"I'm a lineage witch"...

and other fairy tales.
Ok Iadmit it I was once on of those young teens who claimed that they were from a family of witches. (Don't. Gimme That. Look)

The Salem Green, where Rebecca Nurse & the other 18 accused are remembered.  

I was sane enough to know to not claim to be a descendant of any Salem Witches (O_O), but it was close.(oh my dears i have heard some lineage claims that would make you cry with laughter, i.e " I can trace my family line back to Cleopatra of Egypt" )

Aww my loves believe there is no need to point out that children  especially teenagers do & sometimes say stupid things to impress their friends. Unlike most newbies, I had researched several books from the library beyond the pagan theme (1990s people just saying) . I read about how some of the natives of the "old country" acted and remembered how my family acted and came up with the brilliant idea that we were actually witches!!! (Ahhh the wonderful reasoning of a 12 year old let loose with history lessons)
I can even remember a particular (uncomfortable) conversation i had with a friend

Dave(not his real name)  " How comes you pick up all these books to read ? Whats so interesting about the Druids?" (fifteen mintus later is where the convo gets interesting)

Me " Well my father's Grandfather is from Scotland (true) and my Grandmother has the sight (true) and she taught us all this things when we were younger (also true)

Dave "What things?" 

Me " You know witchy things"

Dave " What witchy things?"

Me " You know WITCHY things, things about... about.... oh look we have a customer"

Dave " You can tell me all about the witchy things later then"

I made sure i was never alone with him for at least a week. He gave up trying to pin me down on stuff and I came to the conclusion that just because it seemed witchy didn't mean we were doing it on purpose. many of the Caribbean traditions stem from the old cultural traditions of West Africa where a lot of slaves were taken from, and they kept many of their traditions by hiding them. They also blended what they knew into what the Arawak Indians of Jamaica knew and created many of the cultural foods, dances, and folklore we have today.

Please bear in mind that the information that was out there was not filtered like it is today, hell i read some of the original information from Dianic Witches, they weren't too keen on men back in the day, (some covens are still this way, even though Starhawk has revised some of her views) a lot of the informational books didn't really verify their information I mean some of them talked about The Burning Times as if it was an actual "Witch" persecution never mind the fact that almost none of the people persecuted were really anything near being actually witches (but that's for another time).

I'm just saying, we have all done and said some pretty stupid things when we first joined this faith (I will freely admit to my rants & raves, I'll tell you about those later); so it always bothers me to hear Pagan grown elders (or so they claim) who look down at newbies to the faith. Especially at the teenagers Yes we get it some of them will drop out once the " coolness"  wears off, but to really go after them by talking down to them is kinda mean don't you think?

Goddess Alive the way some of these "elders" go on you would think they Sprang from the Goddess' head fully formed and all knowing (Good on you if you catch the reference)

The young children will be our future we all know that, not all the witches and pagans of tomorrow will have the benefit of actually being born or raised in the faith. And unfortunely many pagans and witches have forgotten that. With the predominance of the occult in movies and shows many children and adults will be drawn to us, some will leave and some will have huge impacts. I assure you Doreen Valente didn't spring forth all knowing I'm sure she made mistakes too and we sure don't hold those against all she has done for the Craft.

So now you know my little secret i used to be one of those kids, loud, brash, know it all (remember the rants)  and I grew up & grew out of it and have (IMHO) become a good pagan and a service to my community.
Instead of being mean to those kids, mentor one or two who seem to really want to learn, the fakers will fade away in time and more genuine witches will show up.

As for my friend Dave, he's actually a  witch, which is why he pressed me so hard for my "witchy" details, And he's a credit to the community because instead of writing me off like most would have; he helped me into becoming a better witch, one of the first things he taught me :
                                               "To Know To Dare To be Silent"


What are your witchy mishaps dear readers? Anyone confront you about your faith, challenge you to look deeper? When did you know you were walking the right path?

As always
Safe Flying