Usually at Paganicon, there are speakers, writers, shop owners, and, interestingly enough, there were people who teach witchcraft for a living. The seminar I attended was about teaching witchcraft, and it featured a panel consisting of Jason Mankey, Dodie Graham McKay, and Laura Tempest Zakroff, who are well-known writers and teachers within the witchcraft community.
This panel discussed different topics, but the one that caught my attention was about change and being stifled. One of the questions that was asked was how they can stand up in front of their students and say: “You know what, that thing that I was so strident about in the past, I've changed my mind. How do you do that?” The panelists gave an interesting answer, stating that witchcraft should always be something that's growing, that's changing, that's adapting to the world around you. They will tell their students at the very beginning, or in the very first session or class, that they do not have all the answers. That witchcraft is forever changing, so something that worked in the past won't work for now, or has changed, because there is more learned, more information, and they tell their students that these are the situations now, the scenario, and this is what's working now, but keep in mind, it all can change.
One of the panelists gave this example: “I own a metaphysical shop, and we sell things like sage and palo santo, and so the way I hold that responsibility is understanding where it comes from, and where it's taken as a source, and where it comes from, and making sure that that follows the protocols. There are certain things I won't carry because I can't. I can't guarantee its sources. So, you know, it is tricky, and a lot of copiers do a lot of similar things. Cleansing with smoke is not indigenous; meetings aren't the only ones that do that, so it is about allowing our language to grow, right? Like, if you want to use the Celtic version of smudge, that's the same. It's the same thing, it's just a different word. Smoke cleanse. It's just a different word. But the practice is very similar, so I think we have to adapt our language. And that just comes with [messing] up, and learning, and doing better, and apologizing where necessary, and doing better. And I, you know, I think as a larger community of witches and pagans, I think we're pretty good at that. Not always. But generally speaking, I think we're pretty good at that. I think it's a place where we lean into the earth on that. But it is something that comes up, you know? That when you realize that this thing, this holy grail that you were handed, this is the true way of witchcraft, it turns out to actually maybe not be what you were sold. You know, it can be a very, it can cause like almost a crisis of faith for some of us.”
The conversation concluded with the panelists discussing how everything has shifted to being online, including even having conversations over Zoom.
The Truth of the Matter:
This seminar was very interesting, mostly because you had different people talking about how they teach and what the most common things they come across. Again, I find the whole conversation interesting about how sometimes these teachers will have to go to their students or even find out that how they were taught may not be correct. There is a spiral of uncertainty that can lead to a faith crisis, because, as it was said, “this was working, but now it may not work.”
Even though the panelists didn’t come out and say that there was so much uncertainty within witchcraft, it seemed to be an underlying topic. Now the question is: Is there certainty within Christianity and the Bible itself?
Now, from page one to the last page in the Bible, there is complete certainty. Now, I could go down the path and discuss the archaeological evidence for the Bible, take the scientific route and discuss intelligent design for certainty, or even talk about prophecy and all the fulfillment of that. But I’m going to put that all aside, because what it really boils down to is faith.
Romans 10:17 states, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” The thing is, when we hear the word, and what God has done, this then touches our hearts which causes us to have faith. Romans 5:1-2 states, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” And how do we obtain this peace through faith? Romans 10:9-10 gives the answer “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
It's that easy, and there is even certainty in this! 1 John 5:12-13 states, “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”
So that is it, and I will leave you with this: Isaiah 40:8 states, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” Yet it still has over the test of time, it has lasted from generation to generation and it will forever.