poliphilo | Unforgotten

My involvement in Wicca ended badly- and I've not wanted to revisit that time of my life- but Rik, our last initiate, came round for a chat yesterday afternoon and- rather to my surprise- led me into happy reminiscence- so I suppose I've left that particular slough of despond behind.

Good.

Apart from the way it ended, being a witch was- take it all in all- a highly entertaining experience. I don't suppose I've ever had so much fun before or since. And it's good to know that Rik is keeping the name of our coven alive and handing on the flame. I'd have thought we'd have been long forgotten on the scene but apparently our names still count for something- and not only because we wrote a "how to do it" Wiccan manual. Rik was talking about us to a group of pagans and one of them said, "Tony Grist- isn't he the guy who founded the Manchester Goddess Group?"

Well, yes indeed. Way back In 1991. And how amazing that anyone still remembers. It was me and Kath Barber- with Ailz coming along shortly after to make it three.

You still out there, Kath?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Can you talk a bit about how your involvement ended badly? I'm finishing up my MA in Religious Studies this year, with my thesis concerning the effects of consumer culture on religious belief and practice. I'm using Neo-Paganism and Wicca as a lens through which to view the phenomenon.

I'm interviewing the leader of a Neo-Pagan group here in Arizona as part of my research - any chance I could email you the same set of questions to get your take on it?

I have a short attention span. I'd done something like ten years in paganism and I'd had enough. It didn't interest me any more. Or- to go a little deeper- I'd got to the stage where I didn't need religion any more - any religion.

And then our first initiate- whom we'd thought of as a daughter- fell under the influence of a money-making scam/cult, decided we were evil and that it behoved her to break all contact with us. This sort of broke my heart. I'd have got out anyway but that speeded my departure.

I'd be very happy to answer the questionnaire. Please send it to lostcow95@ntlworld.com.

I'm a retired witch myself. I don't know exactly what happened in my case; I moved away from my little coven-ette and, even though I moved to a place where there were/are tons of witches, I just never dove back in. I suspect that my sense of spiritual rituals is a bit more personal than I observed in larger groups. Probably at heart, whether with Unitarian Universalism, Quakerism, or Wicca, I'm more of a solo practitioner.

I got to a place where- although I still enjoyed group ritual- it no longer really engaged me. And then our first initiate- who we thought of as a daughter- turned on us. After that I lost all relish for it.

My involvement in Wicca ended badly, too.

Pagan groups are very volatile, I think.

In many of the groups, there seems to be a lot of ego involved. I thought things were going very well in the group I was in, you can imagine my shock when out of the blue my separation papers arrive by mail, with a list of national organizations that I was to forever avoid. No explanation, nothing. Having been an active member for several years, I was shocked.

That's extraordinary.

Yes, there's a lot of ego involved. Another thing is that the people who join pagan organisations tend to be fiercely independent, opinionated and unclubbable. My whole experience of pagan groups and covens is that they're always coming apart at the seams.

So are magical orders. It seems to be true of any organized group that brings through much of anything in the way of energies. Unless you have a small group of dedicated people who are totally on the same wavelength (which is rare and difficult to achieve), fissioning or terminal explosions seem to be inevitable.

I'm guilty myself. I left my mother coven prematurely because I got sick of being "messed around" (as I thought) by people who knew less than I did.

www.69-247.com
THen click into the magazine - page 15 - 17!
I'm hoping to pick up the actual magazine this weeka nd I'll send you a copy, but this is good in the meantime xxxxx

Hey, that's brilliant.

Love you,

Dad.

Unforgotten

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