As a child I was fascinated with Gregorian chants. I thought it was so cool that there were people who dressed in robes and sang all day. Now, of course, I realize that there’s far more to the monastic life than that, but I can’t help but want to capture that experience of ordered and organized devotion in my Craft.
What separates Pagan monasticism from Pagan intentional community is the centered focus on spiritual devotion. There are many Pagan intentional communities and land sanctuaries out there, but very few Pagan monasteries. Two such monastic orders are the Order of the Horae and the Maetreum of Cybele Magna Mater. The Order of the Horae is dispersed, sharing a common rule of life and prayerbook, and the Matreum of Cybele is enclosed, sharing a common residence and rhythm of the day. What both of these orders have in common are a focus on ordering the day around prayer and religiously oriented work.
I am not suggesting that Wiccans become Pagan Catholics; rather, I am suggesting that those who are called to a monastic life have all the tools available to them to establish a rhythm of life dictated by Pagan values and symbolism.
Order of the Day
The natural day is marked by the sunrise, the sun at zenith, the sunset, and the depth of night. This makes it simple to establish organized prayer times, and allows flexibility for those who may do shift work and not follow a diurnal schedule.
Order of the Week
The week is based on the seven celestial bodies visible to the naked eye. This makes it simple to establish a cycle of prayer honoring each of those celestial energies and the deities that correspond with them. It also allows for a rhythm of life that is in sync with the mundane calendar, which again offers flexibility for those who need to work within a mundane framework.
Order of the Month
The natural month is marked by a dark moon (0% illumination), a liturgical new moon (first sliver of a crescent, about 6% illumination), and a full moon (100% illumination). These dates can be calculated well in advance and planned around from a mundane perspective, but they also offer a spiritual rhythm to time which is more in keeping with ancient timekeeping methods.
Order of the Seasons
The Wheel of the Year has a Sabbat celebration once about every 6 weeks. Again, these dates can be calculated well in advance and planned around from a mundane perspective, but they again offer a spiritual rhythm to time which is more in keeping with ancient timekeeping methods. From solstice to crossquarter to equinox and back again, there is a rhythm to the cycle of the seasons as well as a liturgical focus for each station on the Wheel.
Rule of Life
A rule of life outlines the ideals that a monastic community lives by as well as the standards by which the community is governed. It also outlines the vows that the professed monastics live by. In Paganism, we value the spiritual connection that comes with being a sexual being, so there is no need for a vow of chastity. However, there are other vows which might be of significance to those in the Craft.
Simplicity
Pagans are people of the earth, of humble means and simple pleasures. This is not poetic hyperbole — many pagans are poor or working class. And many advancing practitioners of the Craft report a desire for more experiences and less stuff. As such, it seems appropriate to suggest a vow of quality over quantity and necessity over desire.
Honesty
In order to live in perfect trust, there must be honesty. A Wiccan monastic practice, therefore, should stress speaking the truth, even if uncomfortable, over polite or malicious lies.
Compassion
In order to live in perfect love, there must be compassion. Love means accepting all of a person, especially their flaws and shortcomings, and embracing the best of them. This is one way to remember that we are all one and should treat one another with the same compassion we would wish for ourselves.
Community
Pagans seem to place a high value on community. We want to practice in covens or be the village witch to our local area. We want to contribute to connections between people. We want to help and be helped. So it seems appropriate for a Pagan monastic practice to incorporate a vow of community-mindedness to remember that we are all in this life together.
Contemplation
In Paganism, we are all solitary practitioners. Our most important work is done by ourselves, just us and our gods. So a vow of contemplation — of mindful thinking about our relationship with the gods and our purpose in being devoted to them — is especially appropriate to a Pagan monastic practice. Contemplation can take the form of prayer, meditation, ecstatic states, and inspired works. There is rich, fertile ground in contemplation.
Service
The ideal of the high priestess is one of servant leadership, of leading by example. In a pagan monastic practice, those who live a consecrated life may also aspire to clergyhood, so it seems appropriate to incorporate a vow of service, but even for those who do not wish to take on the mantle of clergy, service is an important ideal in Pagan lore and is appropriate for the lay practitioner as well. One of the great Mysteries of the Craft is that we are all one, so serving one another through acts of charity and kindness is another expression of compassion.
Occupation
Unless one is fortunate enough to be independently wealthy, the monastic community must have a way to sustain itself. There are a variety of ways to do this which can be incorporated into a prayerful, contemplative life. Occupations such as beekeeping, wine- and mead-making, food production, ranching, farming, sustainable energy production, manufacture of religious supplies, spiritual advising, values-based professional consulting, and spiritual tourism are all ways to keep the lights on and the community fed. However, I know of one Catholic monastic community that pays the bills by running a server farm and doing custom programming for clients. So the possibilities are wide and varied, with plenty of room for creativity.