Any Witches here? Part 20

[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..
This is the 18th thread- anyone looking for a deep dive into juicy magical topics may like to browse previous threads.....
It is a long list!!
Part 1 //www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3241689-Any-witches-here?pg=1
Part 2
//www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3338025-Any-Witches-Here-Part-2?pg=1
Part 3
//www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3366411-Any-Witches-Here-Part-3?pg=1
Part 4
//www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3404406-Any-Witches-Here-Part-4-Edited-by-MNHQ?pg=1
Part5
//www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3437092-Any-Witches-Here-Part-5?pg=1
Part 6 //www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3482023-Any-Witches-Here-Part-6?pg=1
Part 7 //www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3520269-Any-Witches-Here-Part-7?pg=1
Part 8 //www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/a3568622-Any-Witches-Here-Part-8?pg=1
Part 9 //www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3637696-Any-Witches-Here-Part-9?pg=1
Part 10
//www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3726266-Any-Witches-Here-Part-10
Part 11
//www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3850635-Any-Witches-Here-Part-11
Part 12
//www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/3997761-Any-Witches-Here-Part-12
Part 13 //www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/4116107-Any-Witches-here-Part-13
Part 14www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/4213962-Any-Witches-Here-Part-14
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/4328830-Any-Witches-Here-Part-15?msgid=113505801
www.mumsnet.com/talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/4435233-Any-Witches-Here-Part-16?page=40&reply=118807589

www.mumsnet.com/talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/4598225-any-witches-here-part-17?page=40&reply=122990208

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/philosophy_religion_spirituality/4717929-any-witches-here-part-18?page=1

Beautiful photos blanktimes, thanks for posting.

It was a gorgeous day here today so we took a trip to the beach, very windy but spring is well and truly in the air. Some of my family are coming to visit over the next couple of weeks as it’s the school holidays, I’m so looking forward to seeing everyone.

speakout thank you, my wisdom tooth is doing much better. I agree with you, it does feel like my life has been scattered. I’ve always wanted to be a mum and I adore it, but some days I do feel out of sorts. It’s getting better now we are out the very new baby stage, I’m starting to feel a bit more like myself again.
I’d love to visit a women’s circle but there don’t seem to be many near me.
I’m sorry to hear it has been a challenging week for you, but I’m glad to hear your visit from your daughter and your yoga has been helpful.

BlankTimes gorgeous pictures! I love seeing the spring flowers.

Does anyone feel particularly weird today? Is it anything to do with the moon or the lunar eclipse?

I think I've mentioned before, when in a customer facing role, we often used to find that any spectacularly odd behaviour which seem to affect customers collectively, it would turn out to be full moon!

Yes EmmaEmerald I feel quite anxious and on edge today. It’s very interesting that you have noticed odd behaviour from others during the full moon. I have heard about there being an increase in women going into labour when there’s a full moon, I know that was true for me!.

I’m spending some time in the garden tonight and then I will do some yoga before bed. I’m struggling to incorporate lots of magic into my daily life as it is so hectic at the minute but I’m enjoying the small things I can manage.

@RosePombear Thank you and I love your username.

Yes, it was a very definite thing with customers. I was in that role for six years and we all noticed it.

Obviously you get individuals behaving strangely… But whenever there seemed to be collective strangeness, we would check the calendar and - there it was! It’s actually one of the reasons I started paying attention to the moon - because I could see the effect in real life.

I would really like to go out for a walk, but it is freezing and now raining as well.

Thank you EmmaEmerald. I hope the weather picked up today for you so that you could go for a walk.

It was a really misty start to the day this morning. I had my breakfast in the garden, I’m looking forward to using it a lot more over the next few months.
Last night I wrapped up warm and took some time out in the garden to read under the moon and then finished the day with some yoga.

My maternal grandad, his wife and my uncle are coming down tomorrow to visit for a couple of days. My uncle is only 17 so I’m quite stressed about entertaining a 17 year old boy😂. Then next week I will be hosting my dad and his sisters which will include a 15 year old, 14 year old, 12 year old and 11 year old. Then 2 more sets of grandparents will be coming next week, as well as my other auntie and uncle. The joys of having divorced parents and grandparents!.

Hi everyone, I was on here last year, not very much I might add. But just found it a lovely kind corner of mumsnet. Just bookmarking really to come back to. I live a very quiet life and don’t have any contact with anyone else who is interested or involved in witchcraft etc. I tend to be quite secretive so this doesn’t help I guess! Just wanted to say to everyone who is struggling with difficult situations at the moment that I really hope things get better.

That sounds a very full on week ahead RosePombear- are you cooking for everyone?
667TheNeighbourOfTheBeast glad to see you again, and thanks for the kind wishes.
I don't have anyone in my life who is walking a magical path. My OH and adult children are very supportive but don't practice themselves. My inlaws are also very supportive .
I have a few friends who are pagan-curious but none that practice ( to my knowledge), I find yoga classes great for meeting people who are like minded, or have interest in spiritual practice.

It has been a hard couple of weeks recently, OH has been working away for much of that time, and I have been holding the fort here, working, looking after two adult family members- the shopping, cooking, clearing the kitchen, laundry etc.
I have been paddling hard just to stay afloat, and making sure I take care of myself too. I see the kitchen this morning needs some attention, so I will do that in super fast time before my 9am yoga class.
I have found meditation so helpful when things are tough, when I struggle with feelings or emotions I take myself upstairs to my cosy place, and feel a great deal better after just a short session.

I hope you all have a magical day.

@speakout Thank you. You sound like you’re under a lot of pressure at the moment. Would you be able to get any help ,a cleaner if that’s feasible or help through social services if the situation with adult family members isn’t temporary? It just sounds like such a lot for one human to do! I hope you don’t mind me saying this, I get really pissed off when my husband offers solutions instead of listening so I’ll shut up and won’t take offence if you do mind !

My husband and adult child are aware I’m a Pagan, my elderly mother would have a fit if she knew although she jokingly calls me a witch as I often call her when she is thinking about me or have dreams about stuff before it happens. She would be very scared if she knew. I don’t read Tarot cards myself but this is the sort of thing that terrifies her even though she had been a couple of times with friends. I think a lot of it is to do with her Catholic upbringing.

I have one friend who knows who is open to “alternative” spiritual ideas etc but others I’ve known for years haven’t got a clue !
Sadly due to ill health I wouldn’t be able to manage yoga not even gentle stuff. There doesn’t seem to be much going on near me in person since lockdown. I’m a member of Pagan Fed.

667TheNeighbourOfTheBeast thanks for your concern. My caring responsibilities are not totally full on, and I try to minimise my workload. I make sure there are ample microwave meals, salad, fruit, meat, bread etc in at all times so I mostly only cook shared food - a pot of soup - or for myself. I make sure my own diet is very healthy OH keeps on top of kitchen tidiness, bins and shopping, and laundry I love doing. I work pretty much full time and yoga is a high priority.

My own family would be freaked out if they knew I am a witch. They are mostly christian fundamentalist, but thankfully don't live in the UK.

I am glad I don't have to attend any school assemblies this week. Usually the local minister would be wheeled in to give a hellfire sermon about torture, nails through wrists, wounds blood, death and zombies then explaining how we are all responsible for the violent actions.

The children- who had their heads full of chocolate and easter bunnies would sit agog at the minister and invariably there would be a few of the younger ones crying in fear.
How to mess with kids' brains.
When I saw this was a regular occurrence I kept my children at home for the last day. Indoctrination was full on at my kid's primary school, and it wasn't even a religious school ( although technically all schools are).
We lived in a rural area- for jobs and family- so school choices were severely limited.
I still live in a ruralish area- activites are limited but I am constantly surprised at what is on offer locally.
The council run gym offers a packed timetable of yoga classes, a new monthly women's circle is starting next month, I have a sound bath and cacao ceremony booked in the next few weeks. All within 2 miles of my home. I feel so very fortunate to have all this on my doorstep.
Off to start my day, I treated myself to a pot of cleansing face balm yesterday, I used it last night and feels so silky and nourishing to my skin,
I will put my fresh clothes on the radiator to warm- along with my yoga clothes for later. I have a citrus candle to energise my morning, and a couple of soft fluffy towels to nurture myself. I moisturise my feet with coconut oil just before I put my socks on- good socks are an indulgence for me. I have bbeen experimenting with mocca recipes this week and think I have the winning combination.
My morning rituals have become embedded, I really enjoy my soothing start to the day, it connects me with the goddess, and allows me to feel strong and calm.

Have a divine day sisters.

Morning sisters. Crashed and burned here. Mother now in a care home which she hates. Daughter furious at me because it is apparently all my fault. She became abusive so I threw her out of the house we were clearing. My mothers house,home for over 40 years and now being stripped off everything. Daughter hasnt spoken to me since.
Fibromyalgia raging,been off work for 3 weeks. The longest I've been off my work in my entire working life. Oh, and one sister sent me a vile email about the way it had all been handled and so I am now NC with a sibling,also for the first time in my life. Proper shit show

Oh @Hedjwitch , sending love and strength your way.

Have been super absent again so hoping to catch up over Easter weekend, accompanied by chocolate!

Hedjwitch I am sending some loving support your way.

You have taken care of your mother well and your family is critical of that.
Change can be hard at any age, but I am sure your mother will settle in to your new home. Once she is familiar with the routines and makes new friends I am sure it will get easier for her.
You have done a very loving and caring thing for your mother, I know you took time and consideration before her move, she will settle in.

Your sisters are behaving badly and I am guessing it has been guessing it has been you not them who have been dealing with your mother situation.
Their criticism is a manifestation of their own guilt at not sharing the load fairly.
It is easier to project those uncomfortable feelings towards you rather than examine their own actions.
I have little time or patience for anyone who treats me badly- sister or not.
I am NC with my sister - we haven't spoken directly for 5 or 6 years, but even a short time NC gives time for feelings to mellow.

I became tired of my sister barking demands at me over the phone, she has visited the UK twice in the past 20 years, so no real involvement.

My sister became angry that I wasn't making sure our mother was having krill/turmeric/avocado oil on her cereal, our mother preferred coco pops. My sister is aghast because she joined the "wrong " church-and wanted my help in attending the "correct" church.
I told her she was free to come to the UK to make breakfast or accompany our mother to church. If she can't do these things then she can't control others.

Take care of your own well being Hedjwitch - however that feels to you. Take time to have a reset, and enjoy a pause- for now at least. Your own well being- physical and emotional are top priority. x

@speakout I’m glad you manage to fit in self care and your OH helps you too.
@Hedjwitch so sorry to hear of all this trouble in your life, it must be one of the most difficult decisions to decide if an elderly or ill parent needs to be in a care home. I really hope with time it all settles down for you. 💐

@speakout Sorry i meant to say in my last post about schools with religion etc, just awful this type of Hell and Damnation preaching so damaging. Are you in Scotland by any chance ? I get it’s not exclusive to Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 but the Calvinist doctrine is still very strong in parts of the church there. My father and husband are both Scottish I’ve spent a lot of time there. It’s very hard with schools, my local primary school was C of E and didn’t really push the Old Testament type stuff but ideally I would have preferred a non religious school for my child, I never mentioned paganism or my own beliefs until they were older.

667TheNeighbourOfTheBeast yes, Scotland. The calvanistic flavour still pervades education unfortunately.

All schools in Scotland and I believe in England too have an obligation to "lead active worhip" " christian in nature"
I was elected to the board of governors when my kids were at primary school where a fervent born again christian was headmaster. Assemblies had prayer, local clergy in attendance, many of the teachers were christian , the whole school day was peppered with casual remarks about god, bible stories religious art. I asked the head at a meeting about the quantity of worship and was told it wasn't up for discussion. He was within his rights ( which is true)

There are no secular state schools, only "non denominational ", in practice that means teaching staff can deliver as much or as little indoctrination as they wish.
My choices were limited as we lived in a rural location due to work and family, so I had to have regular debunking conversations with my children.

@speakout so difficult and yes I did the same as just couldn’t cope with the logistics of a school outside the area. Like you say so much depends on who is in charge and how “fervent” their beliefs are. The local primary school held regular events at the church where the children would put on a play etc and the local vicar would speak but the middle school wasn’t tied to the church and they did have people from other religions come in to talk to the kids which was I guess at least a balance. I’m presuming the evangelical head master didn’t know you were a witch oh my goodness can you imagine ? lol.

I think also people in England don’t realise how different the Church of Scotland can be, I think it was Stephen Fry who described the Church of England as a hobby church!
But there has also been an explosion of “born again” Christianity in England too and that I find the most disturbing. I had to let a friend go who had begun attending one of these churches as it was literally all they were able to talk about and I was feeling more and more uncomfortable and unable to be myself. There is a huge pressure as well for them to recruit people.

667TheNeighbourOfTheBeast yes, Scotland has endured particularly ruthless times due to the protestant church, fuelled by Covenanters and Presbyterianism.

The harsh puritanical regime was misogynistic and thirsty for blood. Government and law were controlled y the church, setting up the stage for the witch trials which were to last 200 years. Celebrating christmas was also banned during this time- that ban lasted almost 400 years in scotland.
Even now the impact is still felt in our communities- the Secondary school that my children attended was built as a multi- campus school, and housed three different existing schools- a non denominational ( mostly children from protestant backgrounds) a Catholic and a Special needs school.
The idea was that all three schools could share common facilities- sports and swimming pool, dining hall etc.

Within a short time a high steel fence was erected in the playing grounds to segregate the children - staff were not happy about the mixing, fights and violence amongst the children common.

The dining hall was split into two, large high barriers erected to keep the children apart while queueing and eating.

Timetables were adjusted to prevent mixing and fighting in the streets while children were walking to and from school.
Just horrendous- these are children living in the same communities living next door to each other being manipulated by systems of hate and exclusion invented by adults.

My DD dance school ( where she teaches) had booked a church hall a few weeks ago to run some dance classes while their regular venue was having repair work carried out.
A few days after the booking my DD had a call from the minister seeking to cancel the booking. He had accepted the booking before he knew that there would be dancing on a Sunday which was not in line with church policy and would have to cancel.

I mean really???
The greasy tendrils of the church extends into many areas of our lives- social political, educational, financial, and underpins the fabric of power, giving permission to and fuelling patriarchy with its bedfellow misogyny.

Sorry for the mini rant, but I have strong feelings about the church and its influence.

Just popping back up. I lost my way a bit but firmly back on track and really exploring my path again.

@667TheNeighbourOfTheBeast I love your username - I laughed when I saw it! I am a solitary practitioner too but my DP is very supportive. This thread is amazing and I’ve learned so much. It’s helped me find who I am with much more confidence. Thanks especially to @speakout for this space.

Sending love and light to everyone. I’m so sorry to hear people have been facing very difficult times. I hope things get better.

@speakout I’m shocked at the minister cancelling a dance class as it was Sunday ! If you had told me this was 30 years ago or more I wouldn’t have been surprised. My husband is in his 50s and has been in England 30 years and his mother was most upset that he was playing with the Catholic boys and girls. It’s so sad and it makes me angry too that this is still going on!

I saw a TV program about life on one of the islands (think it was the Hebrides )and it was mentioned that the minister would perhaps have a word with you if he saw your washing out on a Sunday, tbh I just dismissed it as a particularly rabid minister and island life being a little behind the times.

I am very into history generally and particularly Scottish history(I know more than my husband does!) so I know that Scotland embraced Puritanism much more than the English did and hasn’t really shaken it off in a lot of ways. I blame John Knox among others, a hideous misogynist!

Have you seen the Lucy Worsley documentary about witch hunts in Scotland ? It was not easy viewing and definitely something that would make any reasonable person angry.

@OfTheNight 👋 thank you, my name is courtesy of Terry Pratchett I believe it was going to be the follow up book to Good Omens before his death.

Some photos of The New Forest , not any recent ones as it’s hardly stopped raining recently !
The one of the white stag was taken by my husband very early in the morning a few years ago and sadly I wasn’t with him. Would have been so amazing to see this.

More photos, snow drops in the churchyard of an old Saxon church, I find this a very spiritual place, and I’m sure everyone here knows that churches were often built on pre Christian sacred sites. There is an huge ancient Yew tree here too which I’ll post a photo of when I’ve found out how to edit myself out of it.
Apparently Holly is bad for the ponies(I have no clue about horses but this is what I was told) but they love it, I suppose it’s like people and chocolate!

My family went home today. It has been really lovely to have them visit but I’m looking forward to my little break before more come along next week. I have sorted through my wardrobe and DD’s wardrobe and put away our winter clothes in favour of more summery clothes for our capsule wardrobe, then I checked the weather forecast and it’s rain and cool weather for the foreseeable🤦🏻‍♀️.

speakout it is quite full on, I grew up in the midlands and that’s where my family live but we live in the South West now so usually family come and stay for long periods over the school holidays as it’s too far to come in term time. My DM and DGM live nearby and they have a holiday caravan that the rest of the family can stay in when visiting so I don’t have to cook for them thankfully. Sometimes I will cook for them but usually only one night a visit and in the summer it’s a BBQ or buffet so not too much effort.
I’m sorry to hear that things are quite hard for you at the minute, it does sound really difficult. I’m happy to hear you’ve found things that help though and are still making an effort to go meditate and do yoga.

Hedjwitch I’m so sorry to hear things are so tough. I’m sending lots of love your way and I
hope you are able to take care of yourself as much as possible in all of this💕.

667TheNeighbourOfTheBeast those are gorgeous photos!. I love ancient trees, they’re so magical.

Everyone I know knows that I’m a pagan. Well everyone that I am close to, it’s not something that I tell acquaintances but I suppose most people don’t discuss their beliefs with their acquaintances. I was always a bit of a free spirit so I don’t think it was unexpected that I wouldn’t follow my family’s Christian beliefs, they’re all very supportive though, I’m very lucky to have the support that I do.

It’s so interesting to hear about experiences with religion in school. I went to a non-religious school but we still sung hymns once a week and said a prayer at the end of every assembly and were reminded of the story of Christmas/Easter etc at that time of year. Although I would say we learned more about other religions in RE, so it was a bit of a mixed bag. In high school there was only RE where we were taught about religions, we had no more hymns or assemblies but it was a very diverse school so that may be why.

Ostara Blessings dear sisters.

And to you. 🌱💐