Poll-Are you a solitary or group practicioner

[Twig]

I was checking out the poll feature and came up with this little poll for us druid practicioners so,lets hear it. Where do you stand? Does it matter?
Peace,
Twig

[widukind]

Hi!

I guess I'm a solitary practitioner because I personally feel I'm not up to a Grove, yet. I don't have enough information, hardly know any folklore, etc.

I suppose it DOES matter... if I had enough information, and if I felt this information was enough, I probably WOULD join a Grove.

But it's an interesting queston why people do or do not join a community... I hope there'll be lotsa replies...

[mol]

Originally posted by Twig
I was checking out the poll feature and came up with this little poll for us druid practicioners so,lets hear it. Where do you stand? Does it matter?
Peace,
Twig

Do you think it matters?

[Mairwen]

I remarked that I'm part of a group (the Elder HPs, in fact) ... But fact is, I practiced and studied many, many years on my own as my Parent Group was (and still is) in Northern California. Quite a stretch from where my little group is located. :D

[Silverwitch]

Why isn't there a section in the poll for both? I have been a solitary for many years, and still am. My private practise is different from my group practises, so even though I'm with a Lodge, a member of the PF, and several other groups, I still do a lot on my own, that the groups may or may not go along with - so I need another category!!;)

[Mairwen]

Yeah, that's what I was trying to say. LOL! :D

[Twig]

Originally posted by Silverwitch
Why isn't there a section in the poll for both? I have been a solitary for many years, and still am. My private practise is different from my group practises, so even though I'm with a Lodge, a member of the PF, and several other groups, I still do a lot on my own, that the groups may or may not go along with - so I need another category!!;)

And it is DONE! :D Thanks.
Peace,
Twig
:elf:

[Silverwitch]

Thanks Twig, no sooner said than done. I'm impressed! However, it seems I stand alone at present, 1 out of 13. I'm sure that must mean something, if only I could figure out what!!

[Mairwen]

No, I said I work as part of a group, but stand alone, too. Where'd my vote go? Or are my posts not being read?

[Silverwitch]

Originally posted by Mairwen
No, I said I work as part of a group, but stand alone, too. Where'd my vote go? Or are my posts not being read?

So sorry Mairwen, I went directly to the last post, missing your vital snippet in the process. It's good to be in such excellent company! :bigredgri Perhaps you need to vote again to record the two of us. I tried, but was told that I had already voted. (No rigging the votes then!)

[Twig]

YOU BET !! We keep a fair shop around here! ;)

You know, in my case it's quite the opposite. I've been a solitary for 3+ decades now and feel the need to connect with more of "my own", so to say. And springtime on the Portland waterfront can be a great place to meet folks so I hear. :) :bubbles:

Peace,
Twig
:elf:

[bansidhe]

yay!!! im part of the majority for a change!!!:boing:

[Dresden]

I don't have the desire or need to join a coven. However, my husband went out to the pub last night with friends, and was informed by a Pagan friend that all Wiccans HAVE to join a coven, or else they're faking it.

He also said that American Wiccans are all wishy-washy and that the British form of Wicca is the "real thing", and that if you don't follow the Gardnerian or Alexandrian paths, you're faking it.

:(

My husband is not Pagan, so he just had to sit there and listen to this stuff. I assured him that the guy is probably a bit of a fundamentalist. If I were Christian, I wouldn't want to go to church. I know plenty of Christians who don't go to church because they don't believe in organized religion. I don't see any problems with that, and I don't think you should be labeled as a phony just because you don't want to practice organized religion.

[JimWA]

Right now I'm alone, but have been part of groups before. When I was younger, I was part of a grove. This is where I got my training. Most of what I learned has stuck with me for over two decades, the training and teaching was priceless. I have a set of spiritual practices that I've kept. Right now I practice alone and have done so most of my life. I like being part of groups, but I'm like to shake things up. Especially when I was younger. If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have crossed so many boundries so fast. It made a lot of people uncomfortable with me to say the least.

I've learned a lot of restraint in twenty years. Mostly I have a lot more tact. Being gentle is always best. I do open up cicles with friends and family on occasion. To me the circles that I invoke already exist and I'm just calling attention to it. The universe is my friend.

[Evenstar]

For the time being I am a solitary practitioner. Part of the reason being that I don't think there are any groups or covens anywhere close to where I live. I live in a pretty small town. Sometimes I wish I did belong to some sort of group, because it would be nice to have moral support and some sort of training from people who have walked the Pagan path far longer than I have. I do enjoy practicing alone because ritual becomes much more personal, but sometimes I do long to be a part of something bigger, and feel the power of a group working together for a single purpose.

[Xentor]

Greetings,

The group where I learned energy working and an elemental system wasn't a magic group. Nevertheless, they taught me as I contributed to them. I still frequent this group and we sometimes have energy, aura and healing workshops. It's also where I learned to feel people's emotions and intentions, the intention to do harm in particular.

But the people in that group don't share my religion nor my world view. So some things I need to do by myself. I don't know of any people in my neighbourhood who do what I do, and for a long time didn't feel the need to look for them.

That might change. After all, I felt the need to join Mystic Wicks.

[wildwoodswoman]

I have always been a solitary individual, not only in the practice of my craft, but in all aspects of my life. Although I am friendly and I like sharing thoughts and ideas, learning with and from others, I like to practice alone. I am a little unconventional even in the practice of witchcraft, so I walk my own path.

[CloakofStars9]

couldn't have said it better myself ^^^ :)

i have always been a loner so being a solitary can easy ;)

[Twig]

Originally posted by Twig

YOU BET !! We keep a fair shop around here! ;)

You know, in my case it's quite the opposite. I've been a solitary for 3+ decades now and feel the need to connect with more of "my own", so to say. And springtime on the Portland waterfront can be a great place to meet folks so I hear. :) :bubbles:

Peace,
Twig
:elf:

One year later I sit here and prepare to go to the biggest peace protest in my life at EXACTLY the place I spoke of!!!!!

This is EERIE ! :eek: :confused: :cool:

[Myrddyn Emrys]

I do both solitary and grove, depending on if the Festivals allow my Grove partners and I together at the same time.

WHen we are assembled, we tend to do it up full regalia, when I do something solitare, sometimes not even a word is spoken

Myrddyn


"No matter where you go, there you are..."
Buckaroo Bonzai

[wildwoodswoman]

So here is a question for those of you who practice both ways. Do you find you magic different when alone than it is with a group and how so?

[Myrddyn Emrys]

I would have to say, yes, there is a difference.

The best way I could describe my feeling of it would be akin to a group discussion at school or one-on-one lessons from a teacher.

When I'm doing solitary, It's just the sense of The Gods and I, just their energies and mine.

When I'm with my Grove, I can feel all their energies, my wife (whom is also my soulmate), my son, my friends, the Gods, all adding their own "spice" to the stew.

Although, I do have to say I do enjoy it more when my wife is involved with me. We are so deeply entwined on the spiritual level I get a taste of the whole deal from multiple angles at once. I get my own impressions of the Gods, their feeilgs toward me, their feeings toward everyone else, my feelings for my wife, her impressions of the Gods, theirs toward her, both hers and mine on the gorup, it's wonderfully exhilerating.

Myrddyn

[Nynnianne]

as I voted, I am both. I have studied and done rituals alone, and with our grove. since moving to Northern Az though, all our grove is down in Phoenix and we don't get to have our Rituals with them very often. I do miss them. I had several students learning from me. and I learned a lot from them as well. I agree with Emry's though. I do feel better when with the grove, and with him especially. it helps a lot when your that connected with who you are with during rituals.

Blessings,

[wildwoodswoman]

I've been solitary my whole life. In fact, I was nearly 40 years old when I first actually met other witches!:p Lately, this is odd, I've found that the people at work are very enamored and attracted to my witchcraft. They are often asking me for stones or candles for this or that purpose. I'm often lending books or helping people to create spell work. How weird! Two of the nurses at work have even decided to join me and are studing. One of them is my best friend. She and I have cast a number of spells together. It's weird how we can get to the same plane at the same time! I am really enjoying all this community, but I still like my solitary ways. I guess there is conversation I have with the universe that I don't care to share.

[Myrddyn Emrys]

I have noticed an upsurge of "acceptance" myself as of late, and am not displeased by it. When we first moved up to this tiny little rural community two years ago, on average, people were willing to accept us for what we were, but some were VERY stand-offish.

One of those holdouts just recently almost BEGGED us to come to her wedding at a Mormon church! Mayhap it's just them getting accustomed to us, but people we're just meeting are seeming to accept us easier. Perhaps the start of a better time, spirituality awakening.

Of course, I know someone from another club who woud thouroughly disagree. Don't we, Twig?

Myrddyn

[Shadowulfe]

i am a solitary practioner. always have been possibly always will be!!

[Blueowl]

I stated Solitary because I don't want any parts of an organized religion..period! Maybe my viewpoint will change in a few years, butI doubt it. But, I love to get to know others such as myself along the way....:D

[Cev'aq]

I'm solitary, mostly because of lack of findable pagans in my area. I found one, but the only thing she ever did was add me to her email list so she could fill my inbox with tired jokes every day. Heh.

[UnSolon]

I'm a loner technically....

You see I learn from the land itself, I dont read fancy books from people who wrote them in a city (most likely wishing they were in the bush), I actually go out and experience it first hand.

I am PRIVILAGED enough to live in a village which is surrounded by nature in all her glory. I live in the LARGEST intact Temporate Rainforest on Vancouver Island (the first large wilderness you will come to as you go North from the BAJA along the coast).

I can kayak, or hike, or swim (with a wetsuit, the water is a bit cold) to islands or coves, or mountains which have never seen the destructive hand of man. I work to save those forests. I learn from them, and they teach me all I will ever need to know.

...........................
As for being solitary or part of a group... I have many friends who I would consider half pagan, but the thing is, they dont know it. Or if they do, we dont feel the need to express it to others. Where I come from it is almost the rule rather than the exception to have atleast a slight inclination towards the pagan path. So I often find myself in mystical experiences with other friends without us passing a word to each other about what it actually is. We simply are, be, and know.

Peace

[MoonAnu]

Hi!

I guess I'm a solitary practitioner because I personally feel I'm not up to a Grove, yet. I don't have enough information, hardly know any folklore, etc.

I suppose it DOES matter... if I had enough information, and if I felt this information was enough, I probably WOULD join a Grove.

But it's an interesting queston why people do or do not join a community... I hope there'll be lotsa replies...

Oh I feel the same way! Until I know a lot more than I do now I won't join any specific organization. :) So yes, I too am a solitary practitioner.

- Merryck

[Evenstar]

Oh I feel the same way! Until I know a lot more than I do now I won't join any specific organization. :) So yes, I too am a solitary practitioner.

- Merryck
well that is one way to look at it. but on the other hand if one were to join a coven or grove they would be able to learn all of that valuable information from other more seasoned travelers of the path.

[She-Arna]

I clicked both. I'm an involuntary solitary, but I've just joined ADF. Id say I'm largely solitary though.

[Pan]

I'm solitary but, once I can get up the courage, I'll be working with my husband.

I just feel so strange asking him to learn with me and teach me, as he's a Druid. 8O

[Myrddyn Emrys]

He's a DRUID, that's one of the things we do. And seeing as he's Druid that loves you, well that makes it all the better!

Myrddyn Emrys

[Nynnianne]

Emry's is right, I've learned a lot from him, and it makes it so much easier because I don't worry so much about looking silly to others. guess it helps that were sole mates, and feel so comfy with each other..... give it a try, you will be plesantly surprised..
Nynn

[amathera]

I am an extremely beginning solitary by no choice of my own. There is no one else here that I know of that follows any path but that of christian. Hopefully after moving back to Oregon, I will be able to find others. Until hten, i stare at my rock. It does not want to talk to me. Or maybe I just can't hear.

[Aine of the Fae]

I checked both. I was the HPs of a coven several years ago, however our lives pulled us apart and we are no longer together. I've been pretty much solitary since then.

[VroomBroom]

I checked both....I'm solitary and then with a group when my family are with me!;)

[Barazulus]

I'm part of a grove.

[MoonChild78]

I checked both but for the most part I am by myself but years ago I was a HP's for a very large coven and we had a bunch of hiving but then a lot of them went off on there own, either to college, new cities or different religions. Now, I practice mostly on my own though my craft sis and I practice together more now and we have a common friend that kinda wants to practice with us as well but they are very new. THe cool part is, that the friend has voiced want at being in a coven so we are hoping that upon him learning more that we will be able to form a new smaller coven .... of course, I already have a name and everything!! But until that day, I am still a witch on her own and I don't mind. :broomride

[Joshua]

My wife and I are both solitary and have no desire to join a coven. We're solitary to the point that we don't even worship or do ritual together.

I should add that I am affiliated with the job-energy-raising group on the Energy Requests forum here, but I don't think that counts.

[Seamus MacNemi]

I don't usually do polls because I don't like the idea of being boxed into a category that could at any time change. Presently I'm solitary, but that's because there aren't any Groves in my area. They all seem to be down toward Atlanta and that's another story.
I attended a few gatherings with an ADF grove up in Connecticut but got into a hassle over a piece I wrote on Grove Ethics. No body understood a word that I wrote. Either that or they just wanted to be obstructionist in their thinking. I discussed it at one point with Issac Bonewitz, the founder of ADF and he agreed with me but that didn't change any
thing. Since that time I have been mostly solitary here in the US, but I have affiliated myself with OBOD in Britain. I have found our relationship to be much more productive than that I have had with any American groups. Prehaps it's just a conflict of cultural
perceptions, but a lot of Americans rankle me to no end.

[reqq]

i am on my own right now - i can't afford the obod course and would love to- finding it hard to meet like minded people here- have been to some solstis gatherings and love it- hope to get the corse as soon as i win the lottery!!!!!

[Nevwyn]

I'm a solitary practitioner as was my teacher before me. However, this is mostly because there aren't any groups near me.

[beetlejuicessister]

Indeed, I cannot vote for either, because I am both. And to does it matter? Only for the Druid her/him self.
But, alas, a good point to bring out.
Be well.

[skilly-nilly]

Draig Glas?? What language?? In Irish, I'm thinking you may be aiming at 'draíocht' which is 'driudic art' but for 'glas' the translation is 'inexperienced'....or did you mean 'green'?

[NatureWizard]

i work Solitary as there is no groves near me,
and i will worry that i will cockup in a big group. (not what you think :smoke: )

[CaitrionaMorgaine]

I'm a comfortable mixture of the two. I've worked with a group on several occasions, but honestly prefer to be on my own most of the time. There is a place for solitary and group work within my path.

There is a group a few hours away from me that I love working with, and recently some close friends of mine and I decided to do an Esbat ritual...we've got a healing ritual planned, so we're trying out groupwork to see how it goes. I've also worked with a different group in the area, but time led me away from them.

The feeling of a ritual done within a group setting is different for me. This first go 'round it was an interesting mix of energy. It wasn't unpleasant; I've just been on my own for so long that I forget about the way other energy feels within my circle.

My boyfriend and I have never done ritual together, and I doubt that we will. There was a time when I was curious about it, but I've accepted that it's just not our thing. :)

Blessings, ~Rhiannon

[Ladyvi]

solitary practice. druidism is a part of my practice. i do work with an online grove that is a mixture of not just druids but other of varying belief systems. we are covering hermetics as we speak. but as a whole . solitary.

i have a partner now a wonderful loving man that we are now expecting . i have four girls from a previous union. this one is his first ( giggles). we work well together and is teaching me how to work with a group circle. the way i cast and the way sacred space is cast for a group is way different.

[rhinoa]

I don't think it really matters to be honest.
I keep my druid practise to myself but work with a wiccan coven. It works very well forme so far!