Welcome to Gaia! ::

I remember I didn't really have a hard time telling my mother about my beliefs back when I was in highschool, but she had a hard time accepting it. Unfortunately for her, I was currently in my Satanism phase. I was taken to a psychologist, a psychiatrist, and a priest (in hopes of an exorcism).

My mom now totally accepts that I'm different from her, and my dad is pretty much oblivious and he doesn't care. Right now, I pretty much keep it to myself. If someone asks me, I'll tell them usually. The exception is, my soon-to-be-in-laws won't know, as their reaction would be catastrophic.

Sadly, it makes most people uncomfortable to talk about these things with me. My whole life I have been confined to solitary practice, and that is why I am reaching out trying to find a community. One can only learn so much without learning from others.

My mother who was raised Catholic is more accepting of my spiritual beleifs being different. She was releived that I hadn't turned my back on deity all together. She is still unsettled about me doing magic. I think it is just because she doesn't really know much about it so she worries. My father doesn't really know, though he doesn't really ask either. Its never come up with my grandmother, aunt, uncle, great uncle (he is a retired pastor) all my mother's rather large family (with the exception of my aunt, she is a medium, who hates the fact the spirits like to talk to her, and she is bit crazy and cranky as well. I think my mom is afraid I will turn out like her. though I would be more concerned for my sister, since she is the one who can see and hear them yet trys like hades to ignore them, then freaks out)
My husband uses magic to, and is also pagan so he really doesn't care.
I know his father and step dad don't know, neither does his one grandmother or grandfathers, his mom may know, but it was never a big deal to her. His brother knows, though I am not sure his wife does.
We never really go out of our way to flaunt it or bring it up, but we don't really try to hide it so much either.

I'm proud of you for telling your BF.
I understand how you feel. My fiance looks down on all this practice, but I don't hide it from her, and I don't stop my progression. I do, however, respect that it makes her uncomfortable, so I keep it away from her as much as possible. She laughs when I say I've given a tarot reading, but I don't let it bother me. I maintain that it is perfectly acceptable, and should be expected at this point. I don't shrug in embarassment at the laughter, and I stay friendly and understanding, and the situation always works itself out.
She is a non-denominational Christian, and being of a more grounded perspective, it would be in betrayal of her belief system not to laugh at it. Laughing at us is a self-defense mechanism. While the anger that laughter conjurs in us is also a self-defense mechanism, I feel that it should not be allowed to grow. How understanding is it to be angry with their laughter, when their laughter only expresses discomfort and an unwillingness to understand? How can we bring out understanding in others, when we choose to be angry rather than understanding? And perhaps most importantly, doesn't it show that our validity is at risk to become angry? We must be confident in our work! While some feel it hurts the pride, I offer that pride is a decision to love ourselves. Should it really be based on whether or not others validate our spirituality?
Sorry about that sweatdrop thanks for letting me rant a bit.
Again, congratulations on his acceptance. Be careful though, because perhaps it similarly makes him uncomfortable.

lol I completely agree! We need some craziness, some weirdness, to break the monotony of normalness!
Yeah I sometimes think that people think I'm weird if I mention my belief in the supernatural (A friend was telling us about the haunted bathroom in the university apartments. She, along with everyone else, said that they don't believe in ghosts. Yet she still gets freaked out by the sounds at midnight every night in that bathroom). Of course I'm saying "That's awesome! It would be really freaky, but it would be so kool at the same time." And me thinking about who it could be, etc. Yeah, I occasionally get lectures on why my beliefs are wrong, but whatever. biggrin

Things didn't go so well when I told my family, but it didn't go as horribly as I thought it would.
My entire family is Catholic. Not like zealous Catholics or anything but I still wasn't looking forward to telling them about it, and with good reason. My mother's response was *laugh here* "No silly, you're Catholic!"
:/ Lawl. Poor ignorant mother, I love her always anyway.

This was years ago. They all still like to pretend that I'm Catholic, even though they've all seen me singing to my herbs or sitting on the floor in candlelight.

most certainly! I talked to my mom about ghosts recently, and it turns out she has kind of an experience: a place she worked at was haunted, but she never met the ghost , even though she wanted to. She believes, I just don't know in how much, or how she will react if I tell her how much I am interested in. What if she finds out I am doing spell work? Which I have yet to do much of...what if she finds out I am researching demons? Well, I just haven't said much about it.