Safire’s Journey into Paganism

So, I’m realizing that I have never actually fully put into words how I started down my path with Paganism… And while it’s not exactly a long or honestly interesting story, I think it is still worth telling.  

So, to start at the beginning of the story, I was raised in a small town in North-East Ohio. Which means everyone knows everyone/everything and there is a church on every corner. Which makes believing in something else fairly difficult. That being said, here I am, a slightly functional Pagan. Although, I didn’t start out fully Pagan, through my childhood I was technically Christian. If that’s what you want to call it. My family did follow the Christian belief but only ever went to church on holidays, which is absolutely fine. I don’t believe a building should define someone’s faith. I never regularly went to church until I was in high school. That was what the “norm” was. It was the only thing I knew. It’s interesting, I started to regularly go to church multiple times a week. By then, I had already stopped considering myself Christian.  

The summer before my first year of high school, my friend took me to his church’s youth group. I actually enjoyed the interaction with everyone. I decided to keep going. That is actually how I started talking to Terra and my wife, Marissa. I regularly went to church for about a year. During this time, Marissa started reading a book series called “House of Night” by PC and Kristen Cast. It heavily influenced my path. It inspired me to want to write for a living. I can honestly say this book 100% changed my life. Seriously, if you have never read these books, DO IT NOW! They’re awesome, and they hold true to most modern forms of Witchcraft/Paganism.  

Anyways, I started reading the books, and they changed my life. I was fully enamored in the concept of Witchcraft and Paganism. It wasn’t long before Marissa, myself, and another friend decided to have a ritual at my house. It was just a small full moon ritual. It fully opened my eyes to the fact that I wasn’t out of my mind. There was a reason I never felt accepted in Christianity because that wasn’t where I belonged. At the time, I thought I was losing my mind. I couldn’t feel the energy during the ritual. Still, I dove headfirst into researching Wicca and Witchcraft. I started working with energies and making protection charms. I cleaned the FUCK out of my house, which I found out was desperately needed. I learned about past lives, and started looking into mine, I definitely thought I was wrong then. Lol. I’m sure we will go further into this at some point in the future.  

Now that it has been the better part of a decade, I know I wasn’t mistaken. I definitely was not the only one to feel that way when learning about everything. Which brings us to today, I am 26, and consider myself a mostly functioning Pagan. There have been times that I have strayed from my path. Still, I have never thought of that as failing. It was always still in my head. Life just seemed to find a way to get in the way. And there is nothing wrong with that. The universe isn’t going to condemn you for being too busy. It’s okay if you miss a ritual or holiday here or there. And you shouldn’t condemn yourself either.  

Over the past 10 years or so, I have learned some things about life and being Pagan. This is the whole reason that Nyx’s Grove exists. I wanted a place to document my own growth. I also hoped to help someone else out that needs it. Especially now that we are going to be integrating our children into it. And I am thrilled that Terra agreed to join us on the adventure!