The I & the Me

stained glass window. As you look around, you see countless other magickal-looking items. An antique straw witch’s broom sits in the corner. Crystals seem to have been set out purposefully on the windowsill to bathe in the sunbeams. A gilded mirror with inky black glass hangs on one wall, and an old steamer trunk sits in another corner. Its rusty hinges make it difficult to open, but you persist. Inside the trunk, you find a letter addressed to you sitting atop the other contents.

You open the trunk to find a dusty old book. Resting the book on your lap, you flip through its discolored pages until one page in particular catches your eye. It talks about the magick carpet, how to consecrate it, and how to use it once it’s prepared. You realize that the dusty old book in your lap must be your aunt’s Book of Shadows. You notice a carpet rolled up behind the attic door, and your heart beats a little faster. Do you dare believe that this rug might be the one talked about in the book? If you were to climb on it, where would it take you?

Is it just me, or do all witches dream about things like this?

A generous aunt who leaves you the family house filled with magickal items, a room that was once considered off-limits being opened to you, and ancestral secrets revealed from a rusty old trunk in a dusty old attic—it all feels like the beginning of an Alice Hoffman novel. Doesn’t it?

Witches, like magpies, just seem to cobble together the most interesting elements of life, surrounding themselves with magick. However, this talent for acquisition is not just good for decorating romantic Victorian homes. The witch’s ability to hunt and peck through other metaphysical systems for the shiny bits of universal occult truth within those systems is unparalleled. Throughout history, witches have borrowed from other sources.

The fact is that witches have had little choice in the matter. Thanks to the Dark Ages in Europe and the brutality of the Christian Church in attempting to eradicate its rivals, witches have had to imitate the inquisitive magpie and persevere through the process of reconstructing tattered magickal and spiritual practices. Though many