Sea Witch
Her history is one built on myths and relics, the piracy of some and the emergence of others.
She has grown up in kitchens filled with strong pungent scents at the feet of her grandmother, mother and aunties. Time well spent listening to mythical stories that every island child can relate too.
There is always a remedy in Nature, she knows this all too well. As a child when chicken pox swept through the island her grandmother bathed her in Cerasee “let the vine do its job child.” her grandmother would whisper as she sat sulking in seaweed colored water.
The Island witch knows that spices and herbs are essential to her craft, it is in her blood this calling to blend hot and sweet, to heal and to nurture.
She knows for instance that drinking aloe though bitter on the tongue cleans the blood and detoxifies the body. From turmeric and bay leaf to hot goat pepper and moringa, each one has a healing property that is cloaked in island folklore.
She believes in the power of colors and intuitively dresses to reflect this, loud and vibrant hues displayed on a body that can cast a spell of its own, it is the way of island women.
The sun has colored her skin and her temperament, the salt of the sea is her perfume.
Intuitively she follows the moon and its cycles watching as the tides rise and fall like her ancestors before her, she is guided by the stars. She collects gifts from the sea as she walks the shores in the morning. Her altar is adorned with treasures that the sea returned. Spotted old black and white pictures of her ancestors and candles that smell like cardamom and cinnamon are arranged in no particular order.
Words have power and she doesn’t mince hers. Words are sacred in her world. Her mouth is often full of spice that comes from deep within. She says what’s on her mind and laughs like she means it. Unapologetic and entirely too loud.
She is a fusion, a blend of all that came before her, her practice calls on both the old and the new, it is a pepper pot of offerings fathered from the old world and birthed in the new. Adaptable with a sense of adventure this new world does not frighten her, she is the consequence of explorations into uncharted territories.
Unafraid, she stands at the edge of a great chasm and chants these words.
Chant/Mantra:
To the New Ancestors
I call upon you as I traverse territories unknown. I seek knowledge and protection, learning the ways of the old so that I may create new paths born of sacred traditions. Guide my feet and open my eyes so that I may see the veiled. I seek the new and leave all illusions behind, may I hear your voices and heed your warnings. During times when the waters may be rough and the terrain treacherous, show me the way to navigate that which is difficult. In the darkness you are the light, I am not afraid as I travel through space and time, I am tethered to you, safe and secure. Today I continue your work, forging the way for the ones who are yet to come. As it was so it will be, allow your sacred energy to be formed anew within me.
This short, witchy story was originally published by This Witch magazine in their “All Things” Summer edition. Although the Publisher is currently on hiatus you can visit their site for more information on the magazine and view previous editions.
