Coming out
When you phrase it like that, it sounds like I'm confessing my sexuality. Unfortunately, due to the stigmas surrounding paganism in general, it is just like that.
You will not believe how stressful it is to confess your beliefs to people, especially those who don't understand. Most of my friends are Christians, so you can see why I might have trouble explaining to them about my religious views. A term I've heard used that seems quite appropriate to this problem is "coming out of the broom closet". Which is exactly how it feels.
So I decided to tell one person, to see how they reacted. By an odd mixture of circumstance that person happened to be my ex-boyfriend. We're still friends and talk often. I ended up telling him during a maths lesson.
Bit odd, right?
Anyway, he took It surprisingly well. After about half a hour of convincing him I said Wiccan not Wiggan, I managed to convince him of my conviction. He was very supportive and said as long I was happy.
That was easy, I thought. This made me more confident in telling my closer friends.
BIG MISTAKE.
The next friend I told, who happens to be my oldest and closet confidante, reacted just the same way my ex did. She used to be a Catholic but lost her faith after tragic events in her family life. She understood my decision that this was the faith for me.
So far so good.
Then came the issue. The next person I told was a girl named Danielle. She is a very devout Christian and has often told me off for my interest in the less mainstream religions. I had misgiving about telling her but nether the less I plucked up the courage to tell her I was beginning to study to become a Wiccan... she didn't take it well.
After hearing how my soul would rot in Hell and I would be cursed forever, I decided to leave. This was quite a blow, yet as the song goes:
Two out of three ain't bad
I have yet to tell my parents, but that is more because I fear they will tell me not to make my decision yet and wait until I am older. I can see the point in that, but I am sure in my decision.
I am currently thinking of a way to rectify the situation with Danielle, but for now I feel she may be avoiding me.
Charlotte
