Our group recently facilitated the PF London’s Open Summer Solstice ritual which was a great joy and honour, but given that the audience was packed full of the usual suspects with next to no newcomers it also got me thinking how we can “update” our community services and outreach?
When I started on this path, going to moots, attending open rituals or open ritual groups, hanging out in occult shops etc was the way to go. Eventually you would find somebody you click with and with some further perseverance you might get lucky and find and join a group (if so inclined). This approach certainly changed with the rise of the internet and I sometimes think it pretty much received its deathblow during the pandemic and the unstoppable rise of WitchTok.
How do we convey how very different the path of initiatory witchcraft is compared to what people see there and how can we remain “findable” for prospective seekers without breaching privacy or coming across as proselytising?
The most common challenges I came across recently are
the idea that Wicca is only for women (where the hell did that come from??? Surely even a cursory Google search shows that the founder of our specific tradition was a man) or
Wicca is transphobic (errr…no…there have been trans folk in the Craft literally for decades and most covens are constantly adapting e.g. to be welcoming to enby folk, too) and
some want instant access and knowledge and are very reluctant to leave the online world behind full stop (which doesn’t work in an experiential mystery tradition)
I have no answers to these questions (beyond pointing people at Thorn Mooney’s book or her various socials as a starter for 10) and I hope having this website presence is enough of a beacon for now. I will continue the conversation, especially with the help of our younger coven members who are more in tune with their own generation than I could ever be.
A blog is however one of those things that are no longer of much help in this day and age, so this will be my final entry (unless something specific moves me to make another post).
May the Gods preserve the Craft.