Witchcraft (And other ways to tap into your spirit). ImmaniLove

Contributed by: Immani Love She/Her

@ImmaniLove

WITCHCRAFT

(And other ways to tap into your spirit)

October is known as the month of ghosts, ghouls, and anything magical. With the bewitching month upon us, I thought I’d share my witchcraft ancestry with you. My father is an herbalist, he has healed many ailments from COVID to cancer using his herbs and teas. My stepmother is a healer, a therapist, and does Reiki which is a technique that uses a transference of the body’s energy to heal. My roommate is a massage therapist who believes in the power of crystals, manifestation, and healing stones. And I, soak it all up and benefit from every single bit of it. I am an empath, I pull energy and transfer energy at will, I dream my future and sometimes the future of others, and I am extremely intuitive and can basically tell from one touch if someone has good intentions or bad. Basically, I am, by all definitions, a witch, and if you think about it, so are you. But in the words of Glinda from the Wizard of Oz, “Are you a good witch or a bad witch?”

I come from a long line of witches. Herbalists, healers, spiritualists, you name it, if we lived in the days of the witch trials, we all would have perished by being burned at the stake, but contrary to belief, we are all good witches. Now if we talk about religion, my family is Muslim, and therefore by birth, so am I. My mother grew up Catholic but converted when she married my dad then reverted to Christianity when they divorced. Growing up, she always gave my brother and I the opportunity to visit different houses of worship to decide what faith we wanted to be aligned with. We visited a Catholic church, a Masjid, a COGIC church (That one was scary! A woman “caught the spirit” and passed out in front of my seat!), went to a Jehovah’s Witness meeting, and even visited a Jewish temple. All of these houses of worship had one thing in common, they all stemmed from the teachings that our ancestors were forced to adopt. I’d call those, in my opinion, “bad witches.” We were well rounded children and respected all of these faiths but with our freedom of choice, we both opted to be what most are saying they are these days, more “spiritual than religious.” I tend to rely on my dreams and intuition to guide me in life and so far it’s worked as well as any of those other faiths. Believe it or not I even married a witch! She was on the more religious side of witchcraft (but I still considered her a good witch despite the origin of her gifts.) Her family was extremely religious and all of them were very powerful in their faith but she was one of the strongest because she could see spirits and either guide them away or live in peace with them depending on how they impacted her. She, too, could dream futures and was an empath. I think that’s one of the reasons we lasted 15 years together, we complimented each other spiritually. Where most people would have thought she was crazy the first time she said she saw a spirit in our first home together, I asked her, “Where? Are they in need of help?” I never question anyone’s beliefs because honestly, it’s who we were always intended to be. Our ancestors believed in the power of words and herbs. Our farmer predecessors healed ailments with chants and tinctures. Our great, great grandmothers closed

wounds with tree sap and we grew to learn how to heal ourselves through their teachings. It’s refreshing to see as the world around us changes, more or more BiPOC are returning to the ways of our ancestors before religion was forced upon them. We are seeing more holistic and homeopathic means of healing in our communities. We are watching children learn the chants of our ancestors when playing games like hopscotch and double dutch like when we were younger. We are seeing crystal shops thrive as our healing stones are made into fashionable jewelry and herbalists are now the go to resource for our organic, gluten free, keto, paleo, vegetarian, and vegan lifestyles. Meditation, yoga, and reiki are back in style while manifesting your desires and morning affirmations are considered commonplace. We are evolving or should I say revolving to a place where living a healthy life is cool again. It’s hip to be a witch these days. I am a witch, I’m surrounded by an ever-growing coven of crystal toting, tea drinking, manifesting warriors. Believe it or not, if you see yourself in many of these things, you might be a witch too, but my question to you is,

“Are you a good witch or a bad witch?”

Contributed by: Immani Love She/Her

@ImmaniLove