Witchcraft and Me!

 My experience with witchcraft

My great grandma was a very strong woman who throughout her life endured a lot of tragedy. She was in her nineties and I was one of the last people to be around her before she died. I always loved the style of her house. Her somewhat eerie decor was always fascinating to me. While cleaning out her house after her death I took three things as a keepsake of her, her ouija board, tarot deck, and cauldron. My great grandmother was a Christian, but witchcraft still impacted her life. She regularly saw psychics and mediums which most of my other family disapproved of, but my great grandmother found comfort in their tellings. My grandmother is a personal example of what I find so fascinating about witchcraft: the ability for each person to practice differently. Before her death I knew a little about witchcraft from what I heard through the media. While I myself do not partake in many practices, I enjoy learning about the different beliefs around witchcraft. Through these blog posts I got the opportunity to learn even more about the craft. I feel like witchcraft is such a deep topic that I have just gotten into the very basics of, but I am excited to continue my research more. 

Image by: Rider Waite deck © U.S. Games Systems, Inc

Tarot

After researching for this blog I have become extremely interested in my great grandmother tarot deck. Before, I really did not know much about tarot decks besides that the cards are supposed to tell you something. I now know that each symbol has a special meaning, and that the cards tell a story. One goal I have is to further research into tarot decks to discover what each of the symbols mean. I am unsure if I will ever practice tarot myself, but how the practice coincides with all the different symbols really intrigues me

Image by: Tarot Merchant 

The disapproval of Witchcraft

In some parts of the world the practice of witchcraft is still outlawed. In America, witchcraft has seen a huge rise in approval since the Salem witch trial days, but much of the country still disapproves of the practice. I understand why people of certain religions might be weary of witchcraft, especially if they are not sure what it is. To me, while I do not particularly practice myself I think any religious practice that makes people have purpose or comfort should be accepted in society, of course as long as it is not physically harming anything. I think a lot of people do not realize the effect that witchcraft has on their culture. Some people may even be taking part in things that are actually witchcraft without even realizing it. I think what we can learn from the disapproval of witchcraft is that we should be more accepting of others beliefs. Even if we feel what another person is doing is wrong, as long as it does not hurt us or anyone else it really does not matter. We should let people practice what they feel is important to them.

"The typical ouija board." November 23, 1919. New-York Tribune (New York, NY), Image 71. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.