Thanks for posting this Clay! I'm really glad this conversation is here. I know I'm not that active in the Pagan Tribe but I'm thinking about this sort of stuff all the time and i agree with all your book recommendations except for the ones I had never heard of which I will check out.
I've been practicing Paganism in one form or another for 23 years. In that time I've explored many paths both in a group or coven and solitary.
I'm not very accepting of outside authority but I really like the shared structure and sharing of ideas of a group. I also find, for myself that I experience a lot of growth and a greater understanding of my own practice when I'm teaching someone else. Several years ago I was feeling very stuck in my spiritual life and worked a spell to call "the teacher who would help me to the next stage of my spiritual development"
Within the next few months I made contact with half a dozen students new to the path who wanted me to teach them. I ended up priestessing a teaching coven for a year and a day and then we all ended up going our separate ways. It was quite an experience and I don't know who learned more, me or my students. I found that I was the teacher that I needed. I've since had other students and each one has been a growing experience for me as I find out more about what I believe.
The Book on Clays list, Twelve Wild Swans follows 3 parallel paths, beginner, intermediate and advanced. The beginning path is the basics, directional elements, wheel of the year and so on. The intermediate path shows how to integrate those basic ideas into your own spiritual practice. The third path asks us to bring that spiritual understanding back out into the world. Teaching is one way of doing that.
I've been practicing Paganism in one form or another for 23 years. In that time I've explored many paths both in a group or coven and solitary.
I'm not very accepting of outside authority but I really like the shared structure and sharing of ideas of a group. I also find, for myself that I experience a lot of growth and a greater understanding of my own practice when I'm teaching someone else. Several years ago I was feeling very stuck in my spiritual life and worked a spell to call "the teacher who would help me to the next stage of my spiritual development"
Within the next few months I made contact with half a dozen students new to the path who wanted me to teach them. I ended up priestessing a teaching coven for a year and a day and then we all ended up going our separate ways. It was quite an experience and I don't know who learned more, me or my students. I found that I was the teacher that I needed. I've since had other students and each one has been a growing experience for me as I find out more about what I believe.
The Book on Clays list, Twelve Wild Swans follows 3 parallel paths, beginner, intermediate and advanced. The beginning path is the basics, directional elements, wheel of the year and so on. The intermediate path shows how to integrate those basic ideas into your own spiritual practice. The third path asks us to bring that spiritual understanding back out into the world. Teaching is one way of doing that.
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