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In healings and on journeys I have seen the depth of power that lies within our innate abilities and that of our ancestors. It is wildly far beyond what we are now taught to believe. We have been taught to dismiss these gifts and deny their existence. I don’t even know what words to use to describe what I have seen and felt for it all falls short to truly describe what we are capable of.
Some of the ancestors of our lands have been angry that we have forgotten the oppression and persecution of those who were ambassadors of our abilities to work with the elements,
communicate with the earth, trees, stones and spirit and travel in-between worlds, as well as holding profound wisdom about how to
work with plant medicine of all kinds. I know that most of us know the witches we killed and burnt but I was taught to accept it, like it was ok, we were cruel back then but not now, now it’s all ok? We may not be drowning or burning women anymore but there is most definitely still a witch hunt mentality for those who question this system, and those of us who’s very being goes against much of what is considered a ‘mainstream’ way of living. Women are still tortured and disempowered but in different ways, ways that have become acceptable, particularly around birth. But not just that, intuition and magic have been devalued for centuries now.
I believe one reason our ancestors were persecuted, as indigenous peoples across the globe are still to this day, is because when we are deeply connected to the earth and to spirit, we are powerful and we are not controllable. What I see now within some contemporary witchcraft, is that it has been diminished and that its real depth is not being tapped into, or what we are shown as witchcraft is a distorted version of the true power witches held. For it is the Witches who were our Shamans.
I visited a place near where I was born recently, the trees are old and wise, but so much of our wild land in the North of England especially has been destroyed, so is our connection to it. We are taught to visit nature and enjoy it on a surface level, oh look isn’t this pretty, but how many of us in this modern world have a chance to truly slow down and be present with its wisdom, power and love?
In journeys I have seen over the land there is still a residue of anger from our forgetting, grey clouds over the land. I want to continue to connect with the ancestors of this land and remember the deeper understanding of reality that the Witches had. I will read what I can find but many history books are not to be trusted, so primarily what I learn and remember is and will be through journeys and connecting to the land.
As my practice deepens, I am being asked again and again to continue to let go of layers of my own conditioning. For most of us are brought up with a limited perception of how reality operates. Time to change that, time to remember.