Blue Star Beliefs

By Kenny Klein

This very basic overview is meant as a resource for people interested in what B* does, and especially for someone who might have found Blue Star (B*), and specifically Rose and Antler coven, on the internet or through some other avenue, and might be considering investigating us as a possible path of study and ritual fellowship. Wicca is a complex religion, and our tradition is one of teaching and ritual practice within that complex faith. It's very satisfying for the right student, but it can be a difficult, challenging path, and it's just not right for everyone. That said, I'll try below to guide the reader through some essential points of who we are and what we do. I'm sure I'm not covering everything, and as often happens when I talk about the tradition to which I've devoted much of my life, I might sound a little pompous or elitist. I apologize in advance if the reader finds that so. Having given my disclaimer, here are some of the major points of B* belief:

First and foremost B* exists to worship our Gods. While other covens might believe that their Gods are anything from one god and one goddess who take have been known by many names, to archetypes of human experience, to one great god who is seen as male and female (and all of these are beliefs among various Wiccan traditions) we believe that our Gods are very real, and that each God and Goddess is whole and unique, not different facets of the same gem as some groups might believe. Herne is not Cernunos, Diana is not Artemis, Hecate is not Demeter. Each is separate and individual (just as I am an adult male with a beard, but I am separate and different from my friend Brett who is an adult male with a beard). Similarities between Gods and Goddesses simply exist in mythology because people with similar lifestyles saw their Gods through their own similar experiences of the world: hunters often worshipped an antlered god, herders a faun- or satyr-like god, such as Pan, women who tended the home a hearth goddess. As people migrated, they came to know the Gods of their new lands, but they might have called them by familiar names. Thus we have Gods with the same names in varioust places.

We worship our Gods through ritual, one set on full moons and new moons (the esbats), and another set on the solstices and equinoxes, and the four points between these (the sabbats). Our research has shown us that Gerald Gardner put the eight modern sabbats together from two sources: one was the 4 or 5 holy days celebrated by the Celts, who observed an agricultural wheel; and the other, the 4 or 5 celebrated by the Saxons, who had a hunting wheel. Hence half the names on the modern wheel are in Gaelic (Beltain, Imbolc, lughnasad and Samhain are Irish Gaelic, Mabon is Welsh Gaelic), and half are Saxon English (Oestara, Litha, Lamas (Loaf Mass) and Yule are all Saxon words).

We represent these eight sabbaths as a "Wheel Of The Year." This is a universal Pagan concept, that time is cyclic rather than linear. Christians believe that the world was created on a certain date, preordained events will take place at certain times, and the world will end on a certain date: linear time. Pagans, and Wiccans as a subset of Paganism, see time as an ever repeating cycle. Our Wheel Of The Year demonstrates our concept of time. Performing ritual with the cycles of the sun and the moon keeps us in harmony with nature and the seasons, which we believe are expressions of our Gods (please note that I use the term Gods as a shorthand to denote both Gods and Goddesses).

During our rituals we perform a "drawing down" during which the Priest draws the God into himself, or the Priestess draws the Goddess into herself. On Sabbaths, both are drawn down. We believe that in this way, each covener can speak directly to the Gods we worship.

In order to perform the Drawing down correctly, as well as teach the Craft well, become a good counselor, understand group dynamics, and perform rituals well, Priests/Priestesses go through an initiatory training that in B* might take as long as five years. While much of this training is memorized information, much is highly experiential. Much is meant to bond the student to his or her teachers and coven mates. For these and other reasons, the coven is structured as a hierarchy, and later parts of the training to become a Priestess or Priest are secretive and oath bound. This is not so that we can be elite or exclusive, nor is it for purposes of manipulation or coersion, but only because webelieve magic is powerful. Simple as that sounds, we feel that all too often people who claim to believe this do not respect the power of magic, and attempt to overextend their capabilities. They end up screwing things up their own lives and the lives of others. We don’t want our students doing this, so some things are kept secret until the student is ready. If a student has a problem with this, there are many covens that do not operate this way. The student should be encouraged to find one.

B* holds as sacred several pieces of traditional liturgy. The Charge Of The Goddess is, according to our research, a speach given by a Goddess to her worshippers through her Priestess Aradia. Aradia was a young woman who fought for the freedom of accused witches and escaped slaves in Renaissance Italy in about the Thirteenth Century. She lived in the Alban Hills, lead a guerilla band of freedom fighters, and taught the worship of Diana, outlawed by the Church. We believe the Charge was spoken by her while she was drawing down Diana, and was passed down by witches until it reached author/folklorist Charles Godfrey Leland in the 1880s. There are several versions of the Charge, and the one we use is closest to Leland’s original translation.

We also use the Wiccan Rede, a 24-ish line poem written in the New Forest region of England, probably in the 1930s. Again, there are many versions, and we use the Gardnerian material, assuming that Gardner, who studied the Craft in the New Forest, got his from the source.

We adhere to seven Tenets of Faith. These came from Tzipora’s training (B*'s founding priestess). These seven Tenets inspired the B* symbol, a seven pointed star. Many initiates (Prietesses and Priests) of B* have this symbol tattooed upon their wrist.

Songs, myth, poetry, ritual dance and crafts have a major place in B* ritual, as these have been used for thousands of years in worship and to convey sacred information. Each ritual begins with the singing of a sacred song, often "Home Again," (referred to as "Eko Eko" because of the chorus), lyrics Tzipora wrote to a traditional Baltkan tune. Other songs are often seasonal, celebrating the focus of the time of the year and the ritual. These songs come from British folklore, and recordings by artists such as The Watersons, Martin Carthy, Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, and my own CDs are good sources for modern recordings of these ancient, seasonal songs (the first two artists treat these songs quite traditionally, the third and fourth as rock and roll). Many B* people have studied Morris Dance, Sword Dance, and other sacred British Isles dance forms. Again, these are ancient rites still practiced today, and we as B* members feel it foolish to claim to worship the ancient Gods, yet not practice the rites that have been handed down to us as their worship and which can be easily found and learned. The same applies to such crafts as making traditional cakes, corn dollies, weaving, animal husbandry, herb lore, nature lore, mythological knowledge, etc. There is a place in BS for people with various skills, interests and talents, such as scholarship, memory based learning, physical or martial skills, musical ability, poets, craftspeople, veterinary or ritual leadership talents.

There are various levels of commitment to B* that students might make. These range from Grove, a loose committment to the coven, through initiation, a lifelong pledge to the Gods and to the tradition that requires several years of training.

At the Grove, or outer court level, a student’s responsibilities are simply to show up for rituals and classes and learn as much as possible. Ritual responsibilities at this level might include cleaning and upkeep of the ritual space, setting up the altar, acting as Handmaiden or Summoner, making cakes (females), and portions of Circle casting. Each of these tasks is seen as an honor conferred upon the student (and if a student does not feel that they are being honored by being asked to perform these tasks, we might come to feel that the student is not right for B*). During this outer court period, by the way, students are free to and encouraged to see other traditions’ rituals and classes for comparison.

After a time at Grove, a student might state her/his intention to become initiated. If the priesthood feels the student is right for initiation into B*, a period of intense training, called Neophyte, follows. Neophyte is marked by a higher level of responsibility in rituals and other functions, a period of coming to know to which specific Gods/Goddesses one will dedicate one's self, and a time of inner searching before taking the step of promising to serve the Gods within the B* tradition.

There are three degrees of initiation in B*, and each degree or level involves greater responsibilities. A first degree initiate is a priest or priestess, and may help lead rituals, mentor individual students, and guide the high Priestess and Priest in making coven decisions. A second degree priest/ess is expected to teach coven classes, lead rituals, and make major decisions in daily running of the coven. A third degree may "hive" and begin a new coven within the B* structure, or stay within the mother coven as a teacher, ritual leader or scholarly resource.

My own group within B* is focused on British Isles Craft, and one stipulation we do have is that students who come to us are specifically interested in this pantheon of Gods and Goddessses. We do not accept students who wish to study Greco-Roman, Egyptian, AmerInd, Voudon, etc. These are traditions best taught by those who have spent their lives following and living them, which we have not. If you want to work with Herne, Brigid, Epona, Bran, Lugh, or any other British, Irish, Saxon or Celto-European Gods, we can teach you. These Gods have been worshipped in a specific way for countless centuries, and we feel it is a sad egotistical statement to claim to worship these Gods yet not take the time or energy to learn the worship to which they are accustomed. Other covens within B* have branched out to other European pantheons, but B* generally speaking does not combine Wicca with non-European forms of Pagan worship.

This is a basic overview of B* beliefs, and anyone coming to us as a potential student would begin studying our tradition in much greater detail. However, a knowledge of general Craft history and lore is a good beginning to the search for the right tradition or coven. To this end, I strongly suggest reading the original, basic Wiccan books, such as:

Aradia, Gospel Of The Witches, Charles Godfrey Leland

Witchcraft Today, Gerald Gardner

What Witches Do, Stewart farrar

Eight Sabbaths For Witches, Janet and Stewart Farrar