Tags

, , , ,

Got the idea for this post from http://paganprompts.blogspot.com/2012/01/prompt-all-in-genes.html.  If you are ever hit with writers block or just need a little nudge Pagan Blog Prompts is the place to go!

Nature versus Nurture is a huge academic debate on topics ranging from behavior to disease but how does nature versus nurture work in relation to magic and witchcraft?

First let’s discuss the difference between magic and witchcraft. To my way of thinking Magic is something that happens without practice. Sometimes I know my sister is calling me, I know my brother is feeling an emotion, I know husband is about to phone, I know my child is hurt. That is magic. I don’t try to make anything happen, it just does. Because there is no crafting, no coercing going on, I call this (intuition and premonitions) magic.

Witchcraft, on the other hand, is conscious spell casting, charm making, divination and the like. It is not automatic and requires a conscious effort so it’s witchcraft.

Ok so now we have specific definitions of what is magic and what is witchcraft.

Magic is innate. Witchcraft available to everyone regardless of birth or parents or adoption or religious upbringing. Witchcraft is a choice whereas magic is not.

"The Garden of Health," Antwerp, 1533. In Witchcraft Medicine, Claudia Muller-Ebeling et al.

But what about Herbal magic or Tarot? Is everyone who can plant a garden and follow a potion recipe a witch?  Can anyone who deals tarot also divine?  In my opinion, anyone can make potions and anyone can divine using cards although some are better at potions and cards than others. I feel the same about scrying, runes, geomancy, necromancy, spell casting or any other practice of witch crafting.

People with abundant innate magic may not be great tarot readers or scryers because the activity does not tap into the magic they possess in their genes.

I believe all people possess magic. I believe it is in the genes. Like pigment it varies from person to person and is changeable based on nature that impacts the person before birth and throughout life and death.

I also feel that the people with the least genetic magic can learn to develop and nurture the magic in them becoming more adept at witchcraft through practice and determination.

Humanity is magical but not everyone is a powerful witch in the same way that humanity is musical but not everybody is Mozart.

The magic is in you! It’s in your genes you can nurture it and it will grow through your craft!

Advertisement