Has my mother being a Wiccan witch influenced my path?

QUESTION - I am a born witch, my mother wiccaning me when I was born without my father knowing. I didn't know my mother was a witch until now. I was a Christian like my father but I left Christianity and now I am practising the craft although nobody knows. I want to know if my mother blessing and doing rituals with me when I was a baby has influenced the path I have chosen.

ANSWER -  I'd say it is possible your mother has had an influence on your path but not necessarily by virtue of the wiccaning. In the same way that I do not believe a baptism makes a Christian I do not believe a wiccaning makes a Wiccan (and certainly not a witch). Every individual has the right to choose a path in life that works for them and any choices made for them by even the most well meaning parents are to my mind pretty redundant. Going through a naming ceremony as a child does not direct you to the path of the associated religion later in your adulthood.

That said there is a very definite school of thought that witchcraft is to a certain degree hereditary. The craft is believed by some witches to pass through the bloodline and other witches believe that an adult witch can pass on their own propensity for the craft by educating the child from a young age. It is similar to the nature/nurture debate in Psychology which seeks to determine if the personality of an individual is formulated on a genetic level or through the environment they are brought up in. The usual (and in my book the best) answer is that both factors play a part. I suspect it is the same thing here with you - you may well have natural abilities as a witch passed to you from your mother but it is just as likely that spending your formulative years in a witchcraft friendly environment has stimulated your interest and knowledge and given you craft experience that has helped you on your path as an adult.

So yes, you may have inherited some gifts from your mother but the open minded approach to witchcraft she has demonstrated to you in your childhood has likely also played its part in you choosing your path of a witch in favour of the more conventional Christian religion.

Image http://www.deviantart.com/art/The-Wiccan-306870964

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