Turner - The Witchy Way in 21 Days: Your Personal Guide to Daily House Magick

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my readers. To the light seekers, who are ready to turn the page and catch a glimpse beyond the veil into the world of the House Witch. May the words written here bring magick into your daily lives.

Introduction

The alarm rings. Another day begins. The sanitized world outside awaits, filled with the white noise of traffic, ringing phones, and mindless conversation. You fire off passive-aggressive communications that open with, Per my last email, and wonder how much more you can take. You have thousands of connections but feel disconnected from everyone and everything. From yourself, the people you know, and the Divine Mother and Spirits meant to guide you as you make your way through this world.

This is life without magick. But it doesnt have to be this way.

Within the pages of this book, you will discover long-forgotten secrets, a practical guide to restoring wonder and magick to your life. I was once trapped in the same spinning wheel you are caught in today, and I will share the story of my metamorphosis to a believer in the power of the universe, nourished on love, light, and magic. I will share the simple tasks you can perform to create a transformation within yourself; a simple, straightforward, personalized guide to unlocking the secret world around you. Youll read testimonials from others like yourself whove made the leap to a higher state of being.

This book holds the promise of a better life. It will help you embrace gratitude and self-love and come to a deeper understanding of the powerful forces waiting to lead you to your perfect self. Follow me down this path. Well walk together side by side. Your life is an open book, a poem waiting to be written, a blank canvas upon which you can create a masterpiece once you learn the secrets that have existed since the beginning of time, and go on through eternity.

Chapter One

The Witch: Then and Now

A woman dressed in black stands before a cauldron, wearing a pointed hat, a broomstick by her side, brewing up black magic, toil, and trouble. A hag stands in the center of a pentagram, surrounded by candles, summoning a demon. Maidens meet in a field, engaging in shameful and lustful encounters, worshipping dark Gods. If you conjure these mental images when you hear the word witch, you are not alone. These misogynistic representations of witches have become ingrained in our collective consciousness, their roots tracing back to the 1300s. But these visions, titillating as they may be, are neither a realistic nor a fair representation of witches, historically or in the modern era.

To understand the witchs origins, we must travel back in time to the world as it was before monotheism and male-dominated societies.

In Neopagan times, witches were Priestesses who served the Triple Goddess of the Moon, the Earth, and childbirth. Representing the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone, or the three stages of the female life cycle, the Triple Goddess ruled over the heavens, earth, and underworld realms. Highly respected and valued by society, these original witches served as healers, performing the holiest rituals. They were trained in sacred arts, bringing forth babies into the world, healing the sick, curing impotence and infertility. They used their bodies and their wills to heal and manifest change in the world around them. Caretakers of the poor, they gave succor to the most downtrodden and relief to the marginalized. As master herbalists, Green witches were well acquainted with plants spiritual and medicinal qualities and were renowned as wise women. Cosmic witches studied the stars above, seeking to learn all the planetary correspondents and how they affected us here on Earth. Ancient witches had a deep understanding of physiology and how the natural world and the spiritual world connected to our everyday lives.

So, how did these wise women who performed medicine, acted as mid-wives, and were responsible for the disposal of the dead, fall from grace? How and why did they undergo the metamorphosis from powerful healers held in high esteem to become the stereotypical image of the witch we envision today?

It was during the middle ages that the view of witches began to change. With the advent of Christianity, polytheism, or Paganism, came to be frowned upon. Witchcraft began to be viewed as superstition. As Christianity spread, so too did the persecution of witches. Increasingly, those who practiced witchcraft were considered lost souls who had made a pact with the devil. Though often done of good intent and affecting no harm, their magick was seen as the devils work manifested by his agents on Earth: witches.

In the 1300s, plague ravaged Europe, and as pestilence swept through the lands, so too did hysteria. With male-dominated Catholicism at its peak, many woes that befell society were attributed to devil worship by those viewed as vain, lustful, promiscuous pagan women by the Church. For 200 years, the Catholic Church launched a crusade against these women who were said to mount the horned God, participating in grotesque orgies and feeding on infants flesh. Many women tried as witches had only committed one sin: the sin of being different and not falling in line with their societys prescribed roles.

The fear and persecution of women who performed witchcraft are deeply ingrained in patriarchy. Powerful women were considered dangerous or deviant and hence were feared. Their voices were silenced to protect the status quo. Although the witch hunts came to an end during the 18th century, it would take centuries longer for women to begin to embrace the witchs traditional role without fear of persecution.