Alliance of Solitary Practitioners

During the 1990s, especially in the wake of several books calling attention to the situation within the larger Pagan community, various people began to address the problem of the solitary practitioner. The contemporary Wicca /Pagan community had developed around small groups generally called covens or groves. Most practitioners have been members of such groups, for many years the only place where knowledge of the religion was available. However, with the publication of numerous books on Pagan practice beginning in the 1970s, the solitary practitioner who was self-initiated and practiced alone began to emerge and the number steadily and rapidly grew through the rest of the twentieth century. Such solitary practitioners generally made themselves known by their attendance at the large Pagan gatherings.

Initial attempts to provide networking for solitary Pagans began in the early 1990s, but the spread of the Internet has provided a means for solitary Pagans to relate to the larger Pagan world that both protects their anonymity while providing a source for information and contact. The Alliance of Solitary Practitioners (ASP) was formed in January of 1998 to provide such a means of networking and communication. It was founded by Reverend Graywolfe and LVG. Graywolfe was attracted to Paganism through the writings of Amber K and Scott Cunningham and with a fellow Pagan formed a coven called the Sacred Grove. He eventually left the Sacred Grove and founded the Circle of the Sacred Garden. LVG began with the ouija board and tarot cards that led to widespread reading on Witchcraft. She eventually joined the Circle of the Sacred Garden.

Though operating in a coven, Graywolfe remembered his days as a solitary and wanted to do something for other solitary practitioners and LVG possessed the technical knowledge to make ASP possible. Its web site, located at http://www.witchcraft.net/ASP/, provides both information and a means for solitaries to communicate with each other. Solitaries may also become formal members of ASP. By the end of the 1990s, ASP reported more than 1,300 members in more than 40 countries. While agreeing on a few basics concerning Paganism, solitary practitioners manifest the widest possible variation in belief and practice.

Sources:

Alliance of Solitary Practitioners. http://www.witchcraft.net/ASP/. February 15, 2000.