0:25

Welcome to Peg and Coffee Talk . Here are

0:27

your hosts , Lady Alba and Lord

0:29

Knight .

0:32

Okay , lord Knight . So what

0:35

the hell are we

0:37

as groups go ? Are

0:39

we covens , are we groves

0:42

, are we temples ? Are we temples ? Are

0:44

we churches ? I

0:46

don't know . There's so many options

0:49

, and I think what's funny

0:51

is that the

0:55

choices are endless right , but coven

0:58

itself has become

1:00

a bad word . Yes , why

1:03

?

1:03

It's all the connotations to it . It's

1:07

the . For some reason , people

1:09

seem to want to associate covens

1:11

with cults , and

1:14

I think it's because of the secrecy

1:17

, mystery

1:20

religion that it is .

1:23

But it's just a shortening of coven instead

1:25

. Yes , and

1:27

the church is home , more or less , or a gather

1:30

yeah , it's a group gathering

1:32

together . Churches were called coven steds

1:34

at one point . No

1:37

, that I did not know Long time , I

1:39

mean , but that was where it originated . I mean

1:41

, that's yeah .

1:43

So but now you sit there and

1:46

you ask people what coven they're a part of and it's

1:48

like , oh God , I

1:50

don't know how to explain that , like you just asked

1:52

them the most evilest question in the world I

1:54

know .

1:56

It kind of . It kind of sucks , because coven

1:58

for many of us was a reclaiming

2:01

word . Right To use

2:03

the word coven it was

2:05

. First of all , it was a very quick association

2:07

, right , it was very easy to go . Okay

2:09

, coven witch got it Easy

2:12

, easy . But

2:14

so , like in our case , life temple

2:16

. If I

2:18

remember correctly , lord

2:21

Min called it a temple because often

2:24

people just assumed we were

2:26

Jewish . Pretty much

2:28

, yeah , because that's the only other

2:30

faith that uses the word

2:32

, that word yeah , regularly . But

2:35

what he meant was more as like temple

2:37

, like Egyptian yes , more

2:40

the yes , a temple

2:42

of worship , right , yeah .

2:45

Which , again , has always been our focus is on

2:47

the worship religious side of this

2:49

not .

2:50

Right , I mean I

2:52

think I think so often the name

2:54

is usually derived or

2:56

what version gets used . Is

2:59

the founders association

3:02

right , or what they are drawn to ? So

3:05

if you're the oceanic

3:07

water , you're going to go

3:09

with something that's ocean or sea or

3:11

lake or rip , you know one of those

3:13

Whereas grove or

3:15

forest , or you know that's

3:18

an option that some people choose

3:20

because of the

3:22

worshiping in the woods kind of component , the

3:24

forestry , the earth connection

3:27

, right . And then I

3:29

mean , and then some groups , they just went with

3:31

church because they're like that's

3:33

what we are , that's right , we're just

3:35

a church , okay . So here's been what I've always wanted

3:37

to do .

3:38

Okay .

3:40

I want , I want ocean moon grove

3:42

, so that the

3:44

act , the abbreviation becomes OMG

3:46

, yes , yes

3:49

, omg .

3:51

Well , see , now this is all funny because we're talking

3:54

about all this , but let's be honest

3:56

in the traditional community of which we run

3:58

around .

3:58

Yes .

4:00

We never refer to each other as oh

4:02

, that's their coven , that's their way

4:04

. No , weirdly enough

4:06

, we only refer to each other by

4:09

the name .

4:10

Yes , it just becomes

4:12

a shortening . So yes

4:15

, it becomes to Wathakere , dashi

4:17

or Grove

4:19

of the Unicorn , or Ravenwood

4:22

or yeah , or it's just life temple . We

4:25

always have the temple in there because , just

4:28

to say life , people would get confused

4:30

, so they need the temple to quantify

4:32

the group . But yeah , I mean

4:35

Ravenwood technically right , their name

4:37

is Ravenwood Church

4:39

of the Old Religion . No one's

4:42

using that in full title . Why

4:44

, well , it doesn't work as good as

4:46

a save at all . And then we just refer to each other

4:48

as traditions , really

4:50

not even groups . Or , yeah

4:52

, you will hear group , yeah , actually . Yeah

4:54

, my group is in North

4:56

Carolina or whatever yeah

4:58

.

4:59

Or you'll hear . You know I follow the

5:01

Ravenwood tradition .

5:02

Yes .

5:03

It's not the traditions , like you hear

5:05

the majority of times on Alan Wild

5:08

Public of Garnarian Alexanarian

5:10

blah . These are very specific

5:13

.

5:14

Yes , it's extremely specific to the

5:16

area in which you live , or

5:18

state , city , etc .

5:21

So now , with that in there , wine world

5:23

has come and become such this

5:26

and , associated with this

5:28

, authoritarian because

5:30

we don't really use it in this way

5:32

that they're talking about .

5:33

No , but we do , but we don't , but

5:35

we do , we don't . It's

5:38

like I think the biggest thing is it automatically

5:40

. For most people , right , it means order

5:42

. That's

5:44

what no one likes . It's order

5:47

. It's order and it's structure and

5:49

it's that sameness

5:52

that we strive to

5:54

achieve inside of circle

5:56

Right that others don't like . They

5:59

want the willy-nilly , they want it

6:01

to be .

6:03

They want that spiritual aspect of religion

6:05

.

6:07

But they don't want it

6:09

to be rigid or militant

6:11

or predictable . They

6:13

find that to be too confining

6:15

for their faith or their practice , which

6:18

I find very strange .

6:20

Well , I mean , because we handle . We actually handle

6:22

this , I think , in a very mature way . Again

6:25

, our priestesses handle our

6:27

spiritual and it is

6:29

as priests who handles our mundane . Well

6:31

, yes so we're able to re-inject

6:33

that spirituality when you're in religions

6:36

to where you have to have a

6:38

committee about a committee to see if you're going to have

6:40

a committee about the problem .

6:42

Yes , that's part

6:44

of it , for sure , but

6:46

I find that the mechanics are what people

6:49

have issue with , right . And I look at it this way

6:51

I go . Everything that I do inside

6:53

of circle is choreographed , it's

6:56

orchestrated , it has been practiced

6:59

to the point where I know

7:01

it without having to

7:04

think about it , and

7:06

it is that that frees

7:08

up my mind for

7:11

the spiritual working at hand . If

7:14

I'm worried about where my foot is going

7:16

next , I'm not going to achieve

7:18

that . Yeah , the

7:20

same level of connection .

7:22

Because you're so worried about doing the process

7:24

instead of enjoying the process .

7:26

The physical , the mundane becomes

7:28

overpowering throughout

7:30

it . And but at the

7:32

same time , I really do think that's

7:34

what some people are railing against and I

7:37

wish they would understand . It's

7:39

not , it's not a bad

7:41

thing , it's not what it means

7:43

. We're not taking

7:46

away your individuality

7:48

by doing that . We're not .

7:50

No , I mean , at some point or another you

7:52

have to sit there and go . Okay , ritual is going to

7:54

be held at this time , class

7:56

is going to be at this time Because

7:58

, unfortunately , if you go into the spiritual too much , you

8:00

go into too much chaos , yes , and

8:02

you never know , and then you wind up

8:04

with doing the pagan standard

8:07

time .

8:09

But people also . I think the group

8:11

dynamic has become one where no

8:14

one likes being told they're wrong

8:16

, and I mean , nobody likes that anyway .

8:17

No .

8:19

But the difference is back in the day

8:21

, right , If you got told you

8:23

were wrong , you went . Okay

8:26

, why , yeah

8:28

? And it opened up a discussion and

8:30

everybody talked and

8:33

maybe you walked away with a new

8:36

perspective or a new viewpoint . Maybe

8:38

you didn't , Maybe you

8:40

dug your heels in and you held true to where

8:42

you stood when you walked in the door , but

8:44

either way , we all just went . It's

8:47

okay . It's okay and it

8:49

was fine . Now

8:51

it seems like when you

8:54

tell a new which a

8:56

young , which a whatever

8:58

you know , someone who's been practicing for a few

9:00

years , if you tell them they're wrong

9:03

. Quote unquote right that's

9:06

it , it's over . There

9:08

is . The discussion ends . There , isn't ? They

9:11

just don't want to be told that . They

9:14

don't want to be told that

9:16

their practice , their way , their method

9:18

is incorrect .

9:20

Right , everything they have put their time and effort into

9:23

is not .

9:24

But I always go . Then how do we grow If

9:27

we're not ever willing to stop

9:30

and dissect what

9:32

we're doing and say , maybe this isn't

9:34

right . How do I grow

9:36

? How do I learn anything more ? How

9:38

do I advance ? Because I'm

9:40

just going off of my own ideas .

9:43

You're spinning your own wheels .

9:45

You're operating in a vacuum .

9:47

Yeah , you're being the little hamster

9:50

on his little wheel , mm-hmm , running

9:52

as fast as you can and not going to work .

9:54

Yeah , I will always go

9:56

back to as simple as it is . There

10:00

was an instance

10:02

when I was in Neophyte and I don't remember

10:04

ex I don't remember all the details

10:07

because I probably wasn't privy to them , honestly

10:09

, but a first degree

10:11

was making

10:13

an incense in a

10:16

mortar and pestle and

10:20

they were moving

10:22

the pestle direction

10:25

wise it was . You know whether it was Witter Shins

10:27

or DSL , I don't remember , but they were moving

10:29

in a very particular Right and

10:32

you went . Why are you doing that ? I

10:35

remember that and

10:38

goddess help the poor first

10:40

degree who went because

10:42

Lady Maya told me to I

10:46

thought you were going

10:48

to take the mortar and pestle and

10:50

throw them across ritual space

10:52

. You were livid

10:55

and it wasn't

10:57

because of what they said

11:00

, it was the fact that

11:02

that statement was problematic

11:04

, for which you don't

11:06

do it , because someone else told

11:09

you to why

11:11

. Why are

11:13

you doing that ? What purpose

11:16

does it serve ? What

11:18

is the logic , the reasoning ? There's

11:21

more to it .

11:22

Right . There's no right or wrong answer . I want

11:25

to know why .

11:26

Yes , and it was

11:28

obviously an issue you had had

11:30

or seen with this person before , hence the

11:32

thing I wasn't privy to .

11:34

There was something else going on there .

11:36

But it was just so funny

11:38

and I remember . But

11:41

that's some of what we face nowadays is

11:43

that people , especially

11:46

we're seeing it a lot with the hereditary

11:48

witches yes , the people who are now coming

11:50

up and going , you know which ? I

11:52

mean ? I can't believe I'm saying it , but

11:54

like , yeah

11:57

, I mean you have people

11:59

who are between 15

12:02

and 25 years of age , who

12:04

were raised by

12:06

practicing witches , who are probably

12:09

around our age .

12:10

Yeah .

12:11

And they are now considered to be hereditary

12:13

witches because they were raised in a

12:16

household of witchcraft . Fine , but

12:18

a lot of those hereditary folks when

12:22

you ask them or when you question

12:24

aspects of their practice , they

12:26

go this is

12:28

what I was told to

12:30

do , or this is what my mom did , this

12:32

is what my grandmother did , this is what my uncle did

12:34

.

12:35

This is what we've always done .

12:37

But why they

12:39

don't have an answer ?

12:41

Well , again , we normally illustrate this because I love

12:43

to tell the story .

12:45

I know where you're going . It is a great story .

12:47

All right . Well , blaze happens to love this

12:49

story , so here we go . There

12:52

was once a little girl whose mother made

12:54

the best roast . So she asked her dad

12:56

, mom , what makes your roast

12:59

taste so good ? Well , I cut the ends off . Well , why

13:01

does that make it so good ? I don't know

13:03

. Your grandmother did it that way . When she gets here

13:05

you can ask her . Grandma

13:07

shows up . The girl climbs up and her grandma's

13:09

like why does cutting the ends

13:11

of the roast off make it taste good ? I don't know

13:13

. My mom told me that as soon

13:16

as your nanny gets here , you can

13:18

ask her .

13:20

Great grandma walks in the door .

13:21

Great grandma walks into the door , it's more likely

13:23

the girl crawls up

13:25

into a great grandmother's lap

13:27

going why does cutting off the ends of the

13:29

roast make it taste better ? She

13:32

stopped for a moment and thought about it . She's a Lord child

13:34

. I used to do that just to make it fit in the pan .

13:36

Yes , ask why . Yes , please

13:39

. That is so much of what is

13:41

lacking and it's ironic

13:44

because , ok

13:46

, that little girl just

13:48

had the audacity to ask . Often

13:51

, when you're growing up in a hereditary

13:54

family , there

13:57

are many , many things you will get

13:59

a deferred answer on . We'll

14:03

talk about that when you're older . I'll

14:05

tell you that when you're older . That's

14:07

a mystery , for when you're older

14:09

, those are the kinds of things you'll hear . Now

14:12

the problem is if you continue

14:15

on into your adult life , assuming

14:18

at some point that you know the answer

14:20

, you've figured it out , but you never

14:23

actually ask the qu- . Hey

14:25

, remember that thing that you said we would

14:27

talk about it while I'm older . While I'm older

14:29

, can we talk about that now ? Yeah , you

14:31

don't ever actually

14:34

have that confirmation , you're just assuming

14:36

. So it is very

14:39

, very wise to have those conversations

14:41

. No one , okay

14:44

, not no one . I would like to believe

14:46

that no one is challenging

14:49

your beliefs . They are simply opening up

14:51

a discussion . Are there probably

14:53

a few people that are in fact challenging

14:55

your beliefs ? Sure

14:57

, but for the most part , when

15:01

most groups pagans , covens

15:03

, priestesses , high priests when we approach

15:06

that is

15:08

, our objective is to have a

15:10

conversation and to

15:12

share valuable information

15:15

, so everyone is enriched . Yes

15:18

, it is not because we're

15:20

trying to discredit

15:22

you .

15:23

Or to make you feel bad .

15:25

Or take something away from you

15:27

. How the hell can I take that

15:29

away from you ?

15:30

I am not going to tell you how many students I've had to talk

15:33

down after almost sitting my sleeve on

15:35

fire over the years , and

15:37

it's kind of like calm down , everybody

15:40

does it at some point .

15:40

Yes , but

15:43

I really , truly . I've always kind

15:46

of found it interesting how

15:48

upset people

15:50

get . Now I'm like , if

15:53

you're 20 years old and you

15:55

tell me you're a hereditary witch and

15:58

your mom was pregnant with

16:00

you when she was initiated , what

16:02

the hell can I take away from you ? Nothing

16:05

, nothing . You are what

16:07

you say you are . It's

16:09

fine . Now , does

16:13

that mean that my church

16:15

will necessarily recognize

16:17

you as a degreed member of

16:19

Kraft ? No , but

16:21

it doesn't mean that I'm taking anything away

16:24

from what you've learned thus far

16:26

. No , it just means if

16:28

you were to

16:30

want to pursue education

16:33

or opportunity with a traditional

16:35

group like mine , we

16:37

would go , listen , we get it , we

16:40

understand , but just so you know

16:42

, at some point you'd have to go after your

16:44

first degree .

16:45

Yes .

16:46

Because , as it stands right now , you would not

16:48

be a practicing member of clergy . Nope

16:50

, that's it . That's

16:52

all it means . It's

16:55

not that big a freaking deal , well , I

16:57

?

16:57

always find it hard and difficult

16:59

when people don't realize that we

17:01

are the clergy .

17:03

Yes .

17:05

And we need to act and behave as

17:07

such . Yes , and

17:09

train ourselves as such .

17:11

Look , there are an awful lot of people from

17:13

various backgrounds who

17:16

will approach

17:18

their view of their

17:20

coven , instead of the things that they were taught

17:23

, with an air of superiority . You

17:26

know what it's ? Because they worked for it

17:28

. They did , they

17:30

worked for it , they worked their ass

17:32

off to attain that knowledge

17:35

and that level . So

17:37

forgive them if

17:40

they come across a

17:42

little uppity , but for the most

17:44

part , I promise you their

17:46

intentions are decent and

17:49

this is the discussion we

17:52

have to open up if we expect

17:54

craft to survive

17:56

, yes , and to evolve

17:59

forward , because if we don't , we're in big

18:01

trouble because covens

18:03

are not seeing

18:06

numbers like they used to .

18:08

No .

18:08

Yeah .

18:09

No , and there are points

18:12

to them , there are advantages .

18:14

Well , you also have and

18:16

again , we're just being totally

18:19

honest here there have been those who

18:21

have abused the titles who

18:23

have done shitty things .

18:25

Yep .

18:25

Who have taken liberties with

18:28

their members . I mean there's

18:30

all kinds of crap , but

18:33

part of that is again

18:35

investigate . Ask

18:38

questions .

18:40

Really investigate and ask questions about the temple

18:42

you're wanting to join .

18:43

I mean I'd need a lot of

18:45

women who are very concerned

18:48

about the goings on right

18:50

. Get the priests of a church . I'm

18:53

like just talk to some people

18:56

, go . Go to one ritual

18:58

, one event . If you

19:01

get the hebeys leave

19:03

, that's it . There

19:06

is . You're not going to put yourself in a shitty

19:08

position , don't , and

19:10

I mean you don't have to go by yourself

19:12

.

19:13

Take a friend .

19:14

I have even gone so far

19:17

and this is as a degree to initiate

19:19

. If I was unclear

19:22

on a group's practice

19:24

and I didn't feel

19:26

like I quite had a handle

19:29

on what was going on , I would

19:31

ask if I could observe . Yeah , I

19:33

would . Just I would like to sit outside

19:35

of circle . Is it OK if I observe ? No

19:38

one says no , they don't

19:40

care .

19:42

The only way that's going to say no is if it's

19:44

a closed event of some kind .

19:47

And I mean that's , you wouldn't be invited to that

19:49

anyway .

19:50

No , but I mean , you wouldn't

19:52

even know that was going on , exactly

19:55

.

19:56

So I mean there is nothing

19:58

wrong in exploring options

20:01

. You may be quite

20:04

surprised at the community that

20:06

you do find and

20:08

the resources that you find are

20:10

available to you .

20:11

I mean you . You're in a room with

20:14

people that believe pretty

20:16

close to what you do , with all

20:18

sorts of life experience . You ain't never had

20:20

Yep and

20:22

you walk away for such a bank

20:25

of information and knowledge

20:27

and even even my

20:29

daughter who , by

20:31

far of

20:34

most of the she's not a social

20:36

creature .

20:37

Ok , she's just not . She's just not a big

20:39

people person Through

20:42

out her training and her time

20:45

in the church . She

20:47

doesn't do a lot of extracurricular

20:49

social activities . She doesn't hang

20:51

out with her classmates very often

20:53

she just kind of does her own

20:55

thing . Now , does it mean that

20:57

they've not had still a meaningful

21:00

bond that's been formed or that

21:02

? You know , they of course , but

21:04

she's choosing not to

21:07

allow the church to be

21:09

a social outlet right

21:11

more than it needs to be . She's

21:13

like nope , this is what I'm here to do and

21:16

that's totally fine , and a lot of people

21:18

make that decision . We can't force you

21:20

to socialize . We're not going to force

21:22

you to have , you

21:25

know , to go on bowling night or

21:27

what we've ever done a bowling night to my knowledge , but you

21:29

know maybe we should , maybe we should . But

21:32

yeah , you are free

21:34

to come and do as

21:37

you please , it's OK . So

21:39

just just keep that in mind . I really

21:42

ask yourself am I , am

21:44

I gaining something by being

21:46

solitary , or am I denying

21:48

myself an opportunity to learn

21:51

by continuing to

21:53

be solitary ?

21:55

Good way to ask .

21:57

I need more coffee . How about that ? Ask OK

21:59

.

22:03

Thanks for listening . Join us next week

22:05

for another episode . Peg and

22:07

Coffee Talk is brought to you by Life

22:09

Temple and Seminary . Please visit

22:11

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22:13

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22:15

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22:17

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22:20

and Reddit . I

22:44

love our days , so walk with me

22:47

till morning

22:49

.