About Alyssa

I grew up in what I guess some would consider poverty. People around me found their way through life often times fishing, game hunting, or other creative ways to survive. And there was peace in it. Though Christian culture is very heavy, there was always a respect for the land that we were on, because without it a lot of people would not make it. Growing up in the Bible Belt was a struggle, I always found myself questioning my Sunday School teacher, and this quite often ended up with me getting in trouble. I wanted to know more about the things I was feeling when the trees were quiet and the honey suckle was thick in the air. As you can imagine this made me very much a "black sheep" of most groups I tried to join in on. 

But as it does age brings with it a peer pressure to conform, and though I called myself Christian and went to Church every moment I could, I could not feel that same connection. As I got older and was able to make choices of my own I stopped going to Church, and instead began researching (in secret for the most part) other mythos and legends that I'd seen on television or books. My first "ritual" was fumbled, and simple. An apple offered to "the Goddess" in a field in the dead of night. But it felt right; I remember crying, huddled over a small tea light. I've never had a motherly figure in my life, but in that moment I had the feeling of the kind of love that only a mother could offer. It was palatable in the humid hair. I also remember getting into a lot of trouble going home to my grandparents, but it didn't matter to me. I had gotten my nudge in a direction. I had found a path to go.

I don't want to say my life was easy. Though I know others had it worse, my birth mother was abusive to me physically and emotionally, drugs and alcohol were common place and the police knew our parents by name. Having parents that were either absent or around and abusive took a toll on my young brain. Mental health is something I've struggled with for a long time; I'm a big advocate for both men and women's mental health because of my childhood and young adult life. I know the kind of darkness it can drag people into. On 2 separate occasions it was too much for my young self, and I felt I had nowhere to turn to other than the grave. The second time was a closer call than the first, I remember waking up for a moment, and  the only face around me was my Aunt Kandie, I remember feeling alone before blacking back out as tubes of all kind were shoved into me. I don’t remember much after that other than presence around me, warm, loving and massive. Like a pressure against my skin. One I had felt all my life and not had a name for. But it smelled like honey suckle. When I woke up alone, I did not feel so. I felt like I could breathe for the first time in a long time.

 

It took me a while to recover, and though at the time (I was 14) I wasn't able to buy books, and spiritual store were nonexistent, I was in the library, finding anything I could. You'd always find me with my nose buried in a book or outside.  Not long after I recovered though I moved to a (somehow) even smaller town in Louisiana and though I was ostracized from my peers, I continued with my faith. My first tattoo was actually the moons of the Triple Goddess on the back of my neck when I was 16!

 

That was around 15 years ago now, and I've been practicing my craft and honing my own personal path since. Now I'm aware that beautiful loving energy is Hekate, our lovely Lady who is still my pillar of strength to this day. Because of Her I am becoming a person who my younger self can be proud of. As well as an example for those around me that you do not need 12 degrees or take a million courses to be knowledgeable or to chase your passions; just the authentic love in your heart and the drive to learn. To always be curious and to be brave enough to ask "why".

I'm currently living in beautiful BC, Canada with my wonderful husband and our dog! I help host live/online events with the Sanctuary, as well as run our wonderful Discord server. I know I still have a lot to learn and I am very excited to see what She has in store for me( and the Sanctuary) moving forward. I thank you for taking this time to learn a bit about me and my history, as short as it is!

Update: I have recently co-founded a local Temple to Hekate in Langley, B.C. with Goldie (co-owner of Phoenix Rising Metaphysical Emporium ). It is a seperate entity apart from The Sanctuary of Hekate Potnia Theron.