We welcome conversation with people who are interested in our group at any time. (If we’re not currently open to new students, we’ll post it clearly, but would still be glad to talk to you further in case a space opens in future.
Making decisions:
Considering someone for a small group is always a delicate process. We’ve picked our approach to help give us information, but also to respect your time (and ours). Decisions about group membership are currently made by Jenett (our HPS).
Applying to a group can be an emotionally challenging process. We know that it can be hard to hear a “Thank you, but no.” We hope here that by being clear about each step (and what we hope for from it), you will better understand why we ask these things, and how they help us making choices for the entire group. If we come to feel that there just isn’t a good potential fit between your needs or preferred approach and ours, we’ll tell you as soon as possible.
Timeline:
Even if everything goes very smoothly, and we think someone is a good fit, we expect there to be between 2 and 5 months between initial interest and Dedication.
This time is intended to make sure we’re compatible (in ritual style, in teaching style, in where we focus) before making a more substantial commitment to each other. We realise this is a lengthy process, but we want you to be able to make a reasonably informed choice – and that means seeing us in action for a little. It also means we need some time to get to know you, and for everyone to begin to get more comfortable with one another.
If at any time you decide that you’re no longer interested in possibly working with us, just let us know. We do expect common courtesy – if you decide to cancel, please do so enough before a planned meeting that we can find out and rearrange our plans.
The process:
1) Email introduction:
We begin with an email letter of introduction. Through this site and Jenett’s blog, we share quite a bit of information about us and our group. The email is your chance to share a little about yourself and your interests – as well as a good time to make sure we’re on the same page about some practical details. We want to see you at your best, and email gives you the chance to consider what you say to us as your introduction.
You should get an initial response to your email within 3-5 days (though it’s sometimes longer if one of us is travelling or otherwise unavailable.) If you don’t hear anything within 2-3 weeks, please try again, as something’s gotten lost in the ether.
If we feel there’s a potential fit, we will contact you to arrange a face to face meeting. This may take a couple of weeks depending on our schedules – see 2, below, for more information.
If we feel there isn’t a good fit up front, based on your email, we’ll say so, and decline to meet. This can happen for many reasons. If we think you may be interested in other community resources, we may suggest some. We do not generally get specific about why we’re saying no unless someone asks directly – just that we don’t feel that there will be a good fit.
The letter of introduction information page has all the information you need. We’ve done our best to make it clear – if anything’s confusing, please note it in your letter.
2) First meeting:
If we think there’s a potential good fit, we’ll invite you to a meeting in a public place like a tea or coffee shop where we can talk. This lets us get to know each other in a neutral space. We’ll talk about what you shared in your letter, and we’ll share more details about the group. You’ll have plenty of time to ask any questions you may have.
In our experience, these conversations generally take 90 minutes to 2 hours to have a deeper conversation.
3) Discussion evenings:
If the initial meeting goes well, we’ll set up a few discussion evenings with you. These will focus on our pre-Dedicant class materials, and will give you a sense of our teaching approach. These classes focus on things useful to anyone interested in the Craft in this area: an idea of local resources, common etiquette, ethics, centering and grounding, and other foundational topics. They also include more information about our common ritual structures and practices.
These conversations will include one or two Phoenix Song initiates and possibly 1-2 other people also interested in the group, depending on scheduling. Generally, these will be in one of our homes, but if anyone prefers, we can meet for a time or two in a public space.
4) Attend a few group events:
If we still seem like a good mutual fit after a couple of discussion evenings, we will invite you to 2-3 group events (generally, this includes at least one ritual, one social event, and one group discussion). This is a chance for you to see how we work as a group. How long this takes depends on our scheduling and yours.
5) The possibility of Dedication:
If, after completing the 5 pre-Dedication discussions and attending group events, you’re still interested in us, and we still think you’d be a good fit, we will discuss the specifics of Dedication. We’ll also discuss a way to evaluate your existing level of knowledge and skill, so that we can best adapt teaching material to your needs.
How we make decisions:
We don’t care about your existing knowledge or understanding (those things are easy to change!) We care far more about your behavior, approach, and interests. For example, we look at:
- How you interact with each member of the group.
- How you handle different kinds of questions – specific, open-ended, big picture thinking, and details.
- Whether you are interested in the work we do together.
- How you approach new experiences and learning.
- Whether you have generally followed our requests about group courtesy and behavior.
- How you’ve handled any challenges or problems.
- The nebulous ‘fit’ – do you seem to fit well with the group.
We may like you a lot as a person, but not feel you’re a good fit for the group at this time – that’s one of the limits of a small group. If we don’t feel we’re the right place, we’ll do our best to suggest some alternatives in the area. The Twin Cities has a large and active Pagan community – there are lots of opportunities here!
Continue to the letter of introduction information.