This ties into something I've mentioned in passing before early on, but I've never really come out and say it until now:
Magic is by its very nature that which we do not understand - that which cannot be observable or reproducible via current scientific knowledge. We all know this, and it's one of the few things that even the fluffiest of bunnies cannot dispute us on. There are risks involved when playing with the unknown, and those who are completely incognisant of the dangers and refuse to listen to the warnings of the sensible and experienced are doomed to fuck themselves over time and again. Therefore, such a dangerous tool should only be in the hands of those whom are able to actually wield it well.
I've been given a lot of shit for my position lately, mostly by people who say that you can't become experienced unless you try. No shit, sherlock, but there are people who refuse to actually try, and just want to be shown all the ropes without having to do any of the fucking work themselves. Then, when they actually go to practice without a more experienced witch chaperoning their every move, they wonder why their efforts all seem to blow up in their face. Fucking duh, child, you can't focus your will unless you have a will to focus.
Therefore, I believe that witches should be extremely fucking careful whom they share their Craft with. I believe that one should not just give away our secrets for everyone to partake of and corrupt it. I am ethically bound to keep power tools out of the hands of infants, and this is one pretty powerful fucking tool.
You can usually tell by a half hour's worth of talking to someone whether they're not worth teaching the Mysteries to. First and foremost, the people who lack willpower — they tend to back down from every statement you make. These people I weed out. Also, there are the people that you can tell are self-serving to the point of malevolence. They set off internal alarm bells like a 300-pound thief in a jewelry store. These people I also weed out. There are also the insta-witches who saw "the Craft" or read $ilver Ravenwolf's "Halloween" series and think they're witches. If they don't seem to have potential in my eyes, I don't even bother with them. Why should I? They're going to do nothing but waste my time and energy, waste their own time and energy, and all in the name of pretending to do nothing so they can call themselves witches and scare their parents and blah blah blah blah blah.
Fuck those people. Besides, the true seeker (such as I, who had no sort of teacher until I was about four years into it) will find the Mysteries on his own anyway. Those with that much willpower don't need that much teaching, they'll figure it out on their own. See where I'm coming from on this one? There are ways to know whether someone is a valid candidate for learning witchcraft (although my examples all seem to be ways to know if someone is NOT, which can help you just as much I suppose)...and the skilled witch will trust her instincts to tell her whether someone is a seeker or just another fucking creep.
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