What is there for the Good-Willed Witch?

Witchcraft is increasingly becoming a popular and “quirky” aspect of the lives of many young women in the Western world. Sincere and unfeigned ways of living have fallen by the wayside, as a fad of conscious self-deception and placebo-effect-induced “good vibes” have overtaken ways of living which truly bring one into contact with ultimate reality. 

An advertisement for this fad was recently published in The Heights titled, “Witchcraft Is the New Black” wherein they provide what is, in all seriousness, a very useful and insightful definition. Citing a popular “influencer” in the world of contemporary Pagan practices, they write: “a Witch is ‘an embodiment of her truth in all its power.” This definition takes on a new meaning in the light of St. Augustine’s famous remark that, “the Church does not seek out or persecute witches, because their powers do not exist.” Remarkably, this sentiment concerning the “fakeness” of witchcraft is often shared by many of its modern practitioners.

Practices such as “charging crystals” with “good energy” or doing magical incantations every morning in order to “obtain good luck” from unspecified preternatural forces inevitably fall under the category of “prelest” or “spiritual deception.” According to the Catholic mystical tradition, spiritual deception occurs when false impressions of encounters with supernatural forces occur in the intellect or in the feelings of a particular person. Such deception can occur from both preternatural forces (such as the demonic) or from merely psychological occurrences (such as the placebo effect).

This prelest has the effect of leading individuals away from transcendent truth, from true happiness, and from lasting spiritual peace by causing them to mistake lesser things as being (in some way) divine. All people naturally seek out what is true and what is good — what is above us and what we ought to work towards. Prelest makes us believe lies to be truth, egotism to be goodness, what is below us to be what is above us, what we ought to overcome to be what we ought to embrace.

As humans, if we do not ground our desire to seek the supernatural within the strong foundations of unchanging Truth, we will inevitably fall victim to spiritual deception.

Practitioners of contemporary witchcraft have often been deceived into believing that the Catholic Church somehow limits the scope of what they can achieve in the spiritual life—that the natural spiritual inclinations and desires of humanity are somehow stifled by the imposition of the doctrines and dogmas of the Mystical Body of Christ.

This cannot be further from the truth.

The Church provides the souls joined to Her with the fullness of Truth, the excellence of beauty, the peace of union with the Most High God—She connects Her members to the very source of all Good, to the very essence of all Love, to the very foundation of all Being. The practice of witchcraft severs its practitioners from all of this, promising many a young girl that she can become “an embodiment of her truth in all its power.”

To this deception God responds: “and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (Jn. 8:32)

Why would we find our foundation in something as unstable as our own ever-changing subjective opinions about “truth” when we instead have been given the opportunity to become an image of The Truth, in all His Power, His Mercy, His Goodness, His Excellence, and His Humility?

To the open-minded agnostic, to those good-willed people who are spiritual but not religious, to the budding witch and to the religiously affiliated, I would offer practical, simple, and immensely achievable advice to help one experience and enter into that unutterable peace of God.

Firstly, I highly suggest two very short books: Story of a Soul, the wonderful autobiography of St. Thérèse de Lisieux, and the Imitation of Christ by St. Thomas a Kempis. The sincerity, the simplicity, and the grace which are unabating throughout both books evidence a true and sincere spirituality, not weighed down by the burdens of spiritual deception, but elevated, strengthened, and protected by Holy Church in all of Her sublimity. Both of these books are easily available at Boston College’s library, and can also be found for free online, in visual and audio formats, with a single Google search.

Secondly, try committing to a short period of daily prayer. Praying something in the Western Tradition such as Lectio Divina or the Scriptural Rosary, or something in the Eastern Tradition such as the Jesus Prayer or the Prayer of St. Ephrem will bring immense spiritual growth when practised with consistency and with devotion. From such humble beginnings will rise a wellspring of Grace which will irrevocably transform the lives of those who pray in earnest.