how to have a coven, Goddess circle or local or national pagan community that plays well together
My high priestess has a saying, “If you can’t laugh in Circle you are doing it wrong.” Don’t get her wrong, there is reason for solemnity in most rituals and celebrations, but you must learn to laugh at yourself. I am going to help you see some of the humor in Pagan song and how …
All things have a lifecycle. Groups and organizations are no exception. A coven, a pagan organization, or a pagan band is like a person. It is born, it grows, it lives for a time, and, eventually, it dies. Its life may be short or long, but it cannot last forever. Music can be part of …
This is installment seven of my eight-part series on pagan group psychology. Whether the group is a band of pagan musicians, a circle, or a festival community, it will follow the general patterns of human groups, passing through a series of predictable phases. We have considered the psychology typical of new groups, the energy of …
All groups go through a predictable arc of development. Pagan bands, covens and study groups are no exception. In this series, we give advice for leadership for each stage. We offer ideas for pagan rituals that work for your group, meeting it at the place it’s currently at, and helping it move forward in a …
This website and blog features the music of our pagan choir, the Crow Women. The band performs in concerts, presents workshops at pagan events, and has put out three albums. But, before there was the band, there was the coven. Our magical sisterhood continues on, in parallel with our public presence as a pagan band. …
A new pagan group has been together for several months and things just seem to be getting more disorganized. Instead of diligently getting started on time at rituals and classes, the members chat and joke around. A sign that the group is degrading? No. It’s a sign that it has moved out of the first …
Groups are born and grow just as people do. In our previous discussion of group evolution over time, we’ve looked at newly formed groups, in posts on bonding, on dependency and on anxiety. In this post and the next one, I’ll talk about the second phase of group development. The term for the beginning stage …
Here’s a Crow Quiz just for you! You’ve listened to the Crow Women albums. You read the Crow Women blogs. Perhaps you’ve imagined yourself as a Crow Woman. But which Crow? Or should I say, Witch Crow? From the studio that brought you such august quizzes as “Which Harry Potter character are you?” “Which Friend …
Witches at the county faireat hotdogs and cotton candy.They ride the merry-go-round.They admire the sheep, goats, pigs,the rabbits and chickens,and especially the black cats –long hairs, short hairs,gold eyes and green eyes,and a couple with one of each. They ride the ferris wheel, laughing,holding tight to their pointy hats.They sample the pumpkin breadwith newt’s eye …
In this series on the evolution of groups over time, we’ve been examining the features common at the beginning of a group. This first stage is called the forming stage and has very predictable dynamics. When a pagan circle (or class or performance group) first forms, several dynamics are apparent. In Part 1 we looked …
Anxiety in New Groups: Group Development, Part 3 Read More »
