Wicca

When I was about 16, I had an experience I will never forget. I am very skeptical, even with the experiences I had through my life, so even telling this story still makes it seem surreal. There's a bit of background story, but since I don't want to "puke" out my life's story, let's just say that from a very young age, my life was constantly filled with negativity, and I believe everything that happened before this experience, definitely had something do with it.

I was friends with a group of people who practiced Wicca(also termed Pagan Witchcraft), and it was something I was interested in so I learned a lot from them before this happened. It's a beautiful craft, and so open and welcoming. They were more experienced, as they had a few years of practicing before I even entered the picture.

Anyway, on Halloween, or Samhain, we wanted to pay our respects to those who had passed, and so we decided to cast a circle in our local cemetery. The circle was cast by an angel statue that had been built for the children buried in the cemetery. Now, normally the "door" to the circle is closed, but we left if "open" to invite any spirits to the offerings (food and drink). My friend, Kate, went off on her own to "speak" with someone who had just died a month before and my other friend, Meg, and I stayed in the circle, both silent as we did our own thing. I was upset, and already at a vulnerable point in my life as I was dealing with depression from the death of my father. He committed suicide when I was 6 and I wanted some peace; I wanted to hear from him and understand how he could leave his family like that. I opened the door even wider.

A rush of wind came in the circle, and knocked Meg over on her butt, landing on her black mirror (a black mirror is used for scrying in Wicca), breaking it, which means bad luck. She was spooked by it, but I didn't experience anything; It was completely quiet. She told me to go get Kate, so I stood up and told her to come back to the circle. She was reluctant but came back with me.

When we were all in the circle, Meg told Kate about what happened so we started picking up the food and other things in the middle of the circle so we could officially "close" it.

I can't explain to you what it feels like. The best way to describe it is like something is invading your space. It's uncomfortable and it's almost like it's trying to shove you out of the way to make room. I literally felt like two different people, and the invader was trying to gain control. Meg noticed I looked different and asked if I was okay. I didn't answer her.

And then I crouched down on the ground, my nails digging in the dirt, and I was swaying back and forth. Before I knew it, I turned away from them, threw back my head and let out a piercing, high-pitched scream that lasted for about a minute.

After the scream slowly died off, I started shaking and turned to them. I remember saying, "Something's wrong" and then they grabbed me by the arms to keep me still, and started saying a Wiccan prayer. I tried saying it with them at first, but I literally growled, before I could finish the sentence. I felt like I had no control; I felt hatred and anger. But I kept on trying and eventually, I could say it and began to feel like a weight had been lifted off me.

We closed the circle, went home, and that was that. We didn't talk about it. I laid in bed thinking I would never be in a vulnerable state like that again, that I would be strong. I imagined a white shield surrounding my house and myself. I started working more with energy and stepped away from any type of religion, focusing more on the spiritual (not because I didn't like Wicca). I knew things had to change.

I never told my mom or any of my friends. It was just the two of them and me. Was it a demon? Who knows. People think Demons are the only things that can possess, but when a spirit has enough energy, there is a whole lot more they can do.

So nothing extravagant. No speaking in tongues or throwing people twice my size. Just something that ended quickly, but changed my life, and my perspective, forever.