Godless witches like myself run into a litany of questions regarding our chosen paths, but one of the most frequently asked questions is a broad one: How do atheist witches cast spells? Of course, it’s a given that if you call yourself a witch, you most likely know how to cast at least some kind of spell — whether it be simple protection magic, or more advanced stuff. After all, what’s the fun in being a witch if you don’t practice witchcraft? In regards to godless witchcraft, it’s hard to answer the questions regarding how we do cast spells, because — for the most part — no two atheist witches are the same in practice. While it may be difficult to explain godless magic as a whole, the following article will attempt to explain it from a godless witch’s perspective, to the layman who may seem confused by the entire subject.
We don’t need deities
As atheists, we simply do not believe in gods or goddesses. Therefore, it’s pretty much impossible to “use” them in order to practice witchcraft. How do you conjure something of which existence you reject? You just don’t. That doesn’t mean those who do need deities are inferior. It just means that atheist witches call on energies differently than those who practice theistic witchcraft.
Furthermore, just because an atheist witch may reject the existence of deities, doesn’t mean that he or she doesn’t acknowledge the symbolism they represent. God and goddess symbolism can be found heavily embedded in our society without most people batting an eye. Even Christians recognize Venus and Aphrodite as powerful symbols of romantic love, sexual passion and divine femininity. That doesn’t mean they believe or worship any of them! Some atheist witches may use god and goddess imagery as a means to create shortcuts during spell work. After all, it is far less time consuming to focus on the symbol of love during a spell, than to exhaust yourself with specific wordage simply because you’re an atheist!
We don’t need tools
Tools are mostly used aesthetically or they’re used to help us focus our energies in spellcasting. In general, atheistic witches don’t believe that items can be “enchanted,” but some do believe that residual energies can stick to items and thus affect said item’s vibrational frequency.
However, like most witches, atheist witches love their baubles as much as the next person. Some of us even have altars (which are areas we designate for spell crafting, and not for the worship of deities). Some set up shrines to their ancestors. Different witchy tools and other aesthetics make their ways into the lives of atheist witches, and while we recognize that power comes from us, we still enjoy simple material pleasures like anyone else!
We don’t conjure magic; We are magic
In general, atheist witches believe that we’re all essentially one with the universe (humanity in general). As stated previously, we don’t believe that gods and goddesses have anything to do with the source of magic, when it comes to casting spells. Instead, most of us believe that we are the magic, and our own energies (combined with the energies that surround us) are what guide our intent during spell work.
We’re all different
I’ve said it at least once in this post, but it needs to be repeated over and over: No two atheist witches practice in the same ways. Some of us love sympathetic magic and some of us prefer to go purely meditative when it comes to casting spells. Regardless of the variations that exist under the umbrella of atheistic witchcraft, many of us have led successful lives on this path, and are perfectly happy where we are.
