Is a witch really a witch?

I think in part there is massive confusion on both sides, pagan and non-pagan, about the whole issue of "witches." I won't claim this as fact, since I can't remember the source, but I believe originally pagans weren't called witches. The term was adopted after Christianity started it's crusade of conversion. Then, with the dawn of the New Age, it kinda just slipped into use as a label when fledgling pagans started self-teaching through the early books.

Yet, for us to call ourselves witches is somewhat akin to a black person to describe themselves casually as, well, a derogatory term I won't use. Or when women play around and call each other bitches. We can use a negative term and say we don't see it as derogatory, but in the end it doesn't matter what we think. What matters is what other people think when they hear it.

So, while we're getting frustrated with having crimes and stupidity being labeled as "witchcraft," most people aren't really looking at it and correlating it with real paganism and Wicca. The problem is not so much in the truth about what we practice, as it is image called forth by the label. When my mom explains her religion to new friends, co-workers, etc., she calls herself a witch. Of course, this causes reactions of shock, panic and/or fear. Then she has to try to explain what that really means while these people are looking at her like a veil has lifted from their eyes and all they see are warts and green skin. She can talk and explain all she wants, but the part of their brains that might be receptive to understanding what she really is has shut down. It's not just a problem of those people refusing to believe anything other than what they've been taught. It's the mental/chemical reaction to shock and fear. My mom's battle is an uphill one, because she is starting the conversation off on the defensive.

That's one of the reasons why I don't describe myself as a witch. I'm very open about my religion, though no longer as "in-your-face" as I was in high school. When people ask, I usually just tell them I'm pagan. Unless they are hard-core Christians, the general reaction is one of confusion and curiosity. This makes my battle the downhill one. I go on to explain, depending on how close my relationship is to the questioner. A random person at the grocery store asking about my pentacle will get something along the lines of "It's basically an earth based religion. Think tree-hugging hippy. We respect nature and life, and are polytheistic." The tree-hugging hippy part is just to give the mildly curious an easy reference they can be comfortable with.

Closer people, like my children's friends parents, will probably have more questions and I go into greater detail. I explain how magic is pretty much a prayer with tools. It's similar to lighting candles in the Catholic religion. It's just a more complicated way of asking my gods for help for myself or others. Minor deities are like the Patron Saints.

Usually from there I have to explain how I am NOT a witch, at least in the sense that they know it. I tell them it's very little like the movie "The Craft." I'm not evil. I don't slaughter goats or chickens. I don't do spells to force people to fall in love with me, or make someone's hair fall out. I wish I could just do a spell and make the huge scar on my back from surgery disappear, or win the lottery, but it doesn't work that way. Stuff like that is actually completely against my religion. Then I explain briefly about the Wiccan Rede, and how it's basically our Ten Commandments.

I may tell them that some people call themselves witches, it just depends on personal preference. I can let them know that the stories about people doing bad things and calling themselves witches are either confused kids or seriously deluded individuals who don't know what true paganism is. Just as there are groups of people who call themselves Christians, yet act in a totally un-Christian-like manner (Westboro Baptist Church for example, ) there are people who claim to be witches who definitely don't behave like one.

If someone is more curious than that, I'll explain any specific questions I can, and point them in the direction of some good books.

So, while my mother's battle is uphill, mine is downhill. Whoever I'm talking to can direct the conversation, and absorb the info at their own pace. Their brain is not shielding themselves in fear, but opening them in curiosity. I'm not fighting against their negative opinion of what a witch is, but informing them about what a pagan is.

I'm not saying pagans shouldn't call themselves witches if that's the term they want to use. I'm just saying that maybe we shouldn't be surprised by how people react to it.