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Special feature:
The work of Maureen Brown - by Hazel O’ Flaherty
 We stand to-day at a time of great change within the political, social, and environmental realms. These changes are not gentle, people have being thrown into the individuality of the Aquarian Age bereft of the patriarchal certainties which were both the gift and the vice of the Piscean age.
It is against this background that the Pagan community needs to be reassessed in terms of its ability to help the development of the human race.
As Pagans it is our job to grow to psychological and magically maturity so we become guiding lights, teacher’s by example, explorer’s of many worlds, weaver’s of energy, and senders of sparkles of love, light and strength.
Phew! tall order, but we already know what to do.
It has been suggested that Wicca was named after the Wise or Wicce folk who followed the ‘Path of enlightenment’. ‘Know thyself’ is one of it’s tenets, it is also the motto written across the great ancient temples of esoteric learning. Therefore the novice upon their decision to dedicate themselves to the Craft, should immediately embark on this path of knowing themselves, before they struggle to know, help and guide others.
Great, but how do we do it!
Looking for answers Maureen Brown realised that psychology was and is one of the most powerful tools of the craft and integral with it. To this end Maureen began her studies in Transpersonal Psychology opening up for her trainees the magical gates to the avenues down which we must walk in order to find our own sense of power.
Maureen knew that before the seeker could achieve the level of self healing and learning necessary for the journey from acceptance for training through to master hood, great psychological, spiritual and emotional growth must be wrought in order to effect powerful changes. Not only did she become a Psychotherapist, she trained others to be so too and incorporated counselling into her Coven. She believed the training of High Priests and Priestess’s demanded the befriending, teaching and counselling of trainees to draw out from them their true selves in order that they later will be able to fulfil that role for others without prejudice.
Seekers of the Craft come with hope and belief in a higher order. They seek a healing of the abuses inflicted on them and Mother Earth by society, their peers, the church etc. Fear and ignorance and materialism have wrecked havoc on the land and it is sensible to agree that society needs to be reformed. A lot of people come to craft seeing the others, the out there world as the problem, and refuse to look inward at themselves. It’s not easy for people to see what part they themselves have played in the situation.
But society is a reflection of all it’s people and the way forward is not to create a them and us situation but for each individual to create the peace and balance required within themselves in order to move things forward. People seeking the Goddess are looking for the Mother they have lost through the patriarchal and scientific teaching’s that the feminine is bad, but what is also true is that we have lost the nurturing Father as well.
The most important question to ask the seeker is ‘what do you hope to get from the craft’ If they answer ‘I only want to give’ they wont succeed because they are too out of touch with they own needs. Those seeking power are also unfit. The most acceptable answer is ‘I want to learn’.
The motto ‘art thy willing to suffer to learn’ is never more apt then on the road of the Spiritual path. Make no mistake it is a life journey where much will be demanded of you. Our heads might be in the stars but out feet are most definitely on the earth. Without a solid foundation we cannot create magic, as magic is using our consciousness to link to and align with natural forces in order to effect change.
Witchcraft demands that first ones own house be put in order. It is not a crutch, it does not promise power or glory. But it can teach to those that want to hear, that no problem is insoluble.
Unlike the Patriarchal Religions, the good and bad are not spilt off, there is no Heaven or Hell, no vengeful God waiting to pass judgement. As long as you are willing to learn, as long as you are not harming others you can pretty much be who you are with all your faults as long as you an admit you have them and are working on them. Some people believe that to be spiritually enlightened means to be without darker emotions, they seek to transcend these emotions by trying to not feel them. This refusal to acknowledge their darker side conscious or otherwise just leads to a withdrawal of what it means to be human.
Wearing her heart on her sleeve, Maureen’s difficult experiences of life enabled her to learn and empathise with others showing unconditional love. With the retelling of her own stories she gave others permission to tell theirs. She knew that spiritual wholeness includes the full range of human emotions rather then trying to suppress the less comfortable ones. Without counselling our subconscious minds aren’t in synch with our conscious minds and harmonious so we will therefore be unable to work good magic.
The path of the Witch is the psychological path of rebirth, from childhood through the ages of man into death and back again, mirrored in the seasons of the wheel of the year, the phases of the moon and the many phases of the Gods and Goddess.
Through Psychotherapy the seeker on this journey is lead through the mire of their own demons into a controlled and balanced way of living and an acceptance of life and death away from the place on which they entered, i.e. the world as an imperfect place. With each return in the cycle of life, understanding and acceptance are strengthened and advanced creating the magical spiral which is the cone of power.
As a natural Wise Woman Maureen took the beaten, battered and bruised under her wing and through her dedication, love, counselling, and very tasty suppers gave them a belief in something more, in the beauty and rightness of the world. (c) Hazel’O. January 2010)
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