Welcome to Wild Rose

Following is the text of the October, 1999 version of the prospectus, which provides information about the 2000-2001 session of the Wild Rose Outer Grove.

Welcome to Wild Rose:
an English Traditionalist Pagan Outer Grove

in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

note: Year 2 commences in February, 2000

Wild Rose is a pre-initiatory religious discussion and working group, with the aim of introducing its participants to English Traditional Pagan folklore, customs and practices. Folklore is distinct from myth: it is the story of our cultural roots rather than a collection of fairy tales or wishful reimagination of some mythical past.

1. How do I join, and where does it lead?

Students may enter the group by formal petition, subject to acceptance. Students may resign from the group at any time within the year, for any desired reason. Upon completion of the year's work, graduates of the Grove will have the opportunity to petition at least one local Coven for membership, and will probably have met representatives of several other Covens, both within and outside the Gardnerian traditional family.

We will not be able to do correspondence teaching, whether by mail, phone or e-mail.

2. How much will it cost?

In keeping with our Laws, there will be no charge for membership in Wild Rose, other than the participants' own time in attending Grove meetings and in completing homework assignments. The commitment of 40 Thursday nights is in itself a sufficiently high price to pay for knowledge. We may from time to time ask Grove members to contribute consumable items such as candles, incense, fruit, or fruit-juice; these items will be held by the Grove in common and used in its meetings.

Teaching papers will be provided to the members, in weekly instalments. The cost of photocopying will be borne equally by all members. Each set of papers will relate in some way to the work of the Grove at that point in the syllabus , as well as to the changing tides and seasons of the natural world. You may view the syllabus if you wish.

3. Who is sponsoring Wild Rose, and why?

Wild Rose is sponsored by Coven of the Stone and Mirror and Coven of the Stone and Cauldron, with non- sponsoring material support from Coven of the Stone and Staff (where the instructional resources were most recently revised.) We are doing this because it provides a philosophical anchor for the Grove, as well as providing standards of accountability for the teaching being done. The sponsoring Covens provide the Grove's teachers and much of its Pagan lore, and will fairly consider membership petitions made by graduates of the Grove, with the caveat that successful completion of the Grove training is an end in itself, and in no way guarantees initiation into the sponsoring, or any other, Covens.

4. What about the Covens?

Coven of the Stone and Mirror was founded in 1995; it is a Gardnerian coven in the New York lineage of our Tradition. Coven of the Stone and Cauldron was founded in 1998, as a maiden coven of Stone and Mirror.

During the course of the Grove's work, the Covens will only take in new members from among the graduates of the Grove, thus affording an assurance to the graduates that at least two local Covens will consider their post-graduate petitions for membership, should they so desire.

5. Is there a book I can read beforehand?

The Spiral Dance by Starhawk, and Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler, are two books which would be worth reading. Grove members may also find Scott Cunningham's many books on herbalism interesting (if rather technically questionable at times). We will provide further reading lists during the course of the Grove year.

6. Do you have any Internet resources or mailing-lists?

Grove members have access to an e-mail discussion group, by means of which can help each other work through the Grove's syllabus. E-mail will not be the primary venue of Wild Rose's work, and we do not anticipate being able to offer correspondence training, whether in e-mail or written form. Personal contact between Grove members and teachers is integral to our work together.

7. Who may join the Grove?

Any person over the age of twenty years, of good character and in sound emotional and mental health and reasonably good physical health may petition to join the Grove, with the exception that membership is not open to people who are concurrently apprenticed into another Wiccan teaching group, or who have already received Wiccan initiation from another person (interested initiates may, however, be invited to help teach in the Grove). We cannot provide child-care at the Grove's meeting-place. Past experience has been that single parents can make a go of Grove membership if they have reliable child-care arrangements.

Some of the homework assignments may entail spending time in parks, gardens or woodlands, and Wild Rose's meeting space does have stairs to climb. Persons who have mobility restrictions should bear these requirements in mind. The Grove's work entails a great deal of reading and a fair bit of writing. People with dyslexia may find this difficult.

8. How do I join the Grove?

As with many things Traditional, you must ask to join the Grove. Write a letter (a real letter on paper, not an e- mail message) of petition for entry into the Grove, describing yourself, including your age, educational experience and career plans, family status (and arrangements for child-care, if appropriate), any allergies, phobias, strong dislikes, physical or sensory restrictions, along with a resume of your past religious experience and training, if any. Please provide a contact telephone number and address, along with any restrictions that apply to it (such as not calling during the day, or asking for you by a specific name). If you have a personal Craft sponsor, please let us know who this person is. All information provided by you will be held as confidential.

We will use your letter as the basis to decide whether to proceed to an interview.

If you apply by mail, and your letter evidences readiness for entry into the Grove, you may be invited to attend an interview in Calgary on the evening of February 1st between 7:00 PM and 10:00 PM (we will let you know what the address of the interview site will be). If you are accepted into the Grove, you must be able to attend the first Grove meeting, and weekly meetings thereafter.

In the event that we have more than 13 applicants for Grove membership, we will draw lots for membership, from among all the qualified applicants. Lots, if need be, will be drawn at 10:00 PM on February 1st. We will notify successful applicants of their acceptance into the Grove, prior to its first meeting.

9. Will I have to swear any vows?

The Grove is not a Wiccan Coven, and so the Traditional Craft vows will not be asked or made. However, Grove members will be asked to oathmake to the following:

to respect and maintain the confidentiality of their fellow members and of their teachers, including not discussing the Grove's workings with non-participants;
to refrain from charging money for teaching or using the lore that they have been taught in the Grove; and
to refrain from identifying themselves as Wiccan initiates, or claiming the status or perquisites of Wiccan initiation, during the year's course of the Grove.

In addition, Grove members will be asked to commit themselves to prompt and regular attendance of the Grove's meetings, including that if an emergency arises, they will make a fair effort to contact their teacher(s) beforehand, to ask for a boon of absence.

The Grove will operate within a framework of Laws, which will be binding upon all members during their period of Grove membership; applicants must copy the Laws in their own handwriting during the interview evening on February 1st.

10. Will I have to wear a robe or a special uniform?

Comfortable street clothes will do just fine; in deference to the comfort of your fellow members we will ask you to wear clean clothes (including clean socks!) that are loose enough to allow you to move comfortably and sit or kneel as you please.

11. What about behavioural standards?

We won't dictate your musical preferences, and neither the Grove nor its sponsoring Covens will pass judgement upon your sexual or affectional preferences, so long as they are non-violent, non-abusive, and non-harmful to self or others. People who are philosophically opposed to heterosexual imagery, or who are unwilling to interact with other members of a mixed-gender group, may find the Grove not to their taste. The Grove's teachers will neither demand nor accept sexual or monetary favours from students, nor will we encourage or condone the use of illicit drugs or other intoxicants during Grove meetings. Grove meetings will be in a non-smoking venue.

12. Will I become an initiate?

Working with Wild Rose will not directly lead to Wiccan initiation. From our point of view, that happens in covens, to which you will have the opportunity to petition for membership following completion of the year's sessions.

After your Grove year, you will have several options on how to proceed. You might choose to petition to join Coven of the Stone and Mirror or Coven of the Stone and Cauldron (which would entail certain rites), or to enter another Craft or Pagan group (which may or may not entail additional rites of passage).

The non-initiatory nature of the Grove is intended to let it function as a low-pressure discussion group, within which you may explore the folklore and meaning of traditional English Paganism.

Hopefully, after having completed your Grove year, you will have a rich collection of resources from which to work, and you will have had the opportunity to consider whether you would like to enter formal apprenticeship or dedication to eventually become a Wiccan initiate.

13. What would I need to bring to the first meeting?

Yourself, in a rested and relaxed state of mind; two white candles (which will become collective property of the Grove), a durably-bound, black-covered blank book (lined or unlined as you prefer, at least 6 x 9 inches, 40 to 100 pages), and at least one pen. You will be copying materials into your book during the first meeting, and at frequent occasions thereafter. How much you decide to put in your book will be largely up to you, but past experience indicates that you will have no difficulty in filling it.

You will probably want to obtain a three-ring binder of standard size, so as to keep your teaching papers and notes organised; you may need several binders through the year (about 400 pages of handouts will be provided) but one will do to start.

14. Can the date and time of the meetings be changed to suit my circumstances?

In a word, no. During the 2000 sessions, Wild Rose will meet once a week at a fixed time. If you must work or go to school on the chosen night, do keep in mind that there are other Pagan and Wiccan training groups in Calgary which do meet on other nights of the week.

Blessed be,
Gwyneth
Lady of Stone and Mirror

Yes, we are very well aware that Pagan Groves seldom advertise themselves on the Internet. We are doing this as an experiment, to see whether we can better serve people in south-western Alberta who might be looking for Traditional training but have no idea where to look.