September – December 2024 Sessions

Wednesdays, 7-8:30 p.m.
BuxMont UU Fellowship in the Social Hall
Dates: September 25, October 9, October 23, October 30,
November 7 (Thursday Gathering), November 21 (Thursday Gathering), December 11

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

From September – December 2024, we explored the world of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time as sacred story. We worked with the second book in the series The Great Hunt. 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 seven sessions, from 7-8:30 p.m. Beginning on September 25 and closing on December 11. We met at BuxMont Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (2040 Street Road, Warrington, PA). There was assigned reading from the second book of the series The Great Hunt.

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 together. We will instead be sampling the text 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, September 25

Readings for this Session:

• The Strike at Shayol Ghul – click here to get PDF (a version of this was included in An Illustrated Guide to The Wheel of Time, published by Tor Books in 1997.)
• Prologue: Dragonmount – click here to get PDF (from The Eye of the World)

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 more spoiler heavy though talking about what has happened before the events of the books 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 (season 3 should come out in 2025). So there is a lot of content to this world and I will be happy to talk through some pieces of it. You can skip this session and focus on the pieces we are exploring together rather than get pulled deeper into the details at this time.

Wednesday, October 9

Theme of the Night: Shadows All Around.

Guiding Questions:

• Where do we find hope when it seems the world is shifting toward chaos?
• What do we do when people put us into positions we’d rather not be in or label us in ways we’d rather they not?
• How do friendships change as our identities change or as we age?

The Great Hunt: Prologue through Chapter Five

Wednesday, October 23

Theme of the Night: The Hunt Begins.

The Great Hunt: Chapter Six through Chapter Eleven

Wednesday, October 30

Theme of the Night: In the Mirror of Darkness.

Guiding Questions:

• What makes someone a leader? What makes someone a follower? How does one change roles?
• What choices in our lives might be turning points or branches of possibility. Do you ever know them before the choices are made?
• Do you believe in Fate or Freewill? What is the balance between the two or is one the truth and the other fiction?

The Great Hunt: Chapter Twelve through Chapter Twenty

Thursday, November 7

Theme of the Night: The Testing.

Guiding Questions:

• How do you handle times when things do not go according to plan?
• When in your life have you been tested?
• Who in your life has been a friend that has changed the course of your life?

The Great Hunt: Chapter Twenty-one through Chapter Twenty-nine

Thursday, November 21

Theme of the Night: What Might Be.

• When have people thought your actions meant things you didn’t intend?
• Are there times in life when other people’s motives changed the course of your life?
• What makes a good ruler? How should power be wielded?

The Great Hunt: Chapter Thirty through Chapter Thirty-seven

Wednesday, December 11

Theme of the Night: To Come Out of the Shadow. Guiding Questions will also be added before the session.

The Great Hunt: Chapter Thirty-eight through Fifty