Moderation, negotiation and compromise are most definitely essential, especially on issues that are so divisive, such as abortion and animal rights. (In the UK gun control is not so much of an issue, though, as pretty much everyone agrees with it.) On the first two, my own views on the sacredness of life very much colour my opinions, but I would be loath to try and impose them on others.
Presumably in order to know if a soul exists, we have to first understand what one’s actually supposed to be. We can all too easily get bogged down in words and definitions though. To me, the soul is simply the thing that animates matter and infuses it with the life-force. It’s not actually a word I use very much as it has far too many religious connotations that I don’t wish to express with it. I prefer spirit.
My experiences in Paganism have been very numerous and varied. I first became interested at school, and began going to moots, as they’re called, pretty much as soon as I moved back home, when I was 18. A moot is a fairly informal gathering of Pagans to which members of the public, those who are interested or just curious, are welcome. They generally take place in a pub function room, hired for the evening, and are usually fortnightly or monthly. Often, they will have a speaker for the evening, talking about some subject of interest to Pagans, or sometimes they will have a workshop or demonstration, and sometimes nothing at all. Most big cities, at least in the UK, have an established moot, sometimes more than one.
There is nothing secret about moots, and the moot leaders usually go out of their way to publicise them as much as possible, especially online. It’s at the moots, if you become a regular, that you get to know other Pagans in person, and start finding out about the groups they’re in, which are often a lot more secretive. There are quite a lot of different types of Pagans, but the most common are Wiccans, Druids and Heathens. Wiccan groups are called covens, Druid groups groves, and Heathens don’t seem to have groups in quite the same sort of way, but have meetings called blots, I think (I’m not an expert there). Druids are into Celtic mythology and Heathens into Norse mythology. Wiccans are more eclectic but Celtic seems to be the most popular there too. What I’m saying here grossly simplifies it all, of course.
I was invited to attend meetings of a Wiccan coven. In the room where they met, at the home of the high priestess, they had four candles at North, East, South and West. In the North there was also an altar, with various items of equipment on it, such as a wooden disc called a pentacle, a sword, a knife called an athame, and a chalice. At the start of the meeting the high priestess cast the circle by walking round it and sprinkling a bit of salt water on the participants. Four chosen people would call the quarters in by standing in front of the candles and calling in the guardians of the North (etc.) to watch over the meeting, and these were said farewell to at the end in the same way. After each calling we all repeated the words “so mote it be”. Then came the actual meeting itself, which was usually some sort of spellcasting, such as for healing. There was also sometimes a pathworking, which is a guided meditation, and the high priestess sometimes consulted the tarot about something. Then they passed round cakes on the pentacle, and wine in the chalice.
The role of individuals within the group varied quite a lot. There was the high priestess, who had set it up. The four quarter callers had the next most important roles, though these could vary each time. In practice they didn’t much, as there were rarely more than about six or seven people present altogether.
Ok, that covers my own introduction to Wicca. As I said before, I gradually came to realise that it was not going to be my chosen path. I’m conscious now of the rather lengthy nature of the above, so will leave it till next time, if you want to hear more!
Yes, Jacqui’s voice is lovely, and perfect for the genre. And yes indeed, I very much like Water Bearer too.
Here’s Maddy Prior.
youtube.com/watch?v=GFWzPiGHd_Y
My own opinion is that you don’t need to see to be able to grasp the nature of human interactions, but, as you say, it may be that I’m grasping something different about them, if only subtly.