Merry Meet!
I'm Aria! I am a freelance writer that loves to create websites so I thought it would be really fun to create a site to document my spiritual journey. I'm an Eclectic Solitary Wiccan. I am solitary mostly because I can't find any covens close to me, my husband and I only have 1 car so it's hard for me to travel to a coven, and with two kids it's hard for me to commit to a coven with regular meetings.
Okay.. about me.. I'm in my late 30s, mom to two boys ages 3 and 11, and a wife to a wonderful husband. We live in Massachusetts. I used to work in the financial services industry, but was laid off the week before I was to go back after Maternity leave. It was the best and the worst thing that ever happened to me. The best because I was able to stay home with my new baby, the worst because after 2 years, I ended up falling into a deep depression. I became a freelance writer and transcriptionist and have vowed to never work out of the house again! Now that I've got everything down pat and some great clients, it's awesome!
I have always known that there were real witches, living in Massachusetts, Laurie Cabot made her regular TV appearances around Halloween. But it wasn't until I was 17 and went to Salem for the first time that I realized that it was a real religion called Wicca. I came home with Scott Cunningham's Guide For The Solitary Practitioner. I immediately knew this religion was for me. (I'll save my past religious experiences and history for another post.) I set up a small altar in my bedroom and I was determined to become a Wiccan.
But I was 17, and over the next few months, the Wicca book was opened less and less as I went out with friends, hung out with my boyfriend, and was just busy being a teenager. But I always kept the Wiccan's beliefs, I just didn't do any rites or rituals or cast spells, or anything like that.
In my early 20s I picked it back up again, bought a few more books, found a few local Pagans, joined a few Yahoo message groups and Internet message boards, and was once again very happy. I began to once again fully practice Wicca. My boyfriend said I was changing and he didn't like it. I was given an ultimatum. I instead went into hiding and continued to practice without him knowing. But it was very hard having to hide, again, my practice fizzled out.
After I had my first son, in the early 2000s, I again couldn't deny my spirituality. I got out my Wicca tools and resources and once again became a practicing Witch. Once again, after a few months, my boyfriend gave me an ultimatum. I again became secrative, and my practice again fizzled out.
I am never has happy as I am when I'm practicing Wicca. I got married (to the same boyfriend who gave me the ultimatums) and had another baby boy. After being laid off for 2 years, I found myself in a deep depression. Once I realized the true state I was in, I started soul searching to get myself out of the depression and get my life back in order. I wanted to live as happily as possible. I previously questioned if Wicca was the right path for me and after a lot of thinking, reading. learning, self reflection, and meditating I realized that Wicca is indeed the right path for me.
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| My altar decorated for Samhain |
I had saved most of my tools and books so I dug them out of the attic. I had the perfect piece of furniture, a buffet table/cabinet, for an altar, and set it up. It's been up ever since... which has been about 6 months. I haven't really shared my thoughts on this with my husband, but since my altar is smack-dab in the middle of our house, it's hard to miss! He calls it my swami table. I will not take any more ultimatums.. and I think he's matured too and will not give me an ultimatum. He understands how important it is for me to be happy and to practice Wicca. Since he hated seeing me depressed, I think he'll let me do just about anything to keep from being in that state of mind again.
I have recently started talking to the kids about Wicca, and ultimately, I'd love it if we could practice as a family. I wouldn't hold me breath for that, but hey, I can dream, right?! But I can still teach my son's about Wicca, if anything, to broaden their knowledge about religions and spirituality.
I'm lucky in that my family is very supportive about my religion. I can talk openly with them about it. Especially since many of them have some similar beliefs/thoughts/experiences that shows them that this is a great and credible religion.
While I don't hide my religion and I'll tell anyone that asks that I'm Wiccan (I even have it on my FB profile!) I do use my magickal name in Pagan circles and I don't talk about Wicca with my clients as I don't really want to mix my spiritual life with my professional life. At least not now.
So, now you know about me and my spiritual path, and how I got to this point here today! I hope you'll come back again and we can follow the Wiccan Way together!
Bright Blessings,
Aria
