Those who frequent my blog will probably know that I deem myself to be a Modern Day Stoic and I’ve done my fair share of studying Stoic philosophy, reading many of the ancient classic works and works inspired by them by modern authors of the last century and the current. All of what I know about Stoicism is autodidact. I never went to any classes, didn’t follow any courses, I just read and studied the works myself and adopted bits and pieces that fit the modern day life.

The Road Diverges and the Roads Come Together

Bren and I have been together for nearly five years now and during that time she introduced me to witchcraft. Hers is called Traditional Green Witchcraft, which is a very pagan lifestyle, that involves living with the seasons and honouring nature. The introduction was very low key and she really eased me into her world by gradually showing me more and more about what it meant for her to be a witch. Of course, we each taught each other things about our life philosophy and I was astonished how well Stoic philosophy goes along with her life philosophy.

I have to admit, when it comes to religion and life philosophies, I’m a bit of an eclectic type. The things I like about certain religions (mainly Buddhism) I try to adopt and I basically just pick and choose what I believe will enrich my life and make it my own thing. It’s mostly because I think different things work for different people and I’m not really someone who likes to follow a textbook. I’m also one of those guys who doesn’t read the manual, because I want to figure things out myself, much to the annoyance of some people, but that’s a story for another time, haha.

Coming out of the Broom Closet

Currently I’m reading a Dutch book on Witchcraft called “De weg van de heks” (The Way of the Witch) by Lunadea, one of the most famous witches from the Netherlands. What I like about the book so far is that many people go through life being a witch, but not really daring to “come out” as it were. When they do declare themselves to be a witch, it is called “coming out of the broom closet”. I think this is a very funny play on the saying, but at the same time I think it’s quite disturbing that there’s a need for things like this. We’re still at a point in this time and age where people can’t openly be whoever and whatever they want to be and that really makes me sad. I’m very glad that Bren is open about who she is, just as I can be open about who I am. But at the same time I realise just how blessed we are with a surrounding where this is possible. Tolerance and acceptance are precious goods that we need to keep fighting for.

Where does my Path lead to, then?

Over time, people’s interests change, but one thing I know for sure is that I will never ever stop learning and reading books to enrich my life. Certainly, not all books can teach you something. At the same time, some of my philosophies aren’t from books at all but from other media, most notably video games. People who claim video games are a useless medium have probably never played the right games, and that’s just fine, but I have learned a lot from them. But I digress…

My current path is leading me to learn a lot about witchcraft in its many forms, its rich (and also dark) history. It’s going to be a journey that I won’t be making entirely alone, as I have many great guides and teachers at my disposal. I’m curious what the journey will bring, especially because I can be sceptical, scientifically minded and Stoic. But one thing I know and that is that it will enrich my life and as I said so many times, we are never too old to learn, to dig deep into a subject and find that life is not what it was before we took off on yet another adventure.

Safe travels my friends,

Jeffrey