Witchcraft is a type or a part of the Wiccan religion, which is a neo-pagan religion, both modern and dynamic. It is centered around nature and its divinity and spirituality. Contrary to the present beliefs, witchcraft can be characterized by love and immense respect for all the living things on the earth, attuning oneself to the ways of nature, accepting the social and personal responsibilities, healing, balance between society and self. It is very positive and a peaceful spiritual way of life.
What is modern witchcraft? Witchcraft of the modern day is hard to describe or define. It does not adhere to any set doctrine or dogma. It is very flexible in that one can adopt a form of witchcraft that suits ones ideals and beliefs and one has the freedom to believe in what seems right to him. There is no holy book or scripture pertaining to the modern day witchcraft. It comprises of varieties of rituals and traditions. Though, one consistent belief of loving, revering and worshipping nature binds all the believers and practitioners of modern witchcraft.
Paganism comprises of all nature-centric religions like Hinduism, Buddhism and several other American-Indian religions. Wicca, which is a dominant type of witchcraft, is one of the modern or the most recent pagan religions that revere and worship mother Earth and perceive all of Nature’s creations as divine. This form of modern witchcraft is a very positive form of witchcraft and the practitioners or the witches as we call them, indulge only in white magic. All the witches of today are Wiccans, who embrace Wicca as their religion.
Though modern witchcraft is not bound by any stringent rules or doctrines, the witches strictly follow the Wiccan Rede, or in layman terms, rules of conduct. According to these rules, the witches would never indulge in magic that would harm, control or manipulate an individual or even Nature, such as black magick. Witchcraft imbibes a Threefold Law, based on which the modern witches believe that every action of theirs, good or bad, will reciprocate with threefold the original impact. Thus, they believe in retribution.
You might wonder, if the modern day witches are any different from all of us. The truth is, they look just like any of us, and no, they do no roam about wearing a pointy hat and a broom. That is just a figment of our imaginations, nurtured by their portrayals in movies, books and fairytales. Witches follow the witchcraft religion, just like a Christian embraces Christianity; a Muslim embraces Islam and so on. And just like these religions, even the modern day witches believe in their Gods and Goddesses, though everything centres around Nature.
The witches use magic as there tool to connect and harness the divine power and bring about transformations. Magic involves various rituals and prayers which differ with each individual. The rituals involve casting of or consecration of a magic circle, meditation, incantations, chants, honoring the nature’s four elements and so on. The power that they harness is channeled to heal or bring about some positive change.
It would be good to clear out the misconceptions of witchcraft having anything to do with Satanism. Witchcraft does not harbor any evil aspect such as black magic. Often the Book of Shadows and their sacred symbols like a pentagram are associated with evil and black magic. Witchcraft is a very dynamic and a spiritual path which leads an individual down the road of self development and divine attainment. Healing, helping, loving and respecting nature, spreading cheer; this is what modern witchcraft is all about.