Our Student Spotlight feature shines on Widumawi, a Witchcraft I student in the online Mystery School. Widumawi was nominated by her Witchcraft I mentor, Armid Plantwalker, who wrote in Widumawi’s recommendation,”She began the year with difficulties in many areas, but instead of allowing her adversities to drag her down she put them on her path and used them as stepping stones to new opportunities. Rather than allowing these factors make her feel trapped, she made the decision to break out of her place to a country she had only dreamed of.  But dreams are powerful things!”

Congrats, Widumawi! We are honored to share your spiritual journey with the larger Temple community.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I live with my dog and four cats in the UK. I moved here after having lived for 9 years in the U.S. and in French-Canada. Originally a theatre historian and veterinary homoeopath (I love animals and trees), I learned a new profession in the U.S., speech and language therapy. I wish and intend to live a life closer to nature and more in tune with who I am and who I am meant to be. To this end, my plan is to do Forest School Training: to learn more about the woods, ecological life and outdoor skills and to teach others to respect the woods and nature. Eventually I want to live close to or in an ecological community.  I believe this is in harmony with my studies at the Temple, and complements my spiritual path.

What class are you currently taking with the Temple? Can you tell us about the experience?

I am currently in my first year and about to complete it. I appreciate the discipline required and the structure, the fact that Christopher starts the course teaching us to build from within ourselves and not with wielding magic tools. He truly helps us build a solid foundation on which the craft can rest. It feels so right this way – with all the challenges it presents. I feel like I am truly an apprentice as I am required to work, to exercise discipline, gain insight, and question yet trust myself. In the old days, becoming a priestess or priest, shaman or wise woman required a long time of learning, of facing challenges, of exploring the unknown. Christopher follows this tradition. No promises of “becoming a witch in a weekend” but building profoundly from within.

What drew you to the Temple’s mystery school?

I have been looking for a teacher to guide me on my path: “When the student is ready, the teacher will come.” I met Christopher in a workshop he offered in a very unlikely place (at least for me): at a Faerie Convention. The guided meditation he performed during the workshop brought such a deep experience for me that I knew I had found my teacher.

How do you use what you’ve learned in your daily life?

My goal and desire is to allow everything I am learning to permeate my daily life, my thoughts, my words and my actions. It should become my life. I strive to replace unhealthy response patterns in a life that is almost always challenging with the tools we are given in our school — from affirmations to breathing to meditation to aura cleansing to spells. [I see] the mysteries and the magick path not as a practice “an hour a day or for the weekend,” but truly permeating all daily activities, the approach to everything, the attitude to others.

What’s next for you as a student/member of the Temple?

I want to continue studying with Christopher and the Temple of Witchcraft. I appreciate the structure, the discipline and the insight required. Until the next class starts in April, I feel the need to deepen my knowledge and practice; I also need to improve my ability to focus in adversarial circumstances and to feel more and more comfortable on this Path — internalizing what we learn and thus making it increasingly “natural.”