signs of the season

I did not write this, and it does not describe my exact path.
I'm publishing it here as sadly I'm running into ignorance and the woefully misinformed.

An Open Letter from a Witch:

I am a witch. I do not worship Satan; I am not interested in Satan.
Satan was invented by the Christians. Satanism is a form of
Christianity. I am not a Christian. I don't go to church on Sunday.
Jesus is NOT my savior. He was simply a holy man who lived 2,000
years ago. I am not afraid of going to Hell because I don't believe
in Hell any more than I believe in Satan. I believe in reincarnation;
that I will come back to this world or another and live out another
life. I am not evil. Telling people I am a "good witch" or asking me
if I am a good witch implies that there are evil witches. There are
evil people in the world, and there are people who chose to work with
the forces of nature in a way that harms others; those people are NOT
witches. The central law of being a witch is: "if it harms none, do
as you will." Please don't ask me about sacrificing cats or
desecrating churches. I love my cats. And I don't go into churches or
synagogues unless a friend from that religion invites me to some
special occasion. And if I DO enter a church, I am not struck by
lightning. And if a Christian or a Jew or a Buddhist came to a pagan
ritual, our gods would not strike them dead either. Isn't that
something to think about?

Wearing a pentacle is no different than wearing a cross, crucifix, or
Star of David. If you want me to take off the symbol of MY religion
(and Wicca is a religion, protected by the same First Amendment
rights as other religions) because it's offensive, you need to make
everyone of every religion do that. The five points of the star
signify the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire & Water, and the fifth
point is Spirit; encircled by the World. How that can offend anyone
boggles my little pagan mind. An image of a tortured, dying man is
more offensive, yet thousands of people openly wear crucifixes every
day. Also, don't ask me if I'm in a "coven" in that half-horrified,
half-fascinated tone of voice. If I want to talk about my coven, I
will bring it up. If I am a solitary practitioner, I have no coven to
discuss. In any case, our rituals have candles, food, drink, poetry,
dancing...yes, there is a knife but it only cuts the air, not
anyone's flesh. I don't drink blood. I am not some kind of vampire. I
wear black because it keeps negativity away and because it looks
better on me than orange and purple polka dots.

If you want to ask me something related to MY religion, ask me when
the next full moon is. Or the next blue moon. Or what a blue moon IS.
Ask me about herbs. Crystals. Healing. Even ask me to make you a love
potion. But I don't cast spells on other people and I won't cast a
spell on you to make you prettier, thinner, more desirable. And I
won't cast a spell on your quarry to make him/her love you. Trust me,
you don't want that, you don't want the karma that involves, and
neither do I! That's a form of manipulation, taking away someone's
power, infringing on their free will. Not nice at all. And I also
won't cast a binding spell to make someone STOP doing something to
you. Spell work is about co-creation.

A witch works with universal energy, with the gods, to tilt the
engine of probability somewhat. Need money? Don't try to ensorcel
your boss to give you a raise. Simply ask the universe to increase
the flow of abundance in your direction. That infringes on NO ONE's
free will. One last thing: giving me a book about the Burning Times
is like giving a book on the Holocaust to a Jewish person. It's not
funny and is rude. Yes, I do go to Salem, but not because any of
those poor executed people were witches (I think the jury is still
out on some of them), but because there's cool pagan shops there. If
there were cool pagan shops in a town called East Cowflop, I'd go
there.

Please don't try to make me ashamed of who I worship and what I am.
Please don't try to convert me or "save" me. Don't throw holy water
on me. Don't leave little pamphlets on my desk or windshield. I don't
need to be saved. Witches are proud of the fact that we don't recruit
people to become witches. We simply ARE, and those around us see how
we think, how we act, and our inner peace, and only when someone
says "how do I become a witch?" do we take them into the fold with
us. I will NEVER leave a religious tract with anyone. I don't have
one, unless you count this letter. I am not asking you to convert. I
am only asking you to understand. If you don't want to understand,
just leave me alone.

Blessed Be,
A Witch