Lots of folks call me Lena (LEN-nah). Other people call me Elle. To my family, I’m Elen (eh-LEN). Pick something that you like. I like ’em all!
I’m many things: a writer, an herbalist, a Certified Level 1 Reiki Practitioner, and a Christ-loving witch. I go to Mass every Sunday, pray the rosary, and work with the saints and angels. I’m also an animist and a ritualist. I work with spirits of the earth and with ancestors. I read the Divine Word in cards, stars, poetry, and license plates. Yes, I do magic. And yes, it works.
About Elena
Being that my X chromosomes come from Mama and my paternal grandmother, I’ll first say that I’m the daughter of two motherlines. My mother’s people come from the Philippines, land of the babaylans, and she was born there in South Cotabato, Mindanao. Mamaw was born in Flaherty, Kentucky, but her ancestors are Irish and Scandinavian. Daddy’s daddy is a Lusk, whose ancestors came from Denmark, through Scotland, then Ireland, to the United States way back during the Revolutionary War.
I’ve always loved magic and this here planet Earth. My earliest memories are of Mama reading me fairytales at bedtime and of making crowns out of willow branches with the babysitter. I was a writer from the moment I could hold a pencil, spelling out my thoughts in language only I could understand, and then, with schooling, writing stories and poems. Later in college, I got recognized for my philosophical writing with my senior thesis getting published in an undergraduate journal.
And that was my major, philosophy. I loved it. I became a better person because of it. Philosophy brought me through one of my darkest nights of the soul. I did minor in economics, and that bit of my education did a lot to unravel any notions I had about capitalism being just or noble. I came out of college with my heart broken open, baptized, confirmed, and confused.
Fast forward to now, because the dark night is too long to talk about here. I’m married to a drummer, just like I’d hoped for when I was sixteen, who’s getting his graduate degrees in music composition. He’s wonderful in every way, and our love just keeps growing. We live behind his university’s football stadium. It’s just us, our instruments, and our books. We hope one day to bring a couple or three beautiful babies into the world.
I write about herbal medicine and plant magic, hearthcrafting, and mysticism. Whatever I study, I share with others (not, of course, proprietary content of my teachers), and whatever I discover, I want to talk about. So it’s all here on my blog. Have fun perusing! Comments are welcome, but keep it nice.
Much love, much peace, and blessed be.
XO Elena