Nothing here is Gardnerian

If you aren't Gardnerian, or you aren't familiar with the restrictions of initiate-oriented paths, and you haven't somehow stumbled on the oathbound page before you hit anything else, then you may not fully realize the primary ramification of the fact that Gardnerian is an oathbound path. Nothing here is Gardnerian. This website consists entirely of my interpretations of the general principles of Gardnerian Craft. To cite anything specific would be to break my oath. There is no Gardnerian training material for those who have not yet been initiated, because anything actually Gardnerian would only be shared with Gardnerians. That is why there is so much variation in pre-initiate training coven to coven.

Anything you have ever heard about Gardnerian Craft, if it was specific , was either someone breaking their oath, or someone lying, or both (hey, creativity is found among the unethical as well). Any questions that you ever have about anything specific in the Gardnerian path will never be answered (before your initiation, anyway) by any ethical member of that path.

Which doesn't mean that you can't ask questions. What it means is that you need to understand the question that you are really asking.

The number one question that I get from non-initiates has a format of 'do you do X'? (any number of X's, but the point is, that a lot of people are looking for specifics about an oathbound path they aren't in [yet]). Obviously I can't answer that question. Any of those questions. But that's not the important question anyway. The single most usual reason for someone to have asked me this question is fear. And the fear can often be boiled down to fear of being hurt in some way. Will people be mean to me? Will they laugh? Will I be humiliated? Take any number of horror stories about college hazing to join a fraternity, add in some urban legends about supposed 'local cults' and you have the larger culture having done a rather impressively good job at scaring the heck out of anyone who might be drawn to a pagan oathbound path.

Conveniently, however, those fears constitute a question that can be answered. There is nothing in the Craft that is meant to cause damage, either physical or mental or emotional. Gardnerianism is about participation in the world. Gardnerianism is about celebration of our lives and our Gods. Gardnerianism is about personal responsibility and work, both magical and physical.

That does not mean it's easy, or comfortable. This path will stretch you. You will change. If you cannot stretch, if you do not want to change, if you are not willing to be uncomfortable, then this is not the right path for you.

Uncomfortable, however, is a very unsatisfactory answer. It's almost as incomplete and annoying as when folks in the medical profession say things like "this may cause some discomfort". they mean a lot. Likewise, Gardnerian Wicca is a shamanic path. Which means that the point of the initiatory ritual is to force a shamanic crisis. Many native or indigenous paths have that, and some of the ways in which it is done are very much physical ordeals.

I think it's accurate to say that this path, went for a more directly spiritual, than a physical test. In some ways that makes it harder. As one of our initiates pointed out, 'yeah, you warned me. But you can't really warn a person in any way that will make sense until afterwards'.

So here is that warning, that really won't make sense. Any group that you decide to work with will help you as much as they can. But the fact remains; If you proceed, you will feel some discomfort.

Just try to relax.

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