Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

PATHWORKING

A technique through which psychic forces are generated, drawn together and released through the power of collective imagination. It is facilitated by the narration of an imaginary journey, typically involving a descent, an encounter, a subsequent dialogue or activity and a return to the point of departure. The fantasy is rendered by the narrator to a group who are instructed to relax, with their eyes closed, and to project themselves into the imagery. During the pathworking, the narrator will allow a period of silence for the participants to develop their own personal excursion into the realm of fantasy.

Generally there are three types of pathworking: structured, semi-structured, and unstructured. Structured pathworking provides a complete narrative containing perceptual, emotional, and behavioral cues which one simply uses passively. Such pathworkings are extremely useful as training exercises especially when one is beginning to work with a new belief system which is unfamiliar; also, they are useful when read onto an audio tape by another person.

Next is the semi-structured pathworking which provides fewer clues and is depicted as a "sequence-entrance" technique. The place or location is established at which one enters the scene. For example, one might be directed to a castle and then left on your own to explore it to find an object or information; enough clues are provided to furnish enough information to build up a personal interest to increase one's magical power. In semi-structured pathworking one has more personal freedom of movement and creativity.

In unstructured or spontaneous pathworking there may be only a three-dimensional design such as a Tarot card, or even a rune, I Ching hexagram or Sigil. The technique is to use the design or symbol as a doorway or gate to project oneself through it into the mythic landscape that lies beyond.

All pathworking techniques are used for training and developing belief-system familiarization to trigger one's emotional and cognitive reactions to a level where the individual identifies immediately with the occurrence. Various types of pathworkings achieve this effect. In the pathworking of death, for example, the person feels himself dying, being buried, and going through the various stages of decomposition, which, at the very least, will remind one of the inevitability of death and perhaps reduce personal fear of death. Other pathworking can be designed for such activities as scrying, talking to entities, performing enchantments, and so on.

see also: VISUALIZATION

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc