“A beautiful female with dense hair and twisted feet”, Is this the picture you imagine when you hear the word “Daayan” ? Ever wondered why is it always a “female” and not any other gender? Is Daayan a Ghostly figure? Ever wondered why would “daayans” choose to walk with twisted feet when it is easier to walk in a natural way. When I hear such stories, watch certain movies or read this completely ridiculous explanation and demonstration of “daayan”, I laugh. I laugh at their imagination, I laugh at their tiny sense of wisdom, I laugh at their outlook on the divine feminine. This contortion of the word daayan has not only created a false portrayal of Witches or Daayans but has also empowered the patriarchy in religion. I often appreciate this beautiful man of 1930’s, Gerald Gardner, the Wiccan man, for writing truth in his books. He is theone who called himself a “witch”. The term “Witch” means the “the wise one” and it is beyond the boxes of gender. A male practicing the craft or experiencing the realm of witchcraft is a “Witch”.

It’s the Roman moon Goddess Diana who carries the silver bow and arrow that was once given to her by her father Jupiter. According to the ancient scriptures, She is the Goddess of liberty, She is wild and untamed.

Aren’t we all untamed, wild and enlightened when we are born? We are then trained to believe in the duality of good and evil, Angels and Demons, the perfects and the imperfects. I often wonder if we really appreciate the true beauty? Are we not afraid of the beauty? I often write in my other articles  that, “true beauty is incomplete without the tints of darkness.” Could that be a reason why the beautiful /handsome Witches were depicted as distorted figures with twisted feet? Were they afraid to face the unknown? Were they afraid to accept the  world beyond this duality. I am often asked If I work with the demons and the Devil. Well, One cannot, For the Devil and the God work with each other. They work to create multiple patterns on the canvas of life. It’s on us how we give meaning and create poetry based on their designs.

They say, the Daayans have long, dense curly hair; and their hair has the power. I would not disagree with this fact for it is true. Our hair is not the dead cells. Our hair is the extension of our nervous system. It has great power. If one is a Witch, One will notice that the hair behaves strange. I had once read about the character of ancient Hebrew Bible,  Samson. He had his strength in hair. His mother was told by the Prophets of that era, that his son is the chosen one, never allow him to cut his hair or else he will lose his power. I am not a religious person but I do not hesitate to accept the truth written in ancient scriptures before they were altered according to the needs of politics.

It’s a an old tradition, perhaps a cult, a very secret cult, You may call it Daayan cult. Am I a Daayan? I wonder, I let you decide. Have you ever read Ram Charit Manas written by Goswami Tulsidas? We all are aware of  this Incredible epic. I found it fascinating because it has explained about those who are touched by the darkness along with the story of Ram and Raavan. In the “Lanka Kaand”, the Sixth Chapter of Ram Charit manas, Goswami tulsi das has written about “yoginis”. When the world was divided in two dimensions, the good and the evil; Some on the side of Ram and some on the side of King of Lanka, It was the other dimension beyond this duality, the dimension of yoginis, dancing along with the ghosts and demons, singing the songs in various raagas. They used bones and skulls as their musical instruments. I was intrigued by his unusual and unique wisdom after reading that part of manas. Was he aware of the other worlds? They say Tulsi Das was considered inauspicious and his birth was a threat to his father’s life. He was born with complete set of teeth. Why did he mention about those dark and strange creatures in Manas? Let me not reveal the secrets because we are not ready to accept, our mindset is trained to not to let the unusual take over our little world of perfection.

It’s Strange that they consider witchcraft a superstition while all the witches are the most skeptic and sarcastic creatures. We choose to not to be the part of their “highly sophisticated system of an ideal living “.Reminds me of a poem written by Kahlil Gibran, “The Perfect world”

Few lines from his Poem:

“I dwell in the midst of a perfect race, I the most imperfect.
 
I, a human chaos, a nebula of confused elements, I move amongst finished worlds—peoples of complete laws and pure order, whose thoughts are assorted, whose dreams are arranged, and whose visions are enrolled and registered.
 
Their virtues, O God, are measured, their sins are weighed, and even the countless things that pass in the dim twilight of neither sin nor virtue are recorded and catalogued.
 
Here days and night are divided into seasons of conduct and governed by rules of blameless accuracy.”

-The Perfect world by Kahlil Gibran”

I often read his poems in my Wiccan Sessions, I tell the seekers of Wicca in my session that this world that you see is not only the world, the day when you will be touched by darkness, you shall see the forces and the true motives behind every perfection. You will see the word as it it without the judgements. You will accept the diversity. You will not be afraid of losing those who dare not to care for you.  

I believe when one is touched by the divine Diana, the untamed mystical energy and  the resemblance of darkness, one must proudly call oneself a Daayan. 

Witched Felis.