{"id":3900,"date":"2020-06-01T18:15:04","date_gmt":"2020-06-01T23:15:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gleewood.org\/seeking\/?page_id=3900"},"modified":"2020-11-14T20:41:17","modified_gmt":"2020-11-15T01:41:17","slug":"starting-the-conversation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/gleewood.org\/seeking\/adapting\/starting-the-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"Starting the conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Welcome to a series of articles about navigating a coven in the time of coronavirus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like a lot of other people, I’m over here trying to figure out how we do the things we do, when there are all sorts of new factors and issues at play. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don’t have anything like answers yet, but this afternoon, my thoughts gelled into what will be a multiple article approach to thinking through this (with a side of “how do you navigate coven and group witchy practice if you have health risks that make some activities even more of a risk for you than most people.” Since that’s also quite relevant right now.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written in May and June 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Adapting<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Some personal thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I’m thinking about this a lot because I’ve been having conversations about my own health, and my best choices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m very lucky <\/strong>that my work is clear they don’t want or need us in the building right now (current timeline is ‘maybe end of August’). My doctor and I talked today about what my particular risks and areas of concern are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(I have multiple health conditions that can lead to increased risk that are well-managed, but I also come with lung damage I’ve had since I was 11, and a body that runs on low-grade but annoyingly persistent inflammation.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, I’m also the high priestess<\/strong> (with one other initiate right now), several students reaching the point of thinking about initiation, and a couple of prospective students who’ve made contact in the past couple of months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we’re not meeting together in my apartment, what are we doing instead, and how do we make this work for us as well as possible?\u00a0How do I help everyone learn things like how we cast circle and what that can feel like if we’re not in person? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My goal<\/strong> is to have a longish-term plan in place by the end of June 2020, when I’ll be starting initial Seeker classes with whatever prospective students I have for next year if there are some of those. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A starting place<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The guidance for mainstream religions isn’t a ton of help<\/strong>, when it’s a small group that would normally meet in our living room and where ideally we’re at a stage where everyone would be starting to be active participants in circle casting and otherwise planning and making sure ritual happens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve had several conversations over the weekend<\/strong>, including one with the wellness group my doctor is running, and that gelled into starting a discussion with my initiate and current students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I asked them to think about some questions and get back to me by the next time we talk (in Zoom). I also wrote up some notes about some things to think about that I’ll be writing about in future articles in this series: <\/p>\n\n\n\n