Yesterday I announced on Facebook that my ADF grove is dissolving. Specifically, as of January 31, 2017 the ADF Protogrove called Five Rivers is dissolving. I am also allowing my membership in ADF to lapse for reasons that are not earth shattering nor to be made public. Sometimes, relationships just don’t work.
Yesterday a man died. That man advocated for ritual initation of post-pubescent minors into his brand of Wicca via sexual intercourse. He never backed down from this position. While never charged with a crime, the very advocacy of this particular crime makes him a disgusting individual that should not be honored.
We should not be celebrating this mans life. He died.
Time to forget him.
Good riddence Gavin Frost.
Let me first list the common traits among the groups that
identify as using a congregation model.
During these discussions and interviews I found instances of tribes trying to rebuild ancient social structures such as roles in society (druid, brehon, fili, etc), and fostering, adoption or marriage into the tribe. But I also found tribes that did not have any desire to reconstruct ancient societal structures though they may use terms such as chief for the leader. On the flip side none of the folks using congregation as a model were interested in making such a reconstruction.
Having exposed ADF to the outsider/outlaw warrior the feedback has been interesting and slightly frustrating. The basic concepts are all covered in the article Outlaws/Outsiders Part I – Fénidecht but misunderstandings still exist. They don’t understand how anyone would be drawn to such a status, how such a person would be involved in ADF or why ADF should even bother caring about such people. The last is most problematic for me but I hope I can address each of these in turn.
People wonder “Why would anyone want to be an outsider?” and the answer is simple, in most instances no one asked for it. Personal experiences have driven us to the outskirts of our chosen communities. Be it negative experiences with the community-at-large or experiences unrelated to the community that makes us more unable or unwilling to take part in certain types of community rituals. Sometimes, it is a foolish oath made in youth that forces us to be non-participator in certain situations.
The second question is of involvement. Just as we may prefer to remain on the periphery in rituals, we also serve our communities from the periphery. In a ritual context we may prefer to function outside of community rituals as guides and watchers, looking for safety issues, helping people find their way etc. Some groups have incorporated us into the ritual structure by allowing us to stand just beyond, in the liminal area between the ritual space and ‘mundane’ space. Socially and politically we tend to be very active in our communities, to include running for leadership positions.
This last one is problematic for me because it came from an ADF leader. Mind you, these are not exact words but after several statements made this is the impression being given. ADF is no place for people who ‘want to stand apart’. The fact is we don’t always want to ‘stand apart’ and we don’t always have to do so and we are always looking for a community to which we can belong. One that understands we won’t always fit in, or be part of the festivities and accepts us for what we are. In return we would find ways to serve that community in ways that make sense to that community.
Being one who identifies as the ‘outsider warrior’ does not mean we will always stand apart. That is the paradox of being an ‘outsider’ in the 21st century. Sometimes we are very much the insider. I myself am a Grove Organizer and so by default within the context of my grove I am the leader of a community and not on the periphery. Yet, when I go to my next pan-Neopagan festival I will be taking all those things that identify me as a féinnid and function as such in relation to the tribe that will be brought together. It is a fluid state of spiritual being in which I live and am comfortable.
Dear reader, you know people who fit this profile. Please open your communities to them and come to understand them. Like the wolves, once we become part of your pack we are loyal and fierce.
So the title got you here but for full disclosure let me say right off the bat there is no trouble with Wicca. In fact, the trouble seems to be with folks who are not Wiccan but make a point of denigrating Wiccans at every turn. The following is a bit of a rant on the reality of people denigrating Wiccans or wiccanate (Generic Neopagans who tend to follow a Wiccan model of ritual and belief) folks.
If you have followed this blog for even a day, you know I am not Wiccan or even wiccanate. I am and have been a dyed-in-the-wool Celtic Reconstructionist for 20+ years. Like most people my age, I got my start in Wicca, Seax Wicca to be exact, but within a few short years I became a polytheist and left Wicca behind. Like my leaving the Catholic Church the break was undramatic, so I didn’t develop any anti-Wiccan sentiment until I became entrenched in the CR community.
Even being in the online company of folks who did not like Wicca did not really make me think ill of that religion. I just never voiced my concern of the sentiment and allowed myself to be dragged into the discussions about how Wicca did everything wrong from a CR perspective. Some foolishly even went the route that somehow CR was better because our faith was based on what we knew of the pre-Christian people, meanwhile Wicca was made up by a ‘dirty-old-man’. Seemed just as odd then as it does now – that a group faiths that are totally fabricated using archeology, history, mythology, ect. could think it was any better than one created using folklore and ceremonial magical systems.
Since then, I have moved way beyond the idea that a reconstrucitonist faith is better or that there is something wrong with Wicca. In fact, Wiccans and those of a wiccanate faith are the hero’s of Neopaganism and should be treated as such. They have broken ground in every aspect of Neopagan civil rights and lead the rest of the community in all organizational actions to support and enforce religious freedom for all Neopagans (and yes, reconstructionists are also Neopagans.) Three groups that stand out are Sacred Well Congregation (Neopagan circles on military bases), Circle Sanctuary (lawsuit to get the Pentacle on VA headstones) and Covenant of the Goddess ….all of them Wiccan and all of them in the for front of fighting for religious rights or bringing Neopaganism out of the closet. Of course there are others but these three come to mind as the oldest or most successful.
So why then do I still see non-wiccanate people making disparaging comments about Wiccans? I am not just talking a random reconstructionist on Facebook but community leaders who should be doing outreach with other Neopagans, Neopagan churches and even interfaith organizations. When suggested they get in touch with a certain well know “Big Named Pagan” the response is, “Oh, I just don’t want to deal with those Wiccans.” Seriously??
Yes…seriously. Seriously get over yourself…and get over whatever it is that has caused you to think you are somehow better than Wiccans. Whether you are a reconstructionist voicing an opinion on social media or the leader of a Neopagan church – without Wiccans paving the way for the rest of us, we would not be able to be so vocal.
Anti ANY other religious group has no place in Fénidecht or Gentlidecht. In fact, it is these wiccante groups and pan-Neopagan festivals where one would most likely function as a féinnid during ritual.
Guarding the boundaries between the worlds for ALL is what being a Féinnid is about. So let go of your biases, accept that you will not agree with every faith, and get over yourself just enough to work with others who may be a little ‘lighter’ than yourself.
/rant off
*story slightly modified to maintain anonymity of the individuals being referenced.
This is the second part of a series on building an Irish Polytheist community. I realized after writing the first part, that it did not include any real methodology but was simply a structure of the community not necessarily how to build it. In this essay I will not only cover how typical ADF groves are structured, but how I can envision an ADF grove founded and run by people who practice gentlidecht may change the structure and what actual methods are used to bring in individuals and families to build a community of genti, around the ADF grove.
Organizationally, ADF requires that each Provisional and Chartered Grove have a Senior Druid, a treasurer (Pursewarden) and a secretary (Scribe), a Protogrove is only required to have a Grove Organizer. The required duties are also defined by ADF, but outside of these requirements a grove can operate according to its own bylaws. As we plan to remain focused on gentlidecht we expect to have some roles defined that are not found in other groves.
While not explicitly stated in any official document the Senior Druid is the expected leader of the grove as can be seen by the existence and function of the Council of Senior Druids. However, as Irish Polytheists we are considering having another role that is more of a secular leadership position that functions along side the Senior Druid. The religious duties and those ADF expects would be handled by the Senior Druid, with as yet undefined responsibilities falling to the secular leader.
It may even be possible to establish an ADF grove or protogrove and function in nearly the same way as the dearbhfine as described in Part 1. With the Conn Fine being the secular leader mentioned above and the Senior Druid as the spiritual leader and adviser to the Conn Fine. Another poissble adjustment would be to only allow ordained ADF Priests to function as Senior Druid, as they are trained to lead ritual and be the spiritual leader of the group. Mind you this is just an example as we have not yet even started to consider organizational structure of our future Provisional Grove, just want to give you an idea of how, as an Irish Polytheist, you can adapt to the ADF system and remain true to your identity.
So now that you have decided that ADF is the way to go, it only takes is one ADF member with at least 6 months membership to form a Protogrove…that means it only has to be you. Even if you are the only CR person you know in your area forming a Protogrove is a good start to building community. It demonstrates that you are serious in your intent and again provides you with instant name recognition, and places your ‘group’ into the searchable ADF grove database.
Establish a schedule of events and be as consistent as possible. As mentioned in Part 1, monthly meetings help foster community and ADF does require its groves to hold monthly business meetings and quarterly public service activities, so you may as well get into the habit. You can change up the purpose of the meeting, the location even the time to give others an opportunity and reason to attend. My protogrove is planning to hold monthly events that range from the simple “Meet and Greet” to classes on topics of interest to Irish Polytheism. As an ADF grove we will also have classes specific to ADF, such as for those going through the Dedicant Path and general introduction classes on ADF topics.
The trick to building any form of community is commonality and communication. Community members have something in common, in our case Irish Polytheism, and they have to be consistently informed of what is happening, the Facebook page and MeetUp. Throw in consistency and you will find that the same people tend to show up time and time again. When this happens you get to know them better and eventually, you invite them to be an active member of your small group. Rinse and repeat and you will not only end up with a Chartered Grove, you will have an extended community outside the grove to whom you provide services.
End Part the Second.
End Part the First 😉