A Cursin’ and a Healin’

To suggest that a witch can’t heal if she can’t curse is an interesting idea. As a Reiki Master and herbalist, of course I disagree. As a witch, I always thought witches were more versatile than that. And I’m not exactly one of those love and light oriented witches although I do believe in the notion of the highest good. I earned my black belt in Kenpo twenty-five years ago and I turn fifty-nine in October. I’m a Crone witch who doesn’t suffer fools as they say. Although the love is still there, the only light’s coming from the hot flashes I experience. So you’d think I’d be cursing all over the place. I guess I’ve never really been into it. Swearing, yes, particularly when the hot flash hits. Binding spells, sure. But I suppose that’s just about degree because you could view a binding spell as just a lesser version of a curse.

I remember the first time I heard that expression, if a witch can’t curse, she can’t heal, immediately thinking, what..I’m not capable of understanding the difference without first hand experience? I’m a witch, not a dumbass. Witches understand everything. It’s one of the reasons we’re witches. I don’t need to perform a hex or curse to know how to perform a healing spell and it’s just silly to suggest otherwise.

We’ve taken the notion of duality or polarity to the point that everything is either/or, good/bad, and us versus them, the last one the end result of the first two. First we judge, then we act. We feel the need to respond somehow. There’s justification after all. It’s not as if witches perform these things on a lark. Typically an extreme situation exists for which there should be some response. Sometimes it’s an exercise in taking back your power, or doing that on behalf of another. And in performing the curse, healing can also take place.

But still, the expression is simplistic and limiting; the witch is complex and limitless. It doesn’t do her justice and she is far more powerful than the expression would suggest. Just as we can hold more than one idea in our heads at the same time, we can choose to incorporate a whole range of ritual and spellwork in our craft or we can keep things more simple. It’s really up to the witch how she expresses her craft.

As an empath, however, I know that when I turn my attention or focus to something or someone it’s easy to begin feeling the resonance of that situation. It’s not just that I see what’s going on, I experience it. It can be overwhelming and then it’s hard to disengage. So alignment is key. But when I’m aligned, although I may have an opinion about what’s happening, I don’t invest enough of my own focus to lose any of it to someone else’s situation. I guess it’s about staying in control, something that can be nearly impossible for someone like me.

To choose to curse or even bind takes a focus that really isn’t healthy for me. I get too caught up and I have trouble disconnecting from the energy. And it disrupts my inner peace. I like it when I invoke Reiki. It feels wonderful. Binding spells, on the other hand, do not. And where I put my energy matters.

Besides, no one should tell another witch how to be a witch. It’s not our business. My mother would have called that being too big for one’s britches. And trust me, that was NOT allowed. There’s room enough for all of us whether we choose the whole gamut or not. But go ahead and try. Who knows? Maybe a hot flash will hit…

~ Blessed be says the Crone