1701 AphroditeofferedHelen, mostbeautifulofall Humans.She won and thus caused the Trojan War.

Eros was the primordial god of instinct. When Aphrodite appeared he adapted himself and joined forces with her. At this time the sexes became distinct. Aphrodite's ingdom was the place of desire. Young girls were said to pass from the place of Artemis (chastity and games) to the place of Aphrodite, where they become women. Considered by some to be an affliction or madness that women must bear. She represents female lust and passion, and demonstrates its potential for destructive effect. Young girls gave their virginity to the Goddess by living in her temples and offering themselves to passing strangers. ARTEMIS (DIANA)-Daughter of Zeus and Leto. The huntress, she is seen as the forever young goddess. She is proud of her shapeliness and eeps her virginity to protect it. She was a warrior, joining Apollo to ill Python and other exploits. Anyone who offended her or tried to win her virginity paid dearly. They were illed, transformed, or mutilated. She defended modesty and punished illicit love and excesses. She avenged rape. She also too out her anger on those virgins who gave in to love. She did not mind marriage, but when a virgin married she was to give up all the things of childhood, toys and dolls, loc s of hair, etc., leaving them on her altar.

CYBELE- Was born as Agditis, a hermaphrodite monster, from a stone fertilized by Zeus. The Gods decided to mutilate him(?) and made the Goddess Cybele from him. Her love for Attis, a human shepherd, drove him insane and he castrated himself for her. Her priests were eunuchs dressed as women. It is from the temple of Cybele that the reference in the Wiccan Charge of the Goddess to "At mine Altars, the youths of Lacedmon in Sparta made due sacrifice.", comes. DEMETER (CERES)- Daughter of Cronos (Saturn) and Rhea, the Goddess of corn and grain. Demeter bore Persephone. She renounced her duties as goddess and began a fast and went into exile from Olympos when her daughter was abducted into the underworld until her daughter should be returned to her. She caused the spread of the nowledge of the cultivation of corn. During herexilethe earthbecamebarren untilZeusdemanded that Hades return Persephone. She had eaten from a pomegranate, however, and was forever bound to the underworld. As a compromise, she was allowed to rise up into the world with the first growth of spring

ATHENA (MINERVA)- Daughter of Zeus and Metis. Metis was swallowed by Zeus, and when it was time for Diana's birth, he had Hephaestus crac open his s ull and she came forth in full armor shouting a war cry. Also a virgin Goddess, she lived among men without fear due to her warrior's s ills. She was the protectress of Odysseus and other men. She was a warrior who used strategy, ambush, cunning, and magic rather than brute force. Her shield bore the head of a gorgon and she paralyzed her adversaries and made her companions invincible. She was against excess, both in war and every day life. She taught men to control their savagery and to tame nature. Was the initiator of all s ills. Taught Pandora to weave, trained horses and invented the chariot. She was the patroness of blac smiths and carpenters. She built the first ship and the boat of the Argonauts.

and return to the underworld at seed sowing in fall. And so the Earth is barren in the winter, while Demeter mourns, and becomes fruitful again when Persephone is released. Demeter made herself nown to the children of Eleusis, who raised her a temple and instituted the

1702 Eleusinian mysteries. In Sept.-Oct., the candidates for initiation purified themselves in the sea, then processed down the sacred path from Athens to Eleusis. The rites remain secret, but involve a search for a mill for grinding corn, and a spiritual experience. During the rites, men women and slaves were all treated as equal. ERINYES, THE- Alecto, Tisiphone, and Megaara. They were born from drops of blood that fell from Uranus's severed Penis, and did not recognize the authority of the gods of Olympos. They hounded and tortured their victims, driving them mad. Also called the Eumenides, The Good Ones, to divert their wrath. Assimilated by the Romans as the Furies. They were implacable and demanded punishment for every murder. To them murder was a stain. The murderer had to be banished and driven mad before purification could occur. They were blind and carried out their punishments indefinitely. HARPIES- Gree genii/spirits- Daughters of Thaumes and Electra: Nicotho or swift-footed, Ocypete or swift of flight, and Celaeno, the dar one. Were either women with wings or birds with the heads of women. Called the 'hounds of Zeus' and seized children and souls. S illful at torture, they could pester a victim into madness. HERA (JUNO)- Daughter of Cronos (Saturn) and Rhea brought up by Oceanus and Tethys. Married Zeus. It was claimed that each year Hera regained hervirginity by bathing in the spring of Canathus. According to some traditions Hephaestus, Aries, and Hebe (Youth) were conceived by her alone without male assistance. As Zeus' legitimate wife, her fury at his infidelities was boundless, and she too vengeance on his lovers and any progeny of the affair without distinction. Zeus was often reduced to hiding or disguising his children to protect them. HESTIA/VESTA- Daughter of Cronos (Saturn) and Rhea. Goddess of the hearth, she had the privilege of retaining her virginity forever. Her symbol was the fire, which was never allowed to go out. The young bride and newborn child were presented to her and she was invo ed before each meal. Her temple in Rome was served by the young vestal virgins. MOERAE (PARCAE)- The Three Fates. Atropos, Clotho, Lachesis, daughters of Zeus and Themis. The first spins a thread symbolizing birth. The second unravels it, symbolizing life's processes, and the third cuts it, symbolizing death. They too were blind and ruled destiny. They were also symbols of a limit which could not be overstepped. Were connected to their sisters, the furies, who punished crime. MUSES- Nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (Memory). Calliope ruled epic poetry, Clio ruled history, Polyhymnia mime, Euterpe the flute, Terpsichore dance, Erarto lyric art, Melpomene tragedy, Thalia comedy and Urania astronomy. They delighted the Gods and inspired poets. The Muses created what they sang about. By praising the gods, they completed their glory, by boasting of valiant warriors, they wrote their names in history. Theywerecelebrated bythe Pythagoreansasthe eepersof the nowledge of harmony.

1703 NEMESIS- Daughter and Night. Ruled over the distribution of wealth, loo ed after balance, too revenge on arrogance and punished excess, including excessive happiness, riches and power. Moderation in all things was her creed. NYMPHS- Daughter of Zeus and usually part of a greater god(esses) entourage. Not immortal, though long lived. Mostly lived in caves. Were dar powers whose beauty alone could lead to madness. Were seducers of many of the gods. Were considered secondary deities. THETIS- Daughter of the old man of the sea. Very beautiful. Mother of Achilles. Saved Zeus from a plot to overthrow him and was an ally of Hera. Saved the Argonauts as they passed between the clashing roc s.

1704 Against The Witch Hunters Robin Culain "All this has happened before. And all this will happen again. But this time it happened to ..." Well, us. Thebeginning of Sir James Barrie's PeterPan must echo what many of us are feeling, as we watch a new and loosely- nit conglomerate of yellow journalists, right-wing eco-spoilers and Evangelical and Fundamental Christians move slowly towards a Witch hunt for the 90's. Our spiritual ancestors faced similar problems in many times and many lands. Recall the Priestesses of Eleusis, last of an ancient line, in decline, falling at last to the stratagems of Theseus and his new Attic Gods. Recall the Etruscans, their vision of sexual-political balance overpowered by the might and organization of the husbandheaded Roman empire. And most tender to the touch, recall the agony of the middle ages, as the Catholic, then Protestant churches consolidated their grip on the rural population, illing six million alleged or actual Witches in the process. The hunt is in a beginning stage and beginnings are important. The formal focus of the television specials, Redboo articles, diatribes in the LaRouchite New Federalist, "Occult Crime" seminars and newspaper articles is some thing called "Satanism", which bears little or no relationship to Wicca and Neo-Paganism. In fact, media "Satanism" bears little resemblance to any historically verifiable Satanism. It is neither classical Egyptian Setworship", Romantic Ceremonial Satanism a la Huysmanns nor modern Egoist flamboyance per La Vey. Sometimes it's heavy metal sullenness, drugs and violence, but that's usually only for starters. The heavy metal boys, we're usually told, are just dupes of the Great Conspiracy. And when you get down to the real stuff, the genuine complaint, it's generally the stuff of horror movies and nightmare -- babyeating, virgin-sacrificing bloodsuc ing monsters! All this has happened before. And all this will happen again. There's a limited range of things that can be used to stir up the anger of a populace against a group, or deaden moral sensitivity to a persecution. It pretty much boils down to baby-eating, virgin-sacrificing and bloodsuc ing. This has been the century of Hitler's Holocaust. but the Russians who butchered entire Jewish villages in the Pogroms, the inhabitants of Yor who slaughtered nearly every Jew in the city in the 1100's didn't merely thin the Yiddim dressed and tal ed funny. The accusations were the same. By Jesus, those Jews ate babies! They were just li e Satanists, with one exception. You could find the Jews.

1705 There probably aren't any "Satanists" as portrayedin the articles, seminars and diatribes. If there are, they're certainly not Neo-Pagans or Wiccans. But in the lucrative atmosphere in which the press, missionaries and so-called "Crime Advisers" publicize and proselytize, the word "Witch" creeps in every third sentence. Naturally,we Witches and Neo-Pagans have spent a certain amount of effort pointing out that we love children li e anybody else, have no particular attraction to virginity, and tend, in the most extreme of our diets, to vegetarianism. In short, we have tried to educate our detractors and the media to our harmlessness. This tactic is true, andthis tactic is good, but I thin that if it becomes our primary response to persecution we will ultimately fail to endure. Imagine a Witch inthe Middle Ages in front of aCatholic or Protestant tribunal. In some cases she has been denounced by a business competitor, or an envious rival in love, or a spiteful neighbor. In other cases she has been brought to the doc by an expert in "Occult Crime" -- the traveling Witch Finder. She stands bound before her Inquisitors,plain or pompous depending on their religious persuasion. Perhaps there's a crowd around. She tries to educate them to the simple fact that she's a worshipper of the Old Gods, loves children li e anybody else, has no particular attraction to virginity, and tends, in the most extreme of her diets, to vegetarianism. They, in turn, accuse her of worshipping a living fiend, blighting the cattle, and eating babies. She doesn't stand a chance. Now picture another scene, one that has not occurred often. She stands before those assembled, and begins, shall I say, to point out some facts. She points out the medieval physician with the two per cent live delivery rate who wants the local midwifery practice shut down. She points out the priest and bishop who are terrifying the once fun-loving populace into penury and pestilence with the twin threats of damnation and the noose. She denounces the Christian nobles who will broo no interference with their rule, least of all from the old Nobility of the land.

Our situation is in no way as dire as that of our ancestors. Only now have things moved to the stage where one group, the far-right and sometimes farcical Limonites, actively bait Wiccans and Neo-Pagans as

She'd be shut up in short order, but in a different way, for she would be addressing the real issues. The nonsense about babies, Blac Men and cattle was then, and is now nothing more than a smo e screen to mas real and significant religious and political differences. It's all a cheap tric , a coward's cheat, a way of throwing muc until some stic s. It is only used when the real terms of debate cannot stand the light of day, and it wor s only if we permit it!

being "as bad as Satanists". And unli e our ancestors, we have a freedom of speech they could only dream of. We will not be silenced if we spea , certainly not at this time.

1706 So let's not waste our opportunity! Whenever the "Witch-Hunters" bait us or attempt to smear us with their cannibal taunts, let's find out what the real agenda is, and address it. Ma e the Lyndonite defend himself against whipping up the population against a minority religion as Hitler stirred hatred against the Jews. Ma e the entire La Rouche crew explain their suicidal environmental policies, and their editorial statement that "the worship of Mother Earth does indirectly lead to mass murder ..." Engage them on the real issues -- just what the worship of the Mother really means, and what people are really li e that scapegoat innocents and despise nature! Li ewise with the "Occult Crimewatch". As them about theirsources of revenue. About their religious agendas and connection with Evangelical missions. As the if they support religious freedom, and if non-Evangelical religious belief, in their opinion, is a hazard to the public. As them, if you can corner them into a fran reply, what on earth they are doing lecturing hate to police officers sworn to protect all the public, Christian and Pagan! The media deserve the same. Let's not spend more than a breath denying lurid charges. Instead, as them why they are sensationalizing and smearing a legitimate religion to ma e sales. Inquire as to whether the German press in the 30's had a responsibility for the slanders on the Jews that they printed. As them how they'll feel if harm comes to one Pagan woman or man, girl or boy through their negligence, indifference to non sensational fact and search for sales. In every case we have right out with our real insisting that the terms refuse to be bac ed into charges. an opportunity to turn the tide, by coming differences in front of the public, and of debate be on genuine issues. We must a defensive posture, denying ever wilder

Instead let us bring our active advocacy and love of our Gods, of Mother Earth, of our families and children and ourselves to the fore in every debate. We must require our opponents to bare their genuine beliefs and motives, and contrast them clearly with our own in full view. We must sharpen the terms of debate so eenly that no person can leave the scene without having to ma e a clear and conscious choice about what they value and believe is right. There's no point in lecturing to the Cardinal. The audience for every debate is not the Witch Hunter, it is the neutral observer. Let them see the love of the Earth, and contrast it to nearsighted greed and poverty of emotion. Let them see the love of the Old Gods and contrast it to a cringing fear of the Father's judgment. Let them see generosity and intelligence and refusal to be sacrificed, and contrast them to venality, cunning and scape goating. In every debate, let us rise to the height of our capability, and let our opponents have it in the Values -- right where it hurts!

1707 Charging Crystals Ian Kesser

Thefirst and most important part of charging a crystal is choosing the crystal itself. For most general uses, Quartz is the best one. For specific use, there are many others. I have found that Diamonds are useful in storing Good energy, and Zircons (my birthstone!!) for Evil energy. If you have a specific purpose in mind, please consult one of the many fine tables of crystal affinities. The next step, and also important, especially the first few times, is to prepare yourself for the actual channeling of energy. In my case, music helps, as well as pranayama and other forms of breath control. The first one I used is simple . Pranayama, simply, is control of breath. Most forms amount to hyperventilation or subventilation. The one I used first, and still use, is this: ta e four quic inhalations, filling the lungs. This should be over the space of about one and a half seconds. Then exhale in four short bursts, again over one and a half seconds. Repeat as necessary. The first few times this is done, I recommend you desist after about one minute. Over the course of time, this can and should be increased, but until you are used to the effect this gives, a shorter time is suggested. Now that you're in the mood, ta e the crystal in your right-hand (left hand for those of you who are lefties). Visualize a door within the heart of the crystal. Until this visualization is firm and steady, wait. Then open the door. Behind it you should see a store of diffuse energy, which varies with the type of the crystal. Some crystals, usually the inferior ones, have little or nothing bac here. These are generally not good to use. Close the door, but eep it in mind. That was just to chec on its energy. Decide which energy you wish it to house. Usually only one will be needed, such as for talismans and storage of energy for later use, but in some cases, such as a divination tool, more is suggested/required. DO NOT TRY THIS ON YOUR FIRST ATTEMPT! YOU WILL FAIL! The energy you will be handling is powerful, and trying to handle more than one world at a time is strenuous. Trying to handle all three, plus personal and other energies, is straining to the limit. As with all other bodily systems, an ability used beyond its capacity will overload and brea or refuse to perform, as with a man trying to lift 300lb barbells on his first try at weight lifting. For general use, I find nature's energy is best for multipurpose storage. Those in the Church of Set would probably find differently, as would those in the Church of Christ. Use what you feel comfortable with.

Crystals,as many ers of the Magic al power, to heal, and have chosen to limit

of you now, are extremely useful for practitionarts. They can be used to channel power, to store many other ways. Due to space considerations, I myself to the charging aspect in this article.

1708 Now, the fun part. For the three major energies, I find there are certain ways of drawing them tat are easiest on the practitioner. For Good energy, try it li e this: Form a cone with the base connecting to your s ull in the region just between and above your eyebrows. "suc " the energy (visualize it as you will, I use a light, golden yellow) into the cone, then through a tube into your brain. The visualization on this is a bit tric y, but it can be done. For Nature's energy, visualize a "hose" going down into the Earth from the base of your spine. This hose should ideally connect with the center of the Earth, but some people simply cannot conceive the distance involved with that, and can therefore not visualize it. Go as deep as you can, with time, you should improve. I "see" this energy as a ruddy, glowing red, as with magma. Use what wor s. Draw this energy up the tube, then through your spinal column into the brain. Now, the Evil energy. This is tric yfor me, but here's how I doit. Place the feet together (if they already are, so much the better! It means this isn't uncomfortable for you, as it is for me.) and visualize a siphon, with the hose connecting to a cone connecting to your feet, about two inches in diameter, one inch on either foot. Then, on the other end, a hose entering a blac , in y void(or whatever color you perceive evil energy to be). One last connection: another hose running from that area of your feet to the previously mentioned area in the s ull. This aligns nicely with the Cha ra theory, to which I subscribe, in that a Cha ral spinal-type column connects all the major power centers of ones body. If you now this system, so much the better! Draw the energy through the siphon(sometimes visualizing the bulb on the siphon squeezing helps) into the feet, then into the s ull, then into the brain. Other objects you wish to draw energy from, use the door analogy/visualization given above( for powerful things such as the Tarot, I see it as a gate more than a door. Again, whatever wor s for you), and draw from your use hand. If you plan on using that object again, ta e only a to en amount of energy, and DON'T FORGET TO CLOSE THE DOOR! Personal energy: This varies so much with the individual! Some people draw from their auras, some from the Cha ras, some from the Astral Body. Just use the method you feel most comfortable with. For those of you who have no preference, or no nowledge of such things, I use the Astral approach. I draw a bit of the substance of the Astral body, generally the feet, into the brain. After I finish all else, I "spread out" the Astral body to ma e up for this loss. Astral bodies DO heal. Well, that's most of it. Draw the energy you need, then draw from the crystal. Ta e it in your use hand again, open that door, and ta e out the energy, and bring it to the brain. Generally, I use the hose again, connecting to that spot in the s ull, but this one generally runs INSIDE y body, such as along the arm bones, then up the nec bone. Mix the energy up. If it helps, visualize a cosmic Cuisinart or whatever. If it won't mix, li e oil and water, you have failed. This crystal will not hold this energy. Give up, put bac the crystals

power, ground yourself(later...), and try again later with another energy.

1709 Once you've achieved the mix, refill the crystal. Sometimes, the energy won't go bac in. This usually means you've put too much of the energy you're using in, and not enough of the crystal's own energy. Bring it bac to the brain, and remix. How do you refill the crystal, you as ? Switch hands on the crystal, then visualize that handy hose again, but this time flow bac wards, through the door. There will come a point, especially early on in your practice, that the crystal is full when you have energy left over. Slam that door and ground yourself(later...), don't overfill it! Doors have their bursting point, and that's a wonderful way to destroy a good crystal. OK, it's later. You've finished the job at hand (Applause, you've earned it!) but have all this energy left! There are many ways of grounding energy, use the one you are comfortable with(I now I eep saying that, but it bears repeating. Don't do anything against your Will). The one I use is simply grounding it. Ta e that handy-dandy all-purpose hose again, connect it to the base of the spine, and thence into the Earth. Flip the switch to reverse, and push that energy out! Be careful not to let out yourself as well! That's it. I hope you find this helpful to you.

1710 Tarot Divination Tuppence Not long agoan on-line friend told methat he saw no reasonto use the Tarot in divination; in fact, he felt that no one should use them for divination as this was a profane use of the cards. He preferred to use the cards solely for contemplation. At the time Idid not feel inclinedto respond to thisnarrow view, but after a night of thin ing about it, I was prompted to write the following in defense of Tarot Divination (and I don't mean fortune telling!) Divination: 1) The art or practice that see s to foresee or foretell future events or discover hidden nowledge usually by means of augury (divination from omens) or by the aid of supernatural powers 2)Unusual insightor intuitiveperception (thesedefinitions from Webster's) According to theBrotherhood of Light there are fourmain uses for the Tarot: 1) Science of Vibration 2) Divination by cards 3) Divination by number 4) Spiritual Science (themethod of putting the resttogether to develop a philosophy) Is it wrong to USE the cards? 1) Playing cards is fun! Without such use perhaps Tarot would long ago have died as other games have faded from use. Chess may be considered to be a child's game or a highly developed intellectual discipline. The same is true of using the Tarot card's. 2) Have you ever played Taroc? It is a very interesting game li e bridge using the Major Arcana as Trumps...in profane dec s the court cards and majors may have two heads (to be read either up or down.) Some versions of the game have certain mystical aspects. 3) In studying the history of the Tarot you will see that the dec s (except those belonging to aristocrats who had hand-painted dec s made for them by great artists) used long ago were very primitive and made from wood cuts. We have come far from those crude representations...but the ideas expressed in the Tarot remain the same - they are still there in those early dec s. 4) Where did the Tarot come from? We have only theory and conjecture: a) Ancient Egyptians b) They always have existed buthave been revived from timeto time c) Gift of Divine Origin

d) etc.

1711 It's validity and usefulness are what count

10 = sephiroth (ace through 10 in the Minor Arcana) 22 = paths (22 Major Arcana cards) 4 = elements (four suits) (etc.) The Tarot is MUCH MORE than mere pictures on pasteboard. The pictures on the Tarot cards are physical symbols for spiritual concepts. One definition I use for the Tarot is as follows: Asymbolic representationof ArchetypalForces and/orBeings which have always existed and have been identified and passed on to us by ancient initiates and which provide a focus for us to use in selfinitiation, spiritual development, and the perception of hidden wisdom. A few notes regarding the above........ 1) Jung says of Archetypes that they exist for us at birth...they emanate from the collective unconscious....they are NOT self-created or generated. 2) Aleister Crowley says in his boo the Boo of Thoth: "Each card is, in a sense, a living being." "It is for the student to build these living stones into his living Temple." "...the cards of the Tarot are living individuals..." "Howis he to blendtheir life with his? Theideal way is that of contemplation. But this involves initiation of such high degree that it is impossible to describe the method in this place. Nor is it attractive or suitable to most people. The practical everyday commonplace way is divination."

"...theTarot itself as a whole is an universal Pantacle...Each card, especially this is true of the Trumps, is a Talisman; ...It is evidently an Idea far too vast for any human mind to comprehend in its entirety. For it is 'the Wisdom whereby He (God) created the worlds.' " As regards these Lively Forces: 1. These Forces can communicate with us...or rather we can interpret their currents through our subconscious intuitive minds....this is one use of divination (and contemplation). This is the level, as Jung says, at which we are all connected.

3) In Magic

without Tears he says:

a) b) c) of

it wor s when used it contains Universal symbology and archetypes found elsewhere it is numerically correct and corresponds with ancient systems wisdom (especially to the Qabala)

2. These Forces can be directed by us Magic ally if we are so trained. First we must master divination; then direction.

1712 3. The Tarot is a Magic al Weapon In the hands of a trained initiate the mere placement of one card between two others can alter the forces involved and affect physical (and ethereal) reality. 4. The Tarot is a philosophy as well, with an Ancient Message about the Soul's journey. 5. Yes, the Tarot is useful to study and contemplate....the colors and symbols are specifically designed and arranged to stimulate things within us (forces, archetypes, subconscious). 6. The Major Arcana are especially sacred to us because they represent the Paths, Steps, Forces which are necessary for us to rejoin the Godhead and attain enlightenment. I maintain that the best are ALIVE and ACTIVE FORCES is Divine (and perceive) what they for our minds upon forces which as human ind is evolving). wayto understand that the Tarot cards to USE/HANDLE/EXPERIENCE them and so are all about. The cards are a focus are ever-changing and evolving (even

We are fortunate that modern printing is so good and that the Tarot dec s and boo s which we have today are easily available to us. This was not always the case for our brothers and sisters in times past. Today one can afford to smile and say: "I only need to contemplate the cards to understand them." But there is more to the use of the cards in Divination than many have been taught; for it is a mysterious process. Just as one muststudy and practice upon amusical instrument to become a virtuoso, so too the Tarot ta es many years of study and practice to use correctly. One must be well developed spiritually, emotionally, and intuitively, or (as in music) naturally gifted to ma e full and accurate use of the cards in divination. In the hands of a gifted Diviner or Initiate the Tarot is a formidable weapon. It can even tal and spell out sentences! Hence the Hebrew letters correspondence to the Major Arcana. However, since we do not all learn in the same ways....the Tarot may not be the DIVINATORY METHOD for everyone...although everyone can learn from it and should study it. Other methods which may suit: a) b) c) d) e) f) Astrology Numerology I Ching Pendulum Runes etc.

Ashuman ind evolves spiritually (and in other ways) so too the Tarot evolves. Ta e for example the reconstruction of The Chariot (Arcanum VII) and The Devil (Arcanum XV) cards by Levi. He gave them a new presentation based upon his advanced nowledge at the time. Also, note how The Lovers (Arcanum VI) has changed from earlier dec s. It still has the same basic meaning, but the symbols have changed. No

longer are there two women...one good one bad...with the man in between...now it is two people with an Angel above them. New Tarot dec s continue to be made as our nowledge and understanding evolves.

1713 A noteon The Boo ofThoth, Aleister Crowley's Tarotdec , is as seen by him from the Astral Plane. This is why it is so different from many dec s; why it is so stri ing; and, why the energy felt has such strong effects upon many people. Some cardscome and go....thereare morecards on theastral plane than we have on the physical....between the cards, above and below the cards are others...as with the Quaballa. When wor ingwith the Tarot ifone is in aMagic al State (Asana, etc.) and reads the cards it is a Magic al or Divine (hence the term divination) operation. I ta e the forces into myself when using the cards thus they affect me and I them. Because ofthis nowledge, I respect the Tarot as a Living Thing/Force and I do not bother it with profane questions. I treat it as a Magic al Weapon and thus with care and respect. Fortune telling, while not wrong, is the profane use of the cards. Contemplationof thecards isuseful; withoutDivination, however, one could not experience the forces within them in the same way. Also, there are hidden uses for the Tarot. The Tarot is indeed a Teacher. It is also a door, a gateway, an entryway into other realms which is partly how it was used in Egyptian Initiation Rites. We may use it in some of the ways listed below: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Scrying/meditation Ritual (invocation and evocation) Wor s/spells Talisman use/focus Divination

Some of the goals of initiates(after perfecting divination and the Tarot's philosophy) are 1) to read with a blan dec and to use a spread with no set meanings, and 2) to develop one's own Astral Dec . Magic (in Theory and Practice), Crowley's famous boo , calls Divination an important branch of Magic , and defines it thusly: 1. "We postulatethe existence of intelligence's, either within or without the diviner, of which he is not immediately conscious. (It does not matter to the theory whether the communicating spirit socalled is an objective entity or a concealed portion of the diviner's mind.) We assume that such intelligence's are able to reply correctly - within limits- to the questions as ed." 2. "We postulate that it is possible to construct a compendium of hieroglyphs sufficiently elastic in meaning to include every possible idea, and that one or more of these may always be ta en to represent any idea. We assume that any of these hieroglyphs will be understood by the intelligence's with whom we wish to communicate in the same sense as it is by ourselves. We have therefore a sort of language...." 3. "We postulate that the intelligence's whom we wish to consult are willing, or may be compelled, to answer us truthfully."

1714 He goes on to discuss divinationas shown in some of the quotes below: "In a system of divination each symbol stands for a definite idea." "As regards theHoly Quaballa, based as it ison pure number, (it) evidently possesses an infinite number of symbols. Its scope is conterminous with existence itself; and it lac s nothing in precision, purity, or indeed any other perfection. But it cannot be taught, each man must select for himself the materials for the main structure of his system." "It is always essentialfor the diviner to obtainabsolute magical control over the intelligence's of the system which he adopts." "Experienceis the only teacher. One acquires what one may almost call a new sense. One feels in one's self whether one is right or not. The diviner must develop this sense." "In order to divine without error,one ought to be a Master ofthe Temple. The faintest breath of personal preference will deflect the needle from the pole of truth in the answer." "One mustprepare oneself by generalpurification and consecration devised with the object of detaching oneself from one's personality and increasing the sensitiveness of one's faculties." "The muscles with which hemanipulates the apparatus ofdivination must be entirely independent of any volition of his. He must lend them for the moment to the intelligence whom he is consulting." (note:one of the first steps indivination is the invo ing of the Angel HRU) "He must have succeeded in destroying the tendency of the ego to interfere with the object of thought. He must be able to conceive of a thing out of all relation with anything else." "He should allow the question entire freedom to ma e for itself its own proper lin s with the intelligence directing the answer." "Hemust sin his personality in that of the intelligence hearing the question propounded by a stranger to whom he is indifferent, but whom it is his business to serve faithfully." "He should exhaust the intellectual sources ofinformation at his disposal, and form from them his judgment. But having done this, he should detach his mind from what it has just formulated, and proceed to concentrate it on the figure as a whole, almost as if it were the object of his meditation." "The concluding operation istherefore to obtain a judgmentof the figure, independent of all intellectual or moral restraint. One must endeavor to apprehend it as a thing absolute in itself."

1715 "Divination is in one sense an art entirely separatefrom that of Magic ; yet it interpenetrates Magic at every point. The fundamental laws of both are identical. The right use of divination has already been explained: but it must be added that proficiency therein, tremendous as is its importance in furnishing the Magician with the information necessary to his strategic and tactical plans, in no wise enables him to accomplish the impossible. It is not within the scope of divination to predict the future with the certainty of an astronomer in calculating the return of a comet. There is always much virtue in divination." "One must not assume that the oracle is omniscient." "The Magician ought therefore to ma e himself master of several methods of divination; using one or the other as the purpose of the moment dictates. He should ma e a point of organizing a staff of such spirits to suit various occasions. These should be 'familiar' spirits, in the strict sense; members of his family." "Divination ofany ind is improper inmatters directly concerning the Great Wor itself. In the Knowledge and Conversation of his Holy Guardian Angel, the adept is possessed of all he can possibly need. To consult any other is to insult one's Angel." "Although the adept is in daily communication with his Angel, he ought to be careful to consult Him only on questions proper to the dignity of the relation. One should not consult one's Angel on too many details, or indeed on any matters which come within the office of one's familiar spirits. One does not go to the King about petty personal trifles. The romance and rapture of the ineffable union which constitutes Adeptship must not be profaned by the introduction of commonplace cares." Thus wemay use Divinationfor those worthy questionswhich we need answered but cannot find out in any other way...either through our own research or by the contacting of one's Holy Guardian Angel. If we can attain the necessary magic al states discussed above and if we complete the necessary study and wor which he suggests, we can become masters of Tarot Divination.

1716

. Magicalthin ing is a psychological term for ma ing a naive assumption of cause and effect without consideration of intervening mechanisms. In plain English, it is the assumption that if I do THIS, then THAT will happen even though I have no idea how or why. Prominent examples of magical thin ing can be found in Economics (if we cut taxes on the Corporations, they will invest more money in upgrading their production facilities and create more jobs) and Politics. It is typical of the world-view of very young children, who have a somewhat simplistic model of How-Things-Wor . . To many outsiders,most Magic seems to bebuilt on this basis...some guy mutters some weird words and waves his hands and expects to get a lot of money soon (sounds li e a Management Consultant, come to thin of it), or to ma e it rain, or to be rid of an enemy. Then they sha e their heads, call the Magic -users children or worse, and go on with their lives. . Within real Magic -use, this sort of sloppy thin ing can lead to anything from disappointing 'fizzles' to disastrous misfires of spells. Our cultural heritage's are filled with "mon ey's paw" type stories of the results of ill-thought-out Magic use. While dilettante New Agers are more li ely to blindly 'coo boo ' a spell or ritual, some of us have been nown to s ip a few steps in the process as well. . Just thin of the consequences of invo ing Diana or Aphrodite in a ritual designed to " eep those foolish women in their place." (Anyone remember "Good-bye, Charlie"?) . While I am not saying thatyou need to understand thephysics/chemistry/etc. of each step down to the subatomic level, I am suggesting that you thin through each step and each mechanism (and li ely consequences) of any major wor ing BEFORE you perform it. A blac -box understanding (detailed nowledge of the inputs and outputs of a mechanism and the relationship between them without an understanding of the internal details of the mechanism) is usually enough for mot purposes. For instance, if invo ing or evo ing a deity, ma e sure you now the strengths, wea nesses, character, and personality of that deity. If using herbs (ingested or in balms or incense) be sure you now the pharmacological and combinational effects of each. Most of all, when going for a long-term effect thin of the ecology of that effect: where it can come from and what it may causelater. You can't always anticipate all side effects, and you certainly can't always avoid them, but with a bit of wor you can give yourself a shot at handling them. . Do a reality chec before you start a wor ing. If you just pay attention to the beginning (the ritual or wor ing) and the end (the desired effect) and leave the rest to wishful thin ing, you are as ing for trouble. . NOTE: The above is an excerpt of a 1988 seminar on Magic and Psychology: Insights and Interactions. .

The Dangers Of Magical Thin ing In Magic Nihasa

1717 Satanism As Media Hype News article: From the Phoenix Gazette 24 June, 1989 SCAPEGOAT: Satanism scareis mostly hype, experton cults says.... by Michelle Bearden Judging by Satan's popularity in news accounts and police reports these days, you'd thin Satan had been elected to Congress or won the Pulitzer Prize. But it's not true, says J. Gordon Melton, director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion in Santa Barbara, Calif. and one of the country's leading experts on cults. In fact, there is no surge at all in Satan's popularity. "The only surge we're seeing is the spread if mis-information," Melton says. "Malicious, suspicious, and ritualistic acts are being attributed to satanism, and people are buying into it." Melton has launched a one-man crusade to get what he considers the truth out to the public. Using an extensive survey he completed in 1986 as his guide - "The Evidences of Satan in Contemporary America" Melton ma es his case frequently before groups and in interviews. Most misinformation regarding satanism comes out of police agencies, Melton maintains. That's because, in the absence of true satanic groups, law officials have to blame "something concrete," he says. "What we've got is creation of imagination, paranoia, and general ignorance," Melton says. "We've got wild speculation and jumps in logic. What we don't have is the truth. One story perpetuates another, and, before long, 'experts' in police departments are conducting seminars on a topic they don't really understand." At the Phoenix Police Department, police spo esman Andy Hill says the agency analyzes every incident that has satanic overtones. He blames a majority of these crimes on " ids caught up in experimentation." "It's safe to say that most of it isn't hard-core. We're usually dealing with copycat crimes," he says. " I wouldn't consider satanism a big problem here in Phoenix. We now it exists, but it's more underground than anything else." According to Melton, onlythree established satanic cults exist:The Church of Satan, a San Francisco based group headed by founder Anton LaVey; a splinter group, the Temple of Set, also in San Francisco and headed by Michael Aquino; and the Church of Satanic Liberation in New Haven, Conn., led by Paul Douglas Valentine. Total membership in all three groups is "probably less than 3,000," Melton says. Those followers are the true satanists, and their numbers haven't varied much in the last two decades, he says. Many of the acts blamed on satanism are committed by teenagers who are bound together b drugs and violence rather than demons. While they may use satanic imagery in their deeds, Melton says they are "playacting" the role of worshipping the Prince of Dar ness. "It's true we're hearing a lot of satanic references in today's music, but that's pure commercialism," he says. "Just because your teenager gets wrapped up in certain roc 'n'roll doesn't mean he's into the occult." Someof the conclusions that support Melton's studies to combat the

theory of international satanic conspiracy include:

1718 * The existence of a large number of nonconventional religions, suc h as cults, that have nothing to do with occultism, much less satanism. * The growth of witchcraft as a new religion and how it is d with satanism. Melton labels contemporary Wicca as a nature religion that places great emphasis upon the preservation of life and non- violence. * Reports of cattle mutilations, which ignore the facts that mos t are mista en observations of predator damage. * The discovery of common symbols, such as an inverted cross , pentagrams, and bloody altars, which lead investigators to conclude that satanic activity has ta en place. However, no evidence of any conspiracy involving the idnapping and transportation of children for ritual purposes has emerged. * Fantasies of people who ma e "confessions" of their involvement o n satanic cults.Typically, they cannot supply independent corroboration of the stories. Moreover,a good portion of the mis-information on satanism - which Melton says is really a "parody of religion" - comes out of evangelical Christian publishing houses. With that bias, "it;s easy to see how misinformation breeds," he says. Melton contends that opensatanic groups pose no publicthreat. If there is cause for concern, it would be the small, ephemeral satanic groups, mostly consisting of young adults or teenagers and possibly led by psychopaths or sociopaths. "These are the groups that cause immediate danger to themselves and society at large. That's where police should be concentrating their efforts," he says. "In the meantime, we've got to get out of this satanic mentality and get our labels straight." confuse

1719 Why I Don't Believe The "Survivors" Of Occult Groups by Rowan Moonstone Recently onthis echo, several people have ta en Pagans to tas for naysaying the Christian sources dealing with former practitioners of various occult disciplines. I have researched this area thoroughly for the past five years. I've bought or read all the Christian boo s on the subject that I can get my hands on. I have over 1,000 clippings in the files dealing with this subject, I've got over 100 audio tapes and 20 videotapes on this subject, and I've got reams of Christian literature, and police training material to draw from. In addition to this, I grew up as a Southern Baptist and was a Sunday School teacher at the age of 16. I now whereof I spea when it comes to Christian sources. I've also been a Witch for nigh on to 8 years now, and have networ ed with other Pagans all across the country, attended festivals in various states, and subscribed to many Pagan publications both in this country and abroad. I've read many boo s on modern and ancient Pagan religions, and can furnish a complete bibliography for anyone that's interested. After a concentrated search through this material, I must conclude that most of the allegations of the "survivors" are fabricated and insupportable. In the rest of this report, I will give documented reasons why I believe this to be true. 6-17-82 -Province Victoria Bulletin - "A misunderstanding appeared to be the root of a satanic scare in Victoria this wee end, police sources said Wednesday. Police, hospitals and human resources ministry wor ers had gone on the alert following a report that a satanic group was planning Tuesday to sacrifice a human baby. The report came through the child abuse prevention HELP line in Vancouver. Victoria police said they had traced the source of the report to a church group in Vancouver. The group apparently had heard rumors of a rise in satanic activities in Victoria and had prayed that no atrocities would occur. Somehow someone interpreted that to mean that a sacrifice was actually planned, police said. That was the report that got to the HELP line. However, Tuesday passed peacefully with no evidence of any satanic activity. " 5-4-86 - New Yor Times-" Derry Knight told an astonishing story about his membership in a secret Satanic cult called the Sons of Lucifer and his heroic efforts to ta e over the leadership of the cult to free himself and 2,000 members from the coils of the devil. As he told it, it was an incredibly dangerous mortal struggle he was waging against the most evil forces in the universe, personified by some prominent politicians, including Viscount Whitelaw, the deputy Prime Minister, who were, he said, the secret masters of Britain's Satanic orders ... In little more than a year, before Mr. Knight's activities aroused the suspicions of Bishop Eric Kemp of Chichester, who called in the police fraud squad, the support group contributed at least $313,000 to the anti-Satanism struggle. A jury that convicted Mr. Knight April 25 of 19 counts of fraud heard that much of the money raised by Mr. Ba er had been spent by his supposedly struggling friend on call girls, fast cars, and a life of dissipation."

1720 January 1988 New Yor Fol lore"Satanism, Where are thefol lorists? by Phillips Stevens, Jr. p 12 ( Mr. Stevens is referring to a murder of a 13-year =old girl in this incident) "While preparing me for the taping of some commentary to be aired locally following the National Geraldo Rivera TV special on Satanic cults on October 25, 1988, an investigative reporter for a Buffalo TV station was discussing That incident [the murder]. There were 13 people at that party, he said, the murdered girl being the 13th. Since the murder, six of the party goers had committed suicide.....I noted that it was strange that six suicides with such a factor in common had not been reported in the news; how did he now the details? The mother of the most recent suicide had told him. ...I advised him to wait and chec out the facts before airing this story; he called me a few days later saying no, the other suicides could not be confirmed." 1-19-89 Joplin Missouri Globe News (front page) - "Jasper County Sheriff Bill Pierce said he had no figures available on how much time and money that department has spent investigating claims. He cited a November case as an example of the fruitless searches that have been underta en because of claims eventually fount to be false. ...a Blytheville, Ar . woman told authorities there she had watched satanic cultists cut the stomach of an infant, pour gasoline on the baby, and set it on fire....After agreeing to ta e a polygraph examination, the woman admitted the story was false. She told deputies she made the false accusations to get attention." 3=6=89 - HoustonChronicle - "A Houston -area womanwho claims to be a former satanic priestess and has told audiences she witnessed the ritualistic murder of an 8-year-old Tomball girl has left law enforcement officers frustrated in their attempts to investigate her allegations. 'We have no homicide to lin it to. Why she would ma e those claims and then be hesitant to tal with authorities is reason to question her motives,' Harris County Assistant D.A. Casey O'Brien said" The previous three messages should tell you why I don't believe in the hysteria being generated. If anyone wants to see the entire articles that these quotes were ta en from, send a SASE with 3 stamps to P. O. Box 1842, Colorado Springs, Co 80901. BB Rowan

1721 "22 Commandments" For The New Age Ann Waldrum 1. You shall learn of Honesty and attempt to heal your fear of it, to use this in daily living. 2. You shall learn to Love Unconditionally--beginning with yourself. 3. You shall help all people in your worlds come to physical healing. 4. You shall dwell on things of high and pure energy in others and self to change Earth. 5. You will learn and practice Pure Service -- unconditional and with love energy. 6. You will release Judgment into the Void--You will see, identify and choose for yourself Only. 7. You will Recognize One God --the God that corresponds to your vision. 8. You will destroy no one in any way -- through gossip -- through illing their gifts -- discouraging self love by injuring the physical body by foreign substance -- incorrect foods -- incorrect labor. 9. You will use your mind in the way the Source prepared -- by faithfulness of prayer -- by study and spiritual growth. 10. You will learn self discipline so that you respond to the Earth with wisdom. 11. You will ta e full responsibility for your own life -- blaming no other. 12. You will see to learn about your God -- seeing the Connection clearly. 13. You will be nown for your Gentleness, your Loyalty, your Kindness, according to your beliefs. 14. You will grow in Peace by change of attitude and understanding of others. 15. You will learn to respond and act from the Highest Center of Inner God -- the Love Response. 16. You will learn to Love All Man ind by seeing the Highest in all people without exception. 17. You will promote the healing of Mind, Body, and Spirit by teaching and living the belief in Man's Divinity. 18. You will show faithfulness in your study of yourself and your persona (mas s) in order to Free All Parts of Self. 19. You will Live your life as ordained by your faithfulness to the Truth, as you understand the Truth. 20. You will Spea in Love, Honesty and Wisdom. 21. You will Thin in Love, Honesty and Wisdom. 22. You will live in Moderation (Balance) in All Areas of your life.

1722 Theforegoing was delivered on July 20, 1989, through the trancemediumship of Carla Neff Gordan by the Spirit Guide "Mary." Mary stated that these ideas will also be released through other mediums in six different areas of the world. In preface to these "Commandments" Mary said the following: "Youare a loving,connected community ofli e-minded souls assisting through our inner connection. You are becoming a profound source of awa ening for your world. These rules are to open your hearts, to teach you self-love, to calm your emotion to help you to live in reality that you have wished. To grow, first you must become a source of service. There must be a difference in earth because you have wal ed here. Now is the time of shifting your energy into a higher place through unconditional love. A part of your purpose is to heal the earth through holy, or wholeness, relationships. You will begin now."

1723

There seems to betwo schools of thought within the "Craft Community" concerning the dangers faced by Pagans in general and witches in particular. One school thin s that we are now in the Age of Aquarius and that all danger has passed. The other camp seems to feel that we are beset with dangers and that our only safety lies in remaining "the hidden children of the Goddess", telling no one of our religious faith (including our fellow practitioners), and being ready to fly or fight on a moment's notice. Who's right? Do we now? Have we even tried to find out? On theone hand, we live in a countrywith a Bill of Rights. Times have certainly changed since witchcraft was a hanging offence in Massachusetts. People have been nown to proclaim their faith and live unmolested. On the other hand, there are about 3 million people in the United States who profess themselves to believe that the Bible is the literal word of God. If Leviticus says "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.", then there should be 3 million people out there ready to drag me out of my house and ill me. Fortunately, the answer does not lie with either extreme and therefore our reaction should li ewise avoid either extreme position. We live in a world beset by dangers. We could be in a traffic accident. We could have our house burglarized. Our child could be abducted on the way home from school. We could be struc by lightening. Do we stay home, guard the house and family and avoid living? Of course not! What we DOis to act in sucha way as to recognize theris s we run and to minimize them. We try to live in reasonably safe neighborhoods. We eep good loc s on our doors. We drive defensively and wear seat belts. We teach our children to run from threatening situations. This isn't paranoia, just good sense. Is thereany danger that we as witches and pagans might be subjected to another violent suppression? Any Jew with an eye to recent history would tell you that of course there is! Is that danger great here in this country? Not at present, but we do live in a world subject to rapid changes. Within my lifetime, people of Japanese extraction in this country were summarily rounded up and shipped off to remote camps. This action was contested all the way up to the Supreme Court to no avail.

Ris

Assessment Within The Craft Community By Weyland Smith

1724 So what should we do?

Should wereturn to living ourlives under perpetual cover?I hope not. But I do respect the individual rights of my brothers and sisters of the Art to each ma e that decision on their own. It is on this middle ground where I suggest we should all try to live for the present.

Well for a start, recognize that there is SOME residual ris whenever anyone ta es an ethical position. We must understand that this ris is present whether we thin it should be so or not. Further, we must each decide what level of hazard we are personally willing to run and to which we would subject our families. Finally, we should avoid doing anything which might subject ourselves and those around us to ris s when such ris s are avoidable. Especially, we should respect one another's right to manage his own dangers. Just because I choose to ta e a ris doesn't give me the right to endanger you!

1725 Supreme Court And Peyote (Articles) The following 13 messages, retrieved from PeaceNet, discuss the recent Supreme Court ruling permitting states to prohibit sacramental use of peyote. Supreme Court Continues Chipping Away At Citizen's 1st Amendment Rights, Part 1. Excerpts fromthe following articledetailing the April17th ruling by the US Supreme Court which decided that Native Americans could no longer use peyote in their religious practices: "For all practical purposes,a majority of the SupremeCourt has eliminated the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment from our Bill of Rights," said American Jewish Congress Executive Director Henry Siegman. "The court's decision in the peyote case can have the most farreaching consequences for all religions, but primarily for religious minorities," continued Siegman. "It is precisely such minorities the Bill of Rights sought to protect, for it is they who are particularly vulnerable to the depredations of momentary and localized majorities." Dr.Robert L. Maddox, executive directorof Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the "Smith" ruling is cause for concern... "We are concerned," he continued, "that this ruling will have a negative effect on minority religions. Mainstream faiths will probably have little difficulty getting the exemptions they need; smaller groups with less political influence will have a tougher time of it. That is unfortunate. Religious freedom should not be left to the whim of state and federal lawma ers. "No one wants anarchy in the name of religion," headded, "but do we really want more and more government regulation of religion? What bothers us most is the movement away from individual liberty and toward statism--whatever the government wants, goes." [2] The following article appeared in the June 1990 issue of "Church and State", a publication of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, 8120 Fenton St., Silver Spring, MD, 20910, and is reprinted here w/permission.

1726 The Day 'Sherbert' Melted by Rob Boston Discarding A 27-Year-Old Test For Religious Liberty Cases, The Supreme Court Says Government May Restrict Religiously Motivated Conduct Alfred Smithconsiders himselfapolitical; he's noteven registered to vote. But, in light of what the Supreme Court did April 17, the 70year-old Oregonian is ready to jump into politics in a big way. The highcourt ruled 6-3 thatday that Native Americansdo not have a constitutional right to use the drug peyote during their religious ceremonies. Smith, one of the plaintiffs who helped bring the case before the nation's highest court, is angry enough to ta e his fight to the polls. "I'm encouraging all peopleto register and vote thisyear," Smith said. "This is the time for it. I have never voted before because I don't care to condone the system, but I have made a stand here with this case." The political route Smith proposes may be one many members of minority religions are forced to ta e in the future, than s to the Supreme Court's decision in the "Employment Division v. Smith" case. The justices' ruling mar s an abrupt shift in free exercise jurisprudence, granting government broad new powers over religious practices. What ma es the "Smith"decision so significant is thatin reaching it five justices voted to abandon the court's doctrine of "compelling state interest," a move with far-reaching implications for religious liberty. In a nutshell, the 27-year-old doctrine says that the government can restrict religious freedom only when it proves there is a compelling interest to do so and that there is no less intrusive alternative available to achieve the state's goals. The judicial rule grew out of the 1963 "Sherbert v. Verner" decision and is usually called the "Sherbert" Test. Inthe recent dard in favor of offer religiously it chooses, but it peyote case the court rejected the "Sherbert" stana much narrower test, holding that government may based exemptions from generally applicable laws if is under no constitutional obligation to do so.

Wrote Justice Antonin Scaliafor the majority, "We havenever held that an individual's religious beliefs excuse him from compliance with an otherwise valid law prohibiting conduct that the State is free to regulate." Scalia went on to say that applying the doctrine of compelling state interest in the peyote dispute and similar cases would create "a private right to ignore generally applicable laws [which would be] a constitutional anomaly." Rigorous application of the "Sherbert" approach, he said, would be "courting anarchy."

1727 Later in the opinion, Scalia admitted that the ruling will force minority religious groups to see relief from oppressive laws by lobbying elected officials, and some may fail in their efforts. But he excused this as unavoidable. "It may fairly be said," observed Scalia, "that leaving accommodation to the political process will place at a relative disadvantage those religious practices that are not widely engaged in; but that unavoidable consequence of democratic government must be preferred to a system in which each conscience is a law unto itself or in which judges weigh the social importance of all laws against the centrality of all religious beliefs." The court majority ac nowledged that judicial exemptions from neutral laws have sometimes been granted for religious reasons. But, Scalia argued, such exemptions have generally been granted in conjunction with another constitutional right--such as free speech. He called these examples "hybrids" and implied they are special cases. Other than that, said Scalia, the only legal disputes where the "Sherbert" analysis has been applied consistently and usefully are unemployment compensation rulings, such as the line of decisions approving jobless benefits for wor ers who are fired for refusing to wor on their sabbath. Ironically the "Smith" case involved just such an unemployment controversy. It started in 1984 when Smith, a Klamath Indian, and another man, Galen W. Blac , a non-Indian, were fired from their jobs as drug counselors after the agency they wor ed for learned the pair had used the drug peyote during ceremonies in the Native American Church. The Council on Alcoholand Drug Abuse Prevention Treatment(ADAPT) had a policy stating that all employees must be drug free. Smith and Blac thought an exemption would be made for their religious use of peyote, a mild hallucinogen derived from some cactus plants, but ADAPT officials saw things differently: Both men were dismissed. When Smithand Blac subsequently appliedfor unemployment benefits, they were turned down. Officials with the state Employment Dvision said the two had been fired for misconduct and therefore did not qualify. The duo too the case to the courts. Fouryears later the OregonSupreme Court ruledthat the ceremonial use of peyote is permissible under state law and is even protected by the First Amendment. The Supreme Court's recent action overturns that decision. The "Smith" majority drew upon a somewhat unusual alignment of justices. Scalia, Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Anthony Kennedy and Byron R. White were predictable allies. All four have argued for a narrower reading of the First Amendment's religious liberty clauses. Justice John Paul Stevens, however, provided the ey fifth vote. Stevens, often thought of as a member of the court's liberal wing, favors a strict separationist reading of the Establishment Clause, but has argued in past cases for a less expansive reading of the Free

Exercise Clause.

1728 Justice Sandra Day O'Connor concurredin the "Smith" outcome, but wrote a separate dissent that accused the majority of going too far. "Although I agree with the result the Court reaches in this case, I cannot join its opinion," asserted O'Connor. "In my view, today's holding dramatically departs from well-settled First Amendment jurisprudence, appears unnecessary to resolve the question presented, and is incompatible with our Nation's fundamental commitment to individual religious liberty." The free exercise of religion, O'Connor added, is a "preferred constitutional activity," entitled to "heightened judicial scrutiny." The "Sherbert" Test, she continued, has wor ed well to "stri e sensible balances between religious liberty and competing state interests." Justices Harry A. Blac mun, William J. Brennan Jr. and Thurgood Marshall indicated agreement with O'Connor's opinion, although they said they would have gone further and upheld the Native American Church members' claim. The court's liberal wing criticized the majority for "mischaracterizing this Court's precedents" and engaging in a "wholesale overturning of settled law concerning the Religion Clauses of our Constitution." Wrote Blac mun, "One hopes that the Court is aware of the consequences, and that its result is not a product of over-reaction to the serious problems the country's drug crisis has generated." The justice insisted that ritual peyote use by Native Americans could be tolerated without jeopardizing the nation's campaign to curb drug abuse. He noted that the federal government allowed the Roman Catholic Church to employ sacramental wine at masses during Prohibition. Said Blac mun, "Ido notbelieve the Foundersthought theirdearly bought freedom from religious persecution a 'luxury,' but an essential element of liberty--and they could not have thought religious intolerance 'unavoidable,' for they drafted the Religion Clauses precisely in order to avoid that intolerance." Even though the case dealt with the sensitive issue of drug use, several religious organizations had sided with the Native American Church members, most notably the American Jewish Congress, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Smith and Blac . "For all practical purposes, a majority of the Supreme Court has eliminated the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment from our Bill of Rights," said AJC Executive Director Henry Siegman. "The court's decision in the peyote case can have the most farreaching consequences for all religions, but primarily for religious minorities," continued Siegman. "It is precisely such minorities the Bill of Rights sought to protect, for it is they who are particularly vulnerable to the depredations of momentary and localized majorities." Three wee s after the decision the AJC and an extraordinarily diverse coalition of religious and civil liberties groups filed a petition for rehearing before the Supreme Court. The petition urged the justices to hear the case again so the organizations will have the

opportunity to address their free exercise concerns in friend-of-thecourt briefs.

1729 Groups joining the AJC include: the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs, the National Council of Churches, the National Association of Evangelicals, People for the American Way, the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., the American Civil Liberties Union, the Christian Legal Society, the American Jewish Committee, the UnitarianUniversalist Association, the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Worldwide Church of God and the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod. Americans United for Separation of Church and State also signed the petition. Attorney OliverS. Thomas of theBaptist Joint Committee saidit is important that religious and civil liberties groups have the opportunity to express their views to the court. He said the court's abandonment of the "Sherbert" Test could have a wide impact. "Taxation ofchurch assets, regulationof church schoolsand childcare centers, zoning and other land-use questions are all areas of the law where we've relied upon the compelling state interest test to provide churches with exemptions," Thomas told the Baptist Press. "With a stro e of his pen, Justice Scalia has overturned 27 years of legal precedent and made the 'first liberty' a constitutional stepchild." The Rutherford Institute, a conservative legal aid group that frequently litigates free exercises cases, was also dismayed by the ruling. Said Institute President John W. Whitehead in a press statement, "Justice Scalia's opinion rejects the notion that free exercise of religion is a preferred right. Rather, in most situations it is valid only when coupled with another constitutional right. "Armed with this opinion, a state may draft a law that violates religious liberty, claim it is `religiously neutral' and those affected by it may have no recourse under the Constitution." Constitutional scholars wereparticularly amazed that themajority in the peyote case relied heavily on "Minersville School District v. Gobitis," a 1940 Supreme Court decision that said Jehovah's Witness children in public schools could be forced to say the Pledge of Allegiance. "Gobitis" was overturned three years later in the "Barnette" decision and has been roundly criticized ever since as one of the court's biggest mista es. Observed Douglas Laycoc , law professor at the University of Texas, "The court repeatedly quotes "Gobitis" without noting that it was overruled in "Barnette," and without noting that it triggered a nationwide outburst of violence against Jehovah' s Witnesses. Until the opinion in this case, "Gobitis" was thoroughly discredited." But not all courtwatchers were chagrined by the ruling. Jules B. Gerard, a constitutional law professor at Washington University in St. Louis, told Religious News Service there has been a lot of overreaction. Gerard said the decision "overturns very little" and accused those who have protested it of "hysterical tal ." Bruce Fein, a conservative constitutional scholar, went even further, applauding the ruling in a column in "The Washington Times."

Fein wrote, "It is both counter-intuitive and contrary to American political experience to suppose the "Smith" ruling portends an epitaph for religious tolerance and accommodation in generally applicable

1730 legislative enactments. And when religion must yield to secular law, the former continues to prosper." Fein went on to saythat religions can drop fundamentaltenets and still survive, pointing out that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints (the Mormons) in 1890 dumped its support for plural marriage after the Supreme Court refused to allow the practice for religious reasons. Conservative columnist George Will also was pleased with the "Smith" decision. "A central purpose of America's political arrangements is the subordination of religion to the political order, meaning the primacy of democracy," he observed. "The Founders, li e Loc e before them, wished to tame and domesticate religious passions of the sort that convulsed Europe....Hence, religion is to be perfectly free as long as it is perfectly private--mere belief--but it must bend to the political will (law) as regards conduct." However, Dr. Robert L. Maddox, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said the "Smith" ruling is cause for concern. "If a majority ofthe justices did not believe theNative American Church members had a valid claim, they could have rejected them by relying on the doctrine of compelling state interest," said Maddox. "But a majority chose to go much further, effectively wea ening the protection the court has extended to religious free exercise. "We are concerned," he continued, "that this ruling will have a negative effect on minority religions. Mainstream faiths will probably have little difficulty getting the exemptions they need; smaller groups with less political influence will have a tougher time of it. That is unfortunate. Religious freedom should not be left to the whim of state and federal lawma ers. "No one wants anarchy in the name of religion," he added, "but d we really want more and more government regulation of religion? What bothers us most is the movement away from individual liberty and toward statism--whatever the government wants, goes." The decision has already had a practical consequence for one minority faith. Just six days after the "Smith" ruling, the justices, by a 7-2 vote, ordered the Minnesota Supreme Court to reconsider a recent decision it made exempting an Amish group from complying with a highway safety law. Members of theOld Order Amish had protesteda state law requiring them to display orange safety triangles on their horse-drawn buggies. The Amish said the bright symbols violated their belief in a plain lifestyle. The Minnesota high court agreed in 1989, but now may be forced to reverse the "State v. Hershberger" decision in light of the "Smith" ruling. In Eugene, Ore., meanwhile, Al Smith has no more faith in the courts. After joining about 100 people in a protest of the decision that bears his name at a Eugene federal building April 20, Smith told

reporters he is bac ing proposed legislation suggested by state representative Jim

1731 Edmunson of Eugene thatwould allow Native Americans touse peyote in religious rituals in Oregon. If that fails, Smith said, the Oregon Supreme Court could decide Native American peyote use is permissible under the state constitution. Smith told"Church & State" heis also wor ing withNative American groups in the United States that are considering filing a protest before the International Court of Justice (commonly called the World Court) in The Hague, Netherlands. "The UnitedStates is saying theoriginal people of thisland can't worship," Smith told Church & State. "We were worshipping a long time before the white man ever set foot on this turtle island. "The issue is not dead, by no means," continued Smith. "I'm not giving up; I have committed no crime. It's not a crime to pray in the old way." KOYAANISQATSI o.yan.nis.qatsi(from theHopi Language) n.1. crazy life. 2.life in turmoil. 3. life out of balance. 4. life disintegrating. 5. a state of life that calls for another way of living. __________________ Excerpts from the following article analyzing the effects the US Supreme Court ruling on the Native American Church's use of peyote as being illegal: -------------------------------Native American churchmembers stripped oftheir rights underthe Constitution are now subject to the will of the legislative branch of our state and federal governments. Not an enviable place for Indian people; as a distinct racial and religious minority Indians have always had an uphill struggle in the halls of Congress and elsewhere to have their rights recognized and respected. The legislativebranch ofany governmentis anexceedingly unusual place for individuals to loo to have their rights under the First Amendment vindicated. Courts are traditionally loo ed to as protectors of these rights, against majoritarian legislatures. Justice O'Connor, in a separate concurring opinion which joined the result of the majority but sharply criticized its method, reasoned that "the First Amendment was enacted precisely to protect those whose religious practices are not shared by the majority and may be viewed with hostility." As a result of "Smith," minority religions, in Justice Scalia's opinion, may be at a disadvantage in the political arena. But that is, in his estimation, "an unavoidable consequence of democratic government," preferable to "a system in which each conscience is a law unto itself." Justice Scalia had to strain to defend his decision, citing the need to prevent "anarchy" in our democratic society. Indian people simply want to be left alone in our societyto worship the god of their choice. Is that as ing too much? The Court's decision in "Smith" strips Indians of their pride and integrity, and ma es many of

them criminals in the eyes of the law. Only history will judge the Court's decision in "Smith;" but for now the remote specter of anarchy may very well have been the preferred choice.

1732

1733 -----------------------The following article appearedin the Spring 1990 issueof "Native American Rights Fund Legal Review", a publication of the Native American Rights Fund, 1506 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80302, andis reprinted here w/permission. -----------------------Supreme Court Deals Devastating Blow to Native American Church by Steve Moore

The Native American Church, which claims over 250,000 members nationwide, and additional Indian practitioners in Canada and Mexico, and which can be traced bac archaeologically several thousand years in North America, was not absolutely destroyed or driven underground by the Court's action. The Court did not go so far as to rule that any state or federal law exempting the religious, sacramental use of peyote was an unconstitutional establishment of religion, at the other end of the religion clauses of the First Amendment. In the Court's terms, a peyote exemption, while constitutionally *permitted*, is neither constitutionally *required* or *prohibited*. A ind of constitutional limbo-land for the Native American Church and its members. In real terms the decision leaves the fate ofthe peyote religion to the whim of majoritarian legislatures and Congress. Eleven states currently have exemptions on the statute boo s protecting the religion; another twelve tie their exemption to a federal Drug Enforcement Agency regulation which rests on questionable foundation since the decision. A small handful of states, notably California and Nebras a, in which are located some of the largest Indian and Native American Church populations, have based their protection on court decisions. The others, and the federal government through Congress, have no statutory or common law protection. Indian reservation lands will provide some safe haven from possible prosecution, given the par-

On Tuesday, April 17,1990, the United States SupremeCourt struc a gut wrenching blow to the religious lives of many of this country's Native Americans, in a decision which invites the return to an era of religious persecution one would hope a presumably enlightened and tolerant society such as ours had left behind. In the case of "Oregon Department of Employment v. Alfred Smith," Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for a five member majority, and describing the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause as little more than a "negative protection accorded to religious belief," held that a member of a religious faith may not challenge under the free exercise clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution a legislature's criminal enactment of otherwise general application which produces infringement on a particular religious practice. In the "Smith" case this amounted to a challenge to the constitutionality of an Oregon drug law which the Court Interpreted as a general criminal prohibition on all uses of the drug peyote, considered by Indian members of the Native American Church as an essential sacrament, the physical embodiment of the Great Spirit.

ticular Public Law 280 configuration in any given state, but problems of transportation of the sacrament into Indian country through "illegal" territory will reduce peyote ceremonies to complex and dangerous liaisons.

1734 Native American church members strippedof their rights under the Constitution are now subject to the will of the legislative branch of our state and federal governments. Not an enviable place for Indian people; as a distinct racial and religious minority Indians have always had an uphill struggle in the halls of Congress and elsewhere to have their rights recognized and respected. The legislative branchof any government is anexceedingly unusual place for individuals to loo to have their rights under the First Amendment vindicated. Courts are traditionally loo ed to as protectors of these rights, against majoritarian legislatures. Justice O'Connor, in a separate concurring opinion which joined the result of the majority but sharply criticized its method, reasoned that "the First Amendment was enacted precisely to protect those whose religious practices are not shared by the majority and may be viewed with hostility." A noted scholar of Indian law and philosopher, Felix Cohen, was quoted several decades ago as saying: "Li e the miner's canary the Indian mar s the shifts from fresh air to poison gas in our political atmosphere; and our treatment of Indians, even more than our treatment of other minorities, reflects the rise and fall in our democratic faith " Cohen's words become even more prophetic after the Court's decision in "Smith." The "Smith" decision may perhaps portend even greater persecution for other forms of Indian religious expression. Examples which come to mind include: the wearing of long hair by Indian students in public schools, and by Indian prisoners in federal and state prisons; missing school on a regular basis for cultural/religious ceremonial purposes; the ta ing of game by Indians out season, when not otherwise protected by treaty; burning wood to heat roc s for sweat- lodge ceremonies, when burning is otherwise outlawed by local ordinance during times of high pollution; and body piercing as part of the Sun Dance ceremony. If these forms of religious expression are otherwise prohibited by general criminal laws, the First Amendment no longer provides a basis from which to claim protection from religious infringement. As with peyote use, reservation boundaries will provide a buffer from the application of state law, except where Public Law 280 legitimizes intrusion. As a result of "Smith," minority religions, in Justice Scalia's opinion, may be at a disadvantage in the political arena. But that is, in his estimation, "an unavoidable consequence of democratic government," preferable to "a system in which each conscience is a law unto itself." Justice Scalia had to strain to defend his decision, citing the need to prevent "anarchy" in our democratic society. Indian people simply want to be left alone in our society to worship the god of their choice. Is that as ing too much? The Court's decision in "Smith" strips Indians of their pride and integrity, and ma es many of them criminals in the eyes of the law. Only history will judge the Court's decision in "Smith;" but for now the remote specter of anarchy may very well have been the preferred choice.

1735 Statement From Pacific Northwest Church Leaders Who Support Indian Religious Rights Re: Employment Division, State of Oregon v. Al Smith, Galen Blac , 88-1213 ----------------The recentU.S. Supreme Court decisionregarding the sacramental use of peyote in Native American religious rites is unfortunate and deeply disappointing. We support the right of Native Americans to practice their religion as they have for centuries. We concur with Justice Harry Blac mun, who writing for the dissent, called the decision a "wholesale overturning of settled law concerning the religious clauses of our Constitution." The decision jeopardizes the fundamental right of all citizens to exercise freedom of religion free from government restraint. We will continue to wor with Native Americans to help them protect their religious rights. The Most Rev. Raymond G. Huthausen Archbishop of Seattle Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle The Right Rev. Vincent W. Warner, Bishop Episcopal Diocese of Olympia The Most Rev. Thomas Murphy, Coadjutor Archbishop Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle The Rev. John Boonstra, Executive Minister Washington Association of Churches The Rev. Calvin D. McConnell, Bishop United Methodist Church Pacific NW Conference The Rev. W. James Halfa er, Conference Minister Washington-Idaho Conference United Church of Christ The Rev. Lowell Knutson, Bishop NW Washington Synod Evangelical Lutheran Church In America The Rev. Dr. William B. Cate, President Director Church Council of Greater Seattle The Rev. Gaylord Hasselblad, Executive Minister American Baptist Churches of the Northwest These church leaders issued an apology to Indians that was carried in the Winter 1988 NAF Legal Review

1736 Channeling For Fun And Prophet Farrell J. McGovern Channelling is one of the more popular parts of what is call the "New Age". It is also one of the most controversial aspects of this movement. To properly channelsomeone, be itMarylin Monroe, AliesterCrowley (I have been told this doesn't wor well...) or Devine, one must now something of this person. The easiest way is by reading about this person. Autobiographies are the best, of course, but biographies, news reports, or even old photos are almost as good. You need some connection... InPagandom, and Wicca, popular beingsfor channelling are various aspects of the God and the Goddess. Again, one must now as much as possible about the Lady or Lord that you are going to bring into yourself for the enjoyment, edification and education of the others in the Circle with you. The most popular source of information on Gods and Goddesses is again in boo s. Since there are many aspects of deities, there is a great deal of literature about these beings. Most of this literature that is over a couple of hundred of years old is usually in the form of Fables or Epics, which have more literary content than reality. One could easily call these wor s Docu-dramas, but they are still fiction. "But..." I hear you as ,"How can they channel these beingsif all they now about them is fictional?" Well, there seems to be enough consensus on certain deities, but not on all. But these rituals wor , as anyone who has attended the beautiful "Drawing Down the Moon" ritual of Wicca. So it seems to me that the idea of a "consensual reality" is created from the energies that all these people put into their concept of whatever God or Goddess they believe in. There are hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of people who believe in Cerwdwin, Eris, Hecate, Cherenous, and others. But...are there not also millions of people who believe in Captain James T. Kir ? Arthur Dnt? Catwoman? Batman? Smurfs?.....or even Peewee Herman? Imaginesome Circle performing the DrawingDown The Moon ceremony, and due to a lac of concentration by the priestess, she channels, not Athena, but Marry Tyler-Moore?!?!?!? Or the priest channeling PeeWee Herman?!?!?! Weshall leave the furtherexploration of thisto some experimental coven...but please! If you manage to channel Papa Smurf....we DON'T want to hear about it!

1737 Bibliography Of Magic In Science Fiction Magenta Griffith Abbey, Lynn Daughter Of The Bright Moon The Guardians

Anderson, Poul Operation Chaos Mermaid's Children

Crowley, Aleister DeCamp, L. Sprague & Fletcher Pratt DeLint, Charles Eddings, David

Diary of a Drug Fiend Moonchild The Complete Enchanter, Wall of Serpents Moonheart Pawn of Prophecy Queen of Sorcery Magician's Gambit Castle of Wizardry Enchanter's Endgame Omega Sea Priestess Moon Magic Winged Bull The Goat Foot God Too Many Magicians Murder and Magic Lord D'Arcy Investigates Stranger in a Strange Land Waldo & Magic Inc. Deryni Rising Deryni Chec mate High Deryni Lammas Night A Wizard of Earthsea The Shadow out of Time At the Mountains of Madness The Strange Case of Charles Dexter Ward Dreamrider Witch World Series

Farrar, Stewart Fortune, Dion

Garrett, Randall

Heinlein, Robert A Kurtz, Katherine

LeGuin, Ursula K Lovecraft, H. P.

Miesel, Sandra Norton, Andre

Bradley, Marion Z Tower

Blish, James

Blac

Easter Dar over series, especially The Forbidden

Paxton, Diana

Brisingamen

1738 Bibliography Of Magic In Science Fiction (cont.) Magenta Griffith S y, Kathleen Tol ien, J.R.R Walton, Evangeline Witchdame The Hobbit Lord of the Rings

Island of the Mighty Song of Rhiannon Prince of Annwn The Children Of Lyr Wilson, Robert Anton & Illuminatus! Trilogy Robert Shea Zelazny, Roger Chronicles of Amber

1739 Modified Assyrian Protection Spell Ban! Ban! Barier That None Can Pass, Barrier Of The Gods, That None May Brea , Barrier Of Heaven and Earth That None Can Change, Which No God May Annul, Nor God Nor Man Can Loose, A Snare Without Escape, Set for Evil, A Net Whence None Can Issue Forth, Spread for Evil, Whether It Be evil Spirit, or evil Fiend, or Hag-Demon, or Ghoul, or Robber-Sprite, Or Phantom, or Night-Wraith, or Handmaid of the Phantom, Or Evil Plague, or Fever-Sic ness, or Unclean Disease, Or That Which May Do Harm in Any Form or Fashion Which Hath Attac ed the Shining Waters of Ea, May the Snare of Ea Catch It; Or Which Hath Assailed the Meal of Nisaba, May the Net of Nisaba Entrap It; Or Which Hath Bro en The Barrier Let Not the Barrier of the Gods, The Barrier of Heaven and Earth, Let It Go Free; Or Which Reverenceth Not the Great Gods, May the Great Gods Entrap It, May the Great Gods Curse It; Or Which Attac eth the House, Into a Closed Dwelling May They Cause It To Enter; Or Which Circleth Round About, Into a Place Without Escape May They Bring It; Or Which is Shut In By the House Door, Into a House Without Exit May They Cause It To Enter; With Door and Bolt, a Bar Immovable, May They Withhold It; Or Which Bloweth In at the Threshhold and Hinge, Or Which Forceth a Way Through Bar and Latch, Li e Water May They Pour It Out, Li e a Goblet May They Dash It to Pieces, Li e a Tile May They Brea It; Or Which Passeth Over The Wall, Its Wing May They Cut Off; Or Which Lieth in a Chamber, Its Throat May They Cut; Or Which Loo eth In at a Side Chamber, Its Face May They Smite; Or Which Muttereth In a Chamber, Its Mouth May They Shut; Or Which Roameth Loose In an Upper Chamber, With a Basin Without Opening May They Cover It; Or Which at Dawn is Dar ened, At Dawn To a Place of Sunrise May They Ta e It. Out With You! Spirits of Fear, Spirits of Death! Give Way to the Sun and the Moon! For This is a Place Made Safe! Bright Blessings and Peace Upon Us! And All Who Reside Here, Let None Enter Here Unbidden,

Keep Harm and Fear Far from This Place, May God and Goddess Bless Us! So Mote It So! So Mote It Be!

1740

"This should be performedon the night of the full moon, and is a very intricate spell. All portals and doorways should be open, including closet doors and windows, Then, as you start, close every closet and cabinet door, ma ing the sign of the banishing pentacle with your wand, your athame, or your hand (a stic of patchoili incense may be substituted). Music should be light. Use a goodly amount of commanding incense as well as patchouli and sandalwood. Once you have done the closets and cabinets, go from window to window outlining the banishing pentagram on each one, and close AND LATCH each window. Remember to close and latch your fireplace, as well, perhaps burning some incense there. Once the windows are secured, do inside doors, then when you reach the entry ways, state the last ten lines. If performed correctly, you will notice the difference in atmospheres from the outside compared to the inside, the moment you wal into the house or apartment." --Avon, Sysop, Sanctuary BBS O ay, that's how I got it. Here's what happened when we performed it. I had pulled one of my partners intothis with me, and we did itthe night after the full moon, being as how we didn't get home in time the night OF the full moon (being across town and having to stay the night as our friends were very tired). We also didn't use patchouli incense, as I disli e it, opting for sandalwood instead with the commanding incense. Several times, though I had tal ed to said partner about what to do when I was spea ing, I still had to pause in the recitation to tell him what to do. So, there were brea s in concentration. WITH ALL THIS, we still got an apartment that feels much happier. This building, just since we moved in a year and a half ago, has seen an axe murder on the lower floor, a shooting on the upper floor where we are, two police brea -ins on drug raids, several shootings in the bac alley, and two stabbings on the sidewal near the building. Bad vibes. Now it's better. Here's the downfalls--if you can call them that. This is supposedto, at least how I interpretit, clear out EVERYTHING in your house to start fresh. We had a ghost cat before. We still have her now. Also, we now have two dar brown, heavily fanged...THINGS...hovering in my itchen, worshipping my fridge. You thin I'm idding. I'm not. Scared the hell out of me when I first noticed them; eventually, I bro e down and went into the itchen. When they didn't attac , I moved near the fridge. "It's a refrigerator," I said. They gave bac a sort of sub-vocal "Wow..." I opened said fridge. "It's still a fridge," I said. They loo ed in; seemed even more impressed. I have NO idea why. Also, once I loo ed down from my computer, feeling watched, and noticed another dar brown thing, all rags and big feet and big eyes. His whole being radiated shoc and surprise when I loo ed down; again, I caught a sort of sub-vocal "WHAT??!!??", and he vanished. Poof. That's been it, but it's interesting. Did these slip in due to the changes or due to the lac of concentration? No harmful thing is in this apartment now; of that I'm sure. So how are these new residents explained?

Anyway, that's it. Hope you have fun with it... :>

1741 Rosicrucianism Julia Phillips Esoteric Legend: the Rosicrucians were founded by Pharoah Thothmes III in the fifteenth century BC. The Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne was said to have founded a Rosicrucian lodge at Toulouse in the 9th century AD, and in 898 AD a second lodge was founded. Around 1000 AD a group of heretical Catholic mon s established the first Rosicrucian college which flourished until the 16th century. It has also been claimed that the Brotherhood of the Rose Cross was founded by Templars after their order was disbanded by Pope Clement. Historical story: The Fama Fraternitatis appeared in 1614 (written in 1610), describing the foundation and purpose of the Society (Brotherhood) of the Rose Cross. This related that a Father CRC, born in 1378, a German, poor but from a rich and noble family, made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He remained at Damascus through ill-health, and studied there. He later travelled to Damcar, where he was trained by the Arabs, and translated the boo "M" into the Latin tongue. He then travelled to Fez, and after two years to Spain, where meeting with ridicule, he returned to Germany. After five years he calledthree of his bretheren to him,bound them by an oath, and then founded the "Fraternity of the Rose Cross". They later initiated another four members, and decided to spread the word to other countries. Their by-laws were that they should heal the sic without charge; wear the clothes of the country they visited; every year upon a certain date should meet, or be represented, in the "House of the Holy Spirit"; each should search for a worthy replacement for when he dies; that the letters R.C. would be their mar ; that the Order would remain secret for 100 years. It was later also decided that burial places would be ept a secret. It is nown thatJohann Valentin Andreae, a Germantheologian, wrote at least one of the so-called Rosicrucian documents, but how much can be laid at his door is not nown. It is also an esoteric legend (with some grounds in fact) that whilst an historical character called Andraea did in fact exist, that the Rosicrucian writings attributed to that person were in fact the wor of Sir Francis Bacon. The three major objects of the Rosicrucian Fraternity are: 1) The abolition of all monarchical forms of government and the substitution therefor of the rulership of the philosophic elect. (This demonstrates that the Rociscrucians are, in fact, Platonic, despite their proclaiming themselves Christians.) 2) The reformation of science,philosophy and ethics. (Materialarts and sciences are shadows of the divine wisdom; only by penetrating the mysteries of nature can man attain reality and understanding.) 3) The discovery of the Universal Medicine, or panacea, for all forms of disease. In 1646 Elias Ashmoleand astrologer William Lilly foundeda Rosicrucian lodge in London based upon a utopian ideal of the creation of a new Atlantis.

1742 SPRING EQUINOX 1990 Circle cast by the HP Old God: Young God: Earth: Air: Fire: Water: HP Priest Priest Priest Priestess Priestess

Everyone else may choose to ta e the role of an animal of their choice. Young God is blindfolded and bound (three cords), and stands in the middle of the circle. Everyone else holds hands, and circles around deosil chanting: Io Pan! Io Pan! Io Pan Pan Pan! until HPS changes the chant to the E os; finish arms up. HPS and Priestess ma e an archway, which everyone else passes through, moving as their chosen animal, chanting, "chop, chop, chop, chop etc." Every so often, HPS and Priestess drop their arms around one person, and whenever they "capture" one of the four elements, they hold them and the chanting stops. A riddle is then as ed by each of the elements: Air: What is whispered on the wind? Fire: What is the iss of fire? Water: What is the secret of the serpent? Earth: What lies at the centre of the labyrinth? If Young God answers satisfactorily, a cord is removed. The blindfold is removed last. When the blindfold has at last been removed, HP will step forward to present the wand to arm the Young God. HP says: "You are now come to your manhood, and must be armed. Will you accept the wand, this symbol of your power?" Young God: "I will" HP: "Then you must ta e it from me!" And so saying, runs away. Young God catches him, and they fight for the wand. Young God wins, and holds the wand aloft in triumph. Young God and HPS then perform ca es and wine.

1743 BELTANE 1987 Coven of the Serpent's Eye Declamation: Invocation of the Young God: Invocation of the May Queen: Responses to the invocations: The Blessing of Love: The Union of God and Goddess: The Beltane Charge: Temple set up as follows: Altar set up, and ritual weapons as usual One extra sword One extra chalice of wine and dish of ca es Candles and incense Maypole in the centre of the Temple Green Cord Roles: HPS#1 HPS#2 PS#1 PS#2 PS#3 PS#4 HP#1 HP#2 Blessing the Union Invocation to the God The May Queen Swordbearer Swordbearer Handmaiden Declamation, invocation to the May Queen and Blessing the Union The Young God Rufus Harrington Prudence Jones Rufus Harrington Paul Greenslade and Jac y Salter H. Rider Haggard Rufus Harrington and Julia Phillips Julia Phillips

Casting the Circle: All present will be purified and consecrated, and the circle will be cast by the HPS and HP. The HPS and HP will as everyone to assist in the invocation to the quarters. Those who have athames should collect them from the altar at this point. After the Northern Quarter has been invo ed, the group should all face centre while the HPS performs the invocation to Spirit. This completes the casting of the circle.

1744 THE RITUAL The ritual will commence with a meeting dance. Everyone should lin hands (male/female as far as possible), and move slowly in a deosil motion following the chants initiated by the HP and HPS. When she feels the time is right, the HPS will brea the circle, and lead everyone in a meeting dance, where each man and woman iss as they pass. When everyone has greeted one another, the circle will be re-formed by the HPS, and finish with the EKO chant. HP#2 and PS#1 will stand at the maypole, facing the altar. HPS#2 will stand at the altar facing them, and the rest of the group will seat themselves around the maypole in a horseshoe shape, with the end nearest the altar left "open". HP#1 will read the declamation: Deep within the dream of silence Blood and passions born beyond, Gather at the serpent's calling, Echo to its siren song. For deep within the cauldron's dar ness Two hearts ache to join as one, Must answer to the serpent's laughter; Dance within its spiral song. For blood is called, and passions gather: Drum beat rhythms call the blood To dance the paths of passion's power, To sing for joy, for life, for love. Within the shadows of a clearing Deep within the silent green, Revealed through a veil of moonlight, Caught beside a crystal stream. A woman from the land of beauty Dances in the silver light, Entranced within a web of silver Woven by the serpent's light. The serpent's laughter, song of shadows, Echoes through the spinning web, Weaving dreams with songs of silver, Calling sacred fires long dead. Within her body, flames awa en Beauty and her passions need Power and a desperate yearning, Calling to the serpent's seed.

1745 Within the ancient forest shadows, Roots and boughs that weave and dream, re-echo to the serpent's laughter, Weaving webs of dancing green. The serpent's song now calls the Hunter; Beast Lord, Master of the Woods. Calls the Stag Lord from the shadows, Woodland's Master, Lord of Love. She dances now, her passions spiral, Calls her love into the night; He flies upon the wings of laughter, Led on by her silver light. Flesh and sinew, man and muscle, Loins that ache now hear her call. She hears the Hunter's horn of power, Hears his cry and hunting call. The Stag Lord stal s within the clearing, She turns to flee, but cannot run. Transformed she spreads herself for passion, Calling with her silver song. Both their bodies rage with passions, Beasts now dance within their blood. Their eyes now flash with love's own lightning As flesh now indles warm for love. Her thighs remember mothers' movements, Moments from her mother's birth, Cries of silver golden laughter Plough within the fertile earth. Their song and cry a single moment, Pain, and yet a single joy, As Earth unites a single sunlight Lust fulfilled, reborn as joy. HPS#2 will now perform invocation to the Young God: God of God of Thee I Thee I the meadow, God of the hill, the sap and of our true will: invo e as Spring awa es, invo e as the blossom brea s.

Come young God, come come with the fire, Lissome and leaping, alive with desire. Come with the pipe and come with the drum, With the heartbeat's pounding, come God come!

1746 O see er of joy, O hunter of pleasure, Come enter the ring, tread the pagan measure. Be here in Thy servants, be here in Thy Priests, Be here in the flesh, and join in the feast! Io Pan, Io Pan, Io Pan Pan Pan, etc. Young God responds: "Response" HP#1 will now perform the invocation to the Goddess as May Queen: "Invocation to Goddess" May Queen Goddess responds: I who am the fragrant spring air, And the soft breeze that refreshes the earth; The cool spring rain, the sudden shower That nourishes the earth. The source of all joy and love, The Goddess of all new beginnings, Answer your call, And once more I wal upon the earth. See for me; I am all around you. HPS#2 will now ac nowledge the arrival of the God and Goddess: Spring has sprung! The God has made the world seem young again. The blossom blows, The Goddess lets the world now joy again. May Queen now brea s away from the God, and he must chase and capture her. (Anything spo en at this point should be spontaneous). The group should form a spiral from the maypole, going out to a circle, leaving a space between each person for the May Queen and Young God to pass in and out in their "love chase". While this goes on, the group should play tambourine, bodrhun, bells and Abo stic s in a lively rhythym. The God should eventually capture the Goddess through his realisation that hunting is not the way to her heart! They should embrace and iss, and then neel to receive their crowns: PS#2 and PS#3 will collect these from the altar, and place the crown of flowers on the Goddess' head, and the crown of leaves upon the God's head. PS#2 and PS#3 should then collect the swords from the altar, and stand either side of the altar holding the blades of the swords down. PS#4 should collect a bouquet of flowers, and present these to the Goddess. The God and Goddess should now lead PS#4 and the rest of the group around the Temple in a simulation of their journey to the Blessing of their Union. At a given signal, PS#2 and PS#3 will stand in the North, and ma e an archway with their swords through which the God, Goddess and Handmaiden will pass. As they do so, HP#1 says:

1747 Hail to our King and Queen! For love fulfills an ancient law, Born before the Gods and Men, Decreed of old when all was still. HPS#1 and HP#1 will be standing at the altar, and the God and Goddess will neel to receive the blessings of their predecessors (ie, the God and Goddess of the previous cycle). The Goddess will hand her bouquet to the Handmaiden, who will replace it upon the altar. HPS#1 reads the Blessing of Love: Love is li e a flower in the desert. It is li e the aloe of Arabia that blooms but once and dies; It blooms in the salt emptiness of life, and the brightness of its beauty is set upon the waste as a star is set upon a storm. It hath the sun above that is the spirit, and about it blows the air of its divinity. There is only perfect flower in the wilderness of Life: That flower is love! There is only one fixed light in the mists of our wanderings: That light is love! There is only one hope in our despairing night: That hope is love! All else is false. All else is shadow moving upon water. All else is wind and vanity. Who shall say what is the weight or measure of love? It is born of the flesh, it dwelleth in the spirit. From each doth it draw its comfort. For beauty it is as a star. Many are its shapes but all are beautiful, and none now whence that star rose, or the horizon where it shall set. And I say unto you, that every man and woman is a star, and therefore, every man and woman is love.

1748 HP#1 and HPS#1 perform the Blessing of the Union. HP#1 says: Dancers to the Gods of Love, We bless you in these sacred signs: [Perform blessings, loosely bind hands with cord] Spread your blessing on the land, Fulfill with love the ancient law: Fruit and corn for man and beast, And love for evermore. [remove cord] HP#1 and HPS#1 assist the God and Goddess to rise with a iss. PS#2 and PS#3 replace their swords upon the altar, and pic up a dish of ca es and a chalice of wine. They hand the wine to the God, and the ca es to the Goddess, saying: Please bless this food and wine into our bodies, bestowing health, wealth, love and compassion, and that deep joy which is the nowledge of Thee. They step bac while the God and Goddess bless the wine and ca es. The "Io Evohe" chant is initiated by HPS#1 and HP#1, and everyone else joins in. (Note: this is a joyful celebration of the good things of the Earth which the God and Goddess provide for us, so the chant should be lively.) The Handmaiden then steps forward to receive a ca e, and a sip of wine. She is followed by PS#2 and PS#3, and then the rest of the group ending with HPS#1 and HP#1, who ta e the wine and ca es, and offer them to the God and Goddess, then replace them upon the altar. The God and Goddess now embrace around the maypole, and everyone ta es a ribbon (male/white, female/red) to dance around. Minstrel now plays the maypole dance, and everyone begins: men go in a widdershins direction, female in a deosil one. The dancers go under the first person, over the next, under the next, and so on until the ribbons are used up. The dancers must then unwind the maypole, so everything is reversed (tip: eep watching your own ribbon!)

1749 After the dance has ended, Young God and May Queen are released from the Maypole (!), and they read the Beltane Charge: YG MQ YG MQ YG MQ YG MQ YG MQ YG/MQ I am the burning flame of inspiration Bringing light and life to the world: I am the burning flame of love Which creates light and life in the world: I am the rushing stream, sweeping all before me: I am the deepest ocean, ta ing all within me: I am the swiftest wind that carries the seed:

I am the mighty mountain which caresses the stars: I am the smallest leaf which falls in the forest glade: I am He! The Lord of Life and Death; The Keeper of the Gates, the Hunter and the hunted: I am She! Queen of the dar ness and the light; Guardian of the Veil, the Mystery of Creation: Together we stand, and in the power of our love shall the wheel turn.

They now perform Ca es and Wine - servers step forward to assist.

The Feast TO END THE RITUAL

HPS#1 READS THE BLESSING PRAYER

All ta e their athames, and support the HP and HPS as they than , and bid farewell to the Quarter Guardians. Formal Grounding of the Power. All present ma e their farewells to each other, and leave the Temple.

I am the gentlest breez which

isses the land:

1750 C A N D L E M A S 1 9 8 7

Coven of the Serpent's Eye Declamation: Invocation of the Mother: Response of the Mother: Vivianne Crowley Invocation to the Crone: Response of the Crone: Welcome to Spring: Welcome to the Virgin: Dance of the Elements: Initiate's Ceremony of Illumination: Charge of Brigid's Fire: Temple set up as follows: Veil across northern quarter Altar set up, and ritual weapons as usual Candles and incense Cauldron in centre of Temple Brighid Doll Sistrum White sil veil for Virgin Wrist and an le bells for each Priestess Large white candle, placed in cauldron Symbols of the elements: One athame (or dagger) One wand } One pentacle One blac egg Rufus Harrington Paul Greenslade Adapted by Prudence Jones from an original by Rufus Harrington Julia Phillips Mi e Pinder Prudence Jones Prudence Jones and Julia Phillips

Adapted by Julia Phillips from traditional Gardnerian source Adapted by Rufus Harrington

} }

upon a small altar, } adjacent to the main altar }

These should be placed ready One chalice

1751 Roles: HPS-1 HPS-2 PS-1 HPS-3 HP-1 HP-2 PS-2 PS-3 PS-4 PS-5 Goddess - Crone Aspect Goddess - Mother Aspect Goddess - Virgin Aspect Spirit Declamation and Invocation to Crone Invocation to Mother Eastern Quarter (Air) Southern Quarter (Fire) Western Quarter (Water) Northern Quarter (Earth)

(Note: it is essential that the first six roles be ta en by experienced initiates only) Casting the circle: All present will be purified and consecrated, and the circle will be cast by the HPS. The HPS will as everyone to assist in the invocation to the quarters. Those who have athames should collect them from the altar at this point. After the Northern Quarter has been invo ed, the group should all face centre, while the HPS performs the invocation to Spirit. This completes the casting of the circle. THE RITUAL

HPS-1 and HPS-2 will stand side by side in the centre of the Temple. PS-2, 3, 4, and 5 will ta e up their positions at the cardinal points of the Temple, and the Priests will stand between the Priestesses, ensuring polarity. HPS-3 will stand in front of the main altar. HP-1 will read the declamation: Child of the Spinning Serpent, Daughter of the morning star; Startled from the depths of silence Wa ens vision's Silver Star. Starting cold from depths of nightmare, Shadows passing on the land; Tears of silver, iced and shining These she sheds upon the land.

PS-1 will go behind the veil, and put on the white sil

veil.

1752 For deep within the night of vision There the coiled serpent stirs, Calling from the cauldron's dar ness, Singing with the song of stars. For there she sees a frozen river, There beholds a land of ice, And sees an ancient mother mourning, Tears that quic ly turn to ice. And sees herself, the youthful virgin, Reach that river; frozen, cold, Shining in the crystal moonlight Seeming li e a silver road. Across the waters, there the mother; Ancient Queen of the Shining Night; Standing in the silver dar ness Lit by icy crystal light. Reaching out across the dar ness, Silver arms across the ice, Two hands touch above the waters, Reach across the frozen night. But now the serpent song of starlight Calls across the cauldron's night; Their hands a bridge across the silence, Dar ness shatters into light. As sunlight calls across the waters Rising from the shining east, Cries of joy that echo terror Crac as silent ice release. Now hear the cry of mourning mothers; Hear the joy of pain released: Dull ache deep within the waters Calling to the stirring beast. For now Touched See the Through behold the icy rivers by sunlight, turned to blood; waters flowing freely the gates of land and love.

1753 HP-2 will move forward, and perform the invocation to the Mother aspect of the Goddess upon HPS-2: I call to you, Mother of all, Queen of our most secret dreams. From dar and starlit heavens, And deep within the fertile earth: Come to us crowned in glory - Come! I invo e you, and call upon you; By the fertile earth and pregnant moon: Come! Descend upon the body of Thy Priestess. HPS-2 responds: I am thy Goddess: Before the beginning of time was I. I made the mountains into pea s, And laid with soft green grass the valleys and the meadows. Mine was the first foot which trod upon the earth, And where I wal ed there sprang forth flowers. Mine was the voice which gave rise to the first song, And the birds listened, and heard, and made return. In the beginning of time I taught the sea its song, And mine were the tears That gave forth the first rains. Listen and hear Me! For it was I who gave birth to you, And in the depths of my earth You will find rest and rebirth. I will spring you forth anew, A fresh shoot to greenness. Fear Me; Love Me; Adore Me! Lose yourself in Me. For I am the cup of the wine of life: I stir the senses; I am the power.

1754 HP-1 will now perform the invocation to the Crone aspect of the Goddess upon HPS-1: Ancient Mother born of silence, Silver Queen of spiral ice; Hear the serpent's song of starlight Call across the cauldron's night. A name, a call, a ey of shadows; An ancient song from an ancient dream Echoes deep within the dar ness, Calls Thee from the depths unseen. For now I see Thy crystal spiral, Now I see the crystal web, Shining in the cauldron's dar ness, Bringing life and bringing death. And now I call upon Thee, Ancient Mother, To descend upon this the body of Thy servant and Priestess. HP-1 bows down before HPS-1 HPS-1 responds: Who calls to the Queen of the Night? (HP: "A worshipper") Who calls to the cutter of the thread? (HP: "The Spinning Serpent") Who calls to the Mother of the Serpent? (HP: "A lover") Who calls to the Mistress of the Spiral Castle? (HP: "Life itself") If that man has not fear in his heart, let him stand and face me now. (HP rises) You have called, and I have answered, and now I shall teach thee a mystery: That if that which thou see est, thou findest not within thee, thou wilt never find it without thee. For behold, I have been with thee from the beginning, and I shall be with thee at the end. Blessed Be.

1755 HP-1 returns to his place in the Temple. The Mother and Crone will now "arm" each of the female guardians with the relevant elemental weapon: The Crone will ta e an athame from the altar, hand it to the Mother, who will present it to the Eastern guardian. The wand will be given to the Southern guardian, the chalice to the Western guardian, the pentacle to the Northern guardian, and the blac egg to Spirit. Crone and Mother will now approach the veil: the Crone will part the veil, and say: As the white eagle of the north is flying overhead, And the browns, reds and golds of autumn lie in the gutter, dead. Remember then that summer birds with wings of fire flaying, Came to witness spring's new hope, born of leaves decaying. As new life will come from death, love will come at leisure: Love of love, love of life, and giving without measure Gives in return a wondrous yearn of a promise almost seen. Live hand in hand, and together we'll stand On the threshold of a dream. During this, the Mother leads the Virgin to the centre of the circle, and on the last line, all three stand hand in hand. Then the Mother unveils the Virgin saying: Welcome Virgin to Life! Welcome Virgin to Spring! Let life spring from thine heart, And out thine eyes. Let joy behold the dawn. The Crone now instructs the Priests to turn away, as they may not witness this stage of the female mysteries. The Priestesses start to slowly circle deosil about the circle in The Dance of the Elements. While this is going on, the Mother and Crone will explain to the Virgin the significance and power of each of the elements. 1755Note:1755 This is an integral part of the ritual, but cannot be written as it is performed spontaneously by the Mother and Crone. The format is basically as follows: Mother: Crone: Mother: Crone: I I I I give give give give you you you you the the the the power of your intellect power of beginnings power of decision freedom of air

and so on, remaining with each element as long as desired.

1756 On command from the Crone, the Dance will cease, and each Priestess will return to her respective position. Now, the Mother will ta e the Virgin to each Priestess in turn, starting with the East, where she will be presented with the elemental weapons. (ie, armed with her potential). After each presentation, the Virgin will replace the weapon on the altar, to signify her understanding and acceptance of this nowledge. Both Virgin and Mother will return to the cauldron, where the Crone will present the Virgin with the Bride Doll, which she will accept, and place upon the altar. She then returns to the centre, and loo s into the cauldron, where she now finds a sistrum, which she pic s up and sha es joyfully shouting "Bride is Come, Bride is Welcome!" This is the cue for the Priests to face centre once more. HP-1 starts playing the Bodrhun, and HPS-3 leads the dance. The Mother and Crone lin hands around the Virgin in a symbol of protection. Everyone chants 1756"Bride is Come, Bride is Welcome"1756 as the dance increases in tempo, and then HPS-3 will initiate the Witches' Rune when she feels the time is right. The dance will finish with arms held aloft, and then the Virgin will brea out from between the Mother and Crone, and ta e the cauldron candle to the altar, where she will light it from one of the altar candles. She will turn to face the group while HPS-3 leads the Initiate's Ceremony of Illumination. The virgin now returns to the East, where she reads The Charge of Brigid's Fire. I am She of the golden hair, Queen of the white hills, Rider of the white swan, and now stand at the threshold of my glory. I bring with me three gifts of fire: the first is the flame of Inspiration that is indled within the heart of the see er. The second is the flame of purification; the cleansing flame of truth. The third is the flame born of the fires of love that brings the seed of hope to all life. Virgin now performs ca es and wine with a Priest of her choice. The feast. TO END THE RITUAL All ta e their athames, and support HPS-1 as she than s, and bids farewell to the Quarter Guardians. Formal grounding of the power. All present ma e their farewells to each other, and leave the Temple.

1757 IMBOLG 1992 JULIA PHILLIPS Temple in dar ness, apart from the Yule log in the centre. Brigid in her bed on the small altar. Lots of unlit candles in sand pots around the room. All enter as usual, and the Circle is cast in the normal manner. After the central invoc ations, HP says:

Awa e O Earth from your slumbers! Awa e O Sun and restore the Earth! Mother - we are in dar ness.

HPS pic s up a jug of water, and pours it into the cauldron saying:

The waters are bro en. The ice melting towards Candletime. Blood has been along the trac , but now the ways are clear of death. Old and grey I was, but here in the mystery of the waters I am renewed. For I am the one you sought, but could not find. For I was singing to my child unseen, beneath the hills of birch and rowan.

HPS ta es the asperge, and all circle around her chanting the Witche s Rune. She asperges each person as they pass, and on the last round, hands each person a white candle. When everyone has a candle, the circling stops, and HPS ligh ts the main candles and says:

The dar ness of winter is passing: the Earth awa ens once more from its slumbers;

the Virgin wal s among us again, and brings Her blessings upon the l and and upon our lives.

Priest and Priestess step forward and remove the cover from Brigid's bed, revealing the Virgin. Everyone shouts:

Brigid is Come! Brigid is Welcome!

1758 HPS ta es a light from the Yule log and says:

Let the inner light bear fruit in our own lives, even as the Earth b ears the first flowers.

I am Brigid: She of the Golden Hair; Queen of the White Hills, and r ider of the White Swan. I bring three gifts of fire. The first is the flame of c reation; of the poet and artist; of the lovers' passion for union with the beloved. The second is the flame of purification and testing, the flame of truth. With this flame all dross and wea ness are made clear and cleansed from thee, so thou become l i e a true and tested sword. The third is the greatest of all, for it is the healin g flame born out of the love that gives all, the ma er of peace and harmony. But I do not give these gifts one by one; I give them as a whole in the form of the growing Sun.

Everyone then lights their candle from the Yule log, and starts to c ircle deosil, lighting the candles around the room as they go, chanting:

Thus we banish winter, thus we welcome spring; Say farewell to what is dead, and greet each living thing.

When all the candles are lit, everyone places their candle in a sand pot, and the chanting ceases.

HPs and HP bless ca es and wine.

1759 S A M H A I N 1 9 8 6

Coven of the Serpent's Eye

Declamation written by Rufus Harrington Invocation to Horned God written by Doreen Valiente Response of the Horned God written by Paul Greenslade Consecration of the seeds written by Jim Kitson Temple set up as follows: Veil in northern quarter Cauldron in centre, with charcoal bloc s ready lit Stereo ready with taped music A dish of corn seeds on the altar One pot of earth for each person Pomegranate on altar Candles, incense and ritual weapons as usual Floor tom-tom drum Roles: HPS HP Priest P or PS Casting the circle: The Circle will be cast by the HPS The HPS will invo e the quarters: while she does so, each person should face the quarter being invo ed, and direct power to the quarter with their athame (or other if they have no athame). The group should all face centre, forming a circle after the invocation to the northern quarter, and hold both arms aloft while the HPS calls upon the Lord and Lady to join with the celebrations. This completes the casting of the circle. .pa The Ritual: HPS wearing blac sil robe and veil stands at the altar, facing the group, who are seated. 1759The HP reads the declamation:1 759 Iced legions of the damned Call and dance the songs of madness; Hollow hills re-echo to the silent cries of night, For dancing flames now turn to shadows, The Goddess The Horned God To consecrate the seeds Ritual drumming

Winds and madness call the night, And just a single light in dar ness Stands before the veil to fight.

1760 And so the Goddess stood in dar ness, Tear stained chee s lashed by rain, Turned to face the veil of dar ness, Turned to face the world of pain. Alone, an outcast, branded traitor; She it was who illed the land. To save the land from age and dar ness, To save the land from fear and death, For love of life she sought to conquer, Sought to stay the hand of death. But in her love and in her madness She summoned death into the land; Summoned death to fight the dar ness, Thus it was destroyed the land. Crac ed silver lightning; shattering dar ness, Revealing eyes, and visions born beyond. Iced visions of light, Echoes of dying laughter chill and cool the blood. Storm clouds tearing s y and screaming, Battles fought at heaven's gate, Fly upon the winds of madness, See the silver ey of fate. HPS: SILENCE! An end must be made!

For there are three great events in the life of man: Love, Death and resurrection in the new body, and magic controls them all. For to fulfil love you must return again at the same time and place as the loved one, and you must remember and love them again. But to be reborn, you must die and be ready for a new body; and to die you must be born, and without love you may not be born, and so is formed the spiral of creation, and this is all the magics. The group now stand, and when everyone is facing the HPS, she assume s pentagram position. The ritual drummer ta es his position, and the Priest who is ta ing the role of the Horned God switches on the music tape, blows out the nor thern quarter candle and moves behind the veil. Silence while the tape of "The ma ing of Bloduedd" is played, as this is the invocation the the Goddess in her transfor mation aspect. (Note: the tape is allowed to continue playing, as this is the only item on the tape, the remainder being blan .) The HPS turns to face the altar, and holds aloft the sword. As she d

oes so, the drummer plays a steady rhythm. The HPS moves to the centre of the ci rcle, facing the veil; the group arrange themselves behind her, all facing the veil. The HPS points the sword at the veil, and the group hold aloft their arms for the i nvocation to the Horned God.

1761 HPS says: By the flame that burneth bright O Horned One, We call Thy name into the night, O Ancient One! Thee we invo e by the moon led sea, By the standing stone, and the twisted tree. Thee we invo e where gather Thine own, By nameless shrine, forgotten and lone. Come where the round of the dance is trod, Horn and hoof of the goat foot God! By moonlit meadow and dus y hill, When haunted wood is hushed and still, Come to the charm of the chanted prayer, As the moon bewitches the midnight air. Evo e Thy powers that potent bide, In shining stream and secret tide, In fiery flame and starlight pale, In shadowy hosts that ride the gale. And by the fern bra es, fairy haunted, Of forests wild and woods enchanted; Come O come to the heart beats drum, Come to us who gather below, When the pale white moon is climbing slow, Through the stars to the heavens height, We hear Thy hooves on the wings of night! As blac tree branches sha e and sigh, By joy and terror we now Thee nigh. We spea the spell Thy power unloc s, At solstice, sabbat and equinox. Word of virtue, the veil to rend, From primal dawn to the wide world's end! (As the invocation proceeds, the drummer speeds his rhythm to sugges t the sound of hoofbeats, and after the final line of the invocation, he suddenly r everts to a simple, slow four beats for the entrance of the Horned God.) P#1 responds from behind the veil: I am the Dread Lord of the Shadows: God of life and giver of life. I open wide the veil through which all must pass. The gate is open between the worlds And all who would enter on this night are welcome. Come spirits; departed ones; brethren from our past and present Join us in the hunt tonight. During his response, he parts the veil, and then fastens it open in some way, as the veil between the worlds remains open until closed by the Horned God at the end of the ritual.

1762 As he finishes spea ing, he enters the Temple, and proceeds to move in a widdershins direction, and the drummer plays a rhythm according to the speed and movement of the Horned God. The Horned God then ta es the hand of one of the group (female), and she ta es the hand of the next male, and so on until all the group e xcept for the HPS and drummer are dancing with the Horned God. This represents the Wild Hunt, and the drumming and dancing should reflect the feeling of this. At a pr ompt from the Horned God, the group will stop dancing, and seat themselves on the floor facing inwards around the cauldron. The drummer will join them, and the HPS will bring a pot of incense, from which she will ta e a handful and throw it into the cauldron. she will then pass the incense to the HP, who will also throw some i nto the cauldron, and will pass it to his neighbour, and so on around the ci rcle until each person has thrown some incense into the cauldron. There is now a per iod of meditation, where everyone thin s about the past year, and those who may have passed over during that time. It is also a time for joining with our loved ones who have gone beyond, and who we invite to return to us for the night. When t he HPS feels that long enough has been spent on this part of the ritual, she will signal that everyone should end their meditation. P#2 shall now rise (also PS#1 if designated), and approach the alt ar where he/they will perform the consecration of the sacred seed. P#2 says: Bounded by a shell then? Secure in the vice of the earth, a unity waiting. And outside? Cold, wet loneliness, the comfort of death. And above? The agony of birth and growth, total struggle in total night. O Gaia! Smile upon your children, set free the seed of life and joy. So Mote It Be!

When this has been completed, P#2 ta es some of the seeds, and energ ises them with his own hopes and desires for the coming year, and then plants them in one of the prepared pots. The rest of the group do li ewise, commencing with 17 62PS#11762 if designated, and following male/female if possible. The Horned God an d Goddess do not plant seeds at the altar. When the last person has planted their see ds, and all are seated again, the 1762Horned God1762 approaches the altar, and slice s the pomegranite in half, and holds both halves in one hand. He pic s up some seeds and charges them with his hopes and desires for the coming year, but doe s not plant them at the altar. He holds them in his hand, and then he calls to all t he spirits who followed him through from beyond the veil to return with him now, an d moving in a deosil direction, circles around the Temple finally ending up beyond the veil again. He calls to the Goddess to join with him once more, and she has such love for him that she willingly leaves her life this side of the veil, and of her own free will joins once more with her consort. She rises, and goes to the altar t o collect and charge her own seeds, which she then carries with her as she moves a round the Temple, finally joining the Horned God behind the veil. He closes th e veil between the worlds once more, and to symbolise her willing descent to the Ot herworld, the Goddess eats one half of the pomegranate. She and the Horned God the n plant their seeds. The northern quarter candle is relit by the person nearest to it.

1763 At this point, 1763PS#1 and P#21763 approach the altar, and perform th e consecration of ca es and wine, in which all participate bar the HPS and P#1 behi nd the veil, as they are "no longer of this world". After ca es and wine, 1763HPS an d P#11763 rejoin the circle for the feast, no longer "Horned God and Goddess". TO END THE RITUAL: Each quarter is than ed and bidden to depart by HPS All present ma e their farewells to each other, and leave the Temple .

The Rite is ended.

1764 Y U L E 1984 Julia Phillips

Circle is cast and Quarters erected. HPS: We now stand at the turning of the year. Lord: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, All fades and passes, day to night.

Dar Lord extinguishes candles leaving only altar candles alight. HPS: s quic ly in the West, and we begin the long night of hope. Coven do Wheel or Cord dance widdershins about the cauldron chanting: Time and Death, Life and Seasons, All must pass, All must change. Star Child now leaves the circle, and stands behind the veil in the North. HPS stands at the cauldron in the centre, wearing a blac veil. HPS: I am the Hag who engendered you all; I am the Three and the One who is here; I am the log that is ripe for burning; In my end is your hope of beginning.

HPS now lifts the cauldron aloft and presents it to each quarter. She returns to the centre, and lights the cauldron candle, from which she lights a quarter candle for each member of the coven. The quarter candles are placed in their respective quarters. Narrator: This is the night of the Solstice; the Mother ht. Nig

Narrator: We stand now in the long night, we pray for the sun 's return. In dar ness and shadows the Great Mother groans. The Mother labours to bring

Now dar ness triumphs, and yet gives way and changes to light. Time stops, and all wait while the cauldron of the Dar King is transformed into the infant Light. We watch for the dawn wh en the Mother again gives birth to the sun, who is the bringer of hop e and the promise of summer. Holly gives way to Oa , the Wren to the Robin, Old to New.

Dar

Let us dance for the long year's end, for the sun

set

forth es forth our

the sun from her pain. From her cries of labour com

cries of welcome; from her toil and anguish our hope is r eborn. Let us now call forth the Great Mother, and the Lord of Life, her h usband and son. The Star Child emerges from behind the feet of the HPS. The HPS points to the Star Child and proclaims: veil, and lays at the

Behold the Child! Here lies our

ing!

1765 The HPS crowns the Star Child with a crown of misteltoe. She removes her veil and announces: I am the Mother who brought forth the child; I am the inspiration, and I am the rebirth. Narrator: You are the ecstasy of the blessed You are the light of the sun's beams You are the lordly door of welcome You are the guiding star Yours is the step of the roe on the hill Yours is the step of the white-faced mare Yours is the grace of the swimming swan You are the jewel in each mystery Coven now do Wheel or Cord dance deosil about the cauldron chanting: Power Power Power Spins Spins Push, of soil and power of of fire and power of that spins the wheel the wheel of joy and the wheel of sun and push, push, Open the air, water, of birth, mirth, moon, gate.

Power of spell and magic free, Eternal power that binds the sea, Weaves the web of infinity, Light of dar and light of day, Speed the spo es fast on their way, Push push push - ah ah Open the gate, So Mote It Be! HPS now invo es the Lord of Misrule into the circle. He is challenged upon entry by the Dar Lord, and must explain who he is, and why he is there. The Lord of Misrule is now in charge of the circle, and may behave as he sees fit. At some point, he must ta e the burdens of the coven for the previous twelve moons and pac them in his bag. Ca es and Wine. The Lord of Misrule must be ritually hunted as a wren to bring about his downfall. The coven mime hunting the wren chanting, "Burn the bush, hunt the wren"

When he is discovered, the coven point their athames at his nec to symbolise his death. Close ritual.

1766 "LEGITIMACY" IN THE CRAFT, a conversation -------------------------------------------------------------------(117) Sun 25 Apr 93 11:16 By: Khaled To: Lana Re: things St: --------------------------------------------------------------------L> What rituals do you thin I would have to do to become "letigimat e" L> ....(do I have to be "initiated" in other words... )! That rather depends on who you want to recognise you as legitima te. There's a wide variance of opinion as to what ma es a witch, a Witch or a Wicc an. If you open

with her often, she will eventually adopt her as one of her special Children (the "inner", or Lady's, initiation). Her adoption will cause changes to your spirit and way of loo ing at things that will be obvious to those of us who sha re it, as its presence in others will become obvious to you after you've awa ened to her touch (unfortunately, it's one of those things that doesn't ma e much sense until you've *been there*). Most of us here accept the Lady's initiation as the mar of a t rue Witch r witch). I (capitalised to denote the priest/ess, as opposed to the fol mage o

and the same, though many of us thin of Wicca as a particular subse t of Witches (i.e. all Wiccans are Witches, but not all Witches are, or even wish to be, Wiccan).

gather that the majority of those posting here thin Witches as one

of Wiccans and

your heart to the Lady and commune (spea sarily in words)

with your heart, not neces

1767 For those of us who see them as different (I'm one of them), you will need to be formally adopted into a Wiccan clan to be a *Wiccan* Witch. Some traditions permit self-adoption into their clans, some (Gardnerians and their n ear in in n authorised Elder of the clan in question. Then again,there's a few diehards wh o don't recognise anyone but members of their own clan as Wiccan. Which brings us bac to square one -- it depends on whose recog nition you're loo ing for. Most will accept your legitimacy *as a Witch* based on the quality of your rapport with the Lady. And the way to develop that is to spend a lot of time in her company, whether with li e-minded others in a coven or quietl y by yourself. A large minority will accept you *as a Wiccan* based on whether or n ot you have passed through a human rite of passage (confusingly, also called ini tiation) adopting you into a Wiccan clan. Be sure you now the family that wishes to adopt you before accepting: this time you get to *choose* your relatives <g>. Those who insist that only *they* have the Truth, an d therefore only they are legitimate aren't really worth wasting your time worrying a bout, IMHO.

particular) recognise you as Wiccan only if you've been adopted by a

1768

L> I was wondering if you HAD to belong to a coven in order to L> practice, or to be "letigimate", so to spea . As Ayesha mentioned, what matters is that you spend time in the L ady's company, and "listen" to what she has to say, "feel" what she has to show. Ev en amongst crusty old Gardnerians such as myself, there's no need to be a membe r of a coven to practice your Craft, nor does resigning from a coven invalidate your initiation(s). We prefer to wor in covens, because we generally prefer the company of our brethren in Circle, but there's no law that says we *have to* if we feel li e being alone, or have no choice in the matter. Gardnerian *initiations* are done by a coven, and one normally has to be a cand idate for membership in that coven in order to be initiated (by us). This is by no means invariable, but initiating someone you don't want in your coven is c onsidered tasteless at best, a betrayal of your sacred trust at worst.

So, no, you don't HAVE to be a member of a coven to be seen as legitimate. And

I'd encourage you to continue to do some solo wor , even if you DO j oin a coven. But what would I now, I'm just a 3rd <big grin>. Blessings on your path, whichever way you choose to go...

since my own opinion is that the wea est lin est solitary,

in a coven is its wea

1769 The Meaning of Witchcraft Gerald B. Gardner P.265 Appendix I THE MAGICAL LEGEND OF THE WITCHES. Now, G. (the Witch Goddess) had never loved, but she would solv e all the Mysteries, even the Mystery of Death; and so she journeyed t o the Nether Lands. The Guardians of the Portals challenged her, "Strip off thy garments, lay aside thy jewels; for naught may ye bring with ye into this our land." So she laid down her garments and her jewels, and was bound, as are all who enter the Realms of Death the Mighty One. (Note: There was a Celti c custom of binding corpses. The cord which had bound a corpse was useful in le arning the "second sight.") Such was her beauty that Death himself nelt and Kissed her fee t, saying, "Blessed be thy feet that have brought thee in these ways. Abide with me, let me place my cold hands on thy heart." She replied, "I love thee not. Why dost thou cause all things that I love and ta e delight in to fade and die?" "Lady", replied Death, "tis Age and Fate, against which I am helpless. Age causes all things to wither; but when men die at the end of time I give them rest and peace, and strength so that they may return. But thou, thou art lovely. Return not; abide with me." But she answered, "I love thee not." Then said Death, "An thou received not my had on thy heart, tho u must receive Death's scourge." "It is Fate; better so", she said, and she nelt; and Death Scourged her, and she cried, "I feel the pangs of love."

And he taught her all the Mysteries. And they loved and were o ne, and he taught her all the Magics.

And Death said, "Blessed be", and gave her the fivefold saying, Thus only may ye attain to joy and nowledge.

iss,

For there are three great events in the life of man; Love, Deat h, and Resurrection in a new body; and Magic controls them all. For to fulfil love you must return again at the same time and place as the loved one, and you must remember and love them again. But to be reb orn you must die, and be ready for new body; and to die you must be born; and wit hout love you may not be born. And these be all the Magics.

1770 The Spiral Dance 1979; Starhaw p 159

In this world, the Goddess is seen in the moon, the light that shine s in dar ness, the rain bringer, mover of the tides, Mistress of mysteries. And as the moon waxes and wanes, and wal s three nights of its cycle in dar ness, so, it i s said, the Goddess once spent three nights in the Kingdom of Death. For in love She ever see s Her other Self, and once, in the winter o f the year, when He had disappeared from the green earth, She followed Him and came a t last to the gates beyond which the living do not go. The Guardian of the Gate challenged Her, and She stripped Herself of Her clothing and jewels, for nothing may be brought into that land. For love, Sh e was bound as all who enter there must be and brought before Death Himself. He loved Her, and nelt at Her feet, laying before Her His sword and crown, and gave Her the fivefold iss, and said, "Do not return to the living world, but stay here with Me, and have peace and rest and comfort." But She answered, "Why do you cause all things I love and delight in to die and wither away?" "Lady," He said, "It is the fate of all that lives to die. Everythi ng passes; all fades away. I bring comfort and consolation to those who pass the g ates, that they may grow young again. But You are My heart's desire -- return not, but stay here with Me." And She remained with Him three days and three nights, and at the en d of the third night She too up His crown, and it became a circlet that She placed around Her nec , saying: "Here is the circle of rebirth. Through You all passes out of life, but through Me all may be born again. Everything passess; everything changes. Eve

The Goddess In The Kingdom Of Death

n death is not eternal. Mine is the mystery of the womb, that is the cauldron of re birth. Enter into Me and now Me, and You will be free of all fear. For as life is but a journey into death, so death is but a passage bac to life, and in Me the ci rcle is ever turning." In love, He entered into Her, and so was reborn into life. Yet is H e nown as Lord of Shadows, the comforter and consoler, opener of the gates, King of the Land of Youth, the giver of peace and rest. But She is the gracious mother of all life; from Her all things proceed and to Her they return again. In Her ar e the mysteries of death and birth; in Her is the fulfillment of all love.

*Traditional Craft Myth

1771

A TRUE HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT updated through January 3, 1992. copyright (c) 1992 by Allen Green field. All rights reserved.] "The fact is that the instincts of ignorant people invariably fin d expression in some form of witchcraft. It matters little what the metaphysician or the moralist may inculcate; the animal stic s to his subconscious ideas..." Aleister Crowley The Confessions "As attunement to psychic (occult) reality has grown in America, one often misunderstood and secretive branch of it has begun to flourish also -- magical religion..." J. Gordon Melton Institute for the Study of American Religion, Green Egg, 1975 "Curse them! Curse them! Curse them! With my Haw 's head I pec at the eyes of Jesus as he hangs upon the cross I flap my wings in the face of Mohammed & blind him With my claws I tear out the flesh of the Indian and the Buddhist, Mongol and Din..." Liber Al Vel Legis 3:50 - 53

ll him." Zen saying, paraphrased slightly

"Previously I never thought of doubting that there were many witch es in the world; now, however, when I examine the public record, I find myself beli eving that there are hardly any..." Father Friedrich von Spee, S.J. , Cautio Criminalis, 1631

Having spent the day musing over the origins of the modern witchc raft, I had a vivid dream. It seemed to be a cold January afternoon, and Aleister

"If you are on the Path, and see the Buddha wal ing towards you,

Crowley was having Gerald Gardner over to tea. It was 1945, and tal of an e arly end to the war was in the air. An atmosphere of optimism prevailed in the "f ree world" , but the wheezing old magus was having none of it. "Nobody is interested in magic any more!" Crowley ejaculated. "M y friends on the Continent are dead or in exile, or grown old; the movement in Americ a is in shambles. I've seen my best candidates turn against me....Achad, R egardie -- even that gentleman out in California, what's - his - name, AMORC, the one that made all the money.."

1772 "O, bosh, Crowley," Gardner waved his hand impatiently, "all things considered, you've done pretty well for yourself. Why, you've been called the `wic edest man in the world' and by more than a few. And you've not, if you'll p ardon the impertinence, done too badly with the ladies."

e I've been trying to tell this fellow Grant. A restrictiv If I had it all to do over again, I would've built a relig masses instead of just a secret society. Why, the opport

Gardner smiled. "Precisely. And that is what I have come to prop ose to you. Ta e your BOOK OF THE LAW, your GNOSTIC MASS. Add a little razzle -dazzle for the country fol . Why I now these occultists who call themselves `wi tches'. They dance around fires na ed, get drun , have a good time. Rosicrucian s, I thin . Proper English country squires and dames, mostly; I thin they read a lot of Frazier and Margaret Murray. If I could persuade you to draw on your long experience and talents, in no time at all we could invent a popular cult that would have beautiful ladies clamoring to let us strip them na ed, tie them up and span their behinds! If, Mr. Crowley, you'll excuse my explicitness." For all his infirmity, Aleister Crowley almost sprang to his feet, a little of the old energy flashing through his loins. "By George, Gardner, you've g ot something there, I should thin ! I could license you to initiate people into the O.T.O. today, and you could form the nucleus of such a group!" He paced in agitation. "Yes, yes," he mused, half to Gardner, half to himself. "The Boo . The Mass. I could write some rituals. An `ancient boo ' of magic . A `boo of shado ws'. Priestesses, na ed girls. Yes. By Jove, yes!" Great story, but merely a dream , created out of bits and pieces o f rumor, history and imagination. Don't be surprised, though, if a year or five ye ars from now you

Crowley nally ventured, "it's li e Order is not enough. ion for the unwashed unities! The women!"

coughed, tugged on his pipe reflectively. "You

now" he fi

read it as "gospel" (which is an ironic synonym for `truth') in som e new learned text on the fabled history of Wicca. Such is the way all mytholog ies come into being. Please don't misunderstand me here; I use the word `mythology' in this context in its aboriginal meaning, and with considerable respect. History is m ore metaphor than factual accounting at best, and there are myths by which we l ive and others by which we die. Myths are the dreams and visions which parallel o bjective history. This entire wor is, in fact, an attempt to approximate his tory. To arrive at some perspective on what the modern mythos called, va riously, "Wicca", the "Old Religion", "Witchcraft" and "Neopaganism" is, we must firstly ma e a firm distinction; "witchcraft" in the popular informally de fined sense may have little to do with the modern religion that goes by the same na me. It has been argued by defenders of and formal apologists for modern Wicca that it is a direct lineal descendent of an ancient, indeed, prehistoric worldwide fol religion.

1773 Some proponents hedge their claims, calling Wicca a "revival" rath er than a continuation of an ancient cult. Oddly enough, there may never hav e been any such cult! The first time I met someone who thought she was a "witch," she started going on about being a "blue of the cloa ." I should've been warne d right then and there. In fact, as time has passed and the religion has spread, the claims of lineal continuity have tended to be hedged more and more. Thus, we find Dr. Gardner himself, in 1954, stating unambiguously that some witches a re descendants "... of a line of priests and priestesses of an old and probably Sto ne Age religion, who have been initiated in a certain way (received into t he circle) and become the recipients of certain ancient learning." (Gardner, WITCH CRAFT TODAY, pp 33-34.) Stated in its most extreme form, Wicca may be defined as an ancien t pagan religious system of beliefs and practices, with a form of apostoli c succession neration to generation), a more or less consistent set of rites and myths, and even a secret holy boo of considerable antiquity (The Boo of Shadows). More recent writers, as we have noted, have hedged a good deal on these claims, particularly the latter. Thus we find Stewart Farrar in 1971 musin g on the purported ancient text thusly: "Whether, therefore, the whole of th e Boo of Shadows is post-1897 is anyone's guess. Mine is that, li e the Bib le, it is a patchwor of periods and sources, and that since it is copied and re-copied by hand, it includes amendments, additions, and stylistic alterations according to the taste of a succession of copiers...Parts of it I sense to be gen uinely old; other parts suggest modern interpolation..." (Farrar, WHAT WITCHES DO, pp 34-35.)As we shall discover presently, there appear to be no genuin ely old copies of the Boo of Shadows. Still, as to the mythos, Farrar informs us that the "two personif ications of

(that is, with

nowledge and ordination handed on lineally from ge

witchcraft are the Horned God and the Mother Goddess..." (ibid, p 29) and that the "Horned God is not the Devil, and never has been. If today `Satani st' covens do exist, they are not witches but a sic fringe, delayed-reaction vic tims of a centuries-old Church propaganda in which even intelligent Christian s no longer believe." (ibid, p 32). One could protest:, "Very well, some case might be made for the Horned God being mista en for the Christian Devil (or should that be the other way ar ound?), but what record, prior to the advent 50 years ago of modern Wicca via Gerald Gardner, do we have of the survival of a mother goddess image from ancient times? " Wiccan apologists frequently refer to the (apparently isolated) t enth century church document which states that "some wic ed women, perverted by the Devil, seduced by the illusions and phantasms of demons, believe and prof ess themselves in the hours of the night to ride upon certain beasts with Diana, the goddess of pagans, or with Herodias, and an innumerable multitude of women, an d in the silence of the dead of night to traverse great spaces of earth, and to obey her commands as of their mistress, and to be summoned to her service on certain nights." (Quoted in Valiente, WITCHCRAFT FOR TOMORROW, Hale, 1978, p 32.) I do not doubt that bits of pagan fol lore survived on the Continent through the first millenium -- Northern Europe rema ined overtly pagan until the High Middle Ages. But what has this to do with Wicca ? in the

testimony at the infamous witch trials by asserting that "the judg es ignored the Goddess, being preoccupied with the Satan-image of the God.." (WHAT WITCHES DO, p 33). But it is the evidence of that reign of terror which lasted fr om roughly 1484 to 1692 which brings the whole idea of a surviving religious cult into question. It is now the conventional wisdom on the witchburning mania which swept li e a

Farrar, for his part, explains the lac

of references to a goddess

1774 plague over much of Europe during the transition from medieval world to modern that it was JUST that; a mania, a delusion in the minds of Christia n clergymen and state authorities; that is, there were no witches, only the innocen t victims of the witch hunt. Further, this humanist argument goes, the `witchcraft' of Satani c worship, nvention, borrowing but little from remaining memories of actual preChristia n paganism. We have seen a resurrection of this mania in the 1980s flurry over `S atanic sacrificial' cults, with as little evidence. "The concept of the heresy of witchcraft was fran ly regarded as a new invention, both by the theologians and by the public," writes Dr. Rossell Hop e Robbins in THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WITCHCRAFT & DEMONOLOGY, (Crown, 1959, p.9)"Having to hurdle an early church law, the Canon Episcopi, which said in effect that bel ief in witchcraft was superstitious and heretical, the inquisitors caville d by arguing that the witchcraft of the Canon Episcopi and the witchcraft of the Inquisition were different..." The evidence extracted under the most gruesome and repeated tortur es resemble the Wiccan religion of today in only the most cursory fashion. Though Wi cca may have been framed with the "confessions" extracted by victims of the inq uisitors in mind, those "confessions" --- which are more than suspect, to beg in with, bespea a cult of devil worshipers dedicated to evil. One need only read a few of the accounts of the time to realize t hat, had there been at the time a religion of the Goddess and God, of seasonal ci rcles and The Boo of Shadows, such would li ely have been blurted out by the vic tims, and more than once. The agonies of the accused were, almost literally, beyo nd the imagination of those of us who have been fortunate enough to escape them. The witch mania went perhaps unequaled in the annals of crimes ag ainst humanity

broomstic

riding, of Sabbats and Devil-mar s, was a rather late i

en masse until the Hitlerian brutality of our own century. But, no such confessions were forthcoming, though the wretches accused, before the torture was done, would also be compelled to condemn their own parents, spouses, loved ones , even children. They confessed, and to anything the inquisitors wished, anything to stop or reduce the pain. A Priest, probably at ris to his own life, recorded testimony in the 1600s that reflected the reality underlying the forced "confessions" of "witche s". Rev. Michael Stapirius records, for example, this comment from one "confessed wi tch": "I never dreamed that by means of the torture a person could be brought to the point of telling such lies as I have told. I am not a witch, and I have ne ver seen the devil, and still I had to plead guilty myself and denounce others... ." All but one copy of Father Stapirius' boo were destroyed, and little wonder. A letter smuggled from a German burgomaster, Johannes Junius, to h is daughter in 1628, is as telling as it is painful even to read. His hands had b een virtually destroyed in the torture, and he wrote only with great agony and n o hope. "When at last the executioner led me bac to the cell, he said to me, `Si r, I beg you, for God's sa e, confess something, whether it be true or not. Inven t something, for you cannot endure the torture which you will be put to; and, ev en if you bear it all, yet you will not escape, not even if you were an earl, but one torture will follow another until you say you are a witch. Not before that, ' he said, `will they let you go, as you may see by all their trials, for one is jus t li e another...' " (ibid, pp 12-13) For the graspers at straws, we may find an occasional line in a "c onfession" which is intriguing, as in the notations on the "confession" of one woman from Germany dated in late 1637. After days of unspea able torment, wherein th e woman

1775 confesses under pain, recants when the pain is removed, only to be m oved by more pain to confess again, she is as ed: "How did she influence the wea ther? She does not now what to say and can only whisper, Oh, Heavenly Queen, prot ect me!" Was the victim calling upon "the goddess"? Or, as seems more li el y, upon that aforementioned transfiguration of all ancient goddesses in Christian mythology, the Virgin Mary. One more quote from Dr. Robbins, and I will cease to parade late medieval history before you. It comes from yet another priest, Father Cornelius Loos, who obse rved, in 1592 that "Wretched creatures are compelled by the severity of the tortu re to confess things they have never done, and so by cruel butchery innocent liv es are ta en....." (ibid, p 16). The "evidence" of the witch trials indic ates, on the whole, neither the Satanism the church and state would have us beli eve, nor the pagan survivals now claimed by modern Wicca; rather, they suggest o nly fear, greed, human brutality carried out to bizarre extremes that have fe w parallels in all of history. But, the brutality is not that of `witches' nor even of `Satanists' but rather that of the Christian Church, and the government. What, then, are we to ma e of modern Wicca? It must, of course, b e observed as an aside that in a sense witchcraft or "wisecraft" has, indeed, been with us from the dawn of time, not as a coherent religion or set of practices and b eliefs, but as the fol magic and medicine that stretches bac to early, possibly paleolithic tribal shamans on to modern China's so-called "barefoot doctors". In another sense, we can also say that ceremonial magic , as I ha ve previously noted, has had a place in history for a very long time, and both the se ancient systems of belief and practice have intermingled in the lore of mo dern Wicca, as apologists are quic to claim.

1776 But, to an extent, this misses the point and s irts an essential qu estion anyone has the right to as about modern Wicca -- namely, did Wicca exist as a coherent creed, a distinct form of spiritual expression, prior to the 1940s ; that is, prior to the meeting of minds between the old magus and venerable prophet of the occult world Aleister Crowley, and the first popularizer, if not outright inventor of modern Wicca, Gerald Brosseau Gardner? There is certainly no doubt that bits and pieces of ancient pagan ism survived into modern times in fol lore and, for that matter, in the very pra ctices and beliefs of Christianity. ingill and

others were practicing some form of fol magic as early as the la tter part of the last century, though even this has recently been brought into ques tion. Wiccan writers have made much of this in the past, but just what `Old Geo rge' was into is subject to much debate. Doreen Valiente, an astute Wiccan writer and one-time intimate of the late Dr. Gardner (and, in fact, the author of some rituals now thought by o thers to be of "ancient origin"), says of Pic ingill that so "fierce was `Old Geo rge's disli e of Christianity that he would even collaborate with avowed Satanists. .." (TOMORROW, p 20). What George Pic ingill was doing is simply not clear. He is said to have had some interaction with a host of figures in the occult revival of the late nineteenth century, including perhaps even Crow ley and his friend Bennett. It seems possible that Gardner, about the time of meeting Crowley, had some involvement with groups stemming from Pic ingill's earlie r activities, but it is only AFTER Crowley and Gardner meet that we begin to see anything resembling the modern spiritual communion that has become nown as W icca. "Witches," wrote Gardner in 1954, "are consummate leg-pullers; the y are taught it

Further, there appears to be some evidence that `Old George' Pic

as part of their stoc -in-trade." (WITCHCRAFT TODAY, p. 27) Modern apologists both for Aleister Crowley AND Gerald Gardner have ta en on such serious tones as well aspretensions that they may be missing places where tongues are fir mly jutting against chee s. Both men were believers in fleshly fulfillment, not only as an end in itself but, as in the Tantric Yoga of the East, as a means of spiritual attainme nt. A certain prudishness has crept into the practices of postGardnarian Wiccans, especially in America since the 1960s, along with a certain feminist revisionism. This has succeeded to a considerable extent in converting a libertine sex cul t into a rather staid neopuritanism.

that one can venture to thing Crowley was attemp the magic al orders under

These Orders had flourished for some time, but by the time Crowle y ` officially' met Gardner in the 1940s, much of the former's lifelong efforts ha d, if not totally disintegrated, at least were then operating at a diminished and diminishing level. Through his long and fascinating career as magus and organizer, t here is some reason to believe that Crowley periodically may have wished for, o r even attempted to create a more populist expression of magic al religion. The Gnos tic Mass, which

The original Gardnarian current is still ely enough in vogue (in Britain and Ireland especially) assert that what Gardnerian Wicca is all about is the same ting with a more narrow, more intellectual constituency in his direct influence.

well enough

nown and wid

1777 Crowley wrote fairly early-on, had come since his death to somewhat fill this function through the OTO-connected Gnostic Catholic Church (EGC). ublishing

manifestos forecasting the revival of witchcraft at the same time G ardner was being chartered by Crowley to organize an OTO encampment. The OTO itself, since Crowley's time, has ta en on a more popular image, and is more targeted towa rds international organizational efforts, than s largely to the wor under the Caliphate of the late Grady McMurtry. This contrasts sharply with the very intern alized OTO that barely survived during the McCarthy Era, when the late Karl Germer was in charge, and the OTO turned inward for two decades. The famous Ancient and Mystic Order of the Rose Cross (AMORC), t he highly successful mail-order spiritual fellowship, was an OTO offspring i n Crowley's time. It has been claimed that Kenneth Grant and Aleister Crowley were discussing relatively radical changes in the Ordo Templi Orientis at approxima tely the same time that Gardner and Crowley were interactive. Though Wiccan writers give some lip service (and, no doubt, some s incere credence) to the notion that the validity of Wiccan ideas depends not upon i ts lineage, but rather upon its wor ability, the suggestion that Wicca is -- or, a t least, started out to be, essentially a late attempt at popularizing the secrets o f ritual and sexual magic Crowley promulgated through the OTO and his writings , seems to evo e nervousness, if not hostility. We hear from wiccan writer and leader Raymond Buc land that one " of the o convincing , it seems tuals I have ently, the explanation that `Crowley wrote the rituals for Gardner' turns out to be somewhat in error. But it is on the right trac . extremely unli ely..." (Gardner, ibid, introduction) The Wiccan ri seen DO have much of Crowley in them. Yet, as we shall observe pres suggestions made is that Aleister Crowley wrote the rituals...but n

evidence has been presented to bac

this assertion and, to my mind

As we shall see momentarily, one of Crowley's

ey followers was p

Doreen Valiente attempts to invo e Crowley's alleged infirmity at the time of his acquaintance with Gardner: "It has been stated by Francis King in his RITUAL MAGIC IN ENGLAND that Aleister Crowley was paid by Gerald Gardner to write the rituals of Gardner 's new witch cult...Now, Gerald Gardner never met Aleister Crowley until the ve ry last years of the latter's life, when he was a feeble old man living at a privat e hotel in Hastings, being ept alive by injections of drugs... If, therefore, Crowley really invented these rituals in their entirety, they must be about the las t thing he ever wrote. Was this enfeebled and practically dying man really capable of such a tour de force?" The answer, as Dr. Israel Regardie's introduction to the posthumo us collection of Crowley's late letters, MAGICK WITHOUT TEARS, implies, would see m to be yes. Crowley continued to produce extraordinary material almost to the e nd of his life, and much of what I have seen of the "Wiccan Crowley" is, in any ca se, of earlier origin. Gerald Gardner is himself not altogether silent on the subject. I n WITCHCRAFT TODAY (p 47), Gardner as s himself, with what degree of irony one can only guess at, who, in modern times, could have invented the Wiccan rituals. "The only man I can thin of who could have invented the rites," he offers, "was t he late Aleister Crowley....possibly he borrowed things from the cult writings, or more li ely someone may have borrowed expressions from him...." A few legs may be being pulled here, and perhaps more than a few. As a prophet ahead of his time, as a poet and dreamer, Crowley is one of the outstanding figures of the twentieth (or any) century. As an organizer, he was almost as much of a disaster as h e was at

1778 managing his own finances...and personal life. As I understand the liberatory nature of the magical path, one would do well to see the differenc e between Crowley the prophet of Thelema and Crowley the insolvent and inept administrator. Crowley very much lac ed the common touch; Gardner was above all t hings a popularizer. Both men have been reviled as lecherous "dirty old m en" -- Crowley, as a seducer of women and a homosexual, a drug addict and `satanis t' rolled together.

I will not say with finality at this point whether Wicca is an out right invention of these two divine con-men. If so, more power to them, and to thos e who truly follow in their path. I do now that, around 1945, Crowley charter ed Gardner, an initiate of the Ordo Templi Orientis, giving him license to organi ze an OTO encampment. Shortly thereafter, the public face of Wicca came into view, and that is what I now of the matter: I presently have in my possession Gardner's cer tificate of license to organize said OTO camp, signed and sealed by Aleister C rowley. The certificate and its import are examined in connection with my perso nal search for the original Boo of Shadows in the next section of this narrative . For now, though, let us note in the years since Crowley licensed Gardner to organize a magical encampment, Wicca has both grown in popularity and become, to my mind, something far less REAL than either Gardner or Crowley co uld have wanted or foreseen. Wherever they came from, the rites and practices which came from or through Gerald Gardner were strong, and tapped into that archetypal

ge frea

Gardner was, they would have it, a voyeur, exhibitionist and bonda with a `penchant for ritual' to borrow a line from THE STORY OF O. Both we re, in reality, spiritual libertines, ceremonial magicians who did not shy away fro m the awesome force of human sexuality and its potential for spiritual transforma tion as well as physical gratification.

reality, that level of consciousness beneath the mas of polite society and conven tional wisdom which is the function of True Magic . Whether this

primordial access has been lost to us will depend on the awareness, the awa ening or lac thereof among practitioners of the near to middle-near future. Carried to its end Gardnerian practices, li e Crowley's magic , are not merely ex otic; they are, in the truest sense, subversive.

At a popular level, this was the Tantric sex magic

of the West.

1779 Practices that WORK are of value, whether they are two years old or two thousand. Practices, myths, institutions and obligations which, on the other h and, may be infinitely ancient are of no value at all UNLESS they wor . The Devil, you say Before we move on, though, in light of the furor over real and im agined "Satanism" that has overta en parts of the popular press in recent years, I would feel a bit remiss in this account if I did not ta e momentary note of that other strain of left-handed occult mythology, Satanism. Wiccans are corr ect when they say that modern Wicca is not Satanic, that Satanism is "reverse Ch ristianity" whereas Wicca is a separate, nonChristian religion. Still, it should be noted, so much of our society has been ground ed in the repressiveness and authoritarian moralism of Christianity that a lib eral dose of "counterChristianity" is to be expected. The Pat Robertsons of the world ma e possible the Anton LeVays. In the long history of repressive relig ion, a certain fable of Satanism has arisen. It constitutes a mythos of its own. N o doubt, misguided `copycat' fanatics have sometimes misused this mythos, in much the same way that Charles Manson misused the music and culture of the 1960s. True occult initiates have always regarded the Ultimate Reality a s beyong all names and description. Named `deities' are, therefore, largely sym bols. "Isis" is a symbol of the long-denied female component of deity to some occul tists. "Pan" or "The Horned God" or "Set" or even "Satan" are symbols of unconsciou s, repressed sexuality. To the occultist, there is no Devil, no "god of evil." There is, ultimately, only the Ain Sof Aur of the Cabbalah; the limitless ligh t of which we are but a frozen spar . Evil, in this system, is the mere absence o f light. All else is illusion. The goal of the occult path of initiation is BALANCE. In Freemason ry and High Magic , the symbols of the White Pillar and Blac Pillar represent this balance

between conscious and unconscious forces. In Gardnarian Wicca, the Goddess and Horned God - and the Prieste ss and Priest, represent that balance. There is nothing, nothing of pacts with th e "Devil" or the worship of evil in any of this; that belongs to misguided exChrist ians who have been given the absurd fundamentalist Sunday school notion that one must choose the Christian version of God, or choose the Devil. Islam, Judaism and even Catholicism have at one time or another been thought "satanic," and occultists have merely played on this bigoted symbolism, not subscribed to it. As we have seen, Wicca since Gardner's time has been watered dow n in many of its expressions into a ind of mushy white-light `new age' religion, wit h far less of the strong sexuality characteristic of Gardnerianism, though, also , sometimes with less pretense as well. In any event, Satanism has popped up now and again through much of the history of the Christian Church. The medieval witches were not li ely to h ave been Satanists, as the Church would have it, but, as we have seen, neit her were they li ely to have been "witches" in the Wiccan sense, either. The Hellfire Clubs of the eighteenth century were Satanic, and gr oups li e the Process Church of the Final Judgement do, indeed, have Satanic eleme nts in their (one should remember) essentially Christian theology. Aleister Crowley, ever theatrical, was prone to use Satanic symbol ism in much the same way, tongue jutting in chee , as he was given to saying that he " sacrificed millions of children each year, " that is, that he masturbated. Cr owley once

1780 called a press conference at the foot of the Statue of Liberty, wher e he announced that he was burning his British Passport to protest Britain's invol vement in World War One. He tossed an empty envelope into the water. He was dead s erious, though, about the "Satanism" of Miltonian eternal rebellion, and the "Satani sm" of fundamentalism's dar fear of sexuality. The Devil, however; the Sat anic "god of evil" was an absurdity to him, as to all thin ing people, and he fre ely said so. The most popular form of "counterChristianity" to emerge in moder n times, though, was Anton Szandor LaVey's San Francisco-based Church of Sat an, founded April 30, 1966. LaVey's Church enjoyed an initial burst of press in terest, grew to a substantial size, and appeared to maintain itself during the cult ural drought of the 1970s. But LaVey's boo s, THE SATANIC BIBLE and THE SATANIC R ITUALS, have remained in print for many years, and his ideas seem to be enjoyin g a renewal of interest, especially among younger people, pun s and heavy metal f ans with a death-wish mostly, beginning in the middle years of the 1980s. By t hat time the Church of Satan had been largely succeeded by the Temple of Set. Th is is pure theatre; more in the nature of psychotherapy than religion. It is interesting to note Francis King's observation that before the Church of Satan began LaVey was involved in an occult group which included, among others, underground film ma er Kenneth Anger, a person well nown in Crowl ean circles. Of the rites of the Church of Satan, King states that "...most of its teachings and magical techniques were somewhat vulgarized versions of those of A leister Crowley's Ordo Templi Orientis." (MAN MYTH AND MAGIC, p 3204.) To wh ich we might add that, as with the OTO, the rites of the Church of Satan are man ifestly potent, but hardly criminal or murderous. LaVey, li e Gardner and unli e Crowley, appears to have "the comm on touch" -perhaps rather more so than Gardner. I determined to trace the Wiccan rumor to its source. As we shall see, in the very

year I "fell" into being a gnostic bishop, I also fell into the or iginal charters, rituals and paraphernalia of Wicca.

1781 THE CHARTER AND THE BOOK Being A Radical Revisionist History of the Origins of the Modern Wi tch Cult and "It was one of the secret doctrines of paganism that the Sun was the source, not only of light, but of life...The invasion of classical beliefs by the religions of Syria and Egypt which were principally solar, graduall y affected the conception of Apollo, and there is a certain later identification o f him with the suffering God of Christianity, Free - masonry and similar cults..." Aleister Crowley in Astrology, 1974 "...if GBG and Crowley only new each other for a short year or tw o, do you thin that would be long enough for them to become such good friends that gifts of personal value would be exchanged several times, and that GBG woul d have been able to aquire the vast majority of Crowley's effects after his death?" Merlin the Enchanter, personal letter, 1986 "...On the floor before the altar, he remembers a sword with a fla t cruciform tary Boo of come..." Stewart Farrar in What Witches Do, 1971 "Actually I did write a scholarly boo about the Craft; its title w as Inventing Witchcraft. . . But I spent most of the last fifteen years failing t o persuade Carl Weschc e of Llewellyn or any other publisher that there was a mar et for it." Aidan A. Kelly, Gnosis, Winter, 1992 "...the Gardnerian Boo of Shadows is one of the ey factors in w hat has become a far bigger and more significant movement than Gardner can have env isaged; so historical interest alone would be enough reason for defining it w hile first-hand evidence is still available..." Shadows, which he will have to copy out for himself in the days to

brass hilt, and a well-worn manuscript boo

The Boo

of Shadows.

of rituals - the heredi

Janet and Stewart Farrar in The Witches' Way, 1984 "It has been alleged that a Boo of Shadows in Crowley's handwriti ng was formerly exhibited in Gerald's Museum of Witchcraft on the Isle of Man. I ca n only say I never saw this on either of the two occasions when I stayed with G erald and Donna Gardner on the island. The large, handwritten boo depicted in Wi tchcraft Today is not in Crowley's handwriting, but Gerald's..." Doreen Valiente in Witchcraft for Tomorrow, 1978

1782

"Aidan Kelly...labels the entire Wiccan revival `Gardnerian Witchcra ft....' The reasoning and speculation in Aidan's boo are intricate. Briefly, his main argument depends on his discovery of one of Gardner's wor ing note boo s, Ye Boo of Ye Art Magical, which is in possession of Ripley International, Ltd...." Margot Adler in Drawing Down the Moon, 1979

PART ONE WAITING FOR THE MAN FROM CANADA I was, for the third time in four years, waiting a bit nervously for the Canadian executive with the original Boo of Shadows in the ramshac le offic e of Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum. "They're at the jail," a smiling secretary-type explained, "but we 've called them and they should be bac over here to see you in just a few minutes. " The jail? Ah, St. Augustine, Florida. "The Old Jail," was the `n ation's oldest city's' second most tasteless tourist trap, complete with cage-typ e cells and a moc gallows. For a moment I allowed myself to play in my head wi th the vision of Norm Des a, Ripley Operations Vice President and John Turner, the General Manager of Ripley's local operation and the guy who'd bought the Gerald Ga rdner collection from Gardner's niece, Monique Wilson, sitting in the slammer. But no, Turner apparently had just been showing Des a the town. I straightened my suit for the fiftieth time, and suppressed the comment. We were tal ing BIG his tory here, and big buc s, too. I gulped. The original Boo of Shadows. Maybe. It had started years before. One of the last people in America to be a fan of carnival sideshows, I was anxious to ta e another opportunity to go through the almost archetypally seedy old home that housed the original Ripley

's Museum. I had nown that Ripley had, in the nineteen seventies, acquired the Gardner stuff, but as far as I new it was all located at their Tennessee re sort museum. I thin I'd heard they'd closed it down. By then, the social liberali sm of the early seventies was over, and witchcraft and sorcery were no longer in e eping with a `family style' museum. It featured a man with a candle in his head, a Tantric s ull drin ing cup and frea show stuff li e that, but, I mean, witchcraf t is sacrilegious, as we all now. So, I was a bit surprised, when I discovered some of the Gardner s tuff - including an important historical document, for sale in the gift shop, in a case just opposite the little alligators that have "St.Augustine, Florida America's Oldest City" stic ered on their plastic bellies for the fol s bac home to use as a paper-weight. The pricetags on the occult stuff, however, were way out of my range.

1783 Bac again, three years later, and I decided, what the hell, so I as ed the cashier about the stuff still gathering dust in the glass case, and it was li e I'd pushed some ind of button. Out comes Mr. Turner, the manager, who whis s us off to a store ro om which is filled, FILLED, I tell you, with parts of the Gardner collection, mu ch of it, if not "for sale" as such, at least available for negotiation. Turner tol d us about acquiring the collection when he was manager of Ripley's Blac pool operation, how it had gone over well in the U.S. at first, but had lost popularit y and was now relegated for the most part to storage status. Visions of sugarplums danced in my head. There were many treasure s here, but the biggest plum of all, I thought, was not surprisingly, not to be seen . I'd heard all inds of rumors about the Boo of Shadows over the y ears, many of them conflicting, all of them intriguing. Rumor #1, of course, is that which accompanied the birth (or, depending on how one loo ed at it, the revival) of modern Wicca, the contemporary successor of ancient fertility cult s. It revolved around elemental rituals, secret rites of passage and a mythos of goddess and god that seemed attractive to me as a psychologically valid alternative to the austere, antisexual moralism of Christianity. T he Boo of Shadows, in this context, was the `holy boo ' of Wicca, copied out by hand by new initiates of the cult with a history stretching bac at least to th e era of witchburnings. Rumor number #2, which I had tended to credit, had it that Gerald Gardner, the `father of modern Wicca' had paid Aleister Crowley in his final year s to write the Boo of Shadows, perhaps whole cloth. The rumor's chief exponent was the respected historian of the occult, Francis King.

Rumor #3 had it that Gardner had written the Boo others had since

himself, which

copied and/or stolen. To the contrary, said rumor #4, Gardner's Museum had contained an old, even ancient copy of the Boo of Shadows, proving its antiquity. In more recent years modern Wiccans have tended to put some distan ce between themselves and Gardner, just as Gardner, for complex reasons, tended to distance himself in the early years of Wicca (circa 1944-1954) from the bla tant sexual magic of Aleister Crowley, "the wic edest man in the world" by so me accounts, and from Crowley's organization, the Ordo Templi Orientis. Why Gardner chose to do this is speculative, but I've got some idea. But, I'm getting ahea d of myself. While Turner showed me a blasphemous cross shaped from the body of two nude women (created for the 18th century infamous "Hellfire Clubs" in England a nd depicted in the MAN MYTH AND MAGIC encyclopedia; I bought it, of course) and a s tatue of Beelzebub from the dusty Garderian archives, a thought occurred to me. " You now," I suggested, "if you ever, in all this stuff, happen across a copy of The Boo of Shadows in the handwriting of Aleister Crowley, it would be of considerable historical value." I understated the case. It would be li e finding The Boo of Mormo n in Joseph Smith's hand, or finding the original Ten Commandments written not by God Himself, but by Moses, pure and simple. (Better still, eleven commandments, with a margin note, "first draft.") I didn't really expect anything to come of it , and in the months ahead, it didn't.

1784 In the meantime, I had managed to acquire the interesting document I first mistoo for Gerald Gardner's (long ac nowledged) initiation certificate in to Crowley's Thelemic magic al Ordo Templi Orientis. To my eventual surprise, I discovered that, not only was this not a simple initiation certificate for the Minerval (probationary-lowest) degree, but, to the contrary, was a license f or Gardner to begin his own chapter of the O.T.O., and to initiate members into the O.T.O. In the document, furthermore, Gardner is referred to as "Prince of Jerusalem," that is, he is ac nowledged to be a Fourth Degree Perfect Initiate in the Order. This, needless to say would usually imply years of dedicated training. Though Gardner had claimed Fourth Degree O.T.O . status as early as publication of High Magic's Aid,(and claimed even higher status in one edition) this runs somewhat contrary to both generally held Wiccan and contemporary O.T.O. orthodox understandings that the O.T.O. was then fallow in E ngland. At the time the document was written, most maintained, Gardner cou ld have nown Crowley for only a brief period, and was not himself deeply involve d in the O.T.O. The document is undated but probably was drawn up around 1945. As I said, it is understood that no viable chapter of the O.T.O. w as supposed to exist in England at that time; the sole active chapter was in Cali fornia, and is the direct antecedent of the contemporary authentic Ordo Templi Or ientis. Karl Germer, Crowley's immediate successor, had barely escaped death in a Concentartion Camp during the War, his mere association with Crowley being tanta mount to a death sentence. The German OTO had been largely destroyed by the Nazis, along with other freemasonic organizations, and Crowley himself was in declining hea lth and power, the English OTO virtually dead. The Charter also displayed other irregularities of a revealing na ture. Though the signature and seals are certainly those of Crowley, the text is in the decorative hand of Gerald Gardner! The complete text reads as fol

lows: Do what thou wilt shall be the law. We Baphomet X Degree Ordo Templi Orientis Sovereign Grand Master General of All English spea ing countries of the Earth do hereby authorise our Beloved Son Scire (Dr.G,B,Gardner,) Prince of Jerusalem to constitute a camp of the Ordo Templi Orientis, in the degree Minerval. Love is the Law, Love under will. o Witness my hand and seal Baphomet X

Leaving aside the misquotation from The Boo of the Law, which go t by me for some months and probably got by Crowley when it was presented to him for signature, the document is probably authentic. It hung for some time in Gardner's museum, possibly giving rise, as we shall see, to the rumor that Crowley wr ote the Boo of Shadows for Gardner. According to Doreen Valiente,and to Col. Lawr ence as well, the museum's descriptive pamphlet says of this document: "The collection includes a Charter granted by Aleister Crowley to G.B. Gardner (the Director of this Museum) to operate a Lodge of Crowley's frate rnity, the Ordo Templi Orientis. (The Director would li e to point out, however, t hat he has never

1785 used this Charter and has no intention of doing so, although to the b est of his belief he is the only person in Britain possessing such a Charter f rom Crowley himself; Crowley was a personal friend of his, and gave him the Ch arter because he li ed him." Col. Lawrence ("Merlin the Enchanter"), in a letter to me dated 6 December, 1986, adds that this appeared in Gardner's boo let, The Museum of Magic and Witchcraft. The explanation for the curious wording of the text, ta ing, as Dr . Gardner does, great pains to distance himself from Crowley and the OTO, may be hi nted at in that the boo let suggests that this display in the "new upper gallery" (page 24) was put out at a relatively late date when, as we shall discover, Gard ner was ma ing himself answerable to the demands of the new witch cult and not the long-dead Crowley and (then) relatively moribund OTO. Now, the "my friend Aleister" ploy might explain the whole thing. Perhaps, as some including Ms. Valiente believe, Aleister Crowley was desperate in hi s last years to hand on what he saw as his legacy to someone. He rec lessly handed out his literary estate, perhaps gave contradictory instruction to various of his r emaining few devotees (e.g. Kenneth Grant, Grady McMurtry, Karl Germer), and ma y have given Gardner an "accelerated advancement" in his order. Ms. Valiente, a devoted Wiccan who is also a dedicated see er afte r the historical truth, mentions also the claim made by the late Gerald Yor e to he r that Gardner had paid Crowley a substantial sum for the document. In a letter t o me dated 28th August, 1986, Ms. Valiente tells of a meeting with Yor e "...in Lo ndon many years ago and mentioned Gerald's O.T.O. Charter to him, whereon he told me, `Well, you now, Gerald Gardner paid old Crowley about ($1500) or so for that.. .' This may or may not be correct..." Money or friendship may explain the Charter. Still, one wonders. I have a Thelemic acquaintance who, having advanced well along the path of

Kenneth Grant's version of the OTO, went bac

to square one with th

e unquestionably authentic Grady McMurtry OTO. Over a period of years of substantia l effort, he made his way to the IVo `plus' status implied by Gardner's "Prince of Jerusalem" designation in the charter, and has since gone beyond. I am, myself, a Vo member of the OTO, as well as a chartered init iator, and can tell you from experience that becoming a Companion of the Royal Arch of Enoch, Perfect Initiate, Prince of Jerusalem and Chartered Initiator is a long and arduous tas . Gardner was in the habit, after the public career of Wicca emerge d in the 1950s, of downgrading any Crowleyite associations out of his past, and, a s Janet and Stewart Farrar reveal in The Witches' Way (1984, p3) there are thr ee distinct versions of the Boo of Shadows in Gerald Gardner's handwriting whi ch incorporate successively less material from Crowley's writings, though the last (termed "Text C" and cowritten with Doreen Valiente after 1953) is still heavily i nfluenced by Crowley and the OTO. Ms. Valiente has recently uncovered a copy of an old occult magazi ne contemporary with High Magic's Aid and from the same publisher, which discusses an ancient Indian document called "The Boo of Shadows" but apparently totall y unrelated to the Wiccan boo of the same name. Valiente ac nowledges that the e arliest text by Gardner nown to her was untitled, though she refers to it as a "Bo o of Shadows." It seems suspicious timing; did Gardner ta e the title from his pub lisher's magazine? Ms. Valiente observed to me that the "...eastern Boo of Shadows does not seem to have anything to do with witch-craft at all....is this whe re old Gerald first found the expression "The Boo of Shadows" and adopted it as a more poetical

1786 Boo '....I cidence...."

The claim is frequently made by those who wish to `salvage' a preG ardnarian source of Wiccan materials that there is a `core' of `authentic' material s. But, as the Farrars' recently asserted, the portions of the Boo of Shadows ". .which changed least between Texts A, B and C were naturally the three initiation rituals; because these, above all, would be the traditional elements which would ha ve been carefully preserved, probably for centuries...." (emphasis added) But what does one mean by "traditional materials?" The three initi ation rites, now much-described in print, all smac heavily of the crypto-freemasoni c ritual of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the OTO, and the various esoter ic neorosicrucian groups that abounded in Britain from about 1885 on, and which w ere, it is widely nown, the fountainhead of much that is associated with Gar dner's friend Crowley. The Third Degree ritual, perhaps Wicca's ultimate rite, is, esse ntially, a nonsymbolic Gnostic Mass, that beautiful, evocative, erotic and e soteric ritual written and published by Crowley in the Equinox, after attending a Russian Orthodox Mass in the early part of this century. The Gnostic Mass has had far-reaching influence, and it would appear that the Wiccan Third D egree is one of the most blatant examples of that influence. Ta e, for example, this excerpt from what is perhaps the most inti mate, most ituals, the nonsymbolic (that is, overtly sexual) Great Rite of the Third Degr ee initiation, as related by Janet and Stewart Farrar in The Witches' Way (p.34): secret and most sublime moment in the entire repertoire of Wicca r

don't profess to

now the answer; but I doubt if this is mere coin

name for a magical manuscript than, say `The Grimoire' or `The Blac

1787 The Priest continues: `O Secret of Secrets, That art hidden in the being of all lives, No t thee do we adore, For that which adoreth is also thou. Thou art That, and That am I. [Kiss] I am the flame that burns in the heart of every man, And in the core of every star. I am life, and the giver of life. Yet therefore is the nowledge of me the nowledge of death. I am alone, the Lord within ourselves, Whose name is Myste ry of Mysteries.' Let us be unambiguous as to the importance in Wicca of this ritual ; as the Farrars'put it (p.31) "Third degree initiation elevates a witch to the highest of the three grades of the Craft. In a sense,a third-degree witch is fully independent, answerable only to the Gods and his or her own conscie nce..." In short, in a manner of spea ing this is all that Wicca can offer a d evotee. With this in mind, observe the following, from Aleister Crowley's Gnostic Mass, first published in The Equinox about 80 years ago and routinely pe rformed (albeit ,usually in symbolic form) by me and by many other Bishops, Priest s, Priestesses and Deacons in the OTO and Ecclesia Gnostica (EGC) today. The fol lowing is excerpted from Gems From the Equinox, p. 372, but is widely availab le in published form: The Priest. O secret of secrets that art hidden in the being of al l that lives, not Thee do we adore, for that which adoreth is also Thou. Thou art That, and That am I. I am the flame that burns in every heart of man, and in the core of every star. I am Life, and the giver of Life; yet therefore is the nowl edge of me the nowledge of death. I am alone; there is no God where I am. So, then, where, apart from the Thelemic tradition of Crowley an d the OTO, is the "traditional material" some Wiccan writers seem to see with ne ar desperation? I am not trying to be sarcastic in the least, but even commonplac e self references used among Wiccans today, such as "the Craft" or the re frain "so mote

it be"are lifted straight out of Freemasonry (see, for example, Du ncan's Ritual of Freemasonry). And, as Doreen Valiente notes in her letter to me me ntioned before, "...of course old Gerald was also a member of the Co-Masons, and an ordinary Freemason..." as well as an OTO member. PART TWO THE REAL ORIGIN OF WICCA

We must dismiss with some respect the assertion, put forth by Marg ot Adler and others, that "Wicca no longer adheres to the orthodox mythos of the Boo of Many, if not most of those who have been drawn to Wicca in the la st three decades came to it under the spell (if I may so term it) of the legend of ancient Wicca. If that legend is false, then while reformists and revisionist apo logists (particularly the peculiar hybrid spawned in the late sixties unde r the name "feminist Wicca") may see other valid grounds for their practices, we at least owe it to those who have operated under a misapprehension to explai n the truth, and let the chips fall where they may.

Shadows."

1788 I believe there is a core of valid experience falling under the Wic can-neopagan heading, but that that core is the same essential core that lies at the truths exposed by the dreaded boogy-man Aleister Crowley and the` wic ed' pansexualism of Crowley's Law of Thelema. That such roots would be not just uncomf ortable, but intolerable to the orthodox traditionalists among the Wiccans, but e ven more so among the hybrid feminist "wiccans" may indeed be an understatemen t. Neopaganism, in a now archaic "hippie" misreading of ecology, mist a es responsible stewardship of nature for nature worship. Ancient pagans did not `wo rship' nature; to a large extent they were afraid of it, as has been pointed out to me by fol practioners. Their "nature rites" were to propitiate the caprice o f the gods, not necessarily to honor them. The first neopagan revivalists, Gardne r, Crowley and Dr. Murray, well understood this. Neopagan wiccans usually do not. In introducing a "goddess element" into their theology, Crowley and Gardner both understood the yin/yang, male/female fundamental p of the universe. Radical feminist neopagans have ta en this balance and it, however unintentionally, into a political feminist agenda, centered a near-monotheistic worship of the female principle, in a bizarre car of patriarchal Christianity. Bigotry, I submit, cuts both ways.

olarity altered around icature

I do not say these things lightly; I have seen it happen in my o wn time. IF this be truth, let truth name its own price. I was not sure, until Nor m and John got bac from the Old Jail. A couple of months earlier, scant days after hearing that I was to become a gnostic bishop and thus an heir to a corner of Crowley's legacy, I had punched on my answering machine, and there was the unexpected voice of John Tu rner saying that he had located what seemed to be the original Boo of Shadows in a n inventory list, locating it at Ripley's office in Toronto.

He said he didn't thin but he gave me

they would sell it as an individual item,

the name of a top official in the Ripley organization, who I prompt ly contacted. I eventually made a substantial offer for the boo , sight unseen, fig uring there was (at the least) a li elihood I'd be able to turn the story into a b oo and get my money bac out of it, to say nothing of the historical import. But, as I researched the matter, I became more wary, and confused ; Gardner's texts "A" "B" and "C" all seemed to be accounted for. began to suspect, this was either a duplicate of the "deThelemized" post1954 version with segments written by Gardner and Valiente and copied and recopied (a s well as distorted) from hand to hand since by Wiccans the world over. Maybe, I mused, Valiente had one copy and Gardner another, the l atter sold to Ripley with the Collection. Or, perhaps it was the curious notebo o discovered by Aidan Kelly in the Ripley files called Ye Boo of Ye Art Magical, the meaning of which was unclear. While I was chatting with Ms.Des a, Norm returned from his missio n, we introduced in best businessli e fashion, and he told me he'd get the boo , wh atever it might be, from the vault. Possibly, I

that point I figured I'd had be visiting on a routine ins manuscript with him.

The vault?! I sat there thin ing god tten a call from Toronto, and it seems the Ripley fol s hat they had. I had made a considerable offer, and at at least a nibble. As it so happened Norm would pection visit, so it was arranged he would bring the

nows what . Recently, I'd go

wanted me to ta e a loo at w

1789 Almost from the minute he placed it in front of me, things began to ma e some ind of sense. Clearly, this was Ye Boo of Ye Art Magical. Just as c learly, it was an unusual piece, written largely in the same hand as the Crowley Charter- that is, the hand of Gerald Gardner. Of this I became certain, because I had handwriting samples of Gardner, Valiente and Crowley in my possession. Ms. Va liente had been mindful of this when she wrote me, on August 8th, 1986: I have deliberately chosen to write you in longhand, rather than s end a typewritten reply, so that you will have something by which to jud ge the validity of the claim you tell me is being made by the Ripley organisation to have a copy of a "Boo of Shadows" in Gerald Gardner's handwriting and mine. If this is..."Ye Boo of Ye Art Magical," ....this is definitely in Gerald Gardner's handwriting. Old Gerald, however, had several styles of handwriting....I thin i t is probable that the whole MS. was in fact written by Gerald, and no other pers on was involved; but of course I may be wrong.... At first glance it appeared to be a very old boo , and it suggest ed to me where the rumors that a very old, possibly medieval Boo of Shadows had once been on display in Gardner's Museum had emerged from. r was indeed

that of an old volume, with the original title scratched out crudel y on the side and a new title tooled into the leather cover. The original was s ome mundane volume, on Asian nives or something, but the inside pages had bee n removed, and a ind of noteboo -- almost a journal -- had been substituted. As far as I could see, no dates appear anywhere in the boo . It i s written in en Valiente assured me that Gardner was apt to use several styles. I had the d istinct impression this "noteboo " had been written over a considerable per iod of time, days in the perhaps years, perhaps even decades. It may, indeed, date from his several different handwriting styles, although, as noted above, Dore

Any casual onloo er might see Ye Boo

in this light, for the cove

1930s when he lin ed up with a neorosicrucuian grouping that could have included among its members the legendary Dorothy Clutterbuc , who set Gardne r on the path which led to Wicca. Thin ing on it, what emerges from Ye Boo of Ye Art Magical is a d evelopmental set of ideas. Much of it is straight out of Crowley, but it is clearly the published Crowley, the old magus of the Golden Dawn, the A.A., and the O.T.O.

1790 Somewhere along the line it hit me that I was not exactly loo in g at the "original Boo of Shadows" but, perhaps, the outline Gardner prepa red over a long period of time, apparently in secret (since Valiente, a relatively e arly initiate of Gardner's, never heard of it nor saw it, according to her own accou nt, until recent years, about the time Aidan Kelly unearthed it in the Ripley collection long after Gardner's death). Dr. Gardner ept many odd noteboo s and scrapboo s that perhaps wo uld reveal much about his character and motivations. Turner showed me a Gardner scra pboo in Ripley's store room which was mostly cheeseca e magazine photograp hs and articles about actresses. Probably none are so evocative as Ye Boo of Ye Art Magical, discovered,it has been intimated,hidden away in the bac of an old sofa. I have the impression it was essentially un nown in and after Gar dner's lifetime, and that by the Summer of 1986 few had seen inside it; I new of on ly Kelly and my own party. Perhaps the cover had been seen by some along the line, accounting for the rumor of a "very old Boo of Shadows" in Gardner's Museum. If someone had seen the charter signed by Crowley ("Baphomet") bu t written by Gerald Gardner, and had gotten a loo , as well, at Ye Boo , they m ight well have concluded that Crowley had written BOTH, an honest error, but mayb e the source of that long-standing accusation. There is even a notation in the Rip ley catalog attributing the manuscript to Crowley on someone's say-so, but I ha ve no indication Ripley has any other such boo . Finally, if the noteboo is a sourceboo of any religious system, it is not that of medieval witchcraft, but th e twentieth century madness or sanity or both of the infamous magus Aleister Cr owley and the Thelemic/Gnostic creed of The Boo of the Law. As I sat there I read aloud familiar quotations or paraphrases fr om published material in the Crowley-Thelemic canon. This is not the "ancient re ligion of the Wise" but the modern sayings of " the Beast 666 " as Crowley was w

ont to style himself. But, does any of this invalidate Wicca as an expression of human s pirituality? It depends on where one is coming from. Certainly, the foundations of feminist Wicca and the modern cult of the goddess are challenged with the fact tha t the goddess in question may be Nuit, her manifestation the sworn whore, Our Lady B abalon, the Scarlet Woman. Transform what you will shall be the whole of histo ry, but THIS ma es what Marx did to Hegel loo li e slavish devotion. What Crowley himself said of this ind of witchcraft is not merely instructive, but an afront to the conceits of an era. "The belief in witchcraft," he observed, " was not all superstiti on; its psychological roots were sound. Women who are thwarted in their na tural instincts turn inevitably to all inds of malignant mischief, from slander t o domestic destruction..."

1791 For the rest of us, those who neither worship nor are disdainful of t he man who made sexuality a god or, at least, ac nowledged it as such, experien ce must be its own teacher. If Wicca is a sort of errant Minerval Camp of the OTO, gone far astray and far afield since the days Crowley gave Gardner a charter he "did n't use" but seemed to value, and a whole range of rituals and imagery that assa ult the senses at their most literally fundamental level; if this is true or sort of true, maybe its time history be owned up to. Mythos has its place and role, bu t so, too, does reality. PART THREE WICCA AS AN OTO ENCAMPMENT The question of intent looms large in the bac ground of this inqui ry. If I had to guess, I would venture that Gerald Gardner did, in fact, invent Wicc a more or less whole cloth, to be a popularized version of the OTO. Crowley, or his successor Karl Germer, who also new Dr. Gardner, li ely set "old Gerald" o n what they intended to be a Thelemic path, aimed at reestablishing at least a basic OTO encampment in England. Aiden Kelly's research wor on all this is most impressive, but at roc bottom I can't help feeling he still wants to salvage something original in W icca. In a way, there is some justification for this; the Wicca of Gerald Gardner, O TO initiate and advocate of sexual magic produced a fol sy, easier version of the O TO, but by the middle nineteen fifties some of his early "followers" not only creat ed a revisionist Wicca with relatively little of the Thelemic original intact, but co nvinced Gardner to go along with the changes. It is also possible, but yet unproven, that, upon expelling Kennet h Grant from the OTO in England, Germer, in the early 1950s, summoned Gardner to Ame rica to interview him as a candidate for leading the British OTO. Gardner, it is confirmed, came to America, but by then Wicca, and Dr. Gardner had begun to ta e their own, watered-down course. Today most Wiccans have no idea of t

heir origins. Let me close this section by quoting two interesting tidbits for y our consideration. First consider Doreen Valiente's observation to me concerning "the Parsons connection". I quote from her letter abovementioned, one of several she was ind matter.

enough to send me in 1986 in connection with my research into this

1792 ...I did now about the existence of the O.T.O. Chapter in Californi a at the time of Crowley's death, because I believe his ashes were sent over to them. He was cremated here in Brighton, you now, much to the scandal of the lo cal authorities, who objected to the `pagan funeral service.' If you are referring t o the group of which Jac Parsons was a member (along with the egregious Mr. L. Ro n Hubbard), then there is another curious little point to which I must draw your attention. I have a remar able little boo by Jac Parsons called MAGICK, GNOSTI CISM AND THE WITCHCRAFT. It is unfortunately undated, but Parsons died in 1952. The section on witchcraft is particularly interesting because it loo s forward to a revival of witchcraft as t he Old Religion....I find this very thought provo ing. Did Parsons write this around the time that Crowley was getting together with Gardner and perhaps com municated with the California group to tell them about it? We must remember that Ms. Valiente was a close associate of Gardne r and is a dedicated and active Wiccan. She, of course, has her own interpret ation of these matters. The OTO recently reprinted the Parsons "witchcraft" essays in Freedom is a Two Edged Sword , a postumous collection of his writings. It does in deed seem that Gardner and Parsons were both on the same wave-length at about the s ame time. The other matter of note is the question of the length of Gardner's association with the OTO and with Crowley personally. My informant Col. Lawren ce, tells me that he has in his possession a cigarette case which once belonged t o Aleister Crowley. Inside is a note in Crowley's hand that says simply: `gift of GBG, 1936, A. Crowley'." (Personal letter, 6 December, 1986) The inscription could be a mista e, it could mean 1946, the period of the Charter. But, as Ms. Valiente put it in a letter to me of 8th December, 198 6: If your friend is right, then it would mean that old Gerald actuall y went through a

charade of pretending to Arnold Crowther that Arnold was introducin g him to Crowley for the first time - a charade which Crowley for some reason was w illing to go along with. Why? I can't see the point of such a pretence; but th en occultists sometimes do devious things... Crowley may have played out a similar scene with G.I. Gurdjieff, th e other enlightened merry pran ster of the first half of the twentieth centu ry. Gnosticism and Wicca, the subjects of Jac Parsons' essays, republ ished by the OTO and Falcon Press in 1990, are the two most successful expressions t o date of Crowley's dream of a popular solar-phallic religion. Maybe I'm wr ong, but I thin Aleister and Gerald may have coo ed Wicca up. If Wicca is the OTO's prodigal daughter in fact, authorized direct ly by Crowley, how should Wiccans now relate to this? How should Crowley's success ors and heirs in the OTO deal with it?

1793 Then too, what are we to ma e of and infer about all this business o f a popular Thelemic-Gnostic religion? Were Crowley, Parsons, Gardner and other s trying to do something of note with regard to actualizing a New Aeon here which bears scrutiny? Or is this mere speculation, and of little significance for the Gr eat Wor today? If the Charter Crowley issued Gardner is, indeed, the authority up on which Wicca has been built for half a century, then it is perhaps no coincidenc e that I acquired that Charter in the same year I was consecrated a Bishop of the Gnostic Catholic Church. Further, it was literally days after my long searc h for the original of Gardner's BOOK OF SHADOWS ended in success that the Hol y Synod of T Michael Bertiaux's Gnostic Church unanimously elected me a Missiona ry Bishop, on August 29, 1986. Sometimes, I muse, the Inner Order revo ed Wicca's charter in 1986 ,placing it in my hands. Since I hold it in trust for the OTO, perhaps Wicca has, in symbolic form, returned home at last. It remains for the Wiccans to, litera lly (since the charter hangs in my temple space), to read the handwriting on the wall. " Witchcraft always has a hard time, until it becomes established and changes its name." - Charles Fort

1794 Paganism at the Crossroads by S ytoucher These are tric y and dangerous times. Paganism has grown in si ze to the point where we no longer enjoy the luxury of obscurity. We now face a cho ice that all initiatory paths face at some time in their development; whether to remain a viable initiatory path, and if so under what circumstances; or to devolve i nto a mere religion. I'd better bac trac some readers may not understand what an in itiatory path is or how it differs from a religion. Others may thin paganism is a r eligion already, and wonder what I mean by suggesting it is or could be something els e. A defense often used against fundamentalist Christians and othe rs who attac paganism on a religious basis is to say "We are not li e you, only d ifferent in a few not so important ways. We are a religion, li e you, another bel ief system, harmless, ordinary. We worship the Earth, the Goddess, the same way you worship your abstract God. You should extend tolerance to us for the same re ason you extend it to Muslims or Buddhists or Catholics or Jews. When you single us out as something weird, you are exhibiting hysterical paranoia." It's an e ffective defense, but somewhat disingenuous. We are different. We aren't just a religion. We are at presen t, and in my view should try to remain, a path of initiation. It may be inevitab le that a religion grow up around us. It may even be desirable to employ such a religion as a cloa , or a doorway, to both. But a Pagan religion is also a threat to the Pagan path of initiation. We need to ensure that the growth, if it occurs , is that of a tree from a seed, not of a pearl from a grain of sand.

A tree produces more seeds. A pearl only hide the sand to save the oyster from discomfort. What is an initiatory path? And what, then, is initiation?

We touch here upon a word badly misunderstood by many Pagans.

Initiation is one thing; an initiation ritual is another. A person is not an init iate, in the sense I mean here,just because he or she has passed through an initi ation ritual. Initiation is a personal experience in which one becomes aware of my steries; realities that were previously hidden and which cannot be communicated by one person to another in words or symbols, but must be experienced directly, firsthand. This last point is crucial. One finds "mysteries" communicated in coven initiations or even at festivals, but these are only hidden meanings of symbols and tools u sed in the Craft, or of stories told about the Gods. The fact that they can be communicated ma es them not true mysteries, only secrets. iation is an initiatory path. Most religions start out as paths of initiation.

A body of teaching, practice, and ritual which facilitates init

1795 Religion tends to be conservative. Initiation, however, is alway s revolutionary...-....It forms a person's life, bringing inner peace, greater i nsight into the wor ings of fate, and awareness of the connections lin ing all thing s, as well as magical power. If it were a commonplace event, if people went throu gh initiation as surely as they go through puberty, we would have a far different and better world. Even if the circle of initiates included a significant minority of the population, the magical effect of such a number of altered minds on the world would be profound and positive. Of course, this very fact means that i nitiatory paths will be opposed by those interests, both human and non human, that a re opposed to positive change. The opposition is not really a conspiracy; it seem s more than an automatic reaction, a law of nature. Initiation is not an instantaneous event, but one that occurs t hrough years of effort and devotion. It seems li ely that there is no end to the pr ocess, and that the idea of there "fully enlightened being" is a peculiar Oriental f antasy. There are times, it is true, when revelation comes in a flash li e lightni ng, but such moments are exclamation mar s punctuating a story that unfolds chapt er by chapter. Many tools and methods for achieving initiation have evolved ov er the ages. Some are intellectual, aiming to expand consciousness through though t: Vedanta and the Caballah come to mind as among the most impressive. Others are ritual or devotional; Ba hti Yoga, chanting the names of the Gods, drawing down the Moon, the meditations of the mon astics. Some are also physical: Hatha Yoga, Sufi dancing, some forms of martial a rt. Some aim at expanding consciousness directly by stretching it to its limits; med itation, Raja Yoga, guided visualizations, vision quest. Then there are sex magic, drugs, drum ming, austerities,use of talismans, self discipline, and so on. Most of t hese techniques evolved outside a pagan context, but they are amendable to incorporation in a pagan framewor . Initiation rituals

, of course, are another method, but they are seldom sufficient by themselves. Initiates can be found into the context of any religion,includi ng those least similar to Neopaganism. St. Francis of Assisi was an initiate, and many a Sufi and Caballist, Buddhist and Yogi, Taoist and shaman. A modern Neopagan initiate has far more in common with them than with an illiterate, superstitious paga n of the Roman Empire, gobbling the flesh of sacrificed animals while contemplating how to bac stab his competitors. All initiates of all paths have a common heart; it is religions, which circle the periphery of the sacred, that differ. established religions don't ma e it easy. For every illuminated Catholic saint, there are hundreds of burned heretics. Indeed, many post Constantinian saints escaped burning themselves only by miracles greater than those for which they were c anonized. Burning is passe nowadays but condemnation for heresy is not, and th rives as well in most Protestant denominations. So bound about with the fetters of f aith is the Christian that initiation is virtually impossible, except for minds.

But, while Christian, Jewish and Muslim initiates do exist,the

1796 This is no accident. The tragedy of Christianity is that it began so well and decaye d so quic ly into such a parody of its beginnings. This is a recurring phenomeno n. Again and again, the initiatory message has presented itself in some new form and met with some success,only to be hidden in a maze of illusions, and crusted o ver with barriers and restrictions. There are always counterattac s from out side the new path, from established religions, but the truly effective counteratt ac s come from within, so that what began as a bright new hope becomes a mere relig ion. The priests, the figures in authority, forge an instrument for the furth erance of their own authority, to which genuine initiation is a serious threat. The initiatory impulse is carefully bled off into harmless channels, and all magic outside those channels is ruthlessly suppressed. There is a great deal of magic in Christian monastic orders,and more still in Hindu and Buddhist ashrams, or wielded by wandering saddhus. But these illuminated souls, both Western and Ea stern, are sworn to poverty, chastity, humility. Many do not reproduce, ensuring tha t, if there is a genetic component to magic, it will be wea ened by removing its best practitioners from the gene pool. Too, in renouncing the world, they ensure that their spiritual insight will play a small role shaping events. In contrast, a few s ecret initiatory paths remain active and true to their original mission. These paths , which include Hermeticism, the Caballah, surviving shamanic traditions, and a few branches of Sufism, have ma de themselves non threatening in a different way. They continue to liv e in the world and to learn and teach practical as well as spiritual magic, but in such tiny numbers and in so furtive a fashion that they hold little promise of genuine large scale transformation. There is not really anything wrong with this; such secret orders have acted over the centuries to preserve the Mysteries, not to spread them. Without them, efforts to brea the chains on a large scale would be

to no avail. But Paganism is different. Neopaganism is unique at this time, though not historically in that it is a genuine initiatory path that has grown large. Moreover, in its diversity and flexibility, its protean and progress ive nature, it promises to incorporate all of the virtues of the other surviving pa ths. It may not be the most advanced, the most powerful, or the most aesthetically r efined,but these characteristics can all be absorbed from the smaller paths which pos sess them, for Paganism is an all gobbling magical amoeba, suc ing up the mythos, m ethods, and nowledge of every other path in existence. Once again, an initiatory path threatens to brea out and ma e some chang es in reality. On schedule, opposition has begun to arise. As always, some of the opposition is from the outside, but I d we need to be concerned about that. A strain of paranoia is built into our origin myths and traditions, and is always a greater danger than the persec ution we fear. The external opposition has seldom been very effective against any r elatively genteel sort, mostly involving propaganda. However, propaganda is l egitimate (they have a right to express their opinions about what we do, as we have the right to spea in counterpoint.) There may be more serious difficulties, eve n occasional violence, but the Burning Times are gone for good, barring a complet e collapse of civilization. We have more important things to worry about within our own ran s. The rapid increase in our numbers in the last few decades means th ere are many newcomers. Newcomers are ripe for exploitation, both monetary and p olitical, and

on't thin

1797 both have begun to occur. The first fills me with amusement and outra ge. The second is more alarming. There seems to be a growing desire in some quarters to commerci alize Neopaganism and profit from it. That's only natural, but when cryst al athames go for $1,400 and classes are taught in return for a pledge of a percen tage of the students' income in perpetuity, somebody is getting fleeced. This i s bad enough, but not nearly as bad as what might happen in reaction. Better a crowd of poorer and wiser novices , the huc sters filling the role of the Dweller on the Threshold, than a Paganism re duced from a path of initiation to a mere religion, its bright promise gone dull, as have so many others. The seeds of this development lie chiefly in individuals we mig ht call Pagan politicians, and in our response to them. They may not be high init iates or powerful magicians, but they are s illful at organizing, they li e t o stri e poses in public, and they now how to wor the media. Sometimes they appe ar on television to say "This is what Paganism is. This is what Witchcraft is," self appointed spo espersons for the entire Pagan community. Their power over the Craft may be small, but it could easily grow as the Craft grows, as they sin the ir hoo s into more and more beginners. An experienced initiate is unli ely to be moved by a picture on television, or a story in the newspaper. It is otherwise for a novi ce. When first appraising something, it is the surface one sees. And there are two dangers in this trend; First, that insightful, intuitive, independent people, the i nd who would ma e good Witches, maybe turned off by the media spectacle (analogy: What is your reaction to the words "New Age?".) Secondly, that those who are not repelled may develop a ind of mundane "Neopaganism," a mere religion, based as o ther religions are on faith, dogma, and prescribed observances, conservative (in th e sense of resisting progress, not of voting Republican) and anti initiatory. There may be points in common

between it and us (such as an environmental ethic or "worship" (how I despise that word!) of a Goddess), as a baboon might wear a tuxedo, but the heart and soul would be gone. Anyone who sought initiation would have to pass the gauntl et of this other paganism first and then unlearn this religion to approach the new pa th. Few could be expected to do so. It is important to recognize these politicos for what they are. They are our would be clergy who, li e Christian priests,Muslim mullah and Jewish rabbis, would be religious leaders but,with rare exceptions, no initiates. Their authority would derive from accepted doctrines and from political acumen, rather tha n spiritual awareness. Pagan pontiff pretenders are not necessarily malevolent, but they do not comprehend the purpose of initiation or the fundamental ways in whic h Paganism differs, not just from this or that religion, from all religions. Co nsequently, they do not understand that priests, ministers,rabbis, and so forth are n ot good role models for Pagan spiritual leaders, even if allowances are made for differing value systems. Paganism, as currently practiced, is not simply a different religion, but a different category of thing altogether. Not only d oes it not suffer without an organization comparable to that of established rel igions, but creating such an organization may bury us. The bishops who created the Catholic Church were not particular ly evil men. But they were misguided, and the result of their labor was disastrou s. Yet some movement on this road is inevitable. It is the fruit of growth, a s ign that a path of initiation has matured into a serious threat to the status quo. I t represents a counterattac by the forces of inertia. Let's not be unduly alarmist. We are not in immediate danger, but the clouds can be seen on the horizon, and we need to prepare ourselves, and co nsider whether

1798 anything can be done to avoid the usual fate of an initiatory path at the crossroads. All our predecessors, on reaching this juncture, have ta en the wrong turning. But we have ;advantages former initiatory paths lac ed. T hat no one has succeeded up to now is not so imposing an obstacle as it might seem. One of our advantages is the First Amendment to the United Stat es Constitution and similar provisions, in fact and tradition if not la w, guaranteeing religious liberty in all Western democracies. It is li terally impossible for a Pagan Catholic Church, even if one comes into exist ence, to exile or execute dissident Pagans, as was done to dissident Christians after the Council of Nicaea. It is unli ely th at any Pagan organization,or that of any other religion, could get a modern Weste rn government do its dirty wor to any significant degree. Overt persecution is redu ced from a terror to a nuisance. That's no small achievement. Another advantage is modern information technology. Communicat ion of ideas is now so easy, and suppression of them so difficult, that to contain or channel or eliminate the initiatory message will be harder than ever before, and may be impossible. Of course, the downside of this development is the proliferation of blatant nonsense. But I thin that is an accep table price. Better the truth be heard whispering through shouted lies and bellow ed folly than that it not be heard at all. The third, subtlest and possibly the greatest advantage we have over our predecessors is science. has been

uncovered by scientists, although all that is useful as well. I mea n the attitudes of science. I mean the methods of science. Above all, I mean the v ision of science. Than s to science, we no longer thin of all nowledge as being only in its sacred and spiritual and aesthetic dimensions though these are certainly important but in its technical dimensions as well, as see the laws and principles that underpin magic, analogous to the laws of physics that

By science I do not mean any particular bit of

nowledge which

underpin technology.

Best of all: Than s to science, we are not limited to what we now today. We understand that even our best picture of reality is only an approxim ation, that we will have a better picture tomorrow. This gift promises to upset th e creeping authoritarianism that has ruined so many paths of initiation and cre ated so many religions.

1799 These are potent advantages. I believe they allow us the possibi lity of success. But not the certainty. As we approach the crossroads, the re are a number of things that need doing. Some of these steps are simply a matter o f eeping our attitudes in the right places. Others involve research, development , and artistic creation. Others still involve magical tas s. We need to understan d that modern Paganism, though built on the past, is not limited by it, that we ar e capable of improving on our ancestor's wisdom even to the extent that their wi sdom is not a product of our own romantic imagination, which is large measure it i s. We need to recognize, once and for all, and say so, that our origin myths are j ust that: Wicca is not a survival from the pre Christian past, but an eclectic/creat ive construct meant to imitate what such a survival should ideally be. Its resemb lance, and that of Neopaganism in general, to ancient paganism in any of it s multitude of forms is slight and ultimately besides the point. We need to do these things because they will allow us to ta e t he next step, which is to expand Paganism, as a path of initiation, to its potenti al. We cannot do that so long as we are loc ed into an old model real or romantic ized. The initiatory paths of the past have failed. Therefore, we need somethi ng better than what has gone before. We can ta e the essentials of Neopaganism, th e broad stro es of its mythology and ritual, as a starting point, but we must go bey ond that start. First, we need to penetrate beneath the level of religious symb olism to what might be called the physics of magic, the nuts and bolts and laws of nature that account for what magic does and is. Next to the initiatory experien ce itself, which can never be communicated or replaced by anything that point cannot be emphasized too much or too often the physics of magic would be the deepest lev el of understanding, accounting for all forms of symbolic nowledge. I ha ve developed on system of laws which I believe to be wor able. (An acc ount of those laws will appear in an upcoming issue of Enchante.) It is the duty

of every scientifically minded reader to rip them apart as best as possible, to test them, and improve on them. Secondly, we need to improve our tool chest of spiritual method s. Much of the wor has already been done by initiates outside Paganism. All we ha ve to do is translate it and incorporate it within our own framewor . At the sa me time, an expanded and improved body of poetic ritual would be useful. A recognition of both the possibility and the need would be a v alid step. We must ac nowledge that Yoga can meditate us into a corner, that the C aballah theorizes rings around us, and that any good shamanic lineage wor s magic to put us to shame. We must also insis t that Paganism has advantages over these that should not be surrendered, and wor t o incorporate what other paths can teach us into our own framewor . These accomplishments would serve to strengthen and fortify the initiatory path of Paganism. It will need all the strength it can get if it is to r esist turning into a religion. But there are other things that need doing as well , on both the communicative and magical fronts.

1800 Those of us with active pens must communicate the idea of an init iatory path that lies within the mythical and ritual structure of the Pagan reli gion, as it out to and once did lie within all religions. There is, at present, no established Pagan doctrine or dogma, no established pagan clergy, and no establi shed Pagan pantheon, and this also must be made clear. The magical side of the battle may be the most important one. Here, the guiding principle should be a clea r visualization of what we want Paganism to be. Should exoteric Pagan religions grow up around the initiatory c ore, then, ideally, we would want the priest/esse/s of this religion to be init iates. But this may not be practicable. First, many of us are unsuited for or unint erested in the role of ministering to those who are unready for initiation. Second , there may be too many newcomers to Paganism (by some estimates the fastest growin g religion in North America) and too few initiates. I believe we could agree on two goals; a viable and visible ini tiatory tradition must be maintained within the religion and no exoteric pri esthood must be allowed to gain preeminence over the path. To those ends, then, the following magical wor ings are suggested. Weave the Net. There is a tenuous telepathic lin among all in itiates. This can be invo ed as part of the opening of any major magical wor , whi ch will strengthen both the wor and the net. Some covens and individuals a lready do this. Reach out the heart's fiery hand and feel the love of one another, b oth within the coven and beyond it, setting aside the quarrels of the mind, poles o f a tipi each supporting each, moving faster, faster,circles made of love. In thi s way, a synergistic entity, a collective consciousness, may be generated, in corporating all our diversity yet stronger than any of us alone. This consciousness can be invo ed li e any deity, and can be a guide and empowerment. We can give it names; there will be private names nown to individual covens or solitaries, but among us all the

name is Love. Shine li e a Beacon. Another wor ing, which I feel is appropria te to a Full Moon ritual, is one to avoid the light under a bushel syndrome, to i lluminate all minds equipped w ith eyes to see. The metaphor of a lighthouse beac on seems appropriate; we can visualize this light shining brightly, overpower ing any attempt to hide it, so that truth cannot be any [who want] to understand it, initiation cannot be denies to those capable of attaining it. Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom; or, Divide and Rule. Assume that a mundane Paganism must arise; above all we must not allow any one sect or den omination of the Pagan religion to achieve preeminence over the others. It doesn't m atter how much we li e or disli e what the leaders of this or that sect are saying. Any Pagan doctrine will always be wrong, even if it's right, because initiatio n cannot be conveyed in words or symbols. We can,through our magic, encourage d iversity and creativity in the ran s of newcomers and noninitiate leaders, preferring chaos to conformity, and subtly bend the path of discourse so that it leads toward initiation rather than away from it. We must a void the temptation to encourage a unified, strong Paganism, and that temptat ion will arise! A fractious, splintered, disorganized, and confusingly multi headed Paganism may be somewhat embarrassing when it appears on networ news or in Time mag azine. But if the initiatory tradition is clearly visible within, we will be far b etter served by chaos than by an order which serves its own purposes, not ours. I believe certainly I hope that these steps can preserve the Neopagan path of initiation, prevent its burial under the mantle of religion, and per mit what has never before happened: genuine, large scale, beyond the point of no return brea out of the Mysteries, leading to the transformation of human culture and this planet assuming, of course, that civilization survives the crisis of the co ming years.