Today, witches are people (male or female) who follow a life-affirming, nature-based religion (although, in my experience some put more emphasis on this aspect more than others), which honours divinity as both male and female. Witchcraft involves many practices such as meditation and visualisation, magick working, healing, divination and herbalism. Witches may work alone (as solitaries) or as part of a coven. The choice is up to the individual.
Again, this depends on the individual and there are many answers. Generally, the core belief is that there is a higher power that is present both around us and within us. To make this power understandable, it is broken down into aspects, which are then represented by an appropriate deity.
In a word, no although it's not as simple as that. Witches do not believe in Satan in his Christian form. However, as Christians believe that anyone who does not worship "their God" is a Satan worshipper then maybe we do ;o) Most witches and pagans believe in personal responsibility and various ethical laws such as the Wiccan Rede. In my opinion, should someone chose to do evil, it is their choice not the fault of some evil entity who compelled them on.
We certainly do, although not in the "eye of newt" way!
Spells can be perceived as prayers with a magickal aspect. Magick itself can be defined as "the Science and Art of causing change to occur in comformity with will" (Aleister Crowley). Personally, I don't subscribe to the concept of black and white magick. Magick is just a tool, the user defines whether it is good or bad by how they use it.
Although magick and spells are an important part of my path. I don't agree with casting a spell everytime something goes wrong in my life. A spell should be a last resort when everything else has tried and failed.
We certainly do! Witches celebrate eight holidays; more information about these can be found in the holidays section of the Book of Shadows.
Certainly not! Firstly, I don't have the stomach for it! Secondly, witches revere all life and believe that the only blood they have the right to offer is their own.
It depends by what you want to get out of it. If you want to impress your friends and make yourself feel special then I suggest you rethink your motives. Witchcraft is not an easy path - not if you want to be taken seriously. It involves a lot of learning and studying. It also involves destroying many preconceived notions that you may have.
Witches do not actively recruit people to their religion. We believe that the individual has the right to choose his or her own path. We do, however, strive to educate and inform interested people about our religion. The links page lists some websites which can provide more information about witchcraft and paganism in general.
