I am thinking about joining WDSC….
You have been vetted and been attending Willow events. Maybe you have already received a token from a member in good standing and you are seriously considering joining WDSC.
Before you commit, you need to understand that you must have attended at least three open events, recieved a token to attend Esbats from a Willow General Member in good standing, and been actively participating with Willow for at least three months before the dedication ritual (held around Imbolc of each year).
If none of what is written on these pages gives you concern, Willow urges you to seriously consider the following things.
Agreement With Willow’s Statement of Values & Purpose
Willow exists to provide public events for pagans and pagan friendly persons in a safe environment. Willow also exists to provide a basic education in the generally accepted universal pagan principles. Although Willow doesn’t necessarily exist to further your personal spiritual growth, change in your spiritual growth is inevitably a part of joining a community or coven.
Statement of Willow’s Values & Definition of Paganism
Willites will agree or closely agree with the following statements.
- Willow will define pagan as any person who seeks spirituality outside of the Abrahamic Religions – Christianity, Judaism, and Islam and reflecting these core beliefs.
- A reverence and/or veneration of nature.
- A recognition that the Divinity has many expressions including gender and forms
- A belief that magic (change) is real and by the force of our wills we can manifest change in our lives and the greater world, society, and universe.
- An understanding that pagan religions are not about conversion but about individual spiritual exploration that has no room for a dogma of belief or practice.
- Persons who join Willow as a guest or general member must have an acceptance and expectation of inclusion for the diversity of people who are spiritually called to worship in community. This includes all genders, sexual orientations, any sexual proclivities that are legal and consensual, races, ethnicity, relationship make-ups, ages, and familial presentations.
- Persons who join Willow as a guest or general member will have a positive ethical and moral compass that encourages empowerment of individuals to find, activate, and communicate from the place where they are their very best selves.
- Persons who join Willow as a guest or general member will create a safe environment by refusing to permit a culture of consensus toward violence and violation in word and deed.
- Persons who join Willow as a guest or general member accept responsibility to educate the greater community on the widely accepted tenants of modern paganism and present as many different expressions of the pagan path as WDSC has opportunity to.
Acceptance of the Nature of Spiritual Study & Group Dynamics
As you study general pagan principles, you may find that you are growing and changing. You may feel differently than before. You may view people in your life in different ways. You may view everything from your sexuality to your gender identity differently. This is not something Willow does to you. It is something that happens because you have agreed to get education in a spiritual group. It is invariable as part of any group dynamic.
Group dynamics (any group dynamics) often says that the group itself will follow predictable patterns. Humans are creatures of habit and are attracted to what they know and are comfortable with. Within a coven or pagan community group dynamic, it has often been observed that persons choose a group because the leaders reflect, for good or ill, the main authority figures in a person’s life – their parents. If you have a wonderful life with your parents and have no problems with them whatsoever then there shouldn’t be a problem for you in any pagan or spiritual group dynamic. However, if you have a more human relationship with your parents, you should be aware that issues you have with your parents could manifest again within Willow should you join. This phenomena is directly linked to the first law of magic: To Know. Knowledge of Self is the greatest knowledge we can obtain. If we join a spiritual group and then expect that there will be nothing about our interpersonal relationships we may have to deal with – we are seriously deluding ourselves. Magic first manifests as the knowing.
Maybe you chose Willow because Lady Dia reminded you of the mother you had or never had. Either way, Willow and the work of learning basic pagan principles can be overshadowed by the remnants of toxic relationships you carry into the group. The attraction you have toward persons in Willow, when driven by past interpersonal relationships, could mean that in one year, two years or more you may realize Willow is no longer for you. Sometimes the best way forward may be leaving the group to disassociate from familiar but destructive relationship patterns.
If leadership can energetically and magically represent your parents in Willow, then you should see all the other general members as siblings. This means that any sibling rivalry or issues will manifest inside Willow for you. Willites are, to each other, sand paper against the diamond of their souls. Each Willite, for good and ill, will rub every other Willite in an attempt to reveal Divinity within each other. Being a general member means that you MUST look at interpersonal and inter-relational issues in yourself. You may be required to view issues in Willow from a point of view that is uncomfortable. Again, the group isn’t DOING THIS TO YOU, this is simply the expression of group dynamics.
Before joining you should consider:
- What don’t you know about how you deal with others?
- What do you need to learn about dealing with others?
- Being part of a spiritual group is going to make you face issues around interpersonal relationships whether you want to or not.
- Joining a group isn’t just about gaining the power of the group for your needs and desires, it is also about revealing in yourself a deep knowing and understanding. Then taking that knowing and understanding and becoming vulnerable before others and the gods and goddesses.
Expectations of Members
When you place the token of your membership into the token box, your energy becomes part of the group’s energy. This means Willow’s energy will affect you and you will affect Willow, for improvement or destructive purposes. This is why the idea of personal responsibility is so important. You are responsible for keeping your energy clean, healthy, and beneficial to Willow. Only when all members act in personal responsibility toward their own energy is the energy of Willow an awesome force for comfort and transformation. Willow does not charge a fee for membership. Sometimes individual event fees may apply to cover cost of supplies or meeting venues.
The second most important expectation is that YOU SHOW UP. You attend any event that you are able, especially sabbats and moons. Energy is the currency in a group like this and it is received by your actual participation and only by your actual participation. Next is that you donate time, food, or paper goods for sabbats. Lastly that you be responsible for your personal growth and development and watch for negative reactions created by being part of a group like this.
Members get to vote on matters that affect Willow. Voting is determined by simple majority of those members who actually vote by electronic ballot, on Facebook, or in person. Those who don’t speak up and vote cannot complain about what happens in Willow. If you are silent during voting, your silence is your vote.
Time is another expectation of new members. In 2018, Willow has deliberately cut the number of events. In 2019, Willow will begin adding back actual class time to the schedule. Additionally, if you choose to do the First Degree Program there is an amount of time required in order to complete that course of study. Further Willow needs you to volunteer for committee tasks or nothing will get done inside of Willow. You should ask yourself if you have time to devote to Willow and the things you would like to participate in. Personal Responsibility states that you must only extend your time to Willow in ways that you can afford and to things you can successfully accomplish.
Finally, you must remember that Malicious Gossip is strictly forbidden. We do not bandy about people’s business in Willow or their shortcomings and perceived failings. This is absolutely WRONG. There is an understanding that we are a type of family and family defends and is loyal to its own in public. In private, one on one, we may take exception to a family member’s behavior and work with them to find resolution, but in public, we are one steadfast unit of loyalty. Many groups deliberately create an external problem or source to hate (another coven, a political party) to keep the group from cannibalizing itself. Willow chooses not to do this and it leaves Willow at a higher risk to have members turn on each other. If you find yourself having problems with a member GO TO THAT MEMBER and get it straight. Then LET IT GO. LET IT GO. LET IT GO….
Benefits of Membership
The benefit for any group participation is the essentially the same. You find a sense of community. You are not alone in your beliefs and views. There is power in numbers. Sometimes there is protection and comfort to be had when you are part of a group of like minded. Groups also bring with them social and professional connections. Many Willites have benefited from being part of the group as they have looked for employment or looked to further their own ambitions as a writer or artist. Further you will gain access to Willow’s ever growing Electronic Book of Shadows. Further all Willites needs get first priority by the Chalice Officer. The Chalice Officer can provide you with rides should you need out patient surgery, meal delivery if you are seriously ill, access to Willow’s growing network of social service connections to help with everything from medical and prescription costs to housing and mental illness issues.