The images you are going to see in this post are real photographs. They are not taken off of the Internet, but rather, are taken from my camera. The photos are taken from my home. The reason I've chosen to do this is because I want everyone who reads this to understand what real Crafting is. Anyone who bothers to look at any social media page, or who reads any articles on the Internet pertaining to alternative faiths, is generally bombarded half to death with endless images. These images show everything from cute little girls dressed up in Halloween-type witch costumes, to grown men and women looking as if they just got done with a musical production of Poe's Raven. In other words....the images people see may very well be pleasing to the eye, but they are not real. They are pieces of art work designed to stimulate emotional and psychological responses within the person viewing the art. When it all boils down, real people who do real Crafting, are far from the pieces of art. Unless they are wearing specific hats, tell-tale jewelry and clothing, or have body art that specifically denotes them as being a person of alternative beliefs, you'd never be able to pick out Crafters in a crowd. Crafters are not roaming about, waving wands at people and addressing every single person they meet with "Merry Meet" or "Blessed Be". It just doesn't happen. For the younger people, or new followers of alternative faiths, let me assure you, NO, it doesn't. I don't care how many episodes of Twilight, AHS Coven or Vampire Slayer you have watched. It just does NOT happen. In fact, if it did....real Crafters would probably get a bit freaked out by it all.
There is an old saying: "All witches are Pagans, but not all pagans are witches, however all may Craft, or all may not". The truth behind this saying goes deeper than the average person realizes. The basic meaning behind this can hold true for any belief system/religion, regardless of which one it is. For example, we can switch this to Christianity so that it says: "All Catholics are Christian, but not all Christians are Catholic, however all may pray, or all may not". The saying is meant to explain the fact that while many people may belong to the same generalized belief system, none of them will ever practice their beliefs in the exact same way. Some Christians may choose to practice their faith privately, while others like to go to a church to practice their faith. Some Muslims prefer to worship privately in their own homes, while others enjoy going to their local Mosques to worship. In the same turn, Some Pagans prefer to be solitary (meaning - to practice their beliefs privately), while others prefer to worship together in larger groups. Same concept, different terminology - all are true. People get so caught up in what they see/read on the Internet, or in magazines, or in entertainment type newspapers, that they sometimes lose sight of the real truth behind the belief.
Elder APs (Alternative Practitioners) always know when a new wave of people will start wanting to learn all they can about the many alternative belief systems out in the world today. Honestly, it's not mind reading, it simply involves looking at the television program listings, the movie listings or which new fantasy books happen to be popular at the moment. For example: When Buffy the Vampire Slayer was big, hundreds of teen-agers wanted to become real life vampire slayers. They were 100% convinced that this show was based on real life events that had taken place, and they wanted to join in on what they believed was a centuries old tradition of hunting vampires. Then, the next big wave came when the Harry Potter books started becoming popular....and then hit the movie theaters. Suddenly, everyone wanted to be a witch, wizard, warlock or medium. Follow up for that came from the television series American Horror Story: Coven. People started coming out of the wood work wanting to learn everything they could about witches, warlocks, voodoo and all the historical documentation they could get their hands on. Each and every time, 99.9% of these folks ran head on into a proverbial brick wall when they finally realized that real Crafting, is not what is shown or written about, via media outlets.
Real crafting does not require any one to spend their entire life savings on a bunch of tools, clothing and appliances. It does not require anyone to travel the globe in search of rare spices, herbs and ingredients. In fact, the only 'requirement' real crafting has, is knowledge. The very first thing any Elder AP will tell a person who is new to the alternative faiths: If you are not prepared to continually educate yourself from this point on, for the bulk of what's left of your life....stop now. This belief system is likely not for you. There is far more to Crafting than what meets the eye, just as there is within any religion, or belief system. The historical content alone is enough to fill an entire library with books and information. Nevermind the newly-discovered material. When it comes to any belief system, one can not rely solely on the Internet for information. Also, as it is with any belief system, practice is the #1 key to understanding the faith you have chosen. Anyone can say "I am Muslim", "I am Christian", "I am Jewish" or "I am Wiccan". That's not difficult to do at all. Moreover, while this is a lovely thing, chance are, if that person is not out there practicing what they preach (so to speak), then they really don't know what it is they truly believe. They're basing it on what they think. There are many Christians out there today that really think that Jesus was Christian, just as there are quite a few Muslims out there that believe Mohammad was Muslim. Think again. Jesus and Mohammad were not Christian and Muslim. They never were, nor did they ever aspire to be. Those two religions simply did not exist during their life times, at any point at all.
Pagans, on the other hand, do have an extensive history when it comes to the belief system, in and of itself. The history behind it, however, is not all that fantastic. We do not have some type of sacred book that tells us stories of healing and bliss within our historical pasts. We do not have lists of commandments that were said to be handed down to humanity from the heavens above, and if we do not follow any one of these, that there is a 'special place' for us when we die that will be nothing shy of an eternal burning horror. We also do not have a place of sheer delight and peace that we think we will go to in any kind of after life, where everything is just dandy for all eternity. The truth is, most Pagans don't even acknowledge the existance of such places, much less any one, or two, beings that preside over such locations. Instead, the real Crafters practice the centuries-old art of healing via nature. I should note here, that 'healing' also refers to preventive, and not just healing someone when they become ill.
Real Crafters use what nature provides in order to help others around them (as well as themselves) live better lives through the understanding of how daily nutrition works, and how to naturally heal themselves. 100 years ago, this wasn't really as big of a deal as it seems to be today. 100 years ago, we were still all pretty much relying on what nature provided in order to help ourselves get well again, and to help prevent illness from setting in. Today, it seems as if anyone who uses coffee for anything other than gardening or drinking is considered a witch. Elder APs know better, and we mostly keep to ourselves, unless we're asked for help. Nine times out of ten, when help is asked for, the person is not asking for 'love potion #9', but rather for ways that they can help clear up their sinuses, aide themselves in the relief of back, neck or joint pain or, to simply help themselves get a good night's sleep. THAT is what real Crafting is. There is no hocus pocus. There are no people huddling around a cast iron cauldron, holding wands and waving dead frogs in the air while they chant out some strange words trying to cast a spell on the whole of humanity. Nope. Real Crafters....are healers and helpers. It's what we do best.
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