Teachers VS Books |
Regarding the value of experience.
The best teachers I have had were facilitators to the acquisition of
experience and encouraged my personal growth and were attentive to my views
and interpretations of the material. They were dedicated to the goal of my
independence as Witch. But it was their proximity that mattered most to me
at the time. They used their intuition and psychic abilities to guide my
development, something a book cannot do. They empathized during times of
tribulation, they advised when I was in doubt, and held back when I needed
time to figure it out.
A teacher is like a friend, an Elder friend who wishes for you to stand as
an equal someday. The best teachers I have encountered wish me to exceed
their own abilities and would credit me where I already possessed a skill.
Books have no way to pace you, to observe you. A book cannot love you and
love guides us like no other physical map into the true nature of the seen
and the unseen. The love of a qualified Elder strikes a cord within us that
nurtures our love of self and others. It is difficult to pass on to others
what we have not experienced for ourselves at the gentle hands of a dedicated
HP/HPs.
Also, when we fall and temporary loose our wits our teachers can help us
up or provide tempered discipline when we show poor judgment. Books are great
as far as they go. Never read they are pretty to look at. If the seeker has
no sounding board to discuss the information or exercises in a book they
bothered to read, it can skew their experience of Traditional practice, as
was hinted at concerning the Farrar books. In short, books have their place.
But teachers offer communion.
To me Witchcraft is concerned with relationships, human, preterhuman, the
interplay of feelings, thoughts and emotions. Witchcraft deals with
perceiving relationships in a way that reveals truth and opens perception.
Without the relationship of a teacher only cursory understand and experience
of Magick and Deity are possible. Yet, it is possible, that in time the
seeker could discover those mysteries for themselves. It is rare. Some are
certainly more gifted than others in digging at the truth within. Remember we
are talking about Witchcraft here.
What a good teacher does is to use their experience quicken the process.
They act as a catalyst. Very important to have a catalyst. They also act as a
buffer when things get hairy. One teacher saved my life, when a book would
have been torn to shreds. Teachers hold lore thetas not found in books and
can teach techniques not commonly known.
You can read about marriage and forever be single. You can read about
Alaska, but what do you really know without the experience to living there?
The teacher points out neat places to visit and makes your stay much more
rewarding so that buy the time you are ready to leave, you are well equipped
for your more personal journeys and trials, plus they are there to consult
later.
I feel fortunate to have had some good teachers and I would not exchange
them for all the old grimories and books I could count. My present HPS is a
case in point. Her encouragement and patience have made me a better person.
She had been faithful to my cause and our oaths. Even when I loose my head
during life's crazy making maneuvers, she calms me down and offers hope for
today and tomorrow. She has become a dear and most trusted friend. Can any
say that of a book?
My only advice is, where possible, seek "One Who Knows the Ways" and study in the mean time. When you are ready the teacher will appear.
Learn from your mistakes and expect no thanks from your past.
Let the rewards of experience be lavished on your loved ones.
