Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Hanging Out At The Bar
Funny thing life is; one minute you are at a bar feeling like the world is just too much to deal with and the next minute you are tapped into the collective energy of that bar with a shit eating grin on your face. Confused? Good, cause I most certainly was last night. But, I have a theory....
Yesterday was an entirely shitastic day at work filled with a steady stream of people thinking that their inability to be responsible gets them special privileges. I had been yelled at, insulted, and lastly pleaded with in an endless pursuit of something for nothing. The exhaustion of trying to use logic and reason to solve issues within my 9 to 5 had reached a point of utter futility that the only escape was the bar and its karaoke within. I made all haste...who the hell says make haste? Anyway....
I settled in with a beer and a song and slowly the world started to begin normalizing. As things slowed down, I started to think about my day and all the stressors within it. Honestly, it drives me absolutely nuts that I am working where I am dealing with all the whining bullshit people put out in a world that has absolutely zero responsibility. I normally have to sing out the rage of my day before I can start to calm down, but I started thinking that I couldn’t be the only person who deals with issues like this. There’s no way. This got me thinking about the people in the bar with me.
Most of them were a young lot; their early twenties and eager for a good time. Looking around it dawned on me that most the people if not all of them also had shitty jobs like me, but they were all wrapped up in the moment. They weren’t thinking about what drama tomorrow would bring, rather they were thinking about the pleasures of the right now. This actually intrigued me.
Not because I’m into mindless hedonism…all of the time. But rather it was their living in the moment, focusing on the positive (i.e. pleasure of the moment) rather than their particular situation. Granted to live this way would lead oneself into the poorhouse and a Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, it did show me that it is truly important to try and remember the small things in life that bring pleasure in the confines of your daily struggles.
Let me be clear, I’m not saying that you need to get smashed in order to deal with your issues and problems. What I am saying though is that you have to spend an equal amount of time dealing with your problems in this life as you do on feeling good. If you spend nothing but time and energy on how to get a better handle on the hurdles that life throws at you, all you will do is spend time handling hurdles. Take a minute to just chill and remember that while everything maybe falling apart and exploding into thousands of little pieces you are still breathing and able to affect a positive change in your life.
This is the hardest lesson for me to learn. For me, it has become almost second nature to see the surprise around the corner or the trap that is ready to spring forth. It is becoming a personal challenge for me to become better at letting shit go. I know I have a long way to go, but I think that I can do this. Either way, it will be a challenge and I don’t like loosing.
Merry Meet
Merry Part
And Merry Meet Again
Blessed Be!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Transition
tran•si•tion [tran-zish-uhn, -sish-] noun
Movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, etc., to another; change: the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
The current theme in my life seems to be transition. Honestly, there really isn’t anything wrong with that; it’s actually pretty exciting. I have just moved from being the Guardian of the Coven to its Priest, which I feel is a giant move for me. It has been the culmination of a journey that at one time almost came to grinding halt.
Around three years ago, I was “promoted” to Priest because of the need for a larger leadership base for our growing Coven. At that time in particular we had ten people and it was becoming a bit too much for my wife to handle by herself. She asked for me to step up and serve as the Coven Priest. Of course I said yes to the whole venture because I was very interested and vested in making sure that the Coven continued on. It was exactly then that I knew I made a terrible, terrible mistake.
The thing was that our Coven was a very “young” Coven at that time. What I mean by that is that a majority of our membership had either just began their Paths or had only taken a few steps ahead on that path. This included me as well; I had been a practicing Pagan for exactly five minutes longer than the others in Coven and now I was suppose to be their insight for Paganism. This of course made me feel insanely secure about myself and this “giant” repertoire of knowledge that I had apparently learned via osmosis. Over night of course….
In this role as Priest, the first time around that is, I was a spectacular disaster. It was that train wreck that you know you have always wanted to see: freight train verses clown car. I mean, I’ve always wanted to see that shit. Look, I know that it’s morbid, but come on...it’s a clown car. They will need the Jaws of Life to cut everyone apart the way they get packed in there....
I sense I may have lost my track here. Anyway....
As a new Priest I was able to do the worse thing that one could do in that position – fake my way through everything! Yep! I had a bullshit answer for everything and I was just vague enough that people thought I was actually dispensing advice and guidance. In reality all I was doing was buying time to figure out what the hell I was suppose to do as well as some breathing room. It was not enough to actually do anything but frustrate myself and those that I suppose to be serving.
It all really came to a head when one night I had three different people come to me for help and advice. They weren’t asking anything that was too difficult or impossible for me to deal with. It was just like something within me just snapped like a twig and I couldn’t take the pressure any more. The next thing I knew I was flying off the handle yelling and screaming at these poor people about how I’m stressed to and my life sucked to....it wasn’t pretty.
I didn’t mean to explode like that, I just couldn’t take the job anymore. I didn’t know what I was doing and I felt that someone would figure that out sooner than later. Fortunately there was someone in the wings who could step up and take the reigns from me with very little transition. Kyotee became the Priest, Rhiannon was the Priestess and I took the Guardian.
This was a job I could do. A job that I felt confident in: keep the boogies away from the Coven and teach people how to defend themselves. Yep, this was where I was called! I was the Guardian for the Coven for over three years. In that time, I have seen and dealt with shit that will turn you white! I was (and still am) very good at what I did. There wasn’t a supernatural force on the planet that I don’t have the stones to go toe to toe with on any given day, but I felt like something was missing. (I promise war stories about things I did while as a Guardian to follow soon)
I looked at my failure as the Priest as an area to improve on, because I knew that one day I would want to have that role again. But before I could transition back to that role, I knew that I needed to work on some things. The first thing that I needed was knowledge, cause I had virtually none.
I started reading everything on Wicca that I could get my hands on. From the really good stuff to the really, really, really bad stuff. I just ate it all up as fast as I could. Once I had my fill of Wicca, I moved on top Paganism in general. Then Mythology. Then Astrology. Divination. Ritual design. Path working. You get the ideal. The point is, while I was looking as this as filling a deficiency in my ability to serve others I should have been looking at it as an opportunity to fill up my knowledge base. About half way through my studies, I realized that all this study should have been meant for my own Path and since then my studies have become more focused. Don’t get me wrong there are things that I will read that I have no interest in and I am reading it simply so I can have a understanding over a particular subject. A majority of my focus is spent on my own study, and this focus has helped me define my Path and where it’s direction would take me.
The other thing that I did was I learned how to listen. This is actually harder than it sounds. When you are learning how to listen to anything, the first lesson that you need to learn is how to shut the fuck up. Mind you, not just your voice but everything. You need to silence your mind both in the rational and the emotional and take everything in without bias. Consider all the possibilities and then wait for the ability to provide the feedback that you have formulated.
This is not an easy task. Your first reaction will be to blurt out the first good ideal that comes to mind. Or even verbally vomit just how stupid it is what you are hearing (I’m guilty of this one...a lot!). The level of control that you have to exert over your instincts is very intense, but with practice this control comes with ease. You find that you are calm and receptive. Also, you find that you are remembering a lot more detail when people are talking to you.
The last thing that I needed to learn was how to relax when everything is falling down around me in a violent explosive mess. Kyotee taught me how to do a lot of this. At times, I think that he would purposely arrange some event of personal explosive pooh-pooh just to watch and see what I would do. I of course know that this is bullshit, but coming from someone named Kyotee....
So, here I am again. Priest. A bit wiser. A bit more prepared, but definitely ready to get this right. I am confident.
Merry Meet
Merry Part
And Merry Meet Again
Blessed Be!
Movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, etc., to another; change: the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
The current theme in my life seems to be transition. Honestly, there really isn’t anything wrong with that; it’s actually pretty exciting. I have just moved from being the Guardian of the Coven to its Priest, which I feel is a giant move for me. It has been the culmination of a journey that at one time almost came to grinding halt.
Around three years ago, I was “promoted” to Priest because of the need for a larger leadership base for our growing Coven. At that time in particular we had ten people and it was becoming a bit too much for my wife to handle by herself. She asked for me to step up and serve as the Coven Priest. Of course I said yes to the whole venture because I was very interested and vested in making sure that the Coven continued on. It was exactly then that I knew I made a terrible, terrible mistake.
The thing was that our Coven was a very “young” Coven at that time. What I mean by that is that a majority of our membership had either just began their Paths or had only taken a few steps ahead on that path. This included me as well; I had been a practicing Pagan for exactly five minutes longer than the others in Coven and now I was suppose to be their insight for Paganism. This of course made me feel insanely secure about myself and this “giant” repertoire of knowledge that I had apparently learned via osmosis. Over night of course….
In this role as Priest, the first time around that is, I was a spectacular disaster. It was that train wreck that you know you have always wanted to see: freight train verses clown car. I mean, I’ve always wanted to see that shit. Look, I know that it’s morbid, but come on...it’s a clown car. They will need the Jaws of Life to cut everyone apart the way they get packed in there....
I sense I may have lost my track here. Anyway....
As a new Priest I was able to do the worse thing that one could do in that position – fake my way through everything! Yep! I had a bullshit answer for everything and I was just vague enough that people thought I was actually dispensing advice and guidance. In reality all I was doing was buying time to figure out what the hell I was suppose to do as well as some breathing room. It was not enough to actually do anything but frustrate myself and those that I suppose to be serving.
It all really came to a head when one night I had three different people come to me for help and advice. They weren’t asking anything that was too difficult or impossible for me to deal with. It was just like something within me just snapped like a twig and I couldn’t take the pressure any more. The next thing I knew I was flying off the handle yelling and screaming at these poor people about how I’m stressed to and my life sucked to....it wasn’t pretty.
I didn’t mean to explode like that, I just couldn’t take the job anymore. I didn’t know what I was doing and I felt that someone would figure that out sooner than later. Fortunately there was someone in the wings who could step up and take the reigns from me with very little transition. Kyotee became the Priest, Rhiannon was the Priestess and I took the Guardian.
This was a job I could do. A job that I felt confident in: keep the boogies away from the Coven and teach people how to defend themselves. Yep, this was where I was called! I was the Guardian for the Coven for over three years. In that time, I have seen and dealt with shit that will turn you white! I was (and still am) very good at what I did. There wasn’t a supernatural force on the planet that I don’t have the stones to go toe to toe with on any given day, but I felt like something was missing. (I promise war stories about things I did while as a Guardian to follow soon)
I looked at my failure as the Priest as an area to improve on, because I knew that one day I would want to have that role again. But before I could transition back to that role, I knew that I needed to work on some things. The first thing that I needed was knowledge, cause I had virtually none.
I started reading everything on Wicca that I could get my hands on. From the really good stuff to the really, really, really bad stuff. I just ate it all up as fast as I could. Once I had my fill of Wicca, I moved on top Paganism in general. Then Mythology. Then Astrology. Divination. Ritual design. Path working. You get the ideal. The point is, while I was looking as this as filling a deficiency in my ability to serve others I should have been looking at it as an opportunity to fill up my knowledge base. About half way through my studies, I realized that all this study should have been meant for my own Path and since then my studies have become more focused. Don’t get me wrong there are things that I will read that I have no interest in and I am reading it simply so I can have a understanding over a particular subject. A majority of my focus is spent on my own study, and this focus has helped me define my Path and where it’s direction would take me.
The other thing that I did was I learned how to listen. This is actually harder than it sounds. When you are learning how to listen to anything, the first lesson that you need to learn is how to shut the fuck up. Mind you, not just your voice but everything. You need to silence your mind both in the rational and the emotional and take everything in without bias. Consider all the possibilities and then wait for the ability to provide the feedback that you have formulated.
This is not an easy task. Your first reaction will be to blurt out the first good ideal that comes to mind. Or even verbally vomit just how stupid it is what you are hearing (I’m guilty of this one...a lot!). The level of control that you have to exert over your instincts is very intense, but with practice this control comes with ease. You find that you are calm and receptive. Also, you find that you are remembering a lot more detail when people are talking to you.
The last thing that I needed to learn was how to relax when everything is falling down around me in a violent explosive mess. Kyotee taught me how to do a lot of this. At times, I think that he would purposely arrange some event of personal explosive pooh-pooh just to watch and see what I would do. I of course know that this is bullshit, but coming from someone named Kyotee....
So, here I am again. Priest. A bit wiser. A bit more prepared, but definitely ready to get this right. I am confident.
Merry Meet
Merry Part
And Merry Meet Again
Blessed Be!
Monday, November 28, 2011
It’s Beginning to Look A Lot like Christmas Sales
Ho…Ho…Ho…
Tis the season to be jolly, as well as bitter, that people don’t get that the holiday season is about idealistic values that we should all strive to achieve everyday and not just once a year. Fa la la la la…la la…la…la.
It must be that time of the year, because all around me I can see cheap plastic displays setup in Malls. And then don’t forget the leaked internet ads for Black Friday, you know cause the spirit of the holiday revolves around the core premise of massive discount retail shopping. People are just missing the point. The point of what this season is about and I don’t mean the shopping bonanza.
This time is about hope. Hope for something better in this world. That humanity can live to higher expectations. That we can all live under the principals of love, truth, justice and community and with these values do what is right for our fellow man, rather than what is convenient for us in the here and now. That it doesn’t really matter what you call this time of the year; whether you call it Yule or Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanza or Ramadan, it is about the spirit of the season, not the savings of the season.
The ideal of giving gifts comes from various different Pagan sources, but the most information comes from the Romans who during the feast of Saturnalia would give small little tokens of appreciation in celebration of their holiday. Soon there after, the gifts became more elaborate as people were able to gift based on their means. When the church took more of a political root it became verboten to give gifts due to the evil pagan witchcraft (you know because giving a gift to someone is from the Devil), however, people began to equate gift giving to the acts of the Magi in the Nativity Story.
We are supposed to give gifts as a hallmark of our generosity, not because of some need to stimulate the economy. Hell, we shouldn’t really be even giving gifts to those we know; we, in what is the spirit of the season, should be giving to a complete and total stranger. Not saying that it isn’t ok to show love and appreciation for those who are close to you, but isn’t the ideal to show love and appreciation for even the most complete of strangers?
Share with your fellow man! I’m not saying you need to go buy something for every person you meet out in the world, but I am saying that it is apropos to give with the love that should be in your heart. And it doesn’t have to be material possessions either; it could be giving time at an animal shelter helping out or making a donation of canned goods to your local pantry. Or hell, if you have the means, adopting a family who doesn’t have the means to celebrate this joyous season by providing food for them. There is a cold hard truth to the lyric from Everclear’s “I Will Buy You A New Life”; “They have never been poor, they have never known the joy of a welfare Christmas.” Your generosity can make the difference.
Here’s something else to consider as well: when people took to political correctness in order to attempt to appease everyone all of the time, we began to treat the holiday season as just that; the holiday season. No more Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Yule or the like just Season’s Greetings. Or my personal favorite, Happy Holidays; which tends to generate the emotional appeal of dried unbuttered white toast. It was never meant to suck the life out of the holiday, but rather make everyone feel as though their holiday was included and special. To hopefully turn the perception that people were not taking other’s rights to celebrating the Season in their own way. That each and every holiday during the Season is meant to celebrate the diversity of the world and its similarities in the way that we all can attempt to better the world around us in our own unique way. That was the effect at first until the retailers got their claws into it.
I can remember a time in this country when nobody ever used to say “Happy Holidays”. It was “Merry Christmas”. Everyone used to walk down the streets saying it openly to strangers around them. And the thing was, it wasn’t like people were really saying, “Merry Christmas…cause you know all the other holidays are bullshit and anyone who thinks so is fucking moron because nobody really celebrates Rama-ding-along-ling-dad or that Jewish Chewbacca”, they really were saying “Merry Christmas…I mean it…its about giving and love…” Now, everyone says Happy Holidays and what they really mean is “Happy Holidays; now buy your shit and get out.” Walk into any store on Black Friday and you will see some of the most joyous people this side of an Assassins Convention. Not because they are the dregs of society, but because they get to see firsthand what this has degraded into.
The Holiday Season has turned into the I Want season, and we are all responsible for that. We need to remember what the heart of this Season is, and that is it is the season of love and caring for your fellow man. It is more important than that new iPod you want or that new game you want. Take the opportunity to use that energy that is out there in the world and do some good for the world. It is the reason for the season, and I hope that you take some time to reflect on that. While it is good to want things, try not to want them more than the want to heal and care for those around you.
Merry Meet
Merry Part
And Merry Meet Again!
Blessed Be!
Ho…Ho…Ho…
Tis the season to be jolly, as well as bitter, that people don’t get that the holiday season is about idealistic values that we should all strive to achieve everyday and not just once a year. Fa la la la la…la la…la…la.
It must be that time of the year, because all around me I can see cheap plastic displays setup in Malls. And then don’t forget the leaked internet ads for Black Friday, you know cause the spirit of the holiday revolves around the core premise of massive discount retail shopping. People are just missing the point. The point of what this season is about and I don’t mean the shopping bonanza.
This time is about hope. Hope for something better in this world. That humanity can live to higher expectations. That we can all live under the principals of love, truth, justice and community and with these values do what is right for our fellow man, rather than what is convenient for us in the here and now. That it doesn’t really matter what you call this time of the year; whether you call it Yule or Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanza or Ramadan, it is about the spirit of the season, not the savings of the season.
The ideal of giving gifts comes from various different Pagan sources, but the most information comes from the Romans who during the feast of Saturnalia would give small little tokens of appreciation in celebration of their holiday. Soon there after, the gifts became more elaborate as people were able to gift based on their means. When the church took more of a political root it became verboten to give gifts due to the evil pagan witchcraft (you know because giving a gift to someone is from the Devil), however, people began to equate gift giving to the acts of the Magi in the Nativity Story.
We are supposed to give gifts as a hallmark of our generosity, not because of some need to stimulate the economy. Hell, we shouldn’t really be even giving gifts to those we know; we, in what is the spirit of the season, should be giving to a complete and total stranger. Not saying that it isn’t ok to show love and appreciation for those who are close to you, but isn’t the ideal to show love and appreciation for even the most complete of strangers?
Share with your fellow man! I’m not saying you need to go buy something for every person you meet out in the world, but I am saying that it is apropos to give with the love that should be in your heart. And it doesn’t have to be material possessions either; it could be giving time at an animal shelter helping out or making a donation of canned goods to your local pantry. Or hell, if you have the means, adopting a family who doesn’t have the means to celebrate this joyous season by providing food for them. There is a cold hard truth to the lyric from Everclear’s “I Will Buy You A New Life”; “They have never been poor, they have never known the joy of a welfare Christmas.” Your generosity can make the difference.
Here’s something else to consider as well: when people took to political correctness in order to attempt to appease everyone all of the time, we began to treat the holiday season as just that; the holiday season. No more Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Yule or the like just Season’s Greetings. Or my personal favorite, Happy Holidays; which tends to generate the emotional appeal of dried unbuttered white toast. It was never meant to suck the life out of the holiday, but rather make everyone feel as though their holiday was included and special. To hopefully turn the perception that people were not taking other’s rights to celebrating the Season in their own way. That each and every holiday during the Season is meant to celebrate the diversity of the world and its similarities in the way that we all can attempt to better the world around us in our own unique way. That was the effect at first until the retailers got their claws into it.
I can remember a time in this country when nobody ever used to say “Happy Holidays”. It was “Merry Christmas”. Everyone used to walk down the streets saying it openly to strangers around them. And the thing was, it wasn’t like people were really saying, “Merry Christmas…cause you know all the other holidays are bullshit and anyone who thinks so is fucking moron because nobody really celebrates Rama-ding-along-ling-dad or that Jewish Chewbacca”, they really were saying “Merry Christmas…I mean it…its about giving and love…” Now, everyone says Happy Holidays and what they really mean is “Happy Holidays; now buy your shit and get out.” Walk into any store on Black Friday and you will see some of the most joyous people this side of an Assassins Convention. Not because they are the dregs of society, but because they get to see firsthand what this has degraded into.
The Holiday Season has turned into the I Want season, and we are all responsible for that. We need to remember what the heart of this Season is, and that is it is the season of love and caring for your fellow man. It is more important than that new iPod you want or that new game you want. Take the opportunity to use that energy that is out there in the world and do some good for the world. It is the reason for the season, and I hope that you take some time to reflect on that. While it is good to want things, try not to want them more than the want to heal and care for those around you.
Merry Meet
Merry Part
And Merry Meet Again!
Blessed Be!
Friday, November 25, 2011
Hello...cyberspace...it's me. It's been awhile
Hello…cyberspace….it’s me. It’s been awhile. How are you? I’m not too bad, thanks for asking. Where have I been? Well, it’s kind of a long story; do you have the time? Oh good, I love story time too…let me get my wooby.
….I mean, hi! Sorry I haven’t been on here, in like a year. That’s my bad, truly is. However, I have a really good excuse for it. I have been really busy, and not that I’m dodging bill collectors and crazy ex-girlfriends busy but truly busy. For starters, the Coven in which I am the Priest for now has almost forty members. That’s no longer a coven, it’s a freaking movement, and no not in that Glen Beck really scary Christian fundamentalism meets political neoliberalism kind of a way, but rather in the true beginnings of a large nexus of community and hearth among the Pagans in Chicago. It is a lot for me to sink my teeth into sometimes and sometimes I wish I could just take them all and put them in a sack like a bunch of kittens and throw them in the river, but this time has been some of the best and busiest time for me as a Pagan, Warrior, Priest and Leader. (I was totally kidding about the kitten in the river thing, only a heartless bastard would waste perfectly good Chinese food like that.)
As a Pagan, this growth has pushed me farther along on my path than I could have ever done on my lonesome. I have learned all sorts of new and exciting things that I was able to be exposed to because of the amount of people that I now share Circle with. I have been taught some of the most painful lessons, deepest understandings, and largest euphonies that I have ever taken part of and frankly it is because of those people who stand in Keepers with me. Now, this isn’t a recruitment statement – because truth be told, we are rapidly running out of space at Witchy Wearable’s. No, this is rather a statement that I hope will inspire Solitary Practicioning Pagans to go out and either find community with other Pagans or to encourage others to do so.
I understand being a Solitary Pagan. Technically, I am a Solitary Wiccan Warrior participating in the Irish Witta tradition and I happen to belong to a Coven of other Solitary Pagans. That’s a mouthful to say. But never the less, if I was to stop going to Coven, my path would go on and everything that I do and believe in would just continue as if I never missed a beat. My Practice would continue because it is mine and no one can define my direct connection to the Universal Divine. How I express it is how I express it and I need no Priest or Priestess to tell me how to connect to the Divine. I would continue to walk along my path as I always have, but it would be a considerably lonely experience.
Oh sure, I would have friends and family that I would continue to associate with. Dropping out of Coven or any other social spiritual experience wouldn’t mean that I would become a hermit. I would continue to be a social butterfly and have positive social growth experiences gaining new friends and associates along the way. The one thing that I know is that I would have a hell of a time progressing along my way all by my lonesome. Having a group of people who share the burden of spiritual growth within you, these people become vested in seeing you move forward. Conversely, you have to be equally vested in their growth – you know equivalent exchange of energy or what not.
There is a symbiotic relationship that forms amongst Covenmates that pushes one another. You begin to find that people you are practicing with become more resourceful than any Scott Cunningham or Raven Silverwolf introduction to Wicca book ever could be. This is because people that you come to work with will have their own unique perspective on everything from Ritual to Lore. Not only that, but the community that you work with will also be there to offer encouragement and advise along the path you walk.
While I’m not saying that a Coven is for every single pagan out there but I will say that community does go a long way to make the path seem less lonely. It gives us the connection that makes us feel not alone and helps encourage us along our path…whatever it is.
….I mean, hi! Sorry I haven’t been on here, in like a year. That’s my bad, truly is. However, I have a really good excuse for it. I have been really busy, and not that I’m dodging bill collectors and crazy ex-girlfriends busy but truly busy. For starters, the Coven in which I am the Priest for now has almost forty members. That’s no longer a coven, it’s a freaking movement, and no not in that Glen Beck really scary Christian fundamentalism meets political neoliberalism kind of a way, but rather in the true beginnings of a large nexus of community and hearth among the Pagans in Chicago. It is a lot for me to sink my teeth into sometimes and sometimes I wish I could just take them all and put them in a sack like a bunch of kittens and throw them in the river, but this time has been some of the best and busiest time for me as a Pagan, Warrior, Priest and Leader. (I was totally kidding about the kitten in the river thing, only a heartless bastard would waste perfectly good Chinese food like that.)
As a Pagan, this growth has pushed me farther along on my path than I could have ever done on my lonesome. I have learned all sorts of new and exciting things that I was able to be exposed to because of the amount of people that I now share Circle with. I have been taught some of the most painful lessons, deepest understandings, and largest euphonies that I have ever taken part of and frankly it is because of those people who stand in Keepers with me. Now, this isn’t a recruitment statement – because truth be told, we are rapidly running out of space at Witchy Wearable’s. No, this is rather a statement that I hope will inspire Solitary Practicioning Pagans to go out and either find community with other Pagans or to encourage others to do so.
I understand being a Solitary Pagan. Technically, I am a Solitary Wiccan Warrior participating in the Irish Witta tradition and I happen to belong to a Coven of other Solitary Pagans. That’s a mouthful to say. But never the less, if I was to stop going to Coven, my path would go on and everything that I do and believe in would just continue as if I never missed a beat. My Practice would continue because it is mine and no one can define my direct connection to the Universal Divine. How I express it is how I express it and I need no Priest or Priestess to tell me how to connect to the Divine. I would continue to walk along my path as I always have, but it would be a considerably lonely experience.
Oh sure, I would have friends and family that I would continue to associate with. Dropping out of Coven or any other social spiritual experience wouldn’t mean that I would become a hermit. I would continue to be a social butterfly and have positive social growth experiences gaining new friends and associates along the way. The one thing that I know is that I would have a hell of a time progressing along my way all by my lonesome. Having a group of people who share the burden of spiritual growth within you, these people become vested in seeing you move forward. Conversely, you have to be equally vested in their growth – you know equivalent exchange of energy or what not.
There is a symbiotic relationship that forms amongst Covenmates that pushes one another. You begin to find that people you are practicing with become more resourceful than any Scott Cunningham or Raven Silverwolf introduction to Wicca book ever could be. This is because people that you come to work with will have their own unique perspective on everything from Ritual to Lore. Not only that, but the community that you work with will also be there to offer encouragement and advise along the path you walk.
While I’m not saying that a Coven is for every single pagan out there but I will say that community does go a long way to make the path seem less lonely. It gives us the connection that makes us feel not alone and helps encourage us along our path…whatever it is.
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