Coven, Circle and Group WorkRobin Deen Carnes and Sally Craig. Spiral Circles: A Guide to Creating Your Own Women's Spirituality Group. Most useful for: | Seekers interested in spiritual group work | Content: | Discusses women's spirituality in general; describes a variety of existing spiritual groups; discusses the basics of running a spirituality group; suggests ways to start such a group; describes group maintenance. | Commentary: | Although this book is (a) not strictly Pagan in scope and (b) intended for use by women-only groups, I think it's usable by mixed groups and is certainly usable by Pagan groups. (My experience has been that while different people certainly want different things from a group or circle, these differences aren't necessarily gender-linked.) I'd say that the ideas presented in this book would be particularly useful for Pagans coming from a non-traditional Wiccan or Pagan background (feminist sprituality comes to mind here), since the groups are assumed to be egalitarian in nature and to provide above all a safe space to explore ones spirituality in a supportive atmosphere rather than a rigorous training program. (Both are good things but each, I think, needs a somewhat different atmosphere to flourish.) This book is about the former. Particularly useful are the sections on starting a group and structuring a first meeting; I also thought the chapter on bringing a group closer together was good, providing concrete ways to build love and trust among group members (although I'd say this is an area to be somewhat careful of, as these things can't be forced). Overall, I'd call it a good resource but not an essential one for most of us--but I can think of no equivalent resource for those hoping to build a gently supportive spiritual "family" and would certainly recommend it for that purpose. | |