The Fool and the Moon

First Freedom First.org – A Video You Should Watch

2008-04-06T06:44:00.000-07:00

I sat with my morning coffee today and watched all the way through the presentation by First Freedom First entitled “Everything You Always Wanted to Know about the Separation of Church and State … But Were Afraid to Ask!”

It was originally recommended to me because of the interview of Roberta Steward , but I sat glued to the monitor listening to Peter Coyote introduce his guests and discuss the various topics that are associated with religious issues.

I cannot condense down into a blog entry all the material presented, as the video is a bit long (I believe two hours). But all the topics covered are associated with our basic freedom to choose. It is hosted by First Freedom First and is a joint venture between Americans United for Separation of Church and State and The Interfaith Alliance Foundation.

The interview with Roberta Steward was intelligent, emotional and precise in the issue presented, the process she encountered and the ultimate resolution for the benefit of all who were pursuing the individual’s right to choose. As I have her to thank for her work on this and the Pentacle on my ex-husbands grave in Arlington, I watched with the intention of support. What I came away with was admiration for one woman’s pursuit of what is right, what the individual is entitled to and achieving a milestone in our right to choose. She was articulate; she came across as knowledgeable and sincere in her beliefs.

The other topics were approached with the same kind of sincerity and knowledge base. Also discussed were intelligent design in public schools, the individuals right to end of life choices, a woman’s right to choose, same sex marriages and quality of life, the recent trend of the military to permit fundamentalist proselytism at their academies and so much more. While there were “spots” featuring famous celebrities discussing these same topics in information commercials, the bulk of the program was the presentation of various issues by those involved directly and follow up discussion with The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, and the Rev. Welton Gaddy, president of The Interfaith Alliance Foundation. The Rev. Lynn is also a lawyer and discusses the legal aspects of these issues as well as the religious facet.

The entire program came across as an intelligent discussion of basic personal rights of choice. It was calm and exact; no jumping up and down, no spinning of material, just clear presentation of facts, incidents, conflict and resolution through legal action. Nowhere in any of the discussions did I feel I was being pandered to, did I feel they were dumbing down any of the issues, or that I was being treated as a child when it came to discussing the issues. This was adult discussion being handled in a very professional manner that also offered some entertainment to break between the hard discussions presented.

I would like to encourage you all to watch this presentation. I would like to suggest support of this foundation as well as Americans United. I feel the work done here lays the foundation for change in the United States towards what our founding fathers really had in mind. The video shows how our government has dangerously drifted towards what our founding fathers did not want to happen here, and we as American should be pressing our government to disallow as unconstitutional the actions presented that attempt to deny our personal rights and freedoms. The program also presents and recognizes the people who have taken action to prevent these infringements on our rights. They deserve our recognition, praise and support.

Give this program a viewing, and let me know if you find it to be as compelling and important as I make it out to be here.

http://www.firstfreedomfirst.org/

Oh, and don’t forget, if you feel this is worth your time and input, read the petition. As pointed out in the program, it took just one person willing to stand for their convictions to make change. This will give you the opportunity to stand with others and support these brave people and assure the rights we are guaranteed under the constitution.

I’m not telling you want to do. Rather, I am pointing in a direction and offering you an opportunity to view what I feel is the best material around right now that takes a stand on issues that are near and dear to all our hearts.

Boudica

Mr. Digitalis Speaks, and I reply

2008-03-29T05:08:00.000-07:00

This morning I find a private message in my website guest book supposedly from Mr. Digitalis. It reads:

“Boudica, I found the review of my MTV feature from a Google alert. I have to say, why can't you be just happy that the Craft is getting positive public exposure? How is the piece so bloody inaccurate? Must you pick apart the details, such as the Craft not itself being a religion? If I were to have said that 'magick is a religion,' I would understand, but this nitpicking is just bitter! I'm sorry you feel Paganism is misrepresented through the feature, but don't you find it nice that it will at least expand *some* peoples' minds and turn them to earth-based spirituality?! I believe I do 'know what I'm talking about', so your review is honestly a bit hurtful. If there's one thing I strive NOT to do, it's MISLEAD people. Also, one of the main reasons I wrote 'Goth Craft' was to show people that Goth and magick are two separate beasts entirely, but that they can go together for some people. I'm sorry that a regular Witch (non-Goth) wasn't interviewed for their feature, but truth be told, Gothic culture doesn't get much exposure through major media outlets either, so it's actually serving both communities. BB
~Raven~”

If I found this MTV presentation to be a positive exposure for the overall general Pagan community, I would sing it praises. But rather than offering the public an honest view of the majority of the pagan community, the article offered a small glimpse of a subculture labeled “Goth” and specifically of a Goth person who seems to be associated Goth with witchcraft as the rule, not the exception. The MTV piece came away as being on a cultural life style that focuses on being “magical” in some manner and uses witchcraft as a religion.

I do not agree with your personal views of The Craft. I feel you did not differentiate between the life style of the Goth Community and the lifestyle of a general practitioner of the Craft and differentiate both from the spiritualities of the neo-pagan community (ie. Wicca, Drudism, Strega and more). I found that you tended to confuse terminology rather than clarify the differences between magic in witcraft and the diverse spiritual paths within paganism. Your success in separating Goth from the magical paths within our community in the piece is questionable. Your above stated intention was not obvious in the MTV piece and it missed your point completely. Your original intention may not have been to mislead, but the finished product did not go in that direction. If you really wanted to do a piece on Goth Culture, then the piece should have focused on what your culture is, not what your personal spiritual path is. However, the piece comes away as witches are Goth, here is the video to show it.

As a mainstream practitioner I am not interested in being seen in any light by the public other than just another person. But when someone from the mundane community says to me, oh, so that’s what you do with your free time, and then laughs… I know another show has missed the mark, and another publicity hound has made a mockery of what I have chosen as my spiritual path.

I say again, if the exposure had been positive, I never would have said anything other than praise. But your idea of positive is not my idea of positive. And the message I am sending here is that you do not speak for all the pagan community, we all do not behave in the manner you presented in your interview on MTV and there are those of us out there who do practice the life style of the Craft without confusing our own personal life style with our magical practices and personal spirituality. Magic is not a religion, it is a practice. And earth based spiritualities do not necessitate membership in a subculture lifestyle in order to practice.

I am tired of having members of subcultures speak for the entire community simply because TV prefers the sensationalism of a subculture and the controversy of religion to the mainstream practitioners as it draws a greater audience. Why do you think that is? Well, how about because subcultures draw attention because of their strangeness. And anything presented in conjunction with this also gets labeled strange. And I am tired of being labeled “strange” because of the publicity we receive. TV is not interested in your culture; it is interested in its ratings. And strange gets ratings.

I am not biter. Rather, I am tired of being lumped into the various subcultures that seem to think they can gain attention by focusing on “religion” to substantiate their own life style, rather than focusing on the merits of their specific life style. There are many life styles that have gained acceptance for who they are, not their spiritual practices. And they did not manage to insult the members of their spiritual community by flaunting their spiritual practices to gain attention.

Details are very important, and if you cannot focus on the details, then you have no business speaking for the entire pagan community. You should restrict yourself and your publicity to the life style and culture you practice and are familiar with and leave the discussion of spirituality to those who know how to deal with accurate details in a proper and respectable manner. You can be Goth, and you can be pagan, but remember that you speak only for a small, specialized group within the pagan community. If you wanted to give air time to the Goth Life Style, you should have limited yourself to that.

First Freedom First and MTV

2008-03-28T19:07:00.000-07:00

In the emails this week, we had two events of interest. First was Roberta Stewart in a video with First Freedom First Film debuting March 26th. However, searching on line, and on UTube, I’ve not been able to locate any video. While it was simulcast at about 38 theaters across the US, the video piece has not shown up on line yet. Roberta was to discuss her role in the pursuit of the Wiccan Pentacle for our countries solders and Wiccan Rights.

I will keep an eye out for this piece. My understanding is that it will be available as a podcast sometime this month and it should be an interesting discussion. I’ve spoken with Roberta and she is a very intelligent woman. She speaks well, has some good ideas and knows what she is discussing.

Second was Raven Digitalis and his interview with MTV. It’s out on the web already: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1584096/20080325/index.jhtml?rsspartner=rssColdFusion

I watched it. MTV had a field day. This gent is Goth, no doubt about it. Even to his violet eye shadow. Just what TV has always looked for – the strange and the costumes that make good eye candy for attention.

But what concerned me was what Digitalis was saying. Quotes like “The Craft is one of the most empowering religions or spiritual life styles that exists”. While I agree that the practice of the Craft is a life style, I do not agree that it is also a religion. One could say it can be combined with a spiritual path, as with Wicca, but knowing so many people who are Craft but not religious – Digitalis misleads his audience. And MTV follows it right along. Viewers can come away thinking we are all Goths organized in a religion. He mentions a few times that “witchcraft is a religion” and discusses spells as prayers.

Probably the best thing he said was “most witches don’t look like me”. I was relieved, as I was beginning to feel the urge to get some tattoos, face painting and body piercings and run out to dye my red hair black and slick it back because maybe I had missed that email about witches looking like that somewhere. And oh, the violet eye shadow. This boy could give Laurie Cabot a run for the money in the makeup department.

But why is it MTV does not put the everyday witch on TV? Why is it when we watch TV shows that feature “real witches” we find ourselves shaking our heads and running to hide? Just once I would like to see someone do an interview a “witch next door” type person and discuss paganism and Craft path with someone who really knows what they are talking about.

I hear the Wiccan Rede included in the conversation, after a fashion, and then I hear propaganda being spit back on us in the form of the old “Black Magic” rhetoric. Again, this kind of talk can mislead the public.

Well, go watch the video. See for yourself. And I’m going to go find my shrunken head. Needs to be brought out and exercised every once in a while. 9-)

Boudica

At Risk: Health Issues from Large Farms

2008-03-24T18:02:00.000-07:00

The last two years saw E. coli infect leafy greens and beef products. Reviewing what happened, it seems one producer was responsible for the growing, packaging or shipping of the infected food products in question. Examining the illnesses associated with these outbreaks and the deaths, we should take a good look at our own purchasing and eating habits. Maybe it’s time we started being concerned about where our food comes from and who handles it.

Improperly grown, produced, packaged or handled foods can become poison on our tables. Relying on a single source ups the odds that something that could go wrong is going to happen on a massive scale. We have seen this in action. We should not ignore the warnings.

It is not just the large commercial growers and packers. Organically grown produce has become large scale production over the past few years and large organic farms can have issues as well. Incorrectly composted manure on fields or contaminated water supplies can be fuel for an E. coli outbreak just as fast from the organic fields as it can be in the commercial fields.

As I said, we need to examine our sources for food, our diets and our way of thinking when it comes to where we get our foods and how we buy our foods. The movement to move to locally grown produce for the larger part of our intake of fresh produce may not be a bad idea, but it still does not guarantee that our foods will be clean and healthy when it gets to our table.

Locally grown produce will give us fresher foods as it does not have to travel as far or stay in storage as long. While we may not be getting those exotic fruits and veggies we all want to have, for our staples it would seem logical to want to obtain the nearest, freshest produce for our everyday tables.

We all cannot grow our own foods, and there is no guarantee that everything that comes to our tables will be free from contaminates. But following ecologically sound practices, which every pagan does strive for, we can look to supporting locally grown produce from local farms. Locating local farms is not all that difficult in most rural areas, you may even have some farms local to you that would welcome new business. Urban centers will have to compromise a bit, but weekend farmers markets would provide a monthly excuse to drive into the country to get really fresh foods in season.

Check into Local Harvest for farm markets and farms local to you. Spend some time considering what you want on your table and how it will provide healthy food for you and your family. And if you have the ability to grow some foods yourself, try some tomatoes or peppers this year. Nothing like fresh produce from your garden to make you feel like you are making the best use of the land the Goddess has given us.

Maybe we should also start looking at proper food preparation and clean food handling processes in our own homes. This could help combat some of the other issues that could come from poor food handling on the farm, in shipping and in storage. Proper washing, cooking and storing of foods is critical to keeping those fresh foods staying fresh. Proper preparation and cooking will not steal those precious vitamins and food proteins if we learn to do it properly.

So, maybe some cooking lessons are in order. Get those fresh food cookbooks out of storage and visit a local farmers market when the season starts coming in.
Boudica

Deported. Should we be surprised?

2008-03-15T16:37:00.000-07:00

Making rounds of the pagan blogs, we find Starhawk at the top of the news pile. She had been refused entry into Israel and shipped home.

Some people seemed surprised. She was only going there to teach a “permaculture course”. Obviously someone is not reading her websites. And the Israel Government is.

http://www.starhawk.org/activism/activism-writings/israel_palestine/israel_palestine.html
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/about-ism/

She is a trainer with the ISM movement and there is a lot there to suggest that Starhawk is not happy with what the Israel Government has been doing and suggests that she feels something should be done.

Starhawk is not violent, but she does speak well, especially on topics she believes in dearly. I’ve heard her. Very Jewish Mother, if you are the type to be intimidated by such. She can make you walk away from her lectures feeling guilty. I left the lecture of her's I attended. I went to hear Starhawk on "The Goddess". It didn't happen.

I have no issues with Starhawk choosing any issue to stand for. That is her right and her path. But really, what did she expect?

I wanted to see what the Israel Government decided to hit her with to prevent her entry into Israel, so I looked for some newspaper reports on the event. Ya know what… there doesn’t seem to be any on the web over the past few days. Very surprising considering the coverage she is getting in the Pagan Press.

And this worries me in a way. What is supposed to make an impact is not even making a ripple in the newspapers. Starhawk, for all her appeal in the pagan community, is not even noticed in the international press, and that speaks a lot about who we are as a community . I am sure she will show up eventually as the press gets hold of her press releases.

She is important enough to turn away from the gate when it comes to entry into a country where she is perceived a possible threat. Don’t really blame the Israel Government either. They don’t need any more trouble than they already have.

She is kicked out, and the only one noticing is Starhawk and her band of followers.

Having “been there, done that, got a few ripped t-shirts” from protests in the late 60s and early 70s, this does not surprise me. See, we learned some very valuable lessons back then. The best way to make lawyers rich is to work civil disobedience. Yea, you make headlines… today. Tomorrow you are replaced by something more important. On the Internet, a crane falling on a building in NYC will wipe out even heavy political spitting contests in minutes.

The best way to make an impact, to remain in the public eye and to make yourself noticed is to use the pen and the talent that was given Starhawk to make her public presence noticed.

Education happens one person at a time. The more people you reach daily, the more people
you touch. If you impress them with your keen writing skills and purposeful content, you can have them come back again and again, till you become a regular household word.

I don’t like making lawyers rich. It did nothing for us back in that day, and it does nothing for us now. Rather, I am going to take up my computer, and put to blog those things that I think should be addressed and repeat over and over till someone notices that we need to wake up, smell the bad food , see the waste, look for renewable resources and save our own asses - first. After we fix what is at home, then maybe we can start giving others a hand with their issues.

But I think it’s farcical that we think we can fix the problems of the world when we can’t even see the problems we have here at home.

More things to consider. Start at home, make yourself heard, and offer not just bitch sessions, but working solutions to the issues we have to fix.

Come on home, Starhawk, and lets settle in and address the things here that need to be fixed.

Boudica

The Economics of Ecologically Conscience Production

2008-03-11T11:12:00.000-07:00

As we are faced with an economic depression we reflect on what has changed since the last time fuel prices rose beyond our budgets and dropped us into chaos. And we find… nothing has changed.

The 1979 saw huge lines waiting for gasoline. People were shot and killed in Brooklyn over arguments about who was in line first. And we saw promises of renewable resources, cars that would burn alternative fuels and homes that would offer alternative heating and cooling choices.

The lines to the gas pumps are not visible right now. That is because the line is actually in front of the banks as we take out our hard earned cash to pay for our gasoline and home heating bills.

Almost 30 years later nothing has changed much. We have some hybrid cars just starting production late enough to not be a factor. Gas prices... wow. They went into the $1.50 to $2.00 range in 1979 and we screamed it was too high. Now we are looking at $3.50 and we still are not getting any relief.

The pagan community is so eco conscience yet, how many of us are prepared for this? Are our homes havens of alternative energy sources? In most cases, no. If we rent, we don’t have much of a choice. If we own a house built before 2000, probably not. Unless we had the financial resources, we still have the furnace we got when we purchased our house. That is because most alternative resources are not cheap to install.

Same with cars. Those new hybrids are not affordable for the average American, much less the average pagan. We cannot run right out and buy a new car because it is an alternative energy resource. We may not own the gas guzzlers, but we also do not own the latest technology in automobiles.

So many of us are stuck between the old rock and a hard space. And as we are faced with gas prices that make it almost impossible to drive to work, we look at a few exceptions.
Urban centers with reasonable public transportation. While many cities, big and small, have some kind of public transportation, many do not have a transportation system that caters to everyone who needs it. It may not run at all hours, it may not run to the places you live or work. It is only the big cities who have older systems that seem to offer a viable alternative to private transportation.

We are looking at most people outside the great urban centers relying heavily on cars to get them to their jobs.

So, what can be done about this? How can we make sure that this does not happen again in 30 years.

First, let’s look at the prices that are making it impossible for us to work or live. How about a cap on the price of gas? I am talking fossil fuel. No, Exxon, you can not make any more money on fossil fuels. Want more money? Then work on renewable liquid fuel. Produce a substitute that can be worked into our current system. It must be from a renewable source. Grain fuels, hydro, I don’t care how you do it. Want more money? Spend what you have on research into renewable fuels.

Work with the motor companies to augment the cars already out there, and new vehicles that will burn only renewable fuels.

Then adapt this to home use. Bring down the pricing of geothermal and solar power by building houses that only use this technology. Retrofit houses with affordable replacements.

When these companies want something, they have the ability to go out and get it without batting an eye. I am sure this could be turned around in a matter of a couple of years if they set their minds to it.

But how is this going to come about. What can be done to make them change their minds? What will force them into doing this?

Money. Your money and your voice saying “I want this, and I am willing to pay for it, but only if it is affordable and only if it is environmentally sound.”

Scream at them folks. We have enough voices to be hear around the world and then some. For all our claims to be living in harmony with the earth, we don’t bitch much about the state we are in. Rather, we bitch our rights are being violated or we are not being taken seriously.

Here is a chance to be taken very, very seriously. And a chance to change. Write letters to your representatives and these new candidates who claim they want to further the American Dream. As I heard someone say the other day – Why is it called the American Dream? Is it because we can only see it in our sleep?

There are some tough times ahead for us. And it looks from here like the only people who are going to feel it are the ones who can not afford it.

Time to speak up. We can be heard if we bitch just a little bit louder in the right direction.
Boudica

(image: 1979 gas line in California)

What this Community needs...

2008-03-06T14:25:00.000-08:00

The Pagan Community has many issues that need to be addressed. But the reality of the situation is that each community has their own needs, their own resources and their own set of values.

Over the years I've made statements that "what this community needs is…" and you can fill in the blanks. We need a lot. We need to consider, however, what we really need the most. And work our way from there.

The pagan community is not rich. Nor are any communities, generally speaking. Nor is there going to be much to spread around for nonessentials for a while.

We are facing something many folks have not experienced before. It was the late '80s the last time we faced a fiscal recession. We are experiencing a loss of jobs in huge proportions. We are seeing the Domino process in place, with job loss leading to home loss. These hard financial times take a toll on the families it touches, usually the working middle class and the poor. And many pagans fall into these categories. Hard working for minimum wage jobs, they are usually the first to feel the pinch. I see it here in middle America. I'm sure you have seen it as well. Or you will very soon.

The problem is that it's not just the pagan community. It is all the communities that appeal to the hard working middle class Americans who are on the edge of the job cuts and layoffs.

We can't say we didn't see this coming. Rather, many of us saw it, and some started working to cut the impact down early. Others are in a position where no matter what happens, it will be more of a burden on them. And then we have the "Who care's, it doesn't affect me" group. Wait for it…

We are looking at possible change . Change in political parties, change in the way we will have to view how we live and where we live and how we take care of our families.

Look at the off handed way big business thinks they can treat us. Prices for gas products that are over the top and reaching levels where many can not afford it. Yet, it remains critical to our every day access to jobs, food and housing. What happened to alternatives?

Every time big business needs to find money, the fastest way to acquire it is to lay off employees. Fast funding, quick lowering of business expense, and all it does is make the stock holders and upper management happy while the employees who remain are pushed further into stress and the customer becomes neglected, harassed or does not receive the value for the dollar spent on the products and services big business sells. And who has let business run amok for a good long time now?

Government and business. It is as bad as Government and religion.

What this community needs is some common sense and strategies to assist each other to survive this recession. What we need to do is speak up at the polls. We need to be more active in our school boards and in our community services.

What we need are folks who know what resources are available to us in our times of need ahead. What we need is information. And people who have collected this information for the rest of our communities to use.

Time to focus. Time to look at how we are going to ride out change.

Boudica

(Photograph of a Breadline in New York City During the Great Depression circa 1932)

1974 Revisited - American Council of Witches and WitchFest

2008-02-26T06:18:00.001-08:00

This is more of an essay than a blog entry, but I think it’s worth the read.

After many years of trying to track down what actually happened at WitchFest 1974, and who was there and who was actually responsible for the 13 Principles of Witchcraft, I was given a lead by a dear friend who said, well, didn't you read the Playboy Article on the 74 Witchfest?

Playboy??? Who knew??? Well, I hurried up to eBay, that source of all things old, ancient or just not wanted, and found a copy from July 1974. With shipping, it came to about $6.00. Yes, I bought Playboy for the article. Deal with it...

So, I got the issue and sat down that evening with my cuppa tea in front of the fire, and proceeded to dig into the article. It is written by Mordecai Rickler, who comes equipped with lots of skepticism and tongue in cheek. The event takes place at Hyatt Lodge, Minneapolis, and is listed as the Third Annual Gnostic Aquarian Festival of Astrology, Mind Power, Occult Sciences & Witchcraft in the New Age.

Needless to say, after reading that article, it is obvious why these folks choose not to be known as the witches who were at that gathering. After all, 73 witches on the council and no where on the web does it mention the entire cast of players. Nor does Llewellyn, who put on the party bash, speak of it on their website. You would think they would be proud to have their name associated with the Witches Council of 1974 and the 13 Principles of Witchcraft?

I warn you, if you do pick up this magazine for its "historical" value, there is a spew alert attached. Do not drink and read, or you will mess up your copy of Playboy.

Mr. Rickler makes a point in his article. We are looking at players. We are looking at folks who are after the $$$, the book contract and the Crown of Queen of Witches. We are looking at Gavin and Yvonne Frost giving classes to harness sex energy by not having an orgasm. We see a very young Isaac Bonewits, only 22 at the time, discussing his ability to cure blood diseases and control the weather. Tim Zell, not to be outdone, also tries to make it rain.

We have all sorts of people discussing themselves in the past and present, former lifetimes, current lifetimes, and astral lifetimes. We have way too many kings and queens reincarnated, you know that.

The best was a glimpse of (the now late) Lady Sheba. At a private meet, we have her declaring that she IS the queen of the witches, she always HAS BEEN the queen of the witches (since Camelot), that she WILL publish the Temple books, and "If you won't follow me there are thousands who will." Mr. Rickler makes note of her Kentucky accent and the following temper tantrum where George Lincoln (he is noted as a lecturer and consultant on witchcraft and there is a complete fashion statement that follows) challenges Lady Sheba "In the name of the Great White Brotherhood, do you stand in the light?" She replies with a challenge for him in the "astral". Go for it.

Gavin Frost is referenced as Gavin of Boskednan. Hmmmm... We have Crescent Dragonwagon, Officer J. P. Little, Carl Weschcke and his wife Sandra. We have Lady Circe, Lady Cybele, Charles Leach, Morning Glory, Russ Michael, even Jehovah... wow.

The story is well worth the price of the magazine for the entertainment value, the historical rendering of a point in time, and a look at where some of today’s authors came from, and what some of our authors were like back then. It is too precious not to acquire if you are into the craft history in the US.

The American Council of Witches in 1974 presented the world with the "new witchcraft" and made Wicca do a left turn from the traditional British Witchcraft that we had up to that time. It was a marker for the US to take off on its own and explore spirituality in a new light.

That the messengers were just a little bit "off" is probably inconsequential, but the message that came out of that was we were different, we were liberated and we are going to plow forward and create something new.

There were a few bucks to be made here, and you know that was the focus of most of the parties present. We are looking at publishing deals, books to sell to the occult starved American public, TV contracts, talk shows. Well, if you look at it that way... not much has changed, has it? We still have authors fighting for publicity any way they can get it, book contracts being a key element to a free ride, witch schools looking to jump in bed with the media.

For all things have changed, some things have not.

Least we become jaded with the history, remember; the practice has become individualistic. We each come to our path in our own way. While the books help, they are not the only source, nor should they be the main source of our practices. We are in this for only one reason... to connect with Deity to enable ourselves. We practice magic also to enable ourselves.

But it is interesting to see where this all started. And it is an amusing read.

Further research brings into play some folks claim to have written Carl Weschcke about this whole affair. The supposed replies vary. I can not really place any stock in the material as it does not seem to be consistent. Some supposed correspondences with Carl say that Carl can not remember who was at the Council. He claims it was long ago and he does not remember. Other correspondences suggest that Carl drafted the 13 Principles himself and then presented it to the group for approval. The name of the council was drafted up, discussed, the principles were adopted and that was the end of that.

The Principles are interesting. While some folks find them words to live by, others do not feel the material is pagan enough. The lack of substantiation does not seem to affect anyone’s trust in the material, as most take it that this was approved by a body of learned pagans. Even The Army’s material regarding “Religious Requirements” seems to mention the Council as “many witches have affiliated with the American Council of Witches, formed in 1974, to provide a structure for cooperation and mutual sharing.” Interesting when it was supposedly disbanded later in 1974. (From Army Pamphlet #165-13 - I only found this referenced on line; can not find the actual pamphlet)

So where does this all leave us? I believe if you really want to follow something that offers guidance to the Craft, this is probably a baseline from which to work. I personally find it a bit too, shall we say, leaning towards appeasing and appealing to other faiths so as not to offend their “delicate” natures.

However, I also feel that this probably is not something we should place a lot of reliance in as it appears not to have any substance other than to those at a particular time, in a particular place working on a particular means of publicity. While “nice”, it does not satisfy any other needs of the community today. The material is now dated, does not reflect the practices of today’s pagan community nor does it offer any real insight into who we are. As individuals, it seems to classify us as all the same. It also has offered itself as a universal statement on witchcraft, hinting at a central body of authority, which we also know does not reflect the pagan community today.

So, read through the material available. Also, actually read those principles. See if they make a statement on your particular path, and then decide for yourself if this is how you want the rest of the world to look at you. And get a hold of the Playboy article. I think it says volumes on who did what when and why.

Boudica

(art piece - Dulle Griet or Mad Meg by Pieter Bruegel The Elder)

Beginning and Ending - My Right to Choose

2008-02-21T17:41:00.000-08:00

I had some time to contemplate discussions I participated in recently. The discussion was "Beginning and End of Life" and it was in context with ethics.

Who decides this for us? When we discuss this with each other, how do we communicate about what we feel or what we want on this very delicate topic?

My own thoughts on this were mixed. While I have my own ideas on how I would manage these decisions, is it really my right to question someone elses decision. As a High Priestess in my own group, I find the discussion must be handled with care, so as not to force my own beliefs on another, while allowing them to explore their own beliefs in regards to the decision they are making. That is the basis for the belief systems within the Pagan community. Each individual has the right to choose the path they walk. And they are personally responsible for the path they take, as it is their choice and their choice alone.

Someone pointed out that the Ancient Greeks separated religion from ethics, allowing the Priests/Priestesses to deal with religion and spirituality while the philosophers pondered the question of ethics. Maybe we should take a page from their scrolls.

Another good point made was how we should honor a person's wishes, respect their right to decide and then uphold their decision. This does not mean we cross the line when it comes to legal issues. But in the decision on "beginning and endings of life" we should honor the person's right to choose.

We should also look at the practical when it comes to decisions such as this. While we may want to approach this from strictly a spiritual angle, we should also consider the effects of what we choose, from our own feelings and emotional needs to the impact it may have on others. Ending a life in dignity can cause issues if it is not legal in the state you live in, or if there are issues with insurance that someone else may be dependent on to pay the bills we leave behind. While a long, drawn out illness can devastate a family financially and emotionally, we need to make sure all our lose ends are tied up, and everyone else is taken care of financially, spiritually and emotionally.

Finally, the choice of a woman to decide the use of her body. This is confusing, heavly debated, and a very emotional issue. It brings hot blood to the surface and creates rifts through families, friends and groups. We need to examine the individuals needs, the conditions surrounding the event and the way it is handled. It is not an easy topic to discuss, but under the right conditions it can be handled with level heads and understanding hearts. The bottom line is that the ability to choose based on need and situation needs to be guaranteed as a woman's right, or we lose the right to decide anything on our own.

There is much to consider. There is much that each individual needs to think about, and make sure that if you make the decision, you made it with the best knowledge available, within the legal parameters of the law, and with the best intentions and a clear head.

These are things that need to be discussed in our community, with our family and friends. We should be opening the doors to discussion. Take a piece of this discussion back to your group, talk about it and see what needs may be there. Work on it now. Don't wait for the crisis to arise.

(art piece - The Death of Socrates by Jacques-Louis David)