Happy Wednesday, witchy babes!

Every Wednesday we like to feature an influential member of our community! We are so happy to introduce one of our favorite community members, Josie from @hillcountrybruja.

Not only is she an inspiring witch, but she is a teacher and a community builder. We love her perspective, and her Share Your Knowledge Sunday series is so very helpful! If you’re not already following her, be sure to check her page out!

We got together to do this quick interview about her practice. Take a moment to get to know her better. We know you’ll love her as much as we do!!

My name is Josie and I am Hill Country Bruja. I am a witch, a gardener, a teacher, a student, a wife and a writer living my best witchy life nestled in the Hill Country of Central Texas.

My current practice or path:

My path has changed and evolved so much over the years. I am currently working more closely with the left-hand path. I have worked with the Goddess Hekate for years and have now added Baphomet and Lilith to my list of deities I serve and work with. I also have a high regard and a close relationship with the Celtic Goddess, Brigid. When I first began feeling the call to darker deities and magick, I was a little apprehensive. There is such a stigma around the LHP (Left-hand Path) and I foolishly believed some of the misinformation out there. After I began to do my own research, I was able to sort through and debunk the inaccuracies to uncover what I believe to be the truth. Learning about the darker side to the LHP wasn’t a difficult concept to grasp because it is very similar to one of my favorite folk magick practices: Conjure (also called Hoodoo). In this magickal system there is no “3-fold law” and there is no Karma to speak of. There is “justified hexing” which is doing baneful workings only when it has been determined as the correct course of action in order to restore justice. This is determined by doing a reading with the preferred divination method of the practitioner as well as consulting the ancestors and spirit guides of the worker. I have always found this refreshing and it has always resonated more with me than a stringent light-worker, all love and light dogmatic belief. I do not say this to offend or belittle anyone who identifies exclusively as a light-worker. However, I believe there must be balance in magick: without darkness there can be no light. Dark magick or light magick practiced alone throws the natural order out of balance. I choose to view myself as practicing a balanced and well-rounded magickal tradition.

Some of my influences or inspirational figures in my path:

One of my first sources of inspiration is Selena Fox. I highly respect what she has done in her life for witches in general. Since the 1970s she has helped witches have a safe space in this country. She is a Wiccan priestess but also has been an advocate for Veterans in the Wiccan community and recovering addicts and alcoholics who identify as witches. She is the founder of Circle Sanctuary in Wisconsin and continues to be a teacher, a spiritual guide, and advocate and an activist. If you are not familiar with her, I recommend searching her out and read on her lifetime achievements. Inspiring to say the least!

Another great source of inspiration for me is Cyndi Brannen of Keeping Her Keys. I honestly cannot say enough about this woman. I discovered her quite recently and once I made the connection who she was I began to realize that about 75% of my Pinterest board saves were comprised of her informational imagery. She is the voice (in my opinion) for many present day Hekatean witches and is the author of an amazing book titled, Keeping Her Keys: An Introduction to Modern Hekatean Witchcraft which is a course workbook. The course stretches out over a 13-month span and is corresponded with the lunar phases. I am on my second month and my eyes, hear and spirit are wide open! She is a wonderful teacher and emphasizes the need to continue to work on oneself and the importance of personal development work.

Both these women have some form of a clinical degree and a background in counseling and psychology. I am currently in school myself working on my first clinical degree in addiction counseling. When I connected that we all have this in common it reaffirmed that I am on the path I was always meant to be.

What I am currently learning about with my practice:

I have been learning more and more about the benefits of shadow work as it relates to personal development, something I have been learning about from Cyndi’s course book. I love that we can incorporate magick into anything, including healing from past traumas and working through defects of character. Black mirror scrying is the next project I would like to undertake. I have been searching for the perfect mirror to use. I know what I want but have not come across it yet. I am excited to incorporate black mirror scrying into my shadow working practices.

In my Witch Swap packaged I received from @piscesmoonflower13 I received a beautiful deck of Dark Goddess Oracle cards. I have been reading tarot cards since I was a teenager, but have never branched out into Oracle cards, so I will be using this deck to learn on.

Being an avid gardener, I have always grown many plants and herbs. Herb magick comes very natuarl to me and I use many of my homegrown herbs in my spell work. My goal for this spring is to grow more vegetation and begin infusing more magick into my cooking. I love Kitchen Witchery but haven’t utilized it to its fullest potential. This year I plan to make a conscious effort to feed my family and myself more magickal meals.

Thank you, Witch Swap for giving me the opportunity to not only contribute to your blog, but to also tell the community a little bit about myself. I hope that my story resonates with some of you. If you have any questions, plese feel free to DM me. I am an open book and here to help any witch in need. I also hope that you will join me for my bi-weekly vlog “Share Your Knowledge Sunday” where I discuss different occult and witchy topics. You can catch this on my Instagram account and my YouTube channel. Many blessings and happy witching, y’all!