A SOMEWHAT RADICAL REVISIONING OF CONTEMPORARY WITCHCRAFT

After countless years of oppression and obscurity, Witchcraft, in all of its many forms and traditions both ancient and recent, is the fastest growing religion in America, England, Ireland, Canada and Australia. Academic surveys estimate that there are about 4.5 million practitioners in America alone.

Since I began practicing about 25 years ago, I've witnessed enormous changes within the movement. I've also seen huge changes as Witchcraft has emerged from the broomcloset and gained real visibility, and even acceptance, within mainstream culture. There are TV shows with lots of adorable good Witches, and there's Harry Potter, and even Oprah Winfrey and Gillette razors refer to "the Goddess." And certainly the coverage in the mainstream press has undergone a sea-change with respectful coverage on television and in newspapers all across America. But are we having impact on that broader culture? Does our visibility make any difference in the world? And is it even possible for us to make a difference? I believe that it is not only possible; it is critical. We are confronted by a world at enormous risk, largely due to problems that have emerged from the dominant theological view that says God is not present in the world. The biblical models argue that the Divine is exclusively male, that we are born in sin, that the world is nothing but inanimate matter to be used up as we see fit, and disposed of with disregard to the consequences. Living in New York City, I am keenly aware of the very immediate and hideous consequences of this very distorted perspective.

There is a deep and ancient wound at the heart of Western civilization, a terrible suffering caused by this mistaken notion that the Divine is not present in the world. And this suffering has led to a madness that makes men fly planes into buildings in order to get to God, madness that makes men justify pre-emptive military strikes in order to assert their power, madness that threatens the very life of this planet and it's inhabitants.

But what difference can our relatively small movement make in the face of such a deeply entrenched idea accepted by billions of adherents? As always, I look to my spiritual teacher foranswers-and in Nature we find an answer. It is called the "Theory of the Hundred Monkeys," and it applies not only to social groups, but to ecosystems, crystals, and atomic particles as well. Briefly, Nature shows us that even a small minority can have a profound impact on the vast and surrounding majority, or environment, when a sufficient number of that minority engages in new, creative, and particularly life-enhancing behavior.

In other words, we do not need to convert the world to our viewpoint to have an impact. Nor would we want to convert everyone to Witchcraft since Nature also teaches us that a healthy ecosystem requires diversity. But we can have a deep, positive and lasting impact on the world around us. We need only reach a size and visibility great enough for our values and perspective to begin to resonate within the larger global community. And we need only reach such a size for the common effort of our magical/spiritual work to have a profound impact on that global community.

But if we are to make a contribution to changing the world, we need to ask ourselves what that contribution will be. We need to know who we really are and what we bring to the world in order to make a difference. What are our core values? What is the central precept that we all share, no matter what our tradition or manner of practice? There are those that argue that all that neo-Pagan groups have in common are their differences, that "organizing Pagans is like herding cats." But I disagree. I think it is time for us to come together like a pride of lions. I think there is a profound spiritual wisdom that actually unites us. And it is this shared wisdom that can transform the world from dis-spirited violence to fertile creativity.

There is an emerging view, shared by myself and many others, that the single most important spiritual precept that unites most neo-Pagan groups and most Witches is the *experience* of immanent divinity as a daily reality, not an abstract concept or belief. We all share the knowledge, derived from our experiences using magical/spiritual practices, *that the Divine is everywhere present in the world, and within ourselves*. This is a radically different worldview than the one that currently dominates global culture, both Western and Eastern. It is also the very truth that can make all the difference in our personal futures, and the future of the Earth.

And it is a truth that requires us to reconsider and possibly change some of our ideas about Witchcraft and how we practice it. The shift in perspective when we view Witchcraft through the lens of immanent divinity can be subtle and it can be absolutely profound. In beginning to investigate these questions, I began to discover that we were not as free from the old biblical models as we would like to be. There is a great deal of residual "stuff" that permeates much of our thinking, our language, and our practices. Witchcraft has now been around long enough to develop it's own dogma, and interestingly, it seems that a lot of that dogma reflects old models of biblical thought that are completely inconsistent with our core spiritual principles. I try to explore some of these thoughts in WITCH CRAFTING and in my talks but I'd like to propose just a few items for you to consider now. It's a radical revisioning intended to provoke our thinking and re-empower our practices, and maybe help us to make the difference that can transform the world. My hope is that you will find this a valuable exploration that stimulates our thinking in a more critical and creative way. We don't necessarily need all the right answers, but we do need to be asking ourselves the right questions. So here are some thoughts about just what we can contribute in the way of important values that will resonate through and transform the broader culture in which we live. Let the magic begin within each of us and radiate outward into the world:

1. The Divine is within you and is everywhere present in the natural world. And everything is interconnected by this sacred energy. This is the principle of immanent divinity at the center of our spirituality. It is not something we believe, it is something *we know because we experience it* with the use of our practices, and through our relationship with Nature. Witches do not have faith in the Divine, they have experience with the Divine.

2. Maybe it's time for a new definition of magic that goes beyond the idea of changing consciousness at will and changing reality in conformity to your will. I'd like to propose that magic is also what happens when you open yourself to the Divine. All real magic is a manifestation of the Divine-it is how you commune with and co-create reality with deity. Magic is not about commanding and controlling, it is about communing and co-creating.

3. Witchcraft is not about information-it's about transformation. It is not about believing, but about experiencing. So practice, practice, practice-and do it as much as possible in Nature! Witchcraft enables you to commune with divinity and to manifest your destiny, your desires and your highest and sacred Self because you have tapped into the power that makes magic real.

4. The real ethics of how Witches live and practice are simple: Witches live in a sacred manner because we live in a sacred world. We therefore treat all of life with reverence and respect. The Threefold Law is not appropriate for Witches because it reflects a biblical model of punishment-because what it is actually saying is that I will not hex or harm because if I do the harm will return to me three times over. In other words, I'll be punished. That's not ethics, that's expediency. If you truly experience the world as sacred, you do not need to be threatened with punishment in order to know the difference between right and wrong.

5. Because all magic flows from our connection to the Sacred, our lives and our magic must be guided by the sacred nature of the energy with which we work.

6. The energy Witches work with is not neutral-it is divine love, even when it manifests in its "destructive capacity." Nature teaches us that death serves life, and life proceeds from the union that is love. And Nature teaches us that the Divine is both masculine and feminine, as well as beyond gender.

7. Magic often works in unexpected ways because it is not a mechanical process, and the Universe is not a machine. You are living and making magic within a divine, organic, living reality.

8. The real secret of successful spell casting, as with all of magic, is your connection to the Divine power within you and surrounding you. It is not in a formula, a tool, a potion, or something external. There is power in everything, but it is not unleashed until you interact with it. Immanent divinity means the power is, ultimately, always, within you.

9. Nature makes the Divine tangible. By working, living, and practicing your magic in harmony with Nature, you are in harmony with the Divine. It is wise for Witches to spend time on a regular basis in real wilderness where Nature is most fully and powerfully itself as an unadulterated and undamaged _expression of the Divine.

10. The ultimate teacher is the God/dess inside you and the world of Nature all around you. You are the awakened and empowered self-awareness of a sacred universe.

Those who practice this beautiful religion know that timing is everything-and just when we most need to know ourselves, like anyone coming of age, this powerful and growing movement is engaging in self-examination. We are looking at what we really believe and why we believe it, what we do and why we do it. We are growing, maturing, and changing. We are coming to a clearer understanding of our core principles and practices. We want to understand and experience Witchcraft, not just as a means towards an end, but as a meaningful and powerful religion, a spirituality that can make a difference not only in our personal lives, but in the life of this extraordinary planet. Understanding the why behind the how unlocks the real power of Witchcraft as a profound religion.

By Phyllis Currot