dot_bunnyhunt (original) (raw)

Trads

I come to bunnyhunting with a somewhat unique perspective: my home trad is a "made up" trad, a synthesis of what I and my fellow "founder" have learned, experienced, and figured out how to teach. At first glance, it would appear to be the epitome of fluff: a made up trad without historical basis. Well, folks, Gardner made his up too (albeit some was synthesized from prior art).

What makes our trad real, for us, is that we don't have any pretensions about it being ancient, or based in some secret, handed down wisdom from umpty great granny. We took our reading (both fiction and non), our discussions with others, our long debated theories about how and why things are what they are, our experimental experiences and mashed them together into a fairly coherent whole. This took a lot of time - over 10 years for a decent foundation. It's not for the faint of heart.

What was one of the greatest tools in all of this was having a highly refined BS filter - being able to read and separate the workable truths from the fluff and fiction. Basic concepts that weren't talked about 25 - 30 years ago - reality checks, shielding technologies (other than the LBP), hype loops (the group effect), constructs, direct mode (no tools/rituals), etc. - were stuff we batted around in trying to form a rational magical system. Yes, we read - voraciously - a lot of material of those who had gone before - hermetics, kabbalah, neo-wicca.

So I know the allure of an "easy" system. It would have been so easy to just take as my "bible" the works of Starhawk. But it was like rice cakes: some sustenance, but not a balanced diet that met the needs of my worldview.

I spent time as a crystal gazer - I still have a love for them. But I coupled that with a rudimentary engineering understanding of the actual structure of the materials, and theorized on how the physical structure effected the magical energy holding/patterning/use characteristics of the material. It's a common concept that some materials hold energy better than others. I have a theory why.

Fluff

So reading tripe doesn't make one automatically fluffy. Not being willing or able to sort the wheat from the chaff makes one fluffy. Passing the same chaff laden junk off as unquestioned truth is more than fluffy: it's harmful fluff pushing. Being unwilling to question or refine ones methods as one studies - especially if someone else is trying to inform and advise you - is fluffy, and foolish.

If you're going to BYOT (build your own trad), you need to have a lot of reference material, and preferably a lot of friends and compatriots who will act as critical sounding boards for theories and concepts. Serious practitioners have a lot of long, late night discussions, either face to face, or on chat. They listen, question, test, and theorize - and are always testing whether their reality check is good. Second opinions are a minimum, fifth opinions are preferred.

If you don't want to go the BYO route, there are a lot of established, coherent traditions out there, but they too are lots of work - but you can find teachers for them. The common route is to study a bit first on your own from books and the web, and then seek a teacher or training group to guide you through the more intense and experiential phases. It is seldom a fast course: while a person can theoretically get a Gardnerian Third in a little over three years, in practice most have had several years of exposure before they actually join a group and start training.

Claiming trad initiation and lineage that you haven't studied for or earned is, at best, deceit. Fraud is another term that comes to mind. Fluffy is doing that, and believing it to be "true". While self-initiation can be valid (after all, who initiated the first practitioners), many traditions will not recognize it. You can't self-initiate into a tradition that requires group initiation - it's lying to yourself, and quintessential fluffiness.

The worst type of fluffiness is the peddling of purported craft "knowledge" as a means for self aggrandizement, ego massage, sexual conquest, political/social power, or financial fraud. These are what I call dangerous fluffies.

You want to talk about crystal dreams of dragons and chimeras bringing peace to the Earth? Fine, but it's fluffy. You'll grow out of it, hopefully. If you want to peddle it as a the one, true, correct pagan way? Expect the rest of us who have invested years into our work to land on you like a ton of bricks.

Elders

In some ways, elders are "I can't precisely define it, but I know one when I meet one." I've know a few.

* First: most elders won't claim the title. They're still studying, just like the rest of us, and they'll tell you that.
* Second: an elder can, and has, learned from their own mistakes, *as well as the mistakes of others*. They can relate that experience to others, so that others can learn from someone else's errors.
* Third: an elder has gone through enough life changes and ups & downs to be able to empathize with a lot of diverse people. They have experience living, not just in paganism, but in the real world.
* Fourth: an elder can, and if needed will, be as nice or nasty as it takes to solve a problem. Most of the elders I've known live by a "No Bullshit!!" motto. They can be blunt or tactful, but have little patience for patent nonsense.
* Fifth: an elder advises, teaches, helps, mediates and performs other services to the community - not just in their own trad, but often the pagan/heathen community as a whole.
* Sixth: an elder knows their own limitations. The ability to say "I don't know, what do you think?", "I not the one to ask. Try So-and-so." and such is a mark of an elder.
* Seventh: an elder understands that "one size fits all" isn't true. An elder will help point a seeker toward the path best suited to that seeker, even if it's not their own tradition.

You don't need to be running a coven or group to be an elder, although most elders have founded or run various groups over the years. One late elder I knew was a retired Gardnerian HPS due to health reasons. She founded several groups that are still existent years later, even after her death.

Me, I'm not an elder yet. Probably not even close. I'm pushing Cronehood, but that's different. I aspire to live up to the elders I've known. It's a high standard, and IMO why there aren't many true Elders in the community.

Note: By Ravan Asteris. Some rights reserved. Permission to repost is granted provided it is uncut/unedited and properly attributed, including this note.