People love to hate labels, and yet… hate to love them too. The debate goes both ways. Labels are lazy, harmful, or limiting in some way… or, labels are a “container” for a set of characteristics with the purpose of effective and clear communication.
I fall in the latter category, although I see and understand the other side of the coin. The truth of the matter (at least in my observation) is that whether you hate them or love them, they’re necessary for clear communication.
I wear a lot of labels, this post specifically is about those in my spiritual practice, though. In one of the communities I’m a member of on Discord, a question came up asking, “Which terms do you use to talk about yourself and your craft? Why do you prefer those terms?”
Here are my answers:
- Witch / Witchcraft – It just feels like a term that’s easy enough to communicate without confusion.
- Pagan – Lots of people in society at large are uncomfortable with the word “witch”, and they find “Pagan” as more palatable with less negative connotations. It also feels like this term connects my witchcraft to my spiritual practice. Not all witches see that path as spiritual, but for me they are very much connected.
- Practitioner – Also a more “politically correct” term that makes non-witchy people more comfortable when speaking on the subject.
- Spellwork / Spellcraft – These are the terms I grew up using when speaking of witchcraft workings.
- Eclectic – This term fits because although I have a foundation in Wicca, I’ve been pretty much “winging it” in my own personal way for decades. I do a lot of “dabbling” in other types of witchcraft outside the ones listed below that I consider my “home base”, just to see how things work or how it feels. Sometimes these new experiences get adopted into my practice… but usually, even if they’re successful, they are not.
- Gray – This one is due to how my ethics work. I don’t have a lot of “set in stone rules”, and instead everything depends upon my gut/moral compass. What’s right one day may be wrong the next due to change in circumstances or other factors, and vice versa. It’s very wishy-washy, and could be viewed differently by different people as a result.
- Green / Forest – My practice leans very heavily into revering nature and her cycles, spending time in nature/communing with nature, researching nature, etc. This includes practicing with a wide variety of plant matter in a myriad of ways, as well as stones, crystals, soil, and other such detritus from nature.
- Hedge – I spend time within, and draw energy from, liminal spaces. Especially liminal spaces among the trees and in forest areas. I feel that for me, this is a “sub-category” of Green/Forest.
- Cottage / Hearth – I would say that my practice is split between Green / Forest and this category. My home is my sacred space and most everything in it is geared towards my spirituality and practice in some way. Including things like cleaning, bathing, laundry, etc. I would also classify my jewelry making spellwork under this term.
- Kitchen – Ties in the Cottage/Hearth factor with the Green side of things in that one of the ways I commonly use plant matter in spellwork (and practice spellwork as a whole) is through cooking, tea making, baking, etc.
- Tarot Reader / Cardslinger – It’s what I do. Quite literally with the word “cardslinger” since I pull my cards through jumpers instead of picking off a pile. I do a variety of other divination techniques, but using cards is pretty much “home base” for me. To be fair, I read all kinds of cards other than just tarot regularly. (ie: Lenormand, oracle, playing cards, image only cards, game cards, etc.) But the term “card reader” never seems to be something people understand, so I don’t use it.
- Fortune Teller – I do predictive readings (usually using cards).
- Mediumship – In my divination practice (and occasionally outside of my divination practices), I sometimes communicate with the dead.
Because I lean into experimentation, there’s a lot of other terms that could be used to describe my practices, but I feel like none of them really weigh heavily enough in my practice to break out of the “eclectic” container and stand alone on their own.
It was an interesting exercise to look at my spirituality and practice in this way, and I feel that it helped me in seeing my own path in a more organized light. I’d definitely encourage others to do a little examining of their own paths and see what they come up with as well.
Remember, just because a label fits doesn’t mean you’re restricted by it. It’s just a word to help in communicating with others. After all, we don’t call a mug “that cylindrical thing that holds the hot drink made with brown beans”. We call it a mug, even when it holds paperclips instead of coffee.
Twisting the Leaf 