What is a Suburban House-Witch?

Well, my dears, that is what I am - kind of like Samantha from Bewitched meets Dharma from Dharma & Greg.

Let me tell you more about me:

I am not at all what you think a witch would be like. I never wear black and rarely wear any pentacles, except occasionally on witch holidays. I do not have dyed red or black hair or black fingernail polish or any facial or body piercings (except for my ears). I don't use my face or hair as a canvas to express my artistic edge. Although I don't dislike "Goth" things, I myself am not "Goth" nor do I listen to heavy, depressing industrial music or live my life according to Ann Rice novels (pre-born again Christian).

I am as much a hippie, as a witch, but when I say hippie I mostly mean, very earthy, crunchy, Health Food store-ish, not drug-using, free-love giving or non-shaving under my arms or my legs.

I am feminist through and through. I belong to NOW. I am an environmentalist. I support Earth and Animal conservation groups through donations. I am an activist who supports many Buddhists causes like International Campaign for Tibet, Tibet House and the Tibetan Nuns Project. I don't discuss my political affiliations but I am sure you can discern what they are.

I'm educated, went to college (The University of Akron and Yale University) and got married right out of school. I have been married for fifteen years this year, though my husband and I live apart (he cares for his aging parents in Maine). I do not have children, rather, pets - and have over the years had three cats and two dogs. My dog Cisco passed on a while ago and now my dog Blue lives with my husband in Maine. My only surviving cat is my oldest pet, Mick (named for Mick Jagger), who will be 17 this year. Although I love the human race fervently, I love animals even more. I offer healing services and spells for free to anyone who has an ailing pet.

I am a writer and have written books (in an unrelated field to witchcraft) and have spent many years (over a decade) publishing websites. I still have my best site online - grrlgamer.com, a gaming website for women and girls that I started in 1996. I have a terrific background in the gaming industry where I was a journalist and eventually the first female Editor of a gaming magazine in 1999. I've won several awards for my websites and some nice recognition in the press. I will always play games ( I prefer online RPG's like EverQuest II and Worlds of Warcraft) even when they have to call me GrannyGamer!

I have been a witch since I was fifteen years old. It was difficult over the years to fully commit to living the lifestyle. I actually had to become Buddhist first before I could live my life unapologetically as a witch.

I live in the suburbs in a pretty little pastel peach house in a beautifully tropic neighborhood in Fort Myers, Florida. My Mom lives with me and my brother who is a ship's Captain, comes home every few weeks. We have a very close family and although this is not our family business, we are all involved in the craft of the wise in different facets. I have witchcraft on both sides of the family, Stregheria (Italian Witchcraft) on one side and Celtic on the other. The Italians do not ever discuss it, though they were not surprised that I came back to my roots. No one in the family was surprised that I chose this path. I was heading for it my entire life.

Although I am a Third Degree Wiccan High Priestess I do not consider myself Wiccan, in that I practice only Buddhism as a religion. If you were to get technical about what I am (besides a Suburban House-Witch), you would be correct to call me a Buddhist Witch. Because I am eclectic I use many different mysteries and deities in my spellwork. I practice Voodoo and Hoodoo nearly as often as I practice White Magick. I do not cast Black Magick spells but I know many of them and will not hesitate to help someone if they are determined to go this route. As a Buddhist I do not believe in good and evil, just different perceptions of a neutral reality. We add the "good" or "evil" perception ourselves.

If you are interested in what form of Buddhism I practice it is called New Kadampa Tradition (NKT) under the teacher Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. It is Tibetan Buddhism, though I have studied both schools of Zen Buddhism (Rinzai and Soto) as well as Theravaden Buddhism. My interest in Buddhism began in my early twenties and I have been studying seriously for 6 years.

If you'd like to know more about this particular Suburban House-Witch, post your comments and I will answer your questions next time around.

Blessed be,
Amita