The beautiful village of Burley, New Forest. |
Me at the Mercian Gathering |
Initially I felt myself swayed towards the religion of Wicca. The material I read was primarily Wiccan, I watched you tube videos from the lovely 'charmingpixieflora' and 'witchontheroccks' amongst others and was inspired by them. At this point in my later teens I started practicing solitary witchcraft. Initially I would lock myself away in my bedroom and spend hours researching on the internet and writing in my book of shadows. I had purchased all of the basic tools I felt I needed off the internet and felt empowered and blissfully happy with the way I felt afterwards. The only thing missing at this point was my desire to meet with other like-minded people and to be part of the pagan community- it can be a very lonely path to start out on. I joined forums and got chatting too a few fellow pagans and it was such a joy for me to be able to talk about my interests and ask questions first hand. I had so many questions spinning around in my head that books cannot always answer. One day I was in one of the 'witchy shops' when I ended up getting chatting to a man who introduced me to his small coven and I ended up becoming a member, meeting some of the most lovely friends imaginable. I had some fabulous times with them, visiting the roll rights, celebrating the Sabbats and the Esbats and enjoyed being part of a pagan family. Unfortunately the coven have now gone their separate ways and I am working solitary again- but I have made some friends for life that I love and adore. The Coven were not a 'wiccan' coven- they were a coven of witches who practiced witchcraft. They opened my eyes to the significant different between the two (which I will go into more detail about in future blog posts) but as I developed my knowledge I cut away from the path of 'wicca' and felt more comfortable and connected with the craft itself combined with other areas of paganism. I joined a Heathernry meditation group- which again expanded my knowledge outside Wicca and Witchcraft and gave me the incentive to explore all areas of paganism in more detail. I attended a few different moots and again met some amazing friends.
My beliefs has changed alot over the years and I believe this is healthy in a spiritual path. I used to try and do everything 'by the book' so to speak, but now lean more towards doing things that feel right- I have pretty much ditched the books as resources as deep down I know I already have the knowledge inside me.
I have attended a few pagan camp such as the well know Mercian Gathering, and absolutely adore the atmosphere there. Finally a place where I can relax and totally be myself without fear of any judgement. Drumming and chanting around the fire is such an empowering experience- like nothing I had ever imagined. Camping in the middle of nature with the friendly bunch of people you will ever meet is why I look forward to camps all year long.
So that intro was slight longer than I had expected (and that was in a nutshell) apologies :) I look forward to hearing from you all, I have made so many wonderful friends along this path and look forward to meeting many more! Please Subscribe and feel free to email me or leave comments!
wonderful post! love you Darlin!
ReplyDeleteThank you sweetie! Thanks for subscribing, you are my only one! lol!! Love you too hun xx
DeleteWhat a beautiful blog! I'm really looking forward to following along!
ReplyDeleteThank you baba yaga thats so kind of you :)Im trying to come up with ideas for new posts so if you have any suggestions please feel free to let me know. Blessed be xx
ReplyDeleteOne thing I think you do really well is present information in a way that is informative to people new to it, yet also inspiring and affirming to those already familiar with the topic. So I think almost anything you touch on will be interesting. I loved the post on mini-altars, and I HAD to get a bell after reading you post on tools. I don't know if I have any useful suggestions about topics, but I'd love to hear your take on working indoors vs. outdoors, or finding the magic of nature, as in befriending trees/plants, or finding special places in nature to meditate or refresh. Make sense? Also, your experience with smudging/incense? Yeah. That would make me happy! Thanks, Lynne
ReplyDeleteThanks for your ideas Lynne I will certainly look at doing posts on some of those, great ideas:) Blessed be xx
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