Cathy
|
In response to Hooked's questions I wanted to add some more information for your reading pleasure.
First the date. John is a smart young guy with whom I attended a few classes at the Seminary from which I recently graduated.
We started dating simply to get to know each other a bit better. He really struggled with me as a Pagan/Wiccan attending a Christian, albeit, very liberal Seminary. He is part of a fairly conservative denomination. His fear was that we are the children of the devil and that we wanted to “know the enemy” so we could defeat them and help bring about the rule of Satan.
For a good number of reasons, this is just silly. The devil is a Judeo/Christian construction. Actually, the reference in your Bible to “The Devil,” comes from the passage where Jesus was fasting in the desert and encountered, The Adversary.”
The Adversary in Jewish theology was more like a prosecuting attorney in our civil and criminal trials. The prosecutor is there to prove that you committed a crime, that you were not actually where you said you were at the time you said you were in your alibi. The Adversary’s job is to ask the question, “Are you sure you really want to do this…?” Whatever “This” is that you said you wanted.
Free will plays into this concept as well and it gets very complicated from here on in so I won’t try to give you or the readers here a theology lesson. You really want to think about me naked or something like that.
Well, to continue, in an effort to know me and my religious faith better we started meeting in the library, then outside the library as our discussions became a bit heated. We stuck with it though and came to a sort of mutual respect. Sort of. He still thinks that everyone needs to be saved and I don’t. Even the Bible mentions, The Other People, in Genesis. I keep reminding him that I am from The Other People. If he needs to be saved, fine. I don’t.
We through that since we were getting along so well, and our discussions were getting to be a lot of fun, we thought that maybe we should go out and have a good time as well. Kind of like mixing business with pleasure. He tries to convert me and I get to go dancing or a movie or a concert or a theatrical production with someone who is cultured enough to enjoy it.
He is working as a junior Minister in a local church so the last thing he needs in his life is a scandal by having a “thing” with a Pagan/Wiccan Priestess. That is a nice way of telling you that we didn’t go very far. He genuinely likes me but I think that his mind is too small. Simply put, his God fits in a box. Mine doesn’t.
The Samhain ritual is a bit more complicated and like I said in a different post, we really don’t talk about our rituals with those who need a lot more context in order to understand them. What I will tell you is what the Sabbat and ritual mean for me. After all, I can only speak for myself.
Samhain is pronounced, Sau-when. Not Sam-Hain as most people think, probably because they simply don’t know.
This Sabbat celebrates death, just as Beltane, six months earlier, or six months later, celebrates life. In Wicca and Paganism in general, we really celebrate balance. We believe that there is balance everywhere, the universe, the earth, our lives. Unfortunately, not everyone actually practices balance in everyday living. If we did, maybe the world would be a better place to live in.
Personally, I don’t believe that there is a Deity that gives a rip about our lives. There is no one “up there” to hear our prayers, much less answer them with loving kindness. My father is a Vietnam Vet and while he does not talk about any of his experiences as an Infantry man over there, he did tell us that no one answered any of the cries and prayers of the guys, on both sides, who were hideously killed in the battles he was part of.
Men start their own wars and there is no God, god, or goddess to save them from themselves. We must do it on our own and we haven’t figured it out yet. Nor, will we ever as long as there are people who lust for money. Before you brand me an atheist please know that I do believe in some pervasive creative force in the universe. I call that force the divine because I don’t have any other language to describe it. I will tell you all right now, that while I believe that money is necessary as a medium of exchange, it is not my god and I will never worship at its altar.
I prefer to worship the beauty of the earth and way beyond that, the universe. Each holds more secrets for us to discover and I am eager to marvel at the tenderness of a woman’s love for her child and the symmetry in every flower and every snowflake.
Okay, on to more racy thoughts. That’s what you are here for, right?
After the Samhain ritual most of us hung around and sat by the campfire. It was a pretty intense ritual and all of us wanted to decompress a bit. Our rituals tend to be transformative in some way and so we talk about what some of the aspects of the ritual drama might have meant.
All of us were still naked as we sat and talked or walked around in pairs or threes. You might think that these ceremonies are highly sexual, but you’d be wrong. Yes, Beltane is all about sex and procreation but Samhain is the opposite. Okay, we are nude and it’s nice to look at naked people, but we can have sex anytime, we don’t need a Wiccan ritual for that. Pagans actually have ethics and morals; surprising, I know!
Having made sure that the fire was out, the ritual tools put away and the sacred space cleaned up and put back in order, everyone left for home or parties (after putting on their clothes before leaving my property.) The night was still a bit warm, with a nice cool breeze, so I thought I would stay outside a bit longer.
I took the long path to the lake which meandered over by the oaks and the county road. There was a nice breeze rustling the leaves in the trees and making a whooshing sound. I paused to lean on one of the trees and looked out over the road. I was in kind of a dream state and not really paying attention to the world around me. That’s when it happened. The sound of the wind masked the sound of the car rushing along the road, people no doubt going home from a Halloween party.
I was completely visible from the road as the car came around the bend and for a few precious seconds my naked, grey painted body with short antlers protruding from my head was clearly visible to the passengers of the vehicle hurling itself through time and space directly toward me. Just like a deer in the headlights, my tiny little headlights were pointing directly at them.
As the car completed its turn along the curve of the road I was in utter darkness. I heard the car screech to a halt and not waiting for polite conversation, I bolted; yes, just like a deer in the woods. Luckily, the rope ladder to my tree house was only a few short feet way and I was up it like a shot, pulling it up as soon as I made the top.
The floor of the structure is solid and there were few cracks in the floorboards but I found one and pressed my eye to it to watch the man and woman search for me in the area around the oaks. They shone the flashlight upwards a few times but fortunately did not see the tree house floor. It would have been difficult for them to get up here but it would have explained a few things for them. Alas for them, that was not to be.
Since I do not know the couple and I could not get a good look at them, I can’t even guess what they might have thought. What they saw was a slender female form, dark grey in color, hair (also painted grey) curly and looking much like an Afro with short grey antlers pointing upward and outward, facing them from the woods, who completely disappeared immediately after being bathed in bright light and then swathed in total darkness.
What would you think? I would love to know what you would think and do after seeing such an apparition on Halloween. Please share!
After the couple left and I heard the car drive away I lowered the ladder and climbed down to Mother Earth. My heart was beating very rapidly, as you might imagine. I walked back to the ritual area; everyone was long gone and I sat on one of the logs around the now quiet bonfire. I had a lot to think about; the amazing ritual I had been a part of, my friends who were here this evening taking part in the ceremony, the “Deer in the headlights” event just a few minutes ago. My mind was racing as fast as my heart was beating.
I was tired, mentally and physically and emotionally spent. It was time for bed. I stood, grounded myself for a moment, then walked slowly back to my house. I slipped off my antlers, the only item I was wearing since around noon today, or actually, yesterday; it was now 1:40am Central Time. I stepped into the downstairs shower stall and rinsed off the grey body paint, toweled off and fell into bed.
I think I was asleep before hitting the pillow. I next thing I remember was waking up with the morning sun shining through my bedroom window.
When I ventured out the next day I picked up the local paper and read the bold print headline. The only item not mentioned was my name!
|
Pages: 
Cathy's House (Read 57587 times)
