Every Halloween, the green-faced and pointy-hat wearing hags take center stage and I’m not talking about the Broadway show “Wicked”. Many children and adults don the costume of what they think is a witch. They rarely know that real witches can be blond and beautiful or any variation in between. I would know since I am one; that is, a real witch, blond and maybe beautiful. The ugly hag is a satirical,denigrating stereotype from the burning times, the four hundred years during which millions of innocent women were burnt at the stake, hung or drowned. (Video clip below).

Top 10 Real Witches Do’s and Don’ts

1)     Witches do practice the ancient pagan art and science of Witchcraft or Wicca, its modern day revival.  Followers of Wicca call themselves witches or Wiccan regardless of gender. Warlocks are only found in B- movies.

2)     Witches do worship and honor both the female and male aspects of the Divine, the Goddess and God. We call them by different names depending on their aspect i.e. Divine Mother, Lady or Triple Goddess, which refers to the maiden, mother and crone. The God is the Green Man, the Horned god or Great Spirit. We invoke the names of Gods and Goddesses of many cultures and traditions including Celtic, Aboriginal, ancient Greek, Roman and Norse.

3)     Witches do practice the art and science of Magick. Magick is simply the harnessing, building and focusing the natural energy or power of the mind. The heightened energy and psychic power is used for healing and positive change. It is never used to manipulate or hex someone.  Real Wiccans never use Magick to boost their egos or for trivial gain. Spell casting is part of Magick and usually involves spoken words or prayer with positive intention.

4)     Witches do use ritual tools during ceremonies and practicing Magick. Practitioners have their own tools, which are consecrated and considered sacred. Some of the tools include an athame, a double-edged knife (never used for cutting), a bolline (a working knife to cut i.e. herbs),a chalice or cup, a censer or incense burner, a cauldron or pot, a wand (no, not like Harry Potter’s), a broom (not for flying) and a flat plate or plaque with a pentacle, the five-pointed star.

5)     Witches do use the pentacle as their symbol of spiritual guidance. It represents the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water and Divine Spirit. It can be worn as a protective jewelry amulet, as part of an altar or drawn in the air to invoke or banish energies. The star is tilted with the single point upwards and not two points which is the symbol for Satanists.

6)     Witches do celebrate various holidays and festivals calls Sabbats. There are eight Sabbats throughout including equinoxes and solstices and Samhain or Halloween, the witches New Year. They also celebrate and the moon phases. Some Wiccans choose to belong to a formal group called a coven and many prefer (like myself) to be “solitary practitioners”.

7)     Witches do recognize the inter-connectedness of everything on the planet. They understand that the earth and all living things share the same cosmic energy. They try to live in tune with nature in an ecologically ‘green’ way.

8)     Witches do own a “Book of Shadows. It is a practical workbook, traditionally handwritten and handmade or personalized. Some prefer digital or even virtual versions.

9)     Witches do not proselytize. You won’t ever find witches knocking on doors looking for coverts. Anyone genuinely interested in learning about the Wiccan religion will find the knowledge they seek.

10)  Witches do not perform ritual animal sacrifices or cause harm to any living being. They live by a code of ethics much like the Ten Commandments and the “The Law of Three”. They believe that if they do anything negative or harmful, it will return to them three fold.