Why is practicing wicca dangerous

In real life, you can be a witch and look just like yourself, no eating children required. So how do you know if you're a witch? If you feel an urge to exert your will and get what you want while fighting the patriarchy and practicing intersectional feminism, of course , you qualify.

A witch is simply someone who is aware of their own power and puts that power into action. If that's you then congratulations, you're a witch.

Researching and doing some homework is never a bad idea. However, writing a spell does not require a coven, goat's skull, and full moon, as fun as nights involving these can be. Performing a spell just means setting an intention and then conducting a ritual, be that lighting a candle or meditating in the bathtub, to fulfill it.

For instance, let's say you want to wake up each morning filled with more self-love. Write an intention letter affirming how much you appreciate yourself as you honor Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty.

You can invoke the energy of any deity you personally connect with so long as you show proper respect, but Venus is a great go-to for love spells. You can also work with an ancestor or inspired celebrity, like David Bowie a personal favorite or Rihanna. Light some pink and red candles and take a bath while meditating on how loved you are.

You're doing magick. Simply writing out gratitude lists or repeating a mantra is casting a spell, as it means you're injecting reminders of your self-worth into your life. Most witches believe that the universe is filled with energy. Casting a spell is just harnessing that energy. The upside to witchcraft's recent popularity is that it's becoming more accessible and more people understand that witchcraft isn't synonymous with evil.

It's also allowed powerful witches to make money from their craft, which demonstrates the power of magick on its own. Some online shops are worthy of your money if you have some extra to spend. Witch Baby Soap , for example, sells lovely, vegan, cruelty-free beauty products infused with spells.

However, it seems like everyone is cashing in on the witchcraft trend these days. Sure, tools such as crystals, tarot cards, and incense can be handy in rituals and help sharpen your practice. But all you really need is yourself. You are the witch, you practice the magick, and you are more powerful than any crystal money can buy. Before you blow your paycheck on overpriced accessories, simply begin sharpening your practice by adding daily meditation and knowledge to your life.

The more you immerse yourself in witchcraft, the more you'll notice that witchy tools are all around you: in your spice rack , your closet hello, broomstick , and growing outside. Witches of all economic backgrounds have been practicing for centuries using the tools they have at hand.

Whether you are male, nonbinary, trans, gender-nonconforming, or anything else, you can be a witch. It paid well enough for the faith healer, who was from India, to regularly fly to the UK to work for British families living in Leicester, Birmingham and elsewhere.

As well as being expensive, his therapies were destructive. The man sometimes broke up families by accusing one member of being the source of an evil that was apparently poisoning their lives. Beliefs about curses and witchcraft are responsible for huge numbers of smaller scams. In , for example, an estimated , Britons were taken in by junk mail from fake clairvoyants, urging them to buy powerful items that would attract good luck and repel evil.

Vilest of all is the idea, found in some Pentecostal churches and among some Islamic jinn-removers, that children can be witches or be possessed by devils, such that they emit evil powers. Horrifyingly, the problem of child spiritual abuse goes much deeper and wider. This probably understates the problem. I think history shows us how we can deal with harmful magical beliefs. Witchcraft stopped being illegal in Britain in but throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, huge numbers of people continued to sincerely believe in it.

But many of them were. The newspapers from the period report hundreds of cases of supposed witches being mobbed, beaten, stabbed, spat at, bullied, abused and, in a few dreadful instances, murdered.

Alleged witches were attacked in industrial cities like Sheffield in , Manchester in , Leeds in and Warrington in Leeds, in the s, was home to at least three white wizards. Durham, despite its cathedral and university, possessed four witchcraft-curing wise women.

This weird culture of witchcraft declined markedly during the late s and early s. The real change was in policing, which became more professional and widespread. First, policing stopped the abuse of supposed witches. By lighting certain candles or incenses, those practicing can attract positive energy into their lives.

However, Wiccas highly discourage people from dabbling in magic without learning how to properly practice. Wiccas believe dabbling to be dangerous due to the possibility of bringing unwanted, harmful energy into your life. And while Wicca may just be entering the spotlight, it is a practice that has been around for centuries, sometimes unknowingly running through family lines. Like many religions, Wicca can be passed down from generation to generation. Families rather and pass down traditions and grow their bonds with each other.

According to her, my family comes from a long line of witches and the youngest daughter of every generation is meant to be the family witch. Although Wicca can be passed down, it can just as easily be learned. Today, young witches can look to the internet for getting started. I joined some online communities with other Wiccans who were just starting out, and it was really helpful. Who do they pray to? Wiccans pray to the God and the Goddess which are thought to represent everything masculine and feminine in the world.

Some Wiccans pray to lesser deities, but most pray solely to these two. They can be called different names and can be represented in different forms, animal or plant. A common name for the God, usually pictured with horns, is Cernunnos, and the Goddess is often called Gaia, an earth goddess who represents motherhood.