Be-Witched?

A long time ago, in a city far, far away, lived a young girl who had dreams, visions, and saw and heard spirits, aka ghosts. When the child inquired of her mother, who also had foretelling dreams, as to how this could be, she answered quite blythely, "Oh, I suppose it's because we're witches."

My mother doesn't recall that conversation now, as it's been forty-five years ago, and she is advanced in her years. She swears by all that is holy that she would never have said such a thing. Yet, she most certainly did.

I remember how startled I was to hear her reply, and from that time on, wondered at its possibility, or probability. You see, her own grandfather was a member of the Spiritualist Church, holding seances and probably reading tarot cards, and the like. I don't know for sure about the cards, but Mom did say he held seances. So, why is it, then, that she found me to be so "weird" and "strange" when I told her about the ghosts I heard and saw? If one member of our family had the "gift", then couldn't it have possibly been handed down through the genes?

Throughout my life, I've been accused of being a witch. Some said it simply because when they entered my house, they saw many candles about. I truly don't believe that qualifies me as a witch, seriously. But, there have been many other instances whereupon I've met complete strangers who have looked me in the eye and said, "Oh, you're one of those! You have the gift!" I laughed at them, thinking they were joking, but their expressions did not change. They continued to stare into my eyes, and insisted vehemently.

I must admit that my life has been full of unexplained phenomena, and spiritual happenings. I've had more prophetic dreams than I care to admit, and even had dreams of things that happened to other people, that I could NOT have known about, as I wasn't present, nor did I ever know these people! But as I would recant the dream to someone else who did know, without my knowledge, and they would be completely astonished and asked me how I could possibly know!

Could I call any of them coincidences? Well, of course, as some things do just happen, right?
But, there have been many, many events which could not be explained away so easily.

When I was a child, I played with my sister and the kids I babysat for, and learned that I could "read their minds"! It was truly eerie to them, but amazed me beyond belief. At first, to me, it became a fun game which I played as often as possible, just to freak people out. But, from that time, on, I've honed a skill, which has shown me more than what people have on their minds! I've actually visualized, or seen what they were doing at any given time, which is NOT always a blessing. It did help me to confirm a suspicion once, that my husband was cheating on me. When he came home and I described to him the situation in detail, which had just taken place that very afternoon on his lunch break, his face went pale and he nearly fell out of his chair! He was seriously afraid of me from that point until we separated. Unfortunately, it was because of the heartache that I felt from that experience, that I ceased attempting it any further.

However, using basically this same technique in my work in the spiritual realm has yielded much happier results, and put many spirits and frightened households at peace. I quite enjoy my gift when it gives everyone concerned peace and happiness.

Most recently, my boss asked me to visit with her over a period of a week. On about the third day, she asked me what I thought of her house. I told her it felt very historical, very ancestral, and occupied by someone other than herself. She then asked me to identify the center of this residency. I immediately went to her office, which had been used previously as a second bedroom. I felt a sad and angry presence, that made the room feel dark and heavy. We then went about the house, burning sage and sweetgrass. We went into her livingroom where I began to apply my well-honed technique, and discovered a woman and her daughters there. She had lived on the property very many years prior and didn't want to leave. She loved her home, in fact. It appeared that she was so sad after having lost her husband, that she could not leave her daughters. I wasn't sure what the exact situation was, whether she had committed suicide after murdering her daughters, or if they'd been killed all together in some unexpected tragedy. But, she wasn't about to leave. She had another daughter, a very small child, who had died years before her, and this mother missed her and longed for her, but was afraid to leave her other two daughters behind, and as a matter of fact, downright refused to leave them. She was holding them close to her body when I discovered her. They were all sad, and the mother was angry.

When I told her she had to leave, that this house was not her home, that she had a husband and another child to go home to, she was afraid to let go. Suddenly, out of nowhere, came this middle-aged man, who scooped the ladies up on the handlebars of a bicycle and laughed as he pedaled them all away! When my boss asked his name, I told her what he said, and she began crying. She asked me to describe him, and as I did, she cried even harder, and when I mentioned the bicycle and the color of it, she broke out with, "Daddy, I'm so sorry! I'm sorry about the bike. I promise I didn't mean to!"
With that, I watched the four spirits fade away, and I opened my eyes and saw my boss sobbing into her hands.

After she recomposed herself, she explained to me about her dad and the bike, and that she wondered why "he" came to her rescue at that time. I told her, he still came to visit her from time to time, and he had been keeping his eye on the situation, but needed her to finally recognize that they were there and that she had to desire to have them removed. He was only all too willing to take them away and let her relax, as apparently, their presence had depressed her home for a very long time. She still gets bits of things happening in the house from time to time, but she herself has a gift which she's not willing to acknowledge since she's more afraid of possessing it, than living with ghosts in her house.

Anyway, after all had been said and done, she actually said, "I never knew a real witch before!" I was stunned! I laughed and said, "Well, I'm not a witch, actually. I've studied under many Native American "medicine men", who have taught me much, but my gift came to me when I was a child. I may have been born with it. I would prefer to be considered a "Medicine or Holy" woman than a witch."

I don't delve into witchcraft and spells. I don't attend any covens or ceremonies dealing with witches. Yet, I suppose, depending on one's point of view, I could possibly "be-witched"?

And The Snakes Came

This will be one of those promised "weird" posts, so, all I ask is please read with an open mind.

When I was a child I used to always have dreams about snakes. Of course, I attributed it to the time when I was helping my best friend clear a field for planting. I got something in my eye, and was rubbing it, when through the blur I noticed what appeared to be a stick laying across my new shoe. I reached down to pick it up and toss it, but the stick came to life and wriggled right up my leg! My immediate reaction, along with screaming, was the kick it hard and take off running for the house! I had kicked it so hard, apparently, that my friend's dad found it coiled around a fence post all the way down at the other end of the field!

So, I decided that my dreams were simply a subconscious reminder of that event. But, as I was at church one Sunday, the pastor was preaching and suddenly he pointed at me directly, and shouted, "And if YOU have been dreamin' of snakes, you better get down here to this altar and beg God for forgiveness, because YOU must be sinnin'!" Well, you better believe I jumped up from my seat and ran to the altar, begging God to forgive me of whatever sins I must have unknowingly committed!

Still, over the years, I continued to dream of snakes. They came in all sizes and colors, and they never attacked me. As a matter of fact, for the most part, they seemed to be trying to tell me something.

When I was thirty-something, I met an Indian man at a Native American art museum, who invited me to his house for dinner. I, being of Cherokee and Chippewa descent, was honored to receive such an invitation. From then on, I was introduced to many Native Americans of all different tribes. I became more involved with the Native community and over time was taught many of their beliefs, traditions and customs.

At one point, I met a man, who I was to learn later was a "Medicine Man", a spiritual teacher. We spent many days and nights discussing things that were spiritual in nature, and comparing their beliefs with my own Pentecostal Christian upbringing. When we got to talking about different "Totem Animals" or Spirit Guides, I asked him about what the snake meant. Having been raised that snakes were the incarnate representatives of all that was evil and satanic, I fully expected him to cringe and back away from me, sending me on my evil way. But, to my delight, he smiled and told me something that finally put my spirit to rest.

He explained to me that in their belief, the snake was a messenger between the Earth Mother and the Creator. The snake spends its entire life closest to the ground. It can hear the heartbeat and the cries and prayers from the earth. It then climbs as high as it can and sends those prayers and pleas to God, the Creator. While I understood that this was simply symbolism, it started to help me to understand more about my dreams.

The snake also represents constant renewal, the shedding off of the old and living with the new. That there is constant change taking place over our lifetimes and we must be willing to shake off all the old things of our lives and accept the new things and events that are to take place.

Suddenly, I understood that the snakes in my dreams were messengers to me from God. Perhaps, the snake was my "totem animal", my "spirit guide". Once I started paying more attention to them in my dreams, their particular colors, their particular species, and their movements during my dream, I came to understand their messages. I also noticed that every time they came to my dreams, it was when I was faced with a serious life changing decision. In interpreting their movements, they've yet to fail me in helping me come to a decision. I've noticed that if they move forward, I, too, should move forward with what I'd been considering in my life. If they turn around and go back, I know I'm moving in the wrong direction. If they stop and look me in the face and don't go in either direction, I'm to stop and think about what I'm planning to do. That it's not a time to make a move, yet. I'm to take my time and pray on it.

So, while I'm still afraid of physical snakes, I'm not so afraid of them in my dreams. I know they're telling me something to help me in my life. It certainly causes me to stop and consider everything. And, who am I to say that God does NOT use other spirits to His good and for our own? We never know what form God will take or how he will send his angels to us. They might not all have golden hair and wings, you know!