Teacher wanted
MistWolf
B.A. Davis-Howe
These are my general recommendations to anyone seeking a teacher in any of the
neo-pagan traditions (paganism is NOT one monolithic religion) or any magical
discipline:
1) Read--lots. Different sources have different perspectives. Pay attention
to how different books disagree; figure out why they disagree; then figure out
what you believe and why.
2) Practice--regularly. When a path seems like it appeals to you, try some of
the practices. See if they work for you.
3) Talk to others. Whether they are more experienced, less experienced, or
just about as experienced as you are, you can learn from interacting with them.
I learn some of my most important lessons from my students. Don't accept
everything someone else says, no matter what fancy titles they have, or what
powers they have (or, more often, claim to have). If someone feels wrong for
you, or pressures you to do something which feels wrong for you, run--don't
walk--to the nearest exit. They may just be on a different path from yours,
but they are someone you shouldn't be hanging around.
4) Don't believe that you *need* a teacher. I don't take students that think
they can't learn their Craft without me--most other sane teachers won't either.
A teacher is only a way to speed up the process--at best. Trust yourself, and
you will find that your best teacher is yourself.
Good luck!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Enjoy the journey!
--Br'anArthur
Queer, Peculiar, and Wyrd! :-)
*****************************************************************************
Intolerant minds don't want to know. --JJObermark
Joseph Traub
>These are my general recommendations to anyone seeking a teacher in any of the
>neo-pagan traditions (paganism is NOT one monolithic religion) or any magical
>discipline:
[most of recommendations deleted, in general good ideas]
>3) Talk to others. Whether they are more experienced, less
>experienced, or just about as experienced as you are, you can learn
>from interacting with them. I learn some of my most important
>lessons from my students. Don't accept everything someone else says,
>no matter what fancy titles they have, or what powers they have (or,
>more often, claim to have). If someone feels wrong for you, or
>pressures you to do something which feels wrong for you, run--don't
>walk--to the nearest exit. They may just be on a different path from
>yours, but they are someone you shouldn't be hanging around.
This is the only part that I really had any problems with. There is
a difference between something 'feeling' wrong, and something being wrong
for you, and it's something that is glossed over and hidden away by a large
number of books on mystical subjects (by no means all, but the indeed by
the majority which I personally have read). A lot of times something that
'feels' wrong might simply feel that way because of societal conditioning,
not because the concept is either right or wrong, and a lot of teachers,
books, and other learning material will DELIBERATELY challenge those
assumptions about the world by presenting you with ideas that initially
'feel' wrong, but might have a great deal of validity once thought out and
through in a rational and dedicated manner. Only reject something AFTER
you have thought it through and made sure that it disagrees with your
fundamental beliefs. Acting as Bran suggests above is a highly emotional
reaction, and in fact could lead you to miss what might otherwise be an
interesting lesson and look into your own perceptions about words, actions,
thoughts, and the connotations thereof.
[rest deleted]
Blessed Be.
--JT (Amythyst on IRC occasionally)
--
[]-------------------------------------------------------------------------[]
[] Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty --Anonymous []
[] Argue for your limitations and sure enough they're yours --Richard Bach []
[] It may be my fault, but it's not my problem -- Shell Simpson []
Maha Blanchard
: Interested in paganism, seeking a teacher.. Please help. :)
:
: Jamie
: Mist...@io.org
You've asked the USENET, but have you asked the UNIVERSE? eh? Try it
you'll like it. (Caution, flames from the universe tend to be a tich
harsher than from the usenet.)
--
More coffee anyone?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Sleeping Beagle Tavern, Dano Blanchard, proprietor / mbb...@u.cc.utah.edu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
S91...@mailserv.cuhk.hk
>From: mbb...@u.cc.utah.edu (Maha Blanchard)
>Subject: Re: Teacher wanted
>Date: 5 Oct 1993 22:35:17 -0600
Karl Lembke
MI>Newsgroups: alt.magic, alt.magick, alt.pagan,
MI>talk.religion.newage, talk.religion.misc
MI>Organization: Internex Online - Toronto, Canada (416) 363-3783
MI>Message-ID: <28q507$n...@ionews.io.org>
MI>Interested in paganism, seeking a teacher.. Please help. :)
MI>Jamie
MI>Mist...@io.org
MI> * Origin: gated usenet/mcws.fidonet.org (213)256-8371 (1:102/851)
Are you in Toronto or Los Angeles?
* SLMR 2.1a * Gravity brings me down.