Yesterday I talked to someone who I may eventually initiate in Reclaiming Feri, and one of my original initiators into the confusion of "second initiation/Feri initiation". Both I told about my recent realization of what I am; a witch who is of the Reclaiming Feri tradition, and both enthusiastically claimed to be Reclaiming Feri as well. Reclaiming Feri
does not have a system of wands, does not have grandmasters, does not condone hexing or cursing , abides by the Wiccan Rede and the threefold law, and doesn't have (or doesn't aspire to have) what Thorn calls "Luciferian aspects", distinguishing it greatly from Anderson Feri tradition. Talking to both of them, I felt free from a maze of confusion, and I kept thinking of clean, clear water. My eyes are open.
I was recently talking to my friend Reya, lamenting the stark reality that we'd embraced a tradition that overtly dismisses the law of three and the Wiccan Rede, and I found myself repeatedly saying "what were we thinking?". Could this be in any way, shape, or form what Thorn has termed, "evolutionary witchcraft"? Without the Rede, without the threefold law, doesn't this practice actually become as Reya laughingly called it "de-evolutionary witchcraft"?
It has taken all these years, the pouring out of the waters of the world, Thorn's writing a book that crystallizes so much of what is precious with Feri combined with my concern that she is personally running a current reminiscent of Victor's(which arguably IS Victor's current), to clear away fog and bring into consciousness the reality that I had allied myself to a tradition that did not mirror my own values. In the twelve step programs there is the saying "take what you need and leave the rest". I've been doing that for years with Feri - but essentially I was ignoring the rest, not leaving it. Now I am carefully reviewing what it is that I need to leave, and I'm finding there is plenty. I feel lighter, what I'm leaving is dense, dark, and like the old waters of the world, full of particles that are poisonous to me. What I'm taking, the three souls, the pentacles of iron and pearl, the work with the guardians, the Star Goddess, the peacock god, all of this sings to my soul and spirit. And the Black Heart too, although I have to laugh, as that is exactly what things like the Wiccan Rede, the Golden Rule, and the threefold law were created to address and to mitigate - our natural lascivious nature.
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Given the difficulties in obtaining Feri teaching in the UK and my desire never to hawk myself for a teacher, instead waiting for teachers and other guides to make themselves known to me when times are right, I was very pleased to be able to get started on reading Thorn's book only this past week (I had to wait until I had the cash to order it in from across the water).
I am finding it remarkably useful already in the simplest and yet perhaps most significant of terms, namely in opening my eyes. I am taking Thorn's preliminary advice from the book, reading it through first before commencement of any exercises I am not already undertaking in my Year and a Day training with G and AM (which is going very well, by the way, and I am learning much).
At our last class gathering - for want a better turn of phrase - we discussed the law of three, our two wonderful teachers simply wanting to know the opinions of the gathered students. It was remarkable. As I recall, all without exception, of their own volition, their own determination, their own considerations over time, have come to the conclusion that the Wiccan Rede et al - those binding laws - are in practicality not only unworkable on occasion but there to serve as positive propaganda, ie we don't harm anyone. Well, we could but our personal views seemed to be we don't want to. We all came out with basically the same ideas, namely that a witch who cannot curse cannot heal but this is not to say I, for one, would ever curse. I never will.
The collective sentiment seemed to be that we recognised why the Rede came into being but we do not need to keep it to the forefront of our minds. The purpose for witches is equally, no, better served by our being mindful of our actions and the reactions to those actions. In essence, we are aiming, I think, to be highly responsible and responsive anarchists breaking new ground and rediscovering - reclaiming - old things once lost, new and old ways of looking at, practicing and interacting with our sexualities, our bodies, ourselves, other people, the worlds of material and spirit. I never knew life was such an adventure until I opened my eyes. Brigid had much to do with that and continues to lead me into new territories this year.
To this extent, I believe evolutionary witchcraft is a valid and wonderfully descriptive phrase for something that is happening right now which I find very exciting - the real, tangible presence of the gods and goddesses in our lives working through us to develop mechanisms for living in the modern world which support our efforts to divine the best ways forward.
Not only witches of many different traditions but other pagans and then people of spirit elsewhere are discovering that the human race is evolving, a new spiritual awareness is rising up within us and has been doing so for a long time. It is now accelerating towards something, preparing us for what is to come. We do have a wonderful Mother, that is for sure. She will do whatever is needed to bring healing to the world.
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