Willingly Condemned: When There is Only One Answer

Now that you have found yourself upon your path; obviously a spiritual one, likely within the realm of Contemporary Paganism, any more than that I dare not guess. How we got here, where ever here may be, is usually a known, but why did you come; now that is a question. The inward path of the Witch is not an easy one. It takes work. There will be hardship, boredom, stagnation, pain, and challenges to what was thought to be true. Why then? Why walk the path?

Perhaps it was community and the seeking of fellowship that brought thee in these ways. I must point out the folly of the reasoning if this is the sole and only reason. There exist communities of folk around pretty much any activity, belief, practice, or hobby that can be brought to mind. Spend just a few minutes browsing google and quickly it can be seen just how diverse of communities that exist in the wide span of all of out there. Let’s not miss the mark though, community is and can be great. I know and am proud to know many in my community. Here in this path we converge and even travel together for a bit, but in the end the journey in mine. So why then take that next step upon the inward road?

It could be that the reason is of a more esoteric nature whereby some condition is sought to be overcome. The world’s major religions each has at its core some condition of which needs, according to their rhetoric, to be alleviated, obliterated, overcome, transcended, or in some other manner rectified; whether it is suffering, sin, ignorance, separation of self… etc.

Witchcraft is a nature religion and our theology is not contrary to the essence of being as is apparently the norm for many revealed religions. There is no condition to surmount because there is nothing inherently wrong. Nature is as it is and so are we. One informs the other. Yes, there is severity in life, but looking at the nature of existence one can see that it is a quintessential aspect of the very fabric of the All. However, in all fairness, perhaps the struggle of one’s own life leads them to seek to overcome something. Why then play here? There are entire spiritual traditions where the alleviation of a particular condition is the entire focus. The answer lay in the why. Different religious goals construct different pathways to reaching those goals.

Sometimes it is particular Gods and Goddesses that call their kin to the expedition of the heart. The call could have been ignored. Why then answer? Devotional work is the work of a relationship, and as the freedom of our being dictates, it could be just as easily cast aside. How many do you know that have chosen to focus their life in the realm of the mundane? So then why?

I could ask a hundred times over—Why? Why? Why? Why? But…

I can’t answer that question for you, but I can tell you what I have found. Sure I am free, and at any point I could decide not to walk the Witching Path, but in all honesty, I don’t think I could. I have caught a whiff of the essence of truth and I am like an addict seeking the next fix. The ambrosia of the Gods once tasted will never leave the lips. As one of my teachers is fond of saying, “To do this work, you must either be crazy or have no choice.” I think that perhaps I am in both categories. On the one hand, I am condemned to a path of seeking the inward truth, and on the other hand, I am crazy because I do so willingly and knowing.

Boidh se!

-Spanish Moss

"Lost in a thicket bare-footed upon a thorned path."