Miss Witch Hazel,
I apologize in advance that this is not a personal question like you so often receive. In point of fact, I enjoy your column very much and read it when I can. But I came across the portion of the column where you dispatched the existence of a true-blue Satanic witch, stating that the two can never cross.

You see, a very wise Satanic philosopher as well as the Father of the Satanic Church, Anton Szandor LaVey, author of The Satanic Bible, The Devil’s Notebook, and so on also published a book called The Satanic Witch. The book covers a full range of knowledge he believed to be useful in the arsenal of a Satanic woman. It explains sexual know-how, physical appearance, entrancing and seducing as well as lesser magic and sorcery. With such knowledge, you have yourself one spicy Satanic female. The book was labeled The Satanic Witch just as easily as there can be a “Satanic Sorcerer”. When someone claims to be a Satanic Witch, They are stating with pride that they are indeed a female practicer of Satanism and Lesser Magic, but not necessarily related to the Wiccan/Pagan/Witch society.

Second of all, I thought I should tie up a common misconception. Satanism is not about The Devil. In fact, there is no devil. We do not believe in a higher power, but that we are just as equal as any other animal or being to walk this earth. If anything, humans are the cruelest and most relentless creatures of them all. God, Satan, Allah, you name it. They are all just manifestations of the fear that posesses most conventional religions, and in doing so they are made a reality. Reality depends on how many people believe it to be true, or want it to be at least. Such deities were designed a long time ago to tend to the needs of the many. After enough people believed it to be so, they spun it around and claimed that we are the creations of this deity. Nowadays, the Christian church has become a very real and physical thing; there you have proof of magic at its finest.

We call ourselves “Satanists” because “Satan” is a Hebrew word for “Adversary.” Because we dismiss so many deities and higher powers, we instantly become the adversaries of most religions. In short, Satan=Bad/God=Good is basically the kind of Black-white we try to avoid, as it leads to a life but wasted and a mind deluded.

As for what our friend “Tom” was asking (in this column from March 2008), being hurt by a crucifix, I honestly have no idea what he was going on about. There were more unjust and wicked people crucified by the cross than Jesus was, surely the symbol should be a filthy, awful thing.
– Mynsey

Dear Witch Hazel,
My husband had started suffering from moderate to severe eczema about 7-8 months ago. He’s never had this before, only regular allergies in the spring, etc. We thought it was dust mites and got rid of everything old including my 8 year old mattress. It did become a bit better but now the “allergies” have returned. It is affecting his whole body including face, lips and scalp. Doctors are not able to tell us what it is. It’s so bad, it hurts him to even kiss me. Please help! I’ve researched this extensively and can’t find a cause!

Thank you in advance.
Best Regards, Amrita

P.S I don’t wear nickel jewelry, I use very little product (just shampoo, conditioner and the occasional perfume) and don’t cook anything out of the ordinary - even stopped making spinach!

Ms. Hazel,
I read your response to another question on this topic, and was hoping you could provide some further information. I am a recovering cancer patient, and experienced some very serious complications after my surgery. I had to be taken back into the OR or I would have stopped breathing. Before that, the staff tried to treat me in my room, and I spent a day-and-a-half barely able to breathe. During that time, I seriously believed I was going to die, and I prayed to the Goddess to please, either take me quickly or help out – Her choice (I don’t have the stones to demand things of Her). I was making up my petition off the cuff, since I didn’t know of any formal ritual or prayer I could say.

My condition is greatly improved, but cancer is never a “done deal”. Although unlikely, I could circle the drain any day (as we all could). What I’m looking for is something I or any witch could say for themselves if they felt they were near death. I will continue to research this, but any clues you could provide would be appreciated. I’ve asked several other Wiccans (two of whom were/are HP or HPS) and they all drew a blank.