Call me a Witch if you like. I have been called many things. My heart warms to words like: Pagan, Magic, and Personal Energies. If that makes me a Witch in your eyes, so be it.
My path, like many of yours, is a winding route filled with rocks and pebbles. Trees and bushes have blocked the view at times, but metaphors grow old and rot away. I have always allowed the wind to blow me in the right direction (literally and figuratively). The Gods know me well.
Raised by a woman who believed all faiths to be connected, I craved theological understanding. My self-imposed studies showered me with information. Holy books and philosophy texts provided some great truths, but the balance presented me with well-drawn lines─lines of division I didn’t fully connect with.
I crossed a specific boundary when I left behind monotheism to embrace the male and female aspects of the Gods. My mother’s Catholic upbringing influenced me greatly, but in ways she never expected. Those roots led further than Christ, back to a time when humans worshiped the land and understood the true meaning of sacrifice. I clung to “the old ways.” They danced with me.
The beliefs my mother passed on never changed. “Religion is a man-made concept,” she often said. I doubt she will ever know how correct she was, or what a service she offered me by allowing my spirit to find its proper way.
By eighteen I was studying Scott Cunningham and Gerina Dunwich, but it was not until I went shopping and found a curious pop-up book sale that Sybil Leek’s, “Diary of a Witch,” spoke to me.
Books are sacred. They always will be.
My habit of closing my eyes and sliding my fingers over the bindings lined on bookshelves often led to new ideas. During this excursion, I was graced with an old copy of Sybil’s great story. The bright red cover held no pictures or even the title. It sat blank in my hands, but the pages screamed for attention.
I bought the book for much less than it was worth. Her story is one all spiritualists should read. She is a constant guide and reference. Learning about her connection to Aleister Crowley disturbed me at first. Like many, I believed him to be an evil man. I couldn’t understand how someone so good could be connected to such a brute.
Since then I have learned better.
History is full of misunderstandings. Doing more research on Crowley has lifted my concerns. Books often aid me in learning the opposing side of all great feuds/fears. Pagans and Witches often know the bitter truths of being misunderstood. We harbor a deep history. It lurks in our past.
My Pagan roots came calling long before I learned how far back my family tree tangled itself in magic, sprouted from things left out of books.
Like all writers, I sit before a manuscript for many reasons. Writing about my beliefs offers relief, understanding, power, and guidance. I first began publishing articles and essays for The Witches’ Voice and got a piece into Circle Magazine before it was shut down. Since then I have found a community (starting where I live in Saint Louis) that reaches all the way around the globe. I met Selena Fox at the annual Pagan Picnic, and have sold my Pagan children’s books in numerous cities.
This book was born from all of those experiences, but it mainly sprung from you. The letters I received and continue to get from other Pagans and people of all faiths (one of my first readers, a Christian Priest on the East coast).
They hold many questions.
I am no expert, but I try to answer as best I can.
I have practiced the art of “knowing thyself” for a couple of decades now. Magic and spiritualism are my life. Connecting with nature and its creatures is my world. Focusing my energies to create balance is a never ending goal.
I am a Witch. I am a Pagan. I am everything, just as you are.
Here are my answers and here is my tale.
