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[Stone and Mirror home] [Wild Rose syllabus] [Wild Rose library] [Laws of Outer Grove] [Maiden notes] [Guardian notes]
Wild Rose is a pre-initiatory religious discussion and working group, with the aim of introducing its participants to English Traditional Pagan folklore, customs and practices. Folklore is distinct from myth: it is the story of our cultural roots rather than a collection of fairy tales or wishful reimagination of some mythical past.
Year One of the Outer Grove is now in session. The information here presented pertains to Year Two, which will commence in February, 2000.
Students may enter the group by formal petition, subject to acceptance. Students may resign from the group at any time within the year, for any desired reason.
Upon completion of the year's work, graduates of the Grove will have the opportunity to petition at least two local Gardnerian Covens for membership, and will probably have met representatives of several other Covens.
We do not, and will not, offer correspondence teaching, whether by mail, phone or e-mail.
In keeping with our Laws, the sole charge for membership in Wild Rose is the participants' own time in attending Grove meetings and in completing homework assignments. The commitment of 40 Thursday nights is in itself a sufficiently high price to pay for knowledge.
We may from time to time ask Grove members to contribute consumable items such as candles, incense, fruit, or fruit-juice; these items will be held by the Grove in common and used in its meetings.
Teaching papers will be provided to the members, in weekly instalments. All members share the cost of photocopying -- during the 1999-2000 Grove year this ran between $1.00 and $3.00 per week, according to our Maiden's accounts. Each set of papers relates in some way to the work of the Grove at that point in the syllabus, as well as to the changing tides and seasons of the natural world. With each week's papers a brief introductory essay is provided: this essay outlines the week's work, relates the handouts one to another, and introduces the coming homework assignment.
Wild Rose is sponsored by Coven of the Stone and Cauldron and Coven of the Stone and Mirror. We are doing this because it provides a philosophical anchor for the Grove, as well as providing standards of accountability for the teaching being done.
The Covens provide most of the Grove's teachers and much of its Pagan lore, and will fairly consider membership petitions made by graduates of the Grove, with the caveat that successful completion of the Grove training is an end in itself, and in no way guarantees initiation into the sponsoring, or any other, Covens.
Our hope is that graduates of Outer Grove will know enough about the historical roots and current issues of English Traditional Paganism, that they would be able to make an informed decision concerning possible entry into more active practice of our religion.
Both sponsoring Covens practice Gardnerian witchcraft in the New York lineage of our faith. Coven of the Stone and Cauldron was founded in 1998, as a friendly hive from Coven of the Stone and Mirror, which was founded in 1995.
The Spiral Dance by Starhawk, and Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler, are two books which would be worth reading for general interest, but not necessarily buying. A rather more advanced book, worth buying if you are interested in group dynamics, is Wicca Covens by Judith Harrow. We will provide further reading lists during the course of the Grove year.
As a general note, you will find that your own religious writing will be of greatest use to you.
You've already found our Web page. Follow the links at the end of this page to learn more about Traditional Witchcraft.
Any person over the age of twenty years, of good character and in sound emotional and mental health and reasonably good physical health may petition to join the Grove, with these important exceptions:
We cannot provide child-care at the Grove's meeting-place. Past experience has been that single parents can make a go of Grove membership if they have reliable child-care arrangements.
Some of the homework assignments may entail spending time in parks, gardens or woodlands, and Wild Rose's meeting space does have stairs to climb. Persons who have mobility restrictions should bear these requirements in mind. The Grove's work entails a great deal of reading and a fair bit of writing. People with dyslexia may find this difficult.
Despite our best intentions, we have often found that the Grove's meetings run late. Although we usually have high hopes of finishing each session by 10 in the evening, sometimes meetings (and post-meeting chat time) have run well past 11.
Interviews and sortilege will take place in Calgary (probably at the customary location, but we make definite plans towards the end of 1999) on the evening of Tuesday, February 1, 2000 between 7:00 PM and 10:00 PM. If you are accepted into the Grove, you must be able to attend the first Grove meeting on February 3rd, and weekly meetings thereafter.
In the event that we have more than 13 applicants for Grove membership, we will draw lots for membership, from among all the qualified applicants. Lots, if need be, will be drawn at 10:00 PM on February 1st.
The Grove is not a Wiccan Coven, nor is it an initiatory group, and so the Traditional Craft vows will not be asked or made. However, Grove members will be asked to oathmake to the following:
In addition, Grove members will be asked to commit themselves to prompt and regular attendance of the Grove's meetings, including that if an emergency arises, they will make a fair effort to contact their teacher(s) beforehand, to ask for a boon of absence.
The Grove will operate within a framework of Laws, which will be binding upon all members during their period of Grove membership; applicants must copy the Laws in their own handwriting during the interview evening on February 1st. If you wish, you may read the text of these Laws beforehand. Please note that these are not the Traditional Craft Laws, but rather a special set of Laws which were written by the teachers of the Seattle Outer Grove.
Comfortable street clothes will do just fine; in deference to the comfort of your fellow members we will ask you to wear clean clothes (including clean socks!) that are loose enough to allow you to move comfortably and sit or kneel as you please.
Women will be asked to wear a claspless necklace of beads, preferably made of natural objects -- this symbolises the continuity of our faith and of our collective charge.
We won't dictate your musical preferences, and neither the Grove nor its sponsoring Covens will pass judgement upon your sexual or affectational preferences, so long as they are non-violent, non-abusive, and non-harmful to self or others. People who consider heterosexual metaphors, heterosexuality in general, or members of the opposite gender in collective, to be personally offensive will probably not find much of worth in the Grove's teaching. The Grove's teachers will neither demand nor accept sexual or monetary favours from students, nor will we encourage or condone the use of illicit drugs or other intoxicants during Grove meetings.
If your doctor has prescribed medicines or analgesics, by all means you should use them as needed before and during Grove meetings. You are primarily responsible for your own well-being and comfort: ours is not a religion that denies bodily needs.
No. Working with Wild Rose will not directly lead to Wiccan initiation. From our point of view, that happens in covens, to which you will have the opportunity to petition for membership following completion of the year's sessions. It is up to the HPS of each coven to determine who is to be initiated, and when that is to occur.
After your Grove year, you will have several options on how to proceed. You might choose to petition to join Coven of the Stone and Mirror or Coven of the Stone and Cauldron (which, if your petition is accepted, would entail rites of dedication and Gardnerian initiation), or to enter another Craft or Pagan group (which might or might not entail additional rites of passage). You may also choose to work outside the Traditional Craft model, perhaps to self-initiate and work as a Solitary Witch or Solitary Pagan after your Grove year, or you might form a coven or collective with some of your fellow members and initiate each other after your Grove year.
The non-initiatory nature of the Grove is intended to let it function as a low-pressure discussion group, within which you may explore the folklore and meaning of traditional English Paganism.
Hopefully, after having completed your Grove year, you will have a rich collection of resources from which to work, and you will have had the opportunity to consider whether you would like to enter formal apprenticeship or dedication to eventually become a Wiccan initiate.
Yourself, in a rested and relaxed state of mind; and:
You will be copying materials into your book during the first meeting, and at frequent occasions thereafter. How much you decide to put in your book will be largely up to you, but past experience indicates that you will have no difficulty in filling it.
You will probably want to obtain a three-ring binder of standard size, so as to keep your teaching papers and notes organised; you may need several binders through the year (about 400 pages of handouts will be provided) but one will do to start.
You will also want at least one more blank book, in the event that you are accepted into Outer Grove. Expect to do a fair bit of writing...
In a word, no. During 2000-2001, the Grove will meet on Thursday nights at 7:00 PM. If there are sessions in subsequent years, the Grove might meet on the same night, or on some other night of the week depending upon circumstances. Thursday was chosen as the night which would be most convenient for the most people.
If you must work or go to school on Thursday nights, do keep in mind that there are other Pagan and Witchcraft training groups in Calgary which do meet on other nights of the week.
We are very serious about the commitment of attendance: what we have to offer, like our faith itself, is not a casual pastime or an amusement which may be enjoyed at option. Please think very carefully about what you sort of effort you are willing to put into learning.
written by Brigantia Stone, updated 10 April 1999
document © 1999, Coven of the Stone and Mirror
the address of this page is: http://www.oocities.org/Athens/Agora/2416/wildrose.html
Wild Rose's syllabus, or its library of pre-initiate discussion papers, and other teaching resources. Also available are discussions of the offices of Maiden and Guardian within the Outer Grove.
The home-pages of Coven of the Stone and Cauldron and Coven of the Stone and Mirror.
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