Personal Update, APOSTASY, and Therapeutic Witchcraft

I am now 34!

               Hey everyone, thank you so much for the incredible patience you’ve had with me and my lack of posts. Things (as usual) have been totally nuts. I’ve been working on several projects which have nothing to do with APOSTASY, my website, or anything else. I’ve also been working my day job (since, you know, money is necessary and everything’s expensive) and, on top of everything else, my family has been attempting to contact me again (this time via floral bouquets).

               Before I tackle what’s been happening with my witchcraft and with my family, I want to talk about APOSTASY. My goal is to have APOSTASY ready to send to editing services by August of this year. It feels like a lofty goal, but that’s the idea. Once it goes to editing, I’ll be reaching out and looking for beta readers. If you’re interested, I’ll have a little sign-up along with a feedback form.

               This is a book that was first drafted in 2021, I’d been researching for it before then, and as I’ve edited, the research has continued (there will be a work cited page in the back). This book is a way for me to vent all of the frustration and anger I have felt with white Christianity. I grew up in the Baptist faith, and my mother is a descendant of a lot of southern preachers.

               You do the math.

               I was raised with a lot of hate, and a lot of acceptance of intolerable behavior – because that’s what the white Christian church is. To me, if there is a deity who condones the unconscionable beliefs inherent, he needs to be held accountable.

               And that’s what APOSTASY is about. It addresses the myriad problems I continue to see in both Christians and the church. I don’t sugarcoat things, and there will be trigger warnings, that I will go over with my beta readers before I allow them to read the book. I’ll post more about that as we get closer to that time.

               Now, let’s talk about my family.

               I estranged myself from them a few years before. I’m not going to go into the litany of reasons I have for doing so, but know this: I considered my decision long before I made it, and I have experienced incredible amounts of growth since setting up this boundary. I’m genuinely proud of who I am becoming, and I have no interest in endangering that progress for familial obligation.

               My family, however, has no interest in respecting boundaries of any kind.

               Their most recent attempts at contact have consisted of floral arrangements. Rather than be angry, or put out by these actions, I have come to a rather fun conclusion: I can use these floral arrangements in my craft. I have dried some of the flowers, I’m attempting to regrow others, and I’ve jarred others. The one they sent for my birthday is currently being dried, and regrown, and, I used some of it as a belated Imbolc display. I’ve found this attitude regarding these “gifts” to be so incredibly therapeutic because I have control.

               So, that has been my experience as of late. I hope everyone is having a good day!

-NL