People think of me as a tarot reader first and a witch second, it pisses me off, but also? I’m the reason for it.
My reasoning to play up my tarot reading and downplay my religion (Wicca) was professional at first: I serve people of all faiths with my tarot readings, and I didn’t want people to think that I didn’t if I was all prominently witched out.
Now I see these amazing articles with my contemporaries being interviewed about witchcraft and magick, and I get mad. Why not me? My inner voice quietly mocks, “Because you faced forward with tarot reading, you dolt, that’s why.” Don’t take personal what you wanted in the first place!
My magick is more subtle than that. I’m not being interviewed about magick, or spells, or candles, or honey jars on the Hoodwitch or the Numinous because I guess I’m just not that flash about my magick. There is a phrase in Wicca: To know, to dare, to will, to be silent. To keep silent has always been a tenant that I’ve taken very seriously. It’s one I take seriously in tarot, too… because the information ain’t for me, it’s for you (the client). In spell-work, it’s a matter of energy, of “too many cooks in the kitchen spoiling the broth.” Okay, energetic broth. The quickest way to water down your magick is to tell someone about it. Keep it private, keep it potent, keep it safe. A good general rule I follow is sharing a spell when it’s not manifest yet is to invite doubt into the process… and doubt? It’s a magick killer.
The more I know about magick, the simpler and more practical my spell-casting gets. Fancy may be fun and look pretty, but my core question is this: does it work? Is it serving my intention? To me, intention is everything. When my intention is muddled or bogged down with 50 different things, the Universe doesn’t know what to do with that. Often, I will get a response or sign from the Universe that boils down to “What do you WANT, woman?” The intention has to be clear, and so does the channel. Which means in order for me to get what I want, I have to get clear myself… which means getting out of my OWN WAY.
What do I mean by getting out of my own way? I mean that I have to tell my ego to take a backseat, or take a hike altogether.
Stripping down my magick has made it cleaner, stronger, less ego-driven. As a result, my magick has become that much more powerful for it. I don’t need to be “out there”, unusual, or brazen about my magick or my spell-work. My spells are special secrets that are more potent for their secretiveness.
And for that, I proudly say that I am The Quiet Witch… and that doesn’t make me any less of a witch.
About the Author: Hilary Parry Haggerty
HILARY PARRY HAGGERTY is a tarot reader, witch, mentor, writer, editor, and teacher. She has been reading tarot for over 18 years (11 years professionally). She was the winner of Theresa Reed’s (The Tarot Lady) Tarot Apprentice contest in 2011, and has taught classes on tarot and spell-work at Readers Studio and Brid’s Closet Beltane Festival. She writes a weekly blog at her website www.tarotbyhilary.com and contributes a monthly tarot blog “Through a Tarot Lens” to www.witchesandpagans.com.