Pagans and Witches are not normal. We are normal insofar as we occur naturally; that’s one definition of “normal”. Another definition of “normal” is, according to Mirriam-Webster, “conforming to a type, standard, or regular pattern : characterized by that which is considered usual, typical, or routine”.
As Pagans and Witches, we do not conform; we are not standard or typical. We are strangers in a strange land, and living a magickal life of Paganism and Witchcraft is hard.
Stranger in a strange land
We live in a white, male-dominated, Christian-dominated society, and I tick a lot of “Other” categories. I’m a woman, a refugee and an immigrant, a person of colour, a feminist, a Pagan and a Witch. If you’re reading this, you probably tick a lot of “Other” categories too. We navigate the overculture, but we do not fit in. Sometimes, we visibly do not fit in.
Our values may not align with the dominant culture either. We may have radically different beliefs about the nature of deity, the value of the material world, the soul and afterlife, and the role of men and women. We may be pacifists, concerned with human rights, women’s rights, LGBTIQA+ rights, disability rights, animal rights, the environment and sustainability. We may have different ideas about what kind of government, economic system, and health care we would like to have. These values set us apart and make us weird, crazy, and dangerous.
Normal people
If Christians appear to take a more casual approach to their religion, it’s because they’re blending into the society that they designed for themselves. Christianity is imprinted onto U.S. law and is in the foundations of Australian law, and it is embedded in our culture. Christians live Christianity every day, whether they go to church, read the Bible at home, pray privately, or do nothing more than vote Republican, eat at Chick-fil-A, and shop at Walmart and Hobby Lobby. Those dollars contribute to the maintenance of the status quo.
It’s not so different in Australia, where the government has delegated the provision of the majority of its welfare services to Christian faith-based organisations. The Australian government funds private schools at five times the rate of public schools. Our Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, is a Pentecostal Christian. At a Christian conference last year, he said he was called upon to do God’s work as PM and described the misuse of social media as the work of “the evil one”.
Christian churches are abundant, and they operate schools, community organisations, charities, hospitals and aged care facilities, retail giants and thrift stores, and they shape government and policy every day. I reflected on this over Cuban café con leche and a hot cross bun on Good Friday when everything in this secular country was closed for the public holiday.
Living a life of Paganism and Witchcraft is hard
So, yes, Pagans and other members of religious minorities might stand out. In this white-supremacist, Christian-dominated patriarchy, a Sikh man might be identified by his turban, a married Jewish woman by her tichel, an iyawo by their white clothing and brightly-coloured necklaces, a Pagan by her magical name, style, tattoos, or jewellery. And unlike many Christians, we are not laypeople; we are the authorities of our unique forms of spirituality. We build altars and shrines to honour our ancestors, craft special magickal tools, design theatrical rituals that engage our senses, journey to other worlds in trance, and communicate directly with our gods and spirits.
We have to work harder for what the religious majority takes for granted, and living a Pagan life is hard. For some Pagans, it means being rejected by their families and ostracised by their communities. It can be isolating, and it can even be dangerous. Even under the best circumstances, we will still wish for things we don’t all have, such as close, like-minded friends, a coven, a community, a festival, a good teacher or mentor, priestess services, a fabulous occult shop in the neighbourhood, a temple.
We are strangers living in a strange land. We’re not normal. Witches, in particular, have very often lived at the fringes of society throughout history. Given the alternative, would you rather be anywhere else?
