Personal Housekeeping For Oestara

We live in an age where guilt is more often encouraged then pride, where we are encouraged to dwell upon our ‘negative’ points and habits. This is not the way of the Witch. As Witches we must learn to be as honest about our plus points as society would like us to be about our minuses.

Advertising, probably the most pervasive kind of propaganda, encourages us to think of ourselves as ‘less than perfect’ unless we look and dress like the people in the adverts and possess all the things that the advertisers would like us to spend money on. It is worth bearing in mind that if we truly needed these products then there would be no need to put them into commercials!

However, to return to the ‘personal housekeeping’, write a list of 20 of your plus points, things you are good at, and 20 minus points, things you would like to improve. Try not to be influenced by stereotypes – many female Witches include ‘outspoken’ on their list of negatives, while males will describe the same quality as positive! If you absolutely must include your physical attributes on the minus list, then make sure that these are things which you can sensibly expect to change, but don’t fall into the advertisers’ trap. From the perspective of the Witch it is far more important that you should come to terms with the person that you are, rather than worry about the way people see you.

One of the first tasks of the Witch is to understand and accept themselves, with all their good and bad points, because it is only when you understand yourself that you will be in a position to understand others, and therein lies a good portion of Witches’ Magic.

Now,  edit the list of the “minus” points by creating sentences that include both the trait that you feel to be negative and the following phrase …. and that’s ok because.

Here are some examples:

• I am a terrible housekeeper, and that’s ok because… I hate cleaning the house.
• I have no self confidence, and that’s ok because… I have plenty of time to to learn how awesome I really am.
• I am over weight and out of shape, and that’s ok because… if I really wanted to do something about it I would.
• I am very stubborn, and that’s ok because… one day I will learn how to become more flexible.

Now, read the “plus” points list and pat yourself on the back, and spend a little bit of time feeling good about yourself. Take all your negative traits, own them, forgive yourself for them. Now, burn or bury both lists. You don’t need a list to tell you who you really are.