I am a witch...and?

For my very first post I wanted to write a bit of an extended "About me" thing, so here it goes:

What does it mean when somebody or rather when I say "I am a witch"? For non-witches it might conjure up the image of the old hag on a broom, flying into the full moon. For the fundamental Christian or Evangelical it might mean a devil worshipping something, something….*sigh*. Some might think that I’ve gone nuts! Others again might be curious and full of questions. If you are one of them, you are most welcome here, as are my fellow witches, of course. I can’t actually say what it means for someone else to be a witch, as I don’t believe there’s a one-size-fits-all definition, but I can give a little insight into what it means to me.

For the practical part, it means: I observe and celebrate the witches’ Sabbaths, the 8 festivals on the Wheel of the Year and the lunar cycle. I feel a strong connection to nature. I believe in Gods and Goddesses, even if that’s putting it way too simple as it’s an entirely different feeling and image than the one that is promoted and was taught to me in the Catholic Church. I believe in and practice Magick and I don’t buy into the black or white definition of it. I totally love and embrace the witch stereo type!

Image of me at the Rollright Stones a few years ago.

Black clothes, pentagram tattoo, long red hair…I even sometimes wear a pointy hat and have a black cat…and a tortoiseshell, must not forget her!

Our black cat Prince posing with some pumpkins last Samhain.

I also read Tarot, love herbs and their properties, am addicted to incense in all it’s varieties and so on…. That’s all just for starters and partially window dressing, there’s so much more to it, but I have already mention lots of words that might be entirely new to some of you reading this. Sabbaths, Wheel of the Year, Magick with a ‘k’ at the end? Each one of these words almost deserving an entire blog post in itself and I am sure that will happen eventually as the wheel turns, but for this first blog post all I wanted to give you is a glimpse of what it means to me, to be a witch. It is something that I AM, not something I learned or became.

That might sound controversial as obviously there’s plenty to learn and no, I definitely didn’t wake up one day knowing about rituals, sabbaths, the Goddesses and Gods, divination, spells…no, no, no, that’s absolutely not what I mean.

What I mean is that the first time I heard about witchcraft and witches I realised ‘that’s me!’.

I knew it with every fibre of my being, as they say. Drawn to the elements, feeling the energy of nature, smelling the change of the seasons, a fascination with the occult, the list goes on. It felt 100% right, I am a witch! After that realisation the learning started and it has never stopped since. In the beginning my beliefs had to be way more hidden, there was quite a bit of pressure to go to church when I was in my teens. Luckily not by my parents, as they weren’t particularly religious, but I grew up in a very catholic environment in Germany.

My mum in particular was very encouraging to explore ‘other stuff’ when it came to religion and spirituality and she didn’t even flinch when I brought home my first spirit (Ouija) board when I was around 16.

Still, there was no open practicing and learning. Likeminded people were difficult to find, there was no internet for research ( we are talking the Eighties here) and the next ‘esoteric’ shop was miles away.

Anyway, I am drifting off the subject…it all just made me more determined to find out about witchcraft!

You might have noticed that I have not mentioned Wicca yet, often considered the ‘religion of witchcraft’ or the belief system linked to Witches. In any way, I am not really Wiccan, even if I share a lot of the beliefs and practices with Wiccans. I consider myself an eclectic witch, which means I don’t follow a specific practice or path, but rather gather practices, rituals and beliefs along the way and incorporate them into my own. I do not belong to a coven, but I am also not entirely solitary, as I enjoy exchanging ideas, getting together and celebrating the Sabbaths in circle with other witches and pagans. Sounds contradictory? It isn’t for me!

My Yuletide Altar a few years ago

As I said, eclectic not contradictory. The things you can be certain about in witchcraft though are that there’s ALWAYS more to learn and that it’s highly individual.

I know there is plenty of terminology above that definitely needs more explanation, but I will just leave it for now and know there will be plenty to chat about in future posts. I hope you’ll stick around for it. In the meantime I would love to hear your thoughts. Are you a witch? Are you curious about it? Not sure? Let me know! Blessings to you all x