Training in Wicca in All its Forms

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Comment by Kristin Barton on May 31, 2016 at 8:56pm

So training...what does that mean to folks?  And let me just say that Neo-Paganism is a fine pursuit and can be whatever you desire.  Wicca is specific but Paganism is not.  What sorts of training and education do people seek?

Comment by Kristin Barton on May 30, 2016 at 1:56pm

Many of us witches look younger than we are.  I am 50.  You look great!

Comment by Kristin Barton on May 30, 2016 at 11:13am

I have had the experience of meeting many people in formal Traditions similar to mine.  And maybe my Trad is weird, but there is very little tug of war.  Authority is very clearly defined, and you earn it.  We have, of course, had to disinvite some folks over the years, but all in all, relatively few.  Sorry if I'm talking your ear off (metaphorically).  I am older as well, and have Fibromyalgia, but not yet "elderly."  I do get not wanting to travel, though.  I am slowing down. 

Comment by Kristin Barton on May 30, 2016 at 10:10am

I'm really fascinated by your experience.  Honestly.  Do you ever go to fests?  I teach at Paganicon and every few years I get to Free Spirit Gathering.  I would love to talk in person some time.

Comment by Kristin Barton on May 30, 2016 at 10:05am

Here is the Trad of the coven I lead:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Star_Wicca

Here is my coven:

http://spiraltorcoven.webs.com

Comment by Kristin Barton on May 30, 2016 at 7:53am

Pagan Priestess,  I respect that your experience is vast, but running a Traditional coven is very, very different from what you did.  I work about 20 hours a week for my coven and Traditional Wicca is VERY SOLID, not "make it up."  It means formal teaching, not "substitute what you want."  It means that I possess an entire Tradition, thousands and thousands of words memorized.  It means that our students write hundreds and hundreds of papers, the SAME papers, and I oversee the teachers who teach them.  It means that I am administrative oversight person of a real church.  Not a group that gets together to do stuff together, but a legal church.  I get legal credentials for my initiates, sit on boards of directors of various legally created non-profit Pagan organizations, and act as regional director in many different capacities for an international Tradition of Wicca.  

I am NOT saying this because I am thinking that my experience is BETTER than yours.  Your experience sounds FASCINATING and I'd love to hear more about it.  I am certain you learned MUCH.  But it does need to be understood that in Traditional terms, what you had is NOT a coven.  A coven is a chartered, legally created congregation in an EXISTING, FORMALLY recognized Tradition with solid parameters.  

These are things that our coven leaders do:  

Hold legal weddings 

Create and administer legally recognized pre-marital counseling curriculae

Offer spiritual counseling and bereavement counseling

Hold funerals in funeral parlors and elsewhere

Teach things like Crisis Intervention for Pagan Clergy

Teach at national and international Pagan Festivals

So again, please understand, I'm not insulting your experience nor your group, but when I say "coven," that has a very specific meaning in Traditional Wicca and the group you describe would not be a coven of that sort.  

I will also say that I find it interesting that there is a very firm cross-over between the kink community and Paganism, but the kink community members who are Traditional Wiccan would NEVER combine coven activities with kink activities.  

Comment by Kristin Barton on May 29, 2016 at 7:13pm

Oh, I'm not planning to start a trad.  I am qualified to do so, though.  It's hard enough running a coven.  In Traditional Wicca, a coven is highly organized and takes many hours a week to properly run.  I have 12 students all at different degree levels and we meet for Sabbats and Esbats, outings, gatherings, field trips, elevations, classes, etc.  It's exhausting.  

Comment by Kristin Barton on May 29, 2016 at 2:11pm

I totally didn't mean to sound like a jerk there...sorry.

Comment by Kristin Barton on May 29, 2016 at 1:51pm

Here is my coven:  http://spiraltorcoven.webs.com

Here is one of my websites:  http://realwiccaninfo.com

Comment by Kristin Barton on May 29, 2016 at 1:49pm

Hi.  The reason I don't join yet another Trad is that I'm a 3rd Degree High Priestess of a formal coven and a 2nd degree in another Trad as well.  I could teach most 3rds in most Trads a thing or two so I don't want to start at the beginning with another Trad.  I teach clergy level classes now at large fests.  I don't become a student again at this level.  That wouldn't make sense.  I'd be more likely to found a new Tradition.  It's a bit like asking a PhD if they are going to go get another degree from a Community College.  Not that it's not worthwhile to do for some, but you get the point.  

I think Crowley was a brilliant, utterly immature little twit of a man-baby, but his work is admirable and I am familiar with the Keys of Solomon as an academic interest.  I think he was not a very admirable person and frankly wouldn't take him into my coven if he paid me.

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