Tales of a Young Detroit Witch, by Oberon
Growing up in Detroit, I was a Witch Kid and then Teen Witch and once I moved to Wayne State U, in my 2ndyear of college, I was a Hippie Witch.
That was late 1974 and I was
influenced by the older Hippie culture around me. I outgrew my east-side Detroit neighborhood friends and made new ones, mostly older, but also other college kids.
Within my own circle of friends, I was the go-to for Tarot or possible workings. To myself I kept my practice solitary and secret, but by 1976 I moved in with roommates. Jay, a poet, who
called me “the Master Witch”, and Mark and Diane, a couple whose relationship took a turn and soon Diane moved out, and on with Mike. Mark and I were good friends and then we met “Pursh” a young lady from the east side. This was the era before I met Banshee, but only just before. Like Mark I was out of a relationship and considering the next one.
Mark and I both wanted to date Pursh and be her boyfriend, but she decided to date us both. We met her Dianic Coven on the lower east side of Detroit including her imposing and stern High Priestess. Pursh’s High Priestess didn’t seem to mind her hanging out with two guys, one of whom also practiced Witchcraft. We wrote poetry, together and separately and worked on some musical projects.
We established ourselves as magical seekers and adventurers, a proto coven, right? We were all around 20 after all. We bonded on the shores of Lake Michigan where we rustic camped and burnt offerings on the dunes. But in Detroit there is only place to go when you want to get closer to nature, or at least for us: We went to Belle Isle, and we decided we would hunt for werewolves.
Belle Isle is a large island park that has existed for around 100 years, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_Isle_Park_(Michigan) . For generations most Detroiters
have wonderful memories and that is certainly true for me. Belle Isle is host to a ghost story or two as well.
Now according to Pursh, the best place to find werewolves is near the water. This seemed logical to me. But we didn’t have a real plan. My feelings were, they would be the kind of werewolves in that one old drawing, where they’re all lined up by a wall. A pack rather than the lone lycanthrope.
After walking around the dark and desolate Conservatorium “The Greenhouse”, whose large gardens might provide tall bushes and hedges to hide the wily creatures, we headed over to the band shell, and the canals where you could rent boats to paddle around, during the daytime. Not a trace of any werewolves!
And that concludes our tale of Werewolves and Belle Isle, as we never found any, except perhaps Mark
who shared a story about a previous, pre-Diane girlfriend and his wolfy
behavior with her one moon-lit eve. Perhaps it was a sign of things to come. Soon after this Pursh decided she’d rather just be with Mark, and I was pressured to sell my interest in the co-owned purple van to Mark. Crushed emotionally and preyed on by other forces, the spear-carriers that wanted me to stand up to the situation, I retreated to another household.
I never really associated with either of them again though I saw them both once years later, separately and in other relationships. Shortly after this, a month or so, I met the beautiful Banshee and the werewolf in me was on the hunt again!
Comments