Lifeways

Lifeways was founded by Anodea Judith in 1984. Its original incarnation was as the teaching branch of CAW. This was accomplished by means of the R.I.N.G.S. system. Anodea has since gone on to do other work outside CAW, and Lifeways is not currently active. We honor Anodea's accomplishments and contributions in creating Lifeways, which became the beginning of the R.I.N.G.S. system, and in her work as a ritualist in our celebrations. We wish her well on her continuing journey.

THE NEW RINGs CYCLE

Please be aware that the RINGs program has undergone a complete revision for the 3rd Phoenix Ressurection of CAW.   Since all of our then-current membership and RINGs records were destroyed during the Great Schism, all of our members, including our Founders are re-entering CAW III at 2nd Circle.  A summary of our new RINGs Cycle is available below, and a copy of the entire program in .pdf format is available in our documents archive.

We felt that the program needed to be updated and refocused to better serve the purpose, mission and vision of CAW. That vision, while it may seem complex, can be simplified down to one pretty concise idea – to foster the self actualization and expanded consciousness of the individual, and in doing so contribute to the expanded consciousness of the world as a whole (Gaia) and (as a logical result) to contribute to the reawakening of (or reconnection with) the Universal Mind/Consciousness/Source of Being/Ultimate Reality/God/dess.

Thus our RINGs program and our projects have always been designed to foster the following 3 goals which we see as necessary to achieving our Mission:

• The self-actualization of the individual, i.e., creating balanced, whole/holistic, empathic and aware individuals.
• Fostering intimate connection of the individual with the CAW community.
• Fostering connection between the individual and CAW as an organization and the outer community, the world (including deep ecology and “eco-psychic awareness”) and the Universe… and what we perceive from our CAW perspective as “God/dess” (i.e., “all that groks is God”)

CIRCLE REINSTATEMENT

A Reinstatement Process is now available to former RINGs members, to assist in returning you to your former Circle. If you were previously a member of the RINGs and would like to return to your previous Circle, please contact the RINGs Coordinator at reinstatement@caw.org.  Reinstatement is handled on a case-by-case basis, and in general requires three things:

• We must be able to verify that you had attained your prior Circle.  For those who were Circle 6 and inward you should appear on our list of successions. For members in Circles 3-5 we may need to ask for some type of documentation, which is explained in more detail on our Reinstatement Form.
• RECONNECTION REQUIREMENT: You must be a current member, and be currently connecting in some way with the CAW III Tribe.
• ONGOING SERVICE REQUIREMENT: You must, currently and on an ongoing basis, be doing some type of service to the CAW Community the Pagan Community or be doing some type of service which advances the CAW Vision and Mission.

We anticipate that most members will be returned to their prior Circle without needing to fulfill additional requirements. At the point that we receive your application and can confirm your prior status, assuming that there are no specific concerns, if you have not fulfilled the 2nd and 3rd requirement - reconnection and service - you will be returned to your prior Circle on a "probationary" basis to give you the time and opportunity to find ways to reconnect with and serve the Tribe.