Witchy Day 25: How do your close ones feel about your Path?

I hid my beliefs for a few years, at the beginning. Coming from a Catholic background, I didn't think it would be welcomed with open arms. But after a while, it was really starting to wear on me. I didn't feel comfortable faking it anymore. At first, my mother was not happy. Well, "not happy" is an understatement. She was livid! And then we just didn't talk about it. Simple enough. It' s not like I flashed it around. I just didn't bring it up. I politely declined Mass, kept my alter under wraps, stuff like that.

Years later, her nosiness won out. She had become curious in my inner comfort. She wanted to know how I could feel so at peace with the world when I didn't accept Christ. She began to ask questions, and I tried to answer, but she still doesn't quite get it. No longer asking many questions, Mom has decided to just accept it.

My inlaws are a whole other story. Raised Baptists, they do not accept my path. One has even gone far enough as to shoving a cross under my mattress in hopes that Jesus would watch over me. <--True story! I found it when I flipped the mattress. I in turn put a satchel full of hops under her bed. She didn't know that it was just going to help her sleep better. I let her believe I put a hex on her. I found it rather amusing anyway. (Hubby did too) I did tell her eventually, but I proved my point.

My true friends know what my beliefs are and have never tried to "convert" me. A few share the same thoughts on life, the path, and so forth, and it truly is a blessing to have others that I can talk to about the craft. There's not a large Wiccan community where I live so there's not too many people to share ideas and spells and such.

All in all, I feel that those around me can either accept me and my beliefs, or they don't. I really don't care. An' it harm none, do as thou wilt. Right? To quote one of my favorite authors, Jaqueline Carey, " All Ways lead to the Way". Meaning that in the end, it doesn't matter how we get to where we're going, it's what we do to get there.

44 Days of Witchery

Witchy Day #1



What's your witchy background?


I was born into a Catholic family, so the transition was not so smooth. To be honest, if I were to have been asked 20 years ago what I thought about Wicca, I would have scoffed , shown you the cross around my neck and backed away from you quickly. It was after all, imbedded in my head that anything other than what I was raised to believe was wrong.
But after a few years of serious soul searching, I realized I wasn't happy in my little bubble of beliefs.
I began to read about other religions and came to the conclusion that I was looking in all the wrong places. The answer really was right underneath my nose. Or, underneath my toes, shall I say. And over my head as well. It was as if a giant cloud opened up above me and showed me what I had been missing all along. I guess you can say I had an epiphany.
I knew in one moment that I was a child of our Goddess. I really don't know how else to explain it.
I do know that I am grateful for the knowledge I gained in my search for a calling. I have a deep respect for many of the Eastern religions. And the history of the mainstream religions come in handy when living in the bible belt. There's a lot of close-minded people out here that don't want to see the outside of their box. And that's ok with me. I'm not here to change them. That's not my path. I am here to learn. And learn I shall continue to do.