As an active solitary practitioner who is also studying with a coven in a well-established tradition, I spend a great deal of time thinking about the nature of spiritual "traditions" in general.
Some thoughts:
Most of the anecdotal evidence in the historical record (such as it is) leaves us with a picture of the European witch as village healer/midwife/visionary--a far cry from the contemporary Wicca and its 20th century associations with ceremonial magic. Similarly, most shamanic practitioners in non-European cultures do not work in an organized group setting (although many have various assistants)--but nonetheless follow, in many cases, in a established tradition accessed through their private vision quests.
I raise these examples in no way to denigrate work in the coven, lodge or grove setting--but as a reminder to solitaries that the call to worship and heal needs no validation from a "tradition", only from the spirit.
And, while I'm on the subject--where are the solitary Christians?
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