Assignment of the Week 3

The assignment for this week is fairly simple; this week I want you to focus on working in a group or working alone. Have you ever worked with another person or within a group setting? Do you only practice alone? What differences in experiences, if any, have you seen? Do you prefer to work alone or would you prefer to work in a group? Would you ever be willing to work with someone else long distance?

This one may seem less magical than the others, but it will help in the next assignment I have planned.

Currently I primarily Work alone, but I used to lead a large offline coven a couple of years ago so im practiced at group work as well. Its very different working with a group opposed to myself. I do a lot more ritual as a group to help align the will of the group while by myself it is much simpler. At this point I prefer to work alone or with very experienced people but I can handle myself in multiple situations. I personally don't like working long distance if I don't have to but I can if necessary.

I generally work alone and I'm private about my practices in person. My main issue with working in groups or following a tradition is that many of them require you to accept beliefs outside your experiences. Others are entitled to do that, but I prefer to base my understanding of the universe on what I've experienced rather than been told.

I am happy to work with others within limits. Friends have asked me to send energy and I have done long distance and I've offered to give their spells a boost on rare occasion. One thing I like to do privately and alone is spirit work. All my interactions with spirits must be direct and through me only. I read in a book about Wiccans talking to the goddess through the high priestess during ritual and that was an immediate deal breaker. I am also wary about discussing spirits I commune with.

I am generally a private practitioner due to the complex nature of my path, the pieces are there and fit nicely, but the practices carry immense implications and require working with some potent and advanced forces; of course I am not at the stage where the more advanced practices come into play, I am merely at a phase where the complication and collective weight of the rituals makes them tricky to work around. Add on top of this the degree of memorization I have to do alongside this practice which I am not even finished with, starting with the Qliphothic and Sephirothic Arches (the 11 Heads of the Sitra Achra, the Gatekeepers of Azurate, and the 10 Holy Names, the 10 Sephirothic Angels).

The Gnosis that accompanies my path is daily, and even though there will always be details that will likely come into place when I least expect them like the identity of the Azurate of our Eternal Sphere, what I do have is sufficient for what I need to do. The initiations, implications of the workings, the variables in even my solitary practice are astronomical, and I will have to transcend astronomical odds to make this work, but I cannot worry about these practices and try to explain it all to someone else when they already have a working path/tradition where my paradigm would only confuse what they already know.

That being said, there are workings I can do with another person, but most of these are already established rites or combinations of already established rituals. Things like Opening the Gates of Creation (which is now expanded to include all 7 Watchtower Systems) can be done with another person, but the usage of such a rite might not be appropriate for a smaller scale operation. Another factor to consider is that the Seven Godflames may be used in rituals that I do, and if someone isn't familiar with a particular essence it can throw off the working or cause it to act in an undesireable manner.

So, to keep things short:

• Can I work with others: yes
• Should I work with others: debateable
• Do I prefer to work with others: not usually
• Input of rituals used in my path to operation: varies depending on magnitude.

Ah I love this!

I grew up in a practicing household (dads side, my mothers was quite different). Therefore, yes I have practiced in groups. The group has never been more than 5 people, so always small.

However, I always have found that the extra flow of energy around me is highly helpful for keeping focused. The need for crystals or other things to draw energy from almost disappeared, for me at least.

My dad and I practice together often. It helps us focus our energy better. And it also helps us have a better bond.

However, when I work alone, I feel closer to the spirits I am working with and it feels more personal.

I work on my own not because I want to but really just because I dont have anyone else around me that is interested in this kind of stuff. I would work with other people in a group and long distance.

I have only ever worked alone, but then I don't really know any other practitioners. But I am definitely open to long distance group work!

Sorry for the delay on the next assignment, but I've been very busy at work.

So:

Fontess, Pretty, Falling, and Kothar (as well as anyone else who wishes to join in late I'll work with).

I'm pairing up Pretty with Kothar and Fontess with Falling so that each person has one novice and one more experienced person. You can switch if you like, but this is just for ease of use.

For you two groups you'll get to work together on the next assignment. Anyone else who wants to pair up may. The next assignment will be based on "grab bags". See the next assignment thread for details. :)