I'm back from vacation...

...and ready to ramble!

As many of my readers know I am in the (long, slow) process of synthesizing a teachable tradition from the knowledge and experience I've gained in the 12 years of my Wiccan career.

This involves distilling all the sundry practices I have into a system that works together as a whole; there are some specific things I do personally that I wouldn't expect all of my students to do, such as casting Runes (although I do intend to emphasize the value of divination as part of the tradition). While I consider myself eclectic, I find that term more than a little problematic, as it has connotations of the practitioner irresponsibly taking bits and pieces of other traditions without any true in-depth study of any of them. I freely admit my methods are a little patchwork here and there, but I want EarthDance to be cohesive and consistent.

The whole creative process has already had several interesting and valuable effects. First, it has made me think back about how much I, and my own personal tradition of Wicca, have changed in the last twelve years. I became Wiccan when I was 16--at that point in my life I was, to put it bluntly, a dumb small-town virgin looking for a way to feel what I once felt in church, but no longer could because of ever-growing differences with Christianity, mostly centered around the denigration of the feminine. (Even dumb small-town virgins know when they're getting a raw deal.) Looking back over the evolution of my spirituality I am amazed at the places it has taken me...and I look forward to my further adventures.

The second consequence of trad-building is that it has made it clear to me that there are many small--and some large--ways in which my way of doing things differs from that of more traditional traditions.

Now, pretty much every Pagan puts his or her own stamp on whatever trad he or she was taught, and that flexibility is one of the beautiful things about paths like ours. This only becomes a problem when you decide to start teaching. When it's just you in your Circle doing your thing, you don't have to have articulate explanations for why you assign Water to the East or Jello Pudding to the South. However, no teacher worth her pentacle would try to get away with "because I said so," and no quality student would let her get away with it.

I won't devote space here to the whole tradition building enterprise, as I have a separate blog for that, but I do plan to post a series here on aspects of my personal tradition: things I do, tools I do/don't use, methods that I have found valuable, and so forth, which may or may not be incorporated into EarthDance. People always seem interested in hearing how I do things in my own little Tao of Sylvan, and I like hearing about other people's practices as well, both for the wealth of new insights and the comfort of spiritual synchronicity.

That in mind, stay tuned for the first of these entries. Right now I am working on the official EarthDance Circle casting, so look for my thoughts on tools, altars, and other essential concepts in the days to come.

Comments

[Renee]

Welcome back! Great to read you and so excited for more ~ Can't wait to see your thoughts on the essential concepts. And again, Welcome back!

[Inanna]

Welcome back, Dianne. I'm looking forward to the series!

[Morgana]

Welcome back. <[:-)

I wanted to thank you for the article you wrote for the Llewellyn Witches' Calendar. I read it today as I was turning the page to October and it touched me deeply. It made me aware that the cicadas have stopped their whining calls and the crickets' chirps and tree frogs' chatter have ceased. The robin's song no longer greets me when I awaken, the hummingbird feeder has been abandoned, and the drying leaves emit a plaintive moan in the wind.

May the coming season of silence be kind to you and yours.