A few months back I met a really nice woman who was a Wiccan Tree Priestess. Really. At least that's what she told me she was. She could have been yanking my chain. I have no way of knowing. I admit to being a bit ignorant about pagan religious structure.
She was very nice, and very interesting to talk to about all kinds of stuff. Her perspective on things was wildly different from my own. I usually know where people are coming from, but I admit to being a bit thrown off by the whole "tree priestess" thing. Then she told me that not only is she a tree priestess, but it the High Tree Priestess for her area. I know I could have been evangelizing her, but I'll admit that I'm such a girl that all I could think was, "High Tree Priestess....I'll bet she gets a cool hat."
I really want her to have a cool hat. I'm not sure why it's important to me, but it is. I wonder about it and ask her every time I see her.
"Do you get to wear a hat? What does it look like?"
She just smiles and shakes her head at me, no doubt laughing at my woeful ignorance of all things tree priestess-y. I really do want to know.
I have this picture in my head of those tacky trees from the 80's that everyone had in their home. You know the kind that were made out of twisty gold wire and dangly golden leaves. We never had one. My mom wasn't that cool, but my neighbor did and I just knew it was the height of chic in interior design. That's what I picture on her head. Twisty and shiny with sparkly leaves. I can see it so clearly. Her with this glorious tree on her head and long flowing robes the color of the season just gliding gracefully through the forest.
I'm probably way off and she just gets a beanie. She probably just wears jeans and walks around chanting. What a disappointment. Or maybe she communes with nature so much that she walks nude and unashamed through the trees. Probably not though. I think you can get arrested for that.
I just want her to have a hat, and I want it to be cool. What's so wrong with that? Have you seen the tree priestess in your local woods? Does she have a hat? If she doesn't. please don't tell me. I don't think I could bear the disappointment.
9 comments:
Oh, I love this! Thanks for a laugh to start my day! (And believe me, I needed it, considering all the news lately...)
...and if she has a big tree hat, does she decorate it for the different tree feast days? Do her fellow priestesses get annoyed with her if she leaves her Arbor Day lights on all year long?
I admit to being a bit ignorant about pagan religious structure.
*dryly* Don't worry, a lot of pagans are ignorant about it, too....
(I grew up around third-generation hippies-- a firm grasp of history wasn't common)
I picture a big pointy hat like Gandalf's for some reason...
OHHH! Those were sooo prettttyyyy!!!!!!!!!!! LOL
Yes, I remember those, too...
I wonder, would it jingle when she danced around the trees in the woods? Does she use paper? And when she does, does she say some weird pagan priestessy prayer? Or does she just use really high quality expensive rag/linen paper?
Sorry. Those are the thoughts that come to my mind first off...
LOL
Rachel,
I hadn't even considered the paper part of it! Is it sacrilege for her to use paper? Very good question. I award you a gold star!
I think of the head gear worn by the knights who say ni! from Monty Python. Not quite as chic as your gold tree thing.
My sister is Wiccan - I could ask her! I generally don't talk to her about the Wiccan stuff although she just had a birthday and I bought her a Wiccan calendar. I figured she would buy me a Christian themed Calendar and I could return the favour. Weird, eh?
You know, I've been thinking about this post and wondering whether the high tree priestesses in your area have an inferiority complex. You know, compared to, say, those who get to live near the California Redwoods. It must be a bit of a bummer to be a plains-priestess, don't you think?
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