Do Solitary Eclectic Wiccans exist?

[xXuglywolfXx]

I see most people say their solitary because they have limited, if any, access to a coven. Me, I chose solitary over covens...I'll be honest, I read online and in some books how people may perform certain rituals, and I personally either find it to have a lot of unnessisary steps, or just a little silly. I don't believe that the God and Goddess are looking to see who follows the oldest tradition, or who does their rituals on another's exact instructions. It's your thought process, the reason in your mind why you're doing what you're doing, not how you do it.
That's just the way I see it. I appreciate what covens have to offer; having a physical teacher right there, to have someone you can go to with every little question...that's gotta be great. Being solitary has it's down points, especially starting out since their are so many contradicting sources of information. And having a close group of people to help you along the way is probably great. But figuring things out for yourself, experimenting with different ideas and traditions....it's honestly a whole lot of fun. You grow while, for lack of better terms, you create your own branch of Wicca. =]

[Theflyingsorcerer]

Personally, I have worked both with covens (of various traditions) and solitary, and I frankly prefer to be solitary. I learned a lot from coven work, but staying with just one coven of any given tradition, in my experience can be limiting; ritual structures can all too easily become fixed and rigid, spontaneity gets lost, and following one's own interests and intuitions is often frowned on or even, in some cases, actively discouraged.

Much depends on the character of the HP's. Some welcome questioning and new ideas; others, perhaps driven by personal insecurity, tend to be rigidly tradionalist; "That's how Gardner said to do it, so that's how it is." Don't get me wrong; there is much that is good in the traditionalist approach and the best of it must be preserved, but much has happened in the past half-century in terms of scholarship and research, and our traditions need to guard against becoming overly fossilized.

There's a fine balance between tradition and contemporary relevance. If Wicca/Witchcraft is to have a future, it needs, like science and psychology, to progress, if only to acknowledge current political and social realities. I would even say that Wicca and Witchcraft are needed in the modern world, probably more so than at any other era in history. I don't think it's overly pretentious to say that we could play a part, if only a small one, in the revitalizing - perhaps a better word would be re-enchantment - of civilization. Certainly those who appear to be in charge at the present time are merrily leading us to disaster.

Blessed Be,

Theflyingsorcerer. 

[Kaleesie]

Personally, I have worked both with covens (of various traditions) and solitary, and I frankly prefer to be solitary. I learned a lot from coven work, but staying with just one coven of any given tradition, in my experience can be limiting; ritual structures can all too easily become fixed and rigid, spontaneity gets lost, and following one's own interests and intuitions is often frowned on or even, in some cases, actively discouraged.

Much depends on the character of the HP's. Some welcome questioning and new ideas; others, perhaps driven by personal insecurity, tend to be rigidly tradionalist; "That's how Gardner said to do it, so that's how it is." Don't get me wrong; there is much that is good in the traditionalist approach and the best of it must be preserved, but much has happened in the past half-century in terms of scholarship and research, and our traditions need to guard against becoming overly fossilized.

There's a fine balance between tradition and contemporary relevance. If Wicca/Witchcraft is to have a future, it needs, like science and psychology, to progress, if only to acknowledge current political and social realities. I would even say that Wicca and Witchcraft are needed in the modern world, probably more so than at any other era in history. I don't think it's overly pretentious to say that we could play a part, if only a small one, in the revitalizing - perhaps a better word would be re-enchantment - of civilization. Certainly those who appear to be in charge at the present time are merrily leading us to disaster.

Blessed Be,

Theflyingsorcerer. 

I literally could not have worded that more perfectly. I mean. I'm incapable at this moment to find the words you so eloquently put together, to describe my thoughts.
I'm happy to be on this forum with people like you, and the others I respect on here...
Sometimes we all may not agree, but I hunger for a different perspective, so, even when people disagree with me, I still learn.

Blessings
Kaleesie

[Daphnis]

I'm a solitary eclectic Wiccan.  I exist.  I was once in a coven, didn't like it, quit and kept up my practice alone or sometimes with other like minded Wiccans but we reject the control of a hierarchical coven and oathbound traditions and well ... control freaks.  Perhaps I found a bad coven but it seems to me that the system fosters this.  I've been reading "Coven Craft" by Amber K and it insults eclectics.  It also helps people figure out how to manipulate others and control people in the coven.  Now I see where it all comes from.
We have a Coven in our area that is supposed to be the "Good Coven", and the High Priest and High Priestess have held those positions for decades. 

If you like that sort of thing, then go for it.  being a Freedom loving American, I like the Eclectic life.

[Theflyingsorcerer]

I've encountered several individuals in the New Age movement that I would definitely call control freaks - I even lived with one for several years, but that's another story - and it seems to me that the whole New Age Guru scene almost guarantees that this type of personality will arise. New Age philosophy bases itself very closely on the Indian Vedantic Guru-Chela system, which derives from Hindu and Buddhist spirituality; it seems to work in that culture but sits uncomfortably with the more individualistic Western mentality.

Having said that, one has to acknowledge that many in North America and Europe seem drawn to the Vedantic philosophy, although I'm reminded of something Robert Anton Wilson once said; "If you're looking for a Master, does that mean it's your ambition to become a Slave?"

I've only ever met one person within Wicca that I would call a control freak; he is, unfortunately, fairly high up in the Wiccan hierarchy in Western Canada and thus it can be difficult to avoid having to interact with him. I sometimes suspect that his presence there is one reason there are so many Solitaries in the West; but I'm sure there are similar types in other areas. As always, it's the luck of the draw.

 It does seem, though, that on the whole the control-freak types don't tend to do too much damage in the Wiccan community, mainly because those seriously drawn to Wicca and Witchcraft tend to be  more independent-minded and, dare I say it, intelligent, than the average New Ager, and tend not to fall into the Guru trap.

Fluffy Bunnies excepted, of course; but Fluffies don't usually treat the Craft seriously anyway, so they don't really count.

Sorry. Feeling a bit grumpy this evening. But I don't think there are very many Fluffies on this forum anyway, and those that do stumble into it probably don't last very long.

Blessed Be everyone - including Fluffies,

Theflyingsorcerer.

[Ken Ra]

There really are covens that are NOT oathbound-up hierarchical totalitarian.  I am beginning to think this is a myth solitary's tell each other to justify why they cant work and learn from others.

Coven work requires a give and take. It also requires caring for somebody besides yourself. I hear more of what is in it for ME, Marriage is only for about three years. etc. I want I want and I don't want to give anything to anybody else so there!

A classic line among HP's is 
How do you tell a High Priestess?  By the thickness of the emotional scar tissue.

We did not get that from nice wonderful people.

We found something beautiful powerful and wanted to bring others to that awareness.
As far as I can tell not one of us believes we are competent or more than just barely adequate as teachers and administrators. 

But,  we got the job anyway because it needed to be done and who else was going to do it?

When I die my skills and understanding dies with me.
For me that is intolerable. Why isn't it for solitary eclectics? 

[SnowAngel]

Honestly, I would love to find a coven.  But there aren't any in my area... at least not any that I can find... or that want to be found. 

I didn't care for a long time about finding one, then something strange/funny happened.  I was going for one of my long walks and listening to a Podcast that I had just downloaded.  It was basically an all-female coven that was sitting around talking and joking about their Samhain gathering.  I got... well... totally jealous!  I want that kind of relationship with other witches/pagans!  I want to be able to sit around after a ritual and talk about how Deity touched me that evening! 

I'm not sure if I will ever find one, or find one that will suit me, but I definitely have my ear to the ground now. 

Brightest Blessings
SnowAngel

[Theflyingsorcerer]

When I die my skills and understanding dies with me.
For me that is intolerable. Why isn't it for solitary eclectics? 

Oh, it is. Believe me, it is - for me anyway.

Teaching, mentorship, whatever you want to call it, does not have to happen through a coven structure. It can happen at Pagan gatherings, at social occasions, on a one-to-one basis, by chance meetings, through writing, on the Internet, through Facebook, or in Forums such as this one.

In fact I would say that the online Forum is one of the most effective - and at the same time, democratic - ways of disseminating information that has ever existed. We each put forward our own points of view, we give each other the benifit (or not) of our own experiences, we poke holes in each other's ideas, we argue, we point each other to information on websites or in books, sometimes we rant.... and, somehow, we learn from each other. It's all profoundly non-hierarchical, messy even, but it works - and works well, I think.

All right, it's no substitute for individual instruction or mentorship - but that happens too, in all the ways I've mentioned. Again, it's non-hierarchical, unorganized, messy - but it still happens. And I wonder if it's not, altogether in many ways, a more dynamic and lively learning environment than the traditional coven.

Blessed Be everyone,

Theflyingsorcerer.

[Ken Ra]

Snow Angel  .. Why not build one? Lots of people have. You want one for the right reasons. Hopefully you do not like dominating others or being dominated.  To be a good leader all you have to add is not allowing someone else to dominate your people.  Plenty of Hp's are willing to help you out with your building a group. Just let them know that that is what you want,  not them taking over. 

 

[ocean goddess]

I also am a solitary eclectic wiccan, and I love it this way..I tried church as a kid and never liked it, it always fealt off and never fit my feelings, when I came to wicca it just fit finally something made sence and how I felt finally had meaning, I love wicca, I love the freedom to learn many things and at my own pace, I love not having to have a schedual where I am required to attend a "meeting" on a weekly or monthly basis to "be" what I am, and most of all I love that even though life gets so hectic (im a mother of 3) and i rarely have me time to practice wicca,  or study I love the most that all it takes is one moment to gaze at the sky breath in the air feel the energy inside me and say goddess bless, and that that alone is enough to show i still stop to respect and thank the god/goddess for their gift of life. wicca is such a beautiful thing to me

blessed be  everyone