Any Witches Here ? Part 2

[speakout]

Or Wiccans. or Pagans? Or anyone who is interested in a magical path or feels some magical stirrings.

A place for support, learning, swapping ideas and magical inspiration

All welcome.

I have had a wonderful weekend with friends, much laughter and happy energy shared.
Unfortunately my DH hurt his ankle on Saturday night. We have followed RICE but this morning it is more swollen so I have just dropped him at A&E.

Good morning everyone

Hope your dh recovers quickly queenrollo

Ah speakout how wonderful to have access to ancient woodland, I wish I did. I'm going to explore my local woods soon, they're a walk away but within walking distance.

I was enjoying the conversation yesterday about religion male power figures and this morning came across one of the saddest posts I've ever seen, although not in the way you'd think. There's demonising women and then some, look at this!

Slight panic- sister has just announced she is coming to visit next year and will be staying for a month!! Yikes. She lives abroad so rarely visits.
She is heavily into Baptist/Pentecostal religion.

She is going to freak out coming to my home.

Yes but her beliefs don't trump yours. If she's a guest in your home then she should respect your views, easier said than done I know.

Does she know you're a witch?

MidnightVelvetthe7th no she doesn't know I am a witch.

Thing is her actions and feelings stem from a place of caring, of fear for my soul.

It's not quite the same as simply another religion.

She would see my involvement in witchcraft as something extremely dangerous.
I have caught her in the past sprinkling holy water around my home and saying prayers to exorcise the "evil"

That was years ago, and then I would have only the odd pagan object lying around.
Now I have a lot more stuff, bowls of salt, hares, herbs, prints,
witch's leeks at my door,crystals and of course my work .

A casual visitor may actually not notice these things, but my sister spends a lot of time trying to dodge Satan, so she would instantly recognise the occult significance of much of this stuff.

She is so fundamental in her belief that she won't even have a christmas tree ( too pagan)

Oh speakout can she not stay somewhere else? You can't live together for a month!

We have no other family unfortunately.

Wow, that's a difficult situation, speakout.
In your place I'd be tempted to explain a bit and suggest she stayed nearby, as she wouldn't be at all comfortable in your house... but indeed, it isn't the same as just another religion, when they're taught that we are evil or misguidedly serving the forces of evil, or whatever.
My own parents were rabidly Christian and thought I was the devil's daughter for being independent, foul mouthed and sexually active.. I never came out to them as a witch; they would have exploded. As it is, they disinherited me.
Do you think that an interfaith involved Christian priest/vicar might have some ideas?

Thanks- even worse is she is coming over Halloween.

A very special time for me- I always go to town decorating the house, we get lots of kids at the door, I make spooky food and have ghostly goings on for the best part of a week.

If you have to tell her, is there a different word you can use, such as pagan or druid, something that doesn't have the connotations of witch?

Oh that is an awkward one Speakout

Oh well bugger it.

I am not ashamed of my choices. If she feels uncomfortable in my home then she can stay in a hotel.

@speakout
Luckily I've never had to deal with this sort of thing. I've had the occasional raised eyebrow and that's about it. And of course, the "do you dance around naked" question (in this climate??!?).

Just catching up a bit, interesting discussion as ever..

Gee thank you for the book recommendation, I'll definitely have a look.

Midnight that fb post is terribly disturbing. Us women must have some power if people will go to such lengths to make us out to be evil. I think there's some jealousy in there too- women's sexual and reproductive power is great. 'The Vagina Monologues' come to mind.

speakout you have my empathy- I come from a similar background. My own mother was upset yesterday at the thought of me not being 'saved' and the implications for my soul. I love your final thoughts on the matter though- funnily enough I'd just seen the attached image when I read your post.. (apologies if anyone's offended by the language)

Thanks guys, you are such a bunch of wise women.

I will not be forced into feeling ashamed or feel that I have to hide my craft like some dirty secret.

I will carry on as normal.
My home is a happy one.

Good for you @speakout.

Having a break from decorating the hall stairs and landing. Catching up on everyones posts.
My dear cat woke me up at 5.30am this morning urgh!! But at least I had the pleasure of watching the sun rise. Got straight to work been a bit unmotivated lately around the house due to it being so warm. But the rain and change in weather has spurred me to get the home nice a cosy for winter.

Ittakestwo

That sounds lovely- I get stupidly excited at the beginning of Autumn.
I bring out my lanterns, extra throws and cozy stuff.

I have been doing stair work too- I discovered an infestation of carpet moths!! A couple of areas are eaten, so I have been cleaning and killing the critters!

speakout I really respect you for standing up for your beliefs, your house and your practices. We are all here to back you up!

I am loving this autumnal weather. Yesterday my boys picked blackberries and I made a roast dinner and crumble. Me and my older son stirred magic into the crumble 😍 it felt like an impromptu feast to welcome the changing season.

ThatsNotEvenAWord

Thank you.

Your crumble sounds amazing.

I too have been working on the stairs! Also moths..

Thatsnot that sounds gorgeous, perfect to welcome the new season

Right, back to work- interesting that both moths and stairs are symbolic of transition and transformation!

Can I ask how long each of you have been practicing and how it came about?

I’ve been practicing properly around 6 months so I’m very new. I’ve always had a leaning now a look back. I was a barefoot child always out in a puddle of mud making rose water out of petals etc. I’ve been interested in and studied divination for a few years and kept a dream journal. I loved the festival of the seasons but I didn’t think I could identify as a witch unless it was hereditary and then a read the book “Witch” by Lisa Lister that a friend passed to me and I decided this was something for me to study.

Ittakestwo I have been practicing since I was a child- my maternal grandmother taught me scrying, divination, knotwork- she never called herself a witch, and thought everyone did these things!
I continued my practice as a teenager and as an adult, learning all the way.
So I have been practicing my craft for 50 years,

Thank you @speakout so nice that these traditions are passed on.

Ittakestwo like you, I've always had leanings- as a child I had strong intuition and could 'read' people's energy and just knew things that had happened to them. The women on the maternal side of my family read tealeaves, playing cards, would lay on hands to heal and would accurately predict what was happening within the family.
However, I was brought up Christian where these things were seen as evil...
it never left me and I have been 'practicing' for the last 25years.
I'm not particularly knowledgeable or advanced, but it's a very important part of my life and who I am.

Thank you @Zaphobebblebrox.

It’s weird when you look into your childhood and past how paganism is always there. My matriarchal upbringing was disorganised due to mental health issues. But there was always nature, Mother Earth to ground me. When everything in life is inconsistent you look to the the things that are, like seasons, moon cycles and nature. As a child they always fascinated me.