::Sandalwood Smudges::
















Tashi Delek dear one!

I send these words to you from the Himalayas- Gangtok, Sikkim, one of the last Tibetan Buddhist enclaves still accessible to foreigners. This morning we were blessed by a group of chanting monks in the stairwell outside our hotel room... but wait-- I think there are still more Siligury stories to tell before I head into the Himalayas.

Let's see, where was I... oh yes. I, the humble moon ceremonialist was spontaneously initiated as the high pagan/wiccan priestess from the United States. "The ceremonies start tomorrow morning. I'm sure you will come up with something fabulous, Alli." This at 7pm.

Deepayan and Gina headed immediately to the market to collect my list of supplies for the
ritual-- clay chalices for the four directions, incense, dried coconut for purification, puja knives/athames and various small altar pieces. I retired to my room to frantically work on rituals for the the next two days' festivities. Thank Goddess I had a copy of Starhawk's Spiral Dance with me! A witch never knows when that will come in handy...

A small interjection: if you aren't familliar with Indian/Hindu weddings, I think I should explain that the ceremonies are spread out over for at least 5 days, with the actual wedding ceremony usually taking place on the second day and a melange of sometimes outmoded (from my western perspective) rituals and traditions carried out for the next three. Also keep
in mind that this particular Indian family is notorious for their indirect communication (read: they don't tell anyone anything directly, but rather rely on the grapevine to get important information out). Compounded with the communication issue is the pervasiveness of what Deepayan affectionately refers to as 'Indian Flexi-Time', a clock system which basically works like this:
Gina: "when will you be arriving for the first ceremony?"
Family member: "10 o'clock in the morning. It is a very auspicious time."
Gina: "so you will be here ready to start by ten?"
Family Member: "Yes of course, ten o'clock."

So it's ten o'clock and no family. Not a trace of them. I am dressed in the most priestess-y 'western' outfit I could muster with my limited backpacker's wardrobe. Funny, because the outfit was actually comprised of a very bold tribal print skirt I bought in Thailand and a plain tank top and a purple puja scarf with "om" sanskrit symbols on it that I bought in Kolkata wrapped around me. So it wasn't very western at all... anyways. I am very tangential today.

So it's now eleven o'clock and no sign of the family
or of Pael, the Indian girl Deepayan's family brought in to be on Gina's side. I have set beautiful altars in the four directions, grounded and centered myself, lit the candles and cast the circle and am ready to cleanse and purify each family member before they enter the room.

Finally at eleven thirty (Indian Standard time, see?) Pael shows up looking a little flustered and running through the halls calling out, "Gina? Gina! Ginaaaaaaaa!" Gina calmly ushers her into the ceremony room and introduces me to Pael as her High Priestess. This is all still very new to me and I try not to wince as I shake Pael's hand-- I feel somehow that I do not yet deserve the title that has been so hastily bestowed upon me. Pael begins frantically setting up the room for the Hindi blessing ceremony. She attempts to absentmindedly clear my carefully set altars to make room for her trays of sweets but Gina
catches her and in a authoritative tone says,

"No! those are altars, they are sacred space! You may set sacred items on them but you may not move anything!" I smile silently.



Flustered, Pael attempts to arrange things around the altars and again Gina, enjoying the rush of being more in control of the ceremonies implores her, "stop! You must only walk counterclockwise around this room! This is sacred space!" Pael scowls at me and I do my best to smile benevolently. This was more intensity than I usually work with.

I'm a pretty laid-back witch, see. I believe that if you put the energy out there with a pure heart and a clear intention that it gets out there. period. some people work better with rigid guidelines and stringent ceremonies that must be followed to the letter lest they backfire. As with all things in my life, I say the less structure the better... but to each her own.

So around about noon, James came upstairs to announce the arrival of the family. finally. James has been appointed as the official ambassador to the temporary US/Indian consulate in Siligury, West Bengal. I refill my incense chalice after burning all of its contents in the two hours of anticipation and wait at the door. Dadu, Deepayan's 90 year old grandfather with three teeth and a heart of gold is the first in line. He looks a bit confused at this strange western woman blocking the doorway. Pael explains to him in Bengali as best as she can what I am doing and he relaxes a bit. I take a deep breath and with all the authority of the goddess I can collect I blow smoke on him and say:
"only those bearing gifts of perfect love and perfect harmony may cross this threshold. all others are banished."
he bows to me in Namaskar and with a flourish I allow him entry. I do this to every person
in line before they enter the room, including James and the very confused videographer. heheh. It's fun being on the other side of the wedding video camera. The first few guests seem a bit intrepid but by the end of the line everyone is thanking me upon completion of the cleansing.

The blessing ceremony begins and Deepayan's father says some words in Bengali and then everyone puts grass on Gina's head and smudges her forehead with sandalwood and feeds her a bite of sweet treats. I sit behind her and try to look official as all eyes are on me, the strange but fascinating western priestess. By the end of the ceremony, Gina has so much sandalwood on her face it looks as though a well-fed bird has been sitting on her head all morning.

Deepayan's father concludes the ceremony and we all gather for a plate of Bengali Sweets- milk-based coconut and almond cookies in the shape of fish (the unofficial vegetable of Bengal) and fruits and birds. Deepayan's father and uncle both approach me with big smiles on their faces and tell me, "thank you, Alli, priestess. We are so honored that you have come all
the way to India to share your ceremonies with us." With a deep breath I smile and bow to them in Namaskar and return the sentiment, "it is a great honor for me to be here and to share in the blessing of Gina and Deepayan on this happy occasion!"

Jaitu, Deepayan's uncle, comes to sit next to me before he leaves to conduct the same ritual for
Deepayan who is at his house. "Alli, tell me, what religion do you come from? Are you Buddhist? Christian? Muslim?" I shake my head yes/no to all of these and realize that I am not sure how exactly to respond. What religion do I represent? Paganism? perhaps a bit. Wiccan? a bit more so. Shamanism? yes, there is a touch of that. Christian? There is a sprinkle of Christ Consciousness there as well. I took a deep breath and spoke from my heart: "I would
say that I do not represent a religion but rather a belief that we are all one, that all gods and
goddesses are one deity, that all things are interconnected." To my surprise, he got it and smiled a smile of deep understanding. "Indeed, we believe as well that all gods are one god, it is only our paths to them that are different." We smiled at each other and it is in this moment I realize that I am indeed a high priestess...

And that is only the beginning of the story, but my fingers are tired and my toes are freezing here in this mountain air. More juicy bits to come... next up, day 2- the wedding ceremony.

Sending you deep breaths of mountain air,
~Alli~