I dedicated myself to my spiritual path in the spring of 1987 and began a quest which has brought me to where I am today. While much of that path was experienced as a solitary practitioner, in my travels and studies I encountered countless other spiritual paths. Some were pagan; some were not. There were individuals who practiced on their own and those who gathered in covens, circles and churches. The majority of these paths were founded and forged by individuals that I respected for their personal ethics and the intent behind their work. Almost without exception, each path eventually began to experience serious problems. Churches split. Covens disintegrated and disbanded. Personal practices, including my own, began to crumble. It's natural for us to encounter rough patches on our spiritual paths and the challenges we face present us with opportunities to test our abilities and grow. The real problems don't occur when we face a difficult portion of our path. They begin to occur when we stray from the original intent that the path was created under.
When we alter course, a number of things happen in the spiritual realm. First of all, the energy we are using changes. Change is a healthy thing, an intimate part of life, but in magical spirituality, everything we create is built with energy. You cannot lay the foundation for a group or individual practice with one intent and stray from that intent and focus without creating significant dissonance. This dissonance can have many results. You will grow restless and uncertain with your practice. You'll discover that esbats, even sabbats, begin to slip by unobserved. If you're running a group, you'll discover the members begin to drift apart, that dissatisfied murmurs begin to be heard, and that individuals begin to leave. You may even decide to disband as this dissonance will effect not only the members, but the leadership as well.
There are two ways to repair the damage this dissonance creates. The first approach is to correct our course and return to the energy, intent and focus the path was original created to express. The second is to consciously and ritually sever all ties to the old path and begin a new approach from scratch.
To prevent this correction from being necessary, there are five laws which a Tradition or practice should be built upon, regardless of whether that Tradition embraces a single solitary's path or a network of covens and circles. While you can add amendments to these laws, they are designed to create a thriving, functioning practice that not only understands its own place within the Craft and the larger weave of reality, but also understands its role in interacting with the larger pagan community. I offer exceptions to much of what I teach, room for students and groups to find their own way, to express their diversity and uniqueness outside of the guidelines I offer. In this situation, I would council strongly that these laws be followed. They are designed to promote diversity, not suppress it. I've seen countless groups and solitary practices self-destruct or go through periods of distress that could be easily avoided. As I draw upon my experience and knowledge to rebuild my own solitary practice, create a Tradition in which to raise my children, and eventually found a Coven of my own, these are the laws that I will use as that foundation. Each approach - solitary, family, community - may require a different application of these laws. Each approach has a different intent, a different focus and thus, a different foundation. But in each, I will follow the laws shown here without exception.
The First Law: Time
Every pagan Tradition must incorporate a relevant method of measuring the passage of time. It's at the very core of what it means to be pagan. For most of us, this is expressed in the lunar cycle and the wheel of the year. The sabbats are more than just a handful of days where we gather to celebrate with ritual. Each of these days marks a significant moment in the solar calendar. As we move around the wheel of the year, the world around us changes. Winter's snows begin to melt, replaced by the green of spring. Spring turns to summer, the long days of summer giving way to the fading sunlight and rich harvests of fall. The weather begins to grow cold, the hours of darkness grow, and we slip once more into winter.
As pagans, we turn our eyes to the world around us, finding parallels between the cycles of the natural world and the patterns of growth in our own lives. Without a method of measuring time, we simply do not have the tools to understand how the world around us changes. It's one thing to note the difference in the world that occur from the spring equinox to the summer solstice; it's nearly impossible to do so without dividing the solar year into segments that we can observe and understand.
The Second Law: Focus
Every pagan path, regardless of whether it is the practice of a solitary witch or a well-established coven, must have a concrete focus for the establishment, development and evolution of the Tradition. Even a new practitioner should have a clear understanding of why they are beginning their initial year and a day, even if that focus is to merely explore the path they see before them. This focus should never change unless it is specifically and intentionally changed through ritual.
For example, if a coven's focus is to train its members in the craft, the group's very framework should be established to promote and nurture this focus. A precise training plan should be established and adhered to. As the membership begins to develop a strong base of knowledge and experience, perhaps an interest is expressed in performing outreach to the local pagan community. The members gather together, discuss their interests and decide that they are going to host a festival once a year and hold open sabbats at a local pagan bookstore.
While this would seem to be a natural evolution of what the group was founded to do, it's a change from the energy that was established. There will still be members within the coven who are serious about their training and the energies that were once devoted to their personal development will at best be divided. This will cause dissonance, no matter how subtle, and that dissonance will grow.
Each Tradition, regardless of whether it is a solitary practice or a large group, must have a single focus. Should this focus change, each member that follows that Tradition should be involved in that decision and the Tradition, as a whole, should perform a specific ritual, much like an initiation or dedication ceremony, that express and embraces that change. From that point until a different focus is ritually embraced, the Tradition should adhere to its new focus, even if it means completely setting aside the things the Tradition did previously.
The Third Law: Ritual
Every pagan Tradition must honor and celebrate through the use of ritual and ceremony. These do not have to be complex rites. The level of simplicity or complexity depends completely on the individuals and energy involved. However, these rituals must primarily be focused on three things. First of all, the rituals need to honor the method the Tradition has chose to measure the passage of time. Second, these rituals must be based on the focus that the Tradition was founded to promote. Third, the rituals must celebrate the personal milestones of both the individual practioner as well as the development and evolution of the group.
For instance, a family Tradition designed to raise children in their pagan beliefs of their parents might choose to celebrate both sabbats and esbats to mark the passage of time. Ritual would involve both instruction and nurturing, perhaps offering a non-judgmental forum for discussing problems within the boundaries of a cast circle and a rite where the issues are left between the worlds so that the family emerges unburdened and the conclusion of the ceremony. In addition to their regular rituals, personal milestones would be celebrated. These could be as obvious as the birth of a new child into the family or a son or daughter moving from childhood to adulthood. However, they may also choose to celebrate the award of a good grade in a particular subject through a ritual similar to what a student of the Craft would be honored with at the conclusion of their studies.
The Fourth Law: Ability
Each Tradition must develop a clear understanding of the abilities that grow from its focus. In the example of the training coven, this ability would be represented in the format, structure, materials, wisdom and knowledge that are inherent to any good training program. Where our family tradition is concerned, this may simply be a nurturing environment where individuals are encouraged to grow and explore who they are without judgment.
This becomes extremely important as any Tradition is limited by its focus. The training coven is not going to be particular adept at crafting tools as that isn't their focus. The family tradition won't be designed to offer the opportunity to publicly network with other pagans. This is where it becomes essential that we begin to reach out to each other as a community.
As individual practitioners and groups, we are severely limited in what we are capable of accomplishing. The focus of each Tradition is going to limit that particular path to specific things and, given time and effort, that Tradition will become adept at that focus. If we reached out to each other, we would be able to pool our skills, knowledge, wisdom and experience. The Craft as a whole would benefit from each of our gifts and our own interests and those of our coven members would be matched with Traditions who were specifically suited to address those interests. How much would a training coven benefit from bringing in solitaries who were adept at shamanism, divination, or tool-crafting to teach workshops or develop lessons on these topics? How much would those same solitaries benefit from being able to study with a group for a time and fill in the gaps in their own knowledge?
The Fifth Law: Gift
Each Tradition must determine the nature of its individual gift. This gift represents something that cannot be easily found outside the boundaries of the Tradition. If this gift does not exist, the individual members of that Tradition have absolutely no reason to lend their energy, time and effort to the Tradition's focus.
For instance, the gift of a solitary's Tradition may simply be the opportunity to specifically address the needs of their own individual growth. This gift doesn't have to be complex. But it must be present. The Tradition can never lose sight of what this gift is. It should be one of the Tradition's priorities, second only to that Tradition's chosen focus.
As the years have slowly passed, I've watched numerous Traditions flounder, struggle, and occasionally collapse. These five laws are a practical approach to address not only the problems that led to difficulties each Tradition faced, but also represent the strengths inherent in the best groups and solitary paths that I've seen. Use them not only as a framework for developing your own Tradition, but for measuring whether a coven or circle is right for you to join. If the leadership of a group is incapable of describing how their group addresses each of these five laws, then I would advise that you steer clear of that group. If you find a group that can not only answer to each of these five laws but who also promotes a path that you are strongly interested in, you may have just discovered your spiritual home.