As I (Sam) write we are now well into the third iteration of our Wild Cat Course and there’s a feeling of something wonderful taking shape. We still have several of the first course members and some lovely new folks too, which gives a great sense of both rooting down and growing in new ways. We’ve stayed meeting monthly on Zoom, yet extended to two and half hours, thereby being able to add an exploration of the Ten Words to our spiralling journey with the Creed.
I love the sense of deepening in our learning together, as we re-visit profound teachings and practices. It has also helped that we now make our twice monthly Wild Monastics meetings the gateway into this Wild Wisdom School. So the two groups, and the sacred study and practice within them, really feed each other. It also means that new ‘Wild Cats’ have a much better sense of who we are, what we about and how we work, so there’s more commitment and ease from the start.
As we move towards the end of our third course, it feels time to plan ahead… I’ve long been holding a vision that our Wild Wisdom School might be the seedbed of a dispersed new monastic community. I have hoped that in time it might, in time, provide a kind of novitiate that could lead towards folks starting to create their own monastic rhythm of life within a supportive context. Our core group of four ‘Wild Mothers’ are just beginning to consider this & to reach out to our elders in the Advisory Council of (Anglican) Religious Communities for their advice with this, so watch this space!
After the six month pilot of our new Wild Cat Course, between Lent and the Dormition, I felt a little more confident when we started again in September 2024 with a combination of existing and new members. This time we were setting off for a full year of monthly meetings, hoping to make our way through the three core texts of the BCP catechism: the Creed, Ten Words (Commandments) and what we were now calling the Beloved’s (Lord’s) Prayer.
However it became increasingly clear that plans would have to be changed in response to the needs of the group. Meeting at Brooking Church in the winter was too cold and damp for contemplation & study. Also trying to enquire deeply into three complex texts in 2 hours a month was unrealistic! So by 2025 we had shifted fully onto Zoom and were focussing on the Creed only.
Some folks stepped amicably back, others amicably stayed and, having made it through ‘forming and storming’ as a group, we now settled into ‘norming and performing’ and began to more thoroughly enjoy learning together. I won’t go into any details here, for as film lovers know ‘what happens in fight club, stays in fight club’ to use a more recent metaphor for the containment of a mystery school!
Yet I will say that everyone expressed finding a greater sense of depth and freedom in their understanding of themselves and Christianity – being able to freely question and come to one’s own (and often temporary) conclusions within a supportive and diverse group was a big part of this. So it felt very special and authentic at the end of our first full year, when one of us was baptised and many members also chose to renew their baptismal vows.
