Nosy Witch Questions

Death: Do you believe in, or have experience with past lives?

I would consider myself open to the possibility but not certain.  Once or twice in my life I’ve had these intense dreams where I found myself in the past living a different life and knowing that it was me, but I wasn’t my present self.  In one of these dreams I was a member of the French Resistance in Paris during World War II.  There were details that were just so vivid, like the quality of light under the street lamps in the night and this very real sense of danger as I ducked around the occupying soldiers.

It certainly gave me pause and it does make me lean strongly in the direction of believing that it could have been a past life echo.  I would love to learn a more about people’s theories of past lives and that sort of thing.

How about you lot?  I’d love to know what you think.

Nosy Witch Questions

The Hanged Man: Which area of witchcraft are you least familiar with?

I don’t know much about hexing or cursing or binding, beyond what you hear about in pop culture.  I also don’t know much about Bruja or Santeria workings and that kind of thing.  I would love to learn more about it.  I don’t think I would try to work it myself because I wouldn’t feel right about it because it’s not my heritage and I don’t want to be appropriative of something that doesn’t belong to me.  But I think there are definitely things I could learn from witches of color.

I think the best way to do that learning to find other practitioners who you respect and listen to what they’re saying.  I’m not advocating stealing or adopting their practices en masse, but building awareness of the diversity in witchcraft only helps us.  The workings of my sister witches have so much to teach me and I’m always thankful to learn from others, just as I hope that my practice can help other people too.

Also if you’re a witchy person of color and you’ve got a blog where you talk about your practice I would love to read it, share your links in the comments!

Nosy Witch Questions: Wheel of Fortune and Justice

Wheel of Fortune: Do you practice palmistry?

Nope.  So here’s another question.

Justice: Do you work with plants and herbs?

I do.  I’d love to find more ways to include green witchcraft into my practice.  I used to always think that I had a black thumb and would kill plants, but over the years I’ve gotten greener.  It sort of helps that we have a house with yard space now so we’re not trying to grow plants in the darkness or on a tiny porch filled with wasps (who built a nest in our heating vent and caused the heat and air to stop working) while living above the asshole downstairs.  Seriously, in our last apartment there was this guy downstairs who used to scream at neighborhood children and once came upstairs late at night and banged on our door after we had gone to bed to shout at us about making too much noise.  Seriously, bitch, we were ASLEEP.  I made the apartment complex install a door chain after that.

But all that’s behind us.  We have a pretty house with a little bit of green space and we’re slowly starting to learn how to increase the plants around our house.  We’ve rejuvenated two beds right in front of our house, built a bed beside our driveway, one around a big tree in our backyard, and we still have some beds that I want to transform.  I need to get a little bit better at long range gardening planning, at the moment we sort of just plonk things down into open spaces and see what happens.

But I LOVE IT!  And we’re learning so much!

 

Nosy Witch Questions: The Hermit

The Hermit: Are you a solitary witch or are you part of a coven?

I’m pretty much solitary, unless you count my sweet wife.  We practice alone together.  We’re an eclectic pair of witches who love tea and cats and glitter.  I’d sort of love to be a part of a group, but I’m a little hesitant to join something as structured as a coven.  I don’t like a lot of dogma in my practice.  I would imagine if I found just the right group I’d enjoy it.

I’ve participated in a few weekend group witchy things and I’ve loved those.  I’ve met some more local people a few times but I’m a big introvert and I often find that I like the idea of practicing with a group rather than actually doing it.

Nosy Witch Questions: The Hermit

The Hermit: Are you a solitary witch or are you part of a coven?

I’m pretty much solitary, unless you count my sweet wife.  We practice alone together.  We’re an eclectic pair of witches who love tea and cats and glitter.  I’d sort of love to be a part of a group, but I’m a little hesitant to join something as structured as a coven.  I don’t like a lot of dogma in my practice.  I would imagine if I found just the right group I’d enjoy it.

I’ve participated in a few weekend group witchy things and I’ve loved those.  I’ve met some more local people a few times but I’m a big introvert and I often find that I like the idea of practicing with a group rather than actually doing it.

Nosy Witch Questions: Strength

Strength: Do you cast spells?

Actually not all that often.  I’ve worked in large rituals and I do like to do little energy raising sessions to send energy to people who need it.  But I don’t do much spell casting.  I do intention setting and meditation.  I’ve got a little personal mind block when it comes to spell casting I think.  All of the early things I read about casting spells had these little rhyming spoken parts which rubbed me the wrong way.  If rhyming spells is your thing, rock on.  There’s definitely something to rhythmic speech and poetry that changes it from regular speech and I can see how that would make for a great way to differentiate spell work from just talking.  It’s just not what works for me.

I use meditation and visualization when I’m working.  It’s what works for me and makes sense for me.

But who knows, my path has meanders and curves that I can’t see around yet, maybe I’m just waiting for the perfect spell to smack me upside the head.  Ask me in a year and it might be different!

 

Nosy Witch Questions: The Chariot

The Chariot: Favorite witchcraft tools to use?

Is it a little too on the nose to say Tarot cards?  *grin*  While, yes, it is a little bit obvious, they’re my favorite tools.  Thanks to a bit of a tarot renaissance and some truly awesome indie artists the world of Tarot cards is getting more and more diverse.  While we still have a long way to go in getting more diverse representation in Tarot, I am delighted at the progress that’s being made.  I can actually find queer witchy decks, years ago if I’d wanted that I would have had to create the deck myself from scratch and even if I had, I wouldn’t have had a way to share it. Now I can find a deck for just about any kind of energy I want to work with and that is amazing.  Now, if I could only stop buying new ones…

Kidding. Mostly, I’m going to keep on collecting them like the tarot magpie that I certainly am.  Even if I don’t get to read with all of them as often as would be great, I want to keep supporting deck creators by giving them my money in exchange for amazing decks.

I also like using herbs and plants, lavender is my absolute favorite plant ally.  This year I’m hoping to harvest some of my own home grown lavender that is growing in my gardens.

I also get a lot of use out of candles in my work.  I find the act of lighting a candle helps me clear and designate a space and time for sacred work.  It gives me something to focus on when I’m getting started.  Clear my thoughts, light the candle, and watch it flicker and dance.  I also like the ritual of choosing the appropriate color for what I’m working on.

What are your favorite tools?  What should I try next?

 

Nosy Witch Questions: The Lovers

The Lovers: Which sign or signs (zodiac or elements) are you most attracted to?

I like me some earthiness!  You know that quiet place you go to in your mind to unwind and relax?  Mine is a cottage that’s built at the edge of a sun-dappled forest and a huge field of windswept grasses, in the distance there’s a mountain with a water fall.  Inside the cottage there are rustic wooden tables and bundles of herbs drying over head and a hearth fire going.  I sink into a comfy sofa and have tea and scones and I have jar upon jar of dried and fresh herbs all ready for magic making.  Earthy comforting sanctuary.  I also imagine a water wheel outside.  It must power something in my magical cottage, but I haven’t explored that yet.  It could be that it represents my wife (she’s a Scorpio and I’m told that’s water).

I love going into herbalist shops where they have those walls of herb jars, it just makes me feel so RIGHT.

Nosy Witch Questions: The Hierophant

The Hierophant: Best advice you’ve ever received from a witch?

That I was a witch.  I know it sounds a little bit silly and redundant, but seriously.  I went to a gathering of witches that I was invited to along with my wife.  And I went, sort of thinking, okay, they invited Wife because she’s a “Real Witch” and I get to come along too because I’m a little bit witchy too.  But I didn’t believe in myself as a capital letter “W” witch.  I didn’t really feel like I was in the same league as everyone else.

Hello, Impostor Syndrome, the annoying roommate of my entire life who never washes the dishes, steals my food, and doesn’t pay rent.  Would that I could serve you an eviction notice for good.

But a wise witch friend told me that I was absolutely supposed to be there and that I was just as much a witch as anyone else there.  And it stuck.  And I was a witch then and have continued to be.  It helped me to realize that I didn’t need some kind of authority to wave a wander over my head or give me a certificate to be what I knew I was.  Only I could do that.

And it doesn’t matter that my practice isn’t perfect.  That I don’t manage to do some big ritual for every sabbat and esbat or that I don’t manage to do my Tarot daily draw every day.  No one is perfect and being a witch doesn’t mean that I have to be perfect.  I’m still human and I’m allowed to practice however it works for me.  Now, this doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t strive to keep improving (note to self, daily draw, right after this post!  😉 ).  But it means that I can be a work in progress and still be a witch.

And so can you. ❤

 

 

Nosy Witch Questions: The Emperor

The Emperor: Favorite place to practice your craft?

At home for the most part.  I like peace and quiet and privacy when I practice.  Whether it’s reading tarot cards, setting intentions, or spinning/knitting/creating magical things I love to be in my studio.  I’ve got all the materials I like to use close at hand and an electric kettle for a cup of tea when I need a boost.

My second favorite place it around a campfire.  I love campfires in that primal instinctual way that humans have always gathered around a fire.  I love to build campfires and take pride in laying and lighting a good fire.  There’s a special kind of energy around a crackling fire or a cozy hearth that you can’t find anywhere else.  Part of that is the Girl Scout in me and all those years of learning to light one match fires.  You were the Most Awesome if you could start your campfire using only one match.