Reverend Jayme Wickman
In Sept/Oct 2004
Rev Jayme Wickman was honored to have been featured in Among Women Magazine
Rev Jayme Wickman
Sr Druidess
Sacred Celtic Order of Balance Church
I wanted to take a moment to tell you a little bit about myself and what has brought me to this wonderful place in my life and into the wonderful friendships I have made with many fine Pagan people in Minnesota and beyond.
I am a 43 yr. old woman who was adopted as an infant by two wonderful parents who raised me in a VERY Catholic home. I grew up very involved in my church and learned to love all the ritual and ceremony of the Catholic Church, but I always had many questions about why I did not feel quite in agreement with the doctrine and dogma.
I began exploring different religions as a small child. I went to Baptist bible schools, a nondenominational bible study and summer camp. I attended Lutheran and Presbyterian churches with my friends. I attended many Assembly of God services and also explored the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I have always been especially drawn to the Native American way of life. I felt that was where I belonged and what matched the inner beliefs and my soul. I studied the Native lifestyle in High School, in College and through my many Native friends who have shared their lives with me and to whom I am forever grateful.
I just could never put my finger on why I was unfulfilled. I argued with many Catholic priests about what the church taught and what I really believed and felt. We never did see eye to eye. I tried to keep this a secret from my parents; because I did not want to upset them or let them know that I really did not believe the way they had raised me to believe. I silently continued to search to find my spiritual fulfillment. Strangely I kept coming back to the same beliefs time after time.
I was taught that there were labels for the other beliefs and none of them were good or positive. They called them: WITCHCRAFT.... PAGAN... SATAN WORSHIPERS... HEATHEN.
In the world I grew up in, these words were always equal to evil and scary things I was taught to stay away from. I was taught THOSE people were demented people who were all going to HELL. Yet I did not feel that way. I felt caught between the "faiths. My faith and the oppressive judgmental faith of all of the churches I had reached out to for help.
I tried to explain how I felt by saying that I believed a lot like the Native Americans believe. I believe that the earth is sacred and that nature means more than we were taught to believe. But still there was the problem of "GOD".
As an adult I kept researching and studying and came to learn that I, at heart had never really been "Catholic". That my beliefs were really much older than Catholicism and/or Christianity.
Upon further study and meeting other people that have similar beliefs as I do, I realized that I am not alone. I learned that "witch" and …Pagan are derogatory names given to my ancestors to convert them into "Christians". I learned that they did not "worship" the devil, because they did not even believe in the devil, and that the idea of Satan having horns was really another way of putting down the "Horned God" of the Ancestors, again to make the OLD religion BAD and the NEW religion the only correct way to be.
I learned that the early Christians took many parts of the "HEATHAN" religion and adopted it as part of the "New" one to again, draw the followers of the …old ways into the church. I learned Saint Bridget, was never a Catholic saint at all, she was a Goddess, so loved that the people would not give up their faith in her, so they made her a Saint as a compromise. I learned that almost, if not all of the major "Christian" holidays came from the old ways. Christmas, Easter, May day, Halloween, and Thanksgiving all were originally Pagan holidays that Christians "borrowed" and gave their own meanings. The "Christian" story of a God having a son through an unwed mother that was born to be a sacrifice for the world is NOT a Christian one but again a story that has been borrowed from several other world religions and given new paint.
All of this was a large disillusion to me. How could this faith that had been so strong and the ONLY "right" faith, compromise and borrow its beliefs and then condemn the others to eternal damnation? None of this made any sense to me.
The final step for me was my meeting an ex Catholic seminarian, who verified for me everything that I had ever felt. He helped me to see that there really was no difference in how I felt and the way I saw things and the way the "Old" religion has always been. I knew at that moment that I had finally found what I had searched for all my life. I then dedicated myself to learn and live the old ways to the best of my abilities. I searched for truth and knowledge, never satisfied that I had found what I thought was enough. I went through the normal paths from Christianity, to Wicca, to Celtic Pagan, to Celtic Reconstructionist and ultimately to my place as a Druidess.
Today I am a consecrated Sr. Druidess. I treasure my role as the founder, leader and teacher of The Sacred Celtic Order of Balance Church in St Michael MN. We are a Celtic Enculturation Society. We are a non-profit who works to dispel the mysteries and misunderstandings of many different groups and religions, in hopes that by taking away fear and misunderstanding it will bring understanding and peace.
I have accomplished a good number of things that I see only as a beginning. I was featured in Among Women Magazine, and I have also served as the past Religious Affairs Committee Chair for the local branch of the NAACP and was asked to preside for St Clouds Martin Luther King Day Interfaith Prayer Service for two years. I have presented workshops at the Women and Spirituality Conference at Mankato State University for the past three years and I continue to speak and teach anywhere I am needed.
I move forward in a positive manner to serve the Gods as well as the Pagan community in any way that I am needed. I welcome the lessons I am to learn on this turn of the wheel and invite all the knowledge that I can gather to strengthen me in my spiritual walk. I also look forward to meeting more of Pagan people from all different paths; fore I have found not only an open and welcoming fellowship with all of those I have met, but great love and willingness to help. I thank all that have helped me to this place and wish only to serve in anyway I am needed.
I'd love to hear from you!
In Their Service
Rev. Jayme Wickman
