Wicca is Mystery Religion
by Adam 3*~ Alexandrian Elder from Amber and Jet
Wicca is a Mystery Religion.
It¹s a small statement with far-reaching implications, so don¹t dismiss it out of hand.
Mystery Religions (or for those who prefer, Mystery Schools/Traditions) are aimed at
bringing the supplicant to a point of comprehension which CANNOT be explained.
You can't 'get it' from books. You can't talk someone else through it. You can¹t even
begin to really accurately or adequately describe what you're trying to bring the person
Œto¹. You can talk around the Mystery, you can make veiled allusions to the Mystery,
but only one who has been brought *into* the Mystery (e.g. an initiate), will even begin t
o be able to approach it.
Wicca is a Mystery Religion.
You can't explain the central core of it, you can only talk around it. You can¹t be an initiate of it
unless you¹ve actually been initiated. All of the above applies.
The Mystery Religions/Schools/Traditions have been around for as long as humankind has been human. Primitive Rites of
Passage conferred Initiatory `rites on societal members which were intended to induce or introduce the change from one life
stage to another by providing the experiences which would trigger the psychological and spiritual forces in the individual to
forcefully remove them from the prior life stage and rebuild the psyche into an appropriate model for the new one. Most
commonly, childhood to adulthood.
We have no social Mysteries anymore. Well, no socially-endorsed Mysteries. We have no culturally-defining mythological
stages which help us to grow and acclimate to the differing social life stages. Our culture isn¹t wired to accept the model of
learning which a Mystery School requires.
We are used to being presented with something external, checking it against our own internal mode of behavior and acting, and
deciding whether or not to take it in based on how well we fit. That kind of analytical judgment is rather useful to us, and it does
have a place in Wicca in allowing us to know whether or not we will attempt to participate or not.
However, that only gets you so far. BTW requires that once you¹ve made that decision you will set aside the cultural modes of
behavior that are natural to us nowadays and to adopt a mode more commonly found in historical learning environments. The
supplicant comes before the teacher, and it is the teacher who now judges where the supplicant is in relationship to where the
Mystery can be encountered. The teacher guides the student there, and the Degrees bring the energies to bear which we all hope
will
trigger the actual inner initiatory experience.
Read that again. We teacher-types try to get our student types to the point where they *may* be able to encounter and integrate
Mystery. We can't control whether they do or not, we can only remove as many variables from the equation as possible and
check with our Higher Powers and Inner Powers on how best to do that.
Then what happens is that we give the new Initiate time. Time for the energies of the degrees to settle out, as we call it, so that if
the Mystery has been encountered then the changes will come from the inside and work themselves outside. Since we can¹t be
there when they (get it), or when the Gods give them the divinely inspired flash of insight that brings understanding and integration
(called an Epiphany by some), we can¹t even be sure that our students got what *we* got.
However, we do know from those who have gone before us what a 'typical' range of responses will be like when the student is
hitting the same Mysteries and is actually called to this specific Path. We also know what responses are decidedly outside that
'acceptable' range, and we take things from there as needed.
One of the first things initiates need to learn how to do is to master the art of being able to submit to the guidance of our
teachers, then submit to the guidance of our Gods, then submit to the guidance of our hearts which (by that time) are filled with
the legacy of our teachers and our Gods. BUT! We¹re not training sheep, we're training priests and priestesses. Submission
needs to be tempered with the judicious use of Will, the judicious use of our own insights vs. those of others, and the judicious
ability to turn aside from the well-worn path from time to time when necessary to do what we as individuals need to do to get to
the place our hearts, past, and Gods are leading us.
It takes trust. It takes practice. We¹ll make mistakes. Lots of em. And then somehow, if this is for you, you wake up one day
and realize... wow... I'm starting to get it. Of course, that¹s just training. Once you 'get it' you most often get a whole new set of
instructions...
The Seeker has to want it. The Seeker has to prove that they want it. The Teacher can accept, refuse, or accept and then later
refuse to continue teaching their students. The Teacher is the priestly representative of the Gods, and they have a pretty well-
defined job to do with several well-defined tools to do it with. Time is one of them. So is our own discretionary judgment.
No one is 'entitled' to anything in this religion. There is no point of 'arrival' where you no longer need to maintain your devotion
and behavior. There is no point where you can suddenly 'do things your way'. You don't sign up to be the earthly representative
of powerful Deific Forces because you want to do things *your* way. When you sign on the dotted line, you're agreeing to do
things *Their* way.
No one gets to just demand stuff of the Wicca and then expect that understanding is going to ever be handed to them. If that¹s
what you want, seek elsewhere, but so long as you are here you play by our rules... or we¹ll end the game for you. We get no
pay in money. We get no fame and fortune. We get no great status in the world at large. We don't care whether you like us or
not. We don¹t care whether you throw a temper tantrum or not. We only care that we are doing the best we possibly can... the
best
we can by our teachers, by our Gods, by our Craft, by our Coven, and by Ourselves. If we make sure that those are firmly in
place, then we are by very definition doing the best we can by our Students.
And that¹s really all that we BTW teaching-types *have* to worry about. If all of this rubs you the wrong way, then so sorry,
you¹re in the wrong place and looking for something that you won¹t find in this corner of the spiritual pond. Best of luck to
you in your endeavors, now if you could step out of the way, there are others who *do* want to be here, and our duty is to
them, not you.
by Adam 3*~ Alexandrian Elder from Amber and Jet
Wicca is a Mystery Religion.
It¹s a small statement with far-reaching implications, so don¹t dismiss it out of hand.
Mystery Religions (or for those who prefer, Mystery Schools/Traditions) are aimed at
bringing the supplicant to a point of comprehension which CANNOT be explained.
You can't 'get it' from books. You can't talk someone else through it. You can¹t even
begin to really accurately or adequately describe what you're trying to bring the person
Œto¹. You can talk around the Mystery, you can make veiled allusions to the Mystery,
but only one who has been brought *into* the Mystery (e.g. an initiate), will even begin t
o be able to approach it.
Wicca is a Mystery Religion.
You can't explain the central core of it, you can only talk around it. You can¹t be an initiate of it
unless you¹ve actually been initiated. All of the above applies.
The Mystery Religions/Schools/Traditions have been around for as long as humankind has been human. Primitive Rites of
Passage conferred Initiatory `rites on societal members which were intended to induce or introduce the change from one life
stage to another by providing the experiences which would trigger the psychological and spiritual forces in the individual to
forcefully remove them from the prior life stage and rebuild the psyche into an appropriate model for the new one. Most
commonly, childhood to adulthood.
We have no social Mysteries anymore. Well, no socially-endorsed Mysteries. We have no culturally-defining mythological
stages which help us to grow and acclimate to the differing social life stages. Our culture isn¹t wired to accept the model of
learning which a Mystery School requires.
We are used to being presented with something external, checking it against our own internal mode of behavior and acting, and
deciding whether or not to take it in based on how well we fit. That kind of analytical judgment is rather useful to us, and it does
have a place in Wicca in allowing us to know whether or not we will attempt to participate or not.
However, that only gets you so far. BTW requires that once you¹ve made that decision you will set aside the cultural modes of
behavior that are natural to us nowadays and to adopt a mode more commonly found in historical learning environments. The
supplicant comes before the teacher, and it is the teacher who now judges where the supplicant is in relationship to where the
Mystery can be encountered. The teacher guides the student there, and the Degrees bring the energies to bear which we all hope
will
trigger the actual inner initiatory experience.
Read that again. We teacher-types try to get our student types to the point where they *may* be able to encounter and integrate
Mystery. We can't control whether they do or not, we can only remove as many variables from the equation as possible and
check with our Higher Powers and Inner Powers on how best to do that.
Then what happens is that we give the new Initiate time. Time for the energies of the degrees to settle out, as we call it, so that if
the Mystery has been encountered then the changes will come from the inside and work themselves outside. Since we can¹t be
there when they (get it), or when the Gods give them the divinely inspired flash of insight that brings understanding and integration
(called an Epiphany by some), we can¹t even be sure that our students got what *we* got.
However, we do know from those who have gone before us what a 'typical' range of responses will be like when the student is
hitting the same Mysteries and is actually called to this specific Path. We also know what responses are decidedly outside that
'acceptable' range, and we take things from there as needed.
One of the first things initiates need to learn how to do is to master the art of being able to submit to the guidance of our
teachers, then submit to the guidance of our Gods, then submit to the guidance of our hearts which (by that time) are filled with
the legacy of our teachers and our Gods. BUT! We¹re not training sheep, we're training priests and priestesses. Submission
needs to be tempered with the judicious use of Will, the judicious use of our own insights vs. those of others, and the judicious
ability to turn aside from the well-worn path from time to time when necessary to do what we as individuals need to do to get to
the place our hearts, past, and Gods are leading us.
It takes trust. It takes practice. We¹ll make mistakes. Lots of em. And then somehow, if this is for you, you wake up one day
and realize... wow... I'm starting to get it. Of course, that¹s just training. Once you 'get it' you most often get a whole new set of
instructions...
The Seeker has to want it. The Seeker has to prove that they want it. The Teacher can accept, refuse, or accept and then later
refuse to continue teaching their students. The Teacher is the priestly representative of the Gods, and they have a pretty well-
defined job to do with several well-defined tools to do it with. Time is one of them. So is our own discretionary judgment.
No one is 'entitled' to anything in this religion. There is no point of 'arrival' where you no longer need to maintain your devotion
and behavior. There is no point where you can suddenly 'do things your way'. You don't sign up to be the earthly representative
of powerful Deific Forces because you want to do things *your* way. When you sign on the dotted line, you're agreeing to do
things *Their* way.
No one gets to just demand stuff of the Wicca and then expect that understanding is going to ever be handed to them. If that¹s
what you want, seek elsewhere, but so long as you are here you play by our rules... or we¹ll end the game for you. We get no
pay in money. We get no fame and fortune. We get no great status in the world at large. We don't care whether you like us or
not. We don¹t care whether you throw a temper tantrum or not. We only care that we are doing the best we possibly can... the
best
we can by our teachers, by our Gods, by our Craft, by our Coven, and by Ourselves. If we make sure that those are firmly in
place, then we are by very definition doing the best we can by our Students.
And that¹s really all that we BTW teaching-types *have* to worry about. If all of this rubs you the wrong way, then so sorry,
you¹re in the wrong place and looking for something that you won¹t find in this corner of the spiritual pond. Best of luck to
you in your endeavors, now if you could step out of the way, there are others who *do* want to be here, and our duty is to
them, not you.
