Greetings My Witchy Readers,
So many people talk with me about their magickal path and the reaction of their families. It is many times not the warm and accepting reactions one would hope to receive from their relatives, even immediate families. Yes, sadly Pagans have to deal with the same ignorance, fear and in some cases hatred and rejection as those who are of an orientation that is not accepted in their families.
Nowadays, it can be a wide range of orientations (I use this term as the best I can find)to cover sexual, religious, cultural, race, occupation, political, even athletics (some do not like girls playing 'boys' sports!!) We seem to be developing more intolerance and more things to dislike about one another than learning to accept each other with one another.
So yes, pagans, whether they be witches, Wiccan, or a host of other non Abrahamic religions. As I am a witch and Wiccan I will stick with these for my discussion.
Many times we find our families either confused, or they make fun of our path, "going to turn me into a toad" or asking us to put a spell on someone they don't like, or other stupid comments. I say stupid because they are always being smart asses and not just ignorant by this point. Then there are those who will pull us aside at a family function to try to do some quickie Christian conversion and perhaps salvation work if possible usually between turkey and cheesecake and their third glass of wine!
The inevitable yet sad truth I must impart to you, should any of this sound familiar is this and simply this, you will not change them nor will you educate them if they are not open and willing to learn. It is as plain as that. But that does not mean you cannot have family.
Your "family" is who you make it of. Who you surround yourself with. The loved ones, the supportive ones, the people who care for you and who understand you. They may be the magickal ones you find. And you will find them. Many times, a new witch on the path, this is her or his first spell and request of the Goddess, to send like minded people to them. So they can have fellowship with others like them.
I caution you, strongly against trying for the large, huge gatherings and expecting all and everyone to be loving, accepting and just perfectly wonderful. . . . Honestly, we are talking about humans, still. Magickal or not. That is also one of the first surprises for many new on the magickal path. That magickal people like groups of people everywhere, are just like people everywhere.
What I mean is there are wonderful magickal people, and not so wonderful magickal people, some are kind and some not so much, just like any group. So a small group of magickal friends, that you love and trust and these are the people who will become your family.
Again, do not stress and go to extremes trying to get your birth family or even in laws to accept your path, if they do, they do and if not then you know. At least they are not faking it, like some family members will do. Those members are apparent because they initially seem as if they are cool with what you do and how you believe but then little comments pop out that will leave you a bit confused.
But it is really clear, if you listen carefully. For instance, I had one instance when someone I know said to me in a conversation amongst a larger family gathering as everyone was chatting and many conversations were happening, " Even though you don't believe in God blah, blah, blah" the tail end of the sentence really was irrelevant as the first part floored me. She obviously had never ever listened to a word I ever said, even while smiling inanely and nodding and saying how much she understood. Not prejudiced, totally accepting of all religions, yep. Completely clueless, as most pagans I know have God/Goddess in their lives daily, moment to moment more than most Christians I have ever met. By their own admissions, God is there in church when they go, where for us our creator is everywhere, in everything in every moment in the holy and in the obscene. It can't be separated because to us all things are God/dess.
Then when having a very serious family issue dealing with a loved one and illness being told by a family member, who knows quite clearly what I am and who I am, "What does God want you to do?" again completely misses everything. I have set these people aside as they have demonstrated they care not for me and at all about what matters to me, but more about pushing their agenda. Some are obvious and I have greater respect for those, at least they are honest rather than covert and sneaky, but those who follow this path are smarter than most consider us. It is called the Craft of the Wise after all.
So carefully consider those in your life and do they support, love, encourage and bring you light or do they seek to bring you darkness? Only you can determine that.
I hope you only have light in your life.
Live, Laugh and Always Love, Ms. Faith
© 2010-2018 Faith M. McCann. Portions of this blog posting may include materials from my book “Enchantments School for the Magickal Arts First Year Magickal Studies.” For more information, see www.enchantmentsschool.com or go to the title of tonight's discussion and click, it will link you to my school's website. Please note that the copying and/or further distribution of this work without express written permission is prohibited.
If you know someone who would like my work, please send them this link. If you or they would like to receive the link to the most current weekly blog post send me an e mail with your email address. You will receive a new blog post weekly. If you ever wish to unsubscribe to this blog, please contact me and you will be immediately removed from our list.
