The Begining of the Spiral Dance

About 2 years ago I started my new spiritual journey as a witch.
I didn't know where this journey would take me or if it was the right path for me, but with every step I take on the spiral I realize it was the right one for me. Growing up in the Catholic faith was good until I realized that their exclusion of many different people (especially the exclusion of women) was not something I agreed with. My mother is such a strong figure in my life and to see her repressed in a sense by her faith really upset me. I thought that she should have been allowed to lead the church. To me she knew more than the priests did and certainly cared more for people and definitely was in my opinion far more advanced in her spiritual journey than the priests. But because males can only be priests in the Catholic faith she could only get involved in what they had for her.
Other factors surfaced in my life and my time with the Catholic faith came to an end. I drifted for a bit trying to find what I believed and always in the back of my mind was earth based spirituality. I had dabbled when I young. My mother found my book, which was Silver Ravenwolf's Solitary Practitioner, and as you can imagine it didn't go very well. But back to the present. So I was doing my own research into Wicca and felt I was lacking something. I realized I missed the community of my Catholic faith. Even if I didn't like the people in the church they still worshipped with me in the same way. Not knowing how to find other witches I was at a lost. However, the Fates were on my side and I was led to the Goddesses of The Cinder Moon. GCM was a local group of women who started a monthly goddess circle. This circle was a public ritual and I was lucky enough to go to the first one. I attended the first one and was amazed. That was where I first met my mentor and my spiritual mother, Madrone. She is amazing. I have learned soo much from her. After that first meeting I asked to meet with her because I was going away that summer to work and wouldn't be able to attend the goddess circles. I wanted to know of some books that she thought would be good to read for a beginner. She directed me to Starhawk's The Spiral Dance.
That book started it all. On the plane to Massachusetts I read, underlined, and wrote down questions about the book. I enjoyed the book so much and was so pumped when I came back after the summer. I of course attended the next goddess circle and afterwards I said I wanted to volunteer. I became involved and was hitting my peak in the group when the circles ended. It was sad but Madrone reassured me that it was not an end. Just a time to regroup and come back in a different way.
She was right. Because there were no more goddess circles I have developed on a solitary level and now I have started a club at my university, the Neo-Pagan Alliance, to meet other people my age who were also practicing. There are many stories in between GCM and the NPA and those will surface sometime in the blogs future I am sure.
NPA has brought into my life new friends who I can practice with and enjoy my spirituality. We are having our first full moon ritual that we designed and I am super PUMPED about it. Also at that ritual we will be blessing candles that we are going be making into herbal candles to sell as a fundraiser!
This blog is exciting for me because I have a place to record events other than my journal. Hopefully along the way I can encounter other traveler's of the spiral dance and hear their insights and perhaps offer some of mine.
Blessed Be!
Merry Meet Merry Part Merry Meet Again!