You Cannot Be a Witch Alone

Now when a witch decides to commit heresy she should not go half cake. Should she commit heresy she should pour out the whole ale. So here it is- you cannot be a witch alone.

Get over that you’ve heard it all before, nothing new under the sun, and wait, isn’t that something they said back in the medieval ages? If you’re going to buy little books on Wicca, and if you’re going to light little candles when the moon is all round, and if you’re going to give yourself a really original name containing the word dragon or faerie or moon or wolf or silver or raven or phoenix, it should be just because you like other Wiccans.

The getting of the out and meeting people is nerve wracking. You drop a contact on the floor, you change your lipstick three times, you forget your driver’s license and have to hope they don’t card at the door. The first half hour you really aren’t going to be able to say anything worth remembering. But it does all get better from there on out.

This new moon was the first meet-up for my new ritual circle, and I got to meet two really awesome witches out of the odd 13 in the group. So it was more fruitful than the spring equinox online meet-up, squee. Very few Wiccan books give meaningful advice on how to hold a meet-up. There are simple rules. Be clean. Don’t get plastered; for those who need it explicit, one drink. Provide an ice-breaker activity where people interact, so not a movie but perhaps billiards or Frisbee. Make sure you give them a reason to expect that if they come they will be providing input into the circle or coven you are founding. Pester them to show up. Show up yourself.

There are a lot of bad arguments against the epidemic of solitaire practice in this country. A lot of them are along the lines of that witchcraft is more than looking good in black, and that Wiccans need initiation. All very boring. Fellowship is not vastly overrated; it’s a real spiritual need and we crave the company that a circle or a coven can provide, as long as we haven’t been brainwashed into thinking we should be proud we don’t deserve somewhere to hang our pointy hats.