The season of the witch

It feels weird to say that I’m a witch. I’m not the biggest fan of labels and I think I carry some of the fear in my dna of witches that were burned or hung.


I’ve always been drawn to the esoteric though. My love of fantasy as a child made me continue to look for it as I grew older. It felt real to me and so I sought out books on magic, shamanism and astral projection as a teenager.


I practiced drawing a pentagram in my minds eye just like one of the books instructed, I threw crystals for divination, I visualised my chakras, attempted to leave my body and practiced my tarot cards.


Throughout my life I have noticed many synchronicities, moments of wonder and deep connection with nature. Spiritually however I found myself following a more yogic path and have taken much inspiration from Buddhism and shamanism.

It wasn’t until last Christmas though that I found myself creating my first true spell. I felt emotionally and physically spent and was running by sheer will alone.


And so I gathered ivy for resilience and strength, Rosemary for health and created a wreath with them. I surrounded this with some shells and crystals which brought me joy and placed a candle in the middle. I burned incense to purify myself and the house and set my intent for healing.


This practice came to me so naturally and it was exactly what I needed to do.

I have spent a lot of this year in appreciation of nature. Witnessing the unfurling of buds and leaves and feeling that essence within me. I felt the transformation that was happening outside was also happening to me.


I also noticed a shift happening through social media through the plethora of #witchy #pagan posts. These things were not longer in the shadows, but people were sharing and celebrating their path.


There were very few books on the subject when I was growing up and the ones that were available were pretty heavy in their language. Nowadays every type of witch is catered for with books for spells, moon phases, garden witches, hedgewitches, kitchen witches etc. It no longer has the aura of the dark and forbidden, but more of a reawakening of a sacred path.

It actually gives me a lot of hope to see this as I believe that as women we have immeasurable power. We have long been distracted by images of superficial perfection. Told a story of how we should look a certain way and behave a certain way too.


I have no doubt that the hundreds of women and girls awakening to their true potential as healers, empaths and leaders will rattle a lot of bars on the old establishment. And a good thing too. This is exactly what the world needs right now.


A few moths ago I went for a chakra session. I knew that I was out of alignment and I needed self care at a level that was beyond a hot bath and a few candles.


The session was pretty revelatory to me as I got in touch with my energy at a core level without my mind getting in the way. I felt my connection to the witch I was in a previous life and I saw the witch that I was becoming - accompanied by a beautiful silver hare. I was surrounded by silvery light.


It was days later that I was reminded of the phrase ‘drawing down the moon’. I couldn’t remember what that meant so I looked it up and saw how it is a full moon ritual whereupon the goddess is called into your body.


This is pretty much how I felt during the session. It was profound and incredibly healing and it has left me knowing that this is who I am.


I still feel the weirdness of the word witch. I still don’t really like labels, but I want to be able to reclaim this word because there is a lot of power in it. Women all over the world are rising up and I need to show up too. So here I am. I am witch and it’s a special thing.