It is our pleasure to introduce you all to Olympias. Host of the BlogTalk Radio show, "Coffee with Oly",
Olympias is an accomplished Pagan of considerable experience and talent. A resident of Roswell, New Mexico, where she lives with her husband and two children, she is a certified Tarot Grand Master with the Tarot Certification Board of America (TCBA), a member of the American Tarot Association (ATA), a practicing Witch and former High
Priestess of the Strix Temple of Hekate's Torch, and a member of the Alternative Religions Education Network (AREN).
We sat down with Olympias, a.k.a. "Oly", to find out more about her and her BlogTalk radio show.
AWH: How long have you been a practicing Witch?
OLY: If you count when I started as a fearful Catholic, since I was 14, so 37 years.
AWH: Did you start out in any particular Tradition?
OLY: I started as a nothing since there were no books and the Alexandrians and Gardnerians would not teach me due to my age.
There was a Gardnerian at the end of our block (in Oregon at this time) and she saw me walking home after getting beat up.
She put me on the path by telling me to study the kingdoms of nature. I was "outed" by Satanist kids at school who noticed my psychic ability. As I wouldn't join them, they told people at school. I had my locker painted and was confronted by fundamentalists. I was new to the school, so I took the Gardnerian's advice and I connected with the Elements and Artemis' moon.
AWH: A very difficult childhood.
OLY: Yes. I had a kid stick a cross in my face and yell, "Repent Jezebel!" I asked him if he wanted me to turn him into a toad.
AWH: LOL
OLY: By the way, I caught one of the Satanic students outside the gym and beat the stuffing out of her. I disrupted a Satanic ritual too.
AWH: It's not always easy to stand up for oneself.
OLY: The first book I found was Sybil Leek's "Diary of a Witch". I still have it. The Alexandrians found me when I was 19. By then I was reading Tarot and pretty much doing my own thing as a solitary. I joined the Alexandrians. They told me they would teach me the "right way". I made Second Degree. I was an official "Maiden". I also studied Ceremonial Magick with them. I left without my Third Degree for personal reasons. Once again on my own, I initiated my future husband. I never intended on a Coven/Temple, but Hekate had other ideas.
AWH: Have you always been out of the "broom closet" in your adult life?
OLY: I was not public as a Witch until after my father passed. I promised him and kept that promise. I remember my first day out well. It was February 3, 1999. My father passed on Imbolc, February 2nd, and the very next day, I went to the local occult shop and introduced myself. I still kept a low profile with only family and close friends knowing I was a Witch.
AWH: You are out to the world now. How did that happen?
OLY: When my daughter was in preschool, my husband and I had the immediate problem of deciding whether or not to include her in our faith at such a young age. Many traditions didn't and some still don't. But when she came home from daycare saying how Witches were evil, it made the choice easier. We hoped she wouldn't say anything, but my righteous-fire-from-heaven daughter did, and we handled it. We already had a decent reputation in Roswell due to our work as professionals, owning and managing a local business, and I sat on a charity board and served with a local youth group. The real "coming out party" came that same year with the School Board disallowing pentagram jewelry. They collected any and all jewelry they considered to be Witch/Pagan. That's when I stood up and addressed the School Board. I knew all of them professionally. My knees were knocking, the press was there as well as an audience. It was a two deodorant moment.
AWH: LOL. I am sure. It doesn't sound like an easy thing to do.
OLY: It was my choice. I chose commitment. How could I tell my kids, and the kids of other members, to be proud of who we are if I hid from this fight? The choice was easy. I may be called many things, and some may be true, but I will never wear the label "hypocrite".
AWH: How did that situation turn out?
OLY: It got a little interesting after I called in the ACLU and was ready with money to file a lawsuit. But we won. Now the pentagram, pentacle, and all Pagan jewelry has the same status as anything Judeo/Christian. Now Pagan kids can wear religious jewelry just as other kids can.
AWH: What tradition do you practice now?
OLY: Strix. Technically Thessalian Strix. A Neo-Pagan tradition.
AWH: Strix?
OLY: Strix is the Latin for owls which are sacred to Hekate and other deities.
AWH: You said earlier that you had no intention of starting a coven but Hekate had other plans for you. Can you elaborate on that and when did you start Hekate's Torch?
OLY: I watched the Pagan/Witch movement in the 70's in California. I was fortunate enough to hear Scott Cunningham speak and I knew how hard it was for leadership to come forward, especially with the majority of the so-called Pagan community ripping any and all who dared. Hippie throw-ups.
AWH: "Hippie throw-ups?"
OLY: That's what I call those who insist that Pagans and Witches should never group. If that is their cup of herbal tea, fine. Leave those of us who want to make Paganism recognized in the United States alone. Getting back to your question of forming a temple, we had friends who would show up at our house on full moons and we would try to wait until they left to do our ritual. One finally asked if she could stay because she knew we were Witches and so was she. We attended a large weekend event and it was mentioned that many there would have an easier time recognizing a group instead of a band of solitaries, so with 3 of us as members, we formed the Temple of Hekate's Torch on October 31, 1999. And we learned to develop a thick Pagan skin.
AWH: What was the inspiration for "Coffee with Oly" on BlogTalk Radio?
OLY: Truth? I got tired of writing emails with the same stuff over and over. I thought BTR [BlogTalk Radio]
would be a good way to get the message out, my way, once and inform as well as hopefully give reassurance to others .
AWH: How do you come up with topics for your show?
OLY: Oh geez, the topics are hard! I started basing the shows on questions I get when I am a speaker and
from people around here who are curious, as well as from our past open discussions in town. But that gets old fast. I notice from looking around BTR, a lot of Pagans do the same thing: holy days, readings, etc. I want to be different... and I AM controversial. I have detractors and there are ouches but I've learned to shrug it off. So, I ask people what they would like to know. I get ideas from the plethora of news stories I read, Witchvox, weekly articles, and my hubby, who is even more outspoken than me!
AWH: Well I know The Hearth Witches are greatly anticipating your next show on Sunday. Your commitment to telling it like it is and your honesty are a refreshing change from the usual watered down political correctness we hear so much today. We thank you for letting us get to know you and for being a regular contributor to A Witch's Hearth.
OLY: My pleasure.
