Join Sara this week as she talks to student Jen Tidroski!

Exploring Everyday Magic from the Perspective of a Different Religion or Lifestyle

One of the things we love most about The Sisters Enchanted is that we have managed to bring together lots of people, from different upbringings, belief systems and lifestyle choices. Some of those who join our community may always have been open to things magical and ‘witchy’. Others have joined us from perspectives that do not marry so well with these ideas, but with an inquisitive mind to learn more.

On this week’s blog, Sara spoke with Jen Tidroski, one of our community members, about how she is integrating everyday magic a life based on a strong Christian upbringing and a scientific mind

This is a fascinating conversation and there is only space to summarize some of the highlights here so do go and listen to the podcast.

Jen Tidoski

Jen lives in Northern Arizona where she works as an osteopathic pediatrician by day. She is an Orthodox Christian and grew up in a very small Southern Texas town in the Bible Belt, with a very conservative family. Jen joined our Sisters Enchanted Community a few months ago with our Viking Magic Class. This was her first introduction to anything magical. 

On the podcast, Jen explains:

“I still have a lot of personal hang ups with some of these terms, which you have totally cleared up for me. I come from a very taboo, prohibitive background, where exposure to these things was not something that’s okay. I’m also rooted in science, as a physician, so this has been a really interesting journey for me so far, and how do I blend these topics together, with my upbringing, and my analytical science brain, but my very much intuitive, empathic brain, so it’s been a super, super cool journey for me.”

Jen had never met someone who called themselves a ‘witch’ to her face until extremely recently. When sharing in The Sisters Enchanted community groups, she found that it wasn’t really what I thought that it was. The course and the groups made the idea of integrating everyday magic into life so accessible that she was able to find the pieces that work for her and to start her own magical journey in a place that felt okay for her. 

“The various community members really helped me find a way to integrate the pieces that make sense, and that you can fit into your existing framework, and then allow all this possibility on the other side. It’s super cool.”

“You don’t have to abandon everything to broaden your perspective. It’s been the most remarkable thing I’ve learnt so far.”

Blending Magic, Science and Religion 

Jen is at the start of a fascinating journey, in blending a magical life with her religious upbringing and her analytical, scientific mind.  Sara has experienced how wonderful it can be when these different perspectives come together, explaining:

“We go to a pediatrician, she’s a pediatrician, but she’s got crystals in all the rooms and breathing exercises posted on the walls and affirmations. She writes us our prescription and will suggest we try putting an amethyst in her pillowcase.”

As an osteopath, Jen is used to using her hands to bring about change for people in their bodies, from a medical trained perspective. Her Orthodox Christianity is all about love. She is used to using incense and chanting. She has found it a natural progression to blend these things together. 

The way knowledge and skills are shared and taught in The Sisters Enchanted enabled Jen to feel:

“‘Okay, I can make this work'”. You guys present things in a way that’s so accessible and everybody needs to know about this. When you look at it, it’s so pivotal on those early experiences, and whether you continue on something, if you maintain this misconception and false impression, or not, it’s just so cool.”

“I struggle with the word witchcraft. I struggle with the word altar, those don’t fit into my overall perspective, but if you tell me to create a sacred space with a Quest Pack, I’m like, “yes, that’s perfect, that’s what I need in my life”. So, I’ll have a tiny little corner with my chair, and a candle, and my tarot deck.”

What Everyday Magic Looks Like for Jen

Jen’s time is extremely short, her job is very all consuming. She has learned how to find little moments and recognizes little things that she did already sometimes and how to make them work for her in a magical way. 

For Jen, it is like ‘the world’s coolest self-help course’ 

She may never ‘cast a spell’ but has learned to use affirmations in ways that build on positive affirmations her Mom taught her as a child and ideas she has grown up with. 

Jen makes the most of the little things we can all do in short moments, like, stirring your intention in your coffee. She now takes those tiny moments and makes them very mindful and purposeful. She listens to the ‘Magic on the Inside’ podcast while travelling to work. 

Learning how to find positive moments for herself has helped her with her job, especially in these times that have been so anxiety ridden:

“Watching kids struggling through COVID. It’s been awful. It’s super stressful. When you’re a very empathic person and you’re just dealing with suffering of people every day, it’s hard but I have learned to take a step back and, say, okay, here’s how I can get all that ick from my day out.”

“The reclaiming your energy that you get in Expedition to Soul has literally kept me upright over the last few months!”

Jen finds Tarot super fascinating. Again, she came to Sisters Enchanted with some pre-existing ideas about some of the myths around using cards, such as Tarot being a tool for fortune telling. She has learned how to use Tarot for self-development as “the coolest, introspective prompt ever.”

“A lot of these little tools, that I just had no idea either what they were, or a completely wrong idea of what they were for.”

It’s those things that sound really small but have been really big for me. You do them regularly, and when you define magic as this unusual delightfulness, I’m like, “it’s all okay, you can find these things”

“The last full moon, I wrote my intention on a sticky note and I put it in a mason jar. I made my moon water, and I’m like, does this have any real power? I don’t know but taking a sip of it every day helps my mind create for me that sense of renewal, and confidence, and things that are really helping me get through the day, when some of the days are really, are really hard and crappy.”

Creating a Magical Life that Does Not Conflict with Your Background and Lifestyle

Jen has found it possible to create her magical life in ways that do not conflict with her background and existing lifestyle by finding ways to do the little things that can be so super powerful. 

She started with Viking magic, and says now:

“I’m really that person, who will go to work, and I wear my cross, and I wear Thor’s hammer earrings at the same time. I’m not worshiping Thor, but it’s that little reminder of a new sense of power and to be more confident. I can pray, and then I can like – okay, I’m going to put my Thor power to get through this situation, and it totally works for me.”

Sara explains:

“I think that’s really the beauty of what we try to get across, is that your life… whatever feels like a magical life to you, what feels magical and then harnessing that and choosing to live that way.  This is what my life is going to be, this is what I love. Unabashedly standing in that, that is… That’s witchcraft, when you’re saying – I’m me, regardless of everything else that’s happening around me. That is the most powerful magic, I think.”

Jen’s Advice for Incorporating Everyday Magic into Your Life

• Keep your mind open. 
• Look for the little opportunities to make something magical out everything, even things that seemed mundane to you before.
• Keep learning, keep looking for those different perspectives. 
• Don’t be quick to dismiss things. 
• Talk to people who are different from you. 
• Make a conscious effort to do whatever magical feels like for you, it doesn’t have to be some big thing.

“Just pay attention to that little stuff and make a conscious effort to magic it in little places. It adds so much enrichment and brightness to your day and just keeps all facets of your brain engaged all the time.”

Remember, or if you’re new here and you don’t know, leading with kindness is our hard and fast number one rule and value here at The Sisters Enchanted. Wherever you are on your path, or walking your exploratory path through this lifetime, we can, or we want to support you, we can support you. We really hold that lead with kindness value at the core of everything we do here at The Sisters Enchanted.

Speaking of exploring paths, if you are interested in learning more about anything like this, just be sure to check out our ‘Holistic Witchery’ program. It is either open for enrollment right now, or very soon, depending on when you’re listening to this.

Download this episode’s transcript here