Witch. What comes to your mind when you hear that word? Is it Bette Midler? The sexy Charmed sisters? Green colored, broom riding, cackling hags riding off into the moonlight? Or maybe it's your next-door neighbor, your best friend, your teacher, your co-worker. Here is a surprise: Witches can be, and are in fact, everywhere.

During the month of October, Witches gain a lot of attention, and a lot of it is negative, hurtful falsehoods told to us through television, movies, books, and tales meant to create something fun and imaginative, such as the movie Hocus Pocus, or to induce fear, such as with the Salem Witch Trials. So much of what the average person knows and thinks about witches is false, but I hope to be able to clarify to you what I mean when I say that witches are totally real, and are pretty cool. Get ready for a long and, most likely, a bit of a confusing, ride.

First, let me explain what a Witch is. Witches - who aren't just women, there are men witches, too - take part in the practice of Witchcraft. Witchcraft isn't what is depicted in movies, but is a practice anyone can partake in and is, in fact, much like yoga, meditation, knitting, sewing, or any other hobby you may have.

It is entirely a practice, something you pick up and dedicate time and energy and effort to. It isn't always attached to a religion, and though the religion of Wicca can be connected and confused with Witchcraft, it is often a stand-alone practice. Wicca and Witchcraft are not the same things. That is super important to remember - Wicca is a religion, Witchcraft is a practice.

Witchcraft can be whatever you want it to be. You can be a Christian witch, a kitchen witch, a divination witch, a gray witch, a witch with children, an open witch or a secret witch. But witchcraft can also be differently viewed and defined by everyone, and so it is important to know that my definition of the craft won't be the same as the next witch you meet. But that's the great thing about it is that it is free of race, religion, ethnicity, culture, etc. Anyone can be a witch if they want to be, and if they call themselves one, then they are one.

Essentially, Witchcraft (and there are many different definitions, but this is my own, general one) is a practice in which magic is often used or created through the help of physical objects. Magic can be harnessed by anyone, anywhere, at any time with any sort of object. You don't need to have expensive candles or books or herbs to be a witch. You can be a witch with a match/lighter, a piece of paper, and a dollar store pencil. You can be a witch in your kitchen, or in your garden.

But what is important to understand is that Witchcraft and magic aren't a solve all for your problems - you can't one day say a spell to get a good grade, not study, and then say witchcraft and magic suck because you failed your test. You can't make a feather float, and you can't do all the cool things you saw in the Harry Potter movies. (Sorry, I know, disappointing.)

I came to the practice of Witchcraft gradually. When I was 14 or 15, my sister gave me my first set of Tarot cards after seeing my fascination with her own set (she does not classify herself as a Witch, for clarification) After learning about Tarot and learning to read Tarot, I began to learn more about Crystal Magic and Divination.

I then gradually began to learn about working with herbs, crystals, spells, and the like. All of these things can be used to create something physical that harnesses the energy you put into it, whether it be positive or negative. I read tarot cards for friends and family and have done so for years, and I am learning to palm read.

I plan on doing an entire article dedicated to the tarot, but I will offer a brief explanation here for the sake of clarifying the confusion that is witchcraft: Tarot may or may not tell your future. You shouldn't go to a tarot reader and expect them to tell you when you will die or when you will have a baby, when you will marry, or anything of the sort. What tarot does, to me in my own definition, is to help to clarify a situation or life event.

When I read the cards of someone's past, present, and future, the readings are done in such a way that it can help the person find themselves in the descriptions the cards offer; it helps to let you see your position in your life, how you got there, and where you are going. But in the end, you control your destiny, and so the cards can't negatively or positively affect your future in any way.

Tarot isn't evil and won't bring bad juju into your life. Tarot, simply, is a way for you to lay out what is going on in your life and see it from a new and less complex perspective. Much like Witchcraft does for many, many people.

So, as a witch, what am I?

I won't harm you. I don't worship the devil, I don't turn people into ferrets (though I wish I could), I'm not delusional, and I'm not trying to be "edgy". I simply found a hobby and a practice I enjoy, and I use it to help people, help myself, and bring joy and magic to my everyday life, just like my mom does with coloring and my niece does with making slime.

So, this October, the next time you see a pimple nosed green witch in a Halloween shop or watch Hocus Pocus and Twitches for the 15th time, remember that real witches do exist, and they are awesome, and that what you see on tv and in movies is all fun and fantasy, but is, in the end, not true.

...And maybe, just maybe, you will take a little bit of time to learn about the special witch in your life.