching him ‘work on’ (read massage) people’s backs or people’s feet. He could feel where the issues were when he rubbed someone’s feet or back. He would dig right in and press hard in the places where he said he could feel the heat, or the pain. He would rub the places until what he felt evened out and all of the temperatures were evened out. It was magical to me, when I was young, to see him make such a difference in people’s ability to better get on with their daily lives.

Did he consider himself a witch? No. I’m not even sure he thought of himself as a healer. He just did what he did and brough his gifts to others.

One who embraces natures gifts.

My Catholic great grand mother was definitely a witch.