The Cat Is Out Of The Bag
So for a quick recap for my newer readers: I have never officially come out of the broom closet to my in-laws. I never hid it from them per say. I wear an ankh necklace and a pentacle ring daily. A visit to my home and you will see Egyptian books scattered on the living room table, an altar nearby, and a bookshelf dedicated to spiritual books (not just pagan, there are some bibles and a Koran in there as well) with 4 or 5 tarot decks sitting on top. I have got egyptian statuettes all over my house along with a couple of wall hangings. On my car is a bumper sticker for Mother Grove Temple and for Beltane I decorated it for our road trip (triple goddess moon, god symbol, big letters yelling “BELTANE BLESSINGS”). But I just never vocally mentioned that I was pagan.
How does one do that? I don’t think I ever did it with my parents. And I never cared what they thought anyway and yet they know. But I LIKE my in-laws and I know what their spiritual beliefs are and feared I would somehow scare them to death. Or maybe I just feared a really tough discussion that ended badly? Regardless I finally mentioned it to my hubs in the car on the way to Lowe’s last night. I have been feeling a need to be “out of the broom closet” with them even though I wasn’t really sure why. I am not one of those people that runs around shouting “I AM A WITCH” every chance I get. I am more of “ask me and I will tell you, otherwise it’s not your business” type person. So this need to clear the air, so to speak, was leaving me feeling a bit odd to be honest.
Well ya know what, the hubs outed me a long time ago. Apparently his mom asked him because she didn’t want to put any pressure on me! LOL! I need to hug her next time I see her. He said that she has known for a few years now (I have only been pagan 8 years and we have been together 15 years) and has been concerned about asking if the kids can go to church with her. She has asked and I am ok with it. I think I need to really talk to her and let her know that my spirituality is mine and the kids are free to explore their own and church is always the option. I think until she hears it from my own voice she will always worry about asking and that’s just unnecessary stress.
So where do you stand with family? Have you discovered that people knew more than you realized?
P.S. The page for Wheel of the Year is done. Sadly I don’t have a review up today as I realized I need a few things for it. I will have it up by end of this week I hope!
It has never been discussed with either my family or the in-laws. If they were to ask we’d tell but since we lean more toward a spiritual belief and not ritual there isn’t much to tell. My family has always known I don’t believe what they do and they have seen books and other random things. The kids are at church most every Sunday with one set or the other and we teach them about the other religions and that just because they hear it in Church doesn’t mean they can’t question it or have different opinions. When they are older their beliefs are their choice and I want them to know about as many options as I can give them.
I think that when you are loved its not as important that you believe the same things. Love makes people more understanding.
Rebecca´s last [type] ..Its Monday Again
I’ve never sat down and had ‘the talk’ with either family but my parents know I ran the P.A.G.A.N.S. Club at college and know I run a pagan meetup.com group now. I never hid it from my in-laws either. I’ve never felt anything but apathy at worst or respect at best from any of the immediate family. Now, would I tell my Aunts and Uncles, probably not. I think I’m lucky in that my Father and Mother are both very faith-filled people who happen to be Roman Catholic.
I think your mother in law is very sweet for being concerned.
EmraldeKat´s last [type] ..Creative Lavendar Inspirations
I don’t think my parents and I have ever sat down and talked about it. They know and really, they don’t seem to care. My mother made a rather rude comment once that I very quickly squashed. We were on a road trip and my then 16 month old son was not handling it well. He didn’t do well in unfamiliar settings and out of his routine. He was crying and fussing and the three of us were all a bit frazzled and my mother popped off with “He’s like this because you’re a witch”. I was a bit stunned for a moment and then said ” I have never given you crap about your religion, don’t you dare do it about mine”. She just looked at me and blinked, then we both sat down on the bed working to sooth my little man to sleep. Nothing else has ever been said. The only other time we have butted heads in any way was when she wanted to have him baptized. I very firmly and calmly told her that I wanted him to make his own choice when he was old enough and the subject was dropped. I’m not very close with the rest of my family and have no idea if the aunts, uncles, or cousins know and frankly don’t care. I don’t hide it but I don’t shout about it either. My husbands mother and stepfather know and don’t care but I don’t think anyone else in his family knows. Again, we don’t really care as I haven’t even met them. On a funny note, my son is now 7 and if you were to ask, he would tell you that he is Pagan. He does still go to church with my mom on occasion because he thinks it’s fun and they give him cookies after. Gotta love kids.
Shel´s last [type] ..Crazy brain