In some parts of my spiritual journey I have found a type of ‘either or’ mentality when it comes to religion and alternative spirituality, especially magic and spell-work, as if they are diametrically opposed. That you’re either a witch or a Christian. You can’t pick a bit from both as you please.
But last year when I started to seriously look into the folk magic of my own ancestors I found that the two are intertwined and even inseparable. I am not religious, but I grew up with Christianity and I’m not going to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Christianity is a part or my heritage, upbringing and ancestry.
In many of the Trolldom spells and remedies of Scandinavia that I have read about and am starting to learn, traditional folk practices are mixed with Christian incantations and prayers. In one of the spells to remediate the theft of courage you stir a glass of alcohol nine times with a metal knife while reading a spell that asks the Mara to leave the person while the holy trinity is invoked (Mara being the entity that is causing the sadness or theft of courage). This is followed by saying the Christian prayers ‘Our Father’ and the ‘Hail Mary’ three times each. Note how both the holy father and the holy mother is invoked to create a balance using both the sacred masculine and divine feminine in the spell.
These are the practices that were also shunned by the church at the time. Although Christian saints and prayers were invoked and used in the spells, in the eyes of the church they were not to be used in that way. Healing was not to be undertaken outside of religion. The church was the way that you had to go through to connect to God and spirit in the church’s opinion at the time.
Of course these archetypes and energies are powerful and that is why they were and are used by Trolldom practitioners as well as in other folk magic traditions such as Hoodoo. I would even say that magic and spells are being practiced inside churches all of the time. The Christian readings and prayers, if said while meaning it, are powerful spells. The lighting of candles in churches while sending prayers to someone are candle spells. The holy communion is a ritual to invoke the Christ consciousness within.
Becoming more grounded in my own spirituality and moving away from organised religion has made me more deeply understand and appreciate the underlying true meanings of these rituals to a point when I can even participate in them without having to call myself a Christian.
