{"id":676,"date":"2017-07-08T06:46:01","date_gmt":"2017-07-08T14:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/tempest\/?p=676"},"modified":"2017-07-08T10:23:41","modified_gmt":"2017-07-08T18:23:41","slug":"didnt-find-witch-life-witch-life-found","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tempest\/2017\/07\/didnt-find-witch-life-witch-life-found.html","title":{"rendered":"I Didn’t Find the Witch Life, the Witch Life Found me…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"witchlife\"I have yet to come up with a succinct Witch \u201corigin story.\u201d<\/p>\n

You know, one of those quick \u201cand\u00a0that was the exact moment I knew I was a Witch\u201d<\/em> or \u201chow I found my path in 300 words or less.\u201d It makes me a bit uncomfortable because for some unknown reason, I feel like I should be able to spit it out in a sentence, or pinpoint one moment in time.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t.<\/p>\n

And I have been reminded of this a lot in the last few weeks on tour,<\/a> as multiple people have asked me about it \u2013 oh and we\u2019ve got writing prompts this month (which is a great idea) at the Pword channel here on Patheos \u2013 and the first one is \u201chow did you find your path?\u201d \u00a0(Technically I\u2019m posting this after the deadline\u2026sorry Jason.)<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve talked about the evolution of my path several times over the last two years, and on various podcasts (including the latest episode of Down at the Crossroads \u2013 check it out!<\/a>), and you would think all of that writing and talking would help codify that origin story into a neat little format. \u00a0I feel like it has had the opposite effect. \u00a0Like, instead, I\u2019m even more aware of all of the MANY factors that have contributed to this path.<\/p>\n

The first witch I remember seeing in popular media?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Still
Still from The Last Unicorn<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mommy Fortuna from The Last Unicorn<\/em>. \u00a0I watched that movie on repeat, probably driving everyone in my family crazy. \u00a0I found her both scary and fascinating. \u00a0Her image has stayed in the back of my head for decades, bleeding through first when I called up the archetype of the crone for art reference.<\/p>\n

The first culture that fueled exploration outside the Judeo-Christian model?<\/strong><\/em>
\nEgypt. I spent endless hours pouring over the Museums of the World<\/em> reference book collection in my parents\u2019 library, especially the ones focusing on Egypt, from first to third grade. \u00a0I attended a summer camp at the shore library where the focus was on Egypt \u2013 and I internalized the myths, gods, and hieroglyphics. \u00a0Around this time,\u00a0I also read The Egypt Game<\/em> \u2013 which involves a group of kids finding a replica bust of Nefertiti and they make a clubhouse temple for her and start to devise rituals devoted to her. (It was also the most \"egyptgame\"culturally diverse cover I had seen up until that point in my life.)<\/p>\n

Travel Opens Eyes.<\/strong><\/em>
\nI also was exposed to Native American imagery very early on. \u00a0We would frequently fly to Arizona to visit my Aunt Milly and Uncle Paul. \u00a0Aunt Milly was retired, childless, and taking up painting. \u00a0I idolized her, and she and my uncle brought me to all sorts of interesting places in Arizona, showing me Kachinas, rugs, jewelry, pottery, and much more. \u00a0That probably sparked my interest in prehistoric and Native American-inspired historical fiction \u2013 where the spirits, myths, and gods of the people were part of daily life.<\/p>\n

Shells, Stones, & Bones<\/strong><\/em>
\nSpending my summers at the Jersey shore, and so I spent a lot of time occupying myself with shells and exploring sealife on the beach and in the marshes. \u00a0Armed with a small illustrated guide to the seashells of the world, I developed a shell collecting habit, which led to me learning a lot about the life of mollusks and the diverse practices involving shells (commerce and trade, divination, decoration, etc). \u00a0Stores and shows that would sell shells would also carry fossils, stones, and other crystals, so my love spread. \u00a0I had quite the shell and rock collection (some of which I still have). \u00a0I still love shells, though I can\u2019t say I\u2019m big on crystals\/stonework \u2013 though I do find them pretty.<\/p>\n

Wait, People Still Do This?<\/strong><\/em>
\nWhile I was quite familiar with Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek, and Native American mythology very early on, it didn\u2019t really register in my brain that such practices (outside of the Native Americans) were still a thing. Reading The Mists of Avalon<\/em>\u00a0filled me with rage \u2013 over the loss of those cultures and the rise of patriarchal bullshit. (FYI: the Beltane scene is cemented in my head as an amazing moment.) Somehow from there, I discovered Neo-Paganism was a thing \u2013 and I acquired Drawing Down The Moon<\/em> \u2013 the most serious-looking book in the witchy section at the local bookstore. I devoured it.<\/p>\n

Connecting with Real P-words<\/strong><\/em>
\nBut it\u2019s one thing to read about Pagans or to talk to them online (#paganteahouse on IRC). \u00a0I had yet to meet another one in \u201creal life.\u201d \u00a0I don\u2019t think I consciously met my first real Witch I could relate to until my freshman year of college. This pivotal point involved finding a Pagan magazine at the RISD bookstore. \u00a0I was doing work-study there, and the guy in charge of the magazines told me that a fellow student published the magazine. \u00a0I about died. He pointed her out one day, and I melted: she looked like she stepped out of a Klimt painting by way of Carpe Noctem<\/em> magazine \u2013 tall with long dark curly hair with big dark eyes, swathed in layers of black. \u00a0A few days later I managed to work up the courage to talk to her, and we hit it off. \u00a0I got involved in the magazine, I founded a Pagan society at RISD after she graduated to find more folks, and the rest is history.<\/p>\n

Looking back, I don\u2019t think I found the path at any one point. \u00a0It seems like I have been walking on it all along, with markers along the way.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have yet to come up with a succinct Witch “origin story.” You know, one of those quick “and that was the exact moment I knew I was a Witch” or “how I found my path in 300 words or less.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2676,"featured_media":680,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,13],"tags":[26,198,7,307,4],"class_list":["post-676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-modernpractice","category-myth-and-folklore","tag-pagan","tag-pword","tag-witch","tag-witch-life","tag-witchcraft"],"yoast_head":"\nI Didn't Find the Witch Life, the Witch Life Found me...<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I have yet to come up with a succinct Witch "origin story." 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