Witch-ish: An Introduction

I was working in the kitchen, with my pots, my jars, and whole lot of beeswax.

“You know why I like making candles?" I asked my husband and son. 

They both seemed to understand this is a rhetorical question and did not respond but turned their attention to me for the answer. 

"Because I feel like I'm magic. I'm making light," I said. 

“When did mom become a witch?” my son asked my husband.

“Oh, I think she’s always been one,” my husband replied.

I can’t remember when I fell in love with witches, but my great grandmother was a Cherokee storyteller. Her hair was long. Her stories were magical. She farmed. She had secrets she kept about her past that no one in our family ever knew about. And, in hindsight, I think she was the first witch I knew.

But she wasn’t the only witch in my life as a child. My aunt was and is a skilled astrologer. I lived in the rural south as a child, and when my aunt would come for her visits, she read to me about astrology, read my chart to me, and taught me a little of what she knew. I was a sponge. I loved everything she said and thought she was the most beautiful and wise woman in the world, but I grew up in a Christian culture. Astrology was frowned upon, so she couldn’t teach me a lot; still, I held onto the little bit I had learned and yearned for more. I never heard her call herself a witch, but that’s what everyone else called her.

As an adult, I became fascinated with witches in literature and the witch aesthetic, and it seems like, in hindsight, there were all these signs that I was supposed to be a witch but just didn’t know it.

I minored in Children’s Literature for my graduate degree because I really wanted to study the presentation of witches in children’s literature. When I took my first job teaching at a small college in Oregon, I walked into a curriculum developed by a group of women in our department which used the Salem Witch Trials to teach students about the history of persecution of women. I fell in love with all of it and spent the next five years doing a deep dive into the Salem Witch Trials.

Over time, I began to realize that my goal in life was to live in a little cottage in the woods of New England with dogs, cats, chickens, and a large pot to make whatever “potions” I could. Somehow, I managed to make this happen eventually, but I never considered myself a witch. It seemed like a title I just didn’t deserve. I also knew nothing about what it meant to really be a witch until I slowly gathered a collection of witch friends. As I came to know them, I came to know myself.

As I have grown older, I have realized that almost all of the women I have been drawn to in my life are either practicing witches or have witch leanings like me. I recently confessed some profound experiences I had recently to a dear friend and former teaching colleague. I had some experiences that I couldn’t explain with the science I have studied. I had also started to realize I may have an ability to really communicate with animals, something else that I could not explain with the science I know. It was then that I found out my friend used to be in a coven. “I think you’re finding your power,” she said.

There was something in this conversation with her that made me realize I had been dancing around this witch thing for far too long. I felt like I wanted to go from being witch-ish to being a witch. I wanted to learn more. I wanted to grow into something that I felt I had maybe always been on the inside.

I have now asked a dear friend and witch to teach me. She has agreed, and this blog is really a part of my journey, a chance to chronicle what it is like to love being a witch but not know how to do it. I am also learning astrology from my aunt. Her health is failing her some, and it seems like it would be a tragedy for her wisdom to not be passed on.

Seba has so graciously agreed to let me share my story with others in a guest blog I will write once per week each week, as long as Seba thinks it’s worthy. I work as a freelance writer but never have an opportunity to write about my love for all things witchy. I would certainly not have another opportunity to write about my witch education.

In the pages of this blog, I plan to write about my experiences discovering my powers, the learning I will do, the witch aesthetic I love so much, the books I am reading, and the push and pull I felt as a child who loved witches growing up in a rural south that taught me witches were “bad.”

I have much to learn and hope that sharing my stories will not only help me grow but help others like me who may be witch-ish and just don’t know it yet. I hope you will join me on my journey into exploring, questioning, growing, and learning as a beginner witch. I am honored Seba has given me an opportunity to share my stories.