In the Beginning

Pranja tradition was first formed by myself, Lord Justt and Lord Nighthawk, who now is the High Priest of "Hawk's Grove" in San Diego, California. Back in April of 1993 the two of us were part of "Circle of the Fates" who was under the leadership of Lady Joy of Heart. We were both being taught the tradition of the "Goddess" from her alone with the ways in which the circle was cast, how the magic was to be done and how we were to celebrate the holy days, the Esbats and Sabbats.

Breaking Ground

In April of 1994, I had completed my Third Degree and was the first "male witch" to leave or "Spin" from its mother coven without a female or High Priestess to call as my center. This action was received as not "normal" or out of sorts from the family tree of circles. They were five generations strong and still well in communication with each other. I stated that the God and the Goddess were sought to be "in balance" and if it was O.K. for a female to form a coven then it should be O.K. for a male to do the same.

For my Second Degree, I was taught and trained to "hold and contain" the power of the Lord and the Lady as I cast my circle for the moon which I had to write. I surmised that if I could do that then I should be given an equal recognition if I decided to form my OWN circle after I had spun.

Leaving home

Finally, I received the support I needed, but not without the distant covens, still voicing that "It wouldn't last" or "I would fail without a "High Priestess" in a short time." It was this environment to which the "Pranja Tradition" was formed. My brother and friend Nighthawk left the "Circle of the Fates" to help form "Pranja Grove" before he had finished his training. Through setting circle, celebrating the Esbats and Sabbats and working magic together, we had looked at the faith of Wicca very closely.

We were taught that the Goddess was the source of all mysteries of life. It was our goal to explore them within ourselves to find the meaning of life and its trials. We were also taught that the Goddess was the source of all life and death. That SHE was the creator of the God for she saw his face in the reflection of the universe to which she created and that she saw that it was right to have all things opposite. In her wisdom, the God was created. And with this she realized that she could not be worshiped or exist without him from that time forward in the eyes of those that would follow in her ways because there was man and woman, light and dark, positive and negative.

What was missing

This concept was fine...yet..as Wiccans, we were taught to "find the balance" of the Gods within and from without. We had little to go by when it came to the God and HIS purpose in the religion of Wicca and it was not very defined as to "who or what" was the drive to success.

It wasn't long before Nighthawk and I had decided that we needed a more defined God. There was a "Goddess Charge" and if so, there should be a "God Charge" as well. There was a "Star Goddess Charge" and so there should be a "Sun God Charge" to follow. Even though there were God charges to be found on the net and other book sources, it still lacked the "purpose" of his being . It also lacked the reason for him to serve the Goddess as to her serving him. It lacked him "defining" what his role was to those that would follow him as the Goddess made it very clear what she expected from us.

So was the foundation and focus of this "new tradition." We wrote the charges for the God and gave him a purpose of providing magic within the circle at the moons and at the Sabbats that were more to the liking of what we saw as "balance" and in so doing, the tradition was born. The God had a position of creating and delivering magic to the Goddess' mysteries. Finally, there was a meaning to the God as we had a meaning to the Goddess.

Working out the details

Now that we had defined the two aspects that they now shared in common with each other, we could ascribe their roles as to their responsibilities. The Goddess gave us the mysteries of life and death. She unfolded the universe to our minds and spirits and in doing so she gave us a charge. With that charge she commanded the souls that would follow in her light. This is what she offered and this is what she expected from us as her followers. But what about her opposite? What about the God? What was his responsibility to the way of things?

He had little or no "duties" as was taught to me other than being present in the Sabbats to turn the Wheel of the Year and to be sacrificed in the Fall so that the new Lord could be born at the Winter Solstice. (Even though the new Lord was a continuation and fulfillment of the old, only reborn) I wanted to know his charge as well.

What was it that he willed from his followers as did the Goddess? This is a religion of balance and the light and dark were in equal with one another in all things, so the God came to command in our rituals "the magical ways." He came to lead the hard work and forthright to explore the mysteries of the Lady. The God and the Goddess were now EQUAL in the ritual out-plays to the meaning of Wicca and the religion.

(Remember, our writings of our old religion were destroyed by the religions of today. Our ways had to be captured by what little we could find and from its base, re-write it to fit the needs of the faithful in Wicca.)

Blessed Be!
Lord Justt
November 2001