Any witches here?

[speakout]

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.

So hard sometimes.

My mother ( we live together) is a born again christian - as is my sister.

I have to hide so much- my mother has bible study groups and prayer meetings- I have to scrabble around and stuff things under cushions before they come.

I know you said your family wasn’t supportive Speakout but I didn’t realise you had to live with them. That must be hard.

Hi Lady and welcome. I think Speakout is right about doing a bit of work in your garden.

Sorry I’m a bit quiet at the moment. My father had a stroke on Thursday night and I’ve had to drop everything and go and stay with my mother. Luckily he doesn’t seem to be too badly affected other than his speech but I do need to be here for a while longer.

Elphame- so sorry to hear that your father has been ill.

Sending healing energy.

Elphame yes it is difficult.

My sister is a born again Baptist and very fervent in her faith.
Luckily she does not live close by, but she spends much of her time trying to fight Satan.
She won't have playing cards in her house, won't have a christmas tree in her house ( Satanic) has no friends outside her church.
She does not know the extent of my activities, but I have caught her sprinkling holy water around my home.

She would go bat shit crazy if she knew I was a witch.

My mother's church friends ( Mormon) are not so fixated on Satan.

Hi everyone.

Ive been reading this thread for the past few days and it's been like a revelation to me. Ive always been interested in witchcraft and also things like the paranormal and natural healing but would never have actually called myself a witch. I come from a very woo family on my DMs side and my grandmother, despite being an ardent churchgoer always believed in the paranormal and spirits and used to hold seances in her front room when my Grandad was at work on night shifts! My DM and her youngest sister are also very woo. My DM is jokingly known in the family as a witch. She's very superstitious and quite psychic as well.

I always thought it was just that side of the family but on thinking about my dad's mum used to read her tea leaves everyday, she had horseshoes and other lucky trinkets all over the house and had a thing about robins. She used to say robins were the spirits of loved ones passed. Even now whenever I'm down I will suddenly see a robin, and I'm sure that comes from her. Also cats were very drawn to her, all the cats in the street used to come to her house. She had an affinity with nature and loved planets and flowers.

So Ive grown up surrounded by this and it didn't occur to me until I grew up that other people didn't believe in any of this stuff. In fact I didnt believe, I just accepted it as a normal. I used to see pictures in the clouds when I was little. I wonder if I was scrying and not realising it? I feel there is so much more to this world than we know. When people die, I feel as though they've just gone somewhere else and we can't see them anymore. As opposed to not existing anymore.

I want to learn more about this subject because it's so fascinating.

ManicUnicorn welcome.

Elphame my thoughts are with you and your DF

Thank you for the healing energy/good wishes. I’ve been channelling so much healing into him that even though I was not using my own energy other than to shape and direct I’m shattered.

He has however made such progress that he’s being allowed home tomorrow

Welcome Manic

Elphame,
Also sending healing energy to your DF and for you. Wonderful to hear that he's being allowed home. Hope you are able to get some sort if rest and replenishment soon.

Speakout,
I'm empathising with the born again baptist situation. This is how I was brought up and I know how suffocating/difficult/damaging it can be. I have found it very hard to practice a 'live and let live' philosophy in the face of evangelical Christianity. I admire your strength and tenacity in following your own path that you know to be right for you.

It's lovely to hear everyone's stories as people join this thread and I am very grateful for the wisdom shared here.

Zapholdbeeblebrox thank you.

Been quite overcast and showers over the past few days.
The cool air is lovely, all the wild flowers have responded by blooming.

Today i am making lavender and violet candles, a big bain marie bubbling in the kitchen as we speak.

so ive read a chunk of this thread but obviously is now huge. I can relate to some of these and its only recently ive become alot more aware of stuff around me and what happens, why i feel drawn to outdoors and gardening etc etc... so researched the pagan route and thought yea... not a strict pagan with my own views etc which is all good. I have 2 young kids, daughter and son. Daughter also loves been outside.

Ive always felt a presence around me, im not sure but i think theyre female and theyve helped me out in ways i cannot explain when i have sincerely asked. I also get some crazy deja vu which can be funny and creepy.

Background; nothing really, both grandparents and my mother like gardening but nothing about this was ever mentioned and when i asked my mother, she hadnt known anything within the family.

Bumptybump83 you are welcome here!

Thanks very much, DD is 6yo and DS is only 10mo.... ive always thought let them choose their own path and even fought tooth and nail not to have them christened in a church. I dont believe you should it for traditional purposes when its a religious ceremony and there further intention of following that religion.... so i won that one hahaha

I completely agree.

I don't like to see children having religious indoctrination.

one thing i read, and at first seemed a bit silly to me but im open and thought i would ask/inquire... mentioned something living in the house which takes bribes etc to be nice but can cause mischief. how do you know this? and how do you know they accept or take the bribes? I have called them sprites from time to time but then sensible heads kicks in and calls it forgetfulness on my part.

100% agree that magic is everywhere and in its simplest form. Only at the weekend, i saw a hedgehog in the cul de sac and the front of the house, just lying there and so went out with some water as it was really hot. noticed it wasnt interested in drinking it but appreciated it being sprinkled over to cool down and then it just toddled off on its way, made me smile. But then that same evening, i saw (what i would say was the same one, we have 3 and the other 2 are much bigger) it again in the back garden, almost like it popped back round to be seen as it disappeared shortly afterwards again. the 2 hang around for a while and annoy the dog.

Bumptybump83 I have a Brownie who lives with us. He has a little door in the wall.
If we lose something and have looked for a while we leave a offering at his door, usually some chocolate.
Without fail the lost object turns up within a few minutes.

The chocolate gets eaten in the spirit realm.

The mechanism of this is up for debate, whether you believe that your spirit friend actually exists, or whether the act of putting an offering helps jog your memory- or maybe somewhere between the two!

It certainly works for us, it's playful, it injects some pleasure into our lives.

I think these are areas we have to decide for ourselves.
I am a witch, an atheist, with not a huge belief in the supernatural- although a keen interest in the supranatural.

Does anyone else feel the electric in the air when a thunder storm is brewing? Without fail I get a headache a few hours before one. I jokingly call it a 'thunder head'. I also have an old friend who experiences the same thing, but other than the two of us ive never met anyone else who has them. I'd describe it as being like a tension headache, the sort you get from head bands or having your hair in a tight ponytail for too long.

I love storms. I would quite happily stand outside and let myself get drenched and watch the lightning.

I use my hearthstone for my bribes (OK trades) with my household spirits - generally whenever they start to pester for attention by hiding stuff. I should do it regularly but when all is quiet I forget.

Which reminds me - My Woodland Lord manikin needs his milk and honey! I do this weekly; he is a representation of the spirit of the woods but with my father's illness I wasn't home to do it. Better go do it now whilst I remember...

Manic I, too, can sense thunder coming - it's a similar sensation to the one I get near high voltage lines. A sort of pressure I guess.

Oops wrong thread!

Yes to the thunderstorms- I love them.

I lived in the tropics for a while- fierce electrical storms and sheet lightning would rage for weeks on end.
I would dive into the sea and soak up the energy of the storm a( terribly dangerous I would guess, but exhilarating)

thanks speakout... i was more curious than anything.

more times than not, i can say to the DW theres a big storm coming, its hard to describe.

another thing i had remembered last night, which got me thinking about paganism and wiccan. DW and I visited a couple of mediums, one very good and one not so good but they both looked at me funny throughout which i didnt think much of as i was trying not give anything anyway. But they both said i had a gift and a presence

Bumptybump83

Have a magical day!

I have been emptying my salt cleansing water out in the woods this morning.

I bought a beautiful crystal rose bowl from a charity shop a few weeks ago and I have been doing a weekly cleansing.
The bowl sits on my kitchen window sill for a few days to absorb negative energy and I return the contents to the earth when the work is finished.