Part 2 - Jerik's Early Spiritual Influences

( This article  is the work of Nicolette Stevens, also known as Sylviana and as Lady Jasmine. The source of this material is paraphrased from  Jerik Daenarson himself, both in person and through recorded interviews that took place in 2001. This essay is the second chapter in a series telling Jerik's life story and history in the Pagan community. If you didn't read part one, you can find it here: http://modern-witchcraft.blogspot.com/2012/04/more-about-jerik-his-early-history-and.html )

Jerik’s Grandparents didn’t live in California and he never got to meet them, but he had a wonderful Great Aunt Hattie and Uncle John who provided that kind of nurturing and loving influence to him. They fulfilled all the Grand-parenting functions that a child could want, and Jerik felt later that that the Grand-parenting influence is important to children in their spiritual development of what will follow in terms of nurturing souls, while not spoiling them. He could go stay at their house on weekends, and for the rest of his life felt that the time he spent with them profoundly shaped his life in good ways. 

She was a retired schoolteacher, and encouraged him to develop a love of reading. She gave him books that he still remembered in his late years as having an effect on him, causing him to focus more on mythology, folklore, and history. His Uncle was also kind and fathering in a way that was very different from what he experienced at home. They were Christian, but their approach to religion and spirituality was also very different from what he had experienced. 

They went to what was called a Community Church, and if he stayed on weekends they invited him to go along with them to church and Sunday school. This was different, as it was an invitation rather than a demand, and he remembered this many years later as very relevant. Their church was non-sectarian and liberal in its interpretation, and very welcoming. His Aunt would ask “Would you like to go to Sunday School with us”, and at first he sheepishly answered “No, not particul-lar-larrrly.”, remembering his other earlier experiences that made him think Jesus was the guy that punished you if you fell off your bicycle. Instead of being forceful, they wouldn’t make him go, but instead she would ask sweetly “Oh, Come on, do it for me? You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.” Even to a child that seemed like an extraordinary difference, and he liked his Great Aunt and Uncle, so he went and discovered that they followed a version of Christianity that seemed very different and made him curious. 

In this church a person called a Minister would give a sermon, but the minister was not like “Preacher Billy-Bob Brimstone” The man smiled a lot, and opened his sermon with the idea that “God is Love.” He went on to tell the congregation that if we really love God, if we love Jesus, we show it by loving each other and by the good things we do. He taught that Christ is an example of how we should live; and is not punishing, but all forgiving. Then they would sing little songs together, like “Jesus Loves Me” , meant to trigger a response in the people to show love for  each other, and other good things like kindness, charity, and compassion. 

This was a totally different kind of church service than the one’s Jerik had seen in the church his parents went to, as the messages were not about things like hellfire and conversion. He discovered that he was not enemies with this Community Church God, who seemed very different than the God his parents feared and sometimes used as a threat. The sermons at the Community Church were simply reminders that we come from a god of love who is friendly and loving, and that we should be that way too.  In this church the messages were about being good to one another. Church services were a pleasant time spent in “the temple of a compassionate God”, who was friendly, filled with love, and forgiving of our mistakes.

The same Aunt, who was a retired schoolteacher, took particular interest in influencing Jerik to develop a love of learning and an interest in folklore and history that continued for his entire life. From what he said of her, she sounded like a very intelligent and deeply philosophical and open-minded woman, especially for her time. Sometimes he would ask her questions, which she delighted in answering in ways that made him think. He remembered that she had a lot of pictures, many of them of relatives from way-back-when. One picture she had was of Napoleon, which she kept in her glass bookcase. He asked her if that was also a picture of an old relative, and she smiled and explained to him that “No, it was a picture of Napoleon Bonaparte”. Curiously, he wanted to know if he was a great man. His Aunt responded “Great and Infamous”. She went on to explain, “I keep him there because he’s a symbol of How far a person can rise from nothing and how much damage they can do when they fall back again.”

He remembered that she gave him in particular two books he felt influenced him and his interests greatly. One was Charlotte Yonge’s “Book of Golden Deeds”, and included short versions of interesting historical stories like Brave Heart, and the 300 Spartans at Thermophile. She also gave him a copy of Richard Halliburton’s “Book of Marvels”, which was written by an early 20^th century explorer and photographer who went to all kinds of amazing places that he shared as a fun narrative for children. In the book he shared pictures and stories about exploring places like Pompeii, and made the history approachable to curious young boys and girls with vivid imagery. He brought kids in with adventurous and interesting invitations such like “I’m going to go visit the lost city of Pompeii, would you like to come with me? I don’t have any boys and girls of my own, so I’ll take you with me, we have my camera- so come on, let’s go see the ancient roman city the volcano swallowed!” Profusely illustrated with black and white pictures the book showed him places like Montipichu, Pompeii, Troy, and covered the seven wonders of the ancient world. It was these books that initially influenced him to broaden his cultural perspective. 

Jerik had declared himself Pagan, which remained his lifelong path. His parents could make him go to church and sometimes did, but he never converted to baptism or other forms of Christianity. Sometimes his interests and perspectives got him into a little trouble, as they do for many Pagan young people. For instance he remembered going to church near Easter once as a boy with his parents, and the kids were shown imagery of Jesus suffering on the cross. When asked what he thought about it, he blurted with an innocent excitement that he thought the Roman Centurion’s had a really neat crested helmet and he liked his armor- which was perhaps not the answer they were looking for. 

His relationship with his Great Aunt and Uncle continued to be very good however, and he read practically everything they could put in front of him. By the age of nine he had read the Iliad and the Odyssey, and all the childhood classics. By the age of ten he was reading Shakespeare, Bullfinches Mythology, and Hamilton’s Mythology.  These works of history, mythology and folklore influenced his sense of theology, as well as developing a broad interest in the perspectives of many cultures. It was at this age that he made a Theological decision he never reversed. "All gods are real, all paths are real to the people walking them, but there can be more than one version even of the same god."

He saw that time period as very initiatory, those experiences at the beginning of his path which created his background and gave him a place to start. It developed in him a lifelong passion which made him a collector of legends, a folklorist and historian at heart. He described his Uncle John Offield * and his Aunt Hattie Macdonald-Offield * as the most loving mentors a person could ever have, and for him their memory became sacred forever. They were decent Christian people who opened his eyes to the world around him, to the heritage of what had been before and the history of the world, and gave him an eye to the future and the idea that education is everything. Although he did not adopt their path, he learned many good values and spiritual ideals from them, and their influence on his interests in history and culture broadened his horizons in ways that opened many doors for him. It was these initial steps that began at the age of eight which shaped him and his direction in life, and he was forever grateful. 

This was long before Jerik perused his Pagan path with many more years of study and practice, but deeply affected who he was as a person and what he believed. He influenced many people later as a teacher and High Priest, and as the founder of his own tradition which grew and shaped many others. In his time he taught literally hundreds of students. Every one of Jerik’s students, whether they know it or not, was affected by his own humble beginnings. He is still teaching, in a way, through the material he has left behind as a legacy to be shared by those who it might help to grow. That is why I think it’s important in studying his work (or the work of any Elder of the Craft) to have some understanding of his personal history and background. If Jerik taught you something or affected your life, then you have in some way been not only touched by him, but by these other people and situations that made him who he was.

(* Note:The four names that connect to Jerik’s family line are Alpine, Macdonald, Daenarson and Offield. I am unsure as to whether the correct spelling of the last surname is Afield or Offield. )

( This article is part of an ongoing effort by Jerik’s friends, family, and students; to create a proper memorial for him and preserve his stories and writing as he wished. Cody Allison and I are working on this along with other friends, and would be happy to include material and memories by others who had a connection to him, and to his tradition which was called Southshire. Please feel free to contact either of us to share your comments; memories, class notes, experiences, and any other writing from Jerik that it may be shared in honor of our friend. Thank you, Nicolette Stevens. )