Can Anyone Offer an Explanation for Such Bizarre Behaviour?

Several years ago I attended an open circle here in the city. The group that ran these circles asked that people bring food for the feast after the ritual, and not having much time, I bought a Raspberry-Almond Tart at my local grocery store. It was easy, convenient, and I knew it would be quite delicious.

Also attending this ritual was R_______. I first met R________ seven years ago at a September 11th memorial, and she basically hated me on sight, with her antipathy increasing over time. To be honest, I have no idea why she dislikes me – we’ve never, ever, had a conversation, and I’ve definitely never done anything to harm her, but apparently she cannot stand the fact that I exist.

During the ritual R________ was her usual self, glowering at me from across the circle, muttering “bitch, bitch, bitch” under her breath whenever I got within 10 feet of her, and whispering things to her companions, after which they proceeded to glare at me too. I put up my protective shields and ignored her as best I could (but two friends who were with me got migraines, they are convinced, from the negative energy she was throwing at me).

After the ceremony the food was brought out and put on the picnic tables, including the tart that I had bought. Please note that it was obvious that I had bought this tart at Dominion – it was still inside a sealed container which said it had been made at Dominion, and anyone would be able to tell that I had no hand in the making of it. While we were all eating, I noticed that R_______ had cut herself a piece of the tart and was in fact eating it with evident enjoyment. A bit later I went back to the table, and she was on the other side of it, cutting herself another piece of tart. As I stood there, I heard her ask the person next to her if she knew who brought the tart – and they told her it was me. R_______ said “Oh!” put down her new slice, and ostentatiously stomped away from the table.

What the hell was that?!?

Obviously she liked the thing, or she wouldn’t have come back for a second slice. Did she think that the tart was contaminated because I had touched the packaging when I selected it at the grocery store and transported it to the park? I didn’t spit in it, and I didn't poison it – I ate a piece myself! I didn’t really care whether she ate more of the tart or not, but this incident and others like it does bother me.

The fact that she has an irrational dislike of me I can deal with – she’s misinformed about me or something, and unwilling to get to know me. Fine. She’s not the first person to dislike me, and I’m certain that she won’t be the last. What bothers me though is that her attitude towards me affects other people.

Although we very rarely come face to face anymore, when we do, she is always surrounded by her friends – every one of them glaring at me as if I was a Rastafarian who had invaded a KKK picnic. More often than not, I don’t know ANY of these people – not their names, their faces, and certainly nothing about them. What do they think they know about me?

The group that used to run these open circles was at one time very welcoming when I attended their rituals, but then R_______ became good friends with some of the people in the group, and everything changed. The last open circle they held, no one from the group even spoke to me, and they all kept shooting me frightened looks out of the corners of their eyes. At one stage I wanted to ask a question of the High Priestess, and when they saw me approaching the group scattered as if I was about to attack them. I never did get to talk to anyone, because they were obviously avoiding me.

A while ago I attended a Moot here in the city, and so did R_______ and one of her friends from this group. Even though a year and a half had passed since seeing one another, nothing had changed. I was glared at all night by R________, heard her nasty muttered remarks about my imagined personality flaws, and T_________ (who is about a foot taller than me, and probably weighs three times as much as I do) kept looking at me as if I was about to pull the pin on a hand grenade and stuff it down his pants. I have nothing against T_______, and he has no reason whatsoever to be afraid of me.

But what on earth has R________ been saying about me?

I can’t ask directly, because any one of her friends will deny their behaviour and then report directly to R_______ - and I don’t want to give her that satisfaction - but I am very curious.

What I can’t get over though is why she refused to eat the tart after finding out that I brought it. How screwy is that?