Naturalistic Paganism
Call for submissions: Intellect in service to wonder
Our early summer theme here at HP is “Intellect”. Beginning with the summer solstice in June, we will discuss what role intellect played in our coming to Naturalistic Paganism, what role it continues to play, how we make intellect serve wonder, and what constructive role intellectual inquiry plays in our Naturalistic Paganism. Send your submissions to humanisticpaganism [at] gmail [dot] com.
“Caring for nature” by Annika Garratt
This essay original appeared on Annika Garratt’s blog.
Mother Earth, by Annika Garratt
“Caring for nature.”
This is a phrase I find a little odd, simply because people have strange concepts of what Nature is. I remember in Sweden people expressed respect and care for “the nature” and they would go out into “the nature”, so there is this concept of Nature as a place, somewhere beyond the cities and towns, Nature is a wild place outside of human civilization. I find this a very strange use of the word “Nature” because it implies that Nature is something outside of the human realm, something that can be held at arms length and kept out of our lives. Doesn’t this seem totally ridiculous? Why is there this idea that human civilization is not “natural”?
“Why cannot cities—themselves “natural” in a way—also be conducive to the practice of pantheism? Perhaps cities could be if they and many of their people were not as neglected and abused as much as some wilderness areas (if the comparison makes any sense). “God’s country” for the pantheist denotes urban as well as pastoral settings—indeed it extends to the suburbs. Given the existence of a divine Unity one should not regard all personal preferences (e.g., for a garden), as cosmically endorsed. If the goal of pantheism is a way of life and a kind of “state,” then any locale that is generally conducive to promoting those goals is acceptable.” (“Pantheism”, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
In the Medieval mind, the wilderness was the devil’s land, populated by demonic spirits of the forest. God didn’t live out there. God lived in the man-made churches. The wilderness was an amoral chaotic place, whereas human civilization had the potential to be orderly and pious. Nature was something to be feared, reigned in, and controlled. As humans studied Nature, we came to understand that Nature is not chaotic, but orderly. Physicists studied Nature’s Laws and came to regard the Universe as an orderly place.
There is a growing idea that “natural” is more trustworthy than man-made things. We have a polarised view of “natural products” and “artificial products”. Humans can’t be trusted to tamper with Nature’s wisdom. Now we think of Nature as an elderly fragile thing that we need to protect from the big bad world of humanity.
Hold on a minute. Are humans not products of Nature? Is civilization not wholly natural? Isn’t it only natural that humans should develop technology? Why do we imagine that Nature is separate from us? Nature is not “out there”, Nature is everywhere! Nature is the sole God of the Universe, Nature is the sole creator of everything that exists. When humans procreate, that’s Nature at work. When children are born, that’s Nature at work. When children learn to speak and read and write, that’s Nature at work. When adult humans develop technology, that’s Nature at work. When humans build houses, that’s Nature at work. When humans create rockets and go into outer space, that’s Nature at work. There is no such thing as “unnatural”, because to believe in anything “unnatural” would imply a belief in the “supernatural”. There is no “supernature” for the pantheist, because Nature is All. There is no “above” or “beyond” the realm of Nature.
Rather than “caring for Nature” I would suggest “oneness with Nature”. I came across this helpful quote from the Metaphysics Research Lab, CSLI, Stanford University:
“A pantheistic ecological ethic will not be anthropocentric. This rules out the notion of man as a “steward of nature,” whether his own or God’s, who is responsible for nature. It also rules out utilitarian, contractarian, and Kantian approaches as providing an ultimate basis since they are anthropocentric. It does not, however, rule out contractarian etc. principles as useful guides to making and justifying environmental decisions. Applying anthropocentrically conceived principles to environmental issues would suffice in many cases, but not all, to sound reasoning about the environment. (The practical problem environmentally speaking has been that almost no principles have been applied until recently. Selfish economic “forces,” i.e. people, have ruled without restraint.)”
The author
Annika is an artist/illustrator from Bournemouth UK. She produces colourful mixed media artwork on canvas as well as fluid ink illustrations, often based on folklore and mythological themes. Annika sells original paintings on canvas as well as fine art prints. If you have any questions about Annika’s work, feel free to contact her by email. You can also find Annika here.
“The Amethyst Path: Shamanism, Dionysian Spirituality and Recovery from ‘Addiction'” by Wayne Martin Mellinger, Ph.D.
Today, we are joined by Wayne Martin Mellinger, Ph.D., who describes a Dionysian spirituality in the pursuit of a shamanic approach to addiction recovery. This essay was originally published at Mellinger’s blog, Doing Modernity: Using Cultural Interactionism to Study Everyday Life.
This paper advances a “shamanic approach to drug abuse and addiction”, what I will call the Amethyst Path. What our modern culture typically calls “addicts” are misguided shamans who, having had a “thirst for wholeness” and sacred ecstasy, ventured into the realm of substance use only to end up compulsively consuming their “drug of choice”. While their “Will to Party” might be an innate, natural and healthy urge, without the shamanic wisdom of “controlled use”, many end up in self-destructive cycles of misuse and over-consumption. But, thankfully, these misguided shamans can become “wounded healers” with the gift of bringing health and happiness to others who suffer. While ceasing to use totally or perhaps just ceasing to over-consume substances, it is imperative that they find healthy ways to “dance with Dionysus”, keeping sacred ecstasy as part of their lives.
Introduction
In the early 1980s, after graduating from college, I moved to San Francisco to begin the next phase in my life journey. Within a few months of being in California, I became deeply interested in exploring the possibility of finding a religion that was “non-patriarchal”, and that considered the Earth as a sacred and living organism.
This exploration led me to the fringes of contemporary American religions. Soon I was immersed in studying feminist spirituality, Wicca, and other non-traditional spiritualties. As someone with a Northern and Western European ancestry, I was particularly intrigued by Celtic Paganism and attempts to re-construct the “Old Religion” of many of my ancestors. Moreover, my studies were informed by anthropological research on shamanism. I learned that the polytheistic religions of agricultural societies emerged from earlier shamanic religions of pre-agricultural people and maintained essential shamanic elements.
The Shamanic Use of Entheogens
Long ago across this glorious planet our ancient ancestors lived close to the Earth in small bands of nomadic foragers. Several thousands of years ago before the advent of agriculture this was the dominant form of social organization among humans. We often learn about these people as “hunters and gathers,” although scholars now debate how much hunting compared with foraging actually composed their everyday lives and food collection practices. Moreover, any notion that you might have had about primitive “cave men” having lives that were “nasty, brutish and short”, to cite Thomas Hobbes’s grim estimation, has been replaced by notions of these people occupying the “original affluent society” with lives of abundance, health, relative harmony and what I have called a “mass psychology of connectedness”.
While much diversity existed among these early humans, anthropologists agree that they often shared a spiritual worldview centered around shamanism. A shaman is a woman or man who “journeys to the Otherworld”, often through the use of psychotropic plants (“entheogens”), or through the use of trance, song and dance or other consciousness-shifting techniques (i.e. rhythmic drumming, fasting, etc.). What you might have heard called “witch doctors”, “medicine men”, or “primitive healers” were individuals employing a sophisticated set of practices that were central to healing, community integration, and spiritual life.
Shamans are often experts in plant and animal lore, the keepers of many vital cultural traditions, and very special community leaders. Some of them were probably what we might consider “deviants”: some lived as cross-dressers, some had periods of what we might consider to be “madness”, some choose to live at the edge of the community in other ways. The religions that they practiced and the type of medicine they employed often involved the consumption of mind-altering substances. In fact, many of the substances that in modern society are known as “drugs” had their original human use in shamanic rituals (i.e. opium plants, coca leaves). Of course, for the shaman, these were not recreational drugs with which to “party”; these were sacred “plant-gods”, were treated with the utmost respect, and allowed the shaman to have access to non-ordinary consciousness—a plane on which healing would take place.
Typically, the shaman would ingest the plant substance, which would induce a trance-like state. While in that state the shaman would have the experience of “journeying” to the “Otherworld” and have contact with plant and animal “allies” that would aid in the healing. The shaman would often bring back healing messages from this Otherworld. This brief summary grossly simplifies the complex range of behaviors found across the planet and employed in these ancient religions.
The Genealogy of Drug Abuse and Addiction
I have spent some time researching the link between the shamanic use of plant-gods and the modern compulsive use of “drugs”. My essay, “On the Genealogy of Drug Abuse and Addiction”, traces the history of substance use among humans, argues that a “Pharmacratic Inquisition”, which began in the fourth century of our era, and in which patriarchal church and state conspired, virtually destroyed the last remnants of shamanism in European “civilization”. European empires have continued their prohibitionist campaigns so that much of the wisdom of shamanism has been destroyed.
Specifically, the use of en-theo-gens (those psychotropic plants which “manifest the divine within”) was highly proscribed in these ancient shamanic cultures. How the plant was procured and consumed was highly controlled through time-honored traditions that ensured that sacred use did not become compulsive use. This “controlled use” was the wisdom of countless generations and was strongly enforced through various sanctions. Moreover, the “set and setting”, as Timothy Leary described them, in which these entheogens were consumed was also highly monitored and managed. Those who partook in the sacred ceremonies had the right “mind set” and did their activities in the right physical and cultural settings. Often, initiation involved years of training and was guided by seasoned experts.
Researching the anthropology and history of substance use among humans, it was clear that the substances themselves were not the problem. For tens of thousands of years, substances were used productively as sacraments in healing ceremonies. When the “set and setting” are conducive, the precursors of modern addictive drugs were employed without major problems. Thousands of years of these forms of substance use have perhaps shaped our urges to consume substances, so that now the our urges to consume mind-altering substances, our “Will to Party” (Mellinger, 2009), is innate, and perhaps hard-wired into our brains.
What I am calling, “critical drug use theory”, examines how the economic mode of production of any society impacts the use of mind-altering substances. For example, hunting and gathering, agricultural and industrial societies each might potentially have distinct forms of substance use which are shaped by their “economic base”. Compulsive “drug” use in modern societies is a complex social phenomenon that has no simple etiology. However, it is clear that the conditioning of our mind / bodies to consume substances over thousands of years combined with the modern destruction of the wisdom of “controlled use” is a lethal combination that has wrecked havoc upon contemporary societies.
Unfortunately, much scholarly research on substance use in modern societies is tainted by a pervasive “drug war ideology”—combinations of lies, misinformation and disinformation that smears all substance use as “evil” and lumps together diverse behaviors. A mythology of the “dope fiend” underlies these ideologies. In this myth, even a single use has brought someone to the point of addiction, because of the ever-present phenomena of “tolerance” and “craving”. Any notion of controlled use of substances has been erased from our collective memory. Of course, this is not to deny that for many people in contemporary societies, substance use has become highly problematic. Quite the opposite, I hope here to propose a rationale for sobriety from a shamanic perspective.
Dionysian Spirituality
As stated, I first became intrigued by the Greek god Dionysus in San Francisco in the early 1980s, and have continued to explore facets of his myth throughout my life. At first, I embraced him as “the god of ecstasy”. Many people know Dionysus as the god of wine–Bacchus to the Romans–for whom intoxication is way to transgress the boundaries of conventional society. Later, reading Nietzsche, I explored other Dionysian aspects of our culture–celebrations of “unreason”. Here, I advance a Dionysian spirituality in the pursuit of a shamanic approach to recovery.
The Dionysian Mysteries were a complex set of religions found among the ancient Greeks, known for their use of intoxicants and other trance-inducing techniques, such as music and dance, to remove inhibitions and social constraints, liberating the individual to return to a more natural and primal state. Dionysian religion has been called “the voodoo cult of the Mediterrean”. Taking place four days every two years on Mount Parnassus, the ecstatic cult of Dionysus was centered on the sacramental use of wine and other intoxicants, possibly including the fly agaric mushroom (amanita muscaria). The rites were based on a death-rebirth theme and on spirit possession. Maenads and satyrs went wild. The constraints of civilization were tossed out. Oppressed outsiders, such as women, slaves and foreigners, were momentarily liberated and transgressively inverted in their roles. The activities of the devotees of Dionysus are interpreted as cathartic, liberating, invigorating and transformative. “Evoi!” they shouted.
Dionysian religion, as I imagine it today, invokes the spirit of these ancient revelers while adapting it to modern times. This means creating an approach to spirituality grounded in our “Will to Party”, that is, our innate urges to find ways of experiencing ecstatic frenzy, while acknowledging a context in which notion of “controlled use” are absent, where prohibition ideologies and practices are carried out by the State, and in which the mass psychology is quite different from our pre-modern ancestors.
While the controlled use of entheogens is certainly possible and desirable for many, for others it might not be possible or desirable. We must, of course, differentiate between substance use, substance abuse and compulsive use. “Drug war ideologies” have erased from our public understanding any notion of non-abusive or functional use. Moreover, the forms of use that might have worked for earlier societies might no longer work because both the “set and setting” have radically changed.
While responsible substance use was clearly a part of the ancient Dionysian religion and can continue to play a vital role in modern Dionysian spiritualities, alternative forms of ecstasy need to be embraced for those for whom substance abuse has been a problem. Substance abuse and compulsive use are failures to follow the guidance of Dionysus. The essence of Dionysian spirituality is the celebration of the whole self through ecstatic rituals. Modernity tends to identify with the rational self and to displace irrational elements–emotions, fantasies, sexual longings. These transgressive practices of sacred psychosis work to dissolve the ego.
Nietzschean Affirmations of Life
My understandings of Dionysian spirituality have been greatly enhanced by my studies of Friedrich Nietzsche. In his book, The Birth of Tragedy, Nietzsche proposes that the movement of humanity for survival has been guided by a sacred general economy. On the one side we have order, law and creation—represented by Greek god, Apollo. On the other side we have chaos, transgression and destruction-represented by Greek god, Dionysus. On the one side we have Apollo, who represents beauty, permanence and perfection. On the other side we have Dionysus, who represents tragedy, intoxication and reverie.
Modern humans have become debased by absolute adherence to order and stability. Through this Apollonian triumph we have lost our essential meaning and have become “things”. How we yearn to return to the immediacy of life at the edge of chaos. How we yearn to dance again with Dionysus! Nietzsche called for a return to the repressed side of the Dionysian, though he knew it was a Promethean task. “Are we up to it?”, he asked.
Nietzsche suggested that that which brings the greatest joy also brings the greatest pain, and that that which makes us suffer also keeps us going. This is the paradox of our drive for jouissance (ecstasy). You cannot close off all awareness of jouissance in a world based on the rational ego, capitalist production and bureaucratic efficiency. This is impossible. Jouissance will break out anyway.
Nietzsche’s concept of “Ur-eine” posits a Dionysian epistemology, or way of knowing, that treats the sacred ecstasy of sexuality and mind-altering substances as potential sources of truth. Our “Will to Party” leads us to transgressive acts in which boundaries are crossed, taboos are violated and mystical frenzies are achieved. These practices reveal of the flow of our desires. Nietzsche urged us to “Say yes to life!”. Our world is sacred, and humans, as part of this world, are thus also sacred. Nietzsche urged us to appreciate our earthly life and natures and to see our human natures as what is best in us and not as evil. Our bodies and instincts similarly are not base nor vile sources of “sin”, but are magnificient sources of meaning.
Rather than a focus on a future afterlife, Nietzsche suggests that the temporal focus should be on the present, for it is only in the present moment that we can assert our aliveness, take action, engage our projects or charge our directions. We need to find tremendous meaning and satisfaction in the finite endeavors in which we are engaged now and in this world. Nietzsche urges us to throw ourselves into life and take satisfaction with what we do. When we do things intensely and strive for advancement we grow and learn, even when we falling short of we goal. The meaning of life is to be found in the enchantment of this world.
Let me quote one section of Ecce Homo, in which Nietzsche discusses Dionysian philosophy:
“The affirmation of passing away and destroying, which is the decisive feature of a Dionysian philosophy; saying Yes to opposition and war; becoming, along with a radical repudiation of the very concept of being–all this is clearly more closely related to me than anything else through to date.”
Central to the Dionysian philosophy is the acceptance of suffering, amor fati (“love of fate”), saying yes to life, and remaining affirmative. I will leave it to the reader to ponder the above glorious passage which is filled in many deep insights.
The Amethyst Path
The legend of the origin of amethyst comes from Greek myths. Dionysus, the god of ecstasy and intoxication, was angered one day by an insult from a mortal who would not acknowledge his divinity and he swore revenge on the next mortal that crossed his path, creating fierce tigers to carry out his wish. Along came unsuspecting Amethyst, a beautiful young maiden on her way to pay tribute to the goddess Diana. When the tigers were about to devour her, Amethyst cried out to Diana, who then turned Amethyst into a stature of pure crystalline quartz to protect her from the brutal claws of the tigers. Dionysus wept tears of wine in remorse for his action at the sight of the beautiful statue. The god’s tears stained the quartz purple, creating the beautiful gem we know today. This is an often forgotten aspect of the Dionysian myths that we can draw upon in pursuit of a shamanic approach to drug abuse and addiction.
Using the Amethyst Path: Two Approaches
The “Amethyst Path” is my name for the shamanic approach to drug abuse and addiction I hope to articulate here. It might be used in conjunction with other approaches. It embraces a spiritual approach to recovery. I envision two “shamanic” approaches to recovery from what are often referred to as drug abuse and addiction.
(1) Traditional Shamanic Journeying
The first is a more traditional form of shamanism, such as found among ancient tribal people or among modern Earth-based spiritualities, employing “techniques of ecstasy” to alter consciousness. In this form the shaman-as-healer “journeys to the Otherworld” for the addict-as-client. Alternately, the shaman-addict might journey for themselves to the Otherworld. While a traditional shaman may choose to use entheogens as the “technique of ecstasy” employed to “journey” to the Otherworld to gain healing insights for the addict-client, alternative forms might also be used given our concern here. Rhythmic drumming has been found by many to be a safe and reliable form of trance inducement.
In 1981, while in San Francisco, I undertook a three-day intensive shamanic initiation with a medicine woman from the Bear Tribe. We worked exclusively with rhythmic drumming as a trance-inducement technique. As someone who has consumed plant-entheogens, I did not find the experience directly comparable. Basically, we achieved a yogic state of meditation while laying on the floor and then were guided by the instructor through what seemed like a visualization exercise. Emphasis was put on referring to this as a “different reality” and as a “journey to the Otherworld”. While in this state, we were led to encounter our “animal ally” and to ask them for a healing message to bring “back”. My understanding is that this conforms to the basic outline of the Harner Core Shamanism. Since that time I have done more training in shamanic counseling and extensive journeying.
From a Jungian perspective, the addict has a “thirst for wholeness”, but has lost touch with important parts of their self. Through various processes, including dreams, imagination and therapy, they can contact, reintegrate and celebrate their different parts, thus coming to know and express their true selves. When people do not deal with their unacknowledged inner challenges, what Jung called the “shadow”, symptoms can arise. In modern societies, we often find Dionysian countercultures divorced from the wisdom of shamanism. Dionysian spirituality embraces spirit possession and divine intoxication. When you subtract the divine from the Dionysian you are left with the Devil and addiction–the dark sides of the Dionysian archetype.
Taking these insights into the realm of shamanic counseling, we might see a parallel with the shaman’s use of “soul retrievals”. Soul retrieval refers to a shamanic practice that aims to reintegrate various aspects of the soul (let us say their self or identity) that might have become disconnected or lost through trauma. On the shamanic journey these fragments are gathered together in the Otherworld and then re-integrated with the client. The shaman might seek information from their animal ally on where to find the lost parts.
(2) Addict-as-Misguided Shaman
The second shamanic approach to recovery from substance problems that I am advancing is perhaps more metaphorical. Here I am arguing that many people who have pronounced problems with alcohol or other drugs are misguided shamans, who, if they had lived in earlier times, might have become the true shamans of their tribes with the expertise of techniques of ecstasy. But living in modernity, without the wisdom of “controlled use”, has led these people to enter Dionysian countercultures and become self-destructive in their substance use.
My understanding of substance abuse and addiction has not only been informed by my research on shamanism, but also by my studies as a substance abuse counselor and as a social psychologist. My experience as a substance abuse counselor has brought me into contact with numerous people for whom addiction is a “spiritual emergency”. Often these were people who were looking for something “more” in life—something deeper, more meaningful, something transcendent. And while the use of alcohol and drugs did not provide what they were looking for, we should not loose sight of their lofty goals, what they were looking for. Their quest is a thirst for wholeness.
As a social psychologist, I spent considerable time thinking through the processes by which people enter into and exit out of drug-using behavior. My model highlights our human capacity to learn from our environment, particularly how we learn to define the world around us and put meaning onto it. Moreover, my model highlights people’s self-concepts—their images and feeling about themselves.
People enter social worlds as “outsiders”, not yet identifying with other participants, nor necessarily defining their actions similarly. Through sustained interactions with others in the subculture, they learn to define their actions in ways similar to that of members of that social world. As the individual takes on the subculture’s perspective, the new subculture becomes a “reference group”. As the newcomer continues to interact with the group, its members become “significant others”, who will shape the newcomer’s self-concept or sense of identity. As time goes on, the individual acts in conformity with their new self-identity. This general outline is a learning model that explains both entry into drug-using and non-using subcultures.
I am suggesting that those who are addicts or drug abusers moving into recovery can come to define themselves as “misguided shamans” and as “wounded healers”. Defining themselves in these ways, I believe that they can connect to a universal truth about their affliction, come to place their behavior in a spiritual context, and enhance their potential to be of service to others. Entering into recovery, the former substance user needs to find his or her “tribe”. It is essential that this be a healthy non-using group of individuals with whom the person can be honest, get loving support, and who will hold the individual accountable. In my experiences counseling substance users, I have found that many have poor self-concepts and in early recovery they want to beat themselves up. The rebuilding of the person’s self-identity is key to the recovery process, and the role that the new tribe will play in this process is essential. As they say, recovery happens through our relationships with others. Our sense of who we are comes from how we imagine other people see us.
Conclusion
Recovery is a “turning point”—a social process in which an individual undergoes a massive transformation in identity. This is often accompanied by the introduction to new significant others (their new “tribe”), new daily rounds and routines, as well as new ways of defining the events of their life. In this brief paper, I have outlined a shamanic approach to recovery from substance abuse issues. This approach embraces spirituality as a tool in the rehabilitation process. Specifically, I have proposed two shamanic approaches. One is the traditional journeying of the shaman to the Otherworld to bring back a healing message for the client or to do soul retrieval.
Perhaps more pragmatic is the second approach, through which I have urged those going through the recovery process to consider themselves as “misguided shamans” and to embrace a notion of themselves as “wounded healers”. Substance users often have self-concepts that are wrought with negativity, and often beat themselves up over the whole process of getting heavily involved the consumption of alcohol or other drugs. By coming to see themselves as shamans, they can re-interpret their drug-using behavior in a spiritual context: they had noble intentions and valid purposes underlying the pursuit of intoxication to excess. Often, they can see their addictive life phase as a “spiritual emergency”.
Moreover, by defining themselves as “wounded healers”, they take on a time-honored role of the tribal shaman. Wounded healers serve a vital purpose for their tribe—using their own insight into the dark journey of the soul to bring light to others who still suffer. Similar to the service work connected with the twelfth step of AA and NA programs, the idea is to bring the insights of the journey through addiction to others out there who are still suffering.
The Amethyst Path treats the addictive experience as a “spiritual emergency”. Along the path to spiritual enlightenment, even the greatest mystics and sages have faced dark times, difficult struggles, and walks in the desert. I have called these “The Ordeal”, and have named the following poem with that phrase:
The Author
Mid-Month Meditation: “An Altar for Broken Things” by Carol Green
Editor’s note: We encourage our readers to take these mid-month meditations as an opportunity to take a short break from everything else. Rather than treating these posts the way you would any other post, set aside 10 minutes someplace quiet and semi-private to have an experience. Take a minute to relax first. After looking at the post, take a few minutes to let the experience sink in. If it feels right, leave a comment.
Artwork: “Altars by Night” by Kevin Rolly
“An Altar for Broken Things” by Carol Green
I had an altar for broken things
bird wing
ceramic butterfly with glitter still glistening along its seams
dragonfly body
sections hung together like popbeads
plaster leg of a fallen goddessAll gathered one by one during broken years
when brokenness was a magnet for other lost parts
For years it nestled in a cupped hand the color of red clay
It sat in the North, frozen in the deep sleep of past wounds
waiting for a Magi’s touchFrankincense to bless the altar where my spirit lay entombed
Myrrh to gentle the grief
Gold to pave the way home.
Note: The author has requested that no bio be included.
An atheist’s magical practice in detail, by AtheistWitch
This essay (with minor edits) was originally published at AtheistWitch’s blog, Spiritual atheist witch…and other strange labels.
- Proven medical or scientific properties (i.e. White tea from China for weight loss, St. John’s Wort for depression)
- Mythological Associations (i.e. Safe Travels potion on Weds. before trip, because Weds. or Miércoles in Spanish corresponds to Mercury, who was the God of Travelers).
- Consistent use across many witchcraft or magical traditions (i.e. sage is often used as a cleansing herb for smudge sticks in many types of magical systems, including virtually all traditions of Wicca and North American Shamanism.)
- Asthetics or personal inclination (i.e. hibiscus, I use for love magic; beautiful flowers, bright colors, and sweet smells evoke ideal love to me).
Personal Adjustment: My spells are rarely one-size-fits-all, suitable for all people and all occasions. I think that any magic has to be adapted to the person practicing it. I readily draw inspiration from other people and established traditions in my spell-crafting. But the final arbiter is always me. I say this because I find that some authors and some practitioners play games of psychological manipulation that imply that not doing it their way means that one is not initiated into the true “secrets” of magic. Or worse, that one is exposing him or herself to harm by not doing it “the right way” (i.e., their way). Never mind that the person asserting this has no evidence for their way working beyond their own personal experience. And never mind that they don’t prove that any negative consequences (i.e. evil spirits) are not coming from that person’s own mind. They want you to be scared into following their way of doing things. That doesn’t work for me. These people also contradict themselves because they say that the more one puts his or her own “energy” into the practice, the greater the effect will be. Other more traditional folk magicians (i.e. Hoodooists, Voodooists) talk about the need to have a “link” to the object of the spell in order to carry out work on them (i.e. hair, bodily fluids). So personal involvement is paramount, and in my opinion can never be delegated.
Words, words, words: One of the easiest ways I ensure personal involvement in a spell is to use my own words, or to use words that are relevant to the target. I subscribe fully to a quote from the very last Harry Potter movie which was uttered by Albus Dumbledore:
“Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic. They are potent forms of enchantments, rich with the power to hurt or heal.”
Some of my most potent spells have also been simple recitations of words. If anything analogous to evil spirits exist, I believe they are mostly manifestations of one’s own fears. The best psychological abuse occurs when the abuser can make the abused participate in their own victimization. Occasionally, when I read a very detailed account of someone who claims to have encountered evil spirits that have caused them physical harm, misfortune and financial ruin, my irrational side gets the best of me. “What if it’s true? Am I exposing myself to harm?”, I wonder as the hairs on the back of my neck begin to stand up. I came up with a very simple spell that I repeat as long as is necessary to feel better.
“Black magic I may have seen on TV, but it has no power over me.”
This helps rationality take control again. Without exception, the fear has disappeared in a short period of time. A post on evil spirits in the blog of a Druid named Jeff Lilly pointed out that:
“I do know a number of people who claim to have seen them. But interestingly, the only people who see them are the ones who somehow “expect” to see them — that is, people who already believe in supernatural entities. Evil spirits leave secular humanists alone….
“I also read somewhere that the only reason that evil spirits don’t go around possessing people all over the world is that most people believe so strongly that evil spirits don’t exist, and that their bodies are inviolable, that the spirits can’t get in. Effectively, the disbelief itself is a powerful protective spell.”
Just as I am careful professionally to not claim that I can do things which I cannot, I am also very careful in what I claim to be able to do for other people magically. I don’t generally do spells for people unless I know them well. When I did a ritual to help a friend lose weight, I made it clear that the ritual itself would not make him lose weight and that he would have to eat more healthily for that. I would be extremely careful, or even declare an absolute prohibition, on doing something like a healing spell for the relative of an unconscious person in the hospital. What if the unconscious person dies? Would the relative then feel guilty about invoking “unnatural forces”? Would they blame me for what happened?Would I then feel guilty about the outcome? It could turn into a huge mess. The only circumstance I would even think about doing something like that would be if the person involved was a very well-known friend who knew that the ritual would be aimed ONLY at making the friend feel better by allowing him or her to express his or her will for the relative’s well-being.
That being said, whereas some Wiccans are completely against any kind of bindings or curses, I am more flexible. I would call myself a “pragmatic pacifist”. I try to believe that most people have mostly good intentions most of the time. When someone’s behavior annoys me, my first instinct is usually to not take it personally. I also subscribe to Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which reads:
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”
Unfortunately, everyone does not play according to those rules. When it becomes clear that one is faced with an unavoidable high-stakes confrontation with people who are not acting in good faith, then I think one has to fight back. In the words of the late Aaliyah in the movie, Romeo Must Die,
“When a girl is kicking your ass, you do not have to be a gentleman.”
Similarly, if a binding or a curse helps you deal with someone (i.e. an emotional abuser, a workplace harasser, etc.) in a way that will keep you from being completely and totally screwed over, then by all means, do it. Just like physical violence, the defense has to be relatively proportional to the offense (i.e. you can’t shoot someone for slapping you).
Celebration of full moons and traditional nature festivals: Similar to the second characteristic of my practice as stated above, celebrating the 13 annual full moons and the eight dates commonly recognized as the “Wheel of the Year” is a way for me to feel more in tune with the rest of the natural world. I also consider those occasions to be good times for magical workings, if I happen to be so inclined.
Well, there you have a summary of my magical practice. Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or want to tell me about your practice, feel free.
The author
AtheistWitch: I was born in the middle of the United States, but have been living in Europe for most of my adult life. I was raised an Evangelical Christian, but started to disconnect from my denomination at around the age of 16 when I realized I was gay. I only admitted to being an atheist around the age of 23. At some point, I started researching Wicca and Paganism in depth and liked most of what I saw, but didn’t want to give up my Atheism. Since Wicca’s symbols are nominally related to real natural events or aspects, I realized I didn’t have to. While I don’t consider myself a Wiccan, I today call myself a naturalistic, atheistic eclectic, solitary witch. I celebrate the wheel of the year, meditate, do rituals both complex and simple, strive towards better understanding of self and others, as I try to be an ecological eater and walk through the greener parts around my area on a regular basis. It is an ever-evolving practice, one that attempts to remain scientifically and logically grounded, while at the same time involving a lot of humor and being very “me”.” Here is the link to my blog: atheistwitch.blogspot.com.
See AtheistWitch’s other posts.
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Naturalistic Paganism 