If we are ill, we do need to see a medical practitioner. We may go to our family doctor or walk into a clinic. We allow them to examine us, and then we decide whether to take their advice or not. We may decide to get another opinion or seek an alternative method of healing. Healthy people have access to a great deal of knowledge as to what we should eat, how we should exercise, and how we should take care of ourselves. Do we always heed this advice? No, but we do have access to it. It is our responsibility to get smart about our own bodies.
In the past, it was the responsibility of the individual to contribute to the tribe. Planting a field, tending a herd, tanning a skin, and blacksmithing were all sought-after skills. Today we depend on the grocery store, the clothing store, or the local hardware store. But we have to use our skills to make the money in order to get the things we need. So we need education to get a job! Our public education system offers a wide variety of disciplines where we can find our niche and build a life’s work that fulfills us. Teachers are the mentors who give us the opportunities for learning. We can see that these professions have taken over much of the teaching duties of the Wise Woman/Cunning Man, just as the modern medical profession has taken on the tasks of healing. The skills of the Wise Woman and Cunning Man are still being practiced today as a necessity in the larger societies of the modern world.
We can all recognize the advantage of having this type of knowledge available to us, but we also know, through experience, that even the most learned professional may lack common sense or “street smarts.” These skills are just as valid for survival today as they were in ancient times. The professionals who are out of touch with their clients or co-workers may be technically proficient yet dismally inept at recognizing the human nature of those around them. They may forget, or never been made aware of, the fact that human nature is definitely part of the environment.
A witch may be a doctor, a lawyer, or an educator. We use our skills within our profession, but we also carry with us the added awareness of our environment to enhance these skills. We must carry on the tradition of the Wise Woman and Cunning Man by using the knowledge necessary and available to us and incorporating the ancient ways by weaving the Craft of the Wise into our everyday lives.
A witch may be a cashier at the market, a volunteer fire person, a police officer, or a dog walker—it doesn’t matter how one makes a living. What does matter is how we reclaim the sense of the Wise Woman or Cunning Man by being aware of our environment. Developing our “street smarts” is an age-old way of surviving well.
Seeking, giving, and heeding advice is a personal choice. It includes being responsible for your own thoughts, words, and deeds. Reclaiming the responsibility of the Wise Woman and Cunning Man is something many people overlook in their search for the magic that comes with the position. Reclaiming the Craft of the Wise also means being trustworthy and able to trust those from whom you seek advice. The best teachers are those we can look up to. Our role models today are those who live by example and show us the ways of survival regardless of current difficulties.
We don’t have to reach back in history trying to re-create an environment that is no longer valid in today’s society. We don’t need a man to tell us where to hunt or a woman to show us how to fashion clothes from skins. What we need to do is reclaim the essence of the Wise Woman and the Cunning Man. We need to emulate their nature as they struggled, experimented, and found ways to help their tribe survive. We need to recognize that the Wise Woman and Cunning Man are alive and well in today’s society. They are still our best role models as the survivors of whatever environmental conflicts are tossed in our path. What they know is simply that our environment includes human nature with all its foibles. We can reclaim that knowledge and act accordingly. We are not separate from our environment, but vital participants in its development.
Paniteowl, simply known as Owl to many in the Pagan Community, has been a familiar face at festivals and gatherings. Over the past two decades she has been a popular presenter, giving workshops and organizing events throughout the East Coast and Canada. Her articles and poetry have been featured in many periodicals and on Internet sites. She and her husband have a 56-acre woodlot in the mountains of northeast Pennsylvania, where they have hosted annual gatherings for Pagans twice a year for the past 15 years. Owl also moderates a number of Internet groups, focusing on the Solitary practitioners, as well as Wicca Covened, and Non-Wicca practitioners who want to keep in touch with the wider Pagan community.
Illustrator: Tim Foley
Hibernation:
Embracing Winter
Susan Pesznecker
What does winter make you think of? Playing in the snow? Fires in the fireplace? Pots of tea and cozy afternoons spent reading? Working on magickal projects? For some, the winter months are filled with homey, comforting images, and we look forward to pulling on wool sweaters and making up the beds in flannel sheets. But others regard winter with deep foreboding. For victims of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), the dark days of winter may trigger depression, sleeplessness, and a loss of energy. The incidence of SAD is on the rise. Although the disorder is typically thought to be related to a reduction in sunlight during the winter months, many now believe that it could also be deeply connected to a human
