Long distance learning - some rambling thoughts...

Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve written an actual blog.  It seems that my little updates on Facebook have taken the place of regularly writing a blog.  Just so much easier to send a few quick thoughts to Facebook rather than to sit down and come up with a couple paragraphs of something that I think people might find interest.

One of the things that Mike pointed out is that if I want to regularly do a blog isthat I really should be focused on writing topics that are of interest to me.  After all, if I’m not interested in what I’m writing going to be much harder to sit down and write a blog.

I’ve been particularly interested in the topics that have been coming up recently in a lot of different discussion as to whether or not someone can effectively learn/teach Wicca, Stregheria, or magic “long distance”.  I think it’s possible to do long distance learning/teaching OF Wicca, Stregheria, or magic but that’s different from actually teaching/learning it.

There are wonderful academic and folk lore resources About Wicca, Stregheria, and magic that will give readers a good background or basis of these topics.  There’s a wealth of resources about the historic and modern practices but these are all intellectual descriptions of things that really have more to do with the subconscious, spirituality, and sharred experience.

Most traditions of Traditional Wicca define their tradition based on praxis (or correct practice for their Tradition) and the shared experiences that comes from following that praxis in a group or coven setting.  In a way, praxis is the framework that hold the oral teachings of the particular tradition and it is a combination of praxis an oral teachings that leads to the shared experience of a particular tradition of Wicca.  Since Wicca is based around group work, shared experience, and specific practices, that would seem to make it very difficult to teach someone longest distance.

Stregheria, or the Strega Tradition, is also a tradition of the Craft. Where Wicca is based on specific praxis, Stregheria is based on a balance of Old Traditions and living family Traditions, personal gnosis, hospitality, respect, and honor and living the Tradition.  To learn Stregheria, you need to live Stregheria and the best way to do that is by example.  I’m not sure how you would do that without being physically present.
Mind you, that doesn’t mean that you can’t learn about theset things from books and articles or from forums, networking sites, or discussions.  Learning about these things will let a person develop their own spirituality and way of connecting with the divine.

On the other hand, I know of a few very dedicated individuals who have combined both distance learning WITH regular visits to their teachers.  They are very motivated individuals who do the work that their teachers give them, practice what they can on their own, AND  also go to great lengths to meet as often as possible (in person) with their teachers.  That way, they get the passing of knowledge and shared experience that is crucial to the passing on of a Tradition.

If someone wants to learn about Paganism or modern “eclectic Wicca”, the framework of knowledge is out there and it can be turned into a valid and powerful personal practice.  If someone practices on their own, does the Work, records their experiences, discusses them in places such as forums and meetups, and learns and shares, then they are just as much a Witch - even if it isn’t “formal training” or Traditional Wicca that they are practicing.

Benedizioni,

---Vincenzo

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2009 October 26, Observance of Wiccan New Year Ends in Religious Discrimination Suit

Originally posted on my previous blog archive site

Observance of Wiccan New Year Ends in Religious Discrimination Suit
•    Oct. 26th, 2009 at 7:17 AM

Some of you may have already seen this as a "share" on my Facebook page but I thought it was interesting enough to repost as a blog - especially since I'm working in Salem and it's October.

---Vinnie

http://www.workforce.com/section/00/article/26/75/37.php


Observance of Wiccan New Year Ends in Religious Discrimination Suit
In a complaint filed in federal court in Connecticut, Gina Uberti alleges she was unfairly terminated for practicing Wicca, known as the largest of neopagan religions.

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October 23, 2009

Observance of Wiccan New Year Ends in Religious Discrimination Suit

Last Halloween, Gina Uberti took vacation days to celebrate the Wiccan new year in Salem, Massachusetts, the town infamously known for the witch trials of 1692 that ended with the hanging of 14 women.

Less than a month after Uberti took part in the festivities of Samhain, one of the holiest days in the Wiccan calendar, she was fired from her job as a district sales manager for Bath & Body Works.

In a complaint filed in federal court in Connecticut last week, Uberti alleges she was unfairly terminated for practicing Wicca, known as the largest of neopagan religions.

Uberti alleges in the lawsuit that her boss said just before she was fired, “You will need a new career in your new year. … I will be damned if I have a devil worshiper on my team.”

Uberti says in the suit that her troubles at work began shortly after she returned from her trip to Salem. Her boss lamented that Uberti had chosen to go on vacation during a particularly important week at work, Uberti said. Uberti said her vacation had been approved by another manager a year in advance and that she had taken that particular time to celebrate a Wiccan holiday.

“That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” Uberti’s boss, Sandra Scibelli said, according to court documents.
Until she was fired November 20, 2008, Uberti had worked for the retailer for eight years, first as a manager in the company’s Milford, Connecticut, store and then as a sales manager from her home in nearby East Haven.

Uberti filed charges in February with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which granted her the right to sue in September.
Bath & Body Works is part of Limited Brands Inc, based in Columbus, Ohio.

“We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate against race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, disability, sexual orientation or marital status,” says Robin Hoffman, specialist, external communications for Limited Brands. “Additionally, we do not comment on pending litigation.”

Uberti’s lawsuit seeks compensatory damages for emotional distress and damage to her career as well as lost pay, vacation days and pension benefits, as well as other restitution.

Tal Marnin, an attorney with White & Case in New York, says U.S. law prohibits religious discrimination regardless of whether the religion is widely practiced or not.

“The employee has to show she is a sincere believer and that her attending the ceremony was part of her religious observance and practice,” Marnin said.

The company would have to show Uberti’s absence caused it an “undue hardship,” Marnin said.
The Wiccan new year, Samhain, takes place the same day as the Celtic new year. It is considered one of the four holy festivals, or Sabbats, according to the complaint. Uberti says in her complaint that for the previous six years she had received and taken time off to make the annual new year’s pilgrimage to Salem.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act protects covered employees from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.
—Jeremy Smerd