by: Rick Johnson 
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
RikJohnson@juno.com
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Different people advance at different rates. To expect everyone grow at the same rates, especially if that expected growth is how you advanced, is a discredit to your own
teaching and the students abilities and will hinder the students progress and possibly cause them to leave the Craft. Thus this article will show the different patterns in which a person will advance in the Craft. All are normal and natural and should be accepted.
All people learn in a certain pattern that appears to be set in our genes. We start out at "O". then begin to learn... slowly. Eventually, as we become more confidant and add
knowledge to prior knowledge, that learning accelerates until we are learning or advancing at an astonishing rate.
Then something unforseen happens. We stop learning. No matter how hard we try, we simply cannot go any further.
And if that isn't enough, suddenly, we degenerate. It is almost as if we were regressing in time. We loose some of what we learn and tasks which were once simple, now are almost impossible to do.
If we perservere, we soon get past this obstacle and begin to learn again. We advance farther than before, faster then, suddenly, we hit that peak and plateau again.
The cycle starts all over again.
If we graph this learning curve, it looks like this. The vertical axis denotes growth in any subject or activity. The horizontal axis denotes the length of time we are in that
field. The curve is anyone who is learning any subject, be it dance, martial arts, magick, religion, chemistry, a new job, ... anything.
What we have is a person starting out at "O" then learning slowly then faster as they attain experience. This is the "growth" stage.
Then we see that after a period of accelerated growth, they stop learning. No matter how hard they try, they cannot advance any more. This is the "plateau" stage.
Then they degenerate. They actually loose some of what they have learned. This is the "loss" stage and it is at this ponint that most people become frustrated and quit.
Finally comes the "recover" stage which quickly turns into a new "growth" period.
Eventually, this growth, too, will plateau and again loss will arrive.
There are a few important things to remember about this.
FIRST, this happens to EVERYONE. To me, to you, to your teachers and to your students. It is completly NORMAL.
SECOND, the cycle repeats itself forever. You can't change it anymore than you can change the Seasons. Deal with it and learn to use it.
Third, although everyone has the same cycle, the exact times where each stage occurs differ with each person. Everone will grow, reach puberty, and age. But some do this faster and easier than others. This is no different.
FOURTH, Most people leafe the Craft or Coven during the loss stage when they feel that they aren't going anywhere and so they seek another path. Thne the same thing happens in their new path and they leave and so never go anywhere. If they understand
that this is normal and they WILL get past it, then they will remain and become good members of the coven or community.
So, lets look at a number of people in the same coven. All will have the same learning curve, but each will manifest it in their own individual manner.
A. This is the expected rate of growth for the average person. The student will progress slowly from ignorance, then begin to pick up speed and advance quickly. Then, suddenly the student will plateau where no matter how hard the student and
teacher work, nothing happens. Then the student will begin to loose their abilities and it seems hopeless as the student becomes almost inept. The trend will soon reverse with the student learning more faster than before and the student will relearn what they lost and even advance higher than before.
Then the student will again plateau but on a higher level than before, will remain at that level and then begin to loose their abilities again until they are either equal to or
slightly above or below their former plateau. Then they learn again and the cycle will repeat itself forever, with each plateau higher than the one before and each loss not as bad as the one before.
Again, this is completely normal in all things and the student and teacher should not be depressed, but should recognize that they will work their way through it.
B. Here the student appears to constantly learn, constantly improve him/herself. There is no backsliding or loss, or so it seems.
This pattern is exactly the same as in 'A', but the distance between plateaus is much longer. It may take the student years to reach his initial peak, but he will and the plateau and backslide will take an equally long time to work through. In some cases, though, the student may take a number of lifetimes before he plateaus, each lifetime better than the last.
C.The pattern here is that the student appears to be learning at a great rate, then suddenly everything goes wrong and all his magick backfires. It then takes a very long time for the student to work out of it and the student may become frustrated at their loss and lack of progress and leave the Craft. Simply encourage the student and work with him until they are out of their, quite natural, slump
D.The slow and steady progress here may slow down their co-coveners, but this person may never appear to have the loss that their more advanced students will. This person is the basis for magick. They will plod along and provide a strong base upon which the other Coveners can depend. This person will retain a good energy flow even when the others are exhausted. they do have the same peak and plateau but it may take generations for them to do so.
E.This person seems to have absolutely no talent and will never get anywhere no matter how hard they try. But if you examine their record closely, that negative results shows a statistical probability every good as the prize student, only
reversed. Keep at them and encourage them and eventually they will surpass the others.
F.This person appears to have absolutely no talent, but after a long time and very hard work, they finally develop some, only to loose it after awhile. In reality this person is following the usual pattern and someday will regain their abilities, though it may take years or generations.
G.This person starts out as a normal person, advances for some time then looses it completely and never seems to regain any power. The pattern is there, only expanded and someday he will regain the abilities.
As you can see, there are a number of ways that a person in Wicca will react to the training. Keep in mind that everyone is different. Don't make the mistake of thinking that just because you learned in one set way, all people must be able to do the same. Each person will advance in their own way and the best teachers will seek to help each person with their own pattern and an individualistic training method. Always search for other methods of teaching and encourage those who appear to be slower than others. For the Laws say that "if you cannot accomplish a thing one way, you may be able to do so in another." Always seek out methods that will help each person to achieve their potential.
After all, the person who follows pattern B this lifetime may, in their next lifetime, be born a G or E.
To contact me or to request topics to be covered, send to RikJohnson@juno.com
by: Rick Johnson
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
Return to the Home Page.
Return to the Writings page.
