Hello beautiful human!!

We are so delighted to share an intimate glimpse of the lives of one of our favorite witches, Winifred from @awentree over on the US side of the world. She is not only a huge inspiration of ours, but a mentor and safe space creator. Head over to her page and see more about her and her work after reading this lovely interview we did together.

We sat down and asked her a few questions about her life and practice! Get to know her and we know you’ll love her as much as we do!!

Tell us a bit about you!? Your practice...your journey...what makes you you?

I have been studying and practicing Paganism, Goddess Traditions, Folk Magic and Witchcraft since I was a young teenager. I identify most strongly with being an Earth Witch and healing is central to my practice. As a little kid I had these crazy, vivid and very lucid dreams that honestly, scared me so much I had to sleep with a light on way longer than most kids use a night light. That and having been consciously raised "unchurched" but with a strong sense of secular faith (spiritual freedom) by my parents especially during a time (the 70's) when that wasn't common at all in a Boston suburb, instilled in me a desire to learn more about alternative traditions.

Sometime around 5th or 6th grade, I just decided I wanted to be a Witch even though at the time I didn't have much knowledge about the Craft. Despite not really knowing what I was doing, I felt quite clear that celebrating the phases of the Moon, cycles of the seasons and being close to the Earth were a deep part of my budding spirituality which led me to learn all I could about Paganism. Inspired by books I had read, I dedicated my life to the Goddess shortly after I turned 16. It was the most simplest of rituals because I didn't own a robe, any Witch Tools or even candles. I snuck out into my backyard, at midnight during a Full Moon, stood in the luminescent light and just spoke my heartfelt intentions to the Goddess. It was years on before I met other Witches and learned about the whole controversy over Self-Initiation vs being Initiated by another Witch.

Back then, occult bookshops were few and far between. There was no internet. And I was too young to join a Coven. So I spent my early years trying to figure out my Path on my own, which definitely made it harder. I was hungry for a teacher that was grounded, humble and genuine, not caught up in ego and merely being performative with their Witching. I was also a single Mama struggling to make ends meet and with very limited resources which created quite the barrier to joining a group or formalized training.

Then, in my mid-twenties I was very fortunate to meet one of my most important mentors, my Reiki Master Teacher, who really empowered me to lean deeper into my intuitive gifts reading tarot, learning astrology and my healing journey. Being mentored by her was deeply inspirational and life changing. She had a wonderful metaphysical shop, at the time, and this is when the seeds of my dream to one day open my own expression of a Witch Shop were first sewn.

The reality is that I haven't had always the easiest path in life. I have dealt with serious poverty pretty much all of my adult life, having children when I was fairly young and being extremely under-resourced due to lack of real support. Dealing with food and shelter insecurity while raising children definitely informed my work as a Witch. Lack of resources taught me to be a resourceful Witch. It led to me focusing on inner work, deep healing and every day magick to create real transformation from the inside out, utilizing my magick to overcome limiting beliefs, old programming, karmic contracts and ancestral inheritances.

Through it all, my connection to the Earth as Sacred, and celebrating the Wheel of the Year grounded my practice. When I couldn't find community where I could bring my kids for Sabbats, I created my own family way of honoring the Sabbats with them. When I couldn't afford all the fancy spiritual supplies, I learn to do magick with what I had in my cupboards, grew in my garden or found in nature. Many of my first rituals were done deep in the woods, at crossroads of old forest paths. Always for me, being a Witch has been about healing, reclaiming my personal power and actually doing the work of my Craft.

You have been practicing healing for a while now, what is the most humbling/grounding lesson you have carried through the years?

One of my most humbling experiences, as a healer, happened when I had the opportunity to sit in sacred Ayahuasca Ceremony with a traditionally trained shaman. It was my first time in Ceremony and participants are strongly encouraged to set a clear intention before the journey.

I ask to be shown how I could fully step into my personal power and let go of any limiting beliefs or fears holding me back in my work as a Reiki & Energy Healer. Once you are seated in the room, you can't change your spot. When I went into the room, I used my intuition to scope out a seat ahead of time because I am really sensitive to other folks energy, but there were very few open spots left to choose from.

Minutes before the Ceremony started, the person on my right showed up and I immediately had this uncomfortable feeling. The shaman began the Ceremony and eventually things really started getting going. The person seated to my right ended up have a REALLY bad journey. Not only was he having a very hard time, he was also not very self-contained and ended up energetically and physically quite loud.

It was really difficult to be seated next to him as he struggled through his journey. At first I was frustrated and distracted. I was there to focus on my own journey and healing work. This was becoming increasingly hard to do with the intense energy happening right next to me. A key agreement in Ceremony is that you DO NOT interact with the other folks, you leave that to the Shaman and their apprentices, who will attend to someone who is struggling. You are not to leave your spot, except to use the bathroom, and you are to mind your own journey.

At the height of the Ceremony, the person next to me was purging so intensely it was splashing on me! EWWW, I thought to myself, on the verge of totally freaking out. I knew I wasn't suppose to jump up and change seats, but I was so uncomfortable with the whole situation. I had waited a long time for the chance to sit in Ceremony and now I was "stuck" next to this person who was pretty much losing it in a very big way. I literally felt like I was going to jump out of my skin and I was experiencing a lot of emotions rising to the surface; frustration, anger, and disappointment. I wondered why no one was coming over the help him.

It was at this moment, that the Mother Spirit of Ayuhuasca, the Mother Serpent, appeared in front of me and reminded me of my intention- that I asked to know my limiting beliefs that prevented me from stepping into my fullest potential as a healer on the planet at this time. Mother Ayahuasca told me to check myself, to look and recognize the pain and suffering, the purging, this human beside me was undertaking in order to heal. She wanted me to understand, on a fundamental level, that not all healing is "pretty" or conveniently wrapped up in an aesthetically pleasing package of a session in the Reiki treatment room. Sometimes healing needs to be messy, purgative and uncomfortable. She challenged me to understand that if I truly wanted to step into my fullest potential as a healer, I needed to accept that healing takes place in many forms and that I need to let go of any pre-conceived notions and judgement. Mother Spirit was providing me with the opportunity to set those aside, take responsibility for holding my own space, to just bear witness and have compassion. This was a very powerful and clear moment for me in which I definitely got the Memo.

I choose, at that moment, to lean into my healing wisdom, open up to the Reiki Ray and my grounding practices. First, I took care of my own needs. I imagine the Reiki Ray entering me as a river of healing energy flowing down and around me, supporting me and creating a protective energetic boundary. I pulled my shawl closer, covering me fully. Then I offered a silent healing prayer that if it was in right alignment with his Will, that the man next to me, was welcome to access the healing energy I was calling down.

Later on, the next day, the man who had been seated beside me approached me. He felt badly that he had been a challenge to sit next too and offered an apology. I immediately told him that no apology was needed, there was no accident that we were seated together. I had my own valuable lesson to learn. He then went on to thank me, asking if I was a Reiki Master. He said he knew it because he felt it the moment I started connecting to the Reiki vibration. He said that he could literally feel the immense grounding and healing energy "radiating from me in waves". He shared that he also sense the excess energy flowing from me was support I was extending and the profound difference it made in his journey, helping him climb out from of a very difficult and dark place. We hugged and then parted ways.

The entire process gave me profound insight on how deep healing can go and was very humbling. In the end, I realized I had been given an incredible gift.

So much of your practice/energy/business is rooted in intuition. When/how do you feel most aligned between your spirit/body/and purpose?

When I am working with others providing healing sessions, whether we are seeking the guidance of tarot or the healing process Reiki offers.. I am very much an intuitive healer and integrate many modalities into my practice. I draw upon my experience with divination, energy, sound, crystals, Spirit Allies and magick to provide an integrative experience. It is when I am working with folks that really love the intersection of many spiritual tools, that I feel most aligned in my work.

Many of us are trying to be who we needed when we were 'younger' or just starting out...what would you say to the you who first stepped into this journey if you could talk to her?

Begin where you are. It is more important to just show up and be consistent in your practice with what you do have right now, right around you, than to put it off for some potential future moment when you have all the "right" supplies or perfect timing or setting.

Balance time spent actually doing your Craft with learning about your Craft. I am a strong believer in being a "forever student" but the study must be integrated with real world action.

Don't let someone else come between you and Spirit or your Path. Seek to know the different between teachers and mentors who truly want to empower your understanding and growth vs those who have a hidden agenda or are operating from a place of ego, power and need for control.

When/How did you know that you wanted to start helping others in an educational sense of the path as well as a healing one?

When I met and studied with my own Reiki Master Teacher in my mid twenties. I knew then that I wanted to help others heal and transform their lives as she had empowered me to do the same. She taught me about unconditional love, self-worth, compassion, integrity, the difference between spiritualism and ego-ism and how to create a sacred container for others. I wished I had met her sooner in my life, but was very grateful I did meet her when I did. Our friendship directly inspired me to say "yes" to my own work as a healer and teacher.

What has 2020 given you/taught you the most?

2020 has taught me that the skills of "slow living" our grandparents knew and understood has timeless value, teaching us to embrace the joy in small things and the salty grit of being resourceful.

Innovate. Look for the hidden opportunities life presents in strange and interesting times. When one door closes, seek to discover the door that now opens because the other one closed.

To remember your spiritual practices, lean in and not out, when times gets difficult.

You core practices are core practices for a reason, grounding, meditating, tending to your Shrines and communing with your Spirits, they bring powerful, healing resources. Go outside, stand by water, look at the moon, get to know the plants and trees where your live, listen to the birds and turn any space you have into a garden.

The impact of COVID also brought a unique challenge in which I decided to let go of the physical location that has housed my Witch Shop, AwenTree for 14 years and move all store operations, my healing practice and education online for now. In many ways I had outgrown the "model" of owning and operating a brick & mortar, as I leaned deeper into online teaching and community building. I longed for a vision of AwenTree that afforded more location independence and freedom of schedule so that I could say yes to other opportunities. But I also love my store and I remain deeply committed to my mission to provide access to resources for my Witch & Pagan community. I realized by letting the store go, it allowed me to invest completely in nurturing my growing online magickal community, The Witching Well, and to finally get started writing some books I have long wanted to write. While it was hard to close the doors to the physical shop, I am excited for the new doors that are now open.

When do you feel most magical (who are you around, what are you doing, where are you)?

Two kinds of places. When I am outside in the wilderness usually by water or on top of a mountain. There is a unique vibration to being one with wild spaces. Recently I spent 4 days backpacking with my husband in the Adirondaks, in New York state, after months of quarantining. I hiked out to sit alone on a small rock peninsula at a lake in the middle of the wilderness. We were the only humans for miles. I sat there listening to the water, feeling the wind, breathing deep and watching the life all around me, water lilies, frogs, birds. There is a healing magick that comes when I just commune deeply with the Earth in sacred silence. The deeper into the woods I go, the more wild my Witching becomes and I love that.

Or in Ritual. Whether alone or with spiritual family. In one of the Spiritual Traditions I practice, regular food offerings for the Beloved Dead are central to the practice. This is done daily in my home, but also when we come together. When we are together for a special weekend of community and ceremony (on a private farm) we begin with tending to the Ancestors with prayer, song, food and drink. In these moments, I feel the blood of those who came before me singing in my veins. I love preparing the food we will put out: water, black coffee, water with honey, water with molasses, coffee with cream and sugar, candles, flowers, cake and a glass of gin or tequila. Singing the songs, listening to the Elders chant the prayers and standing together reminds me that I do not walk these ways alone.