Dear Dedicant of First Degree,
I hope you are getting everything prepared as you ready yourself for your dedication this week.
This is a bit of an overview for your training so I hope that you will read carefully and note the things that are required during this year and a day of your first degree training.
Upon your dedication Ceremony, you have taken on a responsibility that will change your life. Your priorities will become more balanced and you will get to know the Path of the Wise as part of you and not just words. This is a serious change and not just something that is part time. You must attend rituals and prepare yourself and your sacred space for your high days.
You are required to start a daily journal that starts the day of your dedication and here you will note any difficulties or enlightenment you have on your path. You will note your feelings from day to day ...this will be kind of a diary of sorts.
You must write an essay for each ESBAT and SABBAT of your year in first degree. They are do within the week after the time of these events In these Essays , you will write what you have learned about the sabbat/esbat ...How you prepared for it...and what you learned from it. I like to see in-depth essays that pull from your experience. I expect you to always prepare to do a solitary ritual in addition to the online one. (There also will be times that online rituals do not happen so I must know that you will do them as a solitary. ) This is important as you must learn to do ritual yourself. We will have discussions from time to time about this subject , both one on one and in Light & Shadows. I am always available if you have questions at any time, do not be too shy to ask. I cannot help you if I do not know you hare having problems.
You will be doing many crafts and hands-on activities during this training. So be prepared as you are going to MAKE things...like tools as well as grow plants...You will be learning spellcraft and candle magick. The ethics of witchcraft is wide and will cover many areas that you are not usually doing in mundane life. Make it a plan to take a board at a time and READ daily..this is also part of your training. Your "book-learning " starts right on the boards of Light & Shadows.
I also want you to look over the boards and decide which one(s) you would like to facilitate. They are all available for you to post interesting information on, but I would like each of you to take on at least one board that you will plan to deeply research and post on at least 4 times a week. As you notice, some have entry boards on them and if you notice there is already a facilitator, I would like you to choose one that is not being attended by another member. I try to post to all of the boards as I have time , but know that whichever one you choose, this is the one that will teach you the most as you learn by doing. Your responsibility to that board is like nurturing a future class student. You learn and you teach. This is a way to be very knowledgeable in things that draw you. When you decide which you would like, contact me. I can make an entry page for you and if you have a special picture you want on it, post it in a picture album and I will retrieve it from there. (It will need to stay in that album as long as it is on your board).
The First Degree is a time for the sorting out of the material life, the phase when we commit ourselves to the study and practice of our Craft, pledging ourselves to grow and learn in the name(s) of our Deities. Typically the First Degree initiate has allowed themselves to have a deeper insight into their character than those whom have just come to Wicca, they begin to acknowledge that within themselves they have strengths and weaknesses, and that they must work within themselves to build on their weaknesses while maintaining their individual strengths. They begin to understand that the form behind their everyday persona (the masks we assume daily to present to others) is not the whole of their self, but in reality only the Ego (that which we think we are, but in reality, as we will be seen isn't the whole story at all!). In part, the First Degree is a syllabus designed to allow you to come to know yourself deeper, and to provide you with the Tools necessary for you to develop further in your own personal growth, as evidenced by the first command of the Mysteries, 'To Know Thy Self'. Historically many people were denied access to this level until they had reached a certain point in their lives, that point where they were secure in their profession, settled with a home life and mature enough to be able to honestly appraise themselves and their growth, but nowadays with the fact that many younger folk are gaining a much more mature outlook than even a few years ago, and the explosion of interest in Paganism and Wicca in general this need not be considered the case any longer.
I do not, personally, take Dedicants under 21 years old, because I do not feel a yournger person will be serious in dedicating themselves to a lifepath as this is. To the young, it is more a strutting and at times even a rebelious act rather than something that is sincere. I do know there is always exceptions to this rule and I have taken a few that show maturity but still I will not start taining with a person under 18 that does not have a parent's written okey. (If they are actually living as an adult, this is another situation and I would have to have a three month interaction with the member to see how they act and get to know them personally to make an exception to this important rule.)
This is by no means an exhaustive list, nor is it meant to be, which is how it should be, as every Practitioner's Path is ,out of necessity, different! Normally the syllabus is delivered in the format various assignments, which require study, thought and hard work . Completion of the traditional Year and a Day satisfactorily will result in those of a Coven being able to undergo an Initiation Ritual, symbolizing the rebirth of the Student into a new form of awareness.
* Awareness of and dedication to the Goddess
* Basic principles of the Wiccan view of Deity, including the balance of Gender between our views of the God and Goddess, the balance inherent within the Wiccan view and it's impact upon our Worship.
* Meditation - Basic techniques, how to overcome problems and including Guided Visualization and meeting the Spirit Guides. I will Enourage you to take the Meditation course at the Lyceum of Light & Shadows which is a paid corurse. This is your choice , of course, but it will be to your advantage to include this in your studies.
* Understanding the altar - Basics principles behind the layout of a Wiccan Altar, what the Tools are and their Correspondances, setting up the Altar and Consecrating the Tools and Supplies.
* Understanding the circle - Principles behind how the circle is formed, it's symbology, what form it takes and where it exists, and basic Casting Techniques.
* Understanding problems - Understanding problems that may occur and why, both within and without our Magickal workings, our general life and the problems we may encounter from being Wiccan, and how we may use our skills to overcome them.
* Knowledge of correspondences - Basic introduction to Correspondances, how they are found, what they are, why we use them, etc.
* Overview of magick - What Magick actually consists of, basic Spellcrafting., theory behind it's uses and the Ethics of the use of Magick.
* Knowledge of the sabbats and esbats - Introduction to the correspondances of the Sabbats, the Lore behind them and how and why we celebrate them.
* Knowledge of sacred space - Further work upon creating Sacred Space, including Cleansing, Casting and Tool usage.
* Basic ritual working - Basics of Ritual, it's format, how we should observe Ritual and why we observe Rituals.
* Learning about kitchen witchery and the magick of herbs and wortcunning .
* Overview of divination and one speciality Basics of just what Divination is, how it may be performed, and thorough knowledge of at least one type of Divination, including evidence of growth within it's speciality.
I hope this gives you a bit of an idea of what you will be doing this next year. I look forward to working with you and I especially welcome you to The Coven of Light & Shadows.
Brightest Blessings Always
Lady Majyk Whispering-Owl
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