{"id":646,"date":"2010-07-29T12:49:26","date_gmt":"2010-07-29T12:49:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/apagansblog\/2010\/07\/wicca-101-from-class-to-coven.html"},"modified":"2010-07-29T12:49:26","modified_gmt":"2010-07-29T12:49:26","slug":"wicca-101-from-class-to-coven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apagansblog\/2010\/07\/wicca-101-from-class-to-coven.html","title":{"rendered":"Wicca 101: From Class to Coven"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Not quite a year ago I decided to offer a Wicca 101 class<\/a>  <\/span>here in Sonoma County.  <\/span>Its focus was “generic British
\nTraditional Wicca.”  <\/span>Not Gardnerian
\nor any other particular British tradition, but one in harmony with their basic
\napproaches. For me, the test of a tradition is:  <\/span>Do the Gods come?  <\/span>This link gives you an outline<\/a> of what our class covered. <\/p>\n

Beginning at Mabon, we met for almost a year, and my students
\ngot ever better at what they were learning.  <\/span>Some sections we covered in a week, some, particularly the
\nmore experiential that occurred later, took many weeks to do well.  <\/span>When the class ended many wanted to
\ncontinue as a coven.  <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

Some older Pagans in our community were also interested in
\nforming a working coven.  <\/span>They had
\nbeen solitaries for some years, and missed the energy of good circles, although
\nthey were wary of the internal politics that is the bane of many groups.  <\/span>Being older, they’d endured these
\nproblems, and did not want to return to them.<\/p>\n

I arranged a meeting between both, enabling them to get to
\nknow one another and see if the interpersonal energy “jelled.”  <\/span>We ranged in age from the 20s to the
\n70s, but that did not seem to bother anyone.  <\/span>Our gathering was a lot of fun, and we decided to do a
\ngenuine Full Moon ritual this month.<\/p>\n

Last week we did, and it was wonderful.<\/p>\n

We are also trying something not the norm in BTW
\ntraditions.  <\/span>Because so many are
\npractitioners of long standing, and because my students are so good at what
\nthey do, we are creating a far more explicit consensual framework than is
\nusually the case.  <\/span>No permanent
\nhigh priestess or high Priest, with that role being open to anyone the group
\nrecognizes as qualified on a flexile basis.  <\/span><\/p>\n

For those of you out there who are able to teach such a
\ncourse and wishing you had a group to work with – here is a wonderful way to
\nmaybe get there.  <\/span>Offer a basic
\nintroduction within your own tradition, if not oath bound, or an “outer court”
\nif there are elements you are not at liberty to divulge to non-initiates.  <\/span>You will learn a lot simply by teaching
\nothers, and after it is over you may have come together enough to try your
\nhands at a real coven.  <\/span>If not, a
\nnumber of people will have learned a lot about Wicca – or whatever tradition
\nyou practice.<\/p>\n

I am now trying to decide whether I have the time and energy
\nto offer another “101” course this fall, for I am planning a long fall trip but
\nwant to begin either before Samhain or after Yule.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not quite a year ago I decided to offer a Wicca 101 class  here in Sonoma County.  Its focus was “generic British Traditional Wicca.”  Not Gardnerian or any other particular British tradition, but one in harmony with their basic approaches. 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