The Common Witch

Pagan originally meant "of the land" or "country dweller", referring to rural people and their beliefs. As Christianity grew and took control of Europe, pagan became identified with any of the non-Judeo-Christian religions, and to some it was equated with heretic, an enemy of the Church's truth. Some equate the word heathen with heretic or savage, but it means "one who lives on heaths". Church officials wanted to replace pagan beliefs and practices with Christian ones, so much so that pagan holidays were adopted into the Christian calendar to get converts. As the word witch is reclaimed, so is the word pagan. Now it refers to a larger group of beliefs with many different traditions and practices. Pagan is to Wiccan as Christian is to Catholic, meaning Pagan and Christian are larger groups with smaller traditions within them. All Wiccans and witches are pagan, but not all pagans are witches. Many identify themselves as pagan, but may not identify with a specific tradition, such as witchcraft. And within the heading of witchcraft are several other smaller divisions. 

Divinity is inherent in all things, material and spiritual. The divine force is apparent in all life and form. Spiritual does not mean divorced from the physical, earthly realm. The Earth is actually one of the most divine forms in all creation. All life, all nature is the divine manifest, and most pagans honor the Earth as a living being, the source of life. In our mythology, the Earth is viewed as Mother, or even Grandmother, the source of all life on Earth. The Earth Goddess can be seen as a symbol of life and interconnection, or a sentient consciousness available for communication in her own right. Science is slowly catching up to the idea of the Earth being alive, and no a lifeless rock. British biologist James Lovelock first proposed the "Gaia Hypothesis" in the 1970's, named after the Greek goddess Gaia, stating that all life, including humanity, is part of a complex biosphere organism. Others have extrapolated that hypothesis into a theory that the Earth is a living being, and all things on Earth are akin to cells within her. To witches, there is no doubt that the Earth is alive. 

The divinity, or life force, present in all things expresses itself in several different ways in witchcraft. Most common in this faith is the expression of the divine not only thought the Earth, but also through the Goddess, the Great Mother, and the God, the all Father. Through the actions of this polarity, Goddess and God, life is created. 

As the Goddess is manifested through the Earth, she is also inherent in the Moon, the changing cycles matching the twenty-eight day menstruation period. The concept of a Triple Goddess-Maiden, Mother, and Crone-seen in the waxing, full, and waning Moon, is rooted deeply in the pagan consciousness. Her three identities could also be the Moon, Earth, and Underworld Goddess. The Triple Goddess is seen as the giver of life, sustainer and destroyer, all in one. The mythologies of old contain the Triple Goddess image. Different cultures alternately see the Goddess in the Sun, ocean, rivers, sky, and spiraling galaxies. 

The God is manifested through various faces, including the Sky Father, encompassing Mother Earth; Solar King; Horned God, the lord of animals; and the Green Man, the lord of the harvest. The God is most aptly seen as dualistic. On the waxing, or warming half of the year, he is life bringer, the god of light, Sun, and growing things. On the waning and withering half of the year, he is the god of darkness, death, animals, and the hunt. 

Each image or archetype in our collective consciousness reveals one aspect of the divine, God and Goddess alike. Neo-pagans and witches have adopted the gods and goddesses of various pantheons as expressions of the Goddess and God. Usually these expressions function as rulers over a particular aspect of nature or human life, such as a deity of storms, the sea, the Moon, hunting, or magic. Usually they have more than one attribute. Even as expressions of the divine, the gods and goddesses are very real, connecting to our innermost selves. 

Although witches are polytheists, meaning they acknowledge and honor more than one deity, they recognize the one spirit running though everything. Perhaps the word monist, one who recognizes the divine in everything is a more appropriate term, but most pagans identify themselves as polytheistic. The gods and goddesses are expressions of that one spirit,leading to a more personal relationship with the divine. 

The one spirit, the Great Spirit, is known by many terms. The Goddess and God move in the love of the Great Spirit. They are different aspects of the divine. Infrequently, some Wiccan traditions call this one spirit Dryghten, a word said to be Anglo-Saxon and best translated to "lord", but without the gender quality, referring to the creative force that is both male and female, the source of all things. Some see this Great Spirit as the Goddess exclusively, who gave birth to the God through her self-fertilization. Ancient myths, such as the Greek creation story, start with the Goddess who give birth to her son/husband to continue creation. 

Critics say that witches worship nature, and to a certain extent that is true, but in reality we worship the creative force found in nature. In essence, we honor life, everywhere, we see the divine in everything and everyone. 

Witches have nothing to do with the Christian Devil. To believe in the Devil, one must already believe in the Christian myths, and most witches feel their spiritual roots predate Christianity. We are not naive. We do believe that harmful forces exist and precautions must be taken, but we do not subscribe to an ultimate author of evil or the concept of sin. An ultimate evil and an ultimate good is a polarity never found in nature. In Christian myths, God is all powerful, but the Devil still exists. For this to be a true polarity, they must be equal to each other, but in Christian mythology, they are not. In Wicca, we focus on the polarity of the Goddess and the God, and the love of their union that births life into beings. Love is the focus, not conflict. The concept of light versus dark, good verse evil, was actually adopted from Zoroastrian religions. 

*Credit to Christopher Penczak

Dualism

Contrasting powers are no longer understood as complementary forces arranged on a spectrum; instead they are oppositional and no spectrum exists. There are no grey areas. Boundaries between oppositional forces are clear, distinct, and absolute. Each opposing force is mutually exclusive of each other.

Every item on one side of the balance sheet is linked to every other item on its side and opposed to all items on the other. Each item on one side shares an essence with the others on its side; they serve the same master. The categories on this world balance sheet not only includes physical observations but perceived moral, value judgement as well:

Good---Bad/Evil

Strong---Weak

Clarity---Ambiguity

Order---Chaos

Safe---Dangerous

Tame---Wild

Manifest---Hidden

Masculine---Feminine

New---Old

Sun---Moon

Light---Dark

Male---Female

Human---Animal

Solid---Fluid

White---Black

Right---Left

High---Low

Soul---Body

Spirit---Material

Because "evil" is now understood as absolutely distinct from "good", serious theological concerns arise as to the origins of evil, where it comes from, who is responsible and how it may be eradicated, once and for all. Questions as to who is leading each side, exactly who is responsible and in charge, becomes crucial.

Those concerns aren't relevant to the old shamanic/fertility cult perspective. It doesn't figure value judgments into the equation, at least not on an abstract basis. Any power may be used for good or evil; it is how it is used that affects the outcome. The power in itself is neutral. This is absolutely not the case with what will become known as "dualism".

The dualist perspective stems from very human emotions: fear and anxiety, a desire for security, clarity and order, firm unwavering boundaries, a need to categorize. Look at the balance sheet: order and clarity emerge on the same balance side as good, safe, and light. Male is on that side, too, as is right, high and white. That old shamanic swirling world of invisible, merging, ambiguous powers is chaotic, fluid, and messy. It finds  itself on the balance sheet on the same side as evil, dark, dangerous, wild, and female. 

The word "dualism" is derived from the Latin duo, "two". In English, the name also contains a pun: the two sides on that eternal chessboard duel with each other.  That's the most basic explanation of "dualism" although that word, like "witchcraft" has come to mean many things to many people. However, at its most basic, the term is used to denote a theological system that explains the universe as the outcome of two eternally opposed and conflicting principles, such as good and evil. There is no way to balance these forces because balance implies compromise and compromise strengthens evil. Everything in the universe can be classified on one side or the other. If classification isn't clear, if something is ambiguous, then it's quite obvious on which side of the balance sheet that something belongs.

In the dualist view, soul and body are distinct, and potentially in serious conflict. There's only one of each and by nature they are out of balance. Too much attention to the finite body only places the immortal soul in danger. to strengthen the side of good, the perishable physical body must be sublimated, perhaps even mortified, and the soul nourished. Immortality is achieved through the survival and salvation of the soul. 

On the other hand, sometimes these perspectives of the world are two sides of a single coin, like seeing the same glass as either half-full or half-empty. For instance, because women bring forth new humans from their own bodies and can provide nourishment from those bodies, and because parallels are clearly observed between women's bodies and such physical phenomena as lunar phases and tides, in the shamanic/fertility cult perspective, women are perceived as embodying divine energy. This is because those lunar phases, nature, the whole physical world are all understood to be sacred. 

From the dualist perspective, however, those very same observations of women, their reproductive ability, their associations with the dark depths of night and ocean, all indicate women's powerful affinity with the physical world, which is affiliated with the evil side of the universal balance sheet, hence turning her into a danger zone for men's immortal souls.

It is hard to conceive a philosophy that has a greater worldwide impact than dualism. It has infiltrated virtually every corner of Earth, its roots so deep that they permeate our very language. Without an understanding and awareness of dualism, you cannot understand the fear, revulsion, and/or ambivalence so many feel towards witchcraft. 

Its birthplace seems to have been in Persia, in what is now modern Iran, from whence it spread through the Middle East, the Mediterranean and beyond. Dates vary as to when Zoroaster was born in Iran. Conservative Zoroastrians, members of the religion founded on his teachings, suggest 6000 BCE. Historians generally suggest sometime between 1500 and 1000 BCE. Previously, Iranian religion had been similar to that of polytheistic Mesopotamia and the Pagan Middle East. Zoroaster preached a new faith with a new perspective. Initially he was attacked for his ideas, but eventually he found favor with the king. Zoroastrianism became the the state religion and remained so until the Islamic jihad arrived in Persia in 650 CE. Many Zoroastrians fled to India where a community remains, as they do in Iran and elsewhere.

Although these facts may be unfamiliar to most Western readers, elements of Zoroastrian religion will be familiar to many:

*Zoroastrianism envisions the universe as a battleground of two gods who existed from the beginning: the Lord of Light and Righteousness and the Lord of Darkness and Evil. The universe is divided between into their armies, including people, who must choose a side. Fence-sitting is not an option; there is no gray area, no middle-ground; it is a world of distinct, clear boundaries. One must actively, consciously enlist in the army of the Lord of Light because if one does not do so then one willingly or inadvertently supports the opposition, the Lord of Darkness. 
*Many Zoroastrians believe in a savior born from a virgin of the lineage of Zoroaster who will raise the dead and preside over the Final Judgment.
*In the inevitable final show-down, the apocalyptic battle between the forces of good and evil, the Lord of Darkness and his forces will be destroyed. The dead will be resurrected and the world purged and cleansed via a flood of molten metal, although only the wicked are scalded. The righteous will wade through this fiery flood  as if through warm milk.
*There is a Final Judgment of souls. Sinners are punished and then humans will be immortal, free from all Earthly ills: death, disease, old age, hunger, poverty.

This vision of a world struggling between forces of good and evil permeates the philosophies and spiritual traditions known as "Gnosticism" as well.  In the most literal sense, gnosis refers to the knowledge or understanding that produces, or at least supports spiritual salvation. The Gnostic is saved when he personally sees the light and experiences epiphany. 

There was never one unified Gnostic movement. Instead the term refers to a series of schools and teachers, emerging in strength during the 1st century CE, centered mainly in Egypt and Judea. There's wide variety, a broad spectrum of beliefs held by the various Gnostic schools, and Pagan , Jewish, and Christian schools of Gnosticism exists. Eventually, Gnostic philosophy would exert a profound influence on mainstream Christianity. 

Although there are many variations on the theme, a typical Gnostic vision goes something like this: despite religious propaganda to the contrary, the material world was not created by the highest, good God. A lower being formed the physical world but in the process, true divine parks of light were trapped. Thus Earth is corrupt, tainted, or even possibly evil, but it contains sparks of godly, divine, trapped goodness that can potentially be nurtured, saved, freed and redeemed. Human suffering derives from entrapment in this physical world, which is governed by an Evil Being who impersonates God and usurps His power. To put it mildly, the early centuries of the Common Era were times of tremendous spiritual seeking. Back in Persia, dualist philosophy continued to evolve. in 216 CE, a man names Mani was born near the Tigris River in Babylonia, modern Iraq but then part of the Persian Empire. He was an intensely restless spiritual pilgrim who traveled widely, seeking enlightenment. Born a Zoroastrian, he studied and experimented with Buddhism and Gnosticism and even converted to mainstream Christianity for a while.

No religion he encountered satisfied him, although he found truths in many. He perceived all of them as incomplete, so he decided to perfect them, proclaiming himself the messiah of the new faith, Manicheism, characterized by an intense dualist vision. 

Mani was a prolific artist and writer, setting down his philosophy and vision in words and drawings that were preserved for centuries. This became an important faith, not only during his lifetime but also for many centuries afterwards, with communities of adherents from Persia to Spain to China. Manicheism, at on time, was considered to be among Christianity's chief competitors. The Church perceived Manicheism as a great threat and actively campaigned against it for centuries. None of Mani's drawings, and only fragments of his writings survive because they were systematically searched out and destroyed by the Roman Catholic Church. 

Mani's luck changed when a new Persian ruler devoted to Zoroastrianism came to power. As the story goes the magi perceived Mani as a competitor and pressured the king, Bahram I, to arrest and condemn him. Various reports exist of his death, every one of them horrific. Either he was crucified, or flayed alive, or beheaded with his head stuck on a pole for extended public display. His martyrdom, however, only increase his popularity among some believers and made his faith, with its martyred, possibly crucified messiah, even more of an alternative path to Christianity.

The mission of Manicheism is to entirely separate spiritual light from material darkness. If and when this process is complete, then the Kingdom of Darkness will be forever defeated. A microcosm of this war is fought within each human being as the soul struggles to break free from the corporal body, while simultaneously the corporal body, under the dominion of the Lord of Darkness, tempts and encourages backsliding. Each person must achieve individual salvation: each human is a battlefield for the forces of Light and Darkness. You must actively choose your side. Among the keys to achieving liberation of one's spiritual essence is an unwavering, complete obedience to the Manichean Church. 

Some people are closer to that goal than others. Persons on the verge of spiritual liberation were known as the Elect. The Elect led highly disciplined, ascetic lives, abstaining from sex because indulgence in sensual pleasures strengthens the body at the expense of the soul, and because babies, the result of sex for reproduction, are but fresh prisons for entrapped sparks of light. Furthermore, those precious sparks of light may be contained within sperm, which should thus be protected from the moist, darkness of the womb.

The Elect maintained a strict vegetarian diet, with one exception. Saint Augustine, a Manichean for 9 years prior to his conversion to Christianity, reports that the Elect ritually consumed a concoction of dough and semen, the theory being that the trapped sparks of light might be liberated if consumed by those on the brink of salvation themselves. 

Saint Augustine, pillar of the Christian Church, was a spiritual seeker, too, who explored Pagan paths and Manicheism before devoting himself to Christianity. Although he rejected much Manicheist doctrine, Augustine also introduced the Manichean worldview into conventional Christian thought. Among those doctrines rejected by Augustine is the notion that knowledge leads to liberation. In Augustine;s views, humans are too tainted by Original Sin to accomplish salvation either through knowledge or other individual effort. It can only be achieved through obedience to Christian doctrine, the shepherd guiding the flock. However, he did retain the basic Manichean distrust of matter and the material-especially regarding sex. 

Augustine taught that Adam's defiance of God produced a state of unbalanced desire which infects every sexual act with the possible exception of completely pleasure-free, mechanical intercourse solely for the purpose of reproduction within the clear, firm boundaries of lawful Christian marriage. 

Dualism permeates world culture, human culture, and especially Western culture. Dualist influence so pervades the vocabulary of modern spirituality that we don't consider what common words literally mean: redemption, salvation, liberation-from what? They derive from the dualist worldview:

*Redemption of the soul from the prison of the body.
*Salvation of the soul from its Earthly trap.

Dualists are right: dualism and the fertility cult, shamanic or otherwise, are incompatible views. From the moment of its emergence, dualism has been on an intense, inevitable collision course with those celebrating the cult of fertility, who wish to revel in Earth rather than be saved from her. At their roots, they are genuinely two oppositional viewpoints, two ways of looking at, organizing, and understanding the world. On the dualist side, there is no room for tolerance because compromise means that you've assented to the power of the Lord of Darkness. Very frequently, dualists have categorized people they've encountered who have possessed a shamanic or fertility-cultish perspective as "witches". The results for those thus categorized, whether in Europe, North America, Africa or elsewhere, have consistently been disastrous. 

It's very tempting to see the "fertility cult" as the ancestor of witchcraft and dualism as that of its opponents; that very temptation demonstrates why dualism can be so attractive. Real life, however, is rarely that black and white and that would be a simplistic vision that denies the complexity of witchcraft as well as world history. 

There are very few places on Earth that have not been influenced by both dualism and the more ancient shamanic/fertility cult. Most cultures blend these influences to varying degrees. Dualism even pervades the world of witchcraft. In those immortal words spoken by Glinda to Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, "Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" Many, if asked whether they are a witch, answer affirmatively but stipulate that they are a "good" witch, as if whatever powers they possess can only be used for good, not possibly for ill. 

Witchcraft, defined as magical practices, is seemingly a crucial human need. Like the Egyptians' heka, it emerges whenever it is necessary to attempt to ward off those harsh blows of fate or maybe whenever there's just not enough joy and fun around. Witchcraft exists everywhere in various forms, and is thus found in all kinds of communities possessing all sorts of philosophies. What differs is how witchcraft is perceived and whether it operates secretly or openly. 

*Credit to Judika Illes