About

About Me

Hello! I’m Aranea. I’m a 30-something woman living in the Pacific Northwest. Some other tidbits about me: I’m married, childfree, I have 2 cats, I’m an atheist, I am bohemian and gothic, and I’m a feminist. Some things I enjoy besides witchcraft: sewing, art & crafts, bellydancing (and dancing in general), burlesque, pretty much any genre of music especially the darker ones, and I love to cook!

I became an atheist as a teen after trying out several churches (Jehovah’s Witness, Mormon, Baptist, Pentecostal, Catholic, SDA). After doing some independent reading and research, I decided it was all BS and I became an atheist. In my late teens, I started getting interested in Wicca and witchcraft. I had a friend who was really into it and we shared books; a lot of the resources we had available were whatever could be found at B&N or other bookstores. I enjoyed the witchcraft part and dabbled it in a bit, but I didn’t really jive with the Wicca part and I still considered myself an atheist. I couldn’t reconcile my atheism with the Goddess/God deities that are such a large part of Wicca. Back then I didn’t know/understand that Wicca and witchcraft are 2 different things; I thought I would have to be a Wiccan to practice witchcraft.

Since then, I’ve identified as an agnostic atheist. Even though I don’t believe in deities, I have always had sort of pantheist and animist views on souls, spirits, “energies,” and the like. I totally jived with the whole “spiritual atheist” thing. I’ve always held an interest in things like Tarot, crystals, "energy," paganism, and just walking a different path. Then I stumbled on some atheist witch videos on Youtube…I could feel the light bulb switching on over my head. This is what I’ve been unknowingly looking for! Since then I have been reading & researching (and practicing!) witchcraft in general so that I can gain understanding of how to be able to practice magick and witchcraft while not believing in any deities. It’s been interesting fitting witchcraft into a secular framework – most of the material I’ve read so far assume the practitioner is a theist of some sort.

About Aranea’s Witchery

This site has 3 main purposes:

1. To chronicle my journey into witchcraft and magick. I think that writing about my practice will help me to better process and retain information and feelings. Self-reflection is a very good thing.
2. To improve my writing skills (and provide a creative outlet). I have always enjoyed writing but have never really gotten into it; I would always stop just shy of taking that plunge. I am hoping this blog will be that spark I need; I think I’ll learn a lot regardless of what happens!
3. To be a representation of secular witchcraft. I also wanted to add my voice to the secular witches in the larger witch/Pagan community. There’s a bit of a dearth of information about secular witchcraft from what I have so far encountered, so I feel the need to “signal boost” secular witchcraft and provide my own perspective about practicing the craft while also being an atheist.

Questions, comments, and sharing of resources may be directed to my contact page. Thanks for visiting!

Disclaimer:

The opinions put forth on this website are that of myself, Aranea Seren, only. The writings on this website are written and presented from my personal perspective. Any spells and recipes on this site are written or modified by me and are presented as is. The reader assumes all responsibility for any and all outcomes if choosing to use any information found on this website.