The Priest

The Priest

By Spiral Breeze

Part One

    His business card said simply: Wiccan Priest.  He handed it to her as one might would an invitation to an intimate party.  Not everyone was invited.  Something about the book Liza had been reading sparked the conversation on the swaying G train.  He addressed himself simply as Shadow of the Light, but she could just call him Shadow.  In her mind she was giggling but she also felt a mild curiosity toward this stranger.  The chain around his neck bore a pentagram, but he was dressed in ordinary street clothes unlike some of the whack-jobs she had associated with the New Age movement.

    The book Liza was trying to read was called “Your Altar”.  A close friend lent it to her when she saw the meditation space she had created in her tiny Brooklyn apartment.  Liza didn’t think it was that important that she had arranged a few seashells, a scented candle and a piece of Amethyst on a small stool by the window where she normally did yoga in the evening.  Her friend thought otherwise, Kara was another new ager and she most certainly dressed the part.  She once spoke fervently at a party about ritual masturbation and how it was the best and only way to raise sacred energy in a space.  Liza only half understood what she was talking about, she loved Kara dearly, but she could be embarrassing at times.

    So here Liza stood on the train home with Shadow talking about much the same things that Kara always was, only he seemed so much more reputable simply because he was dressed normally.  It was Friday, almost six o’clock after a long day at work and the book wasn’t really that interesting, so she indulged Shadow and his talk.

“I helped a lot of people put together altars,”  he continued.  “They’re the very soul of the house, they protect, hold energy and you can use them for all your daily workings.”

“Oh, I’m not pagan, I don’t do ‘workings’.  I do yoga,”  Liza explained, very aware of the Asian woman staring at her through her huge bag of vegetables.

“Something led you to this book, and for that matter: me.”

    Something in his tone of voice made her shiver, she was very thankful that her stop was next.

“Um... excuse me, I have to get off next stop.”

“Oh, sorry.”  He shifted allowing her to move toward the pair of sliding doors.  It was then that he pulled out his card and handed it to her.  “Call me.”  She gave him a look and he chuckled.  “It’s ok, I’m a priest.”

To Be Continued...