How does one become a witch?

The foremost thing that anyone who wants to become a witch should know is that putting Wicca into practice means transforming oneself. The search for knowledge and control becomes the search for control over each one’s dealings and knowledge of each one’s inner self; the light side as well as the dark.

There are basically two necessities for those looking to become a witch. The first necessity is internal and is linked to your soul, your character and your heart. The other necessity is external and is associated with training.

Witchcraft which is also known as the Craft of the Wise is a down-to-earth, optimistic religion which is committed to worshipping the God and the Goddess. Witches are required to honor and show respect to all living beings. Witches are reliable, modest, caring, sympathetic and forbearing in their contact with others. The craft necessitates that witches follow a certain system of behavior – are self-disciplined in their dealings, no matter if the dealings are on a religious, magickal or ordinary level. Hence the first thing a would-be witch should do is study oneself. Identify your weaknesses as well as strengths. Tackle your weaknesses and build your strengths even further.

The secret to becoming a witch is knowledge which you can gain through training. You can choose to attend a course like Old Witchcraft; you can do this in person or on the Net where you can work together with your instructor and fellow students. The second option is training your self. You can get plenty of information in the form of books as well as on the Net. Keep an open mind and question whatever you read, always depending on your instinct when trying to review the information available to you. Yet another option you have is to join a coven. However, you must be careful while selecting a coven as one needs to be at ease with the ethics, practices and dealings between the other members of the coven.

One of the top ways to be an even better witch is to act on your knowledge. Try to incorporate divinity and magick into your day to day life. Write some devotional lines to your goddess or god and say them each morning when you get up or before going to bed at the end of the day. Change your altar so that it reflects the year’s turning wheel. Try to comprehend every element. Study a new pantheon. Try to mediate every single day but once a week at the least. You should try to apply the Wiccan Rede which goes “An it harm none, do what thou wilt”, to your daily life besides “What comes around, goes around” and “Do unto others as you want them to do to you”. Read all you can about Wicca and experiment with various divination techniques and see which one works best for you. As you learn and practice new things, pay full attention to the moral side of what you are learning. Make sure to develop a tough set of ethics and let these be the base for any work that you do.

Wicca is a religion which can pervade every facet of your life if you want it to. There are countless ways to learn and practice as a witch if you are ready for it. The modern opinions of witchcraft are that it is a pantheistic religion that comprises of respect for nature, belief in others’ rights and satisfaction in one’s own religion. A good witch focuses on the positive and good things in the spirit and life and denies any link with the devil.

A good witch is supposed to use common sense. There is no doubt that you will come across something that conflicts with what you already know. You must think for yourself what the real truth is. Also there is a lot of freedom as to which religious path you might choose to follow as your own. You even have Christians who practice magick but still venerate the Christian God.

A coven is a community or gathering of witches or Wiccans similar to how you have a congregation of Christians. It is a group of people who come together to practice witchcraft and for ceremonies like the Sabbats. The number of members is supposed to be thirteen at most and can be as few as three. The group is managed by a High Priest and a High Priestess but some covens may be led by just one of them. Recently, neopagan covens are said to have leaders in rotation so everybody gets a chance to lead the coven.

Over the years, you find that there is plenty said about joining a coven or not. A lot of people who choose to be the lone witch do so after a bad experience with a coven.  It could be that they weren’t lucky enough to find a coven that was nice or they might have been put off by the practices and ethics of the other coven members.

There are good covens as well as bad ones. Bad covens can be classified into three categories. The first category is referred to as the “Look at me” coven. These coven members, more so the leaders spend so much of their time appearing at public events that they do not have time for spiritual exploration. They host as many public events as they do private ones, if not more. And they welcome newcomers with open arms as the size of the coven is a status symbol.

The second category or the “Wanna-Be” coven is one where the level of understanding and knowledge is very superficial and rituals are mere reproductions of how it was done in the olden days. They do not possess in-depth knowledge or any formal training so their focus is mainly on the rites rather than the wisdom that should reside as a living flame within the ritual frame.

The third category can be said to be more of a cult rather than a coven. Harshly prohibited, they are inclined to be the “one and only true way” type.  They are often an unorthodox derivative of a reputable tradition and follow their leader’s individual understanding of the tradition. They are said to be difficult to join and even more to difficult to leave.

But sometimes even if there are signs that are not liked by everyone, it doesn’t mean that it is a bad coven. For example, a coven which does not let in just about everyone who wants to enroll is not inevitably being elitist. It is extremely important that new members fit in with the existing members; so a compatibility check is in order.  Some covens do it in a straightforward manner. Others let more people in as dedicants and filter out the misfits before they arrive at initiation. Becoming a witch or embracing Wicca is not meant for everyone just like Buddhism, Christianity or any other religion. If you don’t reverberate to the path, then it is not for you.

There are some covens that are pretty good at some things; however, they might be lacking in others. Some are great at providing basic training at how to become an effective witch. Still other covens can be a great place for experienced witches to get together and investigate even more intense mysteries.

Often people think that a coven is a commitment for life but actually it is committing to a path not to a group of people. Although there is a bond of initiation in a coven, it is actually a bunch of lone witches whose paths cross for some time. All witches must practice their craft on their own whether they belong to a coven or not.

Not all covens are good but not all of them are bad either. A lot of witches profit from coven interaction but some may be better off as the lone witch. Covens can be very advantageous provided all the members get along fairly well.  As in all groups, there will certainly be times when not everybody agrees with something. So the coven should be right for the members involved and at the same time the individuals should be right for the coven.

Being the lone witch can be pretty difficult. You have to get your own information from unfailing sources. Celebrating Sabbats by yourself can be quite lonely unless you have someone who can join in. But then you have all the freedom that you would never have if you were in a coven. You can practice whenever you please the way you want to. And you don’t have to put up with politics which is found in any group conceived.

The good side about joining a coven is that it provides you with some discipline while practicing your craft. You will celebrate the Sabbat without fail every year and do your daily devotions. Meeting other like-minded people can be an extremely rewarding experience. And then you have the High priest and High priestess to guide you. So it’s up to you to make a choice whether to be the lone witch or to join a coven.