I know my last few posts have been more centered around what we see missing from some of our fellow teachers and practitioners. It does occur to me that you have a right to know what we expect from our potential students and what you can expect from us.
While our first handout has several pages dedicated to practical rules of engagement it really boils down to we expect you to be courteous, friendly, and accountable for your actions. We will provide you the same.
Wicca is a mystery tradition that is a combination of magic, mysticism through ritual and ceremony, and spirituality. It is a tradition of experience. It is a process of learning how to actively change your consciousness. As much as we have very serious discussions about moral development and ethics the reality is magic is very individually focused. You and you alone are responsible for your magic both what you put into it and what you get out of it or as a fellow high priest reminded me recently: no man (or woman) escapes his own wyrd/destiny...
So what can you expect from me as a teacher and high priestess? The same. As a fellow seeker, I will listen to your questions and concerns and share my knowledge or how I would go about getting answers. I will respect your privacy and keep confidential information confidential. I will do my best to have good boundaries physically and emotionally with you. If you are not comfortable with something I am doing or teaching, I expect you to challenge me in a respectful manner so we can have a discussion about it and learn from each other.
One of the larger issues that I personally strive for is to make sure that every participant in each ritual understands the process that is going on. I don't believe in using secret words in public ritual. I was at a very badly run public ritual where the hp began calling the directions in their own secret code. I don't care if you are a published writer, you can't expect everyone at the ritual to have read your book. You need to treat a public ritual as neutral territory and assume your participants don't know anything. I have been at multiple rituals in other traditions (Wiccan and otherwise) where a different language was used and translations were made available or explanations were made as to what was happening. For example, when I have been at Ifa ceremonies much of it is said in Yoruba but English translations are provided before, during, or afterward. When I have been in Tibetan Buddhist ceremonies the ceremony is typed and said in Tibetan and in English and sometimes in Sanskrit depending on the ceremony. I have also been to Catholic masses that have been said in Latin, Spanish and English and sometimes German depending on the community. Don't make things more confusing for folks than they have to be. Keep the language clear.
The other issue that I have and strive to make sure doesn't happen with our group is that if you are doing a group ritual that is aimed at uncovering deeper emotional issues (hidden fears, denial being broken off etc) make sure you are providing some sort of process afterwards for aftercare or a safe place to discuss whatever was brought up. Again, we are a mystery tradition that is focused on personal transformation. Don't call up energy and issues that you aren't willing to help sort out and calm back down again. Again, I do place an expectation that if a student or participant is not okay with what is going on, that they speak up and get clarification. I would rather stop a ritual process to explain something than potentially harm someone emotionally.
Some of this should be common sense but it isn't always practiced. This does lead to another concern I would like to leave people with. Teachers of spiritual traditions or otherwise are human. We all have good and bad days. We all have times were our consistency fails for a variety of reasons. We all come from a variety of background experiences that when shared, should make us stronger as a community. Remember to have patience. With that, I am outta here for the night. Time to enjoy the beautiful rain we are finally having.
Blessed Be!
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