Meer Meet!
I recently had a new, and slightly uncomfortable, experience: Topaz asked if a friend of hers could spend the night. Ordinarily, not a problem on a non-school night. It turned out that this night was a Full moon and we had a ritual planned. While her friend knows that we are pagan, and has attended a couple of our sabbat festivals, she’s never been involved in a ritual. I do not believe you should be doing rituals with other peoples children with out parental permission, just like you shouldn’t take other people’s kids to church with out their parents knowing. I explained this to my child, saying that her friend could not attend the ritual with out her parents permission. My daughter said I could just call and talk to her friends parents. Now, while I do have a moderately friendly acquaintance with Topaz’s friends parents, who I am sure are aware of the fact we are, at the very least, not christian (their daughter has been to a summer solstice, lughnahsadh, and fall equinox celebrations here), I am pretty sure asking them if their daughter can participate in a full moon ritual with us over the phone might not end well. I’d much rather ask, and be able to explain, in person. So while I will not be doing so this time, it is looking like I will have to go talk to Topaz’z friend’s parents about out faith, and to find out if they will be comfortable with their daughter joining us in our form of worship.
This of course has me thinking about two things:
1) How much are we sharing about our chosen path with those around us? Is it too much? Not enough? When should we be sharing?
2) As well, as this serves as a reminder to me, of why we celebrate the way we do (esbats are small, intimate, and family orientated; while we celebrate sabbats hugely, inviting friends and family).
In response to my first point, I want to mention that my older 2 children attend pubic school and my youngest goes to the college daycare. We are open about our spiritual path, in that Topaz and Lily wear pentacle necklaces to school, and we talk to their teachers and the daycare staff about our major sabbat celebrations: Winter Solstice, Ostara, Summer Solstice, Samhain (thought everybody knows this one as halloween and celebrates in much the same manner we do!) and some times Beltaine. We are very open and tell people we are pagan and when they ask, we explain that it is a nature based religion and we celebrate the traditional season changes. We’re not as open about full moon and new moon celebrations, and keep spell work to ourselves of course. For the most part we are pretty good at judging who will be open to hearing about our spiritual path and who wont be. We haven’t had any really nasty experiences (for which I am very grateful) but have had a few negative reactions, here and there. And of course the “don’t tell my parents, you freak them out enough as it is”. I really loved that one! It’s not like I’m scary or weird looking (haven’t died my hair strange colours in over 2 years!) or that I act that much differently than any other ‘normal’ person, for the most part. I just walk my talk, and live what I believe. Some people just have a hard time when they meet others that are different. I could give you the sociological reasoning behind this, but that would be off on a tangent! So I’ll just say, you, as a parent, have to raise your children to be open minded and understanding, to put forth into this world the changes we would like to see, and to help them to know when to be open and when to be careful and walk away. It’s a difficult path that we journey on, but take heart in the fact that others walk before you, and belive that some day this world will be an amazing place!
When you feel alone, remember I’m some where just up ahead of you, sending back down the path love and strength and courage. And the Goddess is alway there to hold your hand when things get tough, just reach out your hand…
Blessed Be!
Moonbeam Momma 