Lily’s New Strange World Today

“I personally believe that witchcraft is only a gathering of naturally occurring energies and can be used for either good or evil. I don’t mind being identified as a witch, though I actually prefer the term mystic. However, it’s all academic.
I’m just appalled at the amount of abuse that still goes on today surrounding a single term. Witchcraft obviously carries different connotations in many of the less developed countries than it does in Western society, where it can be interpreted either way according to a person’s own beliefs.”

This was my response to a post by Christopher, whose blog, What is Witchcraft, features recaps of news posts from around the world, often from developing nations. The posts often deal with the ways that accusations of witchcraft or outdated beliefs devastate people’s lives. It is appalling to learn that many children are accused of witchcraft in these countries. In such places, an accusation of witchcraft has very dangerous connotations. It is not the same as being accused of witchcraft in a modern, Westernized country today, where one can take the attitude of “yeah, so?” or protest that one is not a witch, depending on one’s belief systems. One would think that we are still living in the 1600’s to read some of the accounts on Christopher’s blog. And in a wise, part of the world has not come far beyond that.

Perhaps in some ways I would prefer to be referred to as a mystic because there are fewer negative connotations attached to that term. But in most ways, I really don’t care. Back in high school I got accused of being a “devil worshiper” all the time because I liked heavy metal music, had an interest in the paranormal, and (gasp!) held liberal political views. Never mind that at the time I was still a devout Catholic and wore a (upright) cross most days. Most of the time I pretty well got a kick out of this. It was an excuse to give the bible thumpers an evil grin and throw them the Metalhead “devil horns.” Thinking back on it, I reckon I added a bit of excitement to their narrow little lives. So in a way, I was doing them a service.

At other times these accusations kind of bothered me because I really was not an evil person. Though I was responsible for draining the life from many a bottle of beer and inhaling a certain “sweet leaf” spoken of by one Mr. Ozzy Osbourne in a song by the same name. After doing so, I became aware of the cosmic implications of fairies wearing boots, and yes, I truly believed it. I was a bit impish, and I was known for getting into fights with guys that took it upon themselves to imply that I was somehow “easy,” (though I would not give any of them the time of day) but even if I had a bit of a temper, I was not really evil in any true sense of the word. However, I realized that I would never be able to convince this narrow-minded lot that I went to school with otherwise, so I contented myself with messing with their heads. It helped to pass the time.

To make a long story short, had I lived in a less enlightened society (though one could argue that there are few people less enlightened than Fundamentalists of any kind) I may have been in actual danger from these people with their superstitious world view. And if modern Western countries did not have laws protecting people from the retaliation of those who do not share their beliefs, who knows what my fate would have been. This is why, no matter what our spiritual viewpoint, we ought to be working together to protect people’s rights to believe as they see fit. In my view, it’s all good as long as nobody gets hurt. But there can never be peace in the world until tolerance of others’ views has spread to all nations. It would be good if the day could come when no more wars were started over religious intolerance, and no more people, particularly children, were punished due to superstitious fear.

May we all open our eyes, hearts, and minds.

Blessed be.

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