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My Dedication to the Craft
I was not born into a family of Witches. I was raised in a Christian household. But from a early age I noticed that my interests where different. I would rather play with animals than with other children. I preferred reading to playing with toys. I asked many questions, to my mother's annoyance.
Every Sunday, it was ritual in our house. I would wake up early, wash up, eat breakfast and put on my fanciest dress and shoes. Then I was whisked away to church by my aunt and uncle. My mother never went with my sister and myself. I noticed this quickly. Once at church you were supposed to obey the adults, follow, be quiet and still. It was stupifyingly boring. I didn't know why I was there. I didn't understand ONE thing. Once, I asked where God came from. The response was, "Don't talk about that." I followed it with another question, "Why?" "Because it's bad", was the reply. I was confused and upset. That is when my dedication to the Christian church dissolved. From then on I just went to appease my mother, gossip and flirt with the church boys. If the church didn't care to take me seriously, then why should I take it seriously. I stopped going to church with my aunt and uncle, and started to go with another aunt to her church. It was the same deal only this time I was a bit older. At this point I was with teenagers and young adults but they were still clueless and silly. I realized this was all a waste and refused to go to any church. But deep down I felt guilty. I still had the Christian fear and paranoia but I just didn't hang out with the church crowd.
All that changed on January 29, 1986.
I mentioned that I did not grow up in a family of Witches but my family is witchy. Let me explain.
The women in my family are remarkable. They have strength and wisdom, stamina and courage, love and joy unsurpassed by anyone I have met. I remember my grandmother taking just a couple of herbs and making a tea for me that cured my fever. I can recall my aunts coming together to prepare holiday meals. They would sing and laugh as they cooked. They would say it would make the food taste better. And, boy did it ever! My mother and aunt and grandmother would have an uncanny knack of knowing things would happed BEFORE they would occur. They would know personal things about people that they never met. They would do these incredible things and I would just be in awe, amazed. I would ask, "How did you do that?" or, "How did you know?". They would just laugh, or shrug me off, or just attribute it to one of those things. I would invariably always say, "You are a Witch". My aunt didn't like that, she was very Christian. My mom or grandma would just grin.
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So, no, I was not blessed with the priviledge of formal Wiccan or Craft teachings. But I had something a bit better, in my opinion. I had the example of great Hispanic women.
In January, 1986 the space shuttle Challenger exploded right after take off. I was shocked and saddened. How could God allow this? Didn't God take care of us, didn't He love us? I was depressed for a very long time about this. I totally cut off my connections to the Christian
church.
Then, in college I went on a reading frenzy. I finally had the independence and the privacy to read anything I wanted. I could ask questions and seek out others just like me. One of my very first searches was on Witchcraft. This was the autumn of 1988. I was self-dedicated in January of 1995. My love, respect and appetite for Witchcraft has not ceased.
Dedication to The Goddess or Initiation to The Goddess is a serious matter. It should NOT be taken lightly. Some people equate it to baptisim in the Christian church. It starts your serious intent to become part of the Pagan path. It signals your desire to truly live by way of The Goddess (and God). Since I was solitary when I started out in the path, I had no one I trusted to dedicate me, so I did it myself. My soul has since belonged to The Goddess.
An initiation or dedication is a ritualized event that can be as elaborate as you want. You can invite people over, have food and drink, decorate with a theme; the works. Or it can simply be a matter of you just talking/praying to The Goddess/God. If you belong to a coven, the coven usually has a set protocol to initiate a new member. Some covens separate an initiation as an event to add a new member and then have a distinct dedication when you finish a course of study. In either event, please enter this way of life with respect, an open-mind and a bit of humor.
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