Nurturing the gifts of the Craft.

QUESTION - Hello, I recently decided to leave my old faith as I had many doubts about it and it did not fit who I really am.
Ever since I was a very young child right at the age of 12 I started to have a foresight for the future, usually in dreams. I also saw things and felt things that nobody else could see, my only explanation at the time by my parents was that those things were of demonic nature. I on the other hand felt they were not, I honestly felt it was something else. I ignored my gifts for many many years. I finally decided to that I wanted to try and nurture and grow my gifts as well as learn the Wicca ways. I feel this was my calling all along and it is something that seems to make me happy when I am researching and reading about it. So my question I guess is, are those things I experienced as a child normal? Is it normal for some witches to have their manifestos right at puberty or is this just me are those occurrences normal for a witch as well? I do not know much about this and I am so excited to learn who I am or what I am.


ANSWER - I'm a bit taken aback by your parents explanation. if a young child came to me and said they were experiencing knowledge of something with no obvious existence in the mundane world, I certainly wouldn't start talking about demonic possession. In the first place its one of the unlikeliest possibilities and in the second talking about demons tends to scare people. Many witches do not even believe in demons. Its a strange conclusion for your parents to jump to and unfortunately for their powers of deduction its also undoubtedly wrong. Chances are you were just a little more tuned to seeing spirits than many others are. And certainly there need be nothing negative or sinister about that.
Its normal, more than normal, for children to experience more of the spirit world than we do as adults. I've recently been involved in advising a mother whose child has been regularly seeing things in her bedroom that are not apparent to other members of the family. Children have not yet learned to be sceptical or to switch off their other senses in favour of the mundane. They do not rationalise their thoughts in the way that adults do. I don't think this is particularly true of witches, I think its a child thing rather than a witch thing. A witch will of course, as she develops into adulthood, make a conscious decision to retain her ability to work with spirits, but I believe that the initial ability is present in most if not all of us from a young age.
When I talk to other witches about looking back into their childhood, many do seem to have had significantly more experiences such as yours, involving spirits and the otherworld. But perhaps a witch is more likely to nurture those memories while an IT consultant would prefer to forget them...There's no framework to suggest only witches have an affinity with spirits and like I say, my money is on it being a universal child thing. Get talking to most children and they will open up about some extraordinary things that are entirely beyond the comprehension of most adults.
The thing with being a witch is it is not so much about whether you are gifted or not as it is about how you choose to use those gifts. A witch may be less gifted psychically than a person who is not a witch but the difference is that the witch will utilise and practise the gifts that she has, no matter how limited they are. A witch will choose to make her gifts count. In your case, you obviously have the basic gifts in place, you have a certain amount of precognition and
an obvious affinity with the spirit world. However, from your question, it is not these gifts that make me suspect you are suited to working with witchcraft. I find your comment "it is something that makes me happy when researching and reading about it," far more telling of your calling. You are drawn to witchcraft because it interests and inspires you. Great, what more reason do you need? You feel it is your calling and you feel it works for you. If ever you wanted a shove from the Universe to point you in the right direction, then surely this is it. Your gifts will come in handy, don't get me wrong, but your intuition that you have found a path that suits who you are is by far the more powerful.
Keep listening to that inner voice and as long as what you are doing feels right to you then chance are you are on the right lines. Keep reading, keep learning and keep checking it all still feels right. Starting on the path of the Craft is a wonderful time in your life, enjoy it and make the most of it.

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