Join Our Online Community

The Rising Oaks Study Circle Yahoo Group is a mailing list Calesta started in 2003 for seekers, students, coven members, friends and other interested parties to discuss and study Wicca and related topics, and communicate about community events of interest. It’s also a way to announce and organize face-to-face meetings and ritual gatherings.

This beautiful new website, designed by Naya, also provides information on who we are and what we're doing. Check in regularly!

Get to Know Us

The pre-initiation phase gives time for the prospective coven member to learn the beliefs, practices, and idiosyncrasies of coven members, and for coven members to get to know the student. Post on the Yahoo Group at least occasionally. RSVP in the group or by private e-mail and show up for meetings and/or rituals. Do ritual with us, eat with us, talk to us. Ask questions.

Tell Us About Yourself

Fill out the group questionnaire, if you haven’t already. Talk to us some more. Answer some questions.

Get Some Textual Context

Read at least 9 books pertaining to Wicca, approved by the HP and HPS. (See the booklist.) Include The Meaning of Witchcraft by Gerald Gardner, and at least a couple of others that were first published before 1980. Discuss the books with Liam or Calesta, or online on the Rising Oaks Study Circle list.

Ask

Ask the High Priest or High Priestess (Liam or Calesta) to consider you for initiation.  You may want to start by asking more questions about our practice and our expectations for potential coven members and friends. If Rising Oaks is not the coven for you, or you are not a suitable candidate, this is the time to find out, not later.

Take Some Time

Some covens require a Dedicant phase of a year and a day. We’re not so sure that’s necessary—it’s not the way it was done back when Liam was being trained—but we do need to know you for 9 months or more, and know you pretty well.

Begin as a Beginner

Initiation is, among other things, a commitment to Wicca, to other coven members, and to yourself. The ideal initiation is a transformative experience and a rite of passage; no matter what your age or level of experience, be prepared for learning, challenge and change.

Be Prepared

Gather the materials you need for initiation and discuss with your teacher the Oath and other elements of your initiatory experience.  Basic equipment includes ritual tools, a robe suitable for outdoor ritual, a white cord, and a blank book. Ask.

Want more?

The Study Group meetings and mailing list includes opportunities for study and practice. In addition, below are some suggested projects and areas of study that can begin before initiation. Oh—and ask!

The Notebook

Start a workbook of magickal notes, study questions, personal and religious observations, and the like, in a portable, preferably hard-copy format that may be examined by your teacher. A 3-ring binder is recommended to collect and organize information. This book will be useful throughout your training for notes and other information that won’t fit in your copy of the coven’s Book of Shadows.

Talk the talk, walk the walk.

Discuss ethical questions in depth. What are your real ethics? Embark on a course of self-discovery pertaining to ethics, using a structure such as Robin Wood’s book When, Why, If.

The Slender Rede

Be able to explain your opinion and interpretation of the Wiccan Rede (the commonly quoted form) and the Threefold Law. Relate these to concepts of personal responsibility and/or karma.

Feces Coagulation 101

With guidance from your teacher, evaluate your progress in “FC101—“ in other words, are you getting and keeping your shit together? Are you holding down a job, handling your money and belongings with something resembling responsibility, and do you have or are you working on basic life skills? How is your relationship to yourself, other people, and the “real” world? Talk to your teacher and others about any concerns, and work on it—but remember, no-one ever permanently makes it to FC201.

Energy, the Body, and Discipline

Take a course in a martial arts, dance or related activity, or if you have already studied, renew your practice, begin again in another area (we recommend T’ai Chi or Aikido), or teach what you know..) Exercise. Be able to discuss energy in the sense of “chi.”

The Earth is Our Mother…

Possess some basic outdoor survival skills, including the ability to pay attention to trained guides. Learn about gardening or farming (potted plants count). Be able to identify potentially dangerous plants and animals in your area.

Train Your Mind

Learn a method of (stillness) meditation. This may be linked to the martial arts form above, but should be a way of quieting both mind and body.

Learn at least one method of Centering, Grounding, and Shielding. Practice. (Recommended theory and exercises in Spiral Dance, True Magick, and other texts; ask.)

Cleansing: learn at least one cleansing ritual that you can perform for yourself. Learn the basic cleansing and purification rites from the Study Circle rituals.

Divination: Find some method of tapping into the subconscious and the Divine that works for you, such as tarot, runes, gazing, or other portable, fairly socially acceptable method. Practice it.

Ritual Theory and Practice

Learn Circle etiquette.

Learn the pattern of Wiccan ritual as we practice it

Learn directions, tools, and other symbolism used in the Circle.

Make or buy a robe. You may want both a summer and a winter robe.

Compose a basic solitary ritual other than Dedication, preferably one that fulfills a need in your life. Perform it, and make notes in your BOS on what you did and how you felt, and what the results were.

“Debrief” after rituals through discussion with your teacher or other participants. Be able as a result to demonstrate a familiarity with the meanings and purposes of rituals. If any ritual element does not seem useful, meaningful, or comfortable, discuss and gain an explanation.

Learn to cast a circle.

Be able to call the Quarters

Memorize the Charge of the Goddess, or any comparable God charge that is approved for coven use. Be able to recite it reasonably well from memory as part of your initiation.

Be able to perform any other action required as part of initiation.

Sing something. Learn at least one common chant or song for use in ritual, and begin to learn others.

Magick

Study Magical (Magickal) Theory. Read and discuss one of the recommended books on magick. Ask Liam about punning and magic.

Possess references for esoteric correspondences of at least 100 different plants, animals, and minerals.

Study the lore of the moon. Learn the stages recognized by Wiccans as well as the more common scientific moon phases.

Familiarize yourself with basic astrology: have a chart drawn up and study it, learn about retrogrades and similar phenomena.

Be able to discuss thoughts and theories on familiars.

Integrate your worldview with your interpretation of pagan myth.