What Is A “Baby Witch?”

Baby Witch.

This is a term you may hear thrown around in the Witchcraft, New Age or Spirituality circles of the internet.
Sometimes as an identifier, sometimes as an insult. You may wonder what Baby Witch means, and whether you can use that title for yourself or not.

This question of calling yourself a “baby witch”, is weirdly controversial and it really shouldn't be. There is no need to get worked up over it and I’m going to do my best to explain to you exactly…

• WHAT a Baby Witch is

• WHY people get so weird about it

• WHO should use this for themselves

WHAT IS A BABY WITCH?

A Baby Witch is simply a term to describe someone who is new to the craft.
It’s a way of saying “I’m new here and I am not an authority.”

WHY DO PEOPLE DISLIKE THE TERM BABY WITCH?

Many Witches will advise newcomers to the craft, not to use the term Baby Witch because

• You are not a baby
  Whilst technically true, I don’t think anyone is getting confused by this.

• It’s infantilizing
  Apparently those calling themselves baby witches are taking away any responsibility for their mistakes.
  I guess they think it’s being used in an “Ooops, but I’m just a baby witch” type of way.

• You are giving your power away to other people to teach you, like a parent

…..and so on.

Weirdly I’ve also heard someone use the comparison “You wouldn’t call yourself a baby doctor”.

No, of course not. You would call yourself a med student - that's the same vibe. What “baby witch” does in my opinion is it tells other people “Hye, I'm new here. I'm new to the craft. I don't even know if the word Witch feels right yet. I'm so new that you should not listen to me as an authority and instead maybe help me along my path.”

It is a way of saying I'm not an authority figure here, or that the word Witch is a bit scary right now and that often points to religious trauma too.

When I started down this path, if I was to say, “I'm a witch”, I would have run a million miles the other way. I was not there yet. In fact, someone once said to me years back “Wow you're a little bit witchy, aren't you?” and I realized I kind of liked that. However, if I said to someone “I’m a Witch.” I feared hellfire would have come upon me.  I was not there yet, and I think that's the case with many people.

If you didn't grow up with Pagan or open-minded parents, then the word Witch is going to have a lot of connotations. It already does socially, let alone religiously, and then personally depending on your own life experience. Baby Witch works as a safety measure that we put in place, whilst also being an identifier for other people

Personally, I don't think there is anything wrong with the term “baby witch.” If you identify as a “Baby Witch” – awesome! I did too. Now I just say I am a Witch and will say that proudly - it's an it's an identifier, nothing more.

Another part of this argument is when people say “You wouldn’t have a surgeon come in and say I'm a baby surgeon.” That would make you think maybe he shouldn't be doing my surgery.

Now, if someone says I'm a “Baby Witch” - you're not going to ask them to run a circle, or a ritual or a spell for you. They are telling you I'm not there yet or at that stage yet. We do not have to force people to become fully initiated, fully fledged Witches before they're ready and if they stay in “Baby Witch” for a while - that's their journey.

The Witchcraft Community can unfortunately be very judgmental.
But don’t be dismayed as it can also be very warm and welcoming - at least in the parts that I am involved in and the groups that I run like the Suburban Witches Society.

Unfortunately, there are also parts that are negative, judgmental, and drama filled. You will find all sides in any community, it's inherent and a flaw in humans, not Witches specifically. The brilliant thing with witchcraft though is that there are no official rules. It's not technically a religion, whilst there are religions that have Witches in them, Witchcraft, as a whole, is free.

What are some other Alternatives to “Baby Witch”?

You might still feel uncomfortable using the term “baby witch” – which is fine. We do not get to dictate what other people identify with. Just to clarify, there isn’t a problem if you want to use the term “baby witch” as an identifier for yourself BUT If you are using it as a derogatory term for someone else, that's where it becomes problematic.

Some other terms you may wish to try are:

• “I'm new to the craft” - it's a bit wordier,

• “New witch”

• “Seeker”

• “Witch-Curious”

Reminder that any term someone uses could be picked apart. “Baby Witch” is fairly new term with  newer generations and the influx of people coming into the craft. Between religion, social media and so on, people could be pushing back solely because it is new. We can pull anything apart if we want, but we can also build things up as well. We can change the dialogue. So, I am changing the dialogue. The term “baby witch” is totally fine as long as it is used as a self-identifier and not in a derogatory manner towards another. If being used outside of an identifier, it can stop new people from reaching out, asking questions or continuing to learn. It’s not on witches farther down on their own journey to give free education, but direct those asking questions towards free resources, content, education and more if they so choose.

So go forth my “baby witches” and if you need any extra help or if you have any further questions pop them in the comment section below. I'd love to help you as always.