Sep 17, 20143 min read

P14/38a Don’t Drink and Fly..a Witches Tale

Originally Aired on September 23rd-29th on Positive Living Vibrations with Sara Troy and her guest Cathie Devitt. Have a listen with instant listening

Don’t Drink and Fly

“Bernice is a witch living in Glasgow. She loses her way in her life and wanders off the beaten track looking for the garden of enlightenment. Bernice is a witch with many skeletons in her closet. She has an addictive personality, works as a holistic therapist, and struggles to maintain any intimate relationships. Her spells are not always as accurate as they could be, often the result of her having a few too many goblets of red wine. When mysterious letters start appearing at her door, she begins to think about her childhood and, with the help of her long-suffering friend Maggie, tries to come to terms with her past and the family she left behind. But nothing in Bernice’s life is ever simple…

Cathie Devitt Born in Glasgow Scotland April 1958 Cathie was part of a huge Catholic/Irish family. Born into a family of 4 children. (3 girls and 1 boy.) Cathie was not the oldest, nor the youngest nor the favoured son. She was just “The other one”Whilst her siblings sailed through conventional lives, Cathie was always the wild one who had to be warned to behave when visiting friends and relatives. Un-harnessed creativity she says.When Cathie was about 13 years old her mother came home to find a strong smell of emulsion paint greet her at the front door. Cathie’s father gave his wife a cup of tea and said, “She’s creative, just let her express herself.”Cathie had the radio on full blast and was happily painting cream and blue clouds in the bedroom of the family’s council (social housing) flat ( just happened to be the colour of the paint that she had found under the kitchen sink). Inspired by her own artistic talent, Cathie kept going until the paint tin was dry.Result?- clouds on the walls, the ceiling, the door and painted over her grandmother’s solid mahogany bedroom furniture that was a family heirloom.

Cathie’s mother says that her daughter’s first words were, “But Why?” and her second “But why not?”

Some things never change.

“I wrote and performed in my first play at primary school aged 11 years. Life took over and writing was consigned to work related bumff the quality of which somehow stopped me from being sacked or evicted.”

“I studied at Glasgow and Strathclyde University whilst working and bringing up my two daughters alone. Oh what fun we had!Tears,tantrums,hormones and hooch. (The girls sometimes kicked off too.) The studies resulted in bits of paper that no-one ever asked to see but somehow greased the rungs of the career ladder high enough to ensure that the three of us never went hungry.”

The flame of desire to write has flickered on and off, but never been snuffed out. Encouraged by publication in various genres, Cathie Devitt moved on to support others by facilitating creative writing workshops. Cathie has also written and performed drama workshops in a corporate environment to showcase company policies and practices, such as Health and Safety and Equality in the workplace. Add to that writing and performing in Festival Theatre and training as a laughter yoga therapist and you can see why Cathie Devitt is in a class of her own.

Cathie has very little time to dedicate to her own pleasures. Work and family commitments make sure of that. However, to release her Diva within Cathie has-

Trained as a laughter yoga leader

Performed as an actress and stand up comedian

Zip slid in the forest and tackled rope bridges and swings

Explored various countries and cultures whenever the opportunity arose

Loves her daughters two dogs (Lhasa Apsos) Darcy and Sparkle

Embraced Creative writing

Fell in love with a poet when she was 50!

Always keen to try new activities – has enjoyed taster Hatha Yoga, hot stone massage and meditation.