To be "in the broom closet" is to keep your practice to yourself. A great many witches and Pagans live this way, some for a few years and some for a lifetime. If you are one of them, you are not doing the Craft any less well than the people with pentacles on their front doors.
Why people keep it private
The reasons are as varied as the people. A family whose religion would not accept it. A workplace or a small town where it would cause trouble. A custody arrangement that it might complicate. A country where religious freedom is not protected in law. Or simply a private temperament and a feeling that spiritual life is nobody else's business.
All of these are good reasons. You do not owe anybody an account of your inner life, and choosing privacy is not the same as lying. Witchcraft was a private practice for most of its history.
An altar that nobody will notice
An altar does not need to look like one. A windowsill with a pretty stone, a feather, a candle, and a glass of water is an altar of the four elements, and to anyone else it is a windowsill. A shelf of family photographs with a tealight is an ancestor altar.
If even that is too much, keep a small tin. A birthday candle, a pinch of salt in folded paper, a shell, a feather, and a pebble will fit in a pocket. Lay them out, do your work, and put them away.
Practices that look like ordinary life
- Tea. Stirring an intention into a cup is invisible.
- Cooking. Kitchen witchcraft is, to an observer, simply cooking.
- Walking. Nobody questions a daily walk. It can be your grounding, your devotion, and your observance of the season.
- Bathing. A bath with salt and a sprig of rosemary is a cleansing ritual with the door locked.
- Gardening. Herbs on the windowsill are a hobby that everybody understands.
- Journaling. People keep diaries. Yours happens to record the moon.
Books and notes
Keep your Book of Shadows in an ordinary notebook with a plain cover, or in a password-protected file. Borrow books and read online in place of building a visible library. If someone might look through your things, use your own shorthand for anything sensitive.
Staying private online
- Use a separate account and a name that is not your own for anything connected with the Craft.
- Do not post photographs that show your face, your home, or your street.
- Turn off location sharing.
- Remember that group chats and private forums can be copied and shared.
- On a shared computer, use private browsing and sign out.
When someone asks
You can be truthful without telling everything. "I like to mark the seasons," "I'm interested in folklore," and "I'm spiritual but not religious" are all honest answers for many of us. You are entitled to stop there.
If you decide to tell someone
There is no obligation ever to do so. If you want to, start with one person whom you trust, at a calm moment. Explain it in plain terms: that you find meaning in nature and the seasons, and what you actually do. Expect questions, and expect it to take time. Our common questions page may help the other person.
If telling someone could put you at risk of losing your home, your safety, or your income, wait. This applies above all if you are under 18 and living with your family. Your practice will keep. Your safety comes first, and nothing in the Craft requires you to risk it.
A quiet kind of strength
A practice that nobody sees has a particular depth. It is done for its own sake, with no audience, and it owes nothing to anyone's approval. Many of the most rooted witches I know have never told a soul.