Path to Elder Course

Elders are the leaders and guides for Temple Members. These members have shown to be knowledgeable and a trusted resource for other members. What their exact roles are will depend on the area they choose to specialize in. 

To become an Elder within the Temple you will be required to go through the Path to Elder course from beginning to end. The course is set up to work on your schedule and at your pace. Below is the outline for the course and the basics involved. There is a private discord just for those walking this path and mentorship available. 

There is a charge for the course ($40 a month) and members can sign up for it through the Patreon pages of our Elders who offer it.

Each Elder will have their own style and focus. As they will be your mentor through the process, try to find one that aligns with you.

Stage 1 (Seeker) : Lessons and Activities you will complete at this level

Spiritualists and Practitioners : 

1. Develop your personal wheel of time/ year
2. Develop your own tradition for each of the 8 Sacred Fired we share as a community.
3. How we build bonds.
4. Visual Chart, Video, or  Essay : One for each element air – earth – fire – water. Include how it acts within nature – how does in act within our bodies (body systems) – how they interact/ affect each other – develop personal correspondences 
5. Essay Projects: Written or Video : The Temple’s Values – Sovereignty – Boundaries – Your personal Ethics (thought) and Morals (actions) – Perspective 

For Practitioners:

1. Choose a divinatory tool/ method and skill building with it. Use it for connecting to our shadow, looking within, and looking beyond.
2. Essay: Go deeper into the elements. Knowing that each element is both physical and spiritual – one of matter and one of symbolism. How are the ways we can use that knowledge to weave – blend – deconstruct with that knowledge.

Stage 2 (Weaver) : Lessons and Activities you will complete at this level

Spiritualists and Practitioners :

1. Merging and blending your spiritual, mundane, (and practice for practitioners) together as one.
2. Develop and write your own prayers, ritual for each sacred fire
3. Essay Projects : Communication – The Authentic and Sacred Self – Gratitude as a Mindset – What is Community and why do you want it – Living Your Path
4. Pick the Elder role you want to specialize in within the Temple: (Essays will be assigned depending on your choice that align with that role and your personal practices)

Scholars / Philosophers : Keeper of Secrets/ Knowledge. Historians, Scribes, Researchers, Philosophers.

Artisans: Share knowledge through music, stories, art, creations (smithing – crafting – cooking – and so forth)

Priest/ Priestess: Guide/ mentor for others. Ritual and spell crafters. Divinatory. Spiritual / path guidance.

Spiritualist : One who does not do magical practice but focuses in the spiritual spaces.

For Practitioners: 

1. Learn to weave – blend – and deconstruct bonds. This goes with understanding of the Life – Death – Rebirth cycle
2. Developing, creating, and testing your own spells, rituals, and practices. Development of things such as personal correspondence sheets, understanding different types of magic and when to use what for the best results.
3. Develop your own daily practice/s blending magic and mundane. Essay on this once completed.
4. Create a practice around your primary element (the one you are most drawn to or from your astrology). What does that element mean for you – What does its energy feel like – How do you work with it – experimenting with the element and aspects of your practice.  
5. Optional for everyone except those going into the Elder Priest or Priestess – this is required for them : Develop a partnership / practices of deity work. Includes aspects such as trance work/ communications – understanding signs – honoring – building bonds with them. Write a paper talking about how you approached this, how you experimented, who that deity is to you, why you chose this work. 

*Deities are guides and can come in many forms. Deity does not only apply to Gods, it can include a host of energies or spirits.