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Philosophy/religion

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Any witches here?

1000 replies

speakout · 06/05/2018 14:13

Or Wiccans. or Pagans?

I was raised as a witch- my grandmother was born in 1890 and taught me how to scry, knotwork, many magical activities. She was a dresser of the dead and a lay midwife ( before the NHS).
I now practice my craft with enthusiasm.
A little tricky as my extended family are not supportive.

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Empathfreak · 29/05/2018 18:43

Yes I learned that lesson the hard way. It actually took a couple of days to feel completely normal. I felt so freaked out It stopped me mediating that deeply for a while as I was scared it would happen again.

Do you teach in a circle? As I am trying to enhance my gifts I've thought about joining one but the ones around here are really strict apparently and I'd feel somewhat limited I think?

cropcirclesinthefields · 29/05/2018 19:01

I wouldn't call myself a witch or Wiccan but definitely a pagan, I follow the elements and the male/female energy of the earth. I tried spellcraft and ritual early on but it felt very restrictive, I can interpret dreams and am empathetic. I've let my gifts lag for a while and it's time to reconnect I think.

I didn't have any family inspiration but a radio interview I heard as a child 4-5 years old at Samhain with a witch and she said how witches and pagans are not to be feared and are nothing like the film/media make it out to be.

OyO · 29/05/2018 19:02

This thread has made me really happy today Smile You all sound wonderfully interesting!

Moononthehill28 · 29/05/2018 20:04

I have loved reading this thread. I am a healer and fairly intuitive, but cannot get on with tarot cards or pendulums. I recently found out my great aunt was a water diviner and psychic. She also predicted winners of horse races and did healing work! I never met her.
I would love to become a hedge witch. I am incredibly drawn to the natural world, trees and woods.I am sure I was a healer with herbs in a past life.
I will look into the books mentioned. Very drawn to scrying. Could someone give advice on the best way to do this?
My grandmother believed in fairies as do I.

gottaslowdown · 29/05/2018 21:09

Thinking of you all tonight. The pp's name has just reminded me it's a Full Moon here. Keep chatting. So interesting. Smile

DoubleNegativePanda · 29/05/2018 22:36

Full moon here tonight as well, going to teach dd to make moon water and will do an indoor candle spell.

My sister just sent me some gorgeous chime candles for spells, I love the inscribing process for candle spells. It's my favorite part.

ShovingLeopard · 30/05/2018 00:25

Empath I was going to ask if you had tried sitting in circle. My main healing guide overshadows me, and I only got comfortable with this while training in circle with a very experienced teacher, in a very well protected Spiritualist church. It took a long time before I was comfortable with him overshadowing me outside of the church, but we work together very well now. It's a shame the circles near you seem unwelcoming to beginners. We all have to start somewhere!

Elphame · 30/05/2018 10:13

Empath I'm sorry you've found the local groups unwelcoming. I don't know which part of the country you are in but local informal moots are often good places to make the right connections to people who can help you develop your skills. I teach my tradition (I'm an initiate in a specific witchcraft stream) in formal classes which are both practical and theoretical.

The hedgewitchery side I do much more informally and I learn as much from them as they do from me. I have someone coming over later this morning in fact. I'm planning a visit to the nearest long barrow and we'll do some ancestral work and journeying there. I went to a talk last night and the speaker had an interesting technique of inducing an altered state of mind so I want to try it out.

Moononthehill28 What sort of scrying did you have in mind? I've always found the traditional crystal ball by far the hardest so I use a black mirror (a flat screen TV works really well for this or a bowl of water!) or a fire or candle flame.

The basic technique is very simple. Find yourself somewhere quiet and comfortable where you won't be disturbed and dimly lit. Use a candle if you want additional light but avoid having it shine directly on whatever reflective surface you are using. Obviously if you are using a flame to scry you can ignore that bit! I've always found it helps to have a question in mind that you want an answer to rather than just scrying and hoping you'll see something.

Take a couple of deep breaths to ground and centre yourself, relax, try and clear your mind, concentrate on the question you are seeking an answer to and gaze into whatever it is you are using to scry. You don't want to look at it but through it if you see what I mean. Your focal point should be behind it. Let the shapes form.

Don't try and force it and don't worry if your mind wanders. It will but you'll get better at maintaining your concentration and focus with practice.

Little and often is better than trying to do it for long periods. 5 mins is plenty to start with.

If you do see anything then write it down as soon as you've finished. It's like dreams- visions vanish like morning mist. Get it recorded first then you can work on interpreting what you've got!

OyO · 30/05/2018 11:23

Elphame I hope this isn’t silly to ask: when scrying, can the question you want an answer to be a yes or no question?

As in, is it ok to ask something like ‘will I pass this exam?’ Or should it be a broader question?

My gran was very much into witchcraft, she would often sit me down and explain things. I was very young so unfortunately don’t remember much of the finer details but I do remember her getting results that, to this day, I can’t explain. If I told the stories in RL people would think I’m mad. This thread has brought back such wonderful memories of her.

Elphame · 30/05/2018 11:54

No such thing as a silly question - scrying works by forming pictures in your mind so if you need to frame your enquiry in such a way that an image can give you the answer. It's not ideal for yes/no but it's not impossible given a bit of thought.

For yes/no questions I tend to use my oracle cards or tarot

Would you share some of your experiences? I know I'd love to read them!

gottaslowdown · 30/05/2018 12:09

Me too! Smile

OyO · 30/05/2018 13:36

Thank you Elphame Smile I understand it now, looking forward to giving it a try!

Hopefully I won’t be ridiculed and I’m completely aware of how silly some of this sounds (and how long it is) but here goes:

My gran always said she’d get a feeling when she was around people with darkness inside of them, like their energies clashed and it would leave her drained. She never made a huge deal of it though. My aunt (her daughter) had been seeing a man for a few months and appeared smitten with him. She brought him to my gran’s and without him even speaking my gran up and left - which wasn’t easy for a lady of her age Grin The rest of the family thought he was a really nice chap, he was handsome, charming etc.

She was then ill for a few days after meeting him, she had flu like symptoms and stuck in bed. She was also waking up with nose bleeds on some nights which she blamed on her nightmares being too vivid. She eventually said that she kept dreaming of my aunt’s new chap doing awful things. One night she was particularly disturbed by a dream and so to calm her down my mum called my aunt but she couldn’t get through. She lived too far away for any of our household to visit and so in the morning they asked another relative to stop by her house.

When he got there he found my aunt dead at the bottom of the stairs. She was later found to have taken an overdose so it was suspected she had committed suicide.

While all of this was going on, Gran was pushing for the police to find the boyfriend. She also insisted that my aunt had written to her. There were no letters or suicide note though and this was the first we’d heard about it. Gran was getting increasingly frustrated with everyone and became reclusive plus she started drinking whisky which was uncharacteristic for her.

Roll on a few weeks and whilst clearing out the aunt’s flat, a family member came across a diary. In it, my aunt had recorded heartbreaking details of her boyfriend abusing her. Most notably was him forcing her to swallow sleeping tablets. The days also coincided with gran’s dreams. This was then given to the police but gran said it was too late.

They eventually returned to us and said the boyfriend had died in a car crash. It was an odd accident as he’d seemingly driven straight off the road but he was over the limit and they found whisky bottles in the car.

My sister and I have always disagreed about what happened. She’d say it was all just awful luck in terrible circumstances. But I always believed my gran knew what was happening which was why she was so disturbed at the time. When it was decided my aunt had committed suicide, most accepted it but gran became much darker and withdrawn. I remember her not letting me watch her do her normal (witchy) routines and she wouldn’t explain anything to me. I’m not entirely sure that she somehow caused his death and everyone put it down to karma but I suppose they essentially involve the same thing - the universe’s reactionary energy.

Gosh that’s very long and I sound bonkers. One of my other stories is much less dark but probably more bonkers. I suffered with alopecia as a child and cried about it to my gran. She did some sort of healing on me and my hair grew and grew. I’ve had a huge mane ever since Grin

speakout · 30/05/2018 14:19

Oyo- no it isn't bonkers- it a very sad but powerful story.

Thank you for sharing it.

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gottaslowdown · 30/05/2018 18:56

OyO thank you for sharing. Very sad for your Aunt & family. Sorry for your loss.

I feel sure I have had ancestors just like your Gran, only I wasn't lucky enough to meet them. I've always found certain people draining & negative, but have not really explored it further.

Ashedload · 30/05/2018 19:06

Sorry for your loss OyO. I hope you don’t mind me jumping in here to ask for advice; I was raised on an island that still holds all the old traditions as very much part of every day life - for example saying hello to the little folk crossing a particular bridge so as not to offend and cause harm. I have since moved and want to add a little charm to my home to protect my family. Could anyone advise anything to pop over the doorway to ward away spirits?

speakout · 30/05/2018 19:19

Ashedload hi- that sounds a lovely tradition.

There are lots of things you can do to protect your home. Bells, a horseshoe, a home made mojo bag. I grow witch leek ( sempervivum) near my front door, you can chalk a sigil on your doorstep, keep a bowl of salt near your front door, or iron work, old keys, witch balls ( fisherman's float. keep purification herbs in bowls at your threshhold.
Keep a witch's broom near the door to prevent negative energies from entering, and never use a mat which says Welcome! I am careful who I invite into my home.

I do have a Scottish Brownie who lives in my home ( a type of house elf), he can be helpful, but steals stuff- so we keep him sweet. We have a door that leads to his home in our house- like this.

Any witches here?
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Elphame · 30/05/2018 19:41

Thank you OyO - that's a very sad story. If your Grandmother had taken steps to enforce justice who could blame her.

Ashedload In addition to speakout's suggestions you could plant a rowan tree by your front door or make a charm out of two rowan twigs tied into a cross with red thread. I am a huge lover of hagstones ( stones with natural occurring holes through them). I have them placed strategically around the house....

My main warding though is a protection charm held in a flying witch doll suspended in my front porch which was a very uncharacteristic gift from my mother. It carries the power of a mother's love as well as the charm I added so doubly powerful

speakout · 30/05/2018 19:44

Elphame how lovely to have your mother's support like that.

My family are mostly unaware of my activities, and are deeply christian/born again so would completely freak out at the idea of a figure of a witch.

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Elphame · 30/05/2018 19:56

My mother had no idea what I do which is what made the present so uncharacteristic of her! Well I don't think she does.....

She has made a point of never asking so I have never said. I think she must at least suspect though! It might be all the cauldron shaped planters in the front porch and a couple of besoms in the corner that give me away Wink

speakout · 30/05/2018 20:01

Oh I see Elphame.

My family are the type not even to have christmas trees= too pagan- in the house or buy a newspaper because it has a horoscope section.
They talk of stuff being "iffy", ie has Satan's influence.

Living life in such fear must be hard.

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Elphame · 30/05/2018 20:07

Oh heck- that is a bit extreme. Yes it must be dreadful living in fear that Satan is out to get you through the Christmas tree.

My grandfather was a chapel minister and reading between the lines my father had a pretty joyless childhood. Sunday all he could do was read the bible, attend (and then teach) Sunday school and attend chapel morning and evening.

Since he left home he hasn't willingly set foot in a church since other than family births, marriages and deaths

speakout · 30/05/2018 20:12

Oh my goodness.
That must have been difficult for your father.
My nieces have been brought up in a very strict faith. One no longer speaks to me because I sent her a christmas card ( well it said " Seasons Greetings" with a picture of a deer on it a few years ago.

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gottaslowdown · 30/05/2018 20:34

Crikey. Families eh? Smile

Maybe it's a good thing I didn't meet my ancestors. Though I have a feeling I have already. That sounded odd didn't it! No evidence of course.

Making notes about all these objects that have found their way into my home... now I'm learning what they are, thanks all. I always wondered why I had hold of such a random collection of stuff. Wish I'd kept the besom that someone made me age 16 Grin

cheshiremama89 · 30/05/2018 20:36

I love this thread!
I've always felt a pull towards magic and feel I need to know more.
Often when I find things out it's like I remember them rather than discovered them for the first time.

speakout · 30/05/2018 20:47

In the past few years I have felt confident enough to come out of the broom cupboard to a number of people.
Friends. OHs family, some of my own wider family, business contacts, gym mates. OHs colleagues even know what I do.
I have been overwhelmed by the positive reaction- and so many people " confiding " in me about feelings and interests in the craft that they had kept hidden, or strange things that have happened, of their own personal leanings or asking my advice.

I suspect- as this thread shows that many of us have a deep " memory" or instinctive feeling that witchcraft or magic is something that has been meaningful to many of us as a society.

Centuries of persecution, fear and ridicule mean that few want to voice these feelings.
To me it's about reclaiming- on many levels.

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