A Spiritually Enlightening Online Magazine.     March Theme: "In Touch"     Volume 1 Issue 3     ISSN# 1708-3265

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Illuminations Aleesha Stephenson About the Cover Stephanie Pui-Mun Law In Touch with Reality Lynne Gordon-Mündel Who are the Real Survivors? David Suzuki PhD Trial by Wheelchair Shona Steele Staying In Touch (through Massage) Jyotsna Tummalapalli EFT and Your Pet Dr. Jean Hofve DVM How To Communicate with Animals Dawn Baumann Brunke Spend More Time in the Twilight Zone Robert Moss My First Tarot Experience Aleesha Stephenson Aunty Nasty Nasturtium Blackwitt Walk Your Talk Aleesha Stephenson Magik'ly Speaking… Elizabeth Abernathy Cherishing the Earth Toria Betson Meditate a Moment Featuring: David Reber Tao of... Tira Brandon-Evans CH FS Poetic License Our diverse group of talent The Envelope, Please... A Profile Featuring: Tira Brandon-Evans Animal Voices Dawn Baumann Brunke The Green and Burning Tree Tira Brandon-Evans Goddess Getaways Whole Woman Retreats Lakota Sweat Lodge Cards Chief Archie Fire Lame Deer Mantegna Tarot Redesigned by Atanas Atanassov Triple Goddess Isha Lerner Morgan Greer Bill F. Greer, Lloyd Morgan

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When I was eight years old, after a particularly confusing day in church, my Mama in her wisdom took my hand and told me, "Honey… you're just not like the rest of the family. You need to find your own path, and travel it."

This set me off on a thrilling and at times scary adventure, to find where my beliefs fit in. She encouraged me to read everything I could find on religion and theology; and since I started reading at the age of two, I was certainly up to the task. I went to churches and temples, visiting whenever a friend invited me to join them.

Because Mama encouraged me to stay 'in touch' with my feelings, by the age of nine I had learned not to discuss many of my beliefs in public, or with people I didn't know well. I had a hard time, because I'd had so many experiences, which seemed to frighten folks… even the adults I knew.

One of the reasons I'd never been comfortable in church was because I felt awful trying to talk to 'God' while inside a building. I always felt much more connected when I was outside - in a tree, or down at the river. It made me furious when men would come along and cut down the trees, and blast away the stone; because they thought they were making something more appropriate for worship. I saw this as an affront, and didn't understand why so many religions thought it necessary.

My first step towards living my own Truth was to stop following the 'lambs' who were attempting to lead me down the path of 'righteousness', which unfortunately included making sure I brought money with me to their church.

Another problem I had was when I sat and watched the parishioners fight with each other to see who would give the biggest donation - with the collection plate being passed down each pew many times, and the men of the community one-upping each other at every pass. If someone put in ten dollars, the next person put in twenty. If one ran out of cash, out came the cheques… it felt, even at my young age, quite pathetic - as if they were trying to buy a place for themselves in the afterlife.

Luckily, I found my niche soon after my ninth birthday. Only in reading books about Magick, did I find out my experiences weren't as strange as so many people seemed to think. I knew then where I belonged, and I've never looked back.

Well… that's not entirely true. In fact, I had to look back, because I also learned quickly that I wasn't suited to 'High Magick', which was what most of the books I'd read were all about.

Even though I'd been acting in the theatre since I was five, I felt totally and completely silly with all the pomp and circumstance I had read was necessary to contact Divinity. This is where the looking back comes in… over the next several years I gave up daily practice, and started studying my Ancestry and "The Old Ways".

At the age of ten I found I had a talent for healing, but being untrained, I had at the time no idea of how to protect myself during this work; and so started to take on shadows of the illnesses and injuries of the people I was trying to help.

Soon, I had to stop, and go back to my studies. For the next several years, I only healed people spontaneously, without necessarily meaning to; but I also knew within myself there were answers out there for me… I just needed to find them!

My delving taught me how, before the current trend of Patriarchy, Natural Magick was not only common, but was revered. The Old Ways were hard to follow, because there had been no need to record Magickal workings, as formulae and knowledge were passed down from Mother to Daughter, and from Wise Woman to Apprentice.

So when men vowed to staunch the power before them, recording any information about Magick or Healing was enough to get you killed, and your property added to the Church's rapidly growing wealth. The only thing left to women was the delivering of babies, and that was solely because the men didn't want to have to do it… Women were unclean, and likely to deliver them into the hands of something evil, after all.

When men finally decided they also needed to take over the birthing process, forceps were invented, so they wouldn't have to actually touch the infants they were pulling into the world.

Many people don't realize this mentality still exists today in many places all over the world. In some provinces of China girl-babies are "still buried", as their value is seen as less than the family livestock.

By getting 'in touch' with my Matriarchal history, I was able to tap into the power we women had before it was stripped from us. I've learned I always have a connection to Deity, no matter where I am, but I absolutely do not have to compromise my own beliefs and experiences to fit into a mould created by frightened men.

I've decided to pull my knowledge from our ancient, pre-history belief system, and work with the power and intensity I find there. By honouring my Ancestry, I feel I'm bringing back much of what was lost… and by sharing the information I find, I feel I'm being responsible about making sure it is never lost again.

My husband Richard has noticed a particular change in me over the past several years, as I've come to understand and assimilate the information I've found buried in my Ancestry. He says I've 'come into myself'.

I feel utterly confident I've chosen the right path, and I continue to seek to connect with the ancient cellular memory available to each of us. I'm no longer afraid to practice any of the talents, which come naturally to me; and for the past couple of years I have refused to hide what I am from the general public.

This has only made me stronger, and I am eternally thankful I was set free by my mother to find my own way.



Elizabeth Abernathy (aka Boo) currently lives in Oregon with her 2 husbands, 7 kids, and many critters. She's been a Hedgewitch for 28 years, and works with clients internationally providing Healing Work, Magickal Spellwork, Tarot, Runes and Numerology Readings. Please check out her website or contact her via email today.

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