We became friends outside of class by the time I was in high school, and I would hang out in her studio. Our relationship was not the typical teacher student one. We talked for hours about art, history, myths and men. Slowly she would introduce concepts of magic from classic mythology, talking about the pre-Christian Goddess cults, the Egyptian priesthood and magical symbols. I thought she was crazy.
Witches are fantasy.
I was a smart ass teen, but had to admit the metaphysical ideas behind it fascinated me. And the parallels between the social stigma of being a witch, and being gay intrigued me. We both had closets. At the time, I was still not out of mine. My friend was not trying to recruit me in any way.