Hello, my fellow witches!
My name is Katharina, I live in Vienna, Austria.
I´m currently 52 years old, mom of one teenager, certified art therapist, artist and surprise: art-witch. I´m practicing the craft since my late teens - I guess everyone my age knows, how difficult it was to find information and community in the 80ies and 90ies (at least here in Austria witchcraft was really underground), so I´m very excited and grateful to be part of the spells8 community now.
My main areas of interest are tarot and oracle decks, sigil making, spell boxes, puppet work, candle making, altar craft, spell pouches of all kind and keeping my Book of Shadows, which is a big part of my practice.
Right now I´m still learning to find my way around the spells8 homepage and the forum and everything here is huge and so so much to read and really fun! Also, I´m not a native speaker, so my english might not be perfect.
I´m looking forward to learning, sharing and practicing with you and would be very happy to find some witchy friends!
Welcome @katharina! It is so great to have you with us! I’m from Minnesota, USA. Im 59 years old and have been practicing many different aspects of the craft for 35+ years. I currently work with voodoo and divination.
This is a wonderful group of people! Make yourself at home. Jump into any conversation that interests you and never hesitate to ask questions.
Hello and welcome to the Spells8, the forum and the Infinite Roots coven @katharina ! My name is Jenna. I’m 30 years your junior and since you have been practicing since you were a teenager (when I would have loved to have started my practice), I hope to learn a lot from you! I am new, but I want to get into tarot. I have my own deck and just know the basics and right now only do a pull once a week when I do my elemental devotionals. Blessed be!
Hello, Jenna! So nice to meet you!
Yes, tarot can be overwhelming at first, so please give yourself all the time you need to learn and absolutely take breaks and step away from it, if it gets frustrating or stressful. I´ve struggled especially with the suits (minor arcana) for ages lol But the beauty is, that it is such a rich subject and divination tool that even now, after more than 30 years using it, I´m still learning and exloring and it just never gets boring.
Welcome, @katharina and Merry Meet! We’re happy to have you joining us! I’m Feathertip, from SE Michigan in the US. I’ve been practicing for less than a year though I’ve always been a pagan. My interests include Lenormand cards for divination and staying close to nature.
I love hearing that you’re an art therapist and an art witch! I hope you share some of your work with us! You’re very dedicated to the craft to have stated with it in your part of the world - I imagine it felt very challenging at times.
Don’t hesitate to ask questions about anything around here! There’s a lot of information on the site. I look forward to seeing you around the forum and getting to know you.
Welcome to the group. I’m Leo from Oregon USA. I’m 63 and have been dabbling in things for many years, now that I’m retired I can spend more time. You sound like a really cool person, artist and mom. Its nice to meet you and look forward to seeing and hearing more from you on the forum.
I cannot define myself as well as you do. Started learning the Craft in 1989 while in college. It was tabu in the midwestern US, too. I’m pretty chaotic, now.
Looking forward to learning from and with you!
So far, your English is great, but don’t be worried. We have many who have English as a second language. If we don’t understand, we tend to ask for clarification, not chide or make things difficult for you.
Yes, the site is huge. Take your time. I’ve been here just over a year, and I still haven’t seen everything! I’ve been working on a BOS of Spells8, but so far, it’s more of a mess than anything else!
I had a brief encounter with the Lenormand Cards, but the system is so totally different from traditional Tarot, that I decided it´s best for me to choose one. lol But they are just as fascinating, I have to say.
Well, challenging because in the 80ies the world wide web was not a thing yet. So, retrieving information was a bit difficult… a bit lonely, too, with no-one to share thoughts and ideas about witchcraft.
Thank you for your warm welcome! I just upgraded to a full year membership, so you´ll see me around quite a bit!
I agree - they’re all fascinating, each with their own systems. I seem to have found Lenormand first, and it was so approachable (even while blowing my mind) that I have stuck to it to learn more, before attempting Tarot or Oracle. We both agree that choosing one at a time is best!
You won’t have this issue here. Your new Coven is full of kind, informative people who love to share what they’re learning! I’m so happy you decided to upgrade the membership! I think you’ll love it here.
Hi @katharina and welcome! We are so glad to have you with us. I am Jayne, originally from the UK, but now live in Texas, USA. I’m a novice witch, having been on my path just over a year, and my practice leans towards earth and nature magic. I’m learning tarot and beginning to explore the Elder Futhark runes. I also enjoy painting and crafting and would love to hear more about your practice as an art witch!
As others have said, feel free to jump into any conversation that interests you, and if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Hello, Leo!
Thank you for your warm welcome! This is what I wish retirement will look for me one day: spending as much time as I desire with witchcraft, art-magick and outdoors. Magick, art and nature are the three most beneficial healing agents we can enjoy without prescription.
Looking forward to interesting conversations!
Hello, Greenbriar!
Nice to meet you and thank you for your warm welcome!
Yes, I would be very happy to share my art-witchy-shenanigans. I was wondering if maybe there´s already an existing thread related to the topics of art magick and creative Book of Shadows? I´ve looked around a bit but I didn´t find anything with that subject.
Hi, @katharina! I’m Amethyst from Southern West Virginia. Welcome to the forum!
It’s lovely to meet you! I’ve heard that Vienna is a beautiful city, especially during the holidays! It sounds so magical! I’m an eclectic witch, and I like candles and chants mainly. I’ve been here for, what, five years? Yeah, I think, and it’s just a wonderful space to learn and make friends in! So I’m glad you found us.
If you have any questions or anything, just ask, and someone will pop up and give you a hand. I look forward to getting to know you!
Thank you so much for welcoming me! Everyone has been very kind to me and I feel very much at home.
Yes, Vienna is a really nice place to live, I´m very happy here.
Five years, wow, that´s quite some time. I´m very happy to finally meet other witches and have a friendly place to spend time and connect!
Yeah, I found this place looking for a connection to other witches. I live in a small town in what we call the Bible Belt. So I couldn’t find anyone in real life to connect with but I was lucky enough to find this space!
I’m glad we could make you feel welcome! Feel free to jump into any discussion and share!
Also, I´m not a native speaker, so my english might not be perfect.
So nice to meet you!
Your new Coven is full of kind, informative people who love to share what they’re learning! I’m so happy you decided to upgrade the membership! I think you’ll love it here. 
Everyone has been very kind to me and I feel very much at home.