When I was young and first starting to learn about Wicca and Witchcraft as more than just fanciful storybook notions, I found myself drawn most strongly to the stories of Salem, MA.  I grew up in Connecticut and was still living there at the time, so this naturally created a feeling of connection knowing that Salem as only a few hours away.  I went there a few times as a kid and was always excited about the prospect of going there, but it wasn’t until I was in college only about an hour away from Salem, when I really got the chance to go and explore it with the perspective as modern Witch.

When I was in high school I went to my first proper Witch shop when one opened in the next town.  I bought two books on my first visit which would be my first two books I’d own that were related to the Craft. One was “Incense, Oils, and Brews” by Scott Cunningham and the other was “Power of the Witch”by Laurie Cabot.  I was 16 at the time and this was the second book on Witchcraft as a spiritual practice as well as a practice hat I read.  At this point I’d read “Earth Magic” by Cunningham and I’d just picked up “Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner” by Cunningham at the mall a month or so before but hadn’t read the whole thing yet.  “Power of the Witch” completely changed my thoughts that I already held about what I had been doing and studying for the last few years.  I then began a long love affair with Laurie’s work which, after getting involved with Christopher Penczak and his work, I have been happy to see much of his early time spent with Laurie carried on into his own work.

I’ve met Laurie a few times in Salem and I think she’s lovely.  I’m looking forward to (and hoping to still have) the opportunity to take some of her classes when I move to Salem at the end of the year.

So for this week’s A/V Sunday post I tip my pointed hat to the wonderful Laurie Cabot on her 78th birthday. Here is a short of Laurie talking about the third eye and the process of going into alpha.  It were these ideas that had a huge impact on me in those early stages of my practice and today the alpha process is a part of all that I do with magick and meditation.

Pay a visit to Laurie’s online store and her website.  You can also find the Laurie and the Cabot Temple here on Facebook.

Happy Birthday, Laurie!