Your Power is NOT a Gift

Why are we so scared to admit that to be a witch is to have power?

So, I'm about to confess something deeply embarrassing. When I need something completely banal and easy to digest, I will watch one of the Hallmark "Good Witch" movies. There are so many. My gods it's strange how successful that franchise has been. Every damn one of these movies is treacly and predictable and so wholesome it hurts. I watch them because they do not challenge me in any way, and when you are tired and your brain is fried, that's exactly what you need. (Don't judge me. I am certain you have some viewing habits that are vaguely embarrassing too, and until you have the courage to admit them publicly, you can lay off of mine)

There is only one thing I have ever heard in one of these movies that has been memorable. In the very first movie, Cassie Nightingale tells the police chief's daughter that her witchcraft is "not a power, it's a gift." The suggestion being that therefore she doesn't use it for selfish things, only to bring love and light to other people.

Now, on the whole I loves me some Cassie Nightingale. But I really, really take issue with that.

Make no mistake, the Craft IS power. It is NOT a gift. A gift implies that some get that power, and some don't, and that it is doled out by some external source. Power, OTOH, by it's nature, is affirmatively grasped by the one who wishes to hold it. If someone has to give it to you for you to have it, it's not real power. One of the very first things I tell new students of the Craft is that it is available for anyone who wants it. You do not need anyone's permission to be a witch. And if you decide you are a witch, no one can tell you you aren't if a witch is what you are determined to be.

It's true that certain aspects of the Craft will be wielded more easily by some witches than others. Some witches are natural mediums, who see spirits and citizens of the otherworlds with ease. Other witches are banging spellcasters, who can raise and direct energy with palpable force and precision. Other witches are skilled at prophecy and divination and visions, and can throw runes and tell you exactly what's going to happen next. Some of that skill is hard won with research and study and practice. And some of that skill is raw ability. Most people have a natural affinity for some aspect of the Craft, and will excel in that discipline more quickly than they will in others.

But do not confuse being "gifted" as having received a gift. No one works for a gift. The whole point of a gift is it is not earned. Anyone with a lot of hard work can become reasonably good at basketball. But if you are someone like Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant, you have combined that hard work with a preternatural affinity for the game itself that makes you legendary. But Michael or Kobe would never have become an NBA all star if they had  never picked up a basketball, never trained with good coaches, and never spent days, nights and weekends shooting free throws. No one goes from couch potato to All Star Pro without a lot of hard work, hustle and drive. It is the same with the Craft. Different people will be able to wield differing amounts of power based on a combination of earned knowledge and practice and unearned talent. The fact that you may be "gifted" in a certain type of Craft does not mean your Craft was handed to you. You still had to seize it like everyone else. The Craft is power, NOT a gift.

Why do I feel that is so important for me to say, and say it often?

Because there are some who would love to see the Craft be treated as a quaint oddity, a thing that is bestowed randomly on people, like having a peculiar type of birthmark. And if you have been given it as a gift, it may be yours, but you are always in some way beholden to whomever you perceive as having given it to you. It is not something you have earned, and so while you might use it, as one uses any kind of gift, you don't really think of it as something that is fully and 100 percent yours. You always have in the back of your mind that this thing is actually of unearned origin. It would not exist but for someone else's generosity.

And that's what I take issue with. Power, if it is authentically power, is never given to anyone. Power is always something that its wielder takes up and takes on. If you have real power, it is because you have assumed its mantle and made it yours. The Craft is power that is available to anyone who wants it and has the stomach to take it up. That's why so often you see people reach for magic when they feel they have nothing left to lose and nowhere else to go. We have the audacity to seize upon the forces that shape the universe and use it to bend the course of events in accord with our will. And for people who have been socialized to believe that they are naturally powerless, and worse yet, should consider the wielding of power to make one arrogant or evil, this kind of attitude seems wrong, even anti-social.

Our society likes to punish people who claim power if those people are ones whom society has deemed “less than.” It’s why in nearly any story where a woman has the temerity to not accept her role as wife and mother, helpmeet to a man, she may enjoy some early success and feeling of freedom, but the author will inevitably feel the need to visit on her some tragedy — illness, death, impoverishment. Ophelia. Madame Bovary. Countess Olenska. Ana Karenina.

Either that or the “strong willed” woman will ultimately be tamed into a domestic state, which she will accede is her “real” happiness. Louisa May Alcott famously was forced by her publisher to change the outcome for the character of Jo March in "Little Women" because her publisher claimed the book would never sell if the independent minded Jo did not eventually marry. See also, e.g. every Jane Austen novel ever. Also Shakespeare.

Ophelia’s watery end is not unusual for women who have the audacity to not be ruled by a man. Photo by Dalton Smith on Unsplash

And lest you think that we’ve moved too far from this reality, take note of the new film adaptation of the runaway hit novel “The Idea of You” starring Anne Hathaway, which just started streaming in May. In the novel, Solene Marchand is a wealthy and VERY successful gallery owner who is asserting herself after escaping the stifling confines of wifedom and motherhood. She is unapologetic and aggressive.

In the movie version, director Michael Showalter purposefully altered Solene to make her more “appealing” to the audience. She is now exiting a soul-killing relationship and feeling very fragile for it.  Her gallery is a tiny hole in the wall with emerging artists whose price points are low enough that her young, hot pop star boyfriend can easily purchase an entire show without even bothering to check the price tag or consult an accountant. She is made to feel bashful when younger women who are with other band members throw her some pretty basic shade for being so much older than her man.

In BOTH the novel and the movie, Solene ultimately dumps her glamorous young paramour so that she can be a better mother to her daughter, which she sees as her most important obligation in her life. While the movie hints at the return of the young man years later (when her daughter is likely to be grown), the message is clear — audiences can only like Solene if she is limited in her agency. She certainly can’t be perceived as being as socially powerful as her lover, and above all, she must be willing to sacrifice her own happiness for her child.

Our culture does not like it when women have power. Witches in the western world have always existed at the margins of society because they represent power that is not sanctioned by traditional authorities. And it's why so often, authorities who are looking for scapegoats to blame for the ills of society attack people (and particularly women) as being witches. The power of the witch is not beholden to any authority but their own.

When people lean into the idea of their Craft being a “gift” it makes that Craft beholden to others. It asks you to think of yourself as not being in charge of your own path. Now you must use your “gift” only for the benefit of others, not for yourself. Exercises of Craft that might work harm, even in a protective way, are considered evil and wrong. One’s “gift” should not be used that way. It puts a vague notion of “the public good” in charge of deciding how and when using your Craft is acceptable. It encourages you to think of your Craft in a way that is limiting and lacking in ambition. And that’s bullshit.

Your Craft is your power to do with what you will. And yes, that includes doing things that are solely for your own benefit, like a money spell. It includes hexing someone who is threatening you. And like all real power, you have to own what you do with it, and are expected to take on the consequences of your actions. Power gives you agency. It also confers responsibility. It’s not a free pass to do whatever you feel like without fear of what comes next. But even in that circumstance, you decide whether you are willing to accept the consequences of your actions.

And while you may use your power however you like — for good or for ill — the things that can be accomplished when one uses their power to uplift those around them, to build instead of destroy, to work for others and with others instead of assert domination over them, those things are magnificent. Power does not have to be about domination. In fact, when power is used collaboratively and expansively, that’s when the best stuff happens for everyone.

You are free to do whatever you like — so long as you are willing to pay the price for it. You worked for your Craft. You do not need to apologize for having it, and you are not beholden to anyone for its use. It is not a gift that you need to reciprocate or be in a state of indebtedness for. You are not limited to only use it in one way or for one type of outcome or for one group’s benefit. Your Craft is power and the only limitations are the laws of the Universe and your own ambition and imagination. The Universe will hold you responsible for how you use the power at your disposal. And if you dare to use it expansively, collaboratively, in ways that empower everyone, the Universe will throw open the gates and bring the most amazing things to pass. In the end it’s your choice. You have the power and in the end, you are responsible for what you do with it.

Blessed be, witches.