Page of Pentacles

Congregationalist Wiccan Association of BC 5196 Moscrop Street Burnaby, British Columbia V5G 2G4 www.cwabc.org

C.C.C.C.C.W.W.W.W.W.A.A.A.A.A.B. C.B. C.B. C.B. C.B. C.

#27 July 2007 c.e.

$12/yr, included with membership.

Board of Directors changes

Daniel van Koughnett resigned from the Board of Directors on the 6th of June, 2007, without giving areason. Angela Gallant was appointed to replace himand serve out the remainder of this year.On the 1st of July Debra Eilers, Chair of theBoard, announced her intention to not seek re-electionat this year’s Annual General Meeting in August.“This year has been very challenging for me due tohealth concerns of both my husband and myself.Unfortunately it has taken a toll and I must take timeto regain my health and minimize the stress in my life.I regret any inconvenience this may cause but I amconfident that CWA-BC will continue and thrive inmy absence. I will be happy to advise or be useful inwhatever capacity the new Board sees fit for me andas my health will allow.”Also on the 1st of July Samuel Wagar, Secretary-Treasurer of the Board, announced his intention to notseek re-election: “I would be willing to assist whoeverends up in the Secretary and Treasurer positions tolearn the ropes for a month or two after that. I will bewilling to have our home continue to act as theOfficial Address of CWA-BC until such time as themembers change it. It is my desire to concentrate onmy relationship with Anne, first, and my local Templeand coven. The organization as a whole cannot beviable if it is the project of its founding membersprimarily, and my life has been eaten up by it for longenough already.”

New clergy candidate

On the 6th of June, Kam Abbott of the NanaimoTemple of the Green Cauldron was approved to begintraining toward Ordination in the CWA. He joinsMeredith Kimber and Craig Burnett in training in thatTemple, and Anne Doré of Vancouver-Burnaby.

Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of the CWA-BC willhappen on the 11th of August at 3322 Norfolk Street,Port Coquitlam from 2-4 pm. This is the annualbusiness meeting of the CWA-BC Society and it iswhere our Board of Directors are elected, andamendments to the bylaws and constitution and othermatters effecting the entire church are decided.Members can attend in person and vote or theycan send their votes by a proxy form (included).Proxies can be carried by any member of the CWA-BC and can vote on anything except bylaw changes.Deadline for bylaw proposals for the AGM agendais the 26th of July - they must be sent out to allmembers two weeks in advance to be voted on.In order to book space (if necessary) and preparerefreshments and so on, could people who areplanning to attend please notify our hostess, DebEilers, at eilersd@shaw.ca, by two weeks in advanceof the AGM.

“Marrying” credential issued

After consulting the provincial Vital StatisticsOffice, the Board found that we were able toauthorize more than one qualified person per Templeto hold our credential. Due to the emergency situationin Nanaimo -two weddings scheduled for one day,Daniel van Koughnett’s illness, and other factors, wehave authorized Sally Kimber to perform marriages.The Board will be meeting to decide how manycredentials to issue and under what circumstances onthe 15th of July.

2You might sometimes hear people speaking of their “Matron” or “Patron” Goddess or God and oftenpeople in the Wiccan religion assume the names of Goddesses or Gods that they are close to asnicknames or Craft names. Sometimes people are justbeing “mysterious” or posing but many times peopleare talking about real and special relationships thatthey have formed, relationships that are important intheir spiritual lives.How do these close relationships form and whatdo they mean in our spiritual lives? In particular whydo we get involved in personal, devotional,relationships? And how can people that are lookingfor these relationships find them and know that theyare real?In a polytheistic religion people have relationshipsof respect and worship with a number of differentGoddesses and Gods. Generally, however, we findthat we are really close and tight with only a coupleof deities and that we have friendly but more distantrelationships with the others.There are generally three ways that Matron orPatron relationships are formed (and, by the way,these relationships are not always exclusive, althoughthey usually are, and we may have these relationshipswith different deities as we change and grow):1) The God chooses us. For whatever reason, orfor no reason that we can really tell a Goddess orGod will tap us on the shoulder and say, “you aremine.” Sometimes it’s as clear as that, but more oftenthe realization of Her or His interest grows – youmay find images of black cats and actual black catscoming to be more common in your life, in oddcoincidental moments, or a particular word or nameof a deity will keep appearing in your reading, ordreams will point you to investigate and you will havea sense of realization when you know that Bast wantsto have you as Her servant.2) We come to a clearer understanding of who wefundamentally are and believe that a particularGoddess or God represents the best and strongestexpression of the type of person that we are – ananimal lover who strikes up a relationship with Pan asthe shepherd and “Piper at the Gates of Dawn,”protector of the animals, or a hunter who connectswith Herne the hunter and hunted, a homebody whoconnects with Hestia and so on.3) The Goddess or God represents or embodiessomething that we desire to be and She or He willhelp us to become stronger in that area of our lives.For example a person who wanted to be moreeloquent would work with Mercury, a person whowanted to be more graceful and attractive wouldconnect with Freda Erzulie, and someone whowanted to hone their skills would get together withLugh or Brigid.In all cases, this is not something for nothing. TheGods demand that you do the work and that youserve them wholeheartedly in their area of particularinterest, in return for Their help. This points back tothe problem of ethical behaviour – you makeagreements with the Gods and you are obliged touphold your end of the agreement. Be careful whatyou agree to and be careful that you know Whom youare serving – a War Goddess like the Morrigan is nota kindly Mother and She dislikes being treated likeone, The God Dionysus does not like people who areinclined to temperate behaviour but demandspassionate excess, and so on.It’s rather like having a powerful friend who takesyou on as a protégé. In the great old Roman tradition,a powerful person was evaluated by the number andquality of their protégés and in more recent timesthere are “Old Boy’s networks” of graduates of eliteschools who advance the interests of deserving youngtalent from their school. In other words, devotingyourself to the God does not automatically guaranteeyou Their wholehearted support – it has to be earned– but that devotion gets Their attention.Some Wiccans believe, along with Dion Fortune,that “All Goddesses are one Goddess, All Gods areOne God, and the Two are One in Love.” In this veinwe often hear people speak of “The Goddess” and

Who Was that Goddess I Saw You With Last Night?

(finding and relating with your Matron and Patron deities)

by Sam Wagar

Baby! Rowan Brooke has been born to Andrea of the North Okanagan Temple! Marriage! Ivannia and Jonathan Halls of Temple of the Green Cauldron (Nanaimo Temple) were married on the 23rd of June by Daniel van Koughnett and Angela Flegel!

2006-7 Provincial Board of Directors:Chair: Debra Eilers Vice-Chair: Sally Kimber Secretary-Treasurer: Samuel Wagar Membership, Diane Morrison Public Relations: Angela Gallant Temple Representative (non-voting): Anne Doré (Van.-Burnaby)

“The God” as standing in for the female principle andthe male principle, for Shri and Vishnu, creativity andits realization, energy and matter. But these genericforces cannot have enough distinct personality todevelop a relationship with – just as my friends havenames and I love and live with one individual woman(not “All Women”), so my relationships to the divineare personal. I believe that the Goddesses and Godsshare the quality of divine power, that purity of focusand intention, the unchanging quality of eternity, andperhaps also gender, with each other, but they areotherwise distinct Beings who relate with me, or not,as They individually desire.Because the Gods are not well served by generic,dispassionate recognition or by rote performance of rituals and obligations, although such recognition ispart of the duty of a Pagan religious person, as anexpression of general piety which pleases the Gods,specific Gods impose specific demands. A passionatelife, one that involves the Gods, is so much moresatisfying for human beings and passionate devotionto the Paths of our Matrons and Patrons will developus as human beings and as Pagans.(Recommended reading: Roberto Calasso

The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony

, Neil Gaiman

American Gods

, Euripedes

The Bacchae,

and

Hippolytus

, James Hillman

A Terrible Love of War

Temple News

Vancouver-Burnaby Temple

Our Temple’s MidSummer Sabbat on the 20

hadthirteen people in attendance. At this turn of theWheel we honour our achievements, our courage, ourabilities. We look forward to winning battles,accomplishing our projects, creating beauty. As thesun stands high up in the sky we must say: “I AM!”“I CAN!” and “I WILL!”Each of us, in turn, stepped into the centre of ourcircle and took a moment to think of what thing thatwe had accomplished in the past that we are mostproud of and one thing that we will accomplish thisyear. Most of us spoke this aloud. What a range of things to celebrate: jobs, losing weight, being able toteach, learning! We offered our accomplishments upto the Gods, asking for their help in the achievementsof the coming year.Then we came together to create a web in thebright, sunny colours of summer, weaving it to blessand energize everyone’s desire. We tossed balls of coloured wool back at forth at random across thecircle, while chanting. After a while the tangled massglowed with power and a sense of connected energy.We were literally as well as figuratively connectingwith one another. At the end, however, we each cutourselves free and everyone took a segment of theweb home to use as a reserve of energy and areminder of our commitment to our goals andaccomplishments.Let me add that our Temple rituals are fullyaccessible (and one new person wheeled herself intothe circle this time) and that we welcome teenagersas well as children accompanied by a parent orguardian.On the 29

of June our regular coffee meetbrought out 15 people, including several new faces.There was a round of introductions and then vigorousconversation on a variety of topics. Sam was mainlyin a discussion about Pagan relationship ethics,especially around polyamoury, so he can’t report oneverything else that was going on – there were booksmentioned, including one on astrology, and discussionof finding a group to work with. It was a really goodtime, although Anne was unable to be there thismonth. The next meet-up will again be at SacredSpace bookstore, 29 West Pender Street, the lastFriday of the month (July 27

) from 7-9 pm. SacredSpace, a nice little bookstore/café, is just behindTinseltown at the Stadium skytrain station.Anne and I are performing two weddings thismonth, on the 7

and the 28

, and we’re reallylooking forward to them. One will be out in PointGrey and the other at Crescent Beach.At the beginning of August, we will be attendingthe 15

Annual Gathering for Life on Earth. ThisPagan gathering and campout is one of the highlightsof the year in Lower Mainland, BC. It happens everyyear near Squamish, over the August civic holidaylong weekend.Sam spent June 28

writing five civil service testsin hopes of getting a job with the federal government.