I am a Ukrainian-Canadian, who can speak Ukrainian at a B1 level, so I am able to connect with both English speakers and Ukrainians.
I have been a life-long atheist, but have a love for practicing Slavic kitchen witchcraft in a practical sense, not a religious sense.
I first connected with the Craft in 2000, initiated into a coven with very patient, understanding Wiccan friends who I enjoyed celebrating all eight of the pagan holidays, including personal events such as birth and death rituals. Prior to this, I was just mildly charmed by the occult, but did not feel any sort of connection to it.
After spending a few years with my coven, I made a long distance move, focused on my career, and found that my interest in meeting others and continuing on in a group setting had diminished. In the last few years, I had been doing some research on my heritage and the ancient practices of the people in Eastern Europe. I realized that long before Celtic traditions, the Slavic people had a style of their own.
Perhaps it was this reason why I felt myself pull away from the bias of Celtic practices when learning about witchcraft in the many published books at the time I was learning about it all.
If you'd like to connect, it would be a pleasure to make new friends on this forum! Bear in mind two things:
1. I am an atheist, but not to worry--I will always respect anyone's choice to believe in anything that they enjoy. I only ask for the same respect in return for my own way of thinking.
2. I do not follow western European practices. If you do, that's wonderful. But what I follow are Slavic, practical traditions that may or may not align with western ways, which are not *incorrect* if we have a discussion when it comes to how things are "traditionally" done.
I am open to learning about what others do, and happy to share my own information, if it's welcome.
Welcome to the site! It is always nice to see a fellow Canuck around these parts. We have had most-every sort around these parts -at least- once over the years, and generally-speaking though the occasional comparing of notes does occur people allow opinions to be opinions and ideas to be ideas as long as they aren't purposefully misleading or harmful.
Differences of idea are good anyways. If everyone thought the same how would anyone learn anything new? I mean, at the very least it would be rather boring. One person says something, everyone else quietly nods like a slow-motion bobblehead, I would rather have a rousing (but respectful) debate any day.
Thanks for the response! And I agree. We're all here for a common purpose, to feel more enriched in our lives with natural resources and practices to help us along. I look forward to getting to know more of you!
