I see it all the time on Tumblr. I’m a storm witch. I’m a death witch. I’m a forest witch. I’m a crystal witch. And for the inexperienced ones, I’m a baby witch. And it seems like there’s the expectation that if you draw your power from a certain major source or if you have a special interest in your Craft, that’s the only thing you can do with the Craft and you have to organize your entire path around the aesthetic associated with it. And nothing could be further from the truth. It’s important that people realize that a witch is a witch, and you’re not a bad one if you have two specialties or five specialties or no specialties or if the way you style your clothes or your makeup or your house doesn’t appear to match your witchy specialty. Your interests and aesthetics can be a part of your Craft, but it is not the only thing about your Craft.
I went through a phase where I was just a witch, because witch was synonymous with Wiccan in my mind. Then I was Wiccan but I shied away from calling myself a witch because of the negative stereotypes. Then I was still Wiccan but I was also a kitchen witch. Then a green witch. Then a hedge witch. Then a gray witch. And those labels were helpful for me as I focused on particular aspects of my Craft — learning the use of culinary herbs and practicing magick at the hearth, developing my relationship with growing things and working with them medicinally and magickally, flexing my psychic muscles in journeywork and spirit travel, finding power in the realm of shadow and the otherworld. But I didn’t stop being any of those things when I took on a new focus or unlocked a new power center. I just “leveled up” and gained new skills.
I also found that those labels, while helpful, were also stereotypical boxes that I didn’t quite fit in. As a kitchen witch, every meal wasn’t a spell. As a green witch, I needed a lot of help to keep things alive. As a hedge witch, I didn’t use psychoactive substances nearly as much as people assumed I did. The label was a double-edged sword, and I found that to be uncomfortable.
As I grew in experience, I also realized that the labels unnecessarily revealed things about my practice. I’ve come to appreciate the fact that my personal practice and my specialties and my power sources aren’t the business of everyone and could be used against me by those who feel inclined to do so, and while I’m not paranoidly hoarding anything that could be used as a magickal link, I’m also comfortable with not revealing my secrets to just anyone. Part of this realization came from my experience as a queer and genderqueer individual, where revealing your secrets to the wrong person can have serious and long-lasting consequences. But when your label is part of your email address, the cat’s out of the bag anyway, so I don’t worry about writing about the ones I’ve mentioned.
I look at Witchblr (the witchy community on Tumblr) and I’m at once very encouraged and very dismayed by what I see. I’m encouraged because I see older witches sharing their expertise, I see younger witches claiming their power and interests, I see new witches immersing themselves in knowledge and asking questions and gaining experience. And I’m dismayed because I see the reinforcement of stereotypes and a stay-in-your-lane attitude about the Craft. New witches coming in wonder if they “have” to have an adjective to describe their witchiness and they worry about not having that adjective. Witches with one label are dismissed because they “can’t possibly understand” the practice of another label and “don’t know what they’re talking about”. There’s a lot of gatekeeping where there doesn’t need to be, and there’s a lot of focus on creating a witchy aesthetic and what your practice “looks like” over what your practice really is. And it’s hurting the next generation of witches.
You Don’t Have to Have an Adjective or an Aesthetic
If you’re new to the Craft, please know that you don’t have to be an insert-adjective-here witch. A witch is a witch if they practice witchcraft. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been doing it for a day or a year or a decade. It doesn’t matter if you have a specific thing that really calls to you, like divination or herbs or stones or journeywork, or if a lot of things call to you or none of them do. You don’t have to race to figure out what your type is so you can properly practice the Craft. You just have to wade in and practice it.
You Can Have As Many Adjectives As You Want
By the same token, if you find something that describes your practice in a nutshell and speaks to your soul and you want to be a kitchen witch or a sea witch or an astral witch, go with it! Make it your own! Claim your power! Let that label describe you, but don’t let it define you. Don’t think you can’t also delve into the mysteries of death because you’re a kitchen witch. Don’t think you can’t also harness the power of fire because you’re a storm witch. Don’t think you can’t also develop relationships with herbs and trees because you’re a crystal witch. You can be both. You should be both. Your skills in the Craft should grow with you, even if you retain one or two primary interests or power sources. One of the marks of a witch who is fully immersed in their Craft is the ability to say “that’s not my specialty, but I know the gist of it.” You never know when those non-specialty skills will come in handy. You never know when trying something new will result in something amazing that captures your interest for years to come. So claim your power because your Craft is a unique blend of a whole lot of aspects that you explore as you walk your path.
Your Look Doesn’t Determine Your Witchiness
Also remember that just because you are walking the witchy path, it doesn’t mean that you have to run out and buy a new wardrobe or redecorate your house or come up with new moodboards for your blog. It’s not a requirement. Just like you don’t have to have a label, you don’t have to have a look. You don’t have to be boho or dark mori or goth or hippie to be a witch. What you’ve already got going on is just fine. That being said, if you have a look and you want it to empower your witchiness, go for it! There is great power in being surrounded by things that bring you joy and make you feel inspired, in dressing in a manner that reflects who you are, in being creative and sharing that creativity with the world. Just remember that you aren’t just expressing your witchiness, you’re expressing yourself as a human being. Those two things are not separate.
Some questions for readers to consider: If you’re new to the Craft, what drew you to it? When you think of your future as an experienced witch, what do you see there? If you’re experienced in the Craft, what phases did you go through? Did your focus or your expression change? What would you tell your younger self about the lessons you learned as you went?