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Author Topic: a year and a day  (Read 2791 times)

LostSoul

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a year and a day
« on: December 07, 2014, 06:31:16 pm »
I've read that in order to become Wiccan, you must first study for "a year and a day"
study what exactly? Are there classes to take? Is it just reading books?
Someone help me understand please...

Valeria Crowe

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Re: a year and a day
« Reply #1 on: December 07, 2014, 07:17:08 pm »
Quote from: LostSoul;166944
I've read that in order to become Wiccan, you must first study for "a year and a day"
study what exactly? Are there classes to take? Is it just reading books?
Someone help me understand please...

 
Depends.

Wicca is broad. If you mean solitary, non-coven, neo-Wicca, there are no hard and fast rules, a year and a day is just a tradition.

If you mean coven-bound tradtional Wicca... well, if you were a member you'd ask our coven.

My suggestion: read the Wikipedia article on Wicca. Read it CLOSELY. Read the references and citations. Wiki crawl a bit.

That should take care of the basics, and leave you better able to know what to ask.
"This is a sorrow-spider. Which end do you hold it by? TRICK QUESTION!"

LostSoul

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Re: a year and a day
« Reply #2 on: December 07, 2014, 07:41:30 pm »
Quote from: Cuthwin Crowe;166950
Depends.

Wicca is broad. If you mean solitary, non-coven, neo-Wicca, there are no hard and fast rules, a year and a day is just a tradition.

If you mean coven-bound tradtional Wicca... well, if you were a member you'd ask our coven.

My suggestion: read the Wikipedia article on Wicca. Read it CLOSELY. Read the references and citations. Wiki crawl a bit.

That should take care of the basics, and leave you better able to know what to ask.


thank you very much. I am not sure if I want to be coven-based or solitary yet, I think it might be kinda neat to be in a coven and have real life relationships with other Wiccans and learn from them, but I would probably want my boyfriend to attend with me, but since he is non-practicing as of right now, I'm not sure what I want to do, if I want to talk to him and ask him to embark on this endeavor with me, or if I want to just go without him and do my own thing, or if solitary would better suit me. Ugh so many questions....  if I ask him to go with me, would that be considered trying to convert him? I know Wiccans are not supposed to try to convert others to our faith.

Valeria Crowe

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Re: a year and a day
« Reply #3 on: December 07, 2014, 07:55:38 pm »
Quote from: LostSoul;166952
thank you very much. I am not sure if I want to be coven-based or solitary yet, I think it might be kinda neat to be in a coven and have real life relationships with other Wiccans and learn from them, but I would probably want my boyfriend to attend with me, but since he is non-practicing as of right now, I'm not sure what I want to do, if I want to talk to him and ask him to embark on this endeavor with me, or if I want to just go without him and do my own thing, or if solitary would better suit me. Ugh so many questions....  if I ask him to go with me, would that be considered trying to convert him? I know Wiccans are not supposed to try to convert others to our faith.

 
If you do get a coven, ask them.

Failing that, respect his wishes and comfort zones. You sound like a nice couple, and nothing breaks those apart like not respecting boundaries.
"This is a sorrow-spider. Which end do you hold it by? TRICK QUESTION!"

Jenett

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Re: a year and a day
« Reply #4 on: December 07, 2014, 08:56:42 pm »
Quote from: LostSoul;166944
I've read that in order to become Wiccan, you must first study for "a year and a day"
study what exactly? Are there classes to take? Is it just reading books?
Someone help me understand please...

 
There's a couple of things you might find useful to untangle.

First, people use the term 'Wicca' in a bunch of different ways: in traditional Wicca, there are a series of things you learn and experiences you need to have in order to be a member of the tradition. (One of them is initiation into the tradition.)

I have a website that has a lot of introductory material that might help you sort out some terms. I usually suggest people start with the Basics section (http://gleewood.org/seeking/basics/) which talks about different ways people use terms, and a lot of people have found the "Different ways the term Wicca is used" article particularly helpful.

On this forum, people usually try to make it clear whether they're talking about traditional (initiatory) Wicca, initiatory witchcraft in other traditions, solitary practice derived from Wicca, or something else rather than lumping it all in as Wicca as a lot of other places (and resources) sometimes do. It can be a bit confusing when you start, but it makes for much better conversations over time.

On to your actual question!

One of the reasons definitions matter is that how someone looks at a year and a day is going to depend on what their practice is and why it's like that. In a coven setting, a year gives people in the coven a chance to be sure someone is a good fit with the group, and it gives the person learning about the coven a chance to make sure they trust the group and are comfortable enough to do some challenging things in ritual (as many initiation rituals involve).

It also means - in a ritual cycle that takes a year to complete - that someone has experienced all of the Sabbats and esbats before making a commitment to the path.

That also applies to solitary learners, just as much as covens, but depending on the person, they might need more time to learn than someone in a coven with structured classes (and help if someone gets stuck). Or they might cover the basic concepts more quickly than a coven would, but need time to digest what it means in practice.

I have essays on why the year and a day custom got started, and then an example of what I'd include in training in my tradition that might both be of interest to you.

(Note that I identify my own practice as initiatory religious witchcraft, rather than Wicca, in large part because I think we're working with different core religious mysteries than Wicca does, but our training is similar in terms of the kinds of things covered by a lot of training groups, covens, and teachers)

Glad to talk more about the content there here, the essays are mostly so I can point at larger more complex things that were written when I had the chance to edit/organise/etc. what I was writing, rather than on the fly, like in a forum post.
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Jenett

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Re: a year and a day
« Reply #5 on: December 07, 2014, 09:12:26 pm »
Quote from: LostSoul;166952
Ugh so many questions....  if I ask him to go with me, would that be considered trying to convert him? I know Wiccans are not supposed to try to convert others to our faith.


In traditional Wicca and a number of other coven-focused practices, initiates (full members) are there to do the work of the Gods, using some specific methods. That's something that takes time, training, and trust on the part of everyone involved, and that doesn't work well with guests. Or with people who don't want to be there for their own well-considered reasons.

(Plus, a coven might be a great fit for *you*, but that exact same place might or might not be a great fit for your boyfriend, for all sorts of perfectly good reasons - you're different people, with different personal histories, skills, talents, and interests. Healthy covens generally require couples interested in joining to be considered individually for a variety of reasons - again, essay with more thoughts on my website.)

However, many covens will have some rituals during the year at which guests are welcome, or guests are welcome at the social part after ritual, but not the ritual itself. How this works varies a lot group to group.

Other options people do with partners are going to larger community events (open rituals, festivals, Pagan Pride events, etc.) where they can share some experiences or practices, but there's more space for diversity of practice and views.

Lots of people build some personal religious practices together as a household (often including things like holiday traditions, a weekly date night with some specific magical or ritual touches, etc.) that are separate from their coven practice, too, and that can be a good way to share things with a partner who doesn't share your entirely religious life.

Finally, asking someone if they'd like to join you isn't trying to convert them - as long as you take a "No thanks." for an answer and don't push further. (And there are certainly lots of people who are interested in their partner's religious life, because it matters to their partner, but who don't want to convert or change their own practices.)
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LostSoul

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Re: a year and a day
« Reply #6 on: December 08, 2014, 11:09:59 am »
Quote from: Jenett;166970
I have a website that has a lot of introductory material that might help you sort out some terms. I usually suggest people start with the Basics section (http://gleewood.org/seeking/basics/) which talks about different ways people use terms, and a lot of people have found the "Different ways the term Wicca is used" article particularly helpful.


Thank you! I will check it out!


Quote
I have essays on why the year and a day custom got started, and then an example of what I'd include in training in my tradition that might both be of interest to you.

(Note that I identify my own practice as initiatory religious witchcraft, rather than Wicca, in large part because I think we're working with different core religious mysteries than Wicca does, but our training is similar in terms of the kinds of things covered by a lot of training groups, covens, and teachers)

Glad to talk more about the content there here, the essays are mostly so I can point at larger more complex things that were written when I had the chance to edit/organise/etc. what I was writing, rather than on the fly, like in a forum post.

Thank you again!

Quote from: Jenett;166972


(Plus, a coven might be a great fit for *you*, but that exact same place might or might not be a great fit for your boyfriend, for all sorts of perfectly good reasons - you're different people, with different personal histories, skills, talents, and interests. Healthy covens generally require couples interested in joining to be considered individually for a variety of reasons - again, essay with more thoughts on my website.)

Thank you. I hadn't considered that.


Quote
Lots of people build some personal religious practices together as a household (often including things like holiday traditions, a weekly date night with some specific magical or ritual touches, etc.) that are separate from their coven practice, too, and that can be a good way to share things with a partner who doesn't share your entirely religious life.  


That sounds interesting and like fun. Maybe I'll see if my guy wants to do something like that. Thank you!

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