I am a Ukrainian-Canadian, who can speak Ukrainian at a B1 level, so I am able to connect with both English speakers and Ukrainians.
I have been a life-long atheist, but have a love for practicing Slavic kitchen witchcraft in a practical sense, not a religious sense.
I first connected with the Craft in 2000, initiated into a coven with very patient, understanding Wiccan friends who I enjoyed celebrating all eight of the pagan holidays, including personal events such as birth and death rituals. Prior to this, I was just mildly charmed by the occult, but did not feel any sort of connection to it.
After spending a few years with my coven, I made a long distance move, focused on my career, and found that my interest in meeting others and continuing on in a group setting had diminished. In the last few years, I had been doing some research on my heritage and the ancient practices of the people in Eastern Europe. I realized that long before Celtic traditions, the Slavic people had a style of their own.
Perhaps it was this reason why I felt myself pull away from the bias of Celtic practices when learning about witchcraft in the many published books at the time I was learning about it all.
If you'd like to connect, it would be a pleasure to make new friends on this forum! Bear in mind two things:
1. I am an atheist, but not to worry--I will always respect anyone's choice to believe in anything that they enjoy. I only ask for the same respect in return for my own way of thinking.
2. I do not follow western European practices. If you do, that's wonderful. But what I follow are Slavic, practical traditions that may or may not align with western ways, which are not *incorrect* if we have a discussion when it comes to how things are "traditionally" done.
I am open to learning about what others do, and happy to share my own information, if it's welcome.