Good afternoon my twitchy witches!
I’m sure that many of you have seen movies where witches had
special powers and abilities. This is really not all that farfetched. Everyone
has talents that are specific to him or herself. The same is true of those who
follow a magical path. Some of us are empaths, some are psychic, some are
healers, some are seers, some are kitchen witches, some are herb witches, and
quite a few of us are more than one thing!
Many of us are drawn to specific elements, specific methods of practice
(knot magic, animal magic, and crystal magic, etc), and specific incarnations
of the Goddess and God. All of these things make us unique witches with
different skills and insights.
I will begin with empaths.
The word empath is derived from the word empathy. And this is exactly what
an empath does. Empaths feel exactly what you feel, to a fault. He or she can’t
stand watching romantic comedies in which the heroine or hero makes a complete
fool out of him or herself because the embarrassment is just too much. Empaths
will blush, close their eyes, or even fast forward through that part. An empath walks through the store and sees a
couple of strangers laughing; he gets caught grinning and laughing even though
he doesn’t know the joke! This person knows exactly how you are feeling before
you voice it. She feels the way you do…she may not even know why. Empaths
experience so many emotions throughout a typical day that they often struggle
to determine which emotions were originally theirs. This can be a huge problem and is often
something that they need to put up barriers against, and learn how to control,
otherwise it is far too draining.
Empaths find themselves acting on emotions that were never even theirs.
I am an empath. Many have wondered whether
empathy is a power, and just being able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes
may not be; however, being able to feel the emotions or the energies in a room
means that you have the power to influence them.
Many of us know what psychics can do, so I’m just going to
touch on it ever so briefly. Psychic is a very broad category which can contain
many different types of psychics. We are
all psychic to some extent. Some of us are able to see with our third eye
better than others. If this is something that interests you, the more you work
at it, the better that you can become. Not all psychics read minds; some of
them see auras or are very good at astral travel, or even predicting the future.
A psychic’s power is based in the third eye and the astral plane (the spiritual
plane). While the astral plane heavily
influences our physical plane, you’ll not get very far if you try to see it
with your physical eyes.
Seers would probably fall under psychics, but their talent
lies in divination. Each seer prefers their own method of divination. Some scry
using crystals or mirrors. Other seers prefer tarot cards, reading tea leaves
or palmistry. Not many seers focus solely on palmistry because palms only tell
about people. And while people are great, it’s a rather limited field. Palms
don’t tell the future of the person, they tell the character and the past of
the person. So, if I were a business
executive, I might ask for a scan of potential employees’ palms along with their
résumé. More on that in future posts if
I remember!
Kitchen witches are magical people who feed me! (I’m just
kidding) Kitchen witches prefer to work their magic in the food, teas, and
herbal remedies that they cook up in the kitchen. This is, indeed, the tastiest
kind of magic. You can do a lot with
food because food has so many healing and nourishing properties in and of
itself. Combine this potential with magic and you have some pretty powerful
chow! Healing potions, beauty products, good luck bon bons, teas to improve the
third eye, and many other things can easily be cooked up in the kitchen with
the right spell and ingredients. Kitchen witches know how endless the
possibilities are, plus…who doesn’t like food!?
While being a kitchen witch is more of a preference of crafting than
anything else, I consider it to be a power. How many people do you know who go
in the kitchen and end up producing sludge that was supposed to be tiramisu?
That is why I include kitchen witchery in the power post!
Moving right along to herb witches! That old lady down the
street with the hollyhocks up to her ears? Herb witch! Herb witches or garden
witches work amazing magic with herbs and other plants. Their gardens are
absolutely breath taking. When you ask how their roses managed to avoid the
aphid plague that killed yours they usually smile and just give you some sort
of farfetched cure. These earthy people
revel in greenery and are very in tune with plant life and the spirits that
guard them. They often have bird feeders in every direction and live in nearly
absolute harmony with the animals that come in and out of their gardens. These
women have a special knack for knowing exactly what their beloved plants need,
and exactly how to cure what ails them. As a result the plants return in kind
and offer a bounty of blossoms, herbs, and vegetables. Herb witches know that
respecting their plants and nurturing them, keeping them happy and healthy is
the best way to also preserve the sprites, brownies, elves, and fairies that
have likely made this garden their safe haven. You won’t find any pesticides
here- just magic.
Witches are not only in tune with plants, but many witches
also have a special relationships with the animals that they come in contact
with. From the den of foxes in their backyards, to the stray cats that they
leave milk for, many witches find animals to be more than mere companions, but
partners in magic and friends. These
witches are very sensitive to the importance of all life and often find
themselves taking in any “lost cause” that crosses their path. These witches
are eager to provide love and sanctuary to all walks of life, but they often
find that they get along better with animals than people. You know who they are. They’re the couple
down the street with the elaborate chicken coop for the hens they rescued, the
woman with three cats, a blind dog, a fledgling robin that she found fallen
from its nest. These men and women find
animal magic and working with their familiars quite natural. They wear their
animal totem around their neck, and have their house completely covered in pet
fur. They often exhibit the traits of their animal totem, and sometimes it is
easy to see what it is without even asking.
This is only a very small sampling of the powers, and
casting preferences and witch “categories” (for lack of a better word because
most of us fall in many categories if not all of them!). I encourage you to
learn more about different powers. Meditate on your strengths and what makes
you who you are. Meditate on what element you gravitate toward, what you have a
knack for, and particular crafting methods that you prefer to work with. The
more you learn about yourself, the more you learn about your power and who you
are, as well as what you should work more on and what you can become (Geeze! Could
that sentence have rambled any longer!?). What types of embodiments does your patron
Goddess and God take on? Are they known animal lovers or plant gurus? The
answers to these questions can help direct your path to learning more about
yourself and your craft! Never stop learning
Till next time!
~S
