Your Path with a Partner

[miguel88]

To those of you who have a partner prior to your journey, how much do you share, have you shared and how did it go?

 

[giusma]

I think the path is ultimately individual, even when you are in a loving and supportive relationship. You can share experiences, ideas, changes, and practical consequences, but your partner cannot walk the inner path for you, or with you or fully understand every part of it, in if you both share the same tradition,practice together, or grow through a common spiritual work. Each person still has their own relationship with the path

 

[Robert Ramsay]

To those of you who have a partner prior to your journey, how much do you share, have you shared and how did it go?

My wife supports me in all things, but she has no interest in the subject at all

When I gave a talk about my work to WorldCon in 2024, she sat through my presentation and gave me some very useful criticisms. She turned up to the talk, took pictures and was very impressed that I filled the room

I occasionally forget and try to tell her stuff I'm working on, but after a while, it's all a bit

 

[miguel88]

My wife does not have any interest, but I dont want her to feel like I am hiding things, so im leaning more towards tell her enough at the beginning and she can choose to not pay attention.

 

[Lu_CiD]

my fiancé is Catholic, but she supports me in everything. I was honestly surprised that she was ok with what I do and believe shes even open to participating in some ritual work. but yea openness and communication is the key to everything.
you can both have separate paths yet support one another on them. though it can be very beneficial to have a relationship with someone that is on a similar path to your own it can expedite learning and experience allot however that can also be a friend doesn't have to be your wife. unless your talking about sex magic and then it may be an issue not to do that with spur s/o.

 

[crooktooth]

My wife is joining me on my chaos magick journey. Though she's not as interested as I am she still wants to be part of it and wants to practice magick herself. We recently finished constructing a wand for her and did consecration rituals for the tools she made. I hope she gets the enjoyment out of it that I do.

As chaos magick is very much a "choose your own adventure" type of practice I am sure our journeys will deviate from each other here and there, but I'm happy that she wants to try the walk the path with me.

 

[TransGothGirl]

My partners both practice magic, but we all practice it slightly differently. I tend to lean more towards ceremonial magic, especially the Solomonic tradition. My boyfriend focuses more on the magical uses of herbs in a more witchcraft focused framework, and our shared partner does more divination, candle spells, and faerie magic. Despite this, there is some overlap too, in that we all worship the same deities and occasionally step into the magics primarily practiced by the others. We all support each other in our practices in various ways, and often we will share knowledge with each other or give each other ideas or answer questions the others have, but ultimately we all have our own path.

 

[Denise13]

I once had a partner on the same path as me and we were able to share some amazing ideas and experiences. But alas, people drift apart and our paths diverged.

I now have a partner who has no interest, though I tease him about being woo. I do my rituals when he's out or sleeping. More to keep from being interrupted than anything.

 

[sistersu]

My husband doesn’t really know the full extent of my path or how much it has evolved over the years. He sees some of the books I read, but I think he assumes it’s just another passing interest.

He’s very science-minded and doesn’t see magick as something tangible or real. We’ve been together for many years, though, and he generally respects that it’s something I’m interested in without making an issue of it.

The only time he really comments is if I’m burning incense or herbs and the smell gets a bit too strong!

 

[Zelator2148]

I met my future partner in 1978 when she attended a tarot class my brother and I were giving in in Connecticut. At the time she had been reading the Tarot de Marseille and Gypsy Witch cards for a couple of years, so we were a natural fit. We've now been together for nearly 47 years.

 

[Denise13]

That's so sweet!

 

[AbammonTheGreat]

To those of you who have a partner prior to your journey, how much do you share, have you shared and how did it go?

I used to date atheists or agnostics that were "technically" okay with me being an occultist. But on a long enough timeline they'd begin to develop reservations against my practices. My wife was the first occultist I had ever been romantically involved with and the profundity of being in a relationship with someone that I can practice with, journey with, and learn from has felt ordained by God. We deviate in understandings, as most occultists do, but we conjure spirits together, invoke gods together, explore altered states together, experiment with practical magic together, and sometimes we have to curse together to protect our family.

In this kind of relationship the only things we don't share with each other is stuff that would either obstruct the magic or each others journey. For example if she is a channeling a spirit I've conjured I do not share any details about the spirit with her walking into the conjuration - that way I have a blind confirmation of the operation. If i'm conjuring something that is listed in the grimoires as looking like a centaur i dont share that with her, so that way when she starts hearing a centaur I know that she's actually connecting to the spirit and that it's the right one. Another example is if she receives a vision or message about something I'm supposed to do. She will not share with me what exactly it is so that it doesn't obstruct the magic of figuring it out for myself - the growth and synchronicity that goes into those kinds of things. Other than that though it is an absolute blessing to have a partner I get to share this magical journey with.

 

[TheGoddess888]

To those of you who have a partner prior to your journey, how much do you share, have you shared and how did it go?

In the beginning, I didn't share much because I was met with skepticism. Some of the things I talked about were mocked or not taken seriously, and honestly, my feelings were hurt.

Over time, though, I learned that I don't need to convince someone of my experiences. The truth has a way of revealing itself through time and through someone's own observations.

Now I share what feels right, but I don't feel the need to explain or defend everything. My journey is my own, and my job isn't to convince others of my beliefs. It's to stay grounded in my own experiences and continue learning.

I share the things that naturally come up in conversation or the things that feel meaningful to share, but I don't feel the need to share every experience or every practice I'm exploring. Some parts of my journey are personal and are meant for my own reflection.

I've always been someone who notices patterns and connections quickly, and I've learned that not everyone processes things at the same pace. I've found that giving people space to have their own experiences is much more meaningful than trying to convince them of mine.

 

[swordofclio]

I was solitary for my entire journey, as time went by I realized how challenging it wold be to find someone else who is compatible with my lifestyle, eventually I found myself stepping away from a regular practice to focus on other challenges including finding a partner. When I met my wife I had a good feeling right away that we would be compatible. It still took me a few years to find my way back to a regular practice, but i think it was worth it. Now one of our goals as newlyweds is to get back into practice together. For now, since I am a ways deeper into esoterisim/the occult I am leading the charge trying to involve her wherever i think she would be interested. We just spent some time this weekend cleaning and consolidating around the house to make room for prospective altars we will install together.

 

[fungus77]

My wife and I have been together for 9+ years, and my path is only very recently (as in the past 2 or so years) shifting/being put into actual practice. My wife is interested in what I've been studying (spirit/ancestor/demon work) but our actual work is separate/different. She likes using sigils a lot, while I've been focused on studying and building up on supplies/knowledge. In general, we're just supportive of each other and like teaching each other what we learn on our own time.

 

[ᓂᒥᔮᐦᑲᓯᑳᐣ ᓂᐢᑮᓯᑿ]

My partner and I are both Cree but despite being Cree we come from two very different communities as he is Woodland Cree and I am Plains Cree. It's not too hard for me to talk to him about my practices because a lot of it does tie in well to our cultural beliefs, it's just that in our culture we call it "medicine" the practice of using your gifts and knowledge for healing. But there was a lot of fear mongering when it comes to "medicine from unknown forces" which is often referred to as bad medicine, usually only when it's baneful but some may even call it that generally. There is a heavily Catholic influence in a lot of Cree communities due to the history but truthfully i don't know much about that but they tend to be scared of this type of practice.

Neither side of my family were ever Catholic. He understands that because we live in a heavily superstitious community with a mixture of traditional Cree culture/beliefs and Catholicism, that i tend to be less open about it to others but they do suspect. He does understand a lot of what I'm doing due to our traditional Cree spiritual backgrounds, and he doesn't mind it and is intrigued, but I don't see him actually trying to participate in something that isn't Cree tradition. But when I am out on a full moon he brings me to the river and tends to the fire and keeps his rifle handy just in case (it's all forest out here). He waits for me to finish my practices and then takes me home. He helps me set up and deep clean before an indoor ritual. He's also helped me gather bones, skulls, stones, geodes, fossils and medicines. He also leaves and stays in the other house if I let him know i need to be alone during a rutual. He is also in university for anthropology and loves history so sometimes we can talk for hours about what I've been learning and what he's studied.

[Ignore my username I put in a request to change it]

 

[Spiritual doctor]

In my experience i was hide many things from my partner but after time i decide to tell her my path then one day i tell the truth about my path now she believe on that and we are together with agreement

 

[therootbeersprite]

My partner does not practice the occult, but I tell her everything, and she is very supportive of me. I don't think that I would feel fully accepted and loved if I couldn't be open and honest about my spiritual life. Sometimes she even has wisdom to share in our conversations that I wouldn't have come across without her which helps me grow in my practice.