(no subject)

[hearthstone]

Okay, I have to say it--I do not understand these folks who decide to become heathen or pagan and the first thing they do is look for "a teacher." Seriously, maybe I'm weird, but my impulse would be to do my own research first! Wouldn't it make more sense to try to gain a broader base of information before handing oneself over to some random person? Why would someone think that this random person would be at all knowledgable, or even trustworthy, if they had no exposure to the faith in question ahead of time? How would they be able to tell?

I don't mean folks who ask for information or to be pointed to resources--or who do some work, realize that they've gotten as far as they can on their own, and ask for assistance in going further. That's reasonable. But that's not what you see--what you see is people who are looking for someone to hand them a pre-formed spirituality, whether because they don't want to do the work themselves or because they can't let go of the notion that there must be a single Truth out there--or, I suppose, because they are looking for the secrets of the universe or some such thing, and obviously anyone who happens to be hanging out on an email list would not only possess them but would jump at the chance to hand them out to anyone who asked. I'm not particularly offended by this--caveat emptor and all that--but I just hate to see so many people shutting off their brains before they've even tried to engage them.

Comments

[criedwyddwen.livejournal.com]

While I'm very wary about handing over my instruction about anything to just anyone, there is something to be said about personal instruction.

For example, I learned far more about meditation by having a teacher teach me how than reading it in a book and trying to apply it.

Otoh, I've been consciously pagan for about 5 years now, and still haven't found a "teacher". Nor have I looked for one in earnest. So, I do agree with you that saying "I think I'm pagan, who wants to be my priest/ess??" is not the smartest way to do it.

Other people have made the points about being trained most of our formative lives to need a teacher to learn anything. If these people came from christian religions, there's alot of spoon feeding there too.

And then there's that worry about doing things "wrong". OMG, I used TABLE salt not KOSHER salt ... awful things will happen with this spell. I said "thee" instead of "thou" in that incantation ... the gods will hate me forever! I'm exagerating to silliness here but I've seen some people get all worked up over perfection. And it's not about perfection, it's about so much more than that.

[hearthstone.livejournal.com]

Actually, you bring something up that hadn't occurred to me--that different people learn best in different ways. Some folks do better being shown things, others do better on their own, and it varies with the subject as well.

And then there's that worry about doing things "wrong".

Yeah, I know pagans--including some recons--who, well, don't do ritual because they haven't discovered or worked out the ideal way to do it yet. They'd rather do nothing than take a chance on getting it wrong.

[criedwyddwen.livejournal.com]

Yeah I don't get people who are so afraid to do anything they do nothing.

It seems to me this is one case where sincerity is more important than competence. If you're sincere in your desire to honor/connect/etc with the gods, then flub ups don't matter.

Then again, my belief system holds that all the rituals & toystools are for our benefit. They help us get altered and focus on the goal at hand.

Besides, did the recons ever consider that maybe the ancients didn't do it perfectly either?

[maewyn]

"I think I'm pagan, who wants to be my priest/ess??"

LOL...that's about the size of it. Which is scary.