Craft Post 5: Cliffs Notes to the Blue Star Training System: A Handy Guide for Friends

[sabrinamari]

The Blue Star degree system differs significantly from that of other Wiccan systems, and training can take quite a long time. For us, the process looks like this:

Someone expresses interest and begins visiting Blue Star circles, usually Sabbats. This is the Pre-Dedicant stage. Wiccan and non-Wiccan friends of the group may stay at this stage very comfortably forever. It's always good to have friends : ) .

After a few months or years, the person might decide to learn more. They will find a home group and one or two core teachers and ask for Dedication.

At this stage, they experience more Blue Star circles and start learning the basic liturgy, altar set-up and world view. This might take anywhere from six months to a year or more. When they've met all the reading, studying and homework requirements, they are given the rite of Dedication and become Dedicants.

Folks can comfortably and happily stay Dedicants forever. They become part of the tribe and members of the tradition and will usually be woven into the fabric of friendships and collaborative relationships that characterize our community.

However, it may be that over time, they decide they want more. If this feeling persists, and they feel called to the Priesthood, they will find one or two core teachers and ask for Initiation.

In order to train for Initiation, they must enter Neophyte. Neophyte is a period of immersion in the Blue Star system, where the student explores the paradigm, perspectives and liturgical practices of the tradition more deeply. Just as important, they freely enter into a deeply transformative, fearless exploration of themselves, asking to be shown all those shadow areas and hidden triggers which might interfere with their ability to teach others and serve the community. This period, which can last for up to three years (sometimes more), is well known for its turbulence and character-enhancing qualities. It is the crucible of change which produces a successful Initiate.

Neophyte is perhaps the most challenging and labor-intensive period of the training process. It requires real courage and commitment from both the student and the teacher. Most of all, it requires tremendous patience and the ability to do significant internal work. The rite of Neophyte is designed to fuel this process.

When all the written and class work has been completed and the student has begun to emerge from the crucible of transformation (colloquially known as "being cooked"), he or she will be given the rite of Initiation and become a 1st Degree Initiate. Again, it is completely normal to take several years to move through the experience of Neophyte. Rushing the process rarely does anyone any good.

A Priest or Priestess can comfortably and productively remain a 1st Degree Initiate for the rest of his or her life. In many ways, I think it is the "sweet spot" of the Blue Star system. As a 1st Degree, you are not expected to run a circle or a group, although you will be asked to teach classes here and there, run rituals and assist with community projects. You can do 70%-80% of what a 3rd Degree can do, but you are not expected to do anything in particular and you aren't bound to any time and labor-intensive projects. Sweet!

However, over time, you may decide that you want more. You may decide that you want to run your own training and worship group(s), and you want to be a keeper of the tradition itself. You may decide that you want to formally dedicate a large portion of your life to the well-being and evolution of your Blue Star tribe.

In this case, you must find a teacher and ask for 3rd Degree. If the teacher agrees, you will be given the 2nd Degree rite, which will push forward another fearless and searching inventory of self very reminiscent of Neophyte. This time, though, you will know what it feels like and what you are expected to do. You will know that you are wise to stop resisting and show your belly to the Gods so that you can see and address the issues that rise up to confront you. You may spend quite a few years as a 2nd Degree Initiate. Most people do.

There will come a time when it is clear that you are cooked and ready to move on, becoming a keeper of the tradition. When this happens, and you and your teacher are ready, you will be given the rite of 3rd Degree, and become a 3rd Degree Initiate.

In my experience in New Jersey, it takes about a decade to move from Dedication to 3rd Degree, sometimes longer. And to me, that seems about right.

Other Blue Star tribesmen: please pipe in and add your comments so our Gardnerian and non-Blue Star friends can get a clearer picture of what we do.

Comments

[shades-of-nyx.livejournal.com]

For the BTW folk who are following, it is my understanding that Blue Star Neophyte looks/feels a bit like your 2*. Obviously, my knowledge is only from published works (i.e. Farrar, Crowther, etc) and discussion with Alexandrian and Gardnerian 3rds. I don't have personal knowledge of any RoP's beyond Blue Star 1*.

[onyxtwilight.livejournal.com]

Hmm... while I agree that Neo embodies the same *process* that is often associated with 2* elsewhere, in terms of personal growth, I don't think they're equivalent otherwise.

I'd be more inclined to say that our neophytes get a lot of the stuff that is elsewhere associated with "initiation crisis," or the changes and unsettlement that many people describe coming with 1*, out of the way *before* the initiation. I would -- very loosely -- compare our neos to other trads' 1sts, in terms of knowledge and experience, and our 1sts -- again, *very* loosely -- with 2nds in other systems.

But there are certainly places where that comparison breaks down, and I'm not sure how entirely useful it is to make it. Nevertheless, it gets made occasionally.

[dana3.livejournal.com]

Very loosely and at a skills level. Gards don't teach skills (or generally have homework) the same way the Eclectics I've known over the years do. From an internal development point of view, each system works to its own internal standards and towards slightly differing aims and goals so comparisons are meaningless.

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

You know, I've suspected this from the brief bits of conversation I've had with my Gardnerian friends. I've wondered if the differences were, in some way, of kind rather than degree.

And this, if true, is a good thing in my mind.

Diversity means a greater range of insights are being preserved.

[wgseligman.livejournal.com]

I tried to come up with a short reply to this thread, and found I couldn't. I have my own opinions about the progress and purpose of Gard training. It's very different from the B* model. Twenty years ago, when I got into the Craft, if I could have "comparison-shopped" between Gard and B*, I believe I would have chosen B*.

Maybe someday we'll hang out and discuss these differences... as long as none of my Gard sisters and brothers are listening.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

As someone who's been a first for a while and is really itching to get the opportunities needed to do the work I need to be able to move on to second, I've been starting to think more about teaching and training and the acceptance of students and suchlike. I know that the "eternal dedicant" is something that's pretty much accepted within B* as a whole, but I feel that I personally would have trouble dedicating someone who wasn't at least interested in finding out whether initiation into B* was for them or not. I'd have a hard time dedicating someone who said, "Yeah, I don't really want to ever be initiated, but I would love to be a dedicant in your grove." Now, the tricky bit is, if I dedicate someone and they show no signs of being interested in initiation, but also don't want to move on to something different, what do I do? I can see myself saying, "if you don't think you want to pursue an initiatory path here, I recommend you start exploring some other paths, and see if there's something that suits you for a more advanced study and a deeper commitment." I might make some specific recommendations on that.

I just don't feel like I would be a good priestess in a clergy-laity situation. It's not my thing. I have no background in religions with a laity, and no real interest in leading a group that has a laity. Training priests and priestesses, on the other hand...oh, yes.

This is just one of those things that makes me happy that third degree autonomy exists. Every priest and priestess is different, and autonomy for thirds means that people can lead covens in the way that is best for them. :)

[shades-of-nyx.livejournal.com]

This is one of those perennial topics where we've communally had to agree to disagree. My personal feelings echo yours. I don't know that I'd have all that much to offer someone who intended to stay a Dedicant forever. Yet, Blue Star, unlike other Traditions of Wicca, has laity as a defined subgroup. In some ways, I believe we've benefited highly from this. Our Outer Court/Grove material is rich enough, almost, to be a Tradition of its own. It certainly is not "just a waiting period before initiation." It is a thing of beauty.

[ingridsummers.livejournal.com]

I think the challenge is that sometimes by being permitted to become really comfortable as a dedicant a person discovers within themselves the need to move to 1st. I also think what I find more important than an urge to initiation is an urge to live the tenets of faith and to ever seek greater self-knowledge. I've known persons seeking initiation that do not have that urge and plenty of dedicants who have it.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

My own experience (admittedly not as long or extensive as yours) has been that if you get the real NEED to seek initiation (and I can't imagine initiating anyone who didn't NEED it), you're going to get that greater self-knowledge whether you want it or not. The neophyte process seems to see to that. The gods shape us into what they need us to be, to be effective as their priests and priestesses.

[ingridsummers.livejournal.com]

I agree with you with regards to the neophyte process. However, I was thinking about primarly whether or not there is a place for persons not seeking intiation. I'm advocating that there is a place, so long as they are "seeking" and growing.

One More Thought

[ingridsummers.livejournal.com]

I also want to mention that it has often been those dedicants who are most resistent to initiation or personal development who end up being my "teachers". They often remind me that as a Priestess I am called to serve others (not just myself or my own ego needs - sigh); that the ways of the Universe/Gods are mysterious and out of my control; and, most importantly and most painfully they often remind me of the tenet of humility. It is so easy as an intiate, particularly as a third, to get caught up in feeling superior and "all-knowing". On more than one occassion, witnessing the transformation of a Dedicant for Life into someone who hears the "Call" has been awe-inspiring. Often when we make vows or do rituals it will be the non-initiates who risk the most and make themselves the most vulnerable. While I yearn for opportunities to grow and strech and experiment with other initiates, I now see the value in being with the non-initiate.

Re: One More Thought

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

I feel a lot like I'm getting the message from everyone of "it's a bad idea to say you don't think you want to work in a setting involving a laity, and you should reconsider that."

I think I should try to make a few things clear so people don't get the wrong idea:

1) I have not made any decisions about general OC structure or about individual students at this point in time. I am only a first. I am only just starting to do any kind of teaching of anyone, and that is only in the context of my existing coven and grove, of which I am only one initiate, not the HPS. I am only thinking aloud, and thinking about my own personal priorities within my Craft work, and about what kind of HPS I can imagine myself being someday in the probably-distant future.

2) I am fully aware that there is value in the OC material, and that there is value in those people who choose to stay in the OC, and that a person can still learn a lot, grow a lot, and teach a lot while remaining in the OC.

3) I am also fully aware that people's minds can change over time. Someone who says they don't want to pursue an initiatory path may decide they do, after...I don't know, ten years or whatever. It happens, I am sure.

4) I am also aware that the gods frequently do stuff that messes with our own plans and priorities.

I hope that makes sense.

Re: One More Thought

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Badseed, I can understand why you feel this way.

I want to add my voice here. The most powerful group I have ever been part of, until the Fires of Venus Keepers group, was my core coven of many years, Braided Stream. This group was composed of the same small group of people who remained bonded over 6+ years, with the occasional addition of a very few who came, stayed a for a little bit and moved on to other groups.

The core of Braided Stream was the single most united, powerful and courageous group of Magicians I have ever encountered. We grew a group mind the likes of which I have never seen anywhere else, though I think FoV may offer something exquisitely similar soon...

We were like the fingers of a single hand, coming together in ritual and magic like a troupe of trained professional dancers, anticipating each other's moves and shifting, adapting to the flow of energy as it evolved before us.

We used every magical technique for healing we could find and we invented those we did not. We tried everything and stopped at nothing. We ignored everyone who said we couldn't, shouldn't stick our fingers into every pie.

We made some awesome mistakes, but we lived.

We were champions, girl, honest-to-Gods glorious.

We were magnificent.

We were also a group of 1st Degree Initiates, every single one a woman who came up in ranks under me to stand beside me as an equal, a Magician and a teacher in her own right.

All but I were Neophytes during the group's formative years. Coaxing each glorious Magician-healer into full blossom almost killed me---I had FIVE NEOPHYTES at once!!!

I also lacked a working partner after the first year and a half to two years---it was an impossible situation. I begged Cat and George for help, I tore out my hair, I shifted moons into long, half-day affairs and worked in a Neophyte support group meeting, a formal class and a full-on ritual into every coming together.

It was fucking ridiculous! I have NO IDEA how we pulled that off. None. I could not do it today without forfeiting my entire life to the process.

And oh, Gods, it was so beautiful.

And before Braided Stream ever formed, I had one deep, heartfelt wish: I wanted to be part of a group of equals, all as powerful as I or more so, all who could help teach me to fly fly fly, and with whom I could break all the barriers my soul encountered.

And the Gods gave me Braided Stream.

And this is where I really learned almost every damn thing that made me the Priestess I am today.

So, go for it. Call your people to you---all who can follow and expand the vision in your heart.

Do it. You'll never regret it.

Re: One More Thought

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Five neophytes at once? Good gods, woman! o_O

I think we all end up with the people we need to be with, as long as we follow our hearts and our best instincts in deciding who to reach out to. :)

OC vs IC

[evaelisabeth.livejournal.com]

Over the years my opinion on the concept of remaining a dedicant have changed. Like you, if I Dedicate someone I expect them to move on to initiation at some point. The thing that appealed to me initially about there being no pressure or even expectation that anyone move past Dedication is that Blue Star was willing to provide teaching to seekers even if they themselves felt that their time with us was not for ever. I now am at the point that I am happy to provide support and teaching to students who are not looking to Dedicate but are just that students. I know this goes against some of the kernel of the right of passage but I see the very heavy emphasis that can develop on the Outer Court in Blue Star to be a deep problem that causes burn out and prevents the IC reaching its full potential. I'm probably not expressing myself very well, this stuff is all fully formed in my head but putting it in pixels is challenging. Where's that teleporter when you need one? Face to face conversations are so much easier.

Re: OC vs IC

[brock-tn.livejournal.com]

It's actually an important point. Initiates NEED the deeper work of the Inner Court in the same way that the students come to need the work of the Outer Court. That deeper work is what sustains them and rewards them for all of the effort they are putting into their practice.

The challenge lies in finding a way to balance the Inner Court work and the Outer Court work so that everyone's needs are met without utterly burning out the two or three people at the core of the group who are making all of this happen.

Re: OC vs IC

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

Dear gods, this is so true---both of these points resonate deeply with my experiences.

Thank you for adding your voice to this conversation.

[brock-tn.livejournal.com]

The thing is, some people simply aren't suited to priesthood. And for some people, all of their spiritual needs are met when they are able to gather together with others of like mind and celebrate their connection to the Divine. Such folk have neither the need nor the desire to be priest or priestess. And in my experience it is a serious error to try to force a person like this onto the path toward initiation. Real initiates are called to what they are doing: it is for them a "vocation" (in the traditional sense in which the term is used in a religous context.) So it is a good thing, (at least, I think so,) that B* makes a place within the B* community not only for those who have been called, but for those who have not.

By the same token, not every person who becomes an initiate is going to go on to take a Third Degree. And there is nothing wrong with that. If part of being an initiate involves being aware of one's limitations, then knowing what roles one is and is not suited for is a major part of that.

I have a lot of respect for B* as a system, based entirely on the B* initiates I've met. They have uniformly impressed me as being competent and well-suited to their office. And I just have this thing about systems with rigor...

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not saying I would ever force a person on the path to initiation. I could not bring myself to initiate someone who didn't feel--and express--a NEED to be initiated.

I just don't think that my OWN outer court (when I have one) would be the best thing for someone not at least considering an initiatory path. I'd probably recommend a sister coven's OC, or an eclectic group in the area, or something.

[brock-tn.livejournal.com]

I hear you. But be aware that the Gods may have other plans. I never planned on leading a coven, and look what that got me.

The Gods have this odd way of using creating circumstances that will mold us into the shape we need to be in order to serve Them as They desire. Do not be surprised if things do not turn out quite as you expect them to.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Oh, believe me, I know that. But I think it's also to my benefit to examine my own feelings and ideas about training and the like at this stage in my path. Not having expectations doesn't mean we can't think about what the future holds, and turn it over in our minds a bit. :)

[onyxtwilight.livejournal.com]

That pretty much covers it, I'd say. I don't think it *has* to take that long, but it almost always does. (Gods know I'm crawling along.) If it takes less than seven or eight years, I'd worry a bit. Not that it can't be done, and people have certainly done it, but in my own students, unless there is some driving need for moving quickly, I recommend taking their time.

There is a model that prefers to initiate sooner; I don't prefer it. I'm happy to dedicate early, if warranted, but I don't like rushing initiation. Mine was, to some extent, because circumstances at the time demanded it. I'm not sorry, I wouldn't trade the experiences that came with it for anything, but I occasionally wonder what might have been different, how *I* might have been different, if we had had the luxury of taking more time. (Other times, I think I might have simply been too lazy to move, and never gotten anywhere, which is why I got the kick in the butt. :-)

[jasminewind.livejournal.com]

I remember when I started the process as a Dedicant, I was certain I would knock back 1* through 3* with a year for each and be a record winner at getting a 3rd degree. Those sorts of things mattered to me then. The neophyte process burned such arbitrary ambitions from my process and though I feel I have done a tremendous amount of personal and craft growth, I am content for the foreseeable future to be one of those "sweet spot" first degree initiates. I think you painted a very good description of our process and our stopping and pause points, Sabri.

[discoiris.livejournal.com]

the process really did work as intended for me. the neopyte process was a lot of inner work for myself and second has been a lot of serving the community work for me. the experiences have come at the perfect times and given me many learning experiences.

i was dedicated in 2001 and i'm a second now (hopefully for not too much longer) so the ten years is right there.

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

This is really good to hear.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

In the middle of my neophyte, and needing to "hear" answers for question I have, and for homework I have, and not doing much trying towards it.

Learning my inner lesson that there is a core of laziness in me, and i need to know how to work around it.

And, all those warnings about traumatic experiences as a neophyte?
Not enough warning.
Then again, warning wouldn't have helped, as i think is said best by Whistler, in Buffy the Vampire Slayer "Becoming, pt 1":

Bottom line is, even if you see 'em coming, you're not ready for the big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does. So what are we, helpless? Puppets? No. The big moments are gonna come. You can't help that. It's what you do afterwards that counts. That's when you find out who you are.

[evcelt.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the lucid explanation... also enjoying the discussion in the comments.

[disownedheidi.livejournal.com]

These descriptions always stress me out because I feel like my neophyte wasn't stressful enough. I mean, I had some issues, sure, but I always have some issues, in life there's always SOMEthing that isn't perfect. So I'm worried I didn't do it right or something.

[sabrinamari.livejournal.com]

{{{{{{disownedheidi}}}}}}