Dedicating to Water
I was once asked how I knew I was "chosen" as a water priestess. I found this question intriguing because I had never tried to explain it in words before. Most people who know me can just look at me and go "oh, yeah, she's a water priestess". Not only did this question result in a pretty good description of what I think a water priestess's job is, I also digressed into my own personal definition of "Dedication" to a deity or other power.
If you're curious, here's what I wrote in response...
Date: Mon, 31 May 1999
The answer to your question is both simple and complex. It has to do mostly with my own psyche and belief system, which is a very personal subject and may not be of much interest to you. But... you asked, so here I go. For my entire life I have been an emotional barometer. Once I stepped onto the path of the priestess, I developed the skills which turned my empathy into a useful tool. I am able to use my empathic perceptions to assist others in the analysis and evaluation of their emotional state. I act like sort of an emotional Dear Abby, helping those in crisis critically realize their emotions and delve into the sources of their pain.
So what has this to do with WaterWitchyness? I happen to be one of those witches who associates the 4 Elements with human qualities. (The "Elements" I'm speaking of are a symbolic system, not equivalent to the scientific definition of the physical elements.) In simplified form; Earth = the physical body, Air = the rational mind, Fire = the primal reactions, Water = the emotional state. So, you see that my natural inclination is toward the Element of Water. I feel that my unerringly accurate intuition, my innate understanding of emotional matters, and the ease with which I developed my "emotional toolbox", plus I swim like a fish, all point to my having a deep affinity with Water.
In addition to this life-long immersion, a single event did show me very clearly that I am a Priestess of Water. Yes, this is the "chosen" part. Now bear with me because there are going to be alot of definitions and clarifications in this next section... For a while I was informally dedicated to Athena. By "dedicated" I mean that the qualities which I associate with the goddess Athena were strong forces in my life, and that I recognized, called upon, and was guided by my bond with Athena. By "informal" I mean that I never took part in a ritual where I announced and affirmed by connection to Athena. I felt "chosen" by her because of certain events and portents that occured during that time. Eventually my bond with Athena lessened in importance, most likely the reason for this was that I had learned the lessons I needed to learn and was ready to move on. It felt odd to not be dedicated to a specific deity. I'm the sort of person who likes to use a symbolic focus outside of myself as a tool to define and evolve my identity. I knew that I had left my Athena phase, but I could not identify another deity which was moving strongly in my life. I did feel that I was moving towards something, but I couldn't figure out what it was! So I pulled out one of my tools: ritual! I wrote a formal dedication ritual. While researching and developing the ritual I became conscious of the strength of my attunement to water, so I decided to use the ritual to discover which water-deity I was most drawn to.
Two unplanned occurances in the performance of the ritual ended up having special significance. At the beginning of the ritual I was supposed to invoke several deities associated with water... I forgot. I totally, entirely spaced on that step, eventhough I had a written outline right in front of me. (Special note about ritual: Okay, as all witches know, if you forget to do something in a ritual or if things go arye, it's the universe's way of telling you that is the way it's supposed to happen.) Then, later in the ritual I was supposed to open my eyes and the first thing I saw would be the symbol of my new primary deity. (Now keep in mind that I was standing 2 feet deep in an underground river about 50 feet away from the cave opening, which was upslope and a dozen yards away from the water's edge...) I opened my eyes and I saw a HUGE cresting wave. Okay, got the message, water, I'm a priestess of water. I hadn't realized it before, but I had been stuck in a "deity paradigm". The events in the ritual helped me to discover that the elemental forces of nature are just as strong symbolic foci for me as deity archetypes.
So you see, being "chosen" is a matter of delving into your psyche, realizing your true self, and then probing the universe for confirmation.
One brief warning... If you are considering formally dedicating, or even informally recognizing a connection to a deity or other power, it is a must to truely and deeply understand your psyche and where you need to go at this time in your life. Yes, part of focusing in this way is discovery and growth, but if you don't understand where you start from, you won't know which direction would be healthiest to head towards. I have known people who've chosen to dedicate to a specific deity because they wanted to encourage those qualities in themselves, but they did not consider the negative issues they were supressing nor did they understand the true nature of the deity they were attaching themselves to. Bad scene, very bad. (Just imagine teenage-style popularity politics with a priestess of Aphrodite thrown in the mix.) Very, very bad.
My coven is in the middle of writing a bunch of material on rites of passage and other ceremonies - dedications, initiations, etc. - so keep an eye on our web site for more information on this subject.