Archive for November, 2008

So there is a chance you live in an area where there are not a lot of experienced pagans or witches. If you do, it is mostly likely that any Elders in your area are also busy doing their own thing. They probably do not have the time, energy, money etc to teach a class once a week or take on students or host open Circles as much as you wish they would.

So where does that leave us? Are we to sit on our hands and do nothing because we lack some bigwig to teach us? A lot of people seem to think so.  A lot of people panic and feel they will never get beyond “Wicca 101 from some book” because they lack an Elder to teach them. A lot of people get very upset if anyone other than a clear-cut Elder (whatever the heck that is) starts teaching, leading organizing … anything.

We have become complacent in our wonderful western society. We have come to rely very heavily on the “qualified” to the point that even when our instincts are screaming “WRONG!” we do what some doctor, priest, contractor (etc) says is “right” without question. And sometimes with dire consequences. Yes, we do need those experts, but we need to use our own brains too.

Folks, do you really think that most of the witches back in the old days (especially post Jesus) had an Elder available to teach them? Maybe, just maybe, if they were lucky they had an older family member or a stodgy old sage, or something (laughs), to pass on what they knew. We all know that every tradition, every practice has to start somewhere as well.

There is far too strong a tradition, a remembrance, in our culture of The Witch Alone, the Outcast Witch, for this to not have been fairly common in the old days. Many children’s stories and folktales include such a character, right up into our modern day. You will even encounter such witches whilst playing a fantasy game on Xbox! Even people who know nothing of history, folklore or witchcraft have some understanding or awareness of the Witch Who Lives at the Edge of Town. Ask any eight-year-old what is a hedgewitch and chances are they will start regaling you with the tale of some hero who met a witch who helped him in quest to save the princess. Interesting isn’t it?

The fact is folks most of witchcraft, even if you are in a Coven filled with Elders, is a path of self discovery. It is a search for inner Truth. And it is a path that many have walked alone before. We can too. We need to learn to learn for ourselves, and to stop relying on some “qualified expert” to tell us what to do, think and feel all the time. We need to get over our frozen fear of not having that teacher to guide us, because we simply won’t always have that opportunity. When you got it, take it, but if not, what do you do?

We need to pick up that machete and bravely start hacking our way trough the path of witchcraft ourselves. Using our hearts, instincts, and especially our minds.

When we encounter another witch hacking her way along by herself, we really need to stop attacking her and just concentrate our own footing. After all, is she really out to get you? I think she is too worried about making her way through the mess eh?

If we should come across a witch being led partway by a slightly more experienced witch, who is NOT an Elder, let us not throw stones at them, please. Consider it good practice for both of them, and practice makes better and helps us grow *wink*

When we see a couple or small group of newbies, or in-betweeners (between Newbie and Elder) walking together, helping each other, learning together and from each other, let us not shout at them that they aren’t a real Coven or any such thing.

If you are a group, family, Coven etc and you encounter other witches making their way along, alone or together, remember it is really quite rude to shout things that really, when you get down to it, are the same as “We are better than you are!” and “Nah nah we have an Elder and you don’t!”. This is childish.

It really isn’t any of anyone’s business. Concentrate on your own footing. Or make a friend and help each other out.

Cheers!

Rise up my brothers and sisters
Feed the rich to our hungry children
Redistribute their gluttonous wealth
Tear down and recycle their ridiculous homes
And give their property back to the Earth

And the sustainable shall inherit the earth
The wasteful will burn in the fires of their own industry
With naught to breathe but toxic fumes
Naught to drink but poisoned sludge
And naught to eat but the ashes of once mighty trees

Back by popular demand, some online and downloadable reading material:

Nature Religion and the Modern World

Dreamers and Doers: I can’t breathe your imaginary tees

Walking the Hedge – A Hedge Witch’s Musings on Permaculture

Meadowsweet’s Red Chaplet

and some listening material as well:

Interview With Robin Artisson (by Peter Paddon)

Rescuer

I will take in the unwanted

I will clean the filthy

I will feed the starving

I will love the unloved

I will heal the wounds

I will mend the broken hearts

I will make their pain my own

I will sooth their fears

I will fight to regain trust that has been lost

I will be a custodian of second chances

I will harden my heart to the cruelty of mankind

I will sleep on the concrete floor of a kennel

I will weep for them

I will be brave for them

I will hold my hands steady

I will smile for them

I will rage at what was done

I will bear their burdens

I will be an example of strength

I will be pack leader

I will hold their lives in my gentle hands

I will renew

I will find them loving homes

And if what was done will take their life

I will hold them as they breathe their dying breath

I will lay them to rest

I will pray for their souls

And I will mourn each one

Because there is no one else for them

Juniper, Summer 2008