Witches Come Together

 

Witches Ball Photo from the
Jessie Hart Archives...

Not so long ago, I was part of a group of Wiccans who put together sizeable parties every Halloween called "Witches Balls."

At it's peak, over five hundred people attended in a very appropriate huge vintage venue across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. Liz and I had plenty of experiences with the event because we went on several dates there before we were involved with organizing it. One of my fondest memories came when the Johnny Depp/Jack Sparrow impersonator flirted with me one year when the party was featuring pirates and also belly dancers. I also enjoyed watching the sexy gyrations of the dancers as I was given a chance to sit down with Liz and kick off my heels and watch. As much as I was enjoying wearing the heels, I was still paying the price for wearing them too long. 

Of course, since it was Halloween, costumes were an intricate part of the event and I was always on the outlook for the occasional cross dresser whose look was just a little too good. As close as I ever came was when I ran into a Facebook acquaintance who is also transgender who was selling her jewelry at the party. Overall, I was surprised I never was able to see anyone else who dressed as a woman for the evening. One thing for sure, I didn't need anyone else's approval  and I had a great time. 

Sadly, the larger witches ball's have become a thing of the past around Cincinnati and now are only held in smaller venues such as bars or taverns. So Halloween has increasingly become another rather boring day. However, I will be forever in debt of Halloweens past as they opened doors for me to express my true self long before I ever thought it was possible. We don't even have enough young trick or treaters stop by to see if any of the young boys are still dressing as cheerleaders. 

I do miss also the huge volunteer organizational effort it took to enable the events to happen at all. The feel good portion of the whole affair happened when we were able to donate a fairly large sum to one of the local homeless shelters. Karma is real and it is always nice to pay forward when you can. 

Since I live fulltime as a transgender woman for so long now, I don't need the feminine experience of a Halloween costume to shore me up. But on occasion I still miss what Halloween did for me in my life. Along the way, it became my most important, influential holiday. It opened my eyes to what could be possible and I could actually live out my gender dreams.   

Pre-Political Meetup

Image from the 
Jessie Hart Archives...

 Long ago, following a few of my Halloween adventures when I did my best to stay away from looking trashy on Halloween. I was determined to do my best this night to be mistaken for a cis-woman. 

I decided to attend a party I was invited to as a professional business woman. The get-together was being held at a restored Victorian mansion which was owned by a casual friend I knew. A wide range of people were invited. I worked at a radio station in town at the time and since my first wife never really was into Halloween, I was left on my own to find someone else to accompany me. It turned out one of the news reporter women at the radio station had an invitation also, so we agreed to go together.

In no time at all, it was time to put together my "costume." I started with shaving my legs and putting on a brand new pair of panty hose. From there, it was very easy to choose an outfit from my growing feminine wardrobe. The years have clouded my memory so I do not exactly remember what I wore except it included heels and my red wig which I loved so much. Of course when my "date" saw me she was amazed and amused I would go to such lengths to be noticed on Halloween. Plus she was more than impressed when I was able to do such a good job walking in heels "for the first time." 

When we arrived, the hosts had done a wonderful job of decorating their old mansion. Even including a vintage glass topped coffin with a real skeleton. Most importantly, I was able to relax and enjoy being out of my gender closet for the first time in a year in public. I was truly a novice transgender woman just exploring the possibility for the first time if I could be accepted in the feminine world. 

As the night progressed, guests came and went and the alcohol flowed. Also I was receiving plenty of positive feedback on my "costume." I had made the correct choice to dress as a professional woman for the party. Most of the other guests assumed I was just arriving late from work and didn.t have a chance to dress up. Which was exactly my goal. 

The most flattering happening came when this couple approached me and said how impressed they were with my "look." They were totally fooled into thinking I was a woman. Through it all, I recognized the man and his wife as a newly elected politician on his way to Washington, DC. Plus they wanted me to tag along with them to another party they were going to,. Since I didn't know where they were going and was with someone else, I had to politely decline the invitation. Leaving me to forever wonder what would have happened if I had decided to go along with them. 

Who knows? Perhaps my political career was ended before it even had a chance to begin. At any rate, the evening turned out to be a blast and my "date" never mentioned how I looked again. It wasn't too long when she landed another news job and moved away anyhow. 

As far as the politician goes, he turned out to be re-elected several times to congress. I lost track of him also when his political career was over. I stayed friends with the owners of the mansion over the years until I moved away and they divorced. Maybe deep down inside I was disappointed no one brought up how I looked on Halloween that night so long ago. I was probably desperately trying to out myself and no one cared. Or I was so good at hiding my feminine side with my intense male self, no one could see my true self. 

It wasn't to be until years later, my feminine self finally took control and Halloween "costumes" became a thing of the past for me.