Witch Hunt
There are witches all around us. You can find them anywhere…
The Witch on Wheels has been documenting her findings.
Meet Monica Cox
As a Sagittarius born in the Year of the Dragon, Monica Cox is very much a fiery witch whom I met at a Beltane festival.
“Dragons are just fun. I like the big, fat, ‘Puff the Magic Dragon,’ cute, fluffy ones. I have to be very careful to have a lot of water around me because I have a very fiery personality. And earth. Earth grounds me so well,” she said of her 170-acre farm, her 45 animals and the mountains surrounding them all.
“We witches are everywhere even though not everyone wears it out loud like I do. I‘m very staunch about my religious freedom. I don’t push it on anyone, but if people ask, I’m glad to answer questions.
Witch on Wheels (WOW): Do you have a magical name you’re willing to share?
Monica Cox (MC): I do not have a magickal name.
WOW: In what state do you reside?
MC: New Hampshire.
WOW: How do you make your living?
MC: As a registered nurse working at the only Level 1 trauma center in the state.
WOW: Are you out of the closet? / Have you felt threatened?
MC: Absolutely out of the closet. No, I’ve never felt threatened.
WOW: When did you first know you were a witch? How long have you been practicing?
MC: Since 2009. A co-worker lent me the book, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft.” It was the first book I ever read. It was so me. I realized I’d been practicing the Craft without knowing it. I don’t know why I didn’t know it sooner.
WOW: How do you define your practice? Do you follow a specific tradition?
MC: I do not follow a specific tradition. I’m a “Whatever Works for Me” kind of witch. I consider myself a gray witch while I don’t practice outright black magic, I’ve been known to use very strong protective spells that result in bad things happening to people who hurt me and those I love.
WOW: What one object must be on your altar for it to be an altar?
MC: One of my cats.
WOW: Do you have a daily practice?
MC: I wake up and I’m grateful. At a class at a festival I remember being told that if you live a magical life, you don’t have to do magic and that’s what I try to do. It’s all about doing things with intention. I am grateful for all the gifts from the goddess and find they keep coming. I do more formal magic when I have great need.
WOW: How do you respond when someone asks, “Are you a good witch or a bad witch?”
MC: Nobody’s ever asked me that.
WOW: Do you have a familiar?
MC: He passed away in 2011.
WOW: What gifts, skills or powers do you share?
MC: I’m especially good at taking care of animals. I listen to what they’re telling me with their body language. Sometimes I also have a knowing about the medical conditions of others and their outcomes.
WOW: What was your most magical experience?
MC: Banishing the coyotes from my livestock area. I didn’t want to banish them off my property and onto someone else’s, so I gave them all the mountain, putting a fire line around the areas I didn’t want them to enter, about 10 acres, and then I smudged. It’s worked.
Another magical experience was when I held off a storm until I was finished what needed to be done. When I was done I barely made it in the house before sheets of rain came along with thunder and lightning, but my chores were done, I was inside and dry.
WOW: What is your favorite:
- Sabbat: Samhain
- Element: Fire
- God: none
- Goddess: Artemis and Athena
- Animal or other totem: Owl
- Tool: my mind
- Book: “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft”
- Tarot deck or card: I have a lot of decks, but no favorite yet.
- Gemstone: amethyst
- Ritual garb: my black dress with the big sleeves (pictured)
- Fictional witch: Branna, a Dark Witch from the Nora Roberts trilogy.
- Music / performer: Fleetwood Mac
- Spell or ritual: To find lost objects I chant, “By the power of three times three, let me see, let me see, let me see.” I use that one a lot. I found someone’s cell phone under a pallet with two 400-pound round bales of hay on it.
- Piece of wisdom: Never summon something you can’t banish.
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About the Author:
Lynn Woike
All my life I have known magic was real. As a child, I played with the fae, established relationships with trees and “just knew things.” In my maiden years I discovered witchcraft and dabbled in the black-candles-and-cemeteries-at-midnight-on-a-fullmoon magick just enough to realize I did not understand its power. I went on to explore many practices including Zen, astrology, color therapy, native traditions, tarot, herbs, candle magic, gems, and, as I moved into my mother years, Buddhism, the Kabbalah and Reiki. The first man I dated after my divorce was a witch who reintroduced me to the Craft, this time by way of the Goddess. For 11 years I was in a coven, but with retirement, I have returned to an eclectic solitary practice. When accepting the mantle of crone, I pledged to serve and teach. This is what I do from my skoolie – a 30-year-old school bus converted into a tiny house on wheels that I am driving around the country, following 72-degree weather, emerging myself into nature, and sharing magic with those I meet. Find me at thewitchonwheels.com, Facebook and Instagram.
