The Witch Archetype

She is old and ugly, sometimes young and seductive, silent and reserved watches and observes. She has a pointy hat, like the crown of a king the hat points to the heavens, a direct line to light and wisdom.
Her crystal ball shows her the universe; it is the portal to wisdom, to the past, the remote present and distant future. She has the power of the universe in her hands. Her magick wand can be a sword to ward off enemies, a knife to cut to the truth, her finger to point toward the aim of her energies, to show the way of change.
A large book, of ancient spells and knowledge is the physical show of years of study and practice, all is there, in the book, her knowledge and the knowledge of those who went before her. It represents the time it takes to become adept in the ways of magick.
Robed in black, she is like a shadow in the night, invisible and unadorned, blue or purple it could also be, divine colours, religious colours, colours that show authority in themes divine.
The stars, the moon, her companions and guides, they represent intuition, subconscious mind and hidden knowledge, she knows about the stars and the moon, how these influence the lives of men and their mother the earth.
The black cat, the crow or raven, the Familiar. She has her seers; she controls the power of nature and her own wilderness, her own savage side, the dark side of her psyche. The dark animals are there to absorb negative energies sent to her, the dark side is a protective side, it protects so it can survive.
She collects herbs, minerals, salts, frog’s legs and spider’s webs, she knows their secrets. In a big cauldron she puts them, mixes them under a full moon for making things true, or new moon to make them no more.
Her broom is her tool to clean and to fly over the moon. She flies in the night sat on her broom. Flies to unknown and mysterious places, meeting with others like her, exchanges wisdoms and knowledge, exchanges news and warnings.
She knows the elves and the gnomes, she knows the fairies and the Gods, and Death is no stranger to her. She lets them be and they let her see. She calls on them when needed and do her bidding.
She lives alone in the woods, who ever heard of a witch worth her salt who had a husband and children to take care of? No, she lives alone in the woods and all are afraid of her. She will eat your children and she will take away the milk from your cow, but only if you cross her. Yet whenever there is sickness, whenever there is trouble, she is called to save the day.
Is she good or evil? It depends on her mood, on how you treat her, on the time of the month, on the time of the moon.
And thus ends the archetype of the witch, although much more could be said.

Witchy Witch

Like magick, there are believed to be two main types of witches, the White Witch and the Black Witch. In times gone by there was no such distinction, witches doing white or black magick as required.
But as we now live in a dualistic society the split naturally came, as it should. The White Witch is not white by race but by the fact that she follows a strict rule with regard her magick, she will not harm anything or anyone with magick and she will not violate another’s free will. A Black Witch on the other hand can also be of any race but will do magick that harms others or violates other’s free will. There is the only difference between the two.
Among Black or White Witches there are also very distinct types whom are easily recognizable, here is a list that gives you some pointers in how to recognise them. I will use the female or male pronoun alternatively in these descriptions, this does not mean that the particular type of witch describes can only be male or female; it is simply for easy of reading. All these types of witches can be male or female. Remember that these are generalizations; you will find that there is a bit of each of these witches in all of us.

The Whiter than White, White Witch
She is politically correct to the extreme. She is very active in human rights, ecological groups and the protection of animals, children, the homeless and any other marginalised groups. She is also very active in pagan circles and her web pages are the most informative and friendly on the Internet. You will always see them at Pagan festivals and will never give you bad news when reading your tarot or looking at your fate in her crystal ball. They have full faith in humanity and the spread of universal love. She will adhere to the Rede in all situations, which will sometimes bring her serious predicaments and soul searching. They are an excellent source of information on all things magick.

The Blacker than Black, Black Witch
One of the best ways to recognise the Black Witch is his superhuman ability to find that his customers are under someone’s negative spell. Something only he can free you from. He will also have absolutely no inconvenience in putting a spell on your boss so his toe nails fall out or making your other half leave his lover and return to you mad with love and desire for you and only you. The easiest way to find him is to look for him in the local classified ads of esoteric newspapers, he is the one who can “make him love you and never leave you again.”
The Black Witch will keep his entire knowledge secret, not wanting to share his “power” with anyone. He will have an air of arrogance and superiority at all times.
As I mentioned before, he is not into Devil worshiping as it is not part of his religion, although he is afraid of the dark side of magick, for he has had to live it in his flesh and blood when he chose this path. When he wants to get something he will stop at nothing to get it, even if this hurts other beings or people. He has little or no respect for humans or any other life.

The Wiccan Witch
The Wiccan Witch can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. She can be friendly or unfriendly, open or secretive, humble or arrogant. She is required to follow the Rede, although she will break it if required under certain circumstances, but only after a lot of soul searching. There are two types of Wiccan Witches, those who practice Traditional Wicca and those who practice open or modern Wicca. The Traditional Wiccan will be part of a coven and will adhere to rules and rituals of that coven, which are generally based on Gerald Gardner’s teachings. She generally adheres to the belief of a dual entity, the Goddess and her Consort the God. The modern Wiccan will be more open to other teachings, will not necessarily belong to a coven and will have her own book of shadows with her rituals and spells, although most of her beliefs will be based on Traditional Wiccan and will also follow the Rede.

The Solitary Witch
Like the Lone Wolf, the Solitary Witch has to come out into the daylight at some point of his life, even if it just to compare a few notes with his fellow Solitary Witches. These witches are usually walking encyclopaedias on magick and all it’s forms and practices, it is very likely the Solitary Witch will have tried them all, categorised them and chosen the best bits for his personal arsenal. He has a distinct dislike of Fluffy Bunny Witches, and all films, television programs and books which give misleading information about Witchcraft and magick in general. You are not likely to find him in Pagan festivals or in any covens. You will find him in old book stores looking through the esoteric section for a book no one knows or has ever heard about. You will also find him on the internet. If you want to learn quickly make friends with a Solitary Witch, but take into account that this is a difficult feat in itself and you might spend years before he gives you his real name and address, if he ever does. The reason they keep to themselves is not because they think of covens and groups as below them, no, the reason they keep to themselves is simply that they like it.

The Hedge Witch
This witch is very similar to the solitary witch, he will hang around on the edges of different groups and learn from then, although will not actively join their rituals, at least not always. Sometimes they will gather and share experiences. As a recent hedge witch told me, “we learn from each other and do the best we can to help the world and the people in it.”

Kaos Witch
The Kaos Witch rarely organises herself into groups, seeing as the mare act of organizing a group goes against her beliefs. Kaos Magick is based on personal will and a rejection of any personification of energy such as spirits, gods, guides, etc. They believe in the butterfly theory, the butterfly which by stirring the air around her while flying causes a storm on the other side of the world.
This is the theory, the fact is that some Kaos Witches have in fact organised themselves into groups, although they point out that they do not accept dependency and at the end of the day everyone does as they will.
You can recognise the Kaos Witch by her aggressive stand in discussions about magick. Her refusal to accept any rule or law, such as the Rede for example, is another good pointer. One of tools she uses most often is the energy generated during orgasm.

The Fluffy Bunny Witch
This witch is extremely dedicated to all themes esoteric. He will personally know at least one angel, will have many guides which he will be more than willing to describe to you in perfect detail, including one from Atlantis and a Native American one. He will also be able to communicate directly with the Goddess and her Consort the God. He will enthusiastically form covens and will declare himself High Priest immediately, by order of the Goddess. His previous reincarnations will most likely include Napoleon or Alexander the Great.

Witch in the Woods
She works in an office by day, does her shopping at the mall, buys Cosmo, wears high heels and suits, goes to the same hairdresser since she was a teenager, her gynaecologist is the one who treated her mother for years, she likes to cook, has a nice car and a pet cat.
On certain Sabbaths, on some full moons, on most equinoxes, she jumps in her car and drives several miles to the nearest woods. Ancient woods, not the new man made ones. Here she meets with several other witches, some of whom are well versed and dedicated to witchcraft, others are less so then she is. At a certain hour she takes off her clothes and follows the instructions of someone who knows, in a ritual well hidden from wondering eyes. She dances and prances, chants and wonders.
Sometime in the early morning she climbs back in her car, promising herself that this time she will read the books the old one told her about, that she will certainly start growing her own herbs on the windowsill of her apartment. She promises herself all these things and goes back home filled with enthusiasm and energy, feeling special and unique.

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