I was a little wary about this at first. We’ve had our differences about religion, and I’m sure they were prepared to see some things. The question was whether or not the rest of the family, their friends, and those in their study group and associates were ready. Though I’m not embarrassed, and I’ve accepted and reclaimed the term “witch”, I didn’t want to cause them any embarrassment. I am still not sure where they are in their path…whether they’ve truly accepted that nothing was wrong with or missing from our ancestral faiths.
but well, they asked for it.
So once they added me, everybody wanted in. I don’t know what sort of gossip is circulating, but the likes from some family members is encouraging. It’s also nice for friends of mine to have an actual link to go to when I tell them about my awesome parents. Look, we have our differences, but seriously even with the troubles, they did so much more good than harm that the harm just kind of fades into relative insignificance.
I didn’t just pop into the world a renegade. I was weird and very introverted, and could have become the crazy lady in the spooky house, living in her own world talking to invisible people, and feeding squirrels like they were my children. In the south, it can go way beyond crazy cat lady, and get into crazy critter lady.
but my dad taught me to read, and even though it was certain I’d eventually come across some “forbidden” texts, they allowed and encouraged me to read whatever I wanted. From the reading grew the asking questions, and from the asking questions came the getting answers. From the knowledge grew the life, and though it led to conflicts, I am extremely grateful.
So now everybody back home knows I’m a “witch”.
To help them ease into this knowledge, I took a couple of weeks to spell out how that happened. I even went into the very touchy subject of Baalzvuv (Beelzebub) and the fake “fruits” of his worshipers. From there, they can get to “God” being a nickname of Gadriel, and other big religion twists of spirituality for themselves. It might take them awhile to get to Jesus from the African perspective…good child/avatar of Obatala and/or Eshu, but bad replacement for either. I’m not very optimistic about this.
I mean, it can happen. There’s a whole church in Africa with offshoots, wherein Christianity has been properly absorbed into African belief. It’s just that the competition is better funded and more convenient for the west. There’s also the mind-virus problem. European style Christianity excuses more and atones less. So it’s going to be more attractive to the sinful than a church that says that admitting your sin and asking for forgiveness is only the first step.
As yet, I haven’t gotten into things like prayers other than thanks being witchcraft, monotheism actually being pantheism, the polytheistic roots of every religious practice, or stuff that is wasteful to discuss with people who are still in deep denial. The ties with which the Lord of Flies binds are difficult to unravel. Aside of the task of actually bringing knowledge to people in a way they can understand it and get past the mental blocks, there are spiritual blocks to contend with. They are surrounded by people constantly praying that they remain in bondage, and a lot of energy is spent to keep them bound. From the CEO who profits from the promotion of higher than necessary or sustainable material requirements for “normalcy”, down to the xenophobic neighbor who’s afraid of Voodoo lest they be held accountable for the dirt they do. Let’s not forget the thieving, lecherous pastors who thrive on folks’ ignorance about their true nature and true power.
So I pray for the real Lord to save my family and my people from spiritual bondage. I hope that one day my prayers are answered. In the meantime, I’m watching to see how the news pans out.
