so i’ve been thinking about oathbound traditions and the nature of secrecy in craft knowledge.

for those who have taken oaths, what are the boundaries of your tradition’s particular oaths? what is acceptable to speak about and what constitutes ‘oathbound’ material? when dialoguing about your practice, how closely do you find yourself coming to that dividing line, and do you find that level of secrecy to unduly limit your communication? also, how do you react to or handle conversations that begin to wander into oathbound territory?

for the non-oathbound (disclaimer: i fit into this category), what are your thoughts when someone brings up ‘sorry, oathbound’ as part of a conversation? in your practice, do you commonly encounter situations where you are limited by others secrecy? and is your status as non-oathbound ethical in nature (ie, do you object to the whole idea of ‘oathbound’ craft itself) or due to circumstances (ie, you simply have not had the opportunity to be a part of an oathbound sect)?

and finally, for both oathbound and non, what value do you place on craft secrecy in general? do you find it to be useful and appropriate, or do you think it to be an outdated model?

if you answer as an oathbound, please mention what trad you belong to as i’m interested in seeing the differences between traditions as to what constitutes secret knowledge.

as someone who is, for all intents and purposes, completely open about my spirituality and my practice, i think the etiquette of interacting with other pagans concerning oathbound material is not something that is usually brought up or thought about. for example, if someone were to ask me what my specific quarter call for north is, i would tell them… it would never occur to me that someone else might be offended that they were asked to discuss what, to them, is obviously something that should not be talked about.

i would hope that someone who is oathbound would realize that i, as a nontrad, am not being pushy or ‘begging for secrets’ when i bring that sort of stuff up for discussion, but…  people are funny that way – and tend to take offense when none is offered.

for me personally, the matter of oathbound material and craft secrecy is an issue of trust.  depending upon how much trust i have with the group in question, i would be hesitant to start along the path as an initiate without knowing what the basic expectations are for later levels. in the back of my mind i would be wondering ‘well… if you’re unwilling to discuss what you actually do at third degree; who you call upon, what your ritual actions are, what the expected behavior is… could it be that i might find those things inappropriate or have some moral conflict with them?’ there’s a whole aspect of trickery that comes with secrecy. examples would include the use of sex magic in ritual, drug use, and calling upon external forces and god-forms.

in terms of secrecy of practice, i think its important to infuse your words and actions with your own meaning – so i can understand why some would be loathe to share that process, however, i would be the first to admit that i am very much influenced by the practices of others. everything from why i perform ritual in the first place, to the exact placement of objects to specific hand gestures and chants is directly influenced by the words, deeds, and thoughts of others who have taught me directly, or even indirectly through their own example or through books. i don’t think our practices spring forth from a vacuum (if they did, in my case, there would be a lot less emphasis on reverence of nature, and a lot more on killing my boss…)

another consideration is the perceived ‘value’ of teachings and practices that are widely shared, versus those that are closely guarded and kept hidden.  can spiritual truth lose its truthfulness just because its well known? do the properties of energy change or diminish when they become more fully understood? at what point does general awareness begin to decrease the inherent value of the information or validity of the practice? and if there is a decrease in ‘value’, wouldn’t that counteract the augmenting effects of egregore (see my post concerning egregore here)?  for example, ceremonialists try to tap into the communal ambient energy associated with the constant repetition of certain rituals (i’m thinking lbrp and star ruby), so wouldn’t a more widely spread understanding of these specific practices benefit all practitioners by strengthening the communal energy of these rites?

when all is said and done, though, my ire at spiritual secrecy isn’t so much directed at things such as protecting participants’ identities or keeping private journals, rather at those who use secrecy for image enhancement or those who feel that they are the protectors of knowledge that they have deemed others just can’t handle.  i don’t feel that such ego-work is beneficial to the craft as a whole, or to the individual who uses it as a crutch.

-justin