Can or Should Darrin Become a Witch?
“Darrin was Samantha’s mortal husband. He was definitely NOT a witch. He spent most of his married life frustrated, aggravated, or on the verge of collapse because of the situations magic brought him into. His way of dealing was denial, anger, or calling in outsiders to fix the problem. Darrin was not built for Witchcraft, and that was the point.”
The Question Behind the Joke
The title here is tongue-in-cheek, but the question is serious: Can anyone become a Witch? Or more importantly: Should they?
Pop culture tells us yes. Buy a deck, light a candle, slap the word “witch” in your bio, you’re in. And to be blunt, that illusion has harmed more than it has helped.
Witchcraft is not a fandom. It is not an aesthetic. It is not a mood you slip on and off like a velvet cape. Witchcraft is a path, a devotion, and a reckoning. Not everyone is meant to walk it, and those who try without readiness often end up burnt, broken, or bitter.
The Lonely Road
The truth: Witchcraft is lonely. It can be isolating, demanding, and brutal. The Witch is not beloved by society, historically or now. To walk this crooked path is to risk misunderstanding, suspicion, sometimes even danger.
Many people crave belonging without separation. They want to stand in the circle but still be welcomed at the dinner table without question. Witchcraft does not always allow that luxury.
To be a Witch is to feel the pull of something older, darker, wilder than yourself. It sets you apart. It makes you Other. And it doesn’t care if that makes you uncomfortable.
Calling vs. Curiosity
Curiosity is not a calling.
Plenty of people dabble. They read, they light candles, they call it witchy. And that’s fine, dabbling has its place. But dabbling is not the same as devotion.
A calling is relentless. It gnaws at you until you answer. It shows up in childhood dreams, in hauntings, in uncanny knowing. It drives you to study when no one is watching, to practice when no one is applauding. It doesn’t fade when the trend cycle moves on.
If you are called, you know. And if you’re not, you know that too, if you’re honest with yourself.
On Gatekeeping
Before we move on, we need to address the word that sends some people into fits: gatekeeping.
Thanks to social media trends, “gatekeeping” has been flattened into an insult, shorthand for “you’re excluding me.” But in the history of Witchcraft (and many other traditions), gatekeeping was not about ego. It was about guarding thresholds. About discerning who was ready to step in and who wasn’t. About protecting the unready from being consumed by forces they couldn’t yet handle, and protecting the current from being watered down by those who weren’t devoted.
The gatekeeper is not a bully. The gatekeeper is the sentinel at the door.
To be blunt: not everyone belongs at every table, not everyone is ready to handle every current, and pretending otherwise is reckless. If you walk into surgery without training, you don’t get to complain that the doctor was “gatekeeping” by not handing you the scalpel. The same is true here.
This isn’t cruelty. It’s care. Gatekeeping, in its original sense, is an act of responsibility, to the Craft, to the spirits, and to the Witch themselves.
So when I say Darrin cannot be a Witch, it isn’t petty exclusion. It’s naming the truth: if you don’t have the marrow for it, if you aren’t called, if you aren’t ready to endure the fire, stepping in anyway won’t make you a Witch. It will make you a casualty.
Danger and Devotion
Here’s the part most people don’t want to hear: Witchcraft is dangerous.
Not metaphorically. Not symbolically. Literally.
You are working with currents that bite back. With spirits who test. With forces that demand payment, precision, and persistence. When you botch a spell, when you ignore your ancestors, when you try to run before you’ve learned to walk, there are consequences.
A Witch knows this, accepts it, and still steps forward. A Darrin denies it, rages against it, and hopes someone else will clean up the mess.
Not Everyone Is Meant for This
This is not gatekeeping for the sake of ego. It’s realism. Just as not everyone is meant to be a surgeon, a soldier, or a diver in deep waters, not everyone is meant to be a Witch.
That doesn’t mean you are lesser. It means your path may lie elsewhere. And that is sacred too.
But if you feel the call, if you wake in the night with whispers at your door, if you find yourself standing at the crossroads seeing fire turn to a woman who changes you forever, then you don’t get to ignore it. You either answer or you suffer.
Again, it is not for any one of us to discern/decide that for you. You have to do this for yourself.
So no, Darrin cannot become a Witch. Not because he lacked a spellbook, but because he lacked the marrow for it.
The Witch is born of calling, shaped in fire, and sustained by devotion. If you don’t feel that hunger in your bones, this path will break you.
But if you do?
Then step across.
The next lesson will not coddle you.
