Godwo/man Final Evaluation This example of a final evaluation for a Godwo/man is included with the training programme as a guide to the specific requirements and general issues in which a Troth Godwo/man is expected to be competent, and to the sorts of things which a trainee ought to be thinking about, recording, and/or discussing with his or her supervisory Elder in the process of training. By the time you reach the point of final evaluation by the Warder of the Lore and/or Godmatheling panel, you should have personally dealt with several issues of the type listed here (if not these precise ones), and be ready to answer these questions or ones like them from some personal experience. I. Background Information. 1. Name (legal).
Name (ritually taken or religious pseudonym) 2. Address 3. Phone number 4. Date of entry into clergy training programme. 5. Member of the Troth since (month and year): 6. Name of group or groups with which you are currently working. II. Teaching. This section is not intended to show whether you know the "answers", as by and large there are no absolute answers, but how you would articulate the general principles. A. How would you answer the following questions, asked by a newcomer? If necessary, give a short (1/2 pp. single-spaced) answer and, if you consider the matter to be more complex and/or worthy of expansion, a long answer, such as you might give if the questioner pursued the matter further. 1. Is Germanic religion Nazi or racist? What about homosexuals? 2. Is it a patriarchal religion? What do women do? 3. How is Germanic religion similar to, or different from, other "neo-pagan" religions? 4. What holidays do you personally celebrate, and what do they mean? (if appropriate, you may simply refer to your "Blessings of the Year" lecture) 5. What kinds of things do you do in your rituals? (please give examples both for the Troth in general and for yourself in specific, if they differ) 6. Which gods do you worship? What do they do? (please give a short answer and, if appropriate, refer to your " Gods, Goddesses, and Wights" lecture) 7. What ethical principles do you believe in? 8. How does your religion deal with the problem of evil? 9. Is the way you worship different from the way they did it in the old days? How? 10. What are the major groups practicing this religion today? How did they get started? 11. Is it worthwhile to join the Troth rather than remaining independent, and if so, why? What would I gain as a Troth member, and what would be expected of me? B. Describe any workshops, classes, or teaching circles you have led which deal with Germanic religion and culture. If you have not had opportunity to do so, but if, given the opportunity, you would do something different from the basic set lecture series assigned to be written or dictated as part of the training programme, outline the course of studies (what topics, divided into how many meetings) you would present if you were teaching a class. III. Dealing With the Folk 0. What training do you have (formal or informal) in counseling? What formal or informal training have you undergone since your initial application to the clergy training programme, and, if any, how did you find it particularly relevant or irrelevant to the specifically Germanic context of the Troth? 1. Describe (without names) a case in which someone has come to you with a crisis since your initial application to the clergy training programme? How did you decide whether the cause was psychic, psychological, physical, or other? What counsel did you give? 2. If someone came to you complaining of being tired or nervous all the time, or having had disturbing dreams, and suspecting an enemy of having attacked them by magical means, what advice or counsel might you give? 3. What questions would you ask prior to performing a wedding? What rede would you give to the bride? To the groom? 4. How would you balance the dichotomy between Germanic tradition regarding the soullessness of unnamed (let alone unborn) children and personal grief in counseling a true woman who had just suffered a miscarriage or been forced by circumstances to undergo an abortion? 5. How would you deal with counseling a deeply given follower of a deity or pathway within the Northern tradition which you personally find difficult to understand and/or have little spiritual connection and/or experience with? If you are comfortable with all the deities and pathways you know of within the Northern tradition, how would you, for example, recommend that a. A Godwo/man given wholly to Fro Ing counsel a Wodanist in a matter of warrior-honour? b. A Godwo/man given to Tiw counsel a follower of Loki who is upset about the marginalization of his god and, by extension, himself among some elements of Ásatrú? c. A Godwo/man who is strongly monogamous counsel a Wanist who wished advice in reviving the "obscene" activities of the early Wanic cult, or in incorporating modern knowledge concerning ritual sex as a part of Wanic practice today? 6. Clergy Practice 0. Has your understanding of the relationship between religion and magic changed in the course of your training as a Godwo/man (since answering this question on your original application)? 1. Which of these magical skills do you incorporate into your work as a religious leader? Which do you practice privately? If the answers are not the same, why not? - Runic divination
- Runic magic
- Spae-craft (inspired prophecy)
- Seiðr (as conciousness-altering practice)
- Communication with spirits
- "Channeling" of gods, ghosts, or wights
- Shamanism (defined as the magico-religious complex common to the Finno-Ugric, Siberian, Mongolian, and Native American peoples, among others)
- Charm spells and folk magic
- Magical healing (by any means)
2. What would you do if a. You have started a ritual, and realize that one of the chief tools has been forgotten? b. In the middle of a rite, you realize that a wight/force that was not invited is present? c. In the middle of a rite, you realize that a wight/force that was invited, and to whom you are performing the rite or a significant portion thereof, is not present? d. Due to goofs of pronunciation, action, memory failure, or incongruities, one or more of the people attendant at the ritual begins to laugh helplessly? e. Something totally unexpected happens which makes it impossible to continue with the ritual as originally planned? f. Someone in your group says that s/he has had a message from the god/esses or wights (in trance, dream, etc.)? g. Someone in your group accuses you of faking divine inspiration? 3. a. Do you consider yourself to legitimately hold any titles or capability descriptions (examples: Rune-master, Erulian, Spá- or Seiðkona/maðr, Shaman, Priest/ess of a particular deity or class of deities) based on subjective spiritual experience (that is, not officially granted by an external organization or your own working group)? If so, do you use your self-description in presenting yourself to others? In what way, and on what grounds, do you expect others to recognise it? b. If your working group grants you any such distinction, explain on what ground and to what extent this designation is recognised by others also. IV. Comments How would you like to see Germanic religion in general and the Troth in particular developing over the next ten years? What problems need solving? What is our potential contribution to the spiritual welfare of our community and the world? Other comments? |
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