Someone pinch me!

Oh my word, I can’t believe this has happened!

I want to start by offering you the very warmest welcome to my new website! I have to tell you that those are words I never thought I’d be writing but here we are. I am absolutely chuffed to bits that we have got this new, quiet space, away from the chatter of YouTube and the craziness of Instagram, where we can just ‘be’. This is something I had always hoped might be a possibility, but had no idea how to set about doing and quite simply did not feel brave enough to do anyway. All that changed when a particular person entered my life…which I’ll tell you about in a little while.

Now you might know me already, in which case hello again! It’s so good to have you here with me on this exciting new stage of our adventure. If we’ve never met before, a big hello to you too! My name is Alison. I’m a fifty-something Witch originally from Sheffield, South Yorkshire but now living in Chesterfield in Derbyshire with my lovely husband Mark and with George, my feline partner in mischief. I knew I was a Witch from a very young age - I would say from the time I was in junior school - but at that age, I just felt that there was something ‘different’ that I didn’t understand. It took a very long time for me to really acknowledge and understand who I was and as a result I only fully embraced my true self quite late in life, about thirteen years ago to be precise. During that time I have dipped my toe in many Pagan Puddles but I always come back to the same place. My Craft is simple, based on love and respect for Mother Earth, my Womanhood, and on seeking the magick in the mundane. As I get older I find myself not feeling the need to take part in elaborate rituals with lots of other people (although I have done lots of that and I have loved every moment, and it doesn’t mean I won’t do it again). As far as my Craft goes, I am at the stage where I thrive most in my own company, working either out in Nature in my incredibly beautiful local area, or in my own space at home. I think my home is the very foundation of my Craft and if you’ve watched my videos on YouTube, you will have heard me say that I believe that your home becomes inherently Sacred Space as you continue to practise. You don’t need to cast elaborate Circles or designate a particular room to your work, unless you want to of course and have the room to spare! But my point is that if you are a Witch, you are always a Witch. Witch is a verb as well as a noun. Witch is something you do, as well as something you are. I feel that the online world is literally raging at the moment, even in the spiritual area. We constantly get told that we’re doing it wrong, it doesn’t look right, it won’t work or it isn’t ‘real’, whatever that means. I want to tell people that the only Craft that matters is your own.. How it makes you feel, the results that you get, and how you hold yourself accountable. We are all on different paths - and they are all the right ones for us.

I want to draw us together to share our experiences. To talk about how we arrived at this point in our lives. To be a safe and inclusive place for all Witches (although if you are not a Witch or choose to call yourself something else, you are just as welcome to be here with us). I do not gatekeep and I am here to inspire, not to instruct. My Craft probably looks very different to yours and that’s fine. All I can bring to this particular table is my own story and experience, and I really hope you will bring yours too. I feel that older Witches are very under represented but that we have so much to offer. Our life experiences have shaped us in ways that younger Witches (good luck to them) do not understand - not yet anyway.

I love books and tarot, and I love music. I love clothes and makeup. I love pebbles, shells, sticks and feathers. I love tattoos and I have got lots. I love to make beautiful things with my hands. I love to write and colour and stick things in books. I love my tiny backyard garden. I love to cook delicious food. I love zooming around in Monty, my Mini Cooper. I love my friends, my job, and the town where I live. I love derelict buildings. And I absolutely worship my cat (of course I do, they designed it that way). My husband is my rock and my soulmate who I love with my whole heart. He keeps me going, he believes in me and he accepts me just as I am. I am very, very lucky and I try to keep an attitude of gratitude, especially when things get tough, which they inevitably do from time to time. Oh and I love coffee. I really love coffee.

I have just mentioned that I love my friends and I’d like to tell you about a particular few who have shaped my Witchy life in very special ways. Very early on in my journey I met a very special couple (who I am not going to name, because they don’t actually know that this website is a thing yet, and I haven’t checked that they are OK with me telling you about them). They are the most unashamedly Witchy folk I have ever met, who make absolutely no apology for themselves and own every single aspect of their Craft. They have taught me so much and have also told me harsh truths when I needed to hear them. They invited me to join them and participate with them and learn from them. They made me think like a Witch and encouraged me to grow in my own power. I have spent some of the happiest and most magickal times of my life with them, and they have also been there in some of the darkest times. I am so grateful for them both. I love them and I love being with them, whether we are in Ritual together or having dinner as friends. There will never be a time when they are not in my life, this one or the ones to come.

As the Wheel turned and Autumn approached last year, I met Rachel. She contacted me through my Etsy store which lots of people do and I love, but for some reason her message just jumped off the page and hit me square in the heart. We arranged to meet and I could not contain my excitement. We went for coffee (of course we did) and we spent three hours together. Those three hours went by like three minutes. I had so much to tell her that the words couldn’t come out quickly enough. By the time this encounter was over, my throat was so sore I couldn’t speak anymore. This beautiful, gentle woman with her goddess hair and the warmest hug just ‘got’ me. I felt like I had known her forever. And I was so, so excited because I knew that ‘something’ was happening. It turns out that she is the reason that this website has come to be. Because she helped me discover that I do have faith in myself, I just needed to know how to channel it. She has the technical skills that I don’t, which has been a huge boost. She has spent hours turning my jumbled ideas into something so utterly perfect and ‘me’ that I can’t get over it. And she has done it from her heart and has asked for nothing in return. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have found her and I cannot wait to see where we go from here. Rachel, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are the epitome of Witch, and I adore you.

Anyway. My eyes are a bit blurry (must be the incense smoke) so I will finish for now. I just wanted to tell you a bit of how this whole thing came to be. I am so excited right now. And I am so glad you are here. Thank you xx