The Idea That Witches Have Any kind of "Inherent Duty” Is Laughable At Best - And Completely Dishonest At Worst

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the so-called “Duties of a Witch” that people like to tout on about ... And I think I’ve come to the conclusion that frankly? Asserting that a Witch has any specific duty at all (outside of any duties explicitly dictated by a tradition, which are exclusive only to members within those traditions which dictate them and no other practitioner)? Is ultimately a behavior that amounts to nothing more than essentially blowing smoke up our own asses for the sake of eeking out some sense of self-important egotism, or moral or other sense of self-superiority.

In the modern era, we staunchly assert (to the point of sounding like broken and skipping records) that, at its core and most basic definition, “Witchcraft is a secular practice”. One which is supposed to be, in theory, completely unbeholden to any specific religious, ethical, moral, or other ideology. And this is supposed to be specifically because it is found so broadly across so many cultures, religions, ideals, etc, that it cannot be defined by any singular definition ... And yet in the next breath, or with the next yanking of our western political rug, we turn around and act like it is somehow beholden to a particular political ideology or set of morals and ethics.

But that doesn't make any sense. It's hypocrisy and double-speech or double-action; a double standard; you actively cannot hold both as being true at once.

It’s really ironic, too, that every time this record starts up? Those supposed "duties of a Witch" that get touted always very conveniently align with whatever modern, predominantly American based, set of Left Wing / Progressive / Liberal politics and ethics is currently en vogue this decade. Almost as if people are confusing their personal ethical and moral alignments for group ones, and are attempting to enforce them collectively.

Another bit of irony is that our favorite line, whenever we seem to do this, is nearly always that “witches were always outcasts”. Ergo, the logic goes we must therefore help the outcasts in our own modern society, and take care of other outcasts ... But yet that is also a lie; what we unceremoniously lump together and call “Witchcraft” today, after the events of the 20th and 21st century revival, is much different than historical witchcraft (and far more sanitized). But more importantly: Modern witchcraft covers a broad range of traditions that our Ancestors have traditionally, and often very staunchly, distinguished between. And just as they distinguished between the types, they distinguished between the practitioners of the types.

This is integral to remember, because some of those practitioners were actually held in high esteem among their communities; what people mistake for “Witches” thanks to the modern revival were correctly, historically, people such as the Cunningfolk, Pellars, and similar practitioners- not actual “Witches”. And we have plenty of historical evidence to show that they were rarely actually any kind of “outcasts” to their communities. Instead, they were valued members of them.

The true Witches of history were those who utilized Malefica to hurt their communities, rather than utilizing God and Magic, herbs, and other practices to heal them like Cunningfolk and similar practitioners. And they were derided and eradicated specifically because they intentionally harmed people within their communities.

Although it’s undeniable that some of the things we battle for in the modern age were certainly participated in and carried out by this mythical conglomerate of so-called “Witches of the past”? These things weren’t often politically aligned like they are today; there is no true evidence to support these ideas ... It’s just another ridiculous remnant of pseudohistory like the Witch Cult Hypothesis and Second Wave Feminist nonsense that still tries to scream that “all Witches killed during ye olde Burning Tymes were really poor disenfranchised healer women”- a myth that continues erasing the horrific persecution of the Jewish and Rromani who made up the bulk of non-Christian ‘heretic’ victims of the Reformation, or the displaced Catholic Nuns who made up the bulk of the Christian ones.

Quite ironically, again, too? The people who make this claim about “the duties of a witch” and talk about how “witches were outcasts” most often are the ones who often have the academic knowledge to actually know these things. And ironically they even do talk about this fact in other contexts ... They just conveniently ignore it for this particular narrative here.

Further, "Witchcraft" has existed in a variety of forms practiced by nearly every culture and strata of people across the centuries. And whether we like it or not, or want to bury our heads in the sand and pretend otherwise? This also absolutely includes (and has always included) those of the oppressing classes and people whose ideologies we fundamentally disagree with or are staunchly opposed to. Especially those whose very beliefs and actions go against what we now very erroneously call "our duties" as practitioners.

Absolutely no amount of "No Nazis in Valhalla" and "No Frith with Fascists" will ever change or erase this fact that Julius Evola was still a self-professed "Super-Fascist" who practiced magic. And the only way to legitimately fix the problems which stem from the fact that these people actively walk among us, and their materials are in active circulation and use, etc? Is to actually wake up and be honest about it- and then buck the fuck up and do something about it if you legitimately don't want it in our community, rather than just spewing empty words or running about playing "No True Scotsman".

But the narrative itself that we somehow “have an inherent duty” as Witches- especially as Queer, Disabled, and Neurodivergent ones- is just so easy to lean into ... And ... Well ... If those “duties” align with modern Liberal politics, or the moral systems of whatever religion we may follow on the wayside (or which our craft may intertwine with)? Then all the more convenient, I guess, right?