Bylaws of Oak, Ash and Thorn Tradition of Wicca
The following bylaws are established for the purpose of providing a secure foundation for the daily running of and the perpetuation of the Oak, Ash, and Thorn Tradition. Oak, Ash, and Thorn (OATh) is an eclectic, neo-pagan Wiccan Tradition.
Section One--Establishment and Purpose
A) Oak, Ash, And Thorn (OATh or "The Tradition") is hereby established as an eclectic Tradition of the Wiccan religion, dedicated to the worship of the Lady and Lord as They exemplify the balance of the universe, meeting to worship at times appointed by the turning of the seasons and the phases of the moon, and guided by the Heartwood Council in accordance with these bylaws and the traditions of the Wiccan Community.
B) Oak, Ash, and Thorn has been established for the following reasons:
1) To facilitate the practice of the wiccan religion in the form and manner considered most suitable by members of the Tradition.
2) To provide a safe and supportive environment for free religious expression by Wiccans and other neo-pagans.
3) To identify, develop, and train caring and competent clergy to serve the Wiccan Community by menas of the Tradition's three-degree initiatory system.
Section Two--Organization and structure
Oak, ash, and Thorn (OATh) is a training tradition with a three-degree system; decisions are made by the Third Degree Initiates of the Tradition, with other initiates as advisors. This structure is described in more detail below.
Article i--Founding High Priest/ess of the Tradition
A) The founding High
Priest/ess of the Tradition (Founder) shall supervise the activities of OATh in accordance with these Bylaws and the traditions of the Wiccan Community. The other Powers and responsibilities of the Founder are listed below.
1) The Founder shall have the power to veto any decision of a Third Degree initiate of or accepted by the Tradition.
2) The Founder shall have the authority to dissolve the Tradition at any time. In the event of the dissolution of the Tradition, these bylaws shall become null and void, and no member of the Tradition, with the esception of the Founder, shall use the name " Oak, Ash, and Thorn" in connection with any other Wiccan or other neo-pagan organization.
3) The Founder shall have the authority to perpetuate the Tradition in the event of her death, incapacity, or retirement from the performance of her duties by designating a successor from among the Third Degree initiates of the Tradition. Upon the death, incapacity, or retirement of the Founder, the designated successor shall assume all of the duties and powers of the Founder, save as may be specified in these bylaws, and shall be known as the High Priest/ess of the Tradition.
i) The Founder shall inform the Heartwood Council of the identity of her designated successor.
ii) If the Founder should die or become incapacitated to the point of being unable to designate a successor, the Heartwood Council shall determine whether or not to perpetuate the Tradition. In the event it is decided not to perpetuate the Tradition, these bylaws shall become null and void and the name "Oak, Ash, and Thorn" may not be used by any member of the Tradition in connection with any other Wiccan or neo-pagan organizations.
iii) If the decision is made to perpetuate the Tradition, the Heartwood Council shall elect, from among the Third Degree initiates of the Tradition, some person willing to assume the title and responsibilities of High Priest/ess of the Tradition.
2) The High Priest/ess of the Tradition shall not have the power to dissolve the Tradition without the consent of the Heartwood Council.
C) The Founder (or the High priest/essof the Tradition upon perpetuation of the Tradition) shall, after due consultations with the Heartwood Council, have the authority to approve amendments to these bylaws.
Article II--The Heartwood Council
The Heartwood Council shall act as an advisory body to the Founder, and shall carry out other duties or responsibilities as are specified in these bylaws or are delegated to the Heartwood Council by the Founder of the Tradition.
A) The Heartwood Council shall be comprised of the following persons:
1) The Founder or High Priest/ess of the Tradition
2) The High Priestess and High Priest (regardless of degree held) of every Coven in the Tradition.
3) All persons who have been initiated in the Third Degree of the Tradition.
B) The Heartwood Council shall meet on a regular basis as determined by the Founder, but no less than annually.
C) The Heartwood Council shall confer with and advise the Founder on those matters which affect the Tradition as a whole.
D) In addition to any other duties prescribed for the Heartwood, it shall be available to provide advise and assistance to the leaders of Covens and Circles within the Tradition.
E) Until such a time as the Tradition has more than one formally established Coven, the Initiate's Council of the Hearth coven shall perform the duties of the Heartwood.
Article III--Powers and Responsibilities
It is emphatically the province of the Founder and the Heartwood Council to deal with matters that affect the Tradition as a whole. The High Priest/ess of the individual Covens within the OATh Tradition (when acting in that capacity), and the Initiate's Councils of the individual Covens within the Tradition, so not have the power to take any action that is binding upon the Tradition as a whole. That power is reserved solely to the Founder and to the Heartwood Council. More specifically:
A) Neither the High Priest nor the High Priestess nor the Initiate's Council of any Coven within the Oath Tradition shall treat with any other Tradition, coven, or other group not part of the OATh regarding any general recognition of that other group's initiatory standards as being comparable to those of the OATh Tradition; any general recognition that initiates of that other group are to be considered equal to or the peers of initiates of the OATh Tradition; Any agreement of any sort pertaining to a formal alliance between the OATh Tradition and any organization not part of the OATh Tradition; or any similar or substantially similar matter, without the prior and specific authorization of the Founder and the Heartwood Council.
1) The provisions of Paragraph A immediately above shall not be construed as preventing an individual Coven or Circle within the OATh Tradition from working on a co-operative basis with any other organization on any issue or activity properly within the Oath Coven or Circle's sphere of interest.
2) Neither shall the provisions of Paragraph A above be presumed to affect the authority of an individual OATh Coven (as described in Section Four, Article 5, paragraph C below,) to evaluate the training, experience, and ritual competence of the individual initiate accepted as being equivalent to an OATh initiation at the First or Second Degree.
B) The willful breach of the prohibitions outlined in Paragraph A above shall result in disciplinary action against the persons responsible, as outlined in Section Five below.
Article IV---Alliances With Other Traditions or Groups
The Founder, with the advise and consent of the Heartwood Council, may enter into Formal agreements allying the OATh Tradition with other traditions, covens, groups, or organizations not part of the OATh Tradition, as outlined in this Article.
A) Allied Tradition status, once established by mutual agreement, shall mean that:
1) Initiates of the allied traditions shall be generally recognized as being peers, and it shall be further recognized that the training and initiatory standards of the allied traditions are of sufficient comparability that the initiates of one tradition shall be considered the equals of initiates of the other tradition in like degree;
2) Members of an allied tradition shall be welcome at the rituals or observances of the other tradition without any requirement for prior permission, interview, or examination, as long as the member of the allied tradition meets the criteria (i.e., degree of initiation, gender, etc.,) required for attendance at that specific ritual or observance;
3) Initiates of an allied tradition may be permitted to act as teachers for students for initiation in the other tradition, as long as the initiate in question agrees to teach and act in accordance with the other tradition's training program, standards, rules, and customs.
B) Any tradition, coven or other group which seeks to establish a formal alliance with the OATh Tradition shall be required to present to the Heartwood Council (or a representative portion thereof,) both written and oral evidence pertaining to the following issues:
1) Statement of Purpose-- the group must possess a clear, specific, and explicit statement of purpose or purposes for which it exists. This statement need not exist in isolation, but may be included as part of another document.
2) Organization -- the group shall demonstrate that it is organized so as to be able to accomplish the purpose or purposes mentioned in sub-paragraph one immediately above. The group shall possess a set of bylaws or a substantially similar document indicating how the group is organized and operates. This document need not possess a one-to-one correspondence to the bylaws of the OATh Tradition, but its proponents shall demonstrate that the document accomplishes for their group substantially the same functions as the Bylaws of the OATh Tradition accomplish for the OATh Tradition.
3) History and Lineage of the Founders or Organizers -- The group's founders or organizers shall provide complete and accurate information as to the source or sources of their training and initiations, together with the means to independently verify this information.
i) While OATh Tradition recognizes that a solitary individual may perform a valid rite of self-dedication, the Tradition does not recognize the validity of so-called "self-initiations" where the issue at hand is comparability or equivalency to initiations within the OATh Tradition.
ii) Accordingly, the OATh Tradition will not offer to ally with, nor will it entertain offers of alliance from traditions or other groups whose organizers are unable to demonstrate a recognizable initiatory lineage, or whose initiations are the result of "self-initiation."
4) Teaching and Training __ The group shall provide complete information as to their teaching ans training program for members and students for initiation, including complete and explicit standards for initiation at each Degree for which the group offers training. While it is not required that the material presented be a one-for-one match to the parallel OATh Tradition requirements, the material presented must be of such a nature as to persuade the Heartwood Council that initiates of the other group are in all respects comparable to, and may in good faith be considered to be equal to and the peers of initiates of like degree in the OATh Tradition.
5) Continuity and Viability -- Inasmuch as the ultimate hallmark of a tradition is its ability to perpetuate itself and the body of knowledge it considers important through its teachings, the group shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Heartwood that it is Sufficiently viable that it may reasonably be expected to grow and prosper without an alliance to the OATh Tradition. Further, the group shall demonstrate that their training program is capable of supporting and encouraging such growth and development. As a minimum, the group shall show that students initiated by the founders or organizers of the group are now themselves teaching their own students who may reasonably be expected to be initiated into the group in the due course of time.
C) Once the presentation process is complete, and once any questions the members of Heartwood may have are answered, the Heartwood shall deliberate on the proposed alliance. No time limit may be placed on these deliberations, save by the Heartwood alone. Among the questions which shall be considered by the Heartwood is whether the proposed alliance is ultimately in th best interest of the OATh Tradition. Once the period of deliberation has been sufficient to permit all members of the Heartwood to reach a conclusion, the Heartwood shall vote. An affirmative vote by at least two-thirds of the total membership if the Heartwood (excluding the Founder, and those members who abstain from voting on the grounds of conflict of interest,) is required for approval.
D) If the proposed alliance is approved by the Heartwood, it shall be brought before the Founder for final consideration If he or see approves the alliance, and the other group also approves the alliance by whatever methods their own rules or customs require, then a document recording the alliance and its terms shall be drawn up in duplicate, and signed by the leaders of both groups, (preferably during a ritual observance celebrated jointly by both groups, and ideally upon the occasion of one of the Great Sabbats,) to take effect from that day forth, each group retaining a copy of the alliance document for their own archives.
E) The foregoing paragraphs and sub-paragraphs presume that the other group with whom an alliance is being contemplated has established a parallel set of requirements which the OATh Tradition will be required to meet prior to any final decision to formalize the alliance.
F) Nothing in the foregoing Article Four shall be applied retroactively. Any inter-tradition alliances into which the OATh Tradition may have entered prior to the adoption and incorporation of this Article into OATh Traditions's Bylaws shall remain in effect. Any such allied Traditions shall not be required to comply with the requirements of Paragraph B above.
Section Three--Coven Structures
The tradition shall contain groups of individual members of the Tradition, to be known as Covens, who choose to celebrate their religion together. The structure of Covens of the OATh Tradition shall be as follows:
Article I - Individual Coven Structure
An OATh Coven shall be defined as any group of OATh celebrants who choose to celebrate together, and which meets the following requirements.
A) An OATh Coven shall be consist of a minimum of one Third Degree initiate of the Tradition, on initiate of the Tradition of any degree, and Five other celebrants.
B) An OATh Coven must agree to conduct themselves in accordance with these bylaws and the traditions of the Wiccan Community
C) No Coven shall be established within the Tradition which has not been recognized as a separate Coven by the Founder of the Tradition during an OATh ritual.
D) An OATh Coven must adhere to the following structure:
1) The HP/HPS must be a Third Degree initiate of the Tradition and shall be responsible for overseeing rituals and meeting the spiritual needs of the Coven as he or she sees fit.
2) The HP/HPS shall be responsible for establishing local Coven policies, and for making these known to the Founder of the Tradition. These policies may be peculiar to the individual Coven, and may be either oral or written policies at the discretion of the HP/HPS of the Coven Coven policies shall neither circumvent nor contradict the Bylaws of OATh. Where a conflict is found to exist between the Bylaws of the Tradition and the policies of the member Coven, the Bylaws take precedence.
3) The HP/HPS of an OATh Coven shall be assisted by her HP?HPS. If a Third Degree initiate of the Tradition is not available, the HPS/HP of the Coven shall choose, with the advise and consent of the Founder, another initiate of the Tradition to perform these duties in the interim.
4) Each Coven shall have a council consisting of all the initiates of the Tradition and those initiates whose degrees have been accepted by OATh who attend the rituals of that Coven at least once per quarter. This Initiates' Council shall advise the HP/HPS of the Coven concerning matters of coven policy.
i) The HPS/HP of a coven may appoint officers from among the initiates'council to meet specific needs as she or he deems fit.
ii) The HPS/HP shall convene meetings of the coven's Initiates' Council on a regular Basis, but no less often than quarterly, and shall report on said meetings to the Founder.
iii) No person shall be a member of the Initiates' Council of more than one coven. If an initiate celebrates at least quarterly with more than one Coven, then that initiate must designate to the Initiates' Council of both covens, and to the Heartwood, the coven wherein he or she prefers to be considered a member of the Initiates' Council.
5) The HPS/HP of an OATH Coven shall also be advised by the Heartwood Council, and the Founder of the Tradition.
6) All OATh Covens shall be answerable for their actions directly to the Founder , whose decisions in such cases shall be final.
Article II - The Hearth Coven
The Hearth Coven of OATh shall be defined as the Coven where the Founder celebrates. Upon death of the Founder, this name shall no longer be used by any Coven of OATh.
Article III - Circles
A circle is a group of OATh members who do not meet the criteria to be considered a Coven or which does not wish to become a Coven.
A) Circles may be established for any purpose in keping with these bylaws and the traditions of the Wiccan Community.
B) The establishment of a Circle is subject to review by the Founder but is not contingent on a formal recognition as is the establishment of a Coven.
C) A Circle shall consist of any members of OATh who met together on a regular basis for a specific purpose that is in keeping with these bylaws and the traditions of the Wiccan community. The members of the Circle may choose to open membership to other persons not currently celebrants of OATh but who are legal adults.
D) A Circle shall make reports of their activities to the HP/HPS of the individual Coven from which the membership is formed, or to the Founder of the Tradition.
Section Four -- Membership
Article I -- Guests
Any person who wished to attend and OATh ritual as a guest must convey that desire to an initiate of the OATh Coven conducting the Ritual. The initiate will arrange for the prospective guest to meet with the HPS/HP of the Coven. (The HP/HPS may designate a member of the Coven's Initiates's Council to meet with the prospective guest in her or his place.)
A) The prospective guest must meet with the HP/HPS of the OATh Coven, or with his or her representative, at least 24-hours prior to the time of the Ritual which they wish to attend.
B) The HP/HPS , or his or her representative, has the right to deny attendance as a guest at any Coven or ritual or activity to any person who makes such a request.
C) No person who is not a legal adult shall be allowed to attend any OATh ritual or activity unless in the company of his or her parent(s) or legal guardian(s).
D) For rituals or events that are Tradition-wide in nature, as opposed to being sponsored or conducted by an individualCoven within the Tradition, the procedure for obtaining approval to attend as a guest shall be the same, except that the prospective guest must meet with a member of the Heartwood Council, rather than with the HP/HPS of the individual Coven. (Note: As all HP/HPS of Covens within the Tradition are ex officio members of Heartwood, a meeting with a Coven HP/HPS will fulfill this requirement.)
Article II -- Behavior of Members
All members of the Tradition shall conduct themselves in a manner in keeping with the Wiccan Rede: "An it harm none, do what you will"; and in accordance with the traditional stricture that Wiccans should deal with each other in a spirit of "perfect love and perfect trust."
A) All members of OATh are expected to conduct themselves in a manner in keeping the Bylaws of OATh and the traditions of the Wiccan Community.
B) Furthermore, we hold that every individual has the right to be secure and respected in his or her own person: in body, in mind, and in spirit. Therefore, OATh will neither countenance nor tolerate the followingon the part of any celebrant, student, or initiate:
1) The use of Baneful Magick shall not be countenanced by the OATh Tradition. This shall include both the current practice and the teaching of baneful magick whether alone or in conjunction with another member or OATh or with any other person. Members are expected to disclose any past practice or teaching of baneful magick to an initiate of the Tradition, and may do so without fear of reprisal. However, the willful failure to disclose such activity shall be subject to disciplinary action.
2) The use or possession of illegal drugs at or in connection with OATh rituals or activities shall not be countenanced by the OATh Tradition.
3) Forcing or coercing another individual to participate in sexual activity against his or her desires, or to consume mind-altering substances against his or her will; orrequiring complete or partial nudity of any individual against his or her will; or obtaining consent to any of these by deception or misrepresentation, or under color of authority, regardless of the circumstances under which these actions take place, shall not be countenanced by the OATh Tradition.
4) Any deliberate action directed toward another individual that is calculated to cause injury, harm or pain; be it physical, mental or emotional, where it is clear that the member in doing so has acted inappropriately, out of proportion to the circumstances, or in abuse of his or her discretion shall not be countenanced by the OATh Tradition.
C) Any member of OATh who violates the standards outlined above shall be subject to disciplinary action as set forth under Section IV - Grievances and Disciplinary Actions, Articles II and III.
Article III - Celebrants
A celebrant shall be defined as anyone who regularly (i.e. at least quarterly) attends rituals of an approved OATh Coven, incliding students and initiates of any degree.
A)
