Were you the strange child wandering in the woods like me? Perhaps you mixed potions out of toothpaste and shampoo? Feeling completely at home in your own skin, whether it was talking to spirits or sleeping in a wizard’s robe. Those were the days before life separated us from our truth. So many things happened along the way. The witches’ journey is not meant to be easy. Our path back to the spiritual home of witchcraft is perilous. We arrive having paid high costs that are tiny in comparison to the rewards of returning home.

Tower Time: No Home To Be Found

Flash forward a few more years. My Tower Time – a reference to this card in the tarot – when my carefully constructed, yet entirely uncomfortable, life was crumbling, taking down in the landslide our home and finances. Divorce, illness, chaos. I had to tell my sons that we had to sell our home. Not only that, but just about everything in it had to go, too. If you’re a parent, you’ll know how painful that was for me. We entered a four year period of moving from one temporary address to another. At night, my youngest son and I would lay in his bed singing Phillip Phillip’s “Home.” Wherever and whatever his bed was, we sang that song for a couple of years.  For two months, it was a mattress in the basement office of a dear friend, while my oldest son stayed elsewhere. He took it all in stride, even when I had to claim his car as my own. I promised him that I would make it right. That one day we would have a real home, full of what home meant to us as a family.

Searching For Home

One morning, I decided to set out to find a certain hiking trail that I’d heard about. All I can say about that morning is that I was compelled by a force greater than me. I like to think that it was Hekate. I couldn’t find the trailhead. Instead, I crested a hill overlooking a sleepy fishing village. My eyes recognized home for the first time. My soul sighed in deep contentment.

A year later, forces led me through a series of events that resulted in renting a lovely cottage in the village. A homecoming, for sure. Yet, this dwelling wasn’t our home, even though we were in the right place. Heartsick, yet determined, I found myself wandering around constantly. One day I found myself in a large bookstore, trying not to cry. I stood in front of the spirituality section, quietly sending a message out for guidance. The answer was a book, as it so often is. Broken Open by Elizabeth Lesser gave me strength and hope when I was low on both. In that same moment, I made a promise to myself that one day my own book about Hekatean Witchcraft would be on the shelves in front of me.

Making A Home Out Of Magick

I was hustling hard to get out of a serious financial mess. Owning our own home seemed years away. I created a spell, infusing all manner of objects and a potent incantation (with a detailed list of what we needed in a home) into a witch bottle.

Some months later, I heard of a house for sale in my beloved village. There was absolutely no way that any bank would give me a mortgage, yet I persisted, going from one potential lender to another. I had, miraculously, scraped together enough for a 10% down payment. Still, each banker said they couldn’t help. While all this was going on, I signed the contract to write here on Patheos Pagan. With my first article on my mind, I set out for one final attempt, picking up a dear friend to accompany me. After the meeting with the mortgage broker, we set out for our favorite beach. On the sand, we worked our witchery, claiming the mortgage for the run-down little house as approved. I wrote the words, “Keeping Her Keys” in the sand, laying claim to this blog as the home for sharing my views about witchcraft.

Keeping The Keys To Home

The mortgage was approved. In fact, I went back to my “home” credit union that had initially denied my application and explained that I had gotten a mortgage. This led to me getting an even better deal. As for claiming Keeping Her Keys, well, this has become a home for witchcraft for not only myself but hundreds of thousands of all of you. I welcome you to this space. Perhaps by sharing my journey you’ll be inspired. Witchcraft and the magic of tenacity pays off in the end.

Being At Home

Each morning when I wake up, my first thought is that I am home. For the first time, I am exactly where my truth lives. I get to live the experience of being truly at home in my own skin. The house is chock-full of things that reflect our individual truths, and that of our family. We put our sweat and blood into renovating this place. We are supported, validated and free to be who we are. What’s more is that through my pursuit of home, I’ve met so many of you who are doing the same thing. Each day, I receive so many messages about your struggle. Persist, beloveds. You will get there. Together we can reclaim that truth buried so deep within us. Returning to that child who was so full of magic that others jealously tried to destroy it. We will come home to witchcraft.

Listen to my interview with the fabulous witches at Crossroads and Cauldrons.