Are You In the Broom Closet?

littlepixie94 · Post by **littlepixie94** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 7:11 am

Xiao Rong: These posts were originally part of the thread, Who Are You and Why Are You Here?, but I moved them because they are a slightly different topic that deserves attention on its own. Looking forward to some great discussions!

it seems we all lead very similar lives , how many people have been open with friend and family about wicca ? Very few family members know about me but none of my friends know x

Post by **Floyd Pinkerton** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 10:47 am

littlepixie94 wrote:It seems we all lead very similar lives , how many people have been open with friend and family about wicca ? Very few family members know about me but none of my friends know x

I'm open about it with a couple of friends who I keep in contact with online but I won't be telling any of my family anytime soon.

littlepixie94 · Post by **littlepixie94** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 11:24 am

People have such closed minds and are set in their own ways , most of my friends are like that and makes it difficult for me to be around them x

Post by **Heartsong** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 12:23 pm

I'm sorry to hear that, littlepixie, it makes it that much harder when you have no support.

I am completely out of the closet now with my immediate family, but I haven't come out to my husband's family, who are fanatically Christian. A few very close friends also know that I'm a witch, and everyone that does know has been great about both being supportive and generally curious about it.

littlepixie94 · Post by **littlepixie94** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 12:30 pm

My grandfather taught me a lot about wicca while I was a child and early teens he has now passed so I can not share with him unless I contact his spirit . My mum has tried wicca but she doesn't fully understand it. My aunt threw away my grandfathers crystals which I was supposed to inherit she was a non believer so it has stayed between me and my mum and younger sister.

Post by **Shub Niggurath** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 1:09 pm

Maybe I was just lucky but I was open about my path both to my closest family and my friends since I started as a teenager. My family learned to accept it and I think they benefited from it as well - they learned that they don't have to follow their family traditions (being hardcore christians) and even though we don't share the same beliefs, they're much more open-minded since then.
As for my friends, I informed all of them about my path and it only made them interested in it as well so as a teenager I had a lot of friends to practice magick with. At that time I was also organizing occult/esoteric conventions every year (a few days in a forest during Summer) where I met a lot of people from all around my country. Today we're all adults but we're still friends and we're visiting eachother from time to time.
It changes when you become an adult and new friendships are rarely as deep as earlier. People usually don't open up as much and they're already quite settled in their opinions and beliefs. So as an adult I don't talk about it with everyone I meet but if the topic comes up in a discussion (it often does) I usually share bits of information and I never got a judgemental reaction like "that's crazy" etc. People usually show interest because it's not common around here; and because I'm picky when it comes to people - I don't just hang out with anyone.
Anyway, in my opinion, the key is to associate with open-minded people who understand how important it is to be self-conscious and spiritually free. I can't see why would I want to be friends with someone who's totally different than me in this matter. Of course it depends on how important it is to you as a value, but to me spirituality is much more important than career, children, money etc. So if you think your friends would judge you and make fun of you because of who you are then you might consider changing friends. It's a waste of time and energy to be friends with someone who can't give you something as simple as basic understanding

Post by **Nightwatcher** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 1:09 pm

My dad knows quite a bit about Wicca because his mother (my grandma) was very into the occult. It also seems I have some lineage from both of my parents sides with a thing for magic. XD So both my parents know but both somewhat scoff at it, thinking it's cute and not serious (thanks... =.=) My little brother doesn't give a cookie about it. Some immediate friends know about it as well.

If anything, I'm in the broom closet for being Pagan! XD I recently told my mom and she was like "...but we baptized you!" And I was like "Yeah... I honestly didn't mind so I let you. I just don't like who my Godparents are and you already know that." She then went to say "You better baptize my grandchildren" to which I agreed (I'm planning to teach my kids about all religions honestly.) XD

Post by **valerian moon** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 1:26 pm

my mom knows and jokingly refers to it as voodoo, and my girlfriend knows how seriously i take it and she says i don't sound crazy when i so obviously do hahah
i told my brother a wiccan bedtime story yesterday and he loved it

Post by **Siona** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 1:36 pm

I wasn't raised in a religious household, and I was pretty young when I first discovered paganism and didn't really realize that some people might think it's wrong, or whatever, so I was pretty open about it. It's caused a few issues here and there, but never with anyone who actually matters to me.

I mean, I'm sort of a private person in general, so it's not like I usually bring it up, or go into a lot of detail, but I'll answer honestly if asked, and at this point all of my family, and most of my friends know I'm pagan. I guess some might know more than others though, I mean religion isn't something that comes up often with my friends, for example, but I don't feel the need to actively hide it or anything like that.

littlepixie94 · Post by **littlepixie94** » Mon Aug 25, 2014 1:48 pm

I think my problem is I don't want to lose a friendship with someone over it , I lead two different lives I'm the quiet mum at the baby groups and a Wiccan as soon as I get home . I live in a small village and I know what these small minded people will say , they always twist the truth for the local gossip lol

Post by **Pinkpower_80** » Tue Aug 26, 2014 7:31 am

xxmoonxraverxx wrote:my mom knows and jokingly refers to it as voodoo, and my girlfriend knows how seriously i take it and she says i don't sound crazy when i so obviously do hahah
i told my brother a wiccan bedtime story yesterday and he loved it

That's what my mom refers to my practice as too lol. She bought me a set of empty bottles for Yule last year and told me it was for my "voodoo oils" , and she has now started asking if I can make a voodoo oil for an ailment she might be having lol. I love it. I was really worried about how she would take it when I told her because she is a Christian, but she has been wonderful about it. I even showed her my new altar when she came over yesterday. That was the biggest test (and telling her I'm working with a coven now), and she is genuinely happy for me.
I am very open to just about anybody. I freely tell people I am Pagan. I was invited to church by an old man when I went to a yard sale at the church a while back. I politely told him that I am a Pagan, so nature is my church. He gave me a bible tract about hell, but he didn't say anything really off putting lol.

The only person that I probably won't tell is my fiance's mom. She is 72, and in the early stages of Dementia. She is sweet as can be and we love each other very much, but I don't really wanna freak her out, and I'm sure that this would lol.

All my friends that I grew up in church h with and even went to Christian Private high school with know. Some are supportive, but most of them send me messages saying they're worried for my soul & try to preach at me. The ones who do it in a kind way, I say thank you for the prayers. The ones that are rude about it or condescending, I try to ignore. I know how my temper is and losing it on a close minded fool would make them think they're right. **eyeroll**

I feel very blessed to be able to be so open about who I am. Not many people get that in their lives. My fiancé is Buddhist, but he is very supportive of me. He helps me make things for my craft, or will buy things for me. We are even going to have a Handfasting. He's very respectful of my beliefs & my tools.

Post by **valerian moon** » Tue Aug 26, 2014 2:42 pm

Pinkpower_80 wrote: I was really worried about how she would take it when I told her because she is a Christian, but she has been wonderful about it. I even showed her my new altar when she came over yesterday. That was the biggest test (and telling her I'm working with a coven now), and she is genuinely happy for me.

i've never shown my mom my altar, but i think she would be happy that i've found something that brings me peace.
my mom is a christian too, but she used to practice wicca when she was a teenager, and i think she thinks it's a phase. oh well, she'll probably get the picture a few years down the road when i'm still practicing.

Post by **creatrix** » Tue Aug 26, 2014 7:01 pm

I've got one foot in the broom closet, one foot out. My close friends know but even some of them don't know the extent of my witchy-ness. I don't like them telling people because either people seem to believe it's demonic or they want you to do things for them.

KathMoon · Post by **KathMoon** » Mon Sep 01, 2014 9:33 am

I'm very much in the broom closet, dust and all. My alter as such is a put up take down sort of situation when I'm in the house on my own. My partner isn't aware of my path as such, although he knows I do have a unique belief system should we say?! It's one of those were he will nod his head and say 'yes dear' and carry on watching the television...! It's not something. We really discuss. I feel it's a private thing for me though anyways.

I lost my Mother a few years ago, I believe in the afterlife so I can only assume she knows now!

Part of me likes that it's not common knowledge I guess.?!

Post by **BabyBear** » Mon Sep 01, 2014 10:25 am

I have one foot in and one foot out.
I am very open with my friends about it but not so much with family because they are extreme Christians, Im talking bring Harry Potter into the house and end up getting a 2hr lecture with a Bible, a reference book for the Bible and a reference book for the reference book kinda people... yes that really did happen, I was told i was bringing demons into the house and had my book thrown out the house onto the front porch to take back to school the next day. Even Pokemon were demons to my family.

Some are more open minded I mean my great granny Lousil use to practice in some voodoo with a friend from the swamp apparently but mostly everyone thinks I play with daemons and worship Satan no matter what I try to defend them so Ive just keep it as they dont ask I dont tell kinda thing.

I have however always been gifted and my mom and them know about it, infact my mom would say im the devil on min and parrade me around because of them the next. So theres also the fact that I just dont wont to deal with that again.

Now with my friends they understand, even if they dont practice like i do. They are open and easy to talk to about stuff and dont laugh at me because i say something like Oh I dreamed about you last night congratulations i think your going to have a boy. It freaks them out but they laugh after a sec and we get to talking about it.

So Im a one foot in one foot out.

Everything Under the Moon