The Return

The smiling man on the picture above is my great-grandfather, my mother's granddad. I've never met him, but I've heard many stories about him, and one of them happened during World War I. He was one of the many soldiers who walked through Albania, and he was one of the few who survived it. The reason, my family says, is the fact he ate a lot of wild garlic. Wild garlic is known to be antiseptic and antibacterial; it contains vitamins and minerals, etc. The idea that this fragrant plant saved his life is mesmerizing. After the war, he always gathered, dried, and used all kind of herbs and plants. His favourites were nettle, St. John's wort, and chamomile.
My grandparents on both sides have always gathered and dried herbs as well and my mother has taught me to appreciate Nature. This and my profound love for mythology and folklore are probably the reason why I've identified as pagan for a long time now. Later, I also embraced witchcraft as part of my life. (Witchcraft is a practice and paganism is belief/religion. Anyone can be a witch no matter their religion.)
However, I wasn't sure where I belonged, and it wasn't only a matter of my beliefs or witchcraft practice. I'm from the Czech Republic, a country which is part of the Western civilisation, but which isn't exactly part of the West. My higher education (college and university) was in English, and I even lived in England for a year, but I've never truly felt like I belonged. There was always this feeling of being the other because of my ethnicity; I can't imagine what people of colour must go through on everyday basis.
I'm at a point in my life where I'm "returning." I'm back in my country, and soon I'll hopefully return to my hometown to live right next to a beautiful forest. I've also realised that high magick and highly ceremonial religions like Wicca and other similar pagan faiths are not for me. I like low magick, folk magick, and most of all, I crave something closer to home. Something a little bit different than the Western approach. That said, I still follow the wheel of the year, I think it's a great way to connect with other people who follow various pagan paths.
I consider myself a hedge witch. Some would probably call me a green witch, but I feel the former fits me better. A hedge witch lives on a border of two worlds, and as someone from the Czech Republic, I indeed live on the border between the West and East—in a European context. Another thing that is typical for hedge witches is the focus on local things and family traditions. As I said, I'm returning and in doing so, I'm finally discovering myself. I'm also claiming and following my family's legacy; I'd like to dedicate more of my time to studying, growing, gathering, drying, and using herbs and plants. It is a spiritual but also a very practical path. As you just heard, plants can save lives. :)

On this blog, I'd love to document my journey. I'm planning on researching herbs more thoroughly and then writing about them. I'd also like to try some old recipes from my country. And last but not least, I'd love to share my evergrowing knowledge of folklore and mythology—I studied humanities, and beside literature, mythology and folklore have always been my focus.
This is my plan for now, but who knows where the path will lead me.