Spotlight on Witchcraft I: Review of The Power of the Witch by Laurie Cabot

In this series I take a look at Wicca or Witchcraft. As always I will start with a book summary/review, after that my future posts in this series will cover my recent experience in Salem for Samhain (pronounced so-wen, seriously exactly like that, so--wen). 



Laurie Cabot is the official witch of Salem, mother of two witches, and author of several books, including The Power of the Witch: The Earth, the Moon, and the Magical Path to Enlightenment, Celebrate the Earth: A Year of Holidays in the Pagan Tradition, and The Witch in Every Woman: Reawakening the Magical Nature of the Feminine to Heal, Protect, Create, and Inspire.


(Her titles are long, but at least she uses the oxford comma). 


First, what contemporary witchcraft isn't. It isn't Satan worship or Satanism (actually Satanism isn't usually Satan worship). Wicca isn't (usually) a group gothic women dancing naked under a full moon. 


They don't have black masses that invert the Catholic mass (that actually is Satanism, though typically these black masses are usually a 'symbolic revolt'). It isn't spinster or jealous women casting evil spells.


What witchcraft is, will be the subject of this post, at least as represented by Laurie Cabot in The Power of the Witch. 

Book Summary:

• Witchcraft or Wicca, is a craft, something that is done, not just something you believe.
• Witches create new rituals based on their principles and beliefs.
• Witchcraft is a science, with methods that are repeatable and consistent.
• Witchcraft includes the use of various objects for magic including, crystals, wands, and herbs.
• Some magic can be done without items, such as psychic diagnosis or finding parking spaces. 

Extended Summary and Analysis:

Practices:

Seriously finding parking spaces seems to be a recurring theme for Cabot. There are four separate stories about using magic to find parking in The Power of the Witch. 


But how does magic work? (Finding parking would be a useful spell for virtually any college student who drives to campus) 

Remember how I told you that magic is scientific? Well the first thing you need to do is get yourself into an alpha brain state, which is characterized by being awake and relaxed. This is "the scientific basis for magic" (pg. 182). 

Comparison of the different types of brain states.  Cabot believes that all magic must be done while in this brain state. So the first advice she gives for anyone practicing magic is to learn how to induce this state in yourself.  Cabot endorses two ways to get yourself into an alpha state. The first, crystal countdown, involves imagining various number and color combinations in the following sequence with your eyes closed: red 7, orange 6, yellow 5, green 4, blue 3, indigo 2, and violet 1. Then count down from 10 to 1 to deepen the alpha state.  Then you say to yourself "I am now in alpha, and everything I do will be accurate and correct, and this is so" (pg. 185).  Once you are experienced with the crystal countdown method, there is a faster way to go into alpha. Since you can't close your eyes while driving around looking for a parking lot, this quicker method is what you would use to find parking.  While in alpha you can perform you magic, including charging items in a magic circle, psychic diagnosis, or creating potions.  Beliefs: Generally witches recognize the Horned God and the Triple Goddess (Maiden, Mother, and Crone) as the main deities.  This is called a duotheistic theological system, because there are two Gods recognized equally.  The Horned God represents the male part of divinity and the Triple Goddess (Maiden, Mother, Crone) the female part. They can be called upon for protection for magic circles.  While Cabot admits that Wiccans can see examples of the relevant archetypes in many traditions, she herself takes the vast majority of her examples and stories from Celtic traditions.  Also, she claims that her style of magic (and presumably most contemporary Wiccans) originated with the ancient Celts. (Though she leaves open the possibility of other styles of magic) Wiccans celebrate holidays based on the Celtic calendar and think of time as a turning of the wheel.  The most recent turn was Samhain (Oct. 31), the Pagan New Year. It is the point in which the veil between the living and the dead is the thinnest, thus it is the best time to communicate with your ancestors.  There are seven other sabbats: Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh (or Lammas), and Mabon. All are characterized by a changing of nature. Morality: The principle: An (if) it harm none, do what ye will. Is the key moral code of most Wiccans. This means that curses are usually forbidden and that any magic you do must be given thought as to not harm.  For instance, if you have someone that is somehow making your life miserable there are magical solutions. However, you must be careful. According to Cabot all spells should end with some version of 'that is correct and for the good of all,' (page 217).  Analysis: It was Gerald B. Gardner who "...claimed to have discovered a coven in England that had followed the Old Ways rather continuously..." (pg. 81).  Thus, witchcraft is at least partially a reconstruction. It was not the English coven who revived these (literally) pagan practices, but someone who was taught by them. Given that Wicca is a reconstruction and given that the description of witches in Medieval Europe is vastly different than the self-description of contemporary witches, her usual identification with them is questionable.  I am only aware of her addressing this topic once and it is embedded in commentary about the Salem Witch Trials. She says whether they were witches or not, we should adopt them as such because they died for our freedom (pgs. 78-79).   She is not quite as careful to make this distinction in other places however. Consider this passage: During the Burning Times 80 percent of the millions of people who were executed for practicing Witchcraft were women. Even today most practitioners of the Craft are women... (pg. 15). Nothing in this passage disavows the connection between those executed as witches during the Burning Times and contemporary witches. The comparison even seems to be encouraged. This missing link in the historical connection does not mean that contemporary Witchcraft is somehow inferior or inauthentic. It's just that I personally question whether or not it is as thoroughly connected to the past as they would sometimes like to claim.  Bottom Line: I sincerely believe that for the individuals who practice Wicca that these people are being authentic. That is they are 'true believers' or perhaps more accurately 'true practitioners' (in the sense that they believe that the magic they practice has true effects in the world).  And their beliefs and practices are not completely divorced from history, but rather that the links are thinner than in some other religions.  However, many religions often overemphasize their continuity with the past. For instance, Christianity in America used to be primarily Calvinist and the majority believed in predestination; now that is no longer the case. Yet no politician talking about America's Christian past will stress these theological differences. In short religious authenticity is not derived solely from history, but rather in the seriousness in which people practice their religion.  My next post will feature a description and commentary on a Samhain Sabbat in Salem, Mass.