How to Embrace your Inner Witch
Being called a witch after leading my first women’s circle in Scotland during the depths of winter in a yurt surrounded by trees should not have come as a surprise. But it did.
The act of women gathering to connect and share is an age old tradition, women love to talk. We understand that communication is important in our relationships, we understand that wisdom is passed down through the generations, we understand that knowledge is to be shared for our greater good and humanity.
Yet being called a witch, hit a nerve.
Did you know that according to the Cambridge dictionary the meaning of witch is - a woman who is believed to have magical powers who uses them to harm or help other people. And it’s informal use means - an unpleasant and ugly woman.
No wonder I had a lot of resistance. I was scared as a kid of characters like Ursla from the little mermaid who were loud, jealous and downright frightening. Yet I wished for all the powers of Mary Poppins, but she kept her magic a secret, because society wouldn't accept her.
I had been operating from a place of magic for a long time, I never thought it was witchy. It was just how I lived, I worked with the energy of the moon, honored the seasons and knew how to trust my intuition. This would often be challenged, as my normal wasn’t normal to most.
Naturally I abandoned my inner witch to fit in. That deep desire of belonging was triggered at a party when I was told that no one liked the way I shared stories, it came across as boastful and arrogant. It cut deep. I was twenty six years old and thought I had finally found my community of people who understood and accepted me for who I really was. Nope, there was a woman who threw me out under the bus.
Just like the witch trials, women turned on one another out of jealousy, fear or frustration. It’s a tactic of survival, but also to improve their own life. This behavior has now become common practice among many women. The great divide, to separate us so we can keep up our own appearances. Many of the woman who were on trial for being a witch were not necessarily magical. They were threats to the husbands (oh the scandals), they made a mistake of speaking up or worse lived on the fringes because the main part of society was a bit too much for them and they preferred the sounds of the ravens squawking in the woods.
Women have been scared to be women because of men, but also because of other women.
It boils down to judgment.
What I didn’t have were the tools to Embrace My Inner Witch when that bitch told me I didn’t belong. No, I let those words burn in my mind, crying for days trying to work out how I could be better, how I could change in order to fit in.
My greatest mistake.
I saw myself as the problem.
This meant I came up with a grand plan to change myself, to withdraw from my community and hide behind my man. I literally practiced for months not talking, not adding to conversations, not sharing my stories, not allowing myself to lose control - ie get drunk. It was exhausting until one day it was my new normal.
I spent a decade as a prolific self-inflicted people pleaser. I had lost myself.
I abandoned my inner witch.
I believe our inner witch to be our rebellious side that we keep locked up - who knows how to fully express herself, who knows who she is, doesn’t rely on others to make decisions and honours and respects the land she walks on.
When we embrace her, there is no doubt. She is intuitive, playful, creative, connected and energetic. She has power. She makes heads turn when she enters a room. She knows she has magic and has no shame in using it.
How to Embrace Your Inner Witch
1. Reconnect with Yourself
When you feel so lost, stuck or completely confused it's important to anchor back to what you already know. Who the hell are you? What do you love, what do you hate (yes, don't avoid it), what don’t you tolerate, what do you like doing, what makes you happy, what places inspire you, who inspires you? Explore your behaviours, quirks, personality traits, they are 100% yours, unlike anyone else. For example, I’m blunt, creative, empathetic, intuitive and a damn good story teller.
2. Follow the Feel Goods
What lights you up? Hopefully by now you have identified one thing that puts a smile on your face. This is crucial. When we know how to make ourselves happy, we can do it on repeat. And we can do more of it .Why, because we know it's good for us. Understanding the depth of our happiness, versus our dislikes, we can use that information to help us make informed decisions that nourish our soul.
3. Stop the BS Witch Hunts
Our mind is a powerful place, we all wobble. However it’s important to fact check our thoughts. This is what I didn’t do when I was told that no one liked me. Gah, if I had looked at all the facts of the situation I wouldn’t have doubted some of my finest qualities. Fact checking is a simple tool to test if our thought is true - for example - my thought was ‘no one likes me’, yes it was triggered, but I believed it. I didn’t check it’s validity. Bad Move. When we know ourselves and someone tries to pull us down, if we stay true to our character then we are doing absolutely nothing wrong. It can hurt but we know our truth. We aren’t made to be liked by everyone, we all have our people.
4. Trust your Intuition
This is a practice. A daily one that I recommend everyone does. It’s difficult at first but once you understand how your body communicates to you, life will change forever. It’s about understanding the difference between how your body gets excited compared to when it trembles out of fear. I call this emotional literacy - having the knowledge to make decisions for ourselves based on our bodies wisdom (this comprises of our mind, body, soul and spirit). This is our ninja power and everyone can do this, it's just taking the time to work out your language.
5. Ritual, Ceremony & Community
This is about as woo and witchy Im going to get with you. It’s important to remember women live cyclic, we have our monthly rhythm just like the moon. The year moves through the seasons and this anchors us to the earth. Each season is an opportunity to check in with self, a time to celebrate and connect with kindred spirits. When we take this time we give ourselves a moment to reflect, assess, adjust, pivot and plan our next moves. Plus we love to gather and connect so make it a thing, we love doing it so make it happen - it can be with 1-2 people or with a group of 20. Whatever your vibe, honour your seasons and cycles.
NOTE: Planning is not going against feminine energy, it's about creating the life we want and that means we need to take charge, map out how to do it and take steps to make it our reality.
When we embrace our inner witch, we trust our intuition to live our best lives. We don’t need a cauldron for spells, we simply need time to make big decisions that suit us, our desires and needs. It’s time for women to rise to own their voice and step into power.
If there was one thing I would suggest on where to start - work out what happens when you have an emotional experience. What happens in the mind, body and soul - this is where the fun happens. Name that emotion and how it rolls for you. Explore them all, don't be scared of the big ones, each has a message for you.
Got any questions about intuition send me an email at hello@lizziemoult.com
