To ask you about witches

[DeepFatFriar]

Isn't there something really powerful and positive about the idea of witches?

Women living on their own, in harmony with nature, self sufficient, with healing powers?

Is this why they were persecuted?

@BettyBaggins I'm quite fond (in a very respectful way!) of Kali and Sekhmet as dark aspects of the goddess. There are probably interesting comparisons to be made of the two, but I'm not sure I'm up to it atm!

I have a familiar called Kali.

Yes, an adult saying they're a witch is fucking ridiculous but you're right, they need help, not having fun poked at them.

Help? What sort of help?
Yes,I'm a witch and proud of it. I certainly don't need ''help'' nor do I need being made fun of. Just because you don't wish to follow a similar path (totally your right,I agree wholeheartedly) doesn't mean that we're ridiculous!

GrumpyOldMare

Well said.

I don't need help either.
My magical journey has led me to a wonderful place in my life,
I live in an amazing home, I have the love of a happy family, I earn more money than I need in a way that nurtures me.
I'm also not sure what "help" I need.

Maybe there is a government department that helps people like us.

I have a lovely home, have raised a happy and successful family who now have homes of their own with their own partners and my time is my own filled with family and friends.

What am I missing that I need help with?

I'm Wiccan, initiated into the Gardnerian tradition, and that's my religion. I have a wonderful family around the world who I can rely on for help, support and comfort wherever I am; I have celebrated Beltane in the forests of Germany with a coven of German witches amongst other amazing experiences.

I am also a witch; that is my Craft and I walked it long before I became a Wiccan through initiation.

I have an excellent job, a lovely cottage in the country, a wide circle of loving friends, and a houseful of four-legged love. Who needs help?

I've worked for the police and social work and been a military reservist, while volunteering in youth organisations; at no time did my religion cause concern, not even for enhanced vetting. Here in Scotland, you can legally have a pagan marriage provided you choose a licenced celebrant as paganism is recognised by the government.

Who needs help, under-bridge-dweller - me or you?

It certainly sounds as if all us witches are having really awful lives then.

Definitely in need of help.

Need help? Where does your prejudice come from? Ignorance?
Would you tell someone from another path/ belief system/ religion that they need help?
Like TooManyPaws, I have a cottage in the country. I live surrounded by animals and nature. I have an amazing circle of interesting friends, travel the world and have a hectic social life. I don't know where 'help' would fit into it.

Am I the only person wondering whether any of us know each other either from RL or other online groups? From other threads, I know that @speakout lives in a city around 30 miles from me. 😀

Perhaps we do know each other!

I am seeing a common theme of home choices here.

I live in a house surrounded by ancient woodland too, a view of trees from every window.

I live in a county beginning with B
There's a fair amount of pagans and Druids in my nearest big town
Although this is not where my path started and I don't do much in a group, more solitary or with a few friends

Maybe there is a government department that helps people like us. This really would be the ministry of magic, wouldn't it?

The hierarchy of religious belief is very strange and difficult for atheists to understand. Paganism is certainly no more or less a strange belief than Christianity (or in fact a massively different one for that matter), from the atheist perspective.

And almost all religions have a cultural element as well as the belief element. I would therefore expect rather than be surprised by the existence of non-religious Pagans.

The hierarchy of religious belief is very strange and difficult for atheists to understand.

Why do you say that?

What arcane knowledge are we missing out on?

I have farmland views at the moment rather than forest but the previous house was on the edge of a forest and the next one will be too I hope.

I'm in the Bristol area now.

speak Like the idea that certain beliefs are 'proper' religions, while others are obviously childish nonsense. I mean they all look equally nuts if you are atheist...

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_executed_for_witchcraft

Men were executed for witchcraft, here's a list of all the victims and some are male