Along The Wiccan Path

Phases of Transformation


After several years of study, I have come through many personal transformations and realizations. I assume that most of the readers here have as well. I find it interesting, however, talking with local groups and looking at what is available on the Internet, that there is very little insight concerning "The Next Step." After one masters the basics, what does one do with them? As I began to write this, it became obvious to me why no one puts this kind of information up for public view. Most people, who haven’t come to these realizations, will think you are ripe for a padded cell somewhere. So the following is my modest attempt to provide what I think are some useful insights to the spiritual evolution of a Wicca, without actually disclosing anything horribly personal. After all, that’s the purpose of a small circle. Perfect love and perfect trust... Please feel free to mail me any comments you might have on any of these points.

The Stages of a Wicca
The Freeing
This is the first and most important stage, when a spiritual person breaks free from the chains of what others tell them to believe, or what they think they "should" believe. A Seeker is born from a Follower. This is not an immediate step, although it may seem so at first.

The Seeker
A Seeker is represented by the Tarot’s Fool. S/he has heard a certain "inward calling," but has no idea where to go nor where to look, but knows that the Truth is out there and wants desperately to find it. There is enormousexcitement in this stage, full of new experiences and interesting books.

The Finding
This is a time of great confusion and loneliness. One knows the Truth exists and thinks one may have found it, only to see it slip through one’s hands. So the Seeker moves on, developing to be a wiser person each time s/he catches a glimpse of "The Grail." In this step, the Seeker, begins to realize a particular path is the one that they should follow, and the need to know everything about it, all at once, emerges.

The Solitary
Unless the Seeker is quite fortunate, alone s/he will be. In retrospect, this is an important stage, to be without strong influences. This is a time of amazingly rapid learning, and the development of oneself, in ways that MUST be experienced, and not simply read. It is a horrible mistake for the Seeker to read and not try. Wicca, in particular, must be experienced. So if something resonates with you, stop reading or talking for a bit, and GO DO IT.

The Fool With Friends
The old proverb states: "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear." I’ve never seen an exception, personally. A Seeker often feels "ready," right from the start, however, the Divine Wisdom will make sure you have the appropriate "tools" first (and I’m not talking about your athame). Suddenly, one finds a group of like-minded people, and possibly an elder or two, to teach one the things one simply can’t find in books. There is great fraternity in this stage.

The Confrontation
Ok, the honeymoon is over. Many are called but few are chosen. At this stage, you will be tested to your very core. You will be laden with hardships, doubts, insecurities, fear, and a horrible abundance of mundane and spiritual trials. If you fail in these, and only you can know what it means to fail, you either switch paths or remain permanently in the previous stage. Go to any large "Wiccan" meeting and get a feel for how many people have evolved passed this stage. None, is the norm. Wicca can be many things to many people, but to me it’s far more than fantasy moonlight bonfires. This phase is the turning point, represented by the "Devil" card in the Tarot deck. Only if you face your shadow self, and defeat it, will the Guardian allow you to pass! (This will make no sense to someone just starting out)

The Grail Knight
This phase never is really separate from the previous one. Unlike many religions, particularly the New Age religions, one will find that life is a mix of pain as well as pleasure. As a Wiccan, you must not push away the pain and troubles; you must face and defeat them. It is useless to try to reach a point at which you are completely content, satisfied, and happy. There does not exist such a point, unlike the New Age religions try to tell you. Also, you cannot wash yourself in "White Light" and make everything ok. There is no way around working to solve one’s mundane and spiritual problems. As well, this appears to be the stage at which most Wicca realize that books are no longer the place to look for new spiritual development. From this point on, the Wicca must take what s/he knows, and build on it through personal introspection, listening, and ritual.



At this stage there are certain requirements:


You must be moral, for you know (in the spiritual realm) energies attract like energies, and as you develop your skills, any immorality will bring about negative forces. As well, acting in a manner which goes against what your best guess at God/dess’ Will is for any particular situation, will create distance between yourself and God/dess.


You must fight for what you believe in. Once you know the Truth, you are bound to defend it. If you feel that you can sit back and let the injustices pass you by, you are really just as stuck in the "Fools With Friends" stage as most of the others. In the words of Starhawk from the documentary "The Burning Times," "being spiritual doesn’t buy you out of all the nitty-gritty work that needs to be done."


Keep in mind these things: Perfect harmony leads to perfect stagnation, so expect to be challenged regularly. As well, if you believe you can make a difference in the world by meditation and magick alone, you will probably be more happy as a student of Zen. If you just want to heal yourself and be happy, be a "Light Worker." If you want to "Be of Use" to the Goddess, pick up your sword of word and GO DO IT.


You must stop frequently and listen for guidance. The energies of the Earth are real, and not all of them are positive. One must be sure to stay on the Path of the Goddess at all times.


The challenges of an advanced Seeker are many, but there seems to be a few common "pitfalls" which can be avoided if the Seeker is aware of what they are in advance..
The Mediator
Of course, the previous stage never really ends, but in this stage, after years of developing a relationship with God/dess, one may come to this point. Someone who calls themselves a "High Priest" or "Priestess" may or may not be a Mediator of the Goddess. Only the Goddess can choose who is to mediate Her. Only the pure of heart, those who would defend Her Will, and those who spend countless hours listening for Her Will, will be chosen. (This has not happened to me, I am writing from observation). As always, this "point" is not suddenly reached, but rather is a stage which is developed until the very end of one’s life.

Two Notes: All these are my own creations, based on personal experience and those of my close friends. There are many paths of the seeker. For the non-Wiccan reader, you will notice that these stages appear in most religions, to those who seek the Truth, even through Christianity.


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Where you should be: After a Year and a Day
Like anything worth having, the knowledge of Wicca takes work. Two kinds of work, the latter being the more challenging. First is "book-work." After studying for a year and a day, you should:



Have a working knowledge of what the Sabbats mean, when they occur, and what they stand for (without looking them up).

Have an intuitive feel for at least one form of divination. This means being able to read Tarot for someone, e.g., without having to look up archetypal meanings from a book.

Have an intuitive feel for at least one form of healing.

Have a working knowledge of God/dess archetypal mythology.


The second, personal work and commitment
Be able to write a ritual for yourself or a group, which demonstrates your intuitive ability to raise and direct energy.

Be able to feel your own energy, and sense that of others.

Have honed your awareness such that you can sense the moods and needs of others without verbal communication. (This evolves over time)

Able to do spontaneous magick and ritual, without preparation.

Are spending at least a few minutes EACH day in communion with whatever you perceive God/dess to be.

Have committed yourself to embody the love and compassion of the Goddess, and to share that to the best of your ability, with all you meet in day to day life.

A Few Other Random Thoughts
Not only do I think the traditional degree system is a farce because there are no established guidelines for initiation degrees, but as well because they nearly always result in hard feelings based on poor social dynamics inherent in spiritual hierarchies. As well, the sole purpose of having a spiritual degree or title is to display some (as above) dubious spiritual achievement before others. Spiritual achievement to me is being able to let the God/dess work through each of our lives, and certainly this is independent of any rank and file developed by Gardner.

It is enormously rewarding to come to the realization that your faith has reached a point at which you can tell the difference between magickal garbage and real spiritual insight. Along this line, I suggest that those who are not able to admit that the Christian Holy Bible contains some really great insight, either have some kind of hang up against Christ or cannot sift the words of God/dess from the junk man has stuffed in to benefit himself.

Symbols which key something deep within the individual, are truly the language of the Goddess. She speaks in abstraction, to our "right brain." (Intuition) The more we study and understand the language of symbols, the better we can communicate with Her.

The entities (God/dess) are real and literal beings. The extent to which one believes in "their" reality on some level, will govern the effectiveness of your relations with them. "Belief imparts reality, and beliefs will continue to be real, so long as people pour energy into them." - The 21 Lessons of Merlyn.

You must be extremely careful with whom you do ritual, as energy is shared, both positive and negative. The Qigong model proposes that even illnesses can be transmitted by sharing energy. I highly recommend limiting one’s group activities to a small group of highly trusted friends, as I am beginning to see just how deeply the mixing goes...

Many people who claim to be "pagan" are really monotheists. Personally, I see the Gods and Goddesses as human-made forms which represent "God," which is beyond human comprehension. Thus all the Gods are one God, yet real, individual entities at the same time (parts of a whole).

People spend far too much time droning over religious differences. "Tear away the ’man-made’ trappings from religion, and there is really very little difference between one man’s faith and another. [On the other hand] Religions which insist that they alone possess Truth to the exclusion of all others, simply display their immaturity..." - 21 Lessons of Merlyn

Copied from Mark Sumpter