Throughout my entire life, I learnt about my ancestral roots and the women who knew how to heal themselves and of those who understand about magic in this world. We grow up being taught that magic doesn't exist, when it is in every one of us. When we reach into ourselves, we can find it.
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Being third generation Polish, our traditions have a lot of pagan and Celtic roots. My mother taught me how to meditate and about my body's energy centers, she taught me about homeopathy, herbology. I read about Celtic ancient magic, learnt about protection, about rituals and spells, in order to find my path as a magical user. There are many name with which I can be associated: Witch, Druid, Wizardess. Magic to me is about healing, divination, understanding, and experience.

# Natural Healing
Every healer who heals with herbs has either a herb garden or jars of herbs. I've got tons of herbs, and essential oils. I have brews for food or blood poisoning, for colds and fever, for energy balances, for anxiety. Ever drink a brew comprised of mostly comfrey? It tastes awful, but when I broke my nose in high school (badminton racket to the face) the very next day after the operation, the doctor couldn't believe how solid the bone was already when he pulled out those cotton lines out of my nostrils. I had also taken Arnica, the homeopathic remedy, and so I had no bruises under the eyes. Our bodies can heal so well and so quickly with natural medicine, provided we have found the right remedy for our body and its current symptoms.

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All my life, I learnt to use natural remedies, given my sensitivity and allergies to chemical products and most things out there. I learnt to rely on my knowledge and to instinctively know what to do when certain symptoms appear in my body.
Thus, I am a Druid, creating potions, and healing.

The Earth has also provided us with crystals and gemstones with which to heal our minds and bodies. They have at times led to some very interesting meditation experiences, but also healed me physically. I used Rose Quarts and Green Aventurine to heal physical injuries around my Heart Chakra. It took some time, but I cleansed and recharged the stones daily in alternation and eventually, healed my body of its ailment. The energy within these stones comes directly from the Earth itself, and is transformed through the various ways these rocks are created, hence all their varying elemental properties.

# Divination & Premonition
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Part of being a magical user to me is to seek to understand the unknown, that which remains a mystery to most. One of those things is the Future. We don't know what will happen necessarily, but we can understand the elements around us and seek their knowledge to understand the possibilities that may arise in our lives. Tarot is something I do regularly now. It has helped me make decision, understand where I was, understand what I should do, make decisions, etc. It doesn't always tell me the future in such an straight up kind of way, because that's not how it works. There is much meaning in what the character Yoda says in the Star Wars franchise regarding the Force, which technically is magic. He says that the future is always in motion, and thus when we have a vision, or seek the knowledge of the elements, what we see may not necessarily come to pass. It is one possible outcome, and what we do now has the power to change that outcome.

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There have been times where I have had dreams of the future. I once dreamt about my husband, in the first month we started dating, and in the dream, we were being woken up by his kids and his daughter who was only five at the time, was bouncing around on the bed, and we were giggling, if I recall. However, at the time I had the dream, I had not met or seen his children yet. And when I met them, the girl in the dream was his daughter, how she looked in real life. The dream also took place a bit in the future, as I was living there and she was a bit older. Before moving into his home, another dream showed us as much older and his children as teenagers. Today they are preteens, and beginning to look exactly like in the dream. Those dreams were showing me my future life with Frank as my husband if I were to choose that path and showing me that that path was available to me.  Thus, I was reassured and hence not afraid to walk it, knowing that taking it would lead to a stable and long lasting relationship. When I ask for guidance, I am given that guidance. Then I am free to choose which path to follow.

Sometimes I ask spirits around me for guidance and their aid. It can sometimes hit me as a wave of emotional flashbacks, where these influences are alerting me to what I am now ready to face and heal emotionally. It,s important to be receptive and to know how to interpret these messages. Often times, they come to me in the form of dreams, so they can be upsetting, depending on the context. But I know that the guides are not trying to harm me, they are helping me, and if I ask for something and they share their knowledge through a dream that I find upsetting, it is because they know I am ready to face whatever challenge it might present. Then I know that I don't need to fear facing these things, because I have been shown that I can handle it.

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Growing up and to this day, I sometimes have premonitory feelings. What I like to call my Jedi feelings. I was always a big fan of Star Wars, and many times, I sensed a danger before it happened. Of course, I didn't always listen to the feeling, and then I learnt why I had had that feeling int he first place. From thinking we should eat at a different restaurant, and then getting food poisoning when we ignored the feeling, to knowing I should avoid a certain street when walking home one time, and being met up with a group of random smokers who walked me to my street, thus protecting me from a strange man following me. I've always been guided in this way. I've learnt that the Universe gives signs in threes. For example, I took my bike on day, and fell right off for some reason. Got back up, started off and the chain derailed. I took the time to put it back on, then I got dust in my eyes, I had to turn back home to rinse my eyes. So I understood I was not meant to take my bike that day. I was protected, I listened to the signs that were out there. Sometimes they come to me very clearly, and other times they are more subtle. Either a small warning if I want to avoid something, or a clear warning to protect my life. THAT is MAGIC.

# Magical Experiences & Telepathy
So what other magical experiences could one experience? Well, there is the connection of souls with another. This also creates telepathy between beings, as far as I've been able to experience. When you have a strong bond with someone, a psychic bond, a magical connection occurs. It can be with a loved one, family, friends, a lover. Frank and I always feel each other's emotions. I can be upset about something and feel guilty about something and then suddenly, Frank is feeling guilty. It can take a while to figure out which emotions are our own and which ones are us feeling the other person. He can be overwhelmed coming home from work and I can sense it and feel overwhelmed as well.

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However, this connection is not just telepathy and not just for more negative emotions. We feel each toher's happiness as well, each other's excitement. And when we are being intimate, it truly is a magical experience. To feel the other person, to feel elated, sometimes with only holding each other and no other physical or sexual contact happening, we can experience more sensuality than at certain times when being more physical. So we find the balance between both with our bodies' needs and our souls' needs.

That magic that allows us to feel each other when we are together, to feel each other's emotions and energy, also helps to feel each other when we are at a distance. It helps us fuel each other when one is lacking in energy and the other is in need. We are exchanging energy, giving and receiving, and thus our energy flows between us, through us, and around us.

# Labels
Throughout history, there have been negative connotations associated with various words, or varying degrees. Some people think of Witches as evil doers, others think that sorcery is evil and Witchcraft is not. We use words, liek Druid, which I like how it feels to say, Witch, Wizard, Sorcerer, but magic is magic, whatever the label you put to it.
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I don't perform magic to exact power or revenge, to control or have what I want. I don't perform elaborate rituals or spells, aside from certain specific occasions. I mean, at my wedding, my mother summoned the elements and the spirit of dragon, and we felt it. I sometimes like to ask the elements to help and to provide, for example, the perfect weather that I need for an occasion, be it cloudy but not rainy, or sunny but not humid, I always do so knowing that it will happen only if it does not cause harm to anyone else. I ask it to oblige only if it's possible. Asking sometimes means waiting, but the Universe has interesting ways to provide and to show us what we can do to help our request along. And many religions and philosophies reflect this very thing, in different words, with varying meanings, but the root of the message is the same. Don't harm others, seek understanding, knowledge, seek to heal. 

I use magic for understanding, guidance, divination, healing, and protection. That is what it is for me to be a magical user. I don't call myself Witch, and there are words I prefer to employ in certain situations (druid, healer, etc), but I don't think I need a label. I exist within this world filled with magic and potential. I have a magical connection to the Moon, whatever her true nature or scientific existence is or represents, she is, and my name means Goddess of the Moon. I have energy, inspiration, and much creativity at night. Thus, I connect to that magical energy that the Moon provides for me most of the time. So I guess what I am is not a label, but a quality.

<center>*I am Magical.*</center>
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<sub>All of the photos used are mine that I took and resized specifically for this post, taken with my Canon Powershot SX730 HS.</sub>

<sup>In order of appearance:
-My Chalice and certain gemstones.
-My stash / literal stack of herbs
-My book of healing notes, Grimoire, with my Tarot deck in a hand made Native-American bag.
-Various candles I've collected throughout my life, and some of the bells from my paternal grandmother's collection.
-My Tibetan Singing bowl, some candles. We see a bit of the box from the Tarot deck, the Green Witch Tarot by Ann Moura.
-My Grimoire.
-More sacs of gemstones.
-Items from my pagan wedding with Frank: message book, scrolls on which we wrote our vows, Dragon Eggs (made of marble), leather sacs the eggs were in, pillow on which our rings were brought.</sup>

<sup>Original Contest Post: https://steemit.com/naturalmedicine/@naturalmedicine/week-1-round-up-what-does-witch-mean-to-you-20-sbd-of-prizes-due-date-dec-21st</sup>