I think....

We may have found our officiant.

Since Dave and I are not active members of any coven(s), and preferred to be solitary eclectic as unattached people, we wondered who would be able to officiate at our ceremony who would possibly understand where we were at in our lives.

Recently, we've been discussing going to services at the Lake Harriet Spiritual Community Center (hey, any place that has a Psychic Fair has got to be down wi' da Wiccans), not only for us and our growth, but also so Alli can experience other children in families just like ours. It's something we'll be looking into further.

Anyways, I had emailed a few different officiants last week to see if anyone would respond - including the current officiant for Lake Harriet. Nothing. Not a peep nor a phone call.

Monday morning at about 2am I sent a message on one officiant's web page requesting consultation information, giving Dave's and my spiritual path; thinking "Heck, it's probably another dead end."

Lo and behold, Reverend Leslie contacted me back with:

"Dear Dave & Witchy,

Greetings! Thank you for contacting me about your ceremony, and congratulations! It is always an honor for me when people of kindred spirituality allow me to assist in creating their celebration. I would love to hear what you have in mind as far as a variation on handfasting. Let's talk soon...I have some nice material that I have written for other Wiccan and Druidic ceremonies and I would love to share ideas. November 1st...how exciting!

As far as the Tarot readings for your guests, this added invitation makes your email to me twice as sweet. I love the tarot. The cost for having me there would depend on what sort of readings you are interested in and how many of your friends & family you think would want a reading. I find it difficult to do any sort of real reading in less than twenty minutes. I have on a few occasions done very short "mini-readings" which are,of necessity, more light and entertaining (usually for fundraising festivals). So if you want to offer people a serious reading it might just come down to time...I would be able to read for three people maximum each hour, so for half of your guests it would take seven hours.

It may be easier to discuss these ideas live!
Will you give me a call? I look forward to hearing from you!
Leslie (XXX)XXX-XXXX"

Okay, now seriously, how warm and welcoming is THAT to open in your email inbox??

I just responded back to her about an hour ago letting her know our story, and giving some other information, asking when was a good time to call her. I hate feeling like I'm intruding on a person when I call after 7pm. Especially one you'd like to hire.

I'm sure she'll mail back soon... I would love to have her do mini-readings for those who would like one. Now all I need is a psychic and/or mayhaps a palm reader.

I know, I know. We're not all that normal. Who cares. :)