Just a brief post to check in. Some major new developments have happened in the last two weeks (alongside the entire world going to hell in a handbasket), and I think you’ll start to see more and different flavor of posts here as I get going.
First – I got laid off last week. There’s a possibility that I’ll get rehired in August, but I’m proceeding as though that won’t happen. I’ve got my resume up and running, and I’m pretty happy with it, but obviously the job market is… not great right now.
As a result, I’m moving immediately, as soon as I can get packed and get up to North Texas, instead of waiting until my lease expires in mid-May. Not having a job, I’ve got plenty of time to pack, but even that has left me with more loose time than I’d like.
I’ve gotten in contact with Blackland Prairie Grove – the ADF grove that meets in Arlington. They’ll be about a 60-75 minute drive from where I’ll be living, unfortunately, but I’ll hopefully get to see them on occasion. Obviously, my job when I meet them is to learn the way they do things, but I’ve offered the use of some of my live-meet technology expertise as they start planning a Beltane ritual.
That’s all mostly mechanical though – on a spiritual front, I’ve been called to do deeper work, and that deeper work needs to be something structured. As such, I’ve spoken with the ADF Initiate’s Preceptor, Rev. Jan Avende (who some of you will know is also the priest who ordained me), and re-upped my study program membership with ADF’s Initiates Program.
A lot of the coursework is duplicated with my clergy training work, but all of the Initiate coursework has practicum elements that I’ll be doing. I’ll be starting ASAP with Initiate Liturgy 1, which my longtime readers will know harkens back to Liturgy 1 that I fulfilled for the Clergy Prelim program in 2014.
I’m intentionally going into these with fresh eyes though – with the focus on becoming an initiate – a spirit worker, a resource, a magical practitioner. I’ve done the work with the focus on being a clergy person, and I think I’ve proven in the last few years that I’m capable of that. So even though there’s a good bit of overlap, I’ll definitely be refreshing all the work, and you’ll start seeing study program courses posted here as I pass them.
I’m really excited about this. I like achieving things – I especially like working on my spiritual pursuits. I like digging my claws into the nuts and bolts of what makes magic and trance work, and this kind of work will absolutely enhance the work I do in ADF, in the wider pagan community, and as a Senior Initiate in the Henge of the Cobbled Path.
So wish me luck! There’s lots of good that could come out of this, so let’s hope it ends with less heartache than it is beginning with.
Little Druid on the Prairie 