"The Art of Witch" by Fiona Horne

As my journey to discovering and connecting with witchcraft begins, the number one piece of advice that I have received is to read EVERYTHING. So I visited my local crystal shop and picked up a few books that looked and seemed interesting. The first one I chose to read was a beautiful black velvet book with gold lettering titled "The Art of Witch" by Fiona Horne. It is a memoir written about how she suggests for one to roll and grow with the ever changing practicing of witchcraft.

I have been reading and annotating vigorously and so far have made it about half way through the book. As a whole I find the book informative but also one sided and obviously opinionated as the author speaks from experience rather than puling information from a collective group. I wanted to write this blog about it because the last chapter I read sparked a large level of negative emotions and disagreement within me. But I will get to that in a bit. I first want to summarize some of the reading while adding some of my own commentary.

The first thing I have in my notes is the fact that the origin of witches are as healers. Horne writes of how the wisdom and power within witchcraft exists within how we come to live our art in time. The true wisdom and power is achieved when you can be and live with yourself unconditionally. When you are all you need and you are comfortable being alone. Horne emphasizes the importance of spiritual sacrifice in which you hand over your binding idea of power to "something bigger". In this case she is referencing giving up something that is not a necessity for life, yet is something you depend on. Something you are addicted to that makes you less useful and less than the best version of yourself (such as alcohol, drugs, junk food, tobacco, etc). That is the greatest and most powerful sacrifice that you can make. To me this makes a decent amount of sense, seeing as it would be most difficult for someone to give up something that they depend upon so heavily, yet all in all it would be a beneficial sacrifice by allowing for one to be the best version of themself. In the mindset of a nonbeliever, however, it might be argued that all the benefits that come from that sacrifice aren't due to any kind of magic or spirituality, but rather from the fact that you eliminated a harmful component from your life. Nevertheless, the gesture is overall constructive.

"Know your own power of transformation and you know you can do anything!" (Horne 10)

One of the main goals of this spirituality is to interact with nature and the environment on a transformative level. EVERYTHING in the natural world possesses energy and potential. These energies can be woven together in order to create and harness magick.

(Side note. Magick and magic are different.

This article does a good job explaining the difference, but basically magic is more about what magicians do in order to entertain and amuse other people. Magick is more connected to spirituality and focus on energies as opposed to illusions.)

Anyone can be a witch if they want to.

That is something that I believe. It is thought that witches have to be some crazy unusual beings with fire shooting from their hands chanting latin and flying on a broomstick. But it's more of a practicing spirituality and connection with nature and the natural world. Witchcraft is both a science and an art with varying forms of practice. A few of these forms are tarot and scrying, astrology, herbalism, natural medicine, and body work. As long as you lead with a spiritual heart you can be a witch. You need to be a creator of your own life and not a follower of anyone else's.

"Suspend disbelief, cynicism and fear; be open to considering the world a magickal place and indeed it will be" (Horne)

Nothing is ever created or destroyed. Fiona Horne states this in her own way, stating that "For everything that is ending in the cycles of life... something else is always being born." Therefore the presence of energy continues to exist as living vessels die. Honestly this reasoning makes the paranormal seem obvious. Whether or not you believe in any of this, I find it nieve to believe that there are not creatures out there that we do not know about. That life only exists in this realm of existence. The world is made up of energy and it seems logical that life forms might attach to the energy in which it is surrounded. But I'm getting off topic.

"A Witch's most magickal moment is always experienced alone out of time and space" (Horne)

Horne claims to have knowledge on how to make spells work 100% of the time: you must make the spell and intention useful to the world, be truly selfless in your intention, ask nothing for yourself, and be of use to the betterment of others in your spells. She actually suggests not to do spells at all, but rather rituals of gratitude. As a baby witch I'm still rather skeptical on whether or not spellwork is effective. I fully believe in the manipulations of energies but would need more experience with spells to speak to their legitimacy.

In the memoir, Horne speaks to the importance of solitude and release. Solitude serves as important in attempts to purify and refine ones practice. To do this, Horne suggests to spend quiet and introspective time alone with yourself, your thoughts, and your intentions. Release is to liberate yourself and keeping an open and unattached mind. You can do this by conducting rituals of gratitude. This idea of keeping an unattached mind is similar to the teachings of Bhuddism and Hinduism where a goal towards reaching enlightenment is to remain unattached from earthly possessions and beings, knowing that overall there are things that exist outside this realm and realistically, life on earth is a large illusion. All spiritualities, religions, and practices are pretty much the same yet different in its specificity. "Survival depends on the diversity of God's love". I think this is beautiful. Of all the things Horne speaks to I think this is one of the most beautiful things she says. "Every spiritual path is an instrument, and when these instruments are played together they become a symphony- a symphony of the soul- and that is [...] the voice of God" Horne explains, "God's voice depend[s] on the diversity of its expression" "Witches-we must play our instruments" (Horne 22). That was a sloppy spewing of quotes in a non formal sentence-like structure, but to me, these words are very powerful. I am going to be writing a post on the relation between Christianity (God) and witchcraft another time because it has always been presented to me as one or the other. 'If you are a witch, you worship the devil and don't believe in God'... and that is not the case. You can have both. Witchcraft is more about connecting with the world in the ways you know to be true and becoming one with your spirituality and the natural life around you.

Originally, the word 'witch' was a term invented by men in order to degrade women and basically give them a reason look down upon and murder them (i.e. Salem Witch Trials). Modern day witches are redefining what the word means, and have reclaimed it. The first witches were actually of indigenous communities. This is barely recognized--I had absolutely no idea. I am not sure if I was ignorant or if this fact is just ignored, but it makes total sense! This practice focuses on the love and appreciation for the earth and nature and the energies of the world and universe. Indigenous people lived their lives this way every single day! They had so much respect for nature and prayed to and worshiped the gods and spirits of their culture. It should realistically be the first connection made to witchcraft and the love for creation. Nevertheless, witchcraft has awakened the Feminine Devine and become a somewhat feminist practice, taking back and reclaiming their truth from the invention of the degrading term to a whole new identity.

"WILL (aka Ego) is the most powerful and essential force. 'Magic is the art of creating change with WILL, 'As is my WILL so mote it be.' 'Love is the law, love under WILL'." (Horne 20).

Horne touches on the changing of witchcraft with the times. She states that Nothing is Secret Anymore. The internet has changed witchcraft forever. Not necessarily in a bad way, just in a different way. Witchcraft used to be occult (hidden), but not anymore. People such as myself are writing about it and watching videos about it on youtube. I listen to podcasts and see posts on pinterest. There is a new generation of female witches that express feminine empowerment which draws people to the community. Personally this is true for me. I was attracted to the practice of witchcraft because of the empowerment that it gives women and because of all the love and respect for nature. The practice is growing because people like me are joining and are interested and sharing their experience and allowing more and more people to connect. Yes witchcraft is now different, but in my opinion, the growth and sharing of knowledge is very beneficial for the practice and for the community.

This all being said, Horne expresses that it is important so set firm electronic boundaries #practicedigitalhealing. Honestly this is good advice for literally everyone. Do not tolerate negativity, don't feed in to negativity, and don't participate in online gossip. This is super hard this day in age. There is so much negativity in the world right now, especially surrounding politics and the state of our country. It is especially hard for me not to engage in negative talk and arguments about things that I find myself passionate about. But feeding into this is for "weak witches". It is important to stay positive, honorable, and courageous.

THINGS WILL GO ON WHETHER I PAY ATTENTION TO THEM OR NOT

That concept honestly blew my mind. Because it is true. Whether or not I feed in to the negativity, there will always be more. Feeding into it does no good for anyone.

"Everything has a beginning middle and end"

Even if you practice not feeding into negativity, there are times where you will still feel angry or upset. All humans do. It is healthy to feel emotions, and there are healthy ways to deal with anger. Horne believes that "healthy anger is anger that liberates, cuts the ties, and draws the line" (Horne 31). You must determine what is healthy for YOU and act upon that. A healthy anger is an anger that removes negative things from your life. Horne encourages you to realize that ones observations and opinions in the moment of anger and hurt are only hurting yourself and are definitely not helping fix anything. Be in control of your own thoughts and be practical as well as magickal.

"In the face of destruction, we tend to become more grateful than ever for what we do have." (Horne 34)

I know I am touching on so many different things, but this is the nature of Fiona Horne's writing. The following section is the wonderful claim that Nature Always Knows Best! "We are not defined by the nature of our calamity but by what we do in the face of it-give up or go hard" (Horne). She explains the wisdom of nature and the purpose of its affects on people. The example of a hurricane is mentioned. There is a reason that nature produced such a disaster and it was to clean out ("prune") the bad and the invasive negative weeds, while simultaneously helping people know how lucky and blessed they truly are. Yes disasters are awful and painful. But in all that nature is of knowledge of what is best.

A healthy witch is fluid adaptable and free. Horne speaks of decluttering and basically becoming a minimalist. I struggle with this personally because I find value in many many objects. Some of my friends view it as hoarding useless things, but I tend to find beauty and connection with many objects. I would love to be a minimalist, but I feel connected to the vibe and energy of many of my belongings. They all have a place in the world and in my life. Horne's decluttering theory makes a tremendous amount of sense. I just am unable and relatively unwilling to follow it for the sake of my own spiritual practice and connection to some possessions. (I need to be cautious of the fine line I walk of appreciation versus attachment. I mustn't attach to these things). However, I will get on board with her claim that decluttering doesn't only involve decluttering practically, but also magickally. She states "Life slows down when you are actively engaged in the moment of caring for yourself" (Horne). You must declutter your mind and your worries and avoid attaching emotion to your pain. This will benefit your practice and restore your soul and openness to the practice.

EVERYTHING IS ENERGY

SERVICE IS AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF HORNE'S PRACTICE AND SHE ENCOURAGES PEOPLE TO IDENTIFY WAYS OF BEING OF SERVICE AND FOLLOW THROUGH WITH YOUR FINDINGS. SERVICE IS WHATEVER YOU FEEL IN YOUR GUT THAT YOU ARE CALLED TO DO, SUCH AS SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT. (i accidentally left caps lock on for all of that)

Nothing is permanent

This is where we get to the section of "The Art of Witch" in witch I have a problem with. The chapter is called "The Healthy Witch". It starts with the decluttering, but then it moves to "Ageless Aging" where she discusses pain, healthy eating, health insurance, dental, medicine, comfort, hydration, and superfoods. I am not going to touch on each of these, but these sections made me particularly upset and angry. I am going to start with health insurance and healthy eating.

Yes I agree that it is important to eat healthy. Horne also expresses that she is sober which is a wonderful achievement for her. However she goes on to say that she doesn't have and doesn't need health insurance for the reasoning of "I don't drink, I don't do drugs, I don't smoke, I eat well, practise yoga and think positive" (Horne 45). She claims that those actions are her health insurance. She says that "When my time to die comes, it comes. And I will be grateful for all the time I've had up until that point" (Horne 45). This is somewhat understandable and impressive that she is so accepting of something that the entire human population is so afraid of. However, there are things that can be done to enrich one's health and prevent stupid mistakes through the advice of doctors and medical professionals. You can see especially in today's time with a pandemic. It seems rather ignorant to ignore the help of medical professionals. Horne continues to state "I refuse to buy into the myth that we need all that invasive diagnosis" (Horne 46). A diagnosis, whether it be physical, mental, psychological, can be very helpful to many people. Easily preventable injuries and situations may occur without such knowledge of an internal problem within ones self. Personally, I have a few diagnoses regarding my mental health, and it has allowed me to gain knowledge on how to treat those chemical imbalances in my brain and the easily preventable problems within myself. It frustrates me that someone would so strongly speak out against a diagnosis, because it has helped me so much, and ignoring that may prevent someone from receiving the help and attention they need.

Horne speaks similarly of the dentist. While I absolutely HATE the dentist and would LOVE to never sit in one of those chairs ever again, I have a problem with Horne speaking to her opinions of not needing to go! It is important for good hygiene and preventing ailments that may exist beyond what you can inquire from simply brushing your teeth. She speaks against medicine saying she uses natural substances and relies on hydrogen peroxide and eucalyptus oil. To me this radiated ignorance. The thought that 'what is meant to be will be' when it comes to health, overlooks the fact that maybe it was 'meant to be' that a medicine exists to fix this issue. Maybe you were 'meant to' get sick so that the doctors can be more educated on how effective the medicine is for your condition. Ignoring medicines and medical professionals is dumb and selfish.

Finally, I wanted to briefly mention Horne's section on superfoods and her take on food in general. She speaks to the concept of only allowing herself to eat heathy natural foods.. yet she includes milk and dairy in this list. It is not natural for a HUMAN to drink a COWs milk. There is much that can and has been said about this topic across the country/world.. I just wanted to point out the hypocrisy of this diet that she suggests people follow.

Overall I find Horne to be a bit self righteous and suggestive of her superiority (which is funny because she writes so much about being selfless), but so far I have enjoyed the majority of the book. It is informative and intriguing. It gives ideas on how to shape your practice. You just need to take what she says with a grain of salt. Just because she practices a certain way, doesn't mean that that is the correct or superior way.

Live your own truth and find your own path.