Originally, my other Wiccan friend and I intended to come out of the broom closet to all of our friends on the same day. But stuff came up, and it ended up being ten days between talking to our first friend and talking to the other two.

What I found fascinating was the difference between all three of their reactions. None of them were judgemental; they were all accepting and even interested. Nevertheless, they each had their own way of responding to the news.

The first girl, as I already mentioned, was very inquisitive. We spent hours discussing Wiccan practice and beleif: rituals, history, views of deity, the whole kit and caboodle. I remember when we mentioned that we observe the solstices, equinoxes, and cross quarter days, she had us go through each holiday and explain its symbols, traditions, and history. Her questions only stopped when she ran out of things for us to explain!

The girls we talked to today, on the other hand, were quite different. One of them also asked many questions, but not about the religion. She didn't really care about our practices or customs of Wicca. Her questions were more along the lines of "how are you going to raise your children?" and "what exactly did you dislike about Judaism?" She wanted to understand us, understand what had motivated our decision and fit it into her picture of us as people.

And the third girl, while she seemed fascinated, asked nothing. We made sure she wasn't feeling uncomfortable and assured her she could ask us anything she wanted, but she just smiled. "I'm happy to listen" she said. And she did listen, while we explained the basics and answered the questions of her friend, but she felt no compulsion to ask anything herself.

Thinking about it now, these different reactions tell me a lot about my friends. I didn't expect them to react how they did, and now I know better. I knew that coming out of the broom closet would mean sharing something about myself, but turns out I learned about my friends as well!





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