Coming out of the broom closet: my journey to witchcraft
My spiritual journey is one that I was thrown into during the midst of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic; spirituality was something I was always drawn to, but being a stickler for logic and rationality I would hide my interest the mystical, unknowable aspects of reality under the guise of being ‘deeply philosophical.’ After all, I had an honours degree in philosophy and was preparing to begin my doctorate, so calling myself philosophical seemed like a safe deflection. This was until I, like most others, experienced a ‘dark night of the soul’ period that catalysed the beginning of my spiritual awakening.
(C) Mami Onami
Since I’m still a stickler for logic, it helps me to have frameworks or models for making sense of complex processes, so I developed a model to illustrate what I believe are the three stages of one’s spiritual journey. My own spiritual teacher, Mami Onami illustrates the three levels of spirituality as the exoteric, mesoteric, and esoteric.
Building upon this, I believe that the journey through which we move through each of these levels has three key stages:
Awakening → this is the beginning of your spiritual journey, when you can feel called to explore or deepen your connection to the divine, develop a deep understanding of the nature of life, driven by a sense of inner growth and transformation
Initiation → a rite of passage marking entrance or exploration of one or many spiritual teachings and practices. This could be a formal ritual (such as a baptism), involve being guided by an experienced teacher/practitioner, or be a self-initiation. To truly understand spirituality, isn’t enough to merely learn about different spiritual philosophies, you must also embody them. This would be like learning about yoga without ever practicing it; all intentional change begins with learning, then doing, then being/embodying.
Enlightening → this is the stage where you are able to transcend the bounds of any spiritual teachings or practices; while you may continue to practice or identify with one that aligns with your human experience, (or combine aspect of several) you recognise there there is no single ‘right’ approach or best way — only the best for your own circumstances. You are committed to deepening your understanding.
I refer to this process as enlightening, not enlightenment, because the latter suggests that there is an end-stage at which you can reach and be ‘fully enlightened.’ As humans, there is always more to learn, more to understand, and more we can do to connect with the divine
SO, it’s 2020 and I’m just getting started at the first stage where I’m beginning my awakening. While it was a challenging and uncomfortable time personally, it was also incredibly profound. Particularly, the realisation that social change is an inherently spiritual process, and that we can’t ever achieve the world we want without spirituality — one that appeals to people of all faiths, and no faiths.
During this season, I spent a lot of time exploring different religions, their approaches to ethics, service, and what it means to do good. I read countless books that explored both ancient spiritual teachings and new-age teachings. I tried my best not to disregard any of it, taking what liked and leaving what I didn’t — you never know what you might be able to come back to in the future with a fresh interpretation.
I embraced the spiritual teachings and applied them to my own life, but I always felt there was somewhat of a disconnect between my spirituality and the work I was doing across the social change space. Then I was initiated into witchcraft (and while I could write that story, it’s probably easier to show you what that experience was like in real-time)…
Ever since beginning my permaculture journey one year ago, I had been drawn to a way of living that mirrored the energy of my surrounding environment, and the Wheel of the Year was a tangible framework that allowed me to do that. I’ve not only been sharing my permaculture journey on my YouTube channel, with free educational resources on the Humanitarian Changemakers Network’s Fixing Food platform, and I’ve continued to develop my craft focusing on green witchcraft, elemental magic, and seasonal witchery.
I recognise that there is no single-best spiritual practice, but witchcraft is the one that aligns with me. It has allowed me to develop frameworks for manifesting social change, live in alignment with the Earth and nature, and tools for practicing and living out my spirituality.
When I began this journey, I was searching for teachings to help me bridge spirituality with social change, and now that I am able to do that I want to guide others to do the same.
