The first steps are :- talking with an existing member about the nature of our tradition and how we work as a coven, and coming along to at least three of our open meetings, not necessarily in that order.
If you like what you hear and experience, you will need to sit down with one of us to go through our written groundrules. Please ensure that you understand and are comfortable with all of them. This is also an opportunity for mutual exploration of topics such as Goddess, witchcraft, relationship to the Land, personal transformation, etc - so that we can develop a foundation of mutual understanding. (If it is all very new to you - don't panic! - we all had to start somewhere!)
Should you decide to go ahead and join our coven, you will be ceremonially welcomed in on Wednesday 8th December. As part of this ceremony, all coven members are asked to commit themselves to the nine month journey through the closed part of our coven cycle. You will need to have bought or made a simple brown or green robe in time for this ceremony.
You will then be allocated a mentor, drawn by
lot, to assist you in planning your own induction programme to help you
become fluent with key aspects of the EarthDreaming tradition. This induction
process may take between three months and a year, depending upon your prior
experience and how intensively you wish to work. The minimum time commitment
to this training process (in addition to regular coven activities) is approximately
two hours per month with your mentor or other experienced coven members.
Induction of New Coven Members into the Tradition.
In addition to participation in regular coven meetings and rituals, new members of the coven are expected to commit themselves to a personalised induction programme involving a series of meetings with their allotted mentor or other experienced members of the coven. (??? Minimum commitment is one session of two hours per month, or equivalent ???)
The process
Upon making the decision to join the coven, each individual will be allocated a mentor by drawing lots from among those coveners recognised by the coven as being suitable mentors.
Potential mentors must be nominated by someone other than themselves and accepted as competent to mentor by general acclaim. Any covener has the right to refuse to mentor on the grounds that they themselves do not feel ready, or have too many other commitments. (However, long-term members of the tradition are expected to make themselves available at some point to pass the tradition on). Mentors for the forthcoming cycle will be identified during the Creativa quarter, and ritually empowered at the Spring Equinox (Via Transformativa) ritual.
As soon as is practical, the new covener is expected to meet with their allotted mentor to discuss their personal needs and prior experience. Together they will design an induction programme to suit the new covener's personal learning style. Depending upon the individual, such a programme might include discussion, reading, skills practice sessions with the mentor or another experienced member of the coven, participation in specific coven meetings, etc.
The new covener and her or his allotted mentor are expected to report back periodically to the coven during the regular check-in time so that everyone is aware of what is planned / happening.
Induction should be complete by the end of the first year of participation in the coven. However, there are no sanctions if it takes a little longer in some instances, and some individuals may be able complete it within the first three months.
Upon completion of the induction process, coveners may, if they wish, pursue further mentoring in the Earth Witch sphere, ??? by mutual agreement with a coven-endorsed mentor. ????
Mentoring in the EarthDreaming tradition is a sacred process, and should be respected as such by all parties. The contributions of mentors and the achievements of those in mentoring will be ritually acknowledged and celebrated each year at the festival of Seedfall (during the open period.)
Content
The induction programme should cover the following topics:-
Understanding and experience of
ï Drawing Down the Moon
ï the four Paths of Transformation
ï the God
ï relationship with the Land
ï the Wheel of the Year
ï the World Tree
ï Snake, Frog and Magpie
ï the EarthDreaming Primal Powers
ï the Elements
ï personal transformation and healing
ï Sensing, sending and receiving energy
ï Visualisation
ï Tree of Life *
ï Cleansing using water and fire *
ï Entering trance and grounding afterwards
ï Conscious yearning
ï Pentagrams*
ï Invocation*
ï All aspects of circle casting including above *
ï Co-creation and co-facilitation of a working
ï role of the facilitator or facilitating priest/ess
ï conflict resolution
ï EarthDreaming initiation and mentoring pathways
By the end of the induction programme (to be completed by the end of the first year in the coven) we expect that the new EarthDreaming covener...
... will have discusssed with their allotted mentor or other experienced covener(s) their personal experience and understanding of what it means to
- commune with Goddess;
- deepen in relationship with the Land, and
- celebrate its cycles;
- undergo personal transformation;
- move our altar around the circle
- begin rituals and workings with the Tree of Life
- cast a circle (cleanse with water & fire, dance, conjure, pentagrams)
- do the EarthDreaming chant
- invoke the Goddess at every meeting
- invoke the God
- call upon the spirits and guardians of this land
- invoke Snake, Frog and Magpie
- identify the role of the facilitator or facilitating priest/ess in
... will be able to name and identify each of the six seasons on the EarthDreaming shield, and describe
- their approximate timing... and will know what they want to do about further mentoring and initiations in the EarthDreaming tradition.
- presiding Ancestor Spirit or Primal Power
- and correspondance to the cycle of human growth and creativity