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The universe of witches is still an unknown and somewhat misunderstood field, but it is much explored indirectly by people, such as the use of teas to obtain healing of diseases, sympathies and belief in energies. Also within pop culture it is approached in dozens of productions among films, series and books, which have created stereotypes of what it is to be a witch. Even with the great amount of content produced on the subject, there is an evident gap in the attempt to normalize the subject, which competes with years of creating a culture that marginalizes witchcraft in society.
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According to authors Jeffrey B. Russell and Brooks Alexander, historian and journalist, references in the documentation of the history of witches with the book "History of Witchcraft" (1980 and 2007), witches are divided into three strands: neopaganism, wicca and witchcraft. Neopaganism is the most comprehensive of all, because it concentrates several ancient traditions of religious systems such as Scandinavian, Celtic, Greek, Roman and Egyptian, reliving doctrines erased by history, hidden teachings and despised around the globe. This explains the prefix "neo," which indicates a highlight of contemporary manifestation in connection with the ancient.
The wicca category is the most radical, for the simple reason that it demands from its followers the rigorous performance of teachings and practices. The name was created by the English writer Gerald Brousseau Gardner, who in the 1950s linked the practice of witchcraft with the word. There are subtle distinctions between wicca and witchcraft, so some prefer to choose one term and keep it, unrelated to another. The term "witchcraft" is the best known among non-practitioners and is the most reprimanded term by lay people, who generally attribute macabre and negative characteristics to the nomenclature, which justifies the preference of some for the term wicca.
Jeffrey B. Russell | ivpress.com
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Witchcraft is a cosmovision. Cosmovision encompasses the notions of how we see and understand everything around us and how this fits or relates to your universe in terms of understanding the purpose of life, where we came from and where we are going. It has three main cosmovisions: naturalist, occultist and humanist.
The naturalistic worldview is a philosophical current that holds that all reality relates and operates according to certain "laws," independent of a divinity. The fact that the existence of gods and goddesses is recognized does not mean that these divinities should be given the faculty to create and interfere in the natural life of human beings.
The occult worldview is a set of beliefs and practices characterized by two main points, both of which are usually unknown to lay people. First, the occult teaches that there is a force or energy in each of us that can be manipulated in our favor. The spell is one of the ways used to harness and focus this power. Second, the occult claims that human beings are divine. The practice of the occult arts is, therefore, a constant effort to effect the very divinity of the adept.
Humanistic cosmovision defines itself as a celebration of life. And this celebration consists in denying that there is any problem with the human race and places the human being as the center of everything. There is nothing above it, the human being is perfect.
Witchcraft is pragmatic, that is, it demands the constant practice of rituals and, in this practice, the witch finds her own well-being and that of those around her. A simple search for materials dealing with witchcraft will reveal how most of the works deal with rituals and activities that can be perfected in order to control a supposed cosmic force in favor of what the practitioner desires.
Witches and their various traditions
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Witches are those who know the power they possess and their divinity in nature. They are diverse, each with their own preferences in the way they manifest their belief. Within Witchcraft there are different aspects, such as the hereditary witch, who is that which comes from a family of witches, the green one, who bases her rituals on contact with nature, the solitary one, who does not belong to a group or tradition, the eclectic one, who is based on many traditions, and of divination, who uses her power to foresee the future. These are just a few examples of the many aspects that exist around the world.
In most cases, each strand has a collective of witches who are called "coven". When they participate in a coven, together with their sisters for witchcraft, they perform rituals and gather together, something like Sunday Mass for a group of Blessed in the Catholic Church. Not only for this, the coven also fulfills its role of creating a sense of brotherhood when each one takes it upon themselves to watch over the other, especially against intolerants who have been persecuting them for hundreds of years. An example of this is the greatest witch slaughter known to history: the inquisition.
Begun in the fifteenth century, the witch-hunt, promoted by the Catholic Church, had its apex in the European continent. The persecution was based on the demonization of women who supposedly practiced some kind of ritual or showed themselves against the macho oppressions of the time. It is estimated that in the period between the 15th and 18th centuries approximately 100,000 women were executed for witchcraft.
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At the top of the execution list were the healers, mostly widows who cultivated herbs and provided health services in their villages. They were persecuted because it was believed that they received help from supernatural entities and obtained power in exchange for devil worship.
Even after facing the harsh barriers of time, the practices of witchcraft remain alive, from clan meetings to activities that go unnoticed in daily life. Proof of the survival of the practices today are the stories of Daiane, Bethany and Alice. Witches of our days who maintain the traditions of women of the past.
Daiane Lopes, 38, designer and artist from Suzano - São Paulo, Ecletic Witch.
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Daiane considers herself eclectic in all areas of life. She always tries to be doing different things, that she doesn't dare to choose one of them. Practicing witchcraft is not something very conventional. This characteristic alone would put her ahead of those who say they like to diversify their secular activities.
The history of the designer in witchcraft comes from long before her birth. Descendant of a family with a strong base in magic, she had a witch mother who followed the dogmas of the Catholic Church. Although partly hereditary, it had its late initiation.
She spent much of her life without practicing anything, because she did not accept any religion or a male god. Even encouraged by her family, she never identified with the Catholic Church. She had an aversion, without knowing why, she only knew that she was different. She became atheistic and tried to understand life in a more physical way, but she felt that it was not enough. Until, as she sought to know more about the existence of the human being in the universe, she entered headlong into the studies of the sacred feminine, the feminine history itself, and when she realized it, she was once again awakening the magic within her.
Daiane's greatest reflection is the way he views life's trajectory. She believes that everyone, regardless of whether they are witches or not, can seek enlightenment. It is something for everyone. However, in her perception, there are levels of people, and some have to go through several lives to learn, and at the end of their reincarnations the process of enlightenment begins.
Betânia Caroline, 24, tarologist from Avaré - São Paulo, Lonely Witch.
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Her interest in witchcraft arose in her childhood and began with astrology. However, the rigidly catholic creation prevented her from progressing. What made her revive this flame was her interest in books, films, or anything related to the universe of witches. Today, her main areas of study are herbal magic, the divinatory arts (methods of understanding life, such as divination) and tarology as a profession.
Bethany chooses to identify herself as a lone witch, since she does not belong and does not intend to be part of a coven and also does not follow a specific tradition. She learned tarology from a master of art, complementing her knowledge with books.
Her work is only with Tarot, but she also dedicates herself to the study of the magic of herbs. She intends to practice, but she does not attend this area yet, because she does not feel ready. "I think it's very delicate that kind of thing". Today, it only does for you and your partner.
Betânia is grateful for the support she receives from her husband. "I don't think I'd be where I am today without him". From a very religious family, she had to change state in order to live out her belief freely. She doesn't hide her practices from anyone, but her mother has no knowledge of her new lifestyle. The husband has no relation with witchcraft, but he is a scholar of Kabbalah, Indian philosophy and spirituality.
Alice M. Franco, 58, a nurse from São Thomé das Letras - Minas Gerais, Green Witch.
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Alice, as she prefers to be called, began her journey in witchcraft in childhood. She had grandparents who were adept at healing with herbs and also at manipulating oracles. At the age of 42 she grew a desire to take a course in Holistic Therapy, which promotes physical, psychic, spiritual and social balance through natural stimuli, something that would allow her to work away from scientific exhausts, which is what she experienced with nursing.
It was then that she found in the city of Santo André the Free Holistic University Casa de Bruxa, which had the course of therapist. However, by coincidence (or not), instead of having enrolled in the course of therapy, they had actually enrolled in the course of natural witchcraft. "That's why it was meant to be”.
According to the nurse, natural witchcraft is a philosophy of life, not a religion. That's what attracted her so much.
It was the Greeks, Egyptians, and even Gardner, who revived Wicca as a religion, who put it that way. Within natural witchcraft you can find green witchcraft and solitary witchcraft. If I were to put myself on one side, I would put myself as a green witch.
The relationship with a coven can often be one of the most important things in a witch's life. Alice is someone who has learned a lot from the sisters of natural witchcraft. Since she moved to Minas Gerais she does not participate in coven, as they are mostly Wiccans. When she lived in São Paulo she had more affinity, because they were from Natural Witchcraft. However, he keeps with him most of the rituals he learned from the coven that initiated him.
More than having a calling, every witch needs to have a spell on the end of the wand and a good potion inside the cauldron. These characteristics may sound just like stereotypes, but with our characters it's not so different, because each one has its own favorite rite.
Rituals
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After looking inside himself and his practices, Daiane does not believe he fits into a tradition. He dives into some aspects and has great appreciation for natural witchcraft. She practices rituals such as planting the moon, uterine appreciation and even rituals that she herself developed. "The sacred feminine (power within woman) helps to understand the ancestral knowledge. The rituals of the sacred feminine are very strong for a spiritual reconnection". How about getting to know your favorite rituals?
What would be "Planting the Moon"?
The act of planting the moon is linked with menstrual blood. When her moon (blood) descends, the witch takes shelter, uses cloths to collect her blood and throws it on plants. The guarding requires that nothing be done for three days during the bleeding. She must spend the period alone, meditating, drinking teas, reading, listening to mantras and lying down. You can't even work.
At the end of the menstrual period, put the cloths in hot water and let them soak until they release all the blood and the fluid cools. Then you put more water, dilute and pour the liquid into the plants in the pots in your house. While watering, one must thank the great mother, who is nature, for the blood, returning to her in demonstration of her gratitude. The time does not interfere with the ritual, however the witch usually does it during the day.
Everything has to be ritualistic, from washing the cloths, while keeping in her thoughts what she desires for the new cycle that begins, to playing in the little plants with the mind connected in the way that that blood will serve as nutrients for them.
Besides this, Daiane has developed his own rituals based on the studies he has conducted. In this one you will need a full moon. It's called "Healing the Ancestors".
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Healing of the Ancestors
The healing of ancestors is a simple ritual. A place is prepared in the moonlight with incense, drinking water and stones. In particular, the witch likes to listen to music for the goddess and meditate, which according to her intends the healing power of the moon. After the meditation, one should spread one's legs to deliberate the power of the natural satellite entering your womb and promoting healing. At the end, one takes the water to hydrate after having absorbed the moon's energy. She says that every time she did, she felt more powerful.
But who would the ancestors be and why do they need to be healed?
The ancestors are the grandparents and great grandparents. Women carry all the traumas of their ancestors in their wombs, like a genetic memory. According to her, sometimes women have traumas that you don't even know why, and that can come from a trauma of their mother or grandmother. Therefore, it is necessary to promote healing for the fruits of a hellish past that humanity left them.
The shamanic goddesses
In the second ritual, Daiane talks about listening to music that talks about shamanic goddesses. There are several goddesses that a witch can pray to on her behalf. Pachamama (Inca goddess of fertility), Diana (Greek goddess of fighting), Artemis (Roman goddess of fighting), Lilith (Mesopotamian goddess of death), the African goddesses Iansa (goddess of death) and Yemanja (goddess of the seas) and in Catholicism we have Mary. "I don't worship several goddesses, but there are witches who do. I only worship mother nature and her elementals."
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In Bethany's case, her rituals are linked to her work, the Tarot reading. They are the post-care cleansing and rituals for prosperity every first day of the month. What we will know is the astral cleansing of the part of her house where she receives her clients.
What are the steps of the ritual cleaning of the environments?
According to the witch, to clean the rooms, you must choose a stone of your choice, she has a preference for the black onix and a specific herb to light it as natural homemade incense. She usually uses basil. You close the windows and doors and start from the farthest room to the nearest street. You move the grass around the four corners of each room. During the purification a prayer or a song of banishment must be recited.
One of the mystical objects most sought after by non-practitioners, but believers in witchcraft, are the stones. Bethany has a passion for them and explains a little about the power of her favorites.
What would those stones be like black onyx?
Black onyx is a healing crystal, as are many that exist: examples are tourmalines and quartz. Each has its own function. The witch usually uses them with a specific function. If you go to a hostile place, which can suck your energy, put a black onix or tourmaline in your pocket. If you need to meet people and you know you will need patience and zeal to talk, pink quartz is used. Amethyst, in particular, helps you when you're on call. However, to have the expected results, the crystals need to be cleaned and energized, each in its own way.
How to clean the crystals and where can you find them?
A witch's crystals must be washed in running water and some need to be in sunlight, others in moonlight. They can also be buried overnight. They can be found in esoteric shops, but Bethany prefers to buy them in jewelleries, because there she finds them in the raw phase, in the form of a druse (irregular stone), sometimes even with the earth from which it was taken.
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We arrived in Alice's place. As a green witch, the ritual that fascinates her the most is that of lunation. Within the natural witchcraft there are 13 moons, with each full moon a ritual called Lunation must be performed. Every thirteen moons have a name. The rabbit's moon, the wolf's moon, the ice moon, are examples given by her, but they have various other names, because each person can choose how they wish to call them and others which they simply do not name.
Each ritual has a theme and something to improve within itself, something to reflect on that moon. A personal experience from the nurse's past was the reflection of how she related to people. However, if we have 12 months in the year, how will we have 13 moons? The lunar click has 28 days, which is thirteen months, different from the Gregorian calendar. However, one important detail should be kept in mind: If you forget to make a moon, you should start the cycle from the beginning.
How is the lunar ritual performed?
The lunar ritual is called by some traditions Esbats, which means "to commemorate". It is performed every full moon and can be celebrated 12 hours before to 12 hours after the apex of the moon. The total is 13 Esbats, as the month is counted based on the lunar calendar. The moon represents the Mother Goddess, and the sun represents the Father God. After the end of the 13 moon commemorations, the first moon is returned to start the new cycle, and so on until the end of life. As already mentioned, if the loss of a commemoration occurs, one must begin again, that is, return to the first lunation.
The witch told us about the first lunation, the one she calls "Lobo's Moon". It's worth to point out that the witch said she couldn't reveal all the details of the rituals.
What is worked in this lunation?
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In this ritual, before it begins, a hygienic bath must be taken. When starting, the magic circle is drawn with athame (a double-edged knife. It is not used to cut anything physical. It is simply to cut negative energies and to draw magic and protective circles), wand or with the finger. While tracing the circle, one must invoke the presence of its protective mentors and the Elemental Guardians of Nature (guardians of the natural world related to the four elements: water, earth, fire and air). It is important to remember that both in natural witchcraft and in Wicca the interaction with nature is the basis of everything. Then candles of the color of this lunation should be lit following a ritual proper for this. In the cauldron that is in the center of the circle, will be the bath of herbs, to bathe after its consecration.
Within the circle it is permitted to wear clothes of the colour of the lunation or naked (dressed as heaven), light clothes that can allow the energies of the earth to flow freely for you, so some prefer to be dressed as heaven. Within the circle you are free to sing, dance, talk, meditate and ask for solutions to personal issues, protection for yourself and your family. The bath will be consecrated and the food of the lunation will be consumed and you may drink wine. After celebrating and reflecting, the ritual ends, thanking the presence of the mentors and guardian elements, breaking the circle. Afterwards, a hygienic bath should be taken before going to sleep.
This ends the lunation ritual, the Esbats.
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Another ritual that Alice casually performs are the change of season parties, such as the equinox and solstice, which represent the birth, growth and death of the god and goddess. Both creators of everything, who in an ideal, non-machist world represent the father and mother god, and not just a male god. This feast can be celebrated both within a coven up to thirteen people, who represented the thirteen moons, and solitarily. Alice rarely makes company.
How is the ritual change of season performed?
There are eight change of season rituals. Those that greet the beginning of a season and those that say goodbye to it. These rituals are called Sabbaths and represent the cycles during the year. The witch chose to talk about the most famous: Samhaim.
The Sabbaths metaphorically speak of the God, the Goddess and her love. Samhain is celebrated in the peak of autumn, so this Sabbath is celebrated using the "wheel of the north" (northern hemisphere). It sounds strange for those who are in Brazil, since autumn in the country is not in October but in March (southern hemisphere wheel). However, there are people who follow the "Northern Hemisphere Wheel" and, for this reason, we have Samhain (same day as Halloween) celebrated on October 31. Samhain is a ritual where one is thankful for the harvest that will provide in the coming winter and it is also the time to purge everything that is not wanted in your life.
Samhain can be considered the witch's new year. In symbolism, this commemoration speaks of the death of God, the end of the harvest. Although she has died, the Goddess is pregnant and this child will be born in the Yule, which is the season of the rebirth of God, which happens in springtime. It is good to remember that halloween has no connection with Samhain. It's just a party started by non-believers. Samhain is a time to honor the past that was lived and the ancestors.
The opening of the ritual equals lunation, honoring death, which is part of life. The spell called "witch's rope" is performed in which the requests are made for the beginning of the new year and the rope of the past year will be burned. Two cauldrons are used. The first to be lit is the one that must be used to banish what you do not wish for your life, and the other that must be lit after the banishment to attract what you desire. By now, the black candles to banish will be lit, the oranges to attract the ancestors and the white to honor the ancestry.
The main purpose of the ritual is to celebrate ancestry, meditate on your mistakes and use oracles to observe the energetic influences of what is to come. You can dance, meditate and sing whatever comes into your heart. Mainly to remember everyone you love and who is gone.
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These are some of the symbols of this ritual:
Animals
Animals of this celebration: spider, symbol of the web of life; owl, symbol of wisdom and patience; black cat, symbol of the one who enters into himself and seeks his spirituality; bat, symbol of clairvoyance because he does not need his physical eyes to see and toad, symbol of feminine wisdom.
Objects:
Staff, wisdom and detachment from worldly things; cauldron, the womb of the earth where we fertilize our desires, where food and medicine are made; hat, pointed symbol of spiritual hierarchy; the wand that directs energies; the candle that guides the energies to where they should go; and the broom, which serves to sweep away bad energies.
Colors:
Orange, the vitality to co-create, black, symbolizes protection and mastery; purple, symbolizes cosmic elevation and balance of forces.
Food:
Food is basically apple, pumpkin pie cake (represents the full harvest), may have tea, champagne or wine, fruits such as blackberry, plum, cherry, red in general.
Complements:
Apple, mint, nutmeg and sage incense. Obsidian stones, black onix and tourmaline.
In a matter of location, according to the green witch, preference should be given to performing the rituals in the open air.
The temple of witchcraft and Wicca is nature. When we are in nature, we are on our own altar.
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No matter how much the subject has entered the mainstream in recent years and gained public approval, such as the Harry Potter saga, the Disney Abracadabra classic, and the Witch Convention, there are still prejudices and stigmata with witchcraft. Daiane says people only see part of what witchcraft is.
Look, I believe people still think witchcraft is a path of magic alone. What I believe witchcraft is not only magic, but enlightenment too.
Bethany would like to get rid of the stigmata that connect witchcraft to the devil or its connection to evil. And she also says she's lost credibility with basically her whole family because of it.
Alice goes deeper and says that witchcraft is a philosophy of life and not a religion, nor is it linked to African religions, so much so that in witchcraft there is no sacrifice of animals, it is something inconceivable for witches. "You don't believe in the need to kill an animal in order to offer it up or enjoy its energy. Of course we respect all those people who have that thought". Another situation pointed out was the thought of people about witches using their power to do evil, but in their philosophy people only have power over themselves. It is a connection between mind and heart and that everyone can achieve. Witchcraft is to know oneself, to transform oneself, complete Alice.
The green witch also cited the stigmata placed by the movies, like Harry Potter.
Learning magic isn't making noodles, getting things done fast. Of course you can make magic, but it's more of a mental concentration of what you want. In witchcraft, we work with the four elements. Each one will determine a feeling that you can acquire or need to improve. Fire is courage, strength, focus and faith. Water is the balance of emotions. We don't turn branches of trees into snakes, it's more inside you. That is the great beauty of witchcraft. It brings freedom from you to be what you are.
Alice also remembers how in times past they put many stigmas on women and how they hid their magic to keep themselves safe.
In the old days they used many codes in books so they didn't know the real meaning of the ingredients and they hid herbs in the broomsticks. For me, you need to remove the stigmata of witchcraft in relation to evil. The evil that the Catholic Church embodied in the women who were sacrificed and still are only because they are different.
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All our characters went through a transition until they understood what their calling was, but what changed in their lives after their initiation into witchcraft?
Daiane says that she lived in a world that was not right, where something was missing, she lived in a search for something she didn't know what it was, along with an emotional instability. After his initiation, it's as if he woke up to the understanding of life.
The psyche changes, you see the world differently, you feel fuller, and consequently things that were so difficult begin to flourish. Life becomes much more colourful.
According to Bethany's experience, when I was in the Christian milieu, I always had a doubt, disagreed and believed in nothing. Witchcraft put her in connection with her own faith. It brought her freedom and autonomy.
It opens your mind because there are no questions of guilt, prejudice and so on. And it is more in keeping with my political convictions as well. But I think the main thing is that you feel part of and have contact with nature and its ancestry.
"We are not static beings, we are dynamic, I can say that my change is daily". Alice reports that she feels more empowered and less anxious to understand now that there are things that are out of her reach. She brings as an example the rituals for you to reach a goal. She just lists the materials she will use, thanks you, and gives to the universe. "That is the spell of witchcraft. Whatever it has to be, it will be."
Another point that changed was the great respect for animals and plants. And that respect has grown so much that she says she understands some of their attitudes, as if they could communicate, both equal beings that are part of a whole.
That's a beautiful realization that it's in everything and everything is in you. You look at a plant, and it's in the ground. And the earth is also in you, in your bones, in the ores on your tongue. In the waterfall, the water in your blood. In the sun you find the heat and the air is in your lungs. Small and large findings that change your look at things, a deeper look at the purpose of life, the world and the people.
The three witches have personal experiences, perspectives and live in different contexts. Whether in the way they see the world, the strands that are inserted or their different rituals. However, both struggle to keep alive this part of the history of women who have tried to erase from the trajectory of humanity.