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| Here I am with Rowan who was born on the Wolf Moon, 2010 (this picture was taken 15 hours after birth). |
I am an initiate and lifelong student of Traditional Witchcraft in its myriad cultural manifestations, a root/cunning worker and herbalist, a Reiki master, a Radical Faerie, a radical homemaker, an acupuncture student, and good old-fashioned kitchen Witch. My most important designation though, is "mommy".
I keep getting asked, "Why did you move to Ohio (of all places)?" As a mother to a toddler, I knew the years that I have with my son are precious and few. In the Bay Area, I could barely afford subsistence living- and I wanted so much more for my family. Working all the time for mere money was not the way I wanted to spend my life. With the lower cost of living, we now can afford to spend quality time with Rowan, as I work less. Columbus, in particular, is affordable, family-friendly, and has so many awesome kid resources. Rowan will be able to have music and swim lessons, explore his interests (currently animals and music), and go to museums for the time we are here. The life I wanted for him, in other words.
We plan on moving to Portland, OR in a few years, once we are done with our schooling. In the meantime, we moved to Ohio to enjoy and connect to the earth's cycles. I am homesteading here in the Capitol City, growing food and medicine for my new community. I can once again enjoy the four seasons and pass on an appreciation of them to my son while teaching him about the Wheel of the Year and its obvious and subtle meanings.
In addition to Witchcraft, I was in seminary getting my Masters of Divinity and worked with children and youth in this context. I am now working on a Mater's degree in acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine- which will complement my knowledge of western herbalism and energy healing quite nicely.
My parenting and teaching philosophy is to raise child(ren) to be compassionate, loving, inquisitive, and questioning adults who can be trusted to make decisions for themselves in a way that avoids harming others and the planet. This is reflected in my blog and in my life choices: I am unschooling Rowan and raising him as a Witch and as a spiritually open human being.
This blog has been profiled on AOL's ParentDish, You, Me, and Religion, and Circle of Moms (after winning the #7 spot in the top 25 Mommy Blogs of Faith).
I own a small online store (that will hopefully be a brick-and-mortar store and community gathering place one day) called Boline. It is part apothecary (using my skills as an herbalist to make remedies and toiletries), part botanica (using my skills at cunning and conjure and divination), and part way of life (most of my ingredients are raised on my homestead or on other Witch's homesteads and/or are bartered for).
Raising a child and living an intentional spiritual existence that is anathema to the dominant culture can be challenging and a struggle. But aren't all things of value difficult to achieve? I invite you to join me and tell me about yourselves in comments on the blog!
Contact me via email: lillitushahar (at) gmail (dot) com.
As for product and book reviews, Witch Mom does do them from time to time- if they appeal to folks who are into Witchcraft, natural parenting, sustainable living, homesteading, homeschooling, and other topics I cover here on the blog. I often will seek out books, tarot decks, and the like that I would love to review myself- but feel free to inquire about sending me an item to review. (FYI- Donating a product or book for review does not guarantee a favorable review, and all reviews will be written disclosing that I got an item for free to review it.)
As of April14, 2013, Witch Mom has 3802 subscribed followers:
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I am regularly syndicated on Offbeat Mama, the Natural Parents Network, and Pagan Writers Community. I also regularly write articles for paganfamilies.com and Natural Parenting Group that direct traffic to this blog as well.
