Why We Walk
We are called to seek the Landweird, so the Three Practices make space in which to engage directly with our landscape - be it the natural world, the traces of the past, the ghosts and beasts and barrows. As my beloved says: Who is this God who claims lordship over the land, and yet prefers to be worshipped indoors?
. By and large, our Powers are outside, and so we should seek them there.
It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.J.R.R. Tolkien
We don't know what you'll find out there, but the Landweird reveals itself to each of us in divers ways, and so your walk is your walk. A lifetime of walking is a form of collage, a web of memory in which your time and the lands time is intertwined - your imperfect memory of the land, the land's imperfect memory of you.
It's good to do some sort of regular religious practice, but that practice should directly relate to the hoped-for outcome of the pathway. In our case, the “goal” of the path is to seek the Landweird and to encounter it. Walking gives you a lot of empty time in the outdoors, building up a sensory hoard, letting the mind wander, and providing that opportunity. In occultism, where will or control is essential to the end goal, so daily meditation makes more sense: but emptying the mind is a cold, minimalist process, white lights and empty pure spheres. Whereas Fencraft is a gleeful rummage through England's clutter. So wandering feet, wandering minds, and an accumulation of image and experience is essential.
Some reasons to walk
Make Sacred
You should spend a lot of time doing things you enjoy (easier said than done when you're depressed). You should revere that which is worthy of reverence. Spending more time in nature is a natural fit for Pagan-ish paths, and yet Pagan handbooks spend an awful lot of time talking about correspondences, history, ritual form, and so forth. Probably because Go for a walk
is not enough to fill a book.
A doing and a being religion
Fencraft talks about Solar practices and Lunar practices, to encourage both doing, being, and also reading. Reading is important, but it's easy to get stuck on it. So we describe from the outset - be Solar, go walking, be Lunar, read books, do both in a balanced way.
Setting intention and focus
Life is short, and we are what we do. The Walk is a kind of repeated commitment, a repeated affirmation, that in the pie graph of your life you hope to prioritise time spent in nature, and time spent being rather than accomplishing.
Seeking the mystery
The goal of the walk is not the walk, but the creation of space. We learn why we walk while walking. Religions are boring and dead when they are a correspondence list on paper. Mystery practices are questions without answers. We might discover a value or metaphor through walking, or see a particularly beautiful wood pigeon, or meet a spirit, or find a new thing you wish to learn about. It might help you untangle a difficult week. I can't predefine or guess what the Mystery you encounter will be. In other words, the Walk is a gap for the seeker to find their own religion, deities, and so forth, within which there is no right answer. That's more powerful, egalitarian, and direct than religious roads where it is handed down or predefined.
A sensory hoard
Building up experiences in the natural world can then be drawn into ritual. Evoking elemental air becomes easier when you can evoke an actual storm you've seen.
Mooting
Fencraft is a solitary-first faith. But Solar practices are a natural fit for groups: picnics shared, family walks, wintery evenings spent inside over board games, stories told over campfires. If you practice as a part of a moot, however, ensure you mix up solitary and communal Walks. Walking lends itself easily to feasting together, hiking together, and sharing maps. But part of the purpose of Walking is letting your mind wander, so ensure you also walk alone.
Look to the Lore
Fencraft is built on books - I made a Reading List as if it were a Bible, and learned by copying what I found there. Setting out on a journey is a core theme - be it the heroic travelling of
Traditional Lore
A surprising number of folk festivals and customs in Britain consist of getting together with friends and going for a walk - from Beating the Bounds around the circuit of the village, to blessing the fields, to any number of wassailing and mumming customs where the walkabout is done in rowdy groups. These festivals span time, place and meaning but what unites them is the importance of the walking.
Accessibility
A very genuine reason to Walk, is its simplicity. Few of us have the luxury to be a full time mystic. Walking, baking, feasting, playing sports, focusing on hobbies: these are practices parents can fit around their children, people with two jobs can slip between responsibilities, and the disabled can work into their energy budget. Even if you are not constrained in this way, it can be a great comfort to have low-pressure spiritual practices in your toolbox - because we all get busy.
Grounding
On the pragmatic side, going for a walk or sitting outside is a very common way to ground and center within Fencraft ahead of a ritual. Formal visualisations and energy work isn't always necessary here: most people find a stroll helps brush the cobwebs away, wakes us up, gets us back in our skin, puts problems in perspective, and leaves us grounded and balanced and ready to face whatever comes.
Time to Walk
The last section on Walking gets you started:
- Simple ways to monitor and encourage Walking
- a Reading List of texts with more ideas
- Guidance on when you are ready for the next Practice