GREEN WITCH

This was a personal request. This article is dedicated to Jessie Allen.

The Green Witch follows a mostly all-natural path. They are typically a solitary witch and practice a more closely followed path like Wicca. Im not saying they are Wiccan but very closely related and can be easily confused as Wiccan. They prefer to use items from nature and the universe for their spellcasting and rites. The Green Witch does workings involved with healings. They make spell potions, drinks, and creams. I have heard some people pick and kind of joke around at green witches. They call them tree huggers because they also lead a more health-conscious lifestyle, and they do things that help keep mother earth healthy and clean the best they can. They do not usually send out a hex or curse. They work more with love, light, and happiness even if someone wrongs them. This is based on personal interactions of my own on a green witch in the past.

They are naturalists, herbalists, and healers. A green witch embraces the power and energies of nature. They draw energy from the Earth and the Universe. They rely on natural objects, such as stones, gems, and crystals, to communicate with the land they live off of. Green witches use plants, flowers, oils, and herbs for healing. They also call on nature for guidance. They respect every living being regardless of size, nature, or human.

Others define the green witch as one who works with the elements, the land, spirits, and things considered green. The green witch harnesses the energy of the natural sources and moon cycles when practicing witchcraft. They create a bond or a close connection with all plants, trees, wildlife, and pets, as well as with the earth itself. Herbal magick is a primary tool for green witches, but even the most eclectic witch sometimes enjoys working with green herbal rights.

Becoming a green witch is not right for everyone. It is important to know more about what it means to be a green witch, and where it stems from, and being Pagan/neo-pagan and Wiccan, in general from ancient Paganism and ancestors to the “new age” green witches. It was a very slow change of practices and traditions throughout many centuries.

Green witches are peaceful, nature-based, and spiritual. They are more commonly Wiccan, the fastest-growing belief in the world. There are up to approximately eight hundred thousand Wiccans throughout the world. Although Wicca is probably the most well-known major “religion,” Not all Pagans, neo-Pagans, or Wiccans are green witches, and Not all green witches are Wiccan. Although there is a green Wiccan group, most green Pagans are eclectic solitary witches who do not identify with Wicca or a coven. They usually keep to themselves. You have your green witches in every path; just most green witches are more commonly associated or identify as a Wiccan.

A Wiccan saying is “harm none, do what ye will.” It means witches should never knowingly cause anyone, including themselves, any harm; instead, it is emotional, physical, psychic, and spiritual. Also, several pagans and Wiccan paths believe “what goes around, comes around.” It means any good or harm that a witch puts into the universe will come back to them somehow. It may not be immediately or even six months from that time. In the same aspect, they firmly believe at some point in time; the universe will send back to the witch any spells they did.

Many of you do not know me, but those who do know I am not Wiccan or pagan. I am solitary and use all my tools, not only herbs; I give equal exchange in return to the universe and do not believe in the three-fold law. I see myself as a “Witch.” No specific title was put to me. I use many natural items, such as herbs, but I am not a green witch. Some spells I do use poisonous items such as brown recluse spiders. I do all sorts of workings, from healing, hexing, cursing, etc. I mostly fall under a grey witch. I added this little bit about myself just for all to see that there are more ways of believing than just the threefold. Like me, some give equal exchange as payment which prevents a spell working from returning. It is paying forth your dues to the spirits, gods, and the universe.

In the next few paragraphs of the article, I will be talking a little about the history of the green witch. There is not an enormous amount of history because the practices were not tracked very much due to the persecution of witches in the past. With this being said, many documents were burned to keep them from being found and anyone from having proof of which people were witches. Convictions, hangings in Salem, and those set on fire and burned at stake in Europe is an excellent reason to keep yourself and your practices quiet. Unless you can trust who you tell, sometimes silence is golden.

In the history of the ancient witch, our ancestors, one of the things they would do when out and about was to pass an acorn to each other. It was to give protection and good luck to each other, but more so to see if someone they did not know was a witch or not. If they were a witch, they would say something along the lines of “thank you” or “bless you.” Some would even hand off the one they were carrying around to the witch that just handed them an acorn. If any of these things happened, they were able to know each other. If you gave an acorn to someone that was not a witch, they would usually ask what it is for or why you gave it to them.

As a witch myself, I believe in deities, goddesses, gods, universal spirits, ghosts, family ancestor spirits, the spirit of animals, and the name of the universe’s spirit, which is called Awen. It also depends on the individual witch and their own experiences. Some green witches believe in the goddess and god as the divine. Some believe that the universe itself is divinity and the universe manifests their rights’ working energies. Many witches call upon the earth’s nature spirits when performing their rights, especially faeries and ghosts. Faeries because they are listed up there with the gods. They are just one step below the gods and goddesses and are to be respected. A witch should never show any weakness when around faery. When you have a fae come to live with you, never say please or sorry to them. They see this as a sign of weakness and will run amuck on you. As well, some witches have relationships with a familiar, typically a pet dog or cat, whose magickal energies complement and intensify the witch’s working rights.