The Path of a Christian Witch by Adelina St. Clair

we had come to be sisters in many ways. Joyce called me to the center of the circle. I walked up to her, my heart pounding in my chest. Our eyes locked. She said, “Adelina, have you chosen your deity pair?” I answered, “I have.” She continued, “Who have you chosen?” I took a deep breath, bathed in the energy of this holy gathering and I stated for all to hear, “Jesus of Nazareth and Mary of Magdala.”
    Joyce smiled and nodded her head. She dipped her finger in an oily blend and brought it to my forehead; making the sign of the cross, she said, “In the name of Jesus of Nazareth and of Mary Magdalene, I bless you and congratulate you on completing your first level.”
    I went back to my place in circle with tears in my eyes. A woman had just blessed me with a holy cross, in the name of my Lord and Lady, in the midst of a most holy gathering of exceptional women. My whole body was shivering from the unexpectedness of this gift. To be in holy space, in a gathering of women, in the presence of my God and Goddess, living our magic and offering it as our legitimate gift to the world . . . I had come home.
    A Year and a Day Later
    It had been a year and a day since I had visited my sacred grove of trees. I had come with a simple pledge: to walk the Pagan path once more for a year and a day to see where it would lead me. I had asked for guidance and protection as I set out on unchartered waters.
    Here I was, a year and a day later. So much had happened over the course of that year. I had met extraordinary people, women I knew would walk with me and teach me for a long time. A bond of sisterhood had been solidly forged through our experiences and the sharing of our successes and fears. We had all grown immensely. I stood here, a different person. Where doubt and fear had been, I sensed a grounded strength.
    I had been aimlessly wandering in the desert, looking, hoping for the Promised Land. I had lived in conflict, wishing for a resolution, hoping that my vision of magic and devotion to my lineage was not an impossible dream. My quest was to find a central pillar to my faith. This center, I had found it where it had always been: in my friendship and devotion to Jesus, to his teachings and example. And I had found female force and beauty in a new devotion to Mary Magdalene. This was something I could build on. As long as I had this to rely on, I could wander in the desert and test the slopes of the highest mountains, and I would always have a central pillar of faith in the teachings of my Lord and Lady. I felt overwhelmed by emotion and peace on this sunny afternoon. I stood in the midst of nature with nothing in my hands to offer but the most soul-felt gratitude. I looked around me and whispered for whoever could hear me:
    “Here I am, faithful to the calling, for my path has told me that I truly am the daughter of the birthing waters and keeper of the stone slate.
    The path of the seeker has led me to your wonders, without and within, and I offer my thanks today.
    I have seen the face of my God and Goddess and am rededicated to their course.
    Jesus Christ and his consort Mary Magdalene have lifted the questioning from my brow through their love, as it was in the beginning and now shall be.
    The path of the seeker has led me to a coven of people who love and accept and judge not. A place where my beliefs are respected and where counsel and support abound.
    The path has led me to my sisters, whose love and power feed in me the recognition of my own name.
    The path has opened my thirst for the earth and its glories, opening a physical need for the freshness and rejuvenation through the elements.
    And within the glories abound, most of all in the recognition that I am Hope. Hope and knowledge of evil are the weapons given to me to love and cure.
    “For the strength to be strong through the power of unwavering faith,
    For the belief in beauty,
    For the power and need and pain to create and bring things forth into the