on entering my witchy era ♀️

Turns out that turning 50 was the threshold to embracing my witch-hood.

Hello, friend.

I’ve been thinking about witches lately. Of course, there’s nothing unusual about that when October rolls around every year. It’s pretty common to think about all things Halloween all month long. And, many people, including me, long for the season of the witch. The season of mystery, magic, and nostalgic memories of witch archetypes. I mean, I loooove cozy, dark October nights of classic, cult movies like The Craft, Practical Magic, and even Hocus Pocus.

But, I’ve been thinking about witches in a whole new way this October. In a much deeper, more personal way. Wondering - what makes a witch? Feeling a deep desire to read the stories of women who were suspected, persecuted, and killed for simply being themselves. To ponder the history and meaning of the witch. To honor them and their sacrifice. And to explore what this all means to me and my life.

Just over a month ago, I turned fifty. And I felt a seismic shift in my life. Even still, I struggle to find the words for what happened within me and how I feel and perceive everything has changed; and, it has changed. Deepened. Opened. Not at all like turning 18, 21, 30 or 40. Not just an important milestone. But, the beginning of something completely new, born from the integration of every experience, feeling, moment from my first 50 years on earth.

Turning 50 was stepping over a threshold and being reborn into a whole new era of my life.

I spent my birthday in September on a long weekend trip to Scotland, home of my ancestral lineage. During the cozy, misty, moody weekend, I visited Glencoe and the three mountains known as the Three Sisters. A place known for its haunting past and wild beauty.

Glencoe, Scotland. September 2024.

Oh, how sitting on the ground in that place changed me. Almost as if it was completion of something. It was pure magic. The breeze caught my hair and flowed through me. I felt a sense of rootedness. And a very unexpected deep sense of belonging, as if my Scottish ancestors were welcoming me home. 

I am still processing my trip to Scotland and letting it settle into my soul. It has awakened something that I feel has been within me all along. But, this past September, as I celebrated my birthday, I understood that it was time to move into it. 

And, now, one month later, in the midst of the witchy season, with Samhain and the end of this year’s cycle of the wheel of the year just a few days away, it is time to integrate it all and step fully into the new era that lies before me.

And it turns out that turning 50 was the threshold to my witchy era.

But, what does that really mean? Because I don’t really care for labels and am not planning on calling myself a witch, or anything else for that matter And, even if I did, the biggest question is not who I say I am, but what it means for me and for my life. To what am I being reborn? What does life look like now that I am 50? And what will this new era consist of?

I think that this is what I will be integrating over the darker months this year.

As for now, my thoughts seem to be focused on gathering up all of the lessons, memories, experiences, and growth that has occurred throughout my life. Moments, people, places that have transformed, shaped, taught, and revealed to me who I am and who I am becoming.

Of course, that is enough to fill a whole book. And perhaps I just might do that - write a book, a memoir, I mean. Perhaps that is part of what this next era has in store for me.

For now, as Halloween approaches, I want to focus on the things that I believe define the archetype, the characteristics, the embodiment of a witch. And how that relates to and emerges from within me.

Witchy ways: Meaning and spirituality

I think that the most important belief I have is that life is a meaningful and spiritual experience. There is something so much greater, deeper and higher than each one of us. An energy, a divine love, something flowing in and through us. A part of us all, connecting the living, the dead, and all of nature. Some call this energy, this love, this divine spark, God. Others call her Gaia. Some say Spirit. Others call her nothing at all, but simply follow science and math and physics. And still others have other gods and goddesses that serve as the image of connection and energy.

I don’t care what word or name anyone uses. I don’t care how or what or if one worships anyone or anything. I simply feel the energy, the love, the connection that flows. In the stars, in the trees and the birds, in the moon and the plants, in each other - both living and deceased. I have felt it my whole life. In stories and words and music and art. In the night sky and the deep sea. In the mountain forest and the wild desert. In the eyes of children, the arms of a lover, the laughter of family, the warm greetings of a stranger.

In everything and everyone, the spirit and energy of love flows. And, to me, the belief in the connection of all of life calls me into the way of the witch.

Witchy ways: Earth and sky

Whether it’s talking with the trees, raising with herbs and plants, having a familiar (a small animal companion), or howling at the moon, I find myself drawn into nature more and more with each passing year. Even as I live right in the middle of the city. And, if there is one defining thing about the witchy way of life, it is the deep, close connection witches have to nature.

I’d say that this is the most witchy thing about me - and it began about 5 years ago, when I began intentionally following the cycles of the moon. And, then, a year or so later, I dropped even more deeply into the rhythms of the year, following all of the natural cycles of the earth and the sky. This has become the grounding point of my life. My way of life. Living in rhythm with nature is who I am and how I live.

I not only align with the pace of nature and the seasons of the year, I seek to embody this slow, mindful way of being in the world. And, I seek to mark the days, one at a time, as the pass. Dropping into the energy, the mood of each season as they slowly unfold.

Witchy ways: Don’t be afraid of the dark

I tend to think that witches thrive in the dark, as do I. I believe that, in following the rhythms of the year, the darkness, the shadows, the silence of it all becomes less frightening. I think I have always understood that without darkness, there is no light. Without winter, there is no summer. Without death, there is no life. Without endings, there are no beginnings. There is hope even in the dark. Morning always comes.

I do not understand these truths at all. I cannot articulate what they mean, but I know that they are true. I know that life comes from death and that light returns after the dark. Nature shows me that. The cycles and rhythms of life remind me year after year. And, my fear of the dark left me years ago.

Instead, these days, I find myself drawn to the shadows, the dark, the edges and boundaries, the liminal spaces of life. And, along the way, the unknown, the questions, the mysteries became the places where I thrive.

Witchy ways: Practicing magic

As the days and weeks and months pass, as the cycle of the year unfolds, I not only observe all that is happening around me; I also practice magic. My magic, so far, is made up of everyday rituals and solitary ceremonies that make everyday moments and routines sacred. This is also something that has been part of my life as long as I can remember.

Lighting a candle before sitting down to write. Scribbling dreams and thoughts and visions into a notebook early in the morning. Stealing away moments for meditation. Moon-gazing out the window. Sipping coffee in the dark hours of the morning. Chanting affirmations and intentions in the shower. Praying in silent, sacred places. Gathering leaves and sticks and shells and rocks for my altar. Stopping to place my hand on a tree and feel her old, powerful energy.

To me, practicing magic is simply making all of life sacred. It is being intentional and mindful in the everyday moments of life. It is creating simple rituals and routines that remind me to be present - as I make coffee or make the bed. It is whispering wishes and prayers into the wind. It is listening and conversing. It is both solitary silence and gathered community.

Witchy ways: Feminism and power

But, the most witchy thing I know is feeling the empowerment of being a sovereign, free woman. It is knowing who I am, who I have been, and who I am becoming. It is not letting anyone or anything define me, control me, or hold me back. In fact, it is actually me choosing how I want to define myself (or not define myself at all, as in my case), knowing that I am in control of how I respond to everything and everyone in life, and daring to be brave enough to continuously grow and shift and change and evolve.

None of this is easy. But, with each year I am closer to embracing my “powers” and becoming more and more of who I am meant to be.

At 50, I feel that I have shifted up to another level, or shifted into another gear. Any fear or worry of what others think seems to lessen with each day. And, instead, I step into my power, my witchy-ness, my wise womanhood more and more.

a little halloween fun at work = embracing my witchy side

So, am I a witch? I don’t know. But, I do love my witchy ways. And the only thing I am concerned with as Samhain approaches is being true to who I am, as I step into this new era of my life.

This is the season of endings, of closure, and of the invitation to dare to reveal (to myself and to the world) who I really am becoming.

As I step into the darkest part of the year with the end of October, it is time to embrace the darkness and to let winter become the season of integration. To look back on my life. The ghosts and the memories. The lessons and the wisdom I’ve acquired. And to let the path that lies ahead unfold one day at a time.

So, here’s to my new witchy era. A rebirth into an empowered, mystical era of wisdom, magic, and connection.

I cannot wait to see what mysteries and opportunities lie ahead. I cannot wait to integrate all that I have been into all that I am becoming - wise woman, witch, spiritual guide, circle leader, author. How will I show up and what new roles will I embrace?

The darkness ahead is filled with the answers. So, I’ll light a candle and prepare for the messages that will be revealed as the witching hours near.

What are you feeling, hearing, intuiting as Samhain nears?

xoxo. liz.

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the wsc wheel of the year: festivals and seasons