Black and White

​I’m sure by now you have heard someone calling themselves a “white” witch, or stay away from that person because they’re a “black” witch. This is completely insane. No one is white or black (grey, yes) but not one extreme or another.  So, without further introduction, here is what I have to say on the matter.

I recently received an email telling me that this person wished to learn more about magick and paganism but was very afraid she was going to start doing “black” magick. So I think it’s time we addressed the elephant in the room.  What is exactly is black magick? You will find plenty of books and internet sources that will warn you about the “dangers of black magick!” Cue the thunder and lighting. Perhaps they say that bad things will happen every time you explore the dark side! Cue crash and scream. This if far more dramatic than is necessary in my opinion. If I’m honest, I HATE when people refer to magick as black and white. Nothing in this world is black and white. Black does not reference “evil” or “bad” any more so than white references “good” and “positive”. Sure, if you want to be pagan to curse every single ex you have ever had you’re going to be dealing with “evil” and “negative” energies. This has everything to do with your actions, and not dark magick or the “evil” influences of magick. I have always felt this is more to make other people feel better about witches, but the truth is the darkness is a part of every human being in existence. For us everything is made up of opposites: sky and earth, left and right, man and woman, good and bad, and each of these opposites reside in us, in one way or another. With our good traits we have negative ones. For example, I am an extremely loving person, but may the Gods hold me back when I am a little ball of fire (I’m 5’ tall), which comes on faster than the wind blowing. So when we are wronged, or hurt, or scared, does that mean any justice, protection, or retribution we want is a bad thing? No matter what is said, magick is a tool of the user, and like any tool it is dependent on the user. A “white” spell can be cast to hurt, or a “black” spell can be cast to protect, even then, white and black are really in the eye of the beholder. Things that people would consider bad, negative, or black, are things that we need to be in tune with to be complete and successful in our spiritual, romantic, and mundane lives. Yes, there are some areas that we tend to not tread, but we should still know them because knowledge will keep us in balance so we know when we’re doing something wrong. Just because you know how to curse someone does not mean you have to at any point or just because you know a love spell does not mean you need to cast it ever. Everything is about perception, and we may not always agree on what that perception is. It is best to leave the color based labels for your crayon box. Feel free to post your comments below!