HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU ARE A WITCH?

I might get some hate mail for saying this, but not everyone who practices witchcraft is a what I call a "natural witch." For one thing, energetically, I notice that natural witches usually have a mark at the hairline, right between the Third Eye and the Crown chakra. I've seen purple pentagrams (modern day pagans who either cast spells or have a talent for spells), a star, the Goddess moon "horns" (the waxing crescent, full moon, and waning crescent). Recently I saw a sun symbol.

Witches that I call "world walkers" have a mark, but I haven't been able to identify yet. It's more of a feeling I get when I talking to one. World walkers are humans who have the ability to move between the different astral realms and other dimensions.

Young people, teenagers, and older people who have the gift but have never used it at all, or have actively squelched it, have a kind of blot where the mark should be. The energy hasn't configured yet. And sometimes I see a mark, but I can't identify what it is. It's not a blot, it's more that it is blocked to me.

Different people will have different experiences, but usually there is an affinity with nature. When I was young I was very attracted to the energy of trees. I felt they "talked" to me. Since I've begun actively practicing witchcraft I have learned that trees do indeed talk to humans. But they have almost no words. (The Ents in the Lord of the Rings trilogy are real chatty Cathy's compared to most trees.) Trees refer to humans as "monster". Once I had a tree call me "creature" and I was so happy I almost hugged her. (The mother oak up at Lewis Mitchell park.) Also, young trees rarely speak to humans. Try an old oak for starters.

One of the first things many witches learn to do is call the winds. Ironically, in St. Louis I have been trying to master stopping the winds! (I started practicing witchcraft in California.) The latter is a much harder task. (One thing I can offer newbies, the winds are not instant. Sometimes it takes up to a full minute for a breeze to reach you on a windless day. Don't despair.) And the winds speak, too, but usually with the messages of others.

And then there are animals. Like trees they have few words. Birds seem to have only two words: "danger" and "food." When I feed the birds regularly I enjoy the point where I stop being "danger" and become "danger" and "food." Many witches and world-walkers will find that a particular animal spirit is their protector, or totem. They may have felt drawn to the animal long before they discover their powers.

Like many witches, I was always drawn to fairy and supernatural stories as a child. And also mythology. As a child I read alot about the Greek Gods, and I always felt like they were still here with us. Later, when I began to study astrology and the planetary rulers, I understood that they really are still here with us, at least in one system. And like some other witches I have known, I have a general affinity for "imaginary" creatures and beings. I used to always have little "altars", even when I was an atheist. Sometimes they would be cartoon characters (Cheetara from the Thundercats, Wonder Woman, etc).

Natural witches are often very sensitive to the changing seasons. Or may feel the increased spirit activity around Bealtaine (the ancestor of May Day) and Samhain (the ancestor of Halloween). Things may seem to "happen" more around these days, as there is an increase in psychic and magickal power as well.

A witch might "hear" the moon, or converse with the stars and planets. Sometimes there will be a heightened sense of natural phenomena, i.e., storms, earthquakes, wildfires.

Which brings me to a brief aside: I do believe that the Wabash fault will produce an earthquake of a 6.5 magnitude. This is almost as big as the Los Angeles earthquake in 1994. I have some concerns about the older buildings in this part of the country, and the lack of preparation on the part of the citizens. (Bottled water, at least three gallons per day, per person. Hard shoes next to the bed, flashlight, batteries, candles, etc.) I believe it will occur on the 14th of May, but it might also happen in June. (And hopefully I am wrong, and just caught up in the "hype".)

The Earth does not live by the time of humans. A day is barely a second to the Old Girl. It is not easy to pinpoint natural phenomenon. And an earthquake is barely a belch to the planet- not much commotion at all! But it does affect us, and not just physically. I do not think the recent spike in violent crime and shootings in the Chicago area is a coincidence. One of the reasons the Old Craft is calling so many right now is that there is a need for it.

Modern humans, especially in "developed" countries like ours, have lost the ability to speak to the Earth. And we must remember Her language, all of us, whether we are witches or not. We live in a time unparallelled in human existence. Of all the people who have ever lived, half of them are dead. Our current population is the sum of all those that have lived before us! We need the old stories and Gods, but we need to re-write the stories for this new era, and find new ways of relating to the ancients. We must explain our new world to the Universe.

And the planet is stretched to the limit for humans. The term "global warning" is almost comic. The planet has been much, much hotter. Thousands of degrees. It is only we frail humans that can only survive within such a narrow temperature range. The Earth will survive without us. That is certain. "Depleted resources" means "resources that humans need." We cannot survive if we strip her of the environment that sustains us, or unbalance ourselves.

Witches are needed to translate and communicate. Wake up to your power!

PRAISES, THANKS, & BLESSINGS!!!