Vala
Last night, my path took an unexpected turn.
Joe Tillinghast stepped down as Heirophant. He was called to do so by the Dark Mother, to attend to matters of family. This was a major blow in and of itself, even though Natalie had confided that he may do so earlier in the night.
The second blow was when the Dark Mother called me to step up to the plate and stand in his stead.
I didn't want this. I still don't. I'm very young, I'm very inexperienced, and my confidence is shaky as all hell. But I cannot and will not deny the call that I received, the words whispered in my ear by the Huntress that it is time for me to take the horn and the bow, to guide the Great Hunt. I will not shirk this duty that Artemis has laid upon my shoulders.
Still, I know that I will not stand alone. I am Vala, not Heirophant - though I fear that I will be such someday - and my brothers and sisters under the moon will stand with me in this task. Their wisdom and experiences will be as my own ; their many decades will bolster my few years; their faith will be woven with my own to form a cord that cannot be broken.
Mother, as I pierce my flesh with my athame in these coming nights, I do so seeking Your wisdom, Your strength, Your tenacity in the face of what is to come. I do so open to Your teachings in the sacred ways, that I may become toughened in your eyes. I am now as the mortal Stephanie, the one whom I marked before the last dawn as she slept, marked with my own vitae upon her brow as a marker of who I was at that moment, but I must move beyond her compassion and be of a tougher skin. My hardened skin will serve as a symbol, a touchstone for a hardened heart, for I will need such if I am to lead Your Circle, if I am to permit and even encourage the Tribulations that must be visited upon each of Your Acolytes, that Your Wisdom may be found in the souls of each of our number.
As I make this first cut - So Mote It Be.
:blood splatter stains the page:
Joe Tillinghast stepped down as Heirophant. He was called to do so by the Dark Mother, to attend to matters of family. This was a major blow in and of itself, even though Natalie had confided that he may do so earlier in the night.
The second blow was when the Dark Mother called me to step up to the plate and stand in his stead.
I didn't want this. I still don't. I'm very young, I'm very inexperienced, and my confidence is shaky as all hell. But I cannot and will not deny the call that I received, the words whispered in my ear by the Huntress that it is time for me to take the horn and the bow, to guide the Great Hunt. I will not shirk this duty that Artemis has laid upon my shoulders.
Still, I know that I will not stand alone. I am Vala, not Heirophant - though I fear that I will be such someday - and my brothers and sisters under the moon will stand with me in this task. Their wisdom and experiences will be as my own ; their many decades will bolster my few years; their faith will be woven with my own to form a cord that cannot be broken.
Mother, as I pierce my flesh with my athame in these coming nights, I do so seeking Your wisdom, Your strength, Your tenacity in the face of what is to come. I do so open to Your teachings in the sacred ways, that I may become toughened in your eyes. I am now as the mortal Stephanie, the one whom I marked before the last dawn as she slept, marked with my own vitae upon her brow as a marker of who I was at that moment, but I must move beyond her compassion and be of a tougher skin. My hardened skin will serve as a symbol, a touchstone for a hardened heart, for I will need such if I am to lead Your Circle, if I am to permit and even encourage the Tribulations that must be visited upon each of Your Acolytes, that Your Wisdom may be found in the souls of each of our number.
As I make this first cut - So Mote It Be.
:blood splatter stains the page: