Greetings, my name is Kephera; I am a 55 year Old Woman: a wife, a mother and a Grandmother among other things, who has been involved in the Craft in one form or another from about the time I was 16 years old .

I was once initiated as an Alexandrian ... but due to my immaturity and life being what it was in the 70's I Left all that and became what is known now as a solitary for many, many, years. I moved to Washington State from California via Oregon in 1971. Had several children (5 to be exact); a couple of nasty divorces. In the year 2000, life got interesting and I became weary of being a solitary.

In 2001 I moved North to the Seattle area where I met & married my husband, Math. A few years later we were joined by my Youngest son who we affectionately call " Wort " *smooches the hubby *! Of course through Math  I came to know Moondancer & Lady Raven and was initiated into Nemed Cuculatii as a First Degree in Oct 2002.

Yes, I feel like I've come home at last after a long trip away. Many thanks are due to my husband for putting up with my long hours writing (I have a passion for writing) and to Lord Moondancer & Lady Raven for their confidence and trust in me.

Be Blessed
Kephera

Greetings and Blessed Be

I am Math (pronounced like "Mayth" - it's Welsh). And I suppose that I shall start by telling you a bit about myself. I am basically your standard run-of-the-mill 40-something yr. old - old school hippie, ex-outlaw biker, recovering alcoholic/drug addict and all around avid practicing Beatle/John Lennon fan. My hobbies consist of riding my motorcycle, and listening to my favorite kinds of music which are what the kiddies like to refer to as classic rock, Scottish/Irish Celt and Yanni. And my life's greatest passion, (drum roll please) being a practicing fam-trad witch. (No applause please, just throw money-lots of it.) 

Yes, I'm one of Raven's/Moondancer's young'uns an initiate of the N.E.C.T.W. and member of Nemed Cuculatii. I have been in and around (drawn to) witchcraft, pretty much most of my life (or should I say; this particular incarnation) I was drawn to it as a child even when I still thought it was something of the once-borns red-skinned, goateed bad guy. (Did I tell you? I am also deeply grateful recovering (ugh!) Catholic.) In the mid 70's I became drawn to a university district occult book shop by the name of Beltaine's which I didn't know it at the time would play a quite pivotal role in my life. The shop owner's Leon and Pat befriended me, and gratefully so steered me in the right direction.

Unfortunately, smoking dope, doing lots of recreational drugs and drinking heavily (not to mention getting into the outlaw lifestyle ) would wind up taking over my life and screwing me up pretty bad. for the better part of 20 some years. Anyway, until about 1998, I had made a pretty righteous mess of my life, had drank myself out of my 2nd marriage and basically got told by doctors either quit or die, I decided to seek out my religious beliefs and find those who teach me. In doing that I was blessed with my teachers, mentors and now my H.Ps. and H.P. Lady Raven and Lord Moondancer. I am very grateful, for being blessed first with them, my coven mates, Nemed Cuculatii, and my whole N.E.C.T.W. family.

Goddess's Bright Blessings
Math

What's the buzz? Tell me what's a happenin'; what's the buzz, tell me what's a happenin'...

Hello. Some of you may have read some of my previous little looks into the life of a teenage witch, while others of you may have not. I am a witch, raised into witchcraft, and trained by my "family". One day I hope to have enough confidence and understanding to pass on the knowledge I have gained from my teachers to the next generation of Wiccae. I am currently 18, which for most groups is just barely old enough to consider for training.

I have many aspirations. The first and foremost on my mind is to complete my high school courses, followed by getting a job - perhaps a summer internship at the local PD, and then completing the requirements and as many prerequisites for my intended college major at a community college. For those interested, I have always wanted to be in sciences, and my intended major is criminal sciences (forensics, psychology, and criminal justice). More information on my dreams and life is available at my LiveJournal.

Here's the Buzz: Life is always going on, so never claim that there is nothing to do. You may get bored, but you always have something to do. Read a book, take a walk, learn a craft, sleep, meditate, play video games, anything. If nothing else, you can always breathe. I know that I get bored easily. I cannot do just one thing at a time: while listening or watching something, I read or knit. I also draw and write. When just hanging out, I stretch and dance, or run through some simple tai chi or yoga. This is something anyone can do - I may be young, but I am not what most think. I am a real person, not a stick. I only do simple yoga and tai chi, nothing that can't be done by any beginner. Enjoy what you have, for you can always take comfort in your belongings and loved ones - they are more precious to you than you know; someone else has less and holds on tighter.

As my final project in high school, I am knitting. I am knitting scarves and socks, and probably eventually blankets as well, for those who need them. Yarn is cheap, classes are easy to find, as are mentors. Everyone enriches the world in their own way, so why not find yours and help those that need it.

I strongly urge any and all persons capable of volunteering to do so. I know how obnoxious it is to see all these ads for Tsunami Aid programs, especially when so many others around the world need help too, but please help whoever and however you can, for ANY aid program. You can be someone's hero, and that feeling is better than any other.

Growing up in the craft has been a hardship. I have often thought that my faith is a wrong sort of thing for me, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t quite quell that feeling. However, I know what the issue is: So long as I am unhappy with myself, I shall forever be unhappy with my lifestyle. That’s why I’ve attempted to change it recently.

In elementary school, I didn’t realize that it was a bad thing to go around saying you were Wiccan or a witch. In my opinion and the opinion of my coven and family, it still wasn’t and isn’t. However, because I was ignorant to the ways of other traditions and peoples feelings towards witchcraft, I gladly embraced my religion, and was devout as any Catholic. It was only when people started teasing me and bullying me because of what I said that I realized that not as many people were nicely open minded as I had once hoped.

Still, I refused to hide my beliefs, for I was always taught to be proud of who I am and everything in my life. Yet, the teasing only became worse.

“If you’re a witch, then why don’t you turn me into a frog?!” comes to mind often when I think of this subject. Movies and media have always played witched up to be cruel, evil enchantresses who are mostly ugly and turn people into things. I am much like the Shinto-Buddhists of Japan, who only truly believe that the great spirits are those of the Earth, and that people can become great spirits, but only through enlightenment and acceptance of all things around them. That’s why recently I began calling myself a Shinto-Wiccan-Buddhist. Buddha taught us to worship the Earth because it was what nourished us and cared for us all through life, and with his open mind, became enlightened. Obviously, the people that I went to school with were nothing like Buddha.

Continuously through my schooling, I have found it hard to be out of the Broom Closet. As I came out as Bisexual, even more people shut themselves off from me, and as I reached middle school and found poseur-witches and fluffy-bunny-pagans, I found it increasingly hard not to keep to myself about the whole subject. I was irritated by the gothic-poseurs that paraded around in my faith, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt, and kept my mouth shut.

However, now in high school, I am in a rural area where most people have never even heard of witches, and Harry Potter is not an acceptable Sunday Night Movie. I have learned to hide my faith from many people, even my close friends, only ever really being discovered by the poseurs who spot the pentagram that I often have hidden under my shirt. I cannot seem to keep hidden and play Christian here, mostly because many people around me are highly religious and want to get into discussions of faith with me or around me.

All through my life, I have heard, “Do you believe in God?” and every single time, I have felt obligated to ask, “Which one?” I cannot be happy hiding myself in the dark around people I want to trust, and I have had many hard times coping with the way I was raised, but I wouldn’t trade it for a thing.

I thank the Gods and my parents for allowing me the right and privilege of seeing the world through a different view, and being able to look past the stereotypes to attempt understanding my fellow humans.

~~Kodama
08/03/2004