Articles

An Open Letter to My Second-Original Witch Club on our 5 Year Anniversary

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Posted October 29th, 2021

I’ve been thinking of you a lot lately, with so much fondness and appreciation for your part in being with me 5 years ago this weekend, at Samhain, when I revived Witch Club after a long 40+ year slumber. What started as an ardent – but quickly thwarted – dream when I was 6 years old – the First Original Witch Club, with me and 3 of my closest friends who convened on the playground in Northfield, CT – came back to me as an urgent response to the troubling times we live in.

You might remember that we convened for a night of mindful magic-making, maintaining momentum, and manifesting dreams. In other words, we gathered to reclaim our individual and collective power, and this is what I call “Magic.”

My approach was/is less occult magic and more practical, results-based magic, using simple tools and techniques to enhance, transform and align our everyday experiences. Tools include tarot, stones, ritual, aroma, astrology, enneagram, NLP, journal-writing, nature, and more. 

Over the last five years, I’ve experimented with ways to keep this going. Some of you may have joined me for the first few gatherings centered around the Wheel of the Year. Others may have come and gone through Moon Magic Monthlies, as we built and fortified a more dedicated journal practice in alignment with the cycles of the Moon. The most constant output from these efforts has been my monthly “Of Light & Shadows” newsletter, which continues today.

As life keeps twirling on by, my energy has ebbed and flowed for what is, at its core, my Life Path – the calling of the Witch: that is, someone who embraces the mysteries, seeks to work with energies in service of the highest good and greatest joy of all, learns from and connects with the spiralic cycles of Nature, works to dismantle systems of oppression and power-over, and actively reclaims the beauty of my own true nature.

I’ve been struck by how being an “out” Witch is still something of a risk. I’m still advised to keep my “professional” offerings separate from my more spiritual witchy ones, and I notice the mostly-nonverbal micro-judgements when I reference the value of using tarot and astrology as creative gateways for insight and understanding. As a highly-sensitive person, this opposition has affected me. I’ve been challenged by marketing my life’s work, ascribing value (monetary, time) to what emerges from my own blood, sweat, tears, and joy, and otherwise mapping my path in a consistent, sustainable way.  At times just within the last 5 years, I’ve reverted to financial stability (non-magical work) at the expense of having the time and energy to devote to that which fills my soul, while at the same time continuing to reject the notion that it’s an either/or game. This is still something I’m reckoning with, and I also trust that what’s for my greatest good is interconnected with the good of all.

Mostly, these last 5 years have strengthened my resolve to keep cultivating my inner Witch power and boldly respond to a Calling. This, too, has become the cornerstone of my coaching and training practice. I believe that each one of us will transform the planet when we respond to our Calling. I remain especially interested in connecting with those who walk the Path of the Witch.

I’m still hosting Witch Club-inspired events, and the original intention rings true: through mystical guidance, we hear and heed our Calling. We explore a practical-magical-realism approach to how we navigate change, juggle our commitments, prioritize our desires. We build our magical toolkit with various ways to create intentional, inspired change, and to find peace and alignment in our bodies, minds, hearts and spirits.

Mostly, I’m sending this message just to say Thank You. Without you, I would not have had the momentum to explore the edges of my own magic and what it means to do this practice, to reconnect with my own Magic, in the company of like-minded seekers. I’m still learning, still exploring, and I hope that we can continue to cross paths on this incredible life journey as/when you feel called. 

Until then, Happy New Year, Witches!

All my love and gratitude,
Lisa
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