While working on a post for Freyja yesterday, I ended up channeling Her:
"Too much posturing. Not enough practicing. Witchcraft is not a competition. It's not about likes and followers. It's about doing the fucking work and making changes. Why do you think so many witches of the past were alone--can't focus if you're squabbling like hens over the last scrap of food. Build your communities, but don't forget what a witch is supposed to do. Otherwise what's the point?
"Too many hypocrites policing each other, all in the name of "respect". More like Control. All I see is ego and excuses. Most of these so-call witches couldn't rid themselves of a basic troublesome entity. Too focused on themselves and how they appear to others. You are one of my Seiðkonas and Völvas, others opinions on that matter be damned."
The other day, I was behind a motorcyclist all decked out in protection. They were aware of their surroundings and followed the laws, unlike many motorcyclists I've seen over the years. While driving behind this person, I suddenly felt the urge to protect them. I didn't question it, when we came to a red light, I cast an Algiz shield meant to buffer any vehicular danger this person may encounter. The traffic light turned green. They went straight and we turned left.
Maybe my little spell worked, maybe not. It's not for me to know.
Growing up, all I heard--mostly from some of the Wiccan crowd--was how you're not supposed to cast without permission, because of free will or that it wouldn't work, and yada yada yada. Like Christianity, those are yall's rules. They ain't universal.
I've been reading a lot of fantasy books lately. One of the big questions the students have for the adults is why can't we use our abilities to help people within our communities, regardless of their abilities.
The older generation usually answers that it's too dangerous.
Too dangerous to help people in need? Sounds like some patriarchal colonizer shit. Doesn't it, though?
Another answer is that magik has a price and that it takes from you. You pay a price.
Again colonizer shit--gonna take away your power by saying you'll be punished. It's like Harm None--don't you dare retaliate against the wicked. Let Western Karma do it. Actual karma doesn't affect this life. So do nothing, let the innocent suffer now, the wicked will be punished later... If you don't believe in multiple lives...I guess nothing happens to the wicked. They just keep on living and being awful people. Yall keep on suffering...hoping for the law systems to work like you're taught. Hoping that the wicked will truly be punished. Waiting, hoping, waiting, suffering.
Fuck that thinking. Even if it does take years off of your life, at least its for a good cause. Even if you can't change the system, helping one or a handful of folks is worth it--hopefully it'll create ripples. Hate is contagious, but compassion can be, too.
What's the point of this power if we can't use it to help our communities? I believe I was guided/taught/earned//given these abilities for a reason. I regularly use my abilities for my local communities. Be it casting a shield around my and neighbors homes during a severe storm, uprooting dangerous neighbors or strangers to protect my neighborhood, punishing local pedos, casting protections on strangers on the road or protestors standing on a street corner, etc.
No one asks me personally for help. I do so because I feel the need, the urge, the guidance. Maybe these people are asking and praying for help. Maybe I am that answer? Or another person, through prayer, through spirit work, through energy, through mundane means?
Spirit works in mysterious ways, and often through us.
If a stranger casts protection on me without my consent, I'd be grateful to them. Apparently they're seeing or feeling something I'm not. Maybe they saved my life that day?
Maybe I'm just reckless? When I was about 10-years-old, an aggressive dog was at our bus stop. A dog who'd already bit my BFF on her face (dog owners fault) a few weeks before. Without thinking and not caring about my safety, I got and held the dogs attention. I started running, making sure that the dog followed me, so my friends could run home. I didn't care about what could've happened to me. I'd already survived one dog attack, so what was another? That mutt wasn't going to harm my friends or any other kid (and it never did. The cops wouldn't do anything, so a parent tossed a steak soaked in anti-freeze over the fence...or so I heard...)
I was I called stupid for my decision--stupid for saving my friends. Stupid for not caring about my safety in the face of very real danger. Stupid.
Reckless maybe, but its not stupid to protect others.
I've always been like this. I've never been the type to think that someone else will do something--someone else will help. I am that someone. I am that something. I've been in some dangerous situations because of it. I'll gladly shorten/give my life to save others. I'm cut from a different cloth.
Probably because I've been the victim of "someone else will help". I know what its like to be around cowards. To need help and the adults--family--putting their safety and comforts first. It's fucked up. It's wrong. I made a vow when I was young to never be like them.
I was called stupid by the cowards in my life. Funny that. Even when I was a kid, I knew they were wrong.
When I hear about magik rules, especially those filled with fear and punishment, I always ask--who made those rules? Where'd they come from? Are they there to protect people or to control people? And to protect whom--the rich white Christian man?
Those who don't follow the rules are called evil and dark and ostracized, or in this modern day, doxed and bullied online--having their names dragged through the virtual mud.
Right and wrong, good and evil are all highly subjective.
Reminds me of that image one may see floating around the online pagan communities: why were we taught to fear the witch, but not those who burned them?
We should never stop questioning, especially laws. Whose making them and why? Just because its a law, don't mean it's good. Just ask the non-white/non-Christian/non-male/non-straight/non-abled/non-poor communities. I don't know that enough people question. Just because someone identifies as a witch or whatever online, doesn't mean they actually are. Sometimes I wonder how many of these rule makers aren't just Christian trolls trying to scare people away from magik/spirit work/energy work? You know? How many just come up with rules to hold us down? I'm sure they're out there. Question, yall! Research. Experiment!
Hence why I tend to consult my Kindreds on magikal matters, instead of other humans.
Too many of those young adult fantasy books side with the older generations. Older...outdated...black and white thinking...fearful...forgetful of who made those rules. Those who continue to take away the power of those they see as less than... But don't worry, they'll get theirs in the next life, while you continue to suffer in this one.
If I have the abilities and skills, I'm going to do something. Others fear-based and patriarchal rules and opinions be damned. I am proficient with protection magiks for a reason. I am a guardian. A warrior. A healer. I am one of Freyja's Seiðkonas and Völvas.
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Thanks for the support. I appreciate yall.
Face to the Sun. Trust in Joy. Follow the Foxes and the Bees...
- Priestess Foxlyn