Michele’s Story

I think I’ve always been a Pagan at heart. According to my family I was a wild child. I was raised Pentecostal and then Catholic. The Holy Roller church that we went to was always talking about witchcraft. If it wasn’t God’s work, it was witchcraft. They instilled some bad ideas about it but I didn't listen much to what they said. I just rebelled. 

I was 16 when a metaphysical store opened in my town. I walked in and fell in love with the place. I was in there every day. Finally they said, “If you're going to be here, we’re going to teach you something.” So they started teaching me Wicca. My family didn’t know; I went to the shop in secret. They did ritual on a regular basis – full moons, new moons, and sabbats, and I joined in for all of it. They were Gardnerians and through them I earned my first, second, and third degrees. 

The author, Ray Buckland, was an early influence. Buckland was what I cut my teeth on. I always held him in high regard. I read everything he wrote. He autographed a book and I was so starstruck I couldn’t speak.

My first husband wouldn’t let me practice. He burned my books and got rid of my tools. He would keep me up all night lecturing me about how bad witchcraft was. My daughter had a Wiccaning – a ritual to celebrate the birth of a baby –  but that was the only Pagan thing in her childhood. I taught her to respect nature and to respect other religions. When my daughter was 13, a friend of mine told her I was a witch. 

When I met Mark, the man who would become my second husband, I was afraid to tell him I was a witch. My daughter actually told him. But in fact, Mark was totally fine with it and asked me to teach him about it. It was such a relief! My daughter started out interested, but never really asked me to teach her anything. When she got married to a Christian man, she became Christian and was very opposed to me being a witch. When she left her husband, she became open to witchcraft and now she is practicing as well. 

For 20 years or more I was Wiccan. Then it started not really hitting home with me; so I started to just practice a Wiccan-ish type ritual. Then I found myself. I’d missed the Appalachian mountains. I started looking into the folk traditions and mythology of that area. I didn’t know where to find information until last year. I was interested in all the things, mainly the arts and crafts. I went to a workshop with H. Byron Ballard and it changed my practice. H. Byron Ballard is an Appalachian witch. She knows the folklore and the old ways. I want to be her when I grow up.

Ever since I was little I wanted to be old. because I knew that older people were always more nurturing and wise. I had a hysterectomy; I knew I wasn’t going to be mothering any more. So when I turned 50 I got my croning. It was a small rite but it was meaningful. It felt like I’d come full circle and had become the person I had always wanted to be. 

One time I went with my daughter to a friend’s grave, up on a mountain. She kept crying and saying she wanted it to rain. The next thing you know, we're in the middle of a thunderstorm.

One day we asked Loki for help with money and help getting a new car. We were headed to ritual when we got rear-ended. That accident provided money, a car, and a very important lesson: to watch, not just what you ask for, but whom you ask. 

I like that witchcraft makes you take responsibility for yourself. If something goes right we don’t have a god to take the credit, and if something goes wrong we don’t have the devil to blame. We have to put the responsibility where it lies, usually that’s with ourselves. I don’t like it when people claim to be witches without putting in any of the work. 

In the past, witchcraft often had to be kept secret, at the risk of a witch’s life. It’s a good thing those days are behind us, at least in the western world. My friend outed me to my daughter and my daughter outed me to my future husband. I guess I was never meant to be in the broom closet!

My advice for seekers: Find your community if you can. Community will help you learn, it will make you feel a part of something. They’re always pulling for you when you need it.