To Be A Witch

To Be A Witch

by Robin Artisson

Witchcraft is a calling, from an unseen region of experience,

a place that is the source of our human legends and myths,

but is itself a non-human place and power.

Its calling is inexorable; it cannot be ignored long.

To be a witch is to sometimes be an outsider of the body,

but always an outsider of the soul.

To be a witch is to be in the grip of something that words cannot express,

but sometimes a storm or a tree can express it.

To be a witch is to feel more at home with animals

and trees and quiet places on the Earth

than with masses of humans and noisy cities.

To be a witch is to learn real magic - sorcery, more like -

first from books or the whispered stories of others,

later from faceless beings from the Unseen.

And that's when real sorcery is born in you.

Sorcery is the merging of the Seen and the Unseen,

using you mind and body as the vehicle of that merging.

When everything comes together, anything seems possible.

But everything has a price, too.

To be a witch is to be fascinated by life,

while always holding inside

a fascination for your own death -

"thus comes the mystery."

To be a witch is to know the hidden messages

in folklore and so-called superstitions,

and to know what humans really should fear.

To be a witch is to feel like an animal, 

sometimes as much as you feel like a human,

and to feel like something neither human nor animal,

at other times.

To be a witch is to exist without an easy explanation

for who or what you might be

or where you came from,

or where you are going.

Robin Artisson is the person who introduced me, via the internet and his wonderful writings, to a more traditional witchcraft than ever I had known. Considering that I had been taught something very non-Wiccan, older and more traditional, that says something about him. He opened portals, introduced other writers, made me think and go off across the hedge. He taught me so much and I am forever grateful. He also introduced me to Robert Cochrane, and very different ways of the workings of this arte. Robert Cochrane made as much an impression upon me as Robin himself; unfortunately Robert Cochrane died in 1966, but his small collection of writings has inspired many. Strange, you may think, for someone who has long considered herself a Dianic Feminist witch, to be so influenced by men. Of course, they are not the only ones; the Hidden Company, the trees, the stones, the Land, the Spirits of these, all tend to my education. However, I am a smart witch, I take my wisdom from wherever it comes.

 Robin has been around for many years now, controversial, loved, worshiped, and despised. He is human, with all that carries, but he is a mystic, a cunning man, a wise man, herbalist, healer, seer, a witch. I have watched him grow into his wisdom, always there, but needing the tempering that time would bring; and so it has.

Robin has published a number of books; I highly recommend them each one; they are all in my own library, well used. His websites overflow with articles free for your perusal. Take advantage of his generosity, learn, think, take flight.

www.robinartisson.com  - click on works, you will find a list of his books. Scroll down to "Works Online" - click on "here" and you will find a wonderland.

http://www.robinartisson.com/scarespite/hallpage.htm - more articles.

And, my most favorite place:

http://www.robinartisson.com/wy/elfhame/meadows.html

Robin, like most of us, can be found on Facebook, as well.

https://www.facebook.com/sonofnicneven

Many thanks to Robin for allowing me to share "To Be A Witch" on my blog.

For the month of October, I will post, almost daily, a collection of poetry, images, both magickal and mundane, spells, perhaps, and whatever else catches my fancy, that is relevant to this mystical season. I hope you enjoy the posts and share the thoughts they inspire.

Blessings nine!