Image: Roberta Tocco
“No single decision you ever made has led in a straight line to where you find yourself now. You peeked down some roads and took a few steps before turning back. You followed some roads that came to a dead end and others that got lost at too many intersections. Ultimately, all roads are connected to all other roads.”
Deepak Chopra
This topic has been on my mind for months now, and the memo pad in my phone is building up with all the blog ideas I have—along with pieces of poems, rituals, herbal remedies, chapters for the books, and all sorts of random bits of my brain.
It’s about time I sat down and got some of this energy out.
I used to perform word alchemy every day, I would literally get anxiety if I hadn’t written by 9am—it was madness in its purest form.
I would force myself to sit down and write, get the words out, even if the execution wasn’t flawless (and in an Artist’s eyes, it never is—flawless, I mean).
We pick apart everything we do, everything we birth because it is part of us and nothing that came from something so flawed could ever be perfect.
That is why we create, after all, because we see the flaws in ourselves and are able to paint with the blood of our wounds.
I create because I am cracked—because I have been broken down and risen from the ashes innumerous times. I create because I am a survivor and have stories to tell. I create because life has caused some blows that left me with two choices: React or Channel.
The former was how I handled things many years ago, in what seems like another life; the latter being what saved my life. The latter is what gave me the wisdom to understand that rage has a place.
Channeling that rage is what gave me purpose.
The path I took to get here has been bumpy, full of twists and turns, unexpected situations and more pain, and tears than I dare (or care to) recall. But, it has been a path of great reward and I wouldn’t change any of it for anything in this world.
I have learned about my Ancestral roots; I have learned about the Gods and how they impact our lives as Archetypes and actual deities; I have learned about and come to respect the variety of Spirits that exist beyond the veil; I have learned about the power of Shadow and the grueling work required to incorporate that into my whole; I have learned the power of plants, and the Spirts they possess; I have learned that I am my greatest weapon, ally, and tool.
I have learned all of this and so, so much more because I chose to forge my own path; because the Universe left me with no other option.
As many of you know I am a Luciferian, which is the Philosophy I hold but I am a Traditional Witch by Craft and Practice (Trad Witch).
Traditional Witch/Witchcraft is an umbrella term used to identify a large group of Witches. The practices vary from Witch to Witch because Trad Witchcraft leaves a lot of room for personal interpretation—which is why I believe it is the most obvious path to take.
Conversely, this reason is exactly why so many people avoid it altogether: it’s too broad.
But, it’s also not at the same time; it’s a Soul calling.
I walk this path because it’s full of wonder and peril, it’s both thrilling and shocking, comforting but brand new; I walk this path because it forces me to face my wild nature, and become one with it. I walk this path because the lessons to be learned are limitless.
I walk this path because it let’s me create my own roots.
I am sure the vastness of Trad Witchcraft had something to do with the reasoning for it being called the Crooked Path.
You could put three Trad Witches in a room together, ask them all the same questions and the answers will vary—sometimes (often) greatly—between each of them.
For example, there are many Trad Witches I know that equate RHP with light or white, and LHP with dark or black. Saying, “I need both hands to practice Magick”—which IS true but that is not what RHP and LHP are.
You can’t tell someone how to believe though.
I think RHP and LHP being PHILOSOPHIES is wayyy too often confused with the concept of duality, and being a ‘Gray Witch’—or someone who uses both “White” and “Black” Magick (I say it in quotes because Magick is neither black or white but everything).
The point of this blog is, there are many reasons why Trad Witches find this path, and we each carry such different ideas about what it is to be a Witch.
That part is really important, too because it shows (proves) that Witchcraft is NOT one size fits all, it was never intended to be, and there is no one way to your end destination.
It’s okay to take detours, it’s okay to get lost—in fact, I encourage getting lost, and hopping off your path for a little while and seeing what else is out there.
Collect what resonates, honor and leave what doesn’t; create your belief, create your tradition, create your Craft.
Life is about adventure, right?
Well, so is Witchcraft.
The whole topic brings to mind that damn quote which has haunted me for years from Life of Pi that I have mentioned before: “Faith is a house with many rooms.”
Witchcraft is also a house with many rooms, and many roads that lead to it—
Most of which are Crooked,
The best kind of road there is.
