This website began as one witch’s attempt to explain her faith to her Catholic mother, without shoving it in the poor woman’s face. The internet allowed me to serve a wider audience, and I soon found myself sharing the site with numerous seekers, friends, and curiosity seekers. At the time of the first publication of this site, in a subfolder of my old one.net account, I was a practicing Witch studying eclectic Wicca.
Eventually, it became in my best interests to separate this site from my professional life, at least temporarily, and I moved the site to drak.net’s free services. At this time, I edited and expanded the information provided to create something even more useful to the seeker. I added books and links, and updated and expanded the definitions section.
In response to the growing number of teen requests for resources, the teen section and study lists were added. Recently, I’ve been archiving and expanding upon my responses to questions on Yahoo! Answers, Quora and a few other forums. I don’t expect this site to ever be a “one-stop-shop” (The Craft is not spoon fed! Ever!), but maybe it will contain something of use to seekers of Practical Witchcraft and Ritual Witchcraft (sometimes known as Wicca).
About the Author
I was given the “name” Erisian Trubble by pagan author (and NPR correspondant extrodinaire!) Margot Adler at a Goddess retreat in 1998, and have used it as a public pagan name ever since. My training in pagan paths began with studies in comparative religion at a Catholic boarding school, of all places, and continued through my college education with studies in mythology, archaeology, anthropology, and any other classics courses that would fit into my schedule. This was supplemented by reading from the slowly growing collection of materials available to the public written by modern and contemporary practicing pagans and studies in particular esoteric arts such as divination, meditation, magical work and ritual design.
After several years of solitary study, I founded a study group that embraced independent pagans and asked them to share their understanding within the community we formed. This group waxed and waned, and several groups “spun off” from it. As a consequence of participation in this group, I met the woman who would become my traditional High Priestess.
At Imbolg 1998 I took an oath of dedication to my Tradition. Today I am a third degree High Priestess and Clan Head within the Tradition. As a Traditional Priestess, I teach and study in the path of my ancestors, and maintain a spiritual practice to forge a strong connection with the deities of my Clan. My own viewpoint with regards to my practice of Wicca is that I cannot properly practice the Wicca I was trained in without also practicing Witchcraft, so while I recognize that the practices are not synonymous, I do see them as intertwined.
My personal practice prior to traditional studies was largely Hellenic, and specifically, I have taken a dedication of service to Aphrodite. Due to this association, I have a higher regard for magical workings that involve love and attraction than many Witches, which I do describe in some posts on this site. I am also a big believer in the power of self-esteem and am known for a tough-love approach in chat rooms and training sessions.