'On the Future of the Craft': Theme of yesterday's CFPS Convention

[Carla]

At the Centre for Pagan Studies Convention in London yesterday, luminaries of the pagan world met for panel discussions of 'the future of the Craft'. It was very interesting, and of course key note speaker Ronald Hutton was amazing as always.

I must say, having heard Rufus and Melissa Harrington, Prudence Jones, Philip Hesselton and Peter Nash speak in succession, I didn't feel like I'd heard all that much about 'the future' of paganism as I'd had another lesson on the history of modern pagan witchcraft. BUT, some people did say some rather interesting things. Peter Nash in particular sparked a lively exchange when he suggested that the Craft is being diluted by the trend away from initiation and coven work and more toward self-initiation and the phenomena of the 'hedgewitch'. This caused loud voices from the balcony which were entertaining to listen to! Rufus Harrington remarked on being approached by young hopefuls to Wicca at public venues, who in a couple of years he met again at other events now holding titles of 'Grand Master of blah blah Traditional blah blah' and Peter Nash talked of someone who introduced herself to him as a 'Third Degree Hedgewitch', so clearly there is a lot of confusion out there amongst the self-taught.

There was spirited debate during a panel discussion consisting of the above mentioned folk plus Julia Phillips, Caroline Wise and Marian Green, when a young man from Germany asked exactly what a young person is supposed to do when they are seeking a coven or training and they just can't get into any group because they don't know anyone and no one will reveal anything. There was a lot of back and forth concerning the conflicts of the attraction of secret meetings and the need to make paganism a more mainstream-accepted religious faith, and phrase 'mystery religion' was bandied about (which I think at times was being used as synonym for 'secret society', which is not the meaning of 'mystery religion' at all). Julia Phillips and Marian Green both piped up on behalf of solitary practitioners, who they point out have always outnumbered coven workers. The Harringtons both espouse the establishment of 'Wiccan temples' which host regular public gatherings for the teaching of basics and the vetting of potentials to be initiated into the coven. Caroline Wise suggested something akin to Open University for pagan seekers. The panel discussion was amazing and I was sad to see it end after only 45 minutes.

What do you think are the most important issues faced in the future of the Craft? How do you think they should be addressed?

 

[Carla]

Well, I'll give my answer, or at least as it stands today. Subject to change without notice...

I am one of the new ones who is not interested in joining a coven or being initiated. I don't see my solitary practice as in any way diluting or harming the more organised covens or paganism in general, because I am not 'teaching' or claiming to have any special knowledge or skill that I can pass on to others. So any anomalies or heresies I might commit are confined to my own meditation space. I believe this is true of most solitary practitioners, even those who write books about their practice and end up starting a possibly whole separate line of tradition, like Rae Beth. As Prudence Jones said yesterday, 'Let a thousand flowers bloom.'

My attendance at these organised pagan events shows, to me, not so much that I am looking for an organisation as that I take every opportunity to find out what these people think about their own practice, what they are like in real life, what they say live in the flesh. The people I saw yesterday are not that far removed from the ones who started it all. Pete Nash was initiated by Alex Sanders. Everybody on the panel knew Doreen Valiente, and she's the one who rewrote Gardener's Book of Shadows, more or less. She was key in the establishment of the Pagan Federation and she is called 'the mother of modern pagan witchcraft'. So if anyone is worth listening to, surely it's these people.

But my respect for these people doesn't mean I want to try to repeat their experience. What happened to them was a fomentation of their own time. It started brewing (forgive the pun) 150 years earlier in the Romantic movement, and bubbled up with the sexual and cultural revolutions of the 1960s, along with encounter groups, psychoanalysis and all those other forces at work culturally then. It's a different world now. We can't repeat their experiences. Most of us don't want to. For myself, I don't think I need a lot of 'training' to achieve what I personally want to achieve in my spiritual practice. And I certainly don't need someone to give me a grade like I was being examined for O Levels. And I most certainly don't need a group of people deciding if I'm 'worthy' of their esteemed knowledge...

But I digress. What are the troubles facing the future of the Craft? Well, we at least have a decent history of modern pagan witchcraft now with Ron Hutton's 'Triumph of the Moon'. I think there is a big hurdle of a glut of books on Craft which don't do much in the way of helping people develop meditation and energy manipulation techniques. I think many seekers lack discernment when using the Internet as a source of information. I think the wider dispersion of information of varying degrees of quality means that some things may be lost. It's possible there will be a lot of people out their identifying themselves as magician or witch (I could well be one of them) floundering away while the small groups who have kept themselves to themselves grows smaller and smaller and smaller and allow their so-precious secret knowledge to die out, just because they couldn't find initiates they considered worthy. Yes, I know in the old days it might be a year, four years, even more years before a person would even be accepted to BEGIN to train to be an initiate. But most people aren't willing to do that anymore. Times have changed.

Well, now I'm rambling. What do you think??

 

[Milfoil]

Caroline Wise's suggestion seems well based but even this could turn into a kind of homogenised and wishy-washy version of something which, having a stamp of academic approval, would invariably become a dividing point within the pagan camp itself.

For me, the whole discourse seems limited since it only discusses 'the craft' and no other areas of pagan belief. However, even within this single yet diverse area there are foundational problems. Modern Wicca is an invention of the past half century, that has been proven beyond doubt so anyone seeking to join a Wiccan coven should be able to do so without much trouble as it is classed as a modern religion. The more traditional and secret covens have managed to survive despite way worse conditions of public prejudice and fear so I doubt they will be going anywhere.

The distinction needs to be made as to WHAT IS modern craft? Is it Wicca? Not entirely. Is it solitary, book and internet based? Not entirely. Is it traditional, secretive coven based? Not entirely either. One cannot dictate a person's spiritual path and perhaps if the general understanding, acceptance of and learning about 'craft' were brought out into the open by a council of Elders like those speaking at the CFPS conference, it would guide many through their beliefs to a more wholesome understanding.

I think many seekers lack discernment when using the Internet as a source of information. I think the wider dispersion of information of varying degrees of quality means that some things may be lost. It's possible there will be a lot of people out their identifying themselves as magician or witch (I could well be one of them) floundering away while the small groups who have kept themselves to themselves grows smaller and smaller and smaller and allow their so-precious secret knowledge to die out, just because they couldn't find initiates they considered worthy. Yes, I know in the old days it might be a year, four years, even more years before a person would even be accepted to BEGIN to train to be an initiate. But most people aren't willing to do that anymore. Times have changed.

The small groups who keep themselves to themselves have survived by doing just that. I know from personal experience how uniquely special a small group of like-mlnded individuals can be and how a wonderful connection can be upset by the 'wrong' person upsetting the energy of the group. If it ain't broke, don't fix it as they say. It is a serious business bringing a new member into a close circle and has the potential to expand or break the group entirely.

The thing that I have noticed is that in any community there are many who may have a deep belief, an interest or a feeling of belonging to a certain belief (whether craft, christian, buddhist etc) whereas there are only a few who are truly* called and have the requisite natural, inherited talents to become an adept practitioner or authority of said belief/religion. Where subtle and transformative, individual forces are involved, ie Craft, magic, shamanic etc, not everyone has these talents so some who seek this will not be invited to any coven and so go on a solitary, if misguided, path.

The idea of anyone having a hierarchical system within a solitary system of belief (Grand Master, 3rd Degree whatever) is farcical and demonstrates a profound misunderstanding. Yet at the same time, any truly talented practitioners have no wish to be part of a hierarchical system because of the inevitable ego and power struggles that ensue, so they prefer the solitary path.

Personally, I feel that there can never be a single road forward for Craft any more than there is a single road forward for the Abrahamic religions, it's like herding cats! Certainly, if there were to be a circle of Elders set up to oversee the more appropriate (as they see it) training of new initiates to Craft, who would recognise, respect or agree with who? There are people on that CFPS panel who I would never follow in a million years and others who I feel have a great deal to contribute.

There will always be problems wherever humans are involved, all we can do is be honest with ourselves. Teaching and encouraging personal development towards wholeness, groundedness, honesty, humility and integrity are the basics of any stable group/path which few are willing to accept when they first start and what is most needed!

 

[Carla]

For me, the whole discourse seems limited since it only discusses 'the craft' and no other areas of pagan belief. However, even within this single yet diverse area there are foundational problems. Modern Wicca is an invention of the past half century, that has been proven beyond doubt so anyone seeking to join a Wiccan coven should be able to do so without much trouble as it is classed as a modern religion. The more traditional and secret covens have managed to survive despite way worse conditions of public prejudice and fear so I doubt they will be going anywhere.

You're right, but upon reflection it makes sense to me that those pagans who are attracted to organised versions, such as Wicca and Druidism, would be the very people to involve themselves in organisations such as CFPS and the Pagan Federation. It's hard to imagine a solitary hedgewitch or shaman pursuing a rise to the top of the CFPS, which is unfortunate. I would love to hear that point of view at these types of gatherings. The meeting was certainly Wicca-centric, but then the actual topic was Craft, not 'paganism', so the focus was already pretty narrow.

The distinction needs to be made as to WHAT IS modern craft? Is it Wicca? I don't think so. Is it solitary, book and internet based? Not entirely. Is it traditional, secretive coven based? Not entirely either. One cannot dictate a person's spiritual path and perhaps if the general understanding, acceptance of and learning about 'craft' were brought out into the open by a council of Elders like those speaking at the CFPS conference, it would guide many through their beliefs to a more wholesome understanding.

I think it would be fabulous if a such a council of Elders could work together to do something such as you describe.

The thing that I have noticed is that in any community there are many who may have a deep belief, an interest or a feeling of belonging to a certain belief (whether craft, christian, buddhist etc) whereas there are only a few who are truly* called and have the requisite natural, inherited talents to become an adept practitioner or authority of said belief/religion. Where subtle and transformative, individual forces are involved, ie Craft, magic, shamanic etc, not everyone has these talents so some who seek this will not be invited to any coven and so go on a solitary, if misguided, path.

I believe there are some who never seek an invitation. Would this mean their path is misguided?

There was a strong undercurrent, a feeling that there are secrets which will not be shared with anyone until after they are accepted into a coven. And both Peter Nash (overtly) and Prudence Jones (implied) that there the covens out there are of varying degrees of quality. Peter Nash openly said, 'Any decent coven will not let you in unless you know someone first.' It was this remark that led the frustrated German audience member to ask what recourse a young seeker has, then, beyond books. Prudence Jones said, 'Why not try the old spiritual beacon and work with the inner tides?' Which to me seems to imply that covens should send out an intention to find suitable candidates, and this also implied to me that seekers should send out a beacon in search of a coven.

All of the speakers implied, and some more or less openly stated, that covens have some sort of radar ('witch-dar'??) whereby they can sense whether a candidate has 'it' or not. This is something I would like to learn more about. I wonder what it is they are looking for? Or is it something they 'sense'.

Personally, I feel that there can never be a single road forward for Craft any more than there is a single road forward for the Abrahamic religions, it's like herding cats! Certainly, if there were to be a circle of Elders set up to oversee the more appropriate (as they see it) training of new initiates to Craft, who would recognise, respect or agree with who? There are people on that CFPS panel who I would never follow in a million years and others who I feel have a great deal to contribute.

Because I am endlessly fascinated by people's opinions, I would love to know which members of the panel you would follow and which you wouldn't, and why. I'm guessing you're not going to tell me, though.

There will always be problems wherever humans are involved, all we can do be honest with ourselves. Teaching honesty and integrity is the basis which few are willing to accept when they first start and what is most needed!

All members of the panel seemed concerned about the spread of misinformation and the rapid growth of paganism. It was almost like some of the people thought that if we couldn't keep tabs on who initiated who, etc, that things would get out of control, get watered down, and the Craft would lose its identity. The Harringtons seemed most open about wanting Wiccan churches (both Rufus and Melissa apologetically used church language to describe what they had in mind). There was a brief aside about American Crafters and their way of doing things, which members of the panel had a decidedly mixed opinion about.

 

[Milfoil]

You're right, but upon reflection it makes sense to me that those pagans who are attracted to organised versions, such as Wicca and Druidism, would be the very people to involve themselves in organisations such as CFPS and the Pagan Federation. It's hard to imagine a solitary hedgewitch or shaman pursuing a rise to the top of the CFPS, which is unfortunate. I would love to hear that point of view at these types of gatherings. The meeting was certainly Wicca-centric, but then the actual topic was Craft, not 'paganism', so the focus was already pretty narrow.

Agreed, it needed to be specific.

I believe there are some who never seek an invitation. Would this mean their path is misguided?

No, I didn't do very well at explaining that did I? I did mention about those who don't want to be part of a structure, their path is just as valid. However, there are a LOT of seekers who want the 'woo-woo' power factor in their lives because they feel insecure or have other personal issues which they think the concept of (as they see it) witchcraft, shamanism, magik/majick/magjik (or however strangely they wish to spell it) will fill. People who have the ability to sense these things (see below) can sniff out that kind of personal c**p and personal problems a mile away and will never offer that person a chance to join their group/coven while their personal problems lie un-addressed. Hence the absolute need for personal development even in those who clearly have talents in energy work.

There was a strong undercurrent, a feeling that there are secrets which will not be shared with anyone until after they are accepted into a coven. And both Peter Nash (overtly) and Prudence Jones (implied) that there the covens out there are of varying degrees of quality. Peter Nash openly said, 'Any decent coven will not let you in unless you know someone first.' It was this remark that led the frustrated German audience member to ask what recourse a young seeker has, then, beyond books. Prudence Jones said, 'Why not try the old spiritual beacon and work with the inner tides?' Which to me seems to imply that covens should send out an intention to find suitable candidates, and this also implied to me that seekers should send out a beacon in search of a coven.

Absolutely and rightly so. How, then can a solitary practitioner ever learn? Those who are truly 'in touch' with the other realms, and lets face it, that's what craft is all about really, will learn from their Spirits and Ancestors. Those in covens and groups have the added advantage of a lineage of teachings to make it easier.

Any decent coven will always want to know who you are and that means knowing someone first. Peter Nash clearly knows from experience, what it is like to have a whole group thrown into chaos by one, destructive, egotistical, insecure or otherwise badly damaged individual. Part of being in a coven is mutual support, learning and highly importantly, magical working. A new member must be able to contribute to that last part at some point so the 'it' needs to be there otherwise all you have is a nice group of people dancing about doing nothing in particular.

YES, the beacon you speak of is that very connection which anyone who really does have the ability to walk between worlds and work this way has already as part of them. It is a two-way thing, both sides have to be on the same wave-length so to speak, then it works. The frustrated German audience may have a different tradition - I don't know but if a sincere seeker with the right 'connection' puts out a strong intention to become part of the right coven, then it will be picked up by that coven, even if it is a long way away from their home.

All of the speakers implied, and some more or less openly stated, that covens have some sort of radar ('witch-dar'??) whereby they can sense whether a candidate has 'it' or not. This is something I would like to learn more about. I wonder what it is they are looking for? Or is it something they 'sense'.

YES, see above. The 'it' is something that cannot be put into words, but its also one of those things that if you have to ask (sorry), you don't have it.

Because I am endlessly fascinated by people's opinions, I would love to know which members of the panel you would follow and which you wouldn't, and why. I'm guessing you're not going to tell me, though.

Quite right, saying who I would or would not follow/respect would colour other people's opinion and that is not the point. These are my feelings, not the 'right' or 'wrong' feelings and merely based on my own personal knowledge.

All members of the panel seemed concerned about the spread of misinformation and the rapid growth of paganism. It was almost like some of the people thought that if we couldn't keep tabs on who initiated who, etc, that things would get out of control, get watered down, and the Craft would lose its identity. The Harringtons seemed most open about wanting Wiccan churches (both Rufus and Melissa apologetically used church language to describe what they had in mind). There was a brief aside about American Crafters and their way of doing things, which members of the panel had a decidedly mixed opinion about.

Well, in some ways they are right and in some ways it doesn't matter. What difference does it make if some misguided person calls themself a 3rd degree, high priestess, grand high, hedge leaper of the silver, raven moon? What really matters is can this person actually DO anything worth doing? Can they effect change so as to heal, find information, alter the course of events etc?

For me, it's part of the path that I tread to feeeel that discernment about others (not judgement!!). Their path, their abilities, their ego, their problems, their strengths etc. Hence why some people I find are closer to my way of thinking and others I wouldn't give house room.

Craft, in whatever form, is ALL about the connection to the Universe/Multiverse and cannot be found in books, online or in a coven!!! It lies within and without, in the fact that neither are separate but only concepts of division. When others say that they learn more by being out in nature and just listening, being open etc, they have found that connection. The future of Craft lies within those who would serve as examples. When meeting many of these people, how do they feel? Do they invade your dreams or that sacred space over the hedge? Is that right or wrong? Can you even feel their influence? Do they take any notice of others or are they all about themselves and their voice? Do they brush off talking to those they don't know or do they give you the time to answer your questions?

As I say, it's like herding cats . . . . witches cats at that!

 

[Carla]

Thanks for answering, Milfoil.