The Beginning: I was always Wiccan, apparently.

Hi! Merry Meet (that's a common way people who are Wiccan greet each other). Right off the bat, I'm going to say that I am a witch. It has taken me a very long time to accept that fact, but I am ready to fully admit that I am, in fact, a witch. It has been a long, crazy journey to get here. But I guess I should probably start at the beginning.

I was raised by an agnostic father who encouraged me not just to accept what I was told, especially about religion. He never forced me to attend any specific religious services, but always let me visit any of them that I wanted. I was raised by my parents, but my paternal grandparents played a significant role in my upbringing as well. My grandma disagreed with my father and felt that my brother and I should be brought up Christian. So, my grandparents enrolled us in the Sunday School at the Church of Christ. We attended most Sundays, as well as the Church service afterward, for many years. I was even baptized. Then I turned 12.

That’s when I discovered that magick was real. Now, even before the age of twelve, I was drawn to what my father would later call “woo-woo” subjects. I was fascinated with anything to do with the paranormal; ghosts, and fairies, and anything that most would call “fantasy.” I was a prolific reader as a child and always had my nose stuck in a book. I would read pretty much anything, but my favorites were fairy tales. Well, fairy tales, and horror! Anyway, at age twelve I started reading a series called Night World, by L. J. Smith. Night World is a series about a secret society of Vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, and witches that live alongside humans. The descriptions of witchcraft didn’t feel all that fantastical to me. It drove me to research real witchcraft, which led me to Wicca.

I started my Wiccan journey at age twelve and was a solitary practitioner of witchcraft until I was 22. While attending Western Washington University, I joined a group of witches through a club called Pagans And Students Together, or PAST. For the first time, I was doing rituals and worshipping with people who shared my beliefs. It felt incredible, but I was still searching. My roommate at the time was Catholic, and she quickly became like a sister to me. We would often talk about religion, sharing our beliefs with each other. She attended several PAST events and even came to one or two rituals. In turn, I would go to church with her. I became curious and started going through the conversion process by signing up for RCIA classes. In 2007 I was anointed and became Catholic.

I have been Catholic for eleven years, but recently it just hasn’t felt right to me. Then a few weeks ago I stumbled upon the ATC (Aquarian Tabernacle Church) and their Wiccan Seminary, the Woolston-Steen Theological Seminary. As soon as I came across the Second Life campus, I had a physical response that seemed to scream “You belong here!” I was greeted by a student ambassador and next thing I know, I was emailing the person in charge of enrollment and paying tuition. It was so easy, it felt like I didn’t make the decision consciously. But here I am learning all about Wicca and contemplating becoming a dedicant to a circle.

At first glance, I’m sure it can seem that I suffer from religious multiple personality disorder. Heres the thing, I have worn many labels, Agnostic, Christian, Wiccan, and Catholic; but all these different faiths have made up the road which has led me back to where I feel I really belong. Tonight I watched a Pagan panel exhibiting at the Parliament of World Religions and the last speaker, Lord Dusty Dionne, spoke about being “born” a Witch, and suddenly it made sense. I may have worn different labels, and attended different religious services, but I am always drawn back to Wicca. That’s because deep down that’s who I am. I was born a Witch, and now I will spend as long as it takes to understand what that means.

That is why I am starting this blog. To record this journey from here on forward. I will be discussing my experiences with Wicca, but I will also write what it means to follow this path while in a wheelchair. I was born without limbs, and I think that my journey will be very unique because I will have to find ways to do things like ritual differently. I don’t know who I will reach, but I hope what I write will be of interest to some, as well as helpful to people struggling to find a place to fit in. Whether it’s because you have “woo-woo” ideas or are dealing with a disability of your own. So here is the beginning. Merry Meet, Merry Part, and Merry Meet Again.

Darcilyn