162 lines
8.8 KiB
Plaintext
162 lines
8.8 KiB
Plaintext
SYSOP'S NOTE: This excellent food-for-thought was downloaded from
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EarthRite BBS, 415-651-9496. - Talespinner, Sysop WeirdBase
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LOOKING AT YOURSELF
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Before you go a step further, take a good long look at your desires,
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motivation and skills. What role do you see yourself playing in this
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new group? "Ordinary" member? Democratic facilitator? High
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Priestess? And if the last -- why do you want the job?
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The title of High Priestess and Priestess are seductive, conjuring up
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exotic images of yourself in embroidered robes, a silver crescent (or
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horned helm) on your brow, adoring celebrants hanging on every word
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which drops from your lips...
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Reality check. The robes will be stained with wine and candle wax
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soon enough, and not every word you speak is worth remembering. A
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coven leader's job is mostly hard work between rituals and behind the
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scene. It is not always a good place to act out your fantasies,
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because the lives and well-being of others are involved, and what is
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flattering or enjoyable to you man not be in their best interest. So
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consider carefully.
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If your prime motive is establishing a coven is to gain status and ego
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gratification, other people will quickly sense that. If they are
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intelligent, independent individuals, they will refuse to play Adoring
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Disciple to your Witch Queen impressions. They will disappear, and
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that vanishing act will be the last magick they do with you.
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And if you do attract a group ready to be subservient Spear Carriers
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in your fantasy drama -- well, do you really want to associate with
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that kind of personality? What are you going to do when you want
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someone strong around to help you or teach you, and next New Moon you
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look out upon a handful of Henry Milquetoasts and Frieda Handmaidens?
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If a person is willing to serve you, the they will also become
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dependent on you, drain your energy, and become disillusioned if you
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ever let down the Infallible Witch Queen mask for even a moment.
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Some other not-so-great reasons for starting a coven: a) because it
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seems glamorous, exotic, and a little wicked; b) because it will shock
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your mother, or c) because you can endure your boring, flunkie job
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more easily if you get to go home and play Witch at night.
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Some better reasons for setting up a coven, and even nomination
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yourself as High Priest/ess, include: a) you feel that you will be
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performing a useful job for yourself and others; b) you have enjoyed
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leadership roles in the past, and proven yourself capable; or c) you
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look forward to learning and growing in the role.
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Even with the best motives in the world, you will still need to have
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-- or quickly develop -- a whole range of skills in order to handle a
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leadership role. If you are to be a facilitator of a study group,
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group process insights and skills are important. These include:
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1) Gatekeeping, or guiding discussion in such a way that everyony
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has an opportunity to express ideas and opinions;
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2) Summarizing and clarifying;
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3) Conflict resolution, or helping participants understand points
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of disagreement and find potential solutions which respect
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everyone's interests;
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4) Moving the discussion toward consensus, or at any rate
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decision, by identifying diversions and refocussing attention
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on goals and priorities; and
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5) Achieving closure smoothly when the essential work is
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compleated, or an appropriate stopping place is reached.
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In addition to group process skills, four other competencies necessary
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to the functioning of a coven are: ritual leadership, administration,
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teaching, and counseling. In a study group the last one may not be
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considered a necessary function, and the other three may be shared
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among all participants. But in a coven the leaders are expected to be
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fairly capable in all these areas, even if responsibilities are
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frequently shared or delegated. Let us look briefly at each.
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Ritual leadership involves much more that reading invocations by
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candlelight. Leaders must understand the powers they intend to
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manipulate: how they are raised, channeled and grounded. They must be
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adept at designing rituals which involve all the sensory modes. They
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should have a repertoire of songs and chants, dances and gestures or
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mudras, incense and oils, invocations and spells, visual effects and
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symbols, meditations and postures; and the skill to combine these in a
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powerful, focused pattern. They must have clarity of purpose and firm
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ethics. And they must understand timing: both where a given ritual
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fits in the cycles of the Moon, the Wheel of the Year, and the dance
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of the spheres, and how to pace the ritual once started, so that
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energy peaks and is channeled at the perfect moment. And they must
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understand the Laws of Magick, and the correspondences, and when
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ritual is appropriate and when it is not.
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By administration, we refer to basic management practices necessary to
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any organization. These include apportioning work fairly, and
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following up on its progress; locating resources and obtaining them
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(information, money, supplies); fostering communications (by
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telephone, printed schedules, newsletters etc.); and keeping records
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(minutes, accounts, Witch Book entries, or ritual logbook). Someone
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or several someones has to collect the dues if any, buy the candles,
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chill the wine, and so forth.
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Teaching is crucial to both covens and study groups. If only one
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person has any formal training or experience in magick, s/he should
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transmit that knowledge in a way which respects the intuitions,
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re-emerging past life skills, and creativity of the others. If
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several participants have some knowledge in differing areas, they can
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all share the teaching role. If no one in the group has training and
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you are uncertain where to begin, they you may need to call on outside
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resources: informed and ethical priest/esses who can act as visiting
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faculity, or who are willing to offer guidance by telephone or
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correspondence. Much canbe gleaned from books, or course -- assuming
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you know which books are trustworthy and at the appropriate level --
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but there is no substitute for personal instruction for some things.
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Magick can be harmful if misused, and an experienced practitioner can
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help you avoid pitfalls as well as offering hints and techniques not
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found in the literature.
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Counseling is a special role of the High Priest/ess. It is assumed
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that all members of a coven share concern for each other's physical,
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mental, emotional and spiritual welfare, and are willing to help each
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other out in practical ways. However, coven leaders are expected to
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have a special ability to help coverners explore the roots of teir
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personal problems and choose strategies and tactics to overcome them.
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This is not to suggest that one must be a trained psychoanalyst; but
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at the least, good listening skills, clear thinking and some insight
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into human nature are helpful. Often, magickal skills such as guided
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visualization, Tarot counseling and radiesthesia (pendulum work) are
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valuable tools as well.
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Think carefully about your skills in these areas, as you have
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demonstrated them in other organizations. Ask acquaintances or
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co-workers, who can be trusted to give you a candid opinion, how they
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see you in some of these roles. Meditate, and decide what you really
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want for yourself in organizing the new group. Will you be content
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with being a catalyst and contact person -- simply bringing people
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with a common interest together, then letting the group guide its
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destiny from that point on? Would you rather be a facilitatir, either
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for the first fonths or permanently: a low- kdy discussion leader who
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enables the group to move forward with a minimum of misunderstanding
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and wasted energy? Or do you really want to be High Priestess --
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whatever that means to you -- and serve as the guiding spirit and
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acknowledged leader of a coven? And if you do want that job, exactly
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how much authority and work do you envision as part of it? Some coven
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leaders want a great deal of power and control; others simply take an
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extra share of responsibility for setting up the rituals (whether or
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not they actually conduct the rites), and act as "magickal advisor" to
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less experienced members. Thus the High Priest/ess can be the center
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around which the life of the coven revolves, or primarily an honorary
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title, or anything in between.
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That is one area which you will need to have crystal-clear in your own
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mind before the first meeting (of if you are flexible, at least be
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very clear that you are). You must also be clear as to your personal
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needs on other points: program emphasis, size, meeting schedule,
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finances, degree of secrecy, and affiliation with a tradition or
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network. You owe it to prospective members and to yourself to make
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your minimum requirements known from the outset: it can be disastrous
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to a group to discover that members have major disagreements on these
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points after you have been meeting for six months.
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