Wheel of Time inspired coven

Hello, I happily stumbled upon this while looking for some Wheel of Time inspired cloaks. I'm very interested in this, and I was wondering how I could get started, I'd very much appreciate a mentor, or any guidance, I promise to devote myself, and be an avid part of this community!

I have just moved away from all my friends and a good deal of my family to a new town and am living with my mum. Me and my boyfriend write alot, but I was thinking of making him a dream pillow, using a spell I found in one of my books. The Source does come into this, I swear! Last night I recieved a letter from him, and like myself he adores Wheel of Time. In his letter he told me that I was like his Source; I drove him crazy, but he never wanted to let go of me. He, even though he is a guy, tries top live by certain laws of the White Tower and will never lie to me, even if it hurts me.
I have been meditating constantly, or as often as I can, and even though this move and all the stress is hard, I am making it through, tryign my best to follow the White Tower.
Blessed Be, and thank you for giving me a place to talk about my beliefs and spirituality.

I would also like to ask about dedications, I have already dedicated myslef to a the gealic goddess Brigit and would like to inquire if i need to rededicate or dedicate to the tower itself. Thank you again.

Merry meet and Merry part!

I am new to Paganism. I have studied many things on my own, but never with the help of others. I love the Jordan structure of the White Tower, and think it is rational, as it functions much the way any school might. The reward of passing the stages is a title representing a working knowledge. But I digress.

I have not a name yet, as will come to be my true name. I will begin working on this spiritual path soon.

I hope to see this community come to fruition, as it seems the moderator is willing to put a good deal of time and effort into members.

I am a fresh college graduate with a degree in Psychology from University of Delaware, going for a certification in Massage Therapy next month. It would be difficult for me to choose between the Yellow and the Gray ajahs. Difficult descisions are sometimes the most important. 

Merry meet!

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Coven Rules

§1 Within the coven, we speak freely. No one should have to feel there is anything you "cannot" or "are not allowed" to say to each other.

§2 If you have any unfinished business with another Coven member it must not have an effect of the doing of the ritual or the general feeling of the coven. If you have to argue - do it in private.

§3 The tree oaths commits all coven members to always speak the truth to one another.



Stage 1: Novice/Soldier

When you first encounter WoT paganism, you are a Novice or Soldier. You ask questions, we answer them, and you may or may not decide that it is something for you. When you feel ready, you may then perform a rite of self initiation.

Stage 2: Accepted/Dedicated

Once you have dedicated yourself as an Accepted/Dedicated, the coven will properly embrace you as a learning member, and you will be better schooled in its rites and internal workings. At this time, you may also choose your coven name.

Stage 3: Aes Sedai/Asha'man

The final step is to earn the title of Aes Sedai or Asha'man - the title of a fully schooled member. The Accepted/Dedicated will be asked if she or he is ready, and if that is the case, a ritual will be performed, and oaths will be sworn.

So, who runs the show? The Amyrlin acts as a high priestess, the Tamyrlin as a high priest, and the Keeper and M'Hael as their right-hand priests. The Sitters also play central roles, and may call their Ajah members to rites of their very own.
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Amyrlin Seat: Maerwen Lómiel
Tamyrlin Seat: open
Keeper of Chronicles: open
M'Hael: open

Sitter of the Red Ajah: open

Sitter of the Yellow Ajah: open

Sitter of the Green Ajah: open

Sitter of the Blue Ajah: open

Sitter of the Black Ajah: open

Sitter of the White Ajah: open

Sitter of the Brown Ajah: open

Sitter of the Gray Ajah: open

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Calendar

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What's going on in the world of WoT: coven rites and initiations, raisings, sabbats, and more. Sabbats are referred to by their WoT name.
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January
1 - Tandor

February
2 - The Festival of Lanterns (Sabbat)

March
20 - The Feast of Thanksgiving (Sabbat)

April
30 - Winternight (Sabbat)

May
1 - Bel Tine (Sabbat)

June
11 - Asadine
21 - Sunday (Sabbat)

July
23 - Mabriam's Day

August
1/2 - Lamma Sor (Sabbat)

September
23 - Chansein (Sabbat)

October
31 - Amaetheon (Sabbat)

November
1 - Amaetheon (Sabbat)

December
13 - Shaoman
22/23 - The Feast of Lights (Sabbat)
31 - High Chasaline


Holidays

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Holidays according to the WoT calendar. We use them as guidelines for our wotty sabbats! The information comes from "The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time" by Robert Jordan and Teresa Patterson.
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Tandor
A day that is not supposed to end with someone having a grudge against someone else. What a wonderful way of starting the common New Year, 1 January, and it goes well with High Chasaline the day before!

The Festival of Lanterns
Actually, the Feast of Lights would be great instead of Imbolc, if it was not clearly stated that the Feast of Lights is the winter solstice. During the Festival of Lanterns, colourful lanterns and lights are lit everywhere.

The Feast of Thanksgiving
The spring equinoxe. In WoT, only celebrated every four years - but where's the fun in that?

Winternight
The day before Bel Tine. In German, called "Walpurgisnacht", in Sweden "Valborgsmässoafton", and it is always the day before May Day. In WoT, the day is spent visiting friends and exchanging gifts.

Bel Tine
Bel Tine... Beltane... The spring festival, a festival of fertility. Nature wakes up - "the first sprouting of crops, and the birth of the first lambs". In warmer countries than Sweden, this happens earlier than May 1st, but since the day is called Beltane already, this is where Bel Tine should be, even though the date for Bel Tine in WoT is determined locally.

Asadine
A day of fasting ten days before Sunday. No food is eaten between sunrise and sunset. The day after Asadine is considered a fortunate day (in the Borderlands) to get married.

Sunday
Midsummer, summer solstice.

Mabriam's Day
All labour is avoided. Food is always cooked the day before. Some people dress in the dark, so the "work" of the day is done before that day has actually officially begun. In WoT, it is tradition that young women play tricks on young men. This is done in groups, so that the men in question will not know who was actually responsible. If he does find out, he gets to kiss the woman in question, or he might even choose to kiss the entire group!

Lamma Sor
Well, if you have one called Lammas in the calendar already... you might as well put Lamma Sor there. Nothing but bread, water, salt and oil is eaten this day, to commemorate "those who have fallen defending against the Blight, and those who will fall". Lacking an actual Blight, it is a day to remember the past, and pray for those souls lost at war.

Bel Arvina
The first day of autumn. To me, that would be 1 September.

Chansein
In WoT, the autumn equinoxe is referred to as "The Feast of All Souls' Salvation" or "All Souls' Day", celebrated only every 10 years. Too seldom! And besides, does it not sound a little too much like Halloween? No, better a holiday that focuses more on traditional Mabon festivities - celebrating the harvest. At Chansein, you eat until you are full, and then some. It is considered rude not to finish every little breadcrumb.

Amaetheon
Described as a feast where you remember the dead in a joyous way, not sad. Samhain/Halloween.

Shaoman
A time for children, who are given gifts and generally being spoiled. In WoT, groups of children go from house to house and sing songs, that are rewarded with small gifts or candy. A time for children to sing songs and get candy for it in Sweden is called Lucia, which is 13 December.

The Feast of Lights
The last day of the old year and the first day of the new. The last day of the old year is the shortest day of the year - the winter solstice. In some places in WoT, the first day of the year (First Day or Firstday) is considered a particular time to give charitably.

High Chasaline, the Day of Reflection
A feastday, with dancing to late at night. On High Chasaline, you are supposed to "reflect on your good fortune and the blessings of your life". Complaining on High Chasaline is considered taboo, but is not always followed. New Year's Eve, 31 December, which traditionally is a wild party night.

Just like in Randland, there are defined Ajahs - but we have eight, not seven, because of the balance. Below, I've tried to sum up the different personalities of the eight Ajahs. You choose the one you feel the most at home in.

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The Red Ajah

You don't have to be a radical lesbian feminist to be a Red (even though it certainly helps!), and you don't even have to be a woman! You know what is important in life, and you know how to get it. You bend your will for no one. You are a typical career person, with your mind set on success.


The Yellow Ajah

You feel bad when people are ill, so you want to take care of them, and make sure they are feeling well. It does not matter what methods you use for curing the ill, it can be common medicine as well as all kinds of alternative medicine.


The Green Ajah

The primary goal of the "Battle Ajah" is to be ready for the time when Tarmon Gai'don comes. This kind of bothers you, because you don't live in Randland. Instead, you might be thinking about a career in the military forces. As a Green you probably also have a deep fascination with sex, and you like to do it a lot.


The Blue Ajah

You always seem to find a special thing to focus on, no matter what it is. You go after this "goal" and pretty much devote your life to it. If you lived in Randland, you would probably be very skilled in Daes Dae'mar, but in real life, you probably are a real intrigue-maker.


The Black Ajah

Being Black Ajah in real life does not mean you have to be evil. It just means you have a penchant for the dark forces of the world, which is good for the balance. Everyone cannot walk in the Light, and everyone shouldn't. If you want to deal with the Black Arts (Black Magick), do not start off by yourself, learn from someone who knows what they are doing and what can happen if you are not careful.


The White Ajah

You tend to avoid the world and worldly knowledge, and instead go to the world of philosophy. Your search for truth is an all-consuming passion. The people around you probably think you are too cold and logical at times, but you couldn't care less about their views.


The Brown Ajah

You know a lot, and you always try to learn more, no matter what the topic is. Be on the lookout for scatter-brainness, because that's the main fault of the Browns, living in their own mind, always thinking about a dozen different things. The only thing you find scary in life is when people cannot read, or those who haven't got a proper education, and the mere thought of burning or even throwing away a book makes you feel really bad.


The Gray Ajah

Whenever you see people argue, you feel bad, and you do your best to restore the peace between them. You always want to find harmony in life, and if you see something that is wrong, you want to make it right, but for both parties.

In interview after interview, Robert Jordan states that he is not some great spiritual leader, he is not some guru, and he does not know how to channel the One Power. Well, duuh. We are highly aware of that, but that is not what this is all about. This is about a bunch of Pagans wanting to have a wotty time in the Circle!

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Seriously, though. What sort of a moron do you have to be to stand up and say "hey, I'll believe that! It's in a fantasy book, so it must be true!"? I don't know, because that is not what we are about. WoT-Paganism started the moment one person realised the similarities between the religious system in the Wheel of Time books and Neo-Paganism.

Consider this: In Paganism, the life force of the Universe is split in two equal but opposite parts, which is known to mankind as "the God and the Goddess", for simple reasons. It is easiest to understand something if you give it a name. In WoT, there are two opposing forces - the Creator and the Dark One. Both in WoT and in reality, there need to be a certain balance between them, like the Yin-Yang sign, which as you probably know, is pretty much the same thing as the old black and white Aes Sedai symbol "parted in two equal parts by a sinous line".

So if you are going to believe in two equal but opposite forces in the Universe - why not refer to them as the Creator and the Dark One instead of the God and the Goddess? They still represent every sort of opposing thing there is: Light & Dark (Shadow), black & white, good & evil, male & female, old & new/young, inside & outside, up & down. (Yes, of course it is determined which one is which! Look: Who gives birth? Women. The Creator is Female. Who tends to be rather destructive? Men. The Dark One is Male. And that's that.)

Earth, Air, Fire, Water... nothing new there... Why not just add a bonus element? Spirit. Calling the four directions is still done the old-fashioned way, the news is calling upon the Creator/Goddess and the Dark One/God as the "Guardians of the Watchtowers of Spirit" (or however you wish to call the elements).

Channeling, though, that still cannot be done, right? Of course not! At least not as in the Books. If you would settle for a much more subtle form than the use of saidin/saidar, you can always do a bit of the old Magick. Why not pretend that when you are gathering energy for a spell, you are in fact channeling the One Power? In a way, you are drawing from the True Source when you do that. It might not be saidin/saidar, but it is as close as we can get outside our own night time dreams.

Tel'aran'rhiod is sort of real. It can be compared with astral travel or astral body projection. Things that happen to you there happen to you in reality. Walking around in the world of dreams is simply to have a lucid dream - you are aware of the fact that you are dreaming, and can therefore change the dream at will. Even the bubbles Egwene sees when being trained by the Aiel Wise Ones are actually based on the truth! You can go to a place where all dreams are gathered, just do not ask me how it is done. I am not a Dreamer... (for that matter, everyone has heard of dreams that later take place!)

Ta'veren are most certainly real. What else would you call people like Hitler, Jesus, bin Laden, Hussein, Bush, etc.? ("massmurdering f***heads" springs to mind, but I doubt that everyone would agree with me... at least not on every account!) No one knows how the Wheel turns.

Ages that come and go - the big one, the Wheel itself. Well, the Ice Age comes and goes, doesn't it? Ages come and go, but if they come back... well, that is something for each and everyone to ponder.

Ta'maral'ailen - the Weave, the Pattern. We are all a part of it. You do not even have to be Pagan to realise that.

The Creator vs the Dark One - well... one of them should not beat the other one. Balance is the key. Shadowspawn? There are creatures of the night in real life. They are generally not called Narg the Trolloc, Hzzzz the Myrddraal or Julio Iglesias the Dragkhar, but they are just as unpleasant. Or worse, actually, because they are a bit harder to get rid of.

People who can channel the One Power are called Aes Sedai and/or Asha'man. People who use Magick are referred to as Witches/Wizards (Magicians, Wiccans, Mystics, whatever). Add to that, the Aes Sedai are referred to as "Witches of Tar Valon". Combine the books with real life, and... I rest my case...

The background was written by Zopheya Sedai.