Beauty, music, bellydance, the Dark Goddess, Nature, magick, ritual-theatre, death and love.

compendium of Aepril's communications on art, beauty, bellydance, the dark, faery tale, nature, magick, ritual, theatre, death and love. The talk of a priestess and shaman of the Dark Goddess.

Friday, April 13, 2012

A Witch Who Cannot Hex, Cannot Heal ("H" is for Hexing and Healing)

“A Witch who Cannot Hex, Cannot Heal…”.
 This statement is often met with a sharp intake of breath, as though the utterance of the statement is in itself a curse.

  But don’t you know about the threefold law? I do know that some people believe in that law, but I do not. Experience has shown me that there are laws in Nature of cause and effect, that there is the power of intention and attraction, and that all things are interconnected. Nature is not moral; She just IS. She wants balance most of all.



 I think of Jung’s concept of The Shadow. We all have it; we all have dark unconscious material that exists inside the psyche, places that we cannot or will not accept. Places that we’ve pushed down, or shut out, or just don’t know are there, but guide and inform our actions nonetheless.

 I think that if one is to do magick well and with real ovarios, one must be able to truly see oneself authentically. Otherwise there is too much unconscious shadow in the working. If one sees oneself as a practitioner of Light and Healing only, then its almost 100% likely that there is a lot of shadow material present. No one is all light and goodness. To see oneself in this way is willful naiveté. It’s also dangerous. The brightest light casts the darkest shadow.

 I think that in order to be a powerful, empowered Witch, one has to be aware of, and accept, Shadow. We have to know that we have Shadow, and to embrace this part of ourselves. A Witch who is worth her salt must be able to travel into the Underworld and deal with the Shades and Shadows who live there. Like Persephone, we all must become initiated Queen in our own personal Underworld spaces.

 Part of the job of the Queen of Darkness is the ability to curse. It’s just a part of the deal. We must have the balls to use this power sometimes. Not a lot. Not every time someone gives us a hard time. But when it counts, we need to know what we are doing. And we can’t be guilty or ashamed about it. It needs to be owned.

 Because of the laws of Nature, we curse knowing that it will come back to us. "When you look into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you."--Friedrich Nietzsche. We lose innocence. Maybe more. But this is the part that takes courage. This is the sacrifice.

 Scorpio, the 8th sign of the Zodiac and ruled by Pluto (Persephone), is the sign that deals with both hexing and healing. Scorpio natives are known for being the best in the Zodiac at seeing deeply into any situation. When unevolved, Scorpio can be all too ready with her stinger when she feels crossed. Then, maybe the need for a new way to handle things comes along, a need to integrate the dark psyche to become more whole emerges. There can be resistance, swinging the other way, a time of going through a “no, not me, I only use MY powers for good!” denial stage. But when evolved, she soars above resentment and denial, and uses her deep powers for knowing the right time for the right medicine.

 We all have Scorpio somewhere in our astrological charts, representing the area in which these transformations can happen.

 “Enlightenment is not imagining figures of light but making the darkness conscious.”--Carl Gustav Jung

I think of the veterinarian who has to euthanize the 4 legged. Or the surgeon who must cut into the body to get to the cancer. The friend who must tell the friend about the infidelity. The Fall that takes away the Summer, and the Winter that must give birth to the Spring. Where does the healing end and the hexing begin? And vice versa? They are two sides of the same thing.

Published as a participant in the Pagan Blog Project. This week's theme is "H". 

16 comments:

  1. this is so what I needed to read ! I was feeling some quilt in doing my chicken heart spell . my intent was not harm but it was pure wishing to banish to get rid of , for those who have harmed to begone , depart . I just knew I was in need of a deeper darker banishing spell . yet the guilt , am I being bad , is this wrong , then when the dog hate the hearts I even second guessed the whole thing . But I'd planned it out for at least a month , spent close to two weeks collecting items , venturing out to pick hawthron & bittersweet . I just knew I needed to persist and get this done . as those corn dolls burnt in the fire , I felt that wieght lift up , up and away .
    It really did . I am at ease now , I feel I can have my energy back for healing my family etc.
    so yes I had to Hex .it just was the way .
    Thanks again ♥

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    1. Thank you for sharing this, Rox. Sometimes we have to claim our power in this way. It is the way of the Dark Goddess.

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  2. The first couple of paragraphs drew me in quickly. You and I share many similar thoughts on these matters! I'm also not a believer in a threefold law, etc.

    Very well-written and much needed! Thank you :)

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    1. Thank you, Polly! I'm glad that what I said resonated with you.

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  3. Wonderful, Just wonderful. I really enjoyed this article, and your bold stance on hexing. I am currently working with both Morgan La Fae, and Sulis, both water Goddesses, and healers but both associated with the underworld, hexing etc. Sulis has hundreds of curse tablets at her temple in bath, but people still travel there to be healed. Interesting isnt it? Wonderful article, Than you.

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  4. I know lots about Morgan La Fae, but not as much about Sulis. So, I looked her up, and there not much, as She is a local goddess. She reminds me in that respect of Andraste, Queen Boudicca's patron goddess.

    Thank you for your kind words, too!

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  5. There isnt much about her at all, I am going to the UK in 3 weeks and I am going to do as much research on her as I can while im there. The Romans equated her to Minerva/Athena, and there is a gorgon head at her temple too, much like Belenos a Sun God, also a local deity.

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  6. Yes, i saw that she sometimes held the name "Minerva" after "Sulis". And a gorgon head...So interesting! Have a great trip. I will be in UK in the Fall. I'm excited to visit many sites.

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  7. I'm always glad to read about the "darker side" of ourselves and our craft. People who are all "love and light" all the time drive me nuts. It's not all rainbows and unicorns and the sooner a person recognizes and accepts that, the more they grow. There must be balance and true witch knows this. Btw, I don't believe in the three fold law either. What goes around comes around, but not times three. Thanks for the post!

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  8. Thank you, Kelly! Yes, it takes acknowledging dark to grow. I find that unless someone has done the shadow work, when they try to be love and light only, they become judgmental.

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  9. I loved this post. One of my favorite so far in the project. I love to read other's perspectives on just about anything so that I can see it from another angle. A boy did you do that here... I've never been big into the 3 fold law, and I have prescribed to the 'Harm None' in the past. But there are always situations where you can't abide by these statutes BECAUSE of the darkness or the shadow that accompanies everything and everybody. So this made complete sense to me, and it was so well written!

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  10. Love this post & agree with your take wholeheartedly. I have always been a big advocate of balance in all magick I partake in. I do not follow "Harm None" to the detriment of myself or those of others. However, I try to live in a way that is a reflection of the Goddess, in all aspects. As a nurse, I identify with this as well. So thank you for such a well thought out post!

    My "H" post that I'm working on is actually about Hex Signs & Symbols. :)

    Blessings,
    Bridey

    http://childofbrighid.wordpress.com/

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    1. Thank you Bridey. Looking forward to your post next week!

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  11. Important truths, excellently stated. Congratulations, you just became my students' next reading assignment.

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