Out of the broom closet?

[spinneyhex]

I have always been very open, though don't go around shouting it from the roof tops. As for family they have always known i was witchy (you should see the gifts i get from them ).
Years ago religion came up and I said to my family that I was pagan and they said "well we knew that!"

[[Enlightenment]]

LOL, my husband becomes extremely worried at Sabbats, the Solstice. He watches me to see what kind of wickedness I'm going to do. I think if I was nude everything would be OK! ->O<-

LMAO

[Lucine]

I don't know where to begin. I am in my 40's, I have 2 grown daughters and one daughter still lives with me she is just shy of 13. My youngest knows I am studying with the intent to possibly take up the craft. Yesterday we went and bought supplies for our BOSs. We don't call them that she likes the term, I don't particularly like it, but I understand that it is Wiccan in origin and a 50 year old term. So anyways I call mine the Book of Realms, my daughter came up with the name and I do like that one a lot.

So anyways, I will never tell my older 2 they freaked a couple of years ago when I checked out a half dozen books on Paganism, Wicca, and Witchcraft. I read the books and I was quick to realize there wasn't much I could do that wouldn't alarm my older daughters. I also realized that it is a very disaplined religion, which is cool however I wasn't sure I could be that dedicated. So I have done a bit of research here and there, what brought me here was research on empathy, which would have never happened if my boss hadn't called me an empath. I don't have contact with the rest of my family suffice it to say they are a couple of Jerry Springer episodes and I avoid that kind of drama. As far as work goes most everyone would be ok with it if I ever decide to lable my belief system.

[Sobek]

i dont really like the "BOS" either, i have a special name for mine. Book of Realms is a nice sounding title, whatever floats your boat i suppose.

[DarkWolf_777]

i had a real bad time telling my mom she freaked out when i told her and started forcing me to go to church i lost about half my friends when i made the mistake of telling my ex best friend.

but alas sum gud did come of it i met my boy friend and he desided to tell me that he pratices witchcraft

and my mom is starting to give up the fight now

[Storm]

i dont really like the "BOS" either, i have a special name for mine. Book of Realms is a nice sounding title, whatever floats your boat i suppose.

I've never liked the term either. Mine doesn't have an official name - it's just a journal of my path.

[Sister Maeve]

I've been with my (lovely) boyfriend for over a year now -

*Takes moment to fan self dreamily*

- and he's pretty devoutly Christian. We began dating before we knew all about each other (not recommended) so when I told him, pretty casually, that I was deep into paganism and witchcraft, he thought I was kidding. That caused a huge fight... but we got through it. I sometimes go with him to his church to visit his friends, because it's important to him and all that. It's about compromise

As for my family... My brother knows (he's 19, 20 soon), and he's cool with it. We're best friends anyway. I don't think my dad really cares. Not in a way that suggests he has no regard for my spiritual well-being, but in a way that means he knows it's my choice and will support me. My mom's a little uneasy about it, but I haven't directly told her, so that's also on the line. Whether or not she agrees is of no significance to me. I love her, she loves me, if she doesn't want to see my altar, she can stay out of my room

- Maeve

[Lucine]

I find that people on this path are much more spiritual than Christians. I have nothing against Christianity, I didn't leave the Church it left me to paraphrase another saying. Perhaps I have too much Lilith in me, but the whole adam and eve thing never made sense to me even when I was going to church on a regular basis. I read a book can't remember the name, but the plot was about a young boy who had been kidnapped by Indians as a toddler and his family found him somehow the Indians gave him back, but he couldn't adjust to the whiteman's world. Something about that story touched me deeply even though I can't remember the name of the book. Anyways, it introduced me to other ways of looking at the spirit world and it made more sense to me even though at the time I had no idea where to look for more information.

[sofia]

I feel like I have one foot out...I hesitate to let my beliefs be widely known because I still have a child in elementary school and we live in a very Christian community. I usually tell people a little about it once I know them well though...it's such a huge part of my life that I really want to share, although they usually get a very watered down version.

[truemornings]

I came out of the broom closet when I was 13 I believe, just after I did my self-initiation ritual. I was interested in Wicca and witchcraft since I was 11 but my parents became very concerned with me. I had a few books about Wicca but my parents thought it was evil so I had to return them to the store. I became very frustrated with them because they couldn't accept me not being interested in going to church or praying to God. My whole family is Roman Catholic but my mom is very religious. I went looking around online and found a nifty site containing a parents FAQ to Wicca. One night I printed it out and gave it to them and told them to read it. They suddenly became less concerned probably since they knew more about what I was interested in. After that, the nag stopped and I could openly put my altar in my room and buy whatever books I pleased.

As with my friends, I came out to them first but people at my school called me a poser because at the time it was the 'cool' thing to be at my school, though generally my friends didn't mind and in turn of telling one of my best friends, she became Wiccan a few years later.

Being a high school Senior, I openly tell others what my beliefs are, though some are shocked and critisize me as well but I just try to ignore it. I'm still somewhat shy about the whole thing, especially with my relatives since one time my cousin yelled at me for wearing a pentacle to a family party.

[[ForestWitch]]

Hm, well I guess I don't actually know whether I'm in or out of the broom closet. I haven't made any big announcement to anyone and I don't advertise my beliefs, but then I never did, even when I was a pretty traditional Christian.

I guess my neighbors might have wondered what's up with the fires and flute playing late at night on the full moon but none of them have asked nor have they treated me any differently so they apparently don't think I'm doing anything dangerous, anyway! I suppose they think it's an Indian thing. (That's definitely one nice thing about having American Indian background - when you practice magick everyone thinks it's part of your traditional heritage whether it is or not! )

My friends know I quit the church and they have observed that I'm really a lot happier. While I sometimes talk about some of my activities (meditation, herbalism) I don't call it witchcraft and I think they just think I'm a little eccentric - something they already knew! I don't pursue friendships with rigid, intolerant people so I doubt any of them would be tremendously distressed if I did admit to being a witch.

My daughter knows, of course, and we compare notes on meditation, rituals, etc., but I'm actually the one who chose this path first. I'm not in real close contact with the rest of my family; I'm an only child and my parents are dead so I only have extended family anyway. And of course I now have some new friends who I met BECAUSE I'm pagan and who are pagan as well. In these parts, most adult pagans keep a fairly low profile just because we're in such a minority, but I don't think that's the same as being fully closeted.

I guess I just can't gauge how far out of the closet I might be since I've always been a private person and I've always had a manner which discourages prying questions.

[LostMuse]

pretty much everyone who knows me, knows i am wiccan. the exception to this would be my patients at work, because it would interfere with the therapeutic process for them to know that. plus, in general, staff will not divulge personal information to patients - it's not about us, it's about them. the christian therapists don't wear crosses, i don't wear my pentacle, and no one brings religion into work with them.

i didn't tell my coworkers at first, but when i did, they all said, "well we kind of figured." so that was anticlimatic heh. they couldn't explain HOW they knew, they just did. my patients don't know because they are busy concentrating on their treatment, as it should be. and considering where i live (the american south), it would cause a huge uproar with most patients and their parents (i work with teenagers). i like my job and would not want to lose it because people are afraid of me, or think i am trying to corrupt their children, or some other nonsense.