I’m a bit of a geek about Pagan identity and solidarity. I hold to the fact that we must define
ourselves lest scholars and journalists do it for us and we disagree with how
they’ve done that defining.
For some years the designation of “solitary” practitioner of
the Craft has bothered me. Not because
it’s not valid; it is. Rather because it
overlooks other Witches who work neither in a coven nor alone. (I’m talking about Witches here, not any
other manifestation of Paganism.)
I’ve been a member of the Covenant
of the Goddess (CoG) since 1981.[1] When I joined, I was part of Holy
Terrors coven. However, like
anything else, covens have life spans, and some are longer than others. When I left that coven, which eventually
dissolved, I maintained by CoG membership, except that I had to change my
membership type to “solitary.”
There were good reasons for CoG to have that category of
membership when it was founded in 1975 – another
era entirely when it comes to Craft and Paganism in general! Some Witches are self-initiated, which I
recognize as valid. Some really do
prefer to work alone.
Then when it comes to surveys of Pagans, we may be given
dozens of identifications from which to choose, and one of them is “solitary.” My point in writing this is to expand our
thinking about Witchen identity and those who practice it.
I maintain my membership in CoG under the designation “solitary”
because that’s the only option other than coven member. However, I am not a solitary
practitioner. I rarely work alone. Further, I suspect others called solitaries
are not necessarily Witches who work alone.
The term I’ve settled on for now for Witches like me who belong to no
group in particular but who work, make magic, and celebrate the sabbats with
others is “floater.” (I suppose we could
call ourselves “besom flyers.”)
Here are some of the reasons people call themselves
“solitary” Witches:
«
The Witch is between working groups. She[2]
may have belonged to a coven or covens in the past. She may have left for any number of reasons,
or the coven itself may have dissolved, having lived out its lifespan. Her preference is to work within a coven, but
she isn’t doing so at the moment.
«
The Witch has been seeking another coven, but
hasn’t yet found the right one, the one best suited to her proclivities,
interests, and social skills. Being
temporarily covenless, she is a “solitary.”
«
The Witch has experimented with circles and
other groups, such as a CUUPS congregation, yet has not chosen to commit to a
coven, per se, or to a tradition.
«
The Witch is deep in the broom closet, wary of
revealing her religion to others. This
may be because she lives in a place where she feels she would be vulnerable to
the disapproval of others in her neighborhood, school, workplace. or other
social grouping. Whether this is a realistic
assumption on her part is not my place to decide; however, we do have a
Constitution, the First Amendment of which guarantees religious freedom in this
country. In the day-to-day lives of
some, in some regions of the country and in some communities, conformity with
the dominant religions in that area and intolerance of different expressions of
spirituality and religion are the norms.
When such is the case, how can one be expected to find other Witches? Of course, the existence of the Internet has
opened up possibilities for the unaffiliated
«
The Witch has been declined admission to one or
more groups or has been kicked out, for whatever reason(s).
«
The Witch is socially maladroit. Or, like me,
«
The Witch works with various groups here and
there, depending upon the purpose of the ritual and the circumstances. Hence, she is a “floater” or “besom flyer.”
I celebrate the sabbats with an individual coven or other
circle, or with a tradition in a rituals performed for the public.
If I have some particular personal ritual I need or want to
perform, I can always find collaborators from among my Witchen friends. One example of this is when I created a ritual
for a daughter recently released from rehab.
I designed this rite using the story of the return of Persephone from
the Underworld and back into the arms of her mother Demeter. In attendance were the mother and sister of
the young woman as well as some of her close friends. Each left with a novena candle bearing an
image of Persephone that was consecrated in the ritual and taken home to be
fired up if and when ‘Persephone’ felt she needed extra support and
reinforcement
LEADERSHIP
A related question is whether a “solitary” can be a
leader. The answer is a resounding
yes. Obviously one who works alone has
no coven to lead. Nevertheless, leaders
seem to emerge when there’s a need regardless of formal membership in any
organization, or even affiliation of any kind.
Par exemplum, I
can name other Witches who lead, and cite examples. However, the examples I know best come from my
own life so I’ll offer a few.
In my case, I’m a leader in the sense that I have led, and sometimes
still do, yet I am not leading a group of any kind. I design and perform
marriages, seinings, menarche rites, memorials, house blessings, partings/divorces,
adoptions, and other rituals for Witches, Pagans, and others. As mentioned above, I can always round up
collaborators. Below find three examples
of different kinds of leading without a group.
«
For the most recent Parliament of the World’s Religions
in Salt Lake City last October, I produced a quite substantial performance
ritual using glorious masks of different goddesses created by Lauren Raine. This undertaking required skilled priestesses
from many places around the U.S. and beyond; 13 wore masks, three
narrator/storytellers, singers and musicians, technical work, and other support
people.
«
I frequently participate in interfaith
activities in which I’m viewed as an authority on my religion. In such cases, I have to emphasize our
diversity, the fact that we have no sacred text containing our “laws,” and that
I can only speak for myself. I offer to
seek out representatives of specific Pagan religions (a Druid, for instance)
whom they may query.
«
Third and most significant, last summer I
performed an initiation of a young man I’ve been working with for the past four
years. Although I am currently unaffiliated with any particular
tradition, I remain oath-bound to my sisters and brothers of the art. The time had come for this person to take
that step, too. So I recruited two other
priestesses of various traditions (Order of the Temple of Astarte in LA in
1970s; Feraferia [not specifically
Craft]; TOTEG [Temple of the Elder Gods]; Reclaiming; Faery/Feri; Gardnerian; CAW
[Church of All Worlds]).[3] In addition to the pre-initiation
challenge(s) I gave him, I solicited from each of my collaborators a challenge
for him to complete before the rite.
Then I designed a ritual of initiation that I wanted, and performed
it. He doesn’t really have an
affiliation or membership in what we would call a tradition, per se, but he is
the first of what I am calling the “NightMare Line.” I feel really good
about that, and so did everyone else involved. But, hey, I’m a
‘solitary.’ :-)
So I guess I, and other Witches in similar situations or of
similar temperaments, don’t really fit more standard descriptions. I
leave it to the reader to decide if this qualifies as leadership -- at least
until the Pagan world changes from what it is now, and, as we say, “She changes
everything She touches, and everything She touches changes.”
(Thanks to Gwendolyn
Reese for the prompt to explore this topic.)
[1] CoG has confronted changes within the
Craft and within various social and political realities that did not exist when
it was founded, with various degrees of awkwardness and some success. This writing is not about CoG.
[2] I’m using the singular pronoun for
females because that’s what I am and it’s easier. Reader can translate as she feels necessary.
[3] All this in only three seasoned
priestesses!
