The Shakti Wiccan tradition is launching 3 in-person study circles that are currently forming and will begin meeting in early 2007.
These study circles are suited to those who are inspired by Hindu spirituality and are drawn to worshipping and working with the Hindu deities, but wish to do so within a Wiccan format.
The study circle curriculum will be based around an in-depth and experiential exploration of the Deities and mythos of Hinduism and the basics of Hindu spirituality, with an emphasis on blending that knowledge into a Wiccan ritual context. Students will also be introduced to such topics as puja (Hindu ritual worship) , mantrajapa (the chanting of mantras) , bhakti (loving devotion of God/dess) , as well as intelligent and intuitive methods of syncretizing the Hindu material with the mainstream eclectic Wiccan structure. The curriculum is both academic and experiential -requiring not only study and comprehension of textual material, but practical application of the knowledge gained. Students must be motivated, committed, and be prepared for regular journal work and meditation assignments.
Those interested in joining a study circle must apply and be accepted for Petitionership into the Shakti Wiccan tradition. Petitioners who successfully complete the Outer Circle curriculum will be invited to join the Inner Circle and become privy to all tradition-specific material and be welcome at all closed Sabbat events and working circles. The average Petitionership is 12 months.
There are currently 3 study circles forming around North America:
* JAI DURGA MANDALAM - The Circle of Durga Victorious - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Located in the downtown Toronto core, Jai Durga Mandalam is facilitated by Shakti Wicca founder, Devi Spring.
* KALI MA MANDALAM - The Circle of Mother Kali - Mankato, Minnesota, USA
Located in Mankato, the Kali Ma Mandalam is facilitated by Shakti Wicca Priest, Preachan.
* SRI YELLAMA MANDALAM - The Circle of the Devadasis - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Located in Montreal, Sri Yellama Mandalam is facilitated by Shakti Wicca Priestess, Kirtana
Those applying for membership who are located near a study circle, or otherwise able to meet regularly in one of the cities listed, are encouraged to mention their location and interest in attending the in-person study circles in their membership application.
Shakti Wicca Study Circles are based around and require student participation in the same core material from the online curriculum as is mandatory for all members, whether their involvement is primarily through correspondance or through membership in an in-person working group.
About Shakti Wicca:
Shakti Wicca is a Goddess-centric (not exclusive) tradition of IndoWicca that draws most of its spiritual inspiration from the Hindu tradition, in the same manner that other Wiccan traditions draw the bulk of their inspiration from Celtic, Norse, Greek, Roman, Egyptian or other spiritual cultures. It is considered an eclectic tradition, despite its exclusive focus on the Hindu pantheon and spiritual philosophy, due to the freedom it grants our dedicants in creating their own path and the general lack of dogmatic ritual liturgy.
Shakti Wicca is similar to what has been generally referred to in the NeoPagan community as "Hindu Wicca", and "IndoPaganism", although Shakti Wicca strives to provide a definite belief structure and training scheme, which is easily accessible to those who resonate with a Hindu-inspired Wiccan (IndoWiccan) spiritual path.
Shakti Wicca utilizes a worship and ritual structure that blends eclectic Wiccan traditions with universalist Shakta Hindu spirituality - so that it remains familiar and easily adhered to by modern Western dedicants. Worship will always contain simple, but important elements from Hindu puja (ritual worship) and the overall theology will be generally based in Shaktism, although the extent to which the dedicant incorporates traditional Hindu aspects is generally up to the individual. Reference to the Wiccan cosmology, mythos and basic ritual framework will be maintained in order to keep logical syncretic coorespondances between the two traditions.
These study circles are suited to those who are inspired by Hindu spirituality and are drawn to worshipping and working with the Hindu deities, but wish to do so within a Wiccan format.
The study circle curriculum will be based around an in-depth and experiential exploration of the Deities and mythos of Hinduism and the basics of Hindu spirituality, with an emphasis on blending that knowledge into a Wiccan ritual context. Students will also be introduced to such topics as puja (Hindu ritual worship) , mantrajapa (the chanting of mantras) , bhakti (loving devotion of God/dess) , as well as intelligent and intuitive methods of syncretizing the Hindu material with the mainstream eclectic Wiccan structure. The curriculum is both academic and experiential -requiring not only study and comprehension of textual material, but practical application of the knowledge gained. Students must be motivated, committed, and be prepared for regular journal work and meditation assignments.
Those interested in joining a study circle must apply and be accepted for Petitionership into the Shakti Wiccan tradition. Petitioners who successfully complete the Outer Circle curriculum will be invited to join the Inner Circle and become privy to all tradition-specific material and be welcome at all closed Sabbat events and working circles. The average Petitionership is 12 months.
There are currently 3 study circles forming around North America:
* JAI DURGA MANDALAM - The Circle of Durga Victorious - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Located in the downtown Toronto core, Jai Durga Mandalam is facilitated by Shakti Wicca founder, Devi Spring.
* KALI MA MANDALAM - The Circle of Mother Kali - Mankato, Minnesota, USA
Located in Mankato, the Kali Ma Mandalam is facilitated by Shakti Wicca Priest, Preachan.
* SRI YELLAMA MANDALAM - The Circle of the Devadasis - Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Located in Montreal, Sri Yellama Mandalam is facilitated by Shakti Wicca Priestess, Kirtana
Those applying for membership who are located near a study circle, or otherwise able to meet regularly in one of the cities listed, are encouraged to mention their location and interest in attending the in-person study circles in their membership application.
Shakti Wicca Study Circles are based around and require student participation in the same core material from the online curriculum as is mandatory for all members, whether their involvement is primarily through correspondance or through membership in an in-person working group.
About Shakti Wicca:
Shakti Wicca is a Goddess-centric (not exclusive) tradition of IndoWicca that draws most of its spiritual inspiration from the Hindu tradition, in the same manner that other Wiccan traditions draw the bulk of their inspiration from Celtic, Norse, Greek, Roman, Egyptian or other spiritual cultures. It is considered an eclectic tradition, despite its exclusive focus on the Hindu pantheon and spiritual philosophy, due to the freedom it grants our dedicants in creating their own path and the general lack of dogmatic ritual liturgy.
Shakti Wicca is similar to what has been generally referred to in the NeoPagan community as "Hindu Wicca", and "IndoPaganism", although Shakti Wicca strives to provide a definite belief structure and training scheme, which is easily accessible to those who resonate with a Hindu-inspired Wiccan (IndoWiccan) spiritual path.
Shakti Wicca utilizes a worship and ritual structure that blends eclectic Wiccan traditions with universalist Shakta Hindu spirituality - so that it remains familiar and easily adhered to by modern Western dedicants. Worship will always contain simple, but important elements from Hindu puja (ritual worship) and the overall theology will be generally based in Shaktism, although the extent to which the dedicant incorporates traditional Hindu aspects is generally up to the individual. Reference to the Wiccan cosmology, mythos and basic ritual framework will be maintained in order to keep logical syncretic coorespondances between the two traditions.
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Canada
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Re: Shakti Wicca Study Circles forming in 3 cities
Sun, February 25, 2007 - 12:51 AMDevi, how did you come about developing Shakti Wicca? -
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Re: Shakti Wicca Study Circles forming in 3 cities
Wed, August 8, 2007 - 7:28 AMSorry it's taken me sooooooo long to respond. I haven't been on Tribe in a long time!
Well, I came out of my Christian upbringing, and found Wicca. Since I had been facinated with Ancient Egypt my whole life, I just assumed that I was going to be a Kemetic Wiccan. I spent about 2.5 years trying to make a connection to Them, and I never got any response or feeling of acceptance from them. I eventually got the hint and decided to try and find the Pantheon that was actually right for me. I tried the Greek one for a little while, and had much the same luck as I did with the Egyptian deities. So for a while I just practiced the Craft sans deity, but attended all the local public circles for fellowship, hoping that one of the pantheons invoked would speak to me. Alot of people started telling me that if I wasn't Celtic, Greek, Roman, Egyptian, or Norse-based that I couldn't be a Wiccan. So for a while I stopped using that label - even though all my practices were using Wiccan imagery and the Sabbats and everything else. It was a very frustrating time for me.
Eventually, feeling at the end of my rope, and feeling like no Old Gods really seemed to want me, I sort of looked around my room and "saw" for the first time that my walls were covered with Hindu devotional art, "heard" that all I had been listening to was Hindu sacred music, or Indian-based world fusion, "realized" that I had gotten 3 Hindu-themed tattoos, I had changed my major to Religious Studies Hinduism Specialist...and it finally hit me! LOL. I started chanting to Ganesha and was immediately enveloped in a wonderful and welcoming energy and I knew that I had come home.
So for a while I tried practicing in a purely Hindu context, but found alot of it didn't totally resonate with me. I started feeling stuck again, because no one thought I could be Wiccan and praying to the Hindu gods (at least without praying to other more "mainstream" Wiccan deities anyway). But the more I tried to fit into the traditional "Hindu" box, the more it felt really really wrong. Eventually I started to think that since I couldn't be Hindu and I couldn't be Wiccan, that I was just up the creek without a paddle. I was really getting depressed. I had found the gods that enthusiastically welcomed me, but the religion that surrounded them just wasn't quite right for me.
I decided to try and write a blended Wiccan/Hindu ritual and see how the energies worked. I was actually 100% prepared for abject failure. But as I performed it, everything clicked and the atmosphere changed into something beautiful and I felt as though Ganesha was belly-laughing at how long it had taken me to figure it all out! So I began a blended practice, researching more and more about traditional Hindu worship and the metaphysics behind it, as well as more in-depth research into the metaphysics of Wiccan ritual. From there the blending emerged almost eerily easily. I was doing my absolute best to stay as true to the energies of each tradition as possible.
That all evolved over the next 2 or 3 years. One night when I was chanting to Durga (who I am now dedicated to), I felt her almost breathing down my neck. I picked up a pen and paper and a really interesting outline for an organized tradition just sort of came up almost fully formed over the following 3 hours. At first I didn't know what to do with it, since I had never met another Pagan that felt the way that I did. I decided to start a yahoogroup for the discussion of that topic, and put an announcement for it on Witchvox. I didn't expect to hear anything. And for a couple of weeks I didn't! Then all of a sudden little waves of people appeared...and it was the coolest thing! I made a seperate website outlining the Shakti Wicca stuff, and over the next few months interested parties starting contacting me. I had already been teaching online and had a great core of really in-depth experiential classes, which were perfect aspects of a training program. I just began creating courses (and I'm still doing this) that fill in the gaps, and allow people to get educated in different aspects of IndoPagan and IndoWiccan practice. Originally I called the school The Shakti Wicca Training Chakra, but I've changed it The Lotus Academy of Spiritual Arts to make it more inclusive (shaktiwicca.knowplace.ca). The courses are all open to the public, but there are many workshops that are geared specifically for those training in Shakti Wicca.
So...that's my story! I just had the feature article in the current issue of PanGaia, "The Emerging IndoPagans" about our community.
It's been a very interesting ride.
Blessings,
~Devi~
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