February – May 2024 Sessions

Wednesdays, 7-8:30 p.m.
BuxMont UU Fellowship in the Sanctuary
Dates: Feb 14, 28, Mar 13 & 27, Apr 10 & 24, May 8 & 22
Cost: Free

Bonus Date: Feb 21

After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.
– Philip Pullman

From February – May 2024, we explored the world of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time as sacred story. We combined the first season of television show and the first text The Eye of the World in our conversation over eight sessions together (plus a bonus one on the lore and history of the series). What does it mean to approach fiction, in the form of the written word and on the screen, as lessons that help us become more fully human?

Whether you have read the series multiple times or are just beginning your first read, or whether the television show was your first taste of Jordan’s world, you are welcome in this Circle.

We held eight sessions, the 2nd & 4th Wednesday of the month, from 7-8:30 p.m. Beginning on February 14th and closing on May 22. We met at BuxMont Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (2040 Street Road, Warrington, PA). There was assigned reading from the first book of the series The Eye of the World and assigned watching of the first season of the Amazon series.

Feel free to catch up with the group any time or to go back and revisit particular session topics.

The may be spoilers.

We will try to keep the spoilers light but as we discuss larger themes or the myths of the Westlands and beyond, things may come up from beyond our reading. We will not be covering the entire book or watching the show together. We will instead be sampling the text and show for themes for discussion. If there is a desire to go deeper into text or show, we can create that space as we go.

A bit about your guide: I am Rev. Kevin W. Jagoe, a Unitarian Universalist Minister and Humanist Celebrant. I have been reading The Wheel of Time since high school and I’ve read the entire series many many times (honestly I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read the early books but more than ten feels like a conservative estimate). As a minister, I am a professional storyteller and meaning-maker. I know that stories have power, and that they can be true whether they reflect facts or not. This series is my primary fandom so bringing it together with how we make meaning in community feels like a natural bridge to me.

Sessions are 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, February 14

Theme of the Night: To be called. What happens when life calls you in a new direction? When your world is opened up, sometimes against your will, to a larger one how do you respond?

Eye of the World Chapters: One, Two, Three, Five, and Nine

TV Show Episode One – Leavetaking

Optional – Wednesday, February 21

Optional Bonus Session – Prologue

This session will be about a big picture conversation about the world, the mythology, the history, and the lore of The Wheel of Time. Good for those who want more context, this piece will be very spoiler heavy though talking about what has happened before the events of The Eye of the World and the events that are to come later in the series.

There are 14 main books, a prequel, a text just about the lore, four short stories, an encyclopedia, and an origins book. Currently there are 16 episodes out of the television series. So there is a lot of content to this world and I will be happy to talk through some pieces of it. Or you can skip this and focus on the pieces we are exploring together rather than get pulled deeper into the details at this time.

Wednesday, February 28

Theme of the Night: On the run. When have you felt harried in life? Not knowing who to trust and making new relationships in strange circumstances.

Eye of the World Chapters: Ten, Twelve, Thirteen, Fifteen, Eighteen, Nineteen

TV Show Episode Two – Shadow’s Waiting

Wednesday, March 13

Theme of the Night: Havens on the journey. Where do we find or create places of safety while navigating the twisting roads of life?

Eye of the World Chapters: Twenty – Twenty-five

TV Show Episode Three – A Place of Safety

Wednesday, March 27

Theme of the Night: Enemies all around. How do we know who will be there for us when we need them? How do we respond when the world feels filled with hostile people wherever we turn?

Eye of the World Chapters: Twenty-six – Thirty

TV Show Episode Four – The Dragon Reborn

Wednesday, April 10

Theme of the Night: Play for your supper. When have you needed to use your skills for survival? What about having to travel with very few comforts? What does it feel like to rely on the kindness of others along the road?

Eye of the World Chapters: Thirty-one – Thirty-five

TV Show Episode Five – Blood Calls Blood

Wednesday, April 24

Theme of the Night: Old Friends and New Threats. What role does chance play in life? Are there times when serendipity seemed to line up events around you? When have reunions been bittersweet?

Eye of the World Chapters: Thirty-six – Forty-one

TV Show Episode Six – The Flame of Tar Valon

Wednesday, May 8

Theme of the Night: Almost there, the Penultimate session. Sometimes when we approach our destination, the greatest challenges confront us. The path becomes the least clear. We lose our confidence that the journey mattered at all or that we will see it through to the end. When in your life have you been almost there and lost confidence? Did you turn back? Did you press on?

Eye of the World Chapters: Forty-two – Forty-seven

TV Show Episode Seven – The Dark Along the Ways

Wednesday, May 22

Theme of the Night: Endings and Beginnings. There are neither beginnings nor endings in life, and yet we mark both often. When have you reached your goal or destination only to have it become the beginning to something more? When has the beginning of something new also marked the ending of something else?

Eye of the World Chapters: Forty-eight – Fifty-three

TV Show Episode Eight – The Eye of the World