Current Information

I live in village near to Cambridge in the UK, with my husband and son. My husband is a devout atheist. From the age of eight, my (now teenager) son has described himself to those who asked him as a pagan. I honour his choice to do this, because it is not an easy path. My family also includes two slightly daft, but absolutely adorable, Staffordshire Bull Terriers and a large number of Koi, living in a very large, outside pond.

My personal interests are the tarot, herbalism and aromatherapy. My favourite gemstone is amber. I enjoy designing my own clothing, and wish I  had the time to make some of it. I enjoy making cakes, but don't eat many of them, due to having an intolerance to too much dairy produce in one go! I have a tendency to buy books which I would like to read, but seldom find the time to do so. I am attuned to the Reiki-Seichim form of healing energy (attuned as a Reiki-Seichim Master in June 2006), which I use primarily to self-treat, although as I don't need to make a living from it, I am happy to treat others who need it. Just so that I don't neglect the physical exercise side of things, I train at a karate club with my (currently 2nd kyu) son, having been granted my Shodan (1st level black belt) in October 2005. Goddess-willing and with a helluva lot more practice, I may attempt my Nidan (2nd level black belt) towards the end of 2008.

HISTORY

I was born in London, of Roman Catholic parents and went to a Catholic primary school and an all-girls convent secondary school, before moving to Cambridge. I completed a BSc (Hons) degree with the Open University, despite having been told by a Careers Office not to attempt anything involving numbers or science. To compound it, I am two-thirds through an MSc in Science with the Open University, and hoping to complete that in 2009.

On setting up my own home in the late 1980s, I felt free to explore my 'options', and to try to find out why the Roman Catholic faith of my parents had never felt right for me. Thus I realised that I was a Witch.

MY PHILOSOPHY

Finding out the nature of my path has not been an easy process, nor will it continue as an easy process, and nor has that process ended. I have encountered many people along similar paths, because it is the nature of paganism, that no two individuals may have identical paths. This has demonstrated to me that, if you find that your path does not follow an established format, it is no great crime. For me, the important thing is to be happy in how you interact with the Goddess and the God and to enjoy that interaction.

My personal path is not one of high ritual. I conduct ritual, but some are less complex than others, not least due to some of my rituals being held in fields around me. It is not easy to carry a full-sized altar kit half a mile or more into the fields on my own! Also, my personal sentiment is that ritual according to a strictly formal pattern is just a small step away from the dogmatic approach to deity that I saw within the Catholic Church. Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt, and not planning to go there again any time soon.

If I could sum up my personal philosophy, it is that "Just for today, I will do the best that I can, in whatever I do".

The Use of Pseudonyms