Pagan Prompt: Are you a good witch or a bad witch?
pagan_prompt asks:What does it mean to be a good witch/pagan/heathen/wiccan/etc?
EDIT TO CLARIFY: What is your ideal for your particular path? Is it someone who celebrates all the holidays or someone who meditates daily? Is it someone who preaches to others or someone who keeps their religious preference quiet? Etc...
This is an interesting question! I am of the opinion that however you practice your own path is fine by me provided you aren't harming folks. So, I'm against human sacrifice. I'm against animal sacrifice except when it's done humanely. I'm against spellwork involving theft. I'm against spreading disinformation about paganism in general or making us look like a bunch of fluffy idiots. You can see where I'm going with this, I assume. :)
For Feri in particular... well, I'm not an initiate so I can't really say, can I? Even if I could, I can't really wrap my head around the idea of "a good Feri" because the tradition defies absolutes so thoroughly. It seems to me, however, that the Feri initiates I admire most are scrupulously honest with themselves and others, are thoroughly centered/grounded most of the time, and are modest in a way that is neither self-effacing nor a mask for "humbler-than-thou" arrogance. They all seem... wild, somehow. Talking to them is like talking to a wild animal wearing a human skin.
For me, being a good witch means constantly striving to know my Self, to face my fears. Striving to be the best me that I can be -- which means finding out what that looks like, what that means. It seems to include, at least for now, daily prayer and meditation, occasional spellwork to help my friends, studying Aikido as seriously as I can, and working to be present and in my body (as opposed to up inside my head).
EDIT TO CLARIFY: What is your ideal for your particular path? Is it someone who celebrates all the holidays or someone who meditates daily? Is it someone who preaches to others or someone who keeps their religious preference quiet? Etc...
This is an interesting question! I am of the opinion that however you practice your own path is fine by me provided you aren't harming folks. So, I'm against human sacrifice. I'm against animal sacrifice except when it's done humanely. I'm against spellwork involving theft. I'm against spreading disinformation about paganism in general or making us look like a bunch of fluffy idiots. You can see where I'm going with this, I assume. :)
For Feri in particular... well, I'm not an initiate so I can't really say, can I? Even if I could, I can't really wrap my head around the idea of "a good Feri" because the tradition defies absolutes so thoroughly. It seems to me, however, that the Feri initiates I admire most are scrupulously honest with themselves and others, are thoroughly centered/grounded most of the time, and are modest in a way that is neither self-effacing nor a mask for "humbler-than-thou" arrogance. They all seem... wild, somehow. Talking to them is like talking to a wild animal wearing a human skin.
For me, being a good witch means constantly striving to know my Self, to face my fears. Striving to be the best me that I can be -- which means finding out what that looks like, what that means. It seems to include, at least for now, daily prayer and meditation, occasional spellwork to help my friends, studying Aikido as seriously as I can, and working to be present and in my body (as opposed to up inside my head).