Subject:Re: TempleManyDirections (*)
From: (address deleted)
To: (member address deleted)
CC: (address deleted)
Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000 20:17:10 EST
_________________________________________________________________
Dear (name deleted),
Thank you for your pleasant response. I read the commentary on the site and feel the need for a little rebuttal so that we understand each other even better.
> ... True, $ 12.50/ hour of classtime, is not an outrageous fee for adult
> ... education, generally speaking. But teaching religion is a little
> ... different, than teaching accounting. It's not a matter of simply
> ... teaching skills, or even ideas that the student may find useful, but one
> ... of service to the gods, and the establishment of a connection
> ... between the student and the deity.
Whoops! Time out! Guess what? We do not teach religion. We do not teach service to the gods. Our path is based in magick... not mythology. We do not collectively worship one patheon or devote any public worship whatsoever to "The Lord & The Lady". That is not part of our tradition. It is up to each individual to privately reconcile themselves with deity. A lot of Wiccans might find this truly apalling and scream "Heresy!". That's OK, because we are comfortable being Heretical Wiccans.
The class that costs $500 (or $400 if you pay it all upfront) is a class in MAGICK. We teach the foundations of magick, the elements of magick, the cycles of magick, the techniques of magick and the working of magick. I suppose if you had to catagorize the Temple's brand of Wicca, you could call us Earth-centered Ceremonial Magicians. Our public worship is directed to the 4 Elements and to Spirit.
Of course, after being thoroughly trained in Magick, you then know all the basics necessary for practicing our religion. Religion cannot be taught. Religion must be experienced. What is learned at the classes can then be practiced and experienced at our Moon and Sabbat rituals which are religious services. But, nobody is charging anybody for teaching religion. We share the experience of religion together and pay our dues to support the temporal expenses necessary to continue to provide this spiritual experience for our members and guests.
You might be surprised to know that we have had a significant percentage of people take the class who are not Wiccan and never intend to become Wiccan. They want the knowledge and the training... but not the path because they are forging their own path and the Class in Magick gives them the methods and techniques for doing so successfully. That is fine with us. You get what you pay for. A student can choose to be initiated into the Temple of the Many Directions tradition or not at the end of the 5 months of the class. The Priestess teaching the class also has the right to refuse to initiate a student for cause.
> ... The defense is offered, that students won't tend to value, that which
> ... they get for free, and that's probably true, and it's a real problem,
> ... given the curiosity seekers who wander through Paganism in serious
> ... numbers. But one can make them pay in time invested, simply by assigning
> ... reading, and talking with them afterwards, to make sure that they've
> ... been doing their reading. Or, maybe by having them do volunteer
> ... work, on behalf of the group's projects.
> ... But money?
I doubt that anyone who hasn't committed time and money toward their training will DO any assigned reading. And, why would I want to waste my precious time coaching someone who may or may not show up for classes and who may or may not do assignments? When people have paid money... they show up unless they have a conflict they can't get out of. If a student isn't willing to make a sacrifice of time and money, I doubt they will ever follow-thru and get the most out of their "free" training. If you don't value the training you give, you're students won't value it either.
Our teachers (who are all priestesses, by the way) spend many unpaid hours organizing, rehearsing and conducting Moon and Sabbat rituals, talking on the phone with students, coaching new members for ritual celebrant roles, cooking and shopping for festivals, hiring muscians, composing ad materials and orders of worship, running to Kinkos at midnight the day before Yule, etc. etc. etc. Most of us also have 40 hr/wk full-time jobs, families and the need for some quiet time to devote to our personal spiritual practices... to living magickally. It is not too much to expect to be paid for teaching classes. Sharing our spirituality with us at rituals costs nothing, except the requested guest donation to cover expenses.
I value the training I received. If a potential student values being trained, he/she will find a way to budget for the classes. At only $25/class, I think most people could sacrifice buying a couple of CDs a week to afford it. And, remember, whatever you put out comes back to you 3-fold. From that perspective, paying a teacher with gratitude for the value of what has been taught might cosmically ensure money owed to the student is paid or that money deserved is paid in the future. It's a win-win situation. Our magick works!
KassadyReturn to the previous page.
(*) Format slight changed for ease in reading. Content un-altered, aside from the names being changed.