When I came to ADF, I came at the behest of a group of eclectic pagan friends who would roll their eyes at my constant theological and cosmological questions, and who ultimately suggested that I would be happier with "those Druids" because Druids think about such things.

I came to ADF dragging behind me 30 years of Christian ministry. I immediately resonated with the people and loved the liturgy, but polytheism was so very foreign to me, and I didn't enjoy the mythology very much. Add to that my natural resistance to going from being on the cutting edge of the then current wave of Christian theology known as "cosmic spirituality," and suddenly finding myself a neophyte.

I brought this baggage to the Dedicant Program. I didn't resist it, but I wasn't really sure how valuable it would be. I kind of thought of it as a stepping stone to be "gotten through" so I could get on with what I was really interested in—the clergy study program.

By the time I completed all the documentation nine months later, I was astounded at the change the Dedicant Program had wrought in me. I no longer felt like a Yawhist who was studying Druidry, I began to feel like a Druid. I remember asking our Senior Druid in the beginning if I would really be a Druid if I believed in One God/Many Aspects rather than being a true polytheist. By the time I finished the DP, it was no longer an issue because I now had patrons, and the concept of polytheism was as natural as monotheism had seemed before.

The dedicant's journey was truly an adventure, not only anp unforgettable one, but one that opened up whole new worlds and paradigms for me. From my first foray into Berresford Ellis's The Druids to the last pen stroke of my patron rite, I was immersed in a whole new world, one that has become my life and my breath.