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THE POWER OF A WITCH

Dr. D. H. Parsons

This is going to be one of the most difficult articles I have ever written.  Not because I don't know much about the subject matter - just the opposite. I know a heck of a lot about the subject matter and it is very personal to me.  I will explain that later in the body of the article.

Where does science begin and Witchcraft end?  Two hundred years ago, the act of scraping mold off the rind of an orange in order to make a potion that would cure someone would be called Witchcraft.  Today we call it, penicillin.  And there are numerous examples we can use of similar instances that just a few years ago would have been labeled Witchcraft - or "of the devil" - that today are used on a regular basis by the medical community for the betterment of the human race.

Just where does science begin and Witchcraft end ... or start up?  Quite frequently, I wear the sign of the Celtic Trinity around my neck because of my own Scottish background.  I feel moved to wear it because I feel something very special about it ... it's as if I've worn it before.  This is either in a past life or in some sort of genetic memory.

My personal heritage is pretty much a matter of record.  I have researched it extensively.   My family disembarked from Devonshire, England, in 1635, and landed in America where they took up residence in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Two individuals, Mary Bliss and Joseph Parsons, and I don't know if they traveled together on the same ship, or even why they came to America, but when they got here, they were married, and settled into what they hoped would be a normal, contented, and happy "Colonial life" - with all the trimmings of faith, family, and hard, but honest work.

It is Mary Bliss-Parsons, my Grandmother (nine times removed) that I wish to mention for a moment ... and it is impossible to go into detail here regarding her life because her story is very complex, as well as, personal to me.  (I am writing a book about her that, hopefully, will be finished soon.)  Mary was tried twice for Witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trial fiasco and acquitted on both occasions. And if everything I've read is correct, not to mention my own "channeling" experiences with Mary, then "Witchcraft" is not only in my blood, but I have some sort of deeper connection to the ancient "Craft" than many of those today who call themselves Witches or Wiccans. (Incidentally, I named the Bliss-Parsons Institute in honor of my great grandmother, Mary Bliss-Parsons.)

And a distinction must be made here.  A "Witch" is not the same thing as a "Wiccan."  The Wiccan religion has appeared fairly recently on the scene and is as complicated with ritual and doctrine as any other religion, including Christianity.  Witchcraft and witches, on the other hand, have been around for ... forever?   In fact, in my experiences over the past fifty years, those who consider themselves true "Witches" choose not to belong to any organized religion, including Wicca. They consider Witchcraft to be a personal experience that not only answers the need in the human heart for "religion," but it is an entire way of life that goes far beyond ritual, costumes, and "cakes and ale."

I have read literally dozens of books on Witches and Witchcraft.  I have, perhaps, one of the most extensive libraries on Witchcraft around.  And from what I've read, I can glean the fact that they all say pretty much the same thing.  They all define Witchcraft as the "Craft of the Wise," or something like that.

And this is where I'm starting to get cold feet for this article.  I don't even want to tackle this subject in great detail because it's already been done to the max and I don't want to whip a dead horse.  But, in fact, I believe it's been overdone - and that's the point of this article - most of what has been written about the roots of Witchcraft in the past 50 years or so, is mere speculation with absolutely zero credibility or basis in fact.   There ... I've said it.  And I hate saying it.  But it's true.  The larger portion of what is being passed off as "fact" in regard to the so-called "Craft of the Wise" is, in reality, made up.  Including the name:  "Craft of the Wise!"

Make no mistake  ... this article is not going to be a slam on Witchcraft.  Quite the contrary.  It is a defense of TRUE WITCHCRAFT vs. the silly nonsense that is being paraded around as legitimate Witchcraft.  And I want to be careful here because I have the greatest respect for many of the Wiccan authors on the market today.  Raven Grimassi, is one of the most knowledgeable historians on Witchcraft alive.  Silver Ravenwolf is an incredible writer and an absolute delight and I would love to meet her.  Laurie Cabot, although some consider her to be a bit "flashy," her book, "Power Of The Witch," is brilliant. Marian Green has perhaps the most levelheaded understanding of anyone in The Craft today. And, last but not least, Ellen Dugan, a relatively new author on the scene ... she has a charm (no pun intended) about her that is quite refreshing.  I would especially love to meet her since she too is from Columbia, Missouri, where I reside and where the Bliss-Parsons Institute is based.

I suppose what I would like to do with this article is to bring that "Charm" back into Witchcraft.  For so many years now Witches have been spending most of their energy on "playing at being Witches" rather than in the reality of "being Witches."  It's one thing to wear the outfit and look the part, but it's another thing to live the life.  It's one thing to hold the meetings and dance around in a circle being silly, but it's another thing to walk out into your back yard and look up at the night sky and FEEL the power of Nature surging through you.  To me ... that IS Witchcraft.

To be a Witch is to plant a garden and visit it every day. To be a Witch is to turn off the TV and go out in the yard during a sleet storm to watch an eclipse of the Moon (which I did just a few months ago.)  To be a Witch is to work on developing your Psychic abilities so you can be more in tune with everyone around you, including those who have Crossed Over.  To be a Witch is to sit in the middle of your garden on a hot summer's day and soak up the sun, FEELING the growth surging through the cells of the plants you, yourself, have seeded into Mother Earth.  To be a Witch is to be aware of noises and senses that are beyond the physical and to be able to connect them with the Supernatural.  To be a Witch is much more than pretending to be mysterious and trying to "look different" ...  it's to be an observer of life. One who sits and watches everything around ... but does not react.

Quite frankly, the closest I have come to defining the role of a True Witch comes from the pages of the Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter two, verse 64:  "But the yogi (Witch?) who has disciplined the mind and has control of the senses can move about amidst sense objects, free of attraction and aversion, settling more deeply into tranquility."  That is the "Power" of a Witch ... to be able to do that.

Whenever I read that verse from the Gita I can't help but think of the TV show, "Kung Fu."  I'm sure most of our older readers remember David Carradine in his role as Kwai Chang Caine the Kung Fu priest who roamed around the Old West encountering wrongs that needed to be righted.  He wasn't actually looking for problems; it's just that problems seemed to gravitate toward him.

But it was his way or manner in dealing with those problems that set him apart from others. He had a quiet and simple Soul that met even the harshest of situations with calm reserve and a sort of magical "authority" that seemed to surround him - an aura of righteousness, so to speak. And everyone he came in contact with, he changed on a deeper level.

Kwai Chang Caine is the perfect Witch, living out the tenets of the Gita verse to: 1. develop a disciplined mind, 2. control the senses, 3. to move about the world without becoming affected by it, and 4. to live a tranquil life.  These should be the true goals of a Witch ... not to wear the beads and look "spooky" so as to draw attention to yourself, but to blend in and become an agent of tranquil change in a world of chaos and corruption.

Real Witchcraft is all about change.  "Magic" is about altering or changing the elements in order to manifest new realities for health and well being, for prosperity and/or for power.  This is why Witches grow and prepare their own herbs.  This is why they use symbology and ceremony.  It all harkens back to an age when the human race believed in Nature Spirits, Healers and ethereal, universal Powers that seemed to govern the physical world - but from the "Other Side."  This is when the Hermetic Principles were discovered.  (Look for a future B-PI Journal article on the Hermetic Principles.)

Again, the key word is "change."  The primary purpose of a Witch should be to change all things for the better - and that is to include not just environmental concerns and politics, but other people out there who desperately need change in their lives.  It's all about the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them to do unto you."  If everyone were to do this what a wonderful world this would be.

The greatest magic a Witch can perform has little to do with conjuring demons or saints, or with finding a love-mate.  It has to do with the simple things of life like: opening doors for other people, not being an obnoxious driver, slowing down the pace of your own life, helping little old ladies across the street, tithing to your church, smiling a lot, not watching violent movies, comforting a friend ... and all of the other "good things" each and everyone of us should be doing for each other.

Being a Witch means to alter your lifestyle and your way of thinking in order to do the most "good" for those you come into contact with.  A Bible verse comes to mind here:

Romans 12:2 ... "Transform yourself by the renewing of your mind."  That says it all.  "Transform" means to change.  A Witch needs to change himself/herself from being just like everyone else out there, to what he/she really should be: a Healer, a Peacemaker, a Lover, a Saint - that "Agent of Change" I spoke of earlier. The Kwai Chang Caine that moves about the world "Sprinkling Good" onto all he meets.

Which brings me back to a concept I developed which I term, "Earth Guides." If you haven't read the articles in this journal about being an "Earth Guide" you need to do so, because to be a Witch is to be an Earth Guide.  And I won't go into detail as to what that is because it's spelled out clearly in those articles - you can read them for yourself.  But we are here  ... here on this planet in this plane and/or dimension ...  to heal and to guide those folks who find themselves in our own little personal sphere of existence.   That is to include family, friends and acquaintances, college professors, church groups, next-door neighbors, and even pets.

This is really what life is all about.  It isn't about "grab and take" and "climb your way to the top." It's about Truth and Light and Love ... and concern for those who are less fortunate.

In the Wiccan Religion there exists what is called the "Wiccan Rede" It is supposed to be the ONLY law of the Wiccan Faith. And it is really nothing more than a reworking of the Golden Rule (which came 2000 years earlier.)  It says, "An it harm none, do what thou will." Which is basically the same thing as saying, "as long as you don't hurt anyone else or even yourself you can pretty much be and do anything you want in this life."  I agree with this Rede 100%.  And even though it may be a plagiarized version of the Golden Rule it still gets the point across to a community of Seekers who might never learn this great Truth by any other means.

Such is the one saving Grace of all organized "religions."  They all have the Golden Rule, in one form or another, mentioned in the body of their dogma.  Which tells me that it isn't really "plagiarizing" at all.  It tells me that this is a Rule that is a part of the Universal Truth that all Created Beings should be sharing. And this is a good thing, because where would the world be without such, "Good Wishes," for all mankind?  Where would the world be without this declaration of tolerance for all others?  It is said that, "all paths lead to God."  And I believe this.  I believe that the various cultures around this globe have differing views on just "Who" God is and how to picture God in their minds ... and how to reach Him in their prayers. But all who sincerely seek Him will find Him.

Those who follow the Path of Witchcraft are no different.  They have their own way of looking at God/Goddess.  And for the most part I believe them to be sincere and therefore I believe God will honor their faith.

But I really have to be honest here ... I just wish that ALL religions would dump the "clutter" of dogma and denominationalism (and yes, Wicca has many denominations) and just get back to the simple Truth of the Golden Rule.  My Intuitive Self tells me that's the way everyone should be.

And speaking of Intuition ... my Great Grandmother, Mary Bliss-Parsons, has channeled many wonderful concepts into my mind, and one of those was: "There is only "The One" ... "The All. " God is Spirit. Gender is inconsequential. Within the Spirit that is The One there are millions of genders human beings have never even thought of.  There is no God or Goddess.  Just the ever-present, all encompassing Spirit of Love, Light and Truth.  This is the TRUE meaning of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Love, Light and Truth."

Everything ... to a Wiccan, a Baptist, a Catholic, a Jew, a Buddhist ... everything is about Love, Light and Truth.  These are the principle tenets that drive the Bliss-Parsons Institute and everything we stand for.  And I applaud all faiths that seek only these things and not the doctrines of fear, guilt, and condemnation.

So ... bless you Wiccans.  Bless you Christians.  Bless you Druids and you Hindus ... and all other faiths that, (whether their populace practices it or not) have the Three Great Principles of Love, Light and Truth, as the core of your belief.  For such is the source of The Power Of A Witch.  And such is ... the answer to all the questions, and the solution to all the problems plaguing mankind today.