By Michele Chavis
Witches walk among us in Northeastern North Carolina, but they aren’t what
you’d expect. Houses aren’t falling on them; they aren’t riding around on broomsticks or
green with pointy hats.
In the United States, particularly within the Southern Bible Belt, there are many
misconceptions about witchcraft. Many Christians, Muslims, Catholics and
Jews think that witchcraft is a demonic belief system rooted in sin. But how much do
we really know?
“We’ve never belonged,” said Elon Green, a witch living in the St. John’s
neighborhood of Bertie County. “If we belonged, we wouldn’t be witches.”
Witchcraft runs in Green’s family and has for many generations. According to
Green, witchcraft relies heavily on the belief that everything around us has a spirit, a term
called animism. A balance with the physical realm and the spiritual realm and respect for
everyone and everything is required for practitioners of witchcraft.
“There’s even a website called. ‘Mandragora Magika’ that will assist in finding the coven closest to you in the Carolinas,” Green said.
But not every culture attaches the same stigma to witchcraft that others do. In
some Native American and African cultures, witches are regarded as healers. Sometimes
called “wise women/shaman” or “healers” make use of herbs and other natural plants to
make remedies for a plethora of illnesses, from the flu to chicken pox. With these potions
and with some prayer and guidance from the spiritual realm, they can heal
whoever asks for help.
“Most of our traditions as healers is passed down from generation to generation
within one family or the other,” Buckinghorse Lowery, a healer from the Lumbee tribe,
said. “But you do not have to be BORN a witch. Peace and harmony between us and the
spiritual realm can be taught to anyone who is interested.”
One misconception of note is that folks use Pagan, Wicca and Witchcraft
interchangeably. They are not the same. Paganism is simply anyone who doesn’t follow
or ascribe to Christianity, Judaism or Islam. Wicca, on the other hand, is a belief system
introduced by Gerald Gardner in 1952.
Wicca is the based in duotheism. Meaning that a God and Goddess are
worshipped and practices magic. Wiccans follow a set of ethical guidelines called, the
Wiccan Rede that serves as the basis for moral principles of Wicca’s that focuses on
personal freedom and responsibility. “And if it harms none, do what ye will.”
Now, though Wicca is a recognized religion, it isn’t the same as witchcraft and
not all witches ascribe to being Wiccan. Witchcraft is the practice of healing and magic
without the duo theism. Witches have different titles for whatever craft one chooses to
practice. Green witches practice healing through herbs and plants and kitchen witches
practice healing through the cooking of certain foods.
There is no wrong way to be a witch. Everyone takes their own path. If you asked
80 witches what witchcraft means to them, you would get 80 different answers. The
practice is open to anyone interested. After all, the exploration of spirit is a journey in
understanding and tolerance, not a set destination.