Blessing fellow Coven Mates,
I am new here just having joined a few days ago…so I just wanted to introduce myself and share a little background.. I am 65 years old and have been a student of The Craft since age 12. I come by this honestly as my Aunt was a known medium who studied the Spiritist teachings of Allan Kardec, (Kardec postulated the Spiritist philosophy in five books written as codification of mediumship), so it is in this environment that I grew up. My very religious Catholic grandmother saw what can only be described as “my potential” and encouraged me to study with my aunt…I did for a time study Kardec but found the work tedious as it was written in my aunt’s native spanish and I was unfortunately not as fluent. That is not to say that I derived nothing from those teachings…just that they hit me later in my life in the most profound ways.
Later I was drawn to Witchcraft through the t.v. appearances and books of the more popular Witch of the time, Sybil Leek… (and of course there was Bewitched!) Sybil spoke to me in much the way that I now hear Olivia. Her general philosophy if indeed she had one, was “Have fun with it”… it’s a natural art and the more natural it feels to you the better!...(she obviously fascinated enough people to be a regular on TV and sell out books!) As a fifteen-year-old rebellious child of the 60’s this spoke to me of unbounding freedom--exploration of the universe and realms I had been taught I had no business going into. In all it had much to offer…this got me through the next phase of my life and took me places and gave me many experiences I never would have otherwise ventured to take without that release of that energy from the universe, (after all it was the Age of Aquarius…there was Woodstock!!!!). This Witch, Sybil Leek, had the cojones to came right out with her in-your-face defense of The Craft!!!... I felt I could do no less…so whether you are a practitioner or not, I am a big proponent of the Black Hat Society aspect of propagating the Culture, Art and Philosophy of Witches and Witchcraft for the sake of posterity and our own our place in history.
I am much of the time guided in the spirit of Anne Hutchinson who is described by many as the Mother of Spiritual Freedom. She was one of the first settlers to the English Colonies (1636-38)…and then banished by her settlement for challenging the religious orthodoxy at the time that prevented women from seeking their own spiritual awareness… (yes, as a religious reformer and midwife she was at some point even accused of “witchery”) She played an important part in what was called the “Antinomian Controversy” The Free Grace Theology (a theology espoused by John Cotton whom btw, is the grandfather of Cotton Mather of the Salem Witch Trials). The accusations against advocates amounted to espousing a “covenant of works as opposed to the covenant of grace”. (I take it as not sticking to the scripture and daring to explore the scripture’s intent). This movement had many political ramifications and so she, as a woman and most notorious of the bunch, was charged with contempt and sedition and banished from the colony along with her supporters. (This is a really interesting part of colonial political and feminist history that leads into the Salem Witch Trials--you might like to explore further!). She is remembered as a “courageous exponent of civil liberty and religious toleration”. She later moved to the Dutch Colony of The Bronx where she met her unfortunate end not too far from where I now live. She and her children were massacred by the Siwanoy Tribe of Native Americans …The Dutch governor having declared war (Kieft’s War) on New York’s Lenepe Tribe, the colonists attacked. In retaliation settlers were attacked by Native Americans and so it was that Anne, six of her children and the household were killed. (One child Susanna was taken captive and released years later).
Ok so now I’ve ramble on long enough, forgive me, I hope you found this even remotely interesting, I’d love to hear from some of you whom you consider important to the legacy…or anything else you care to share!…so back to y’all with Light and Love…Blessed Be