Mystical thought has spend thousands of tons of ink focusing on the issue of "being."  Magic is seen as a "state of being," and people are encouraged to focus and center upon this being-ness and live totally in the present, for to concern one's self with the past or future is to deny the being in the now, or some such nonsense.  Since such shortsightedness and inability to think outside the immediate present is a symptom of damage to the prefrontal lobe, I have tended top shy away from such an emphasis on "being."

The American obsession with all things oriental has not helped at all, since I am constantly confronted by pseudo-Buddhists that tell me over and over again how reality isn't real and being is all that matters.  These folks miss the very ovious Buddhist assumption that life is suffering and that focusing on simply being is a Buddhist means of stilling the self into non-existence in order escape the pain of the world.  In short, Buddhism ackowledges that life is a process, and actively seeks to end that process because lack of permamence is assumed to cause suffering.  So, for all you pseudo-Buddhists out there, just remember that Buddhism teaches that life is not about being, life is about doing.  Being is a way to stop the doing, and escape from life.

A while ago it occured to me that Chaos Magic hold the same view of the world that Buddhism does, but with different assumptions about it.  Chaos Magic holds that life -- and magic -- is a process, and is something you do.  The primary difference is that Chaos Magic holds that the lack of permanence and the constant change of reality is a source of pleasure and wonder, not of suffering, and embraces the process rather than seeking to stop it.  Magic is not a state of being or a state of mind, but something you do, an action you take.  Being is something you do to try to escape reality, while magic is something you do to alter or engage it.  In fact, even "to be" is a verb, making "being" a kind of action or process.

All of this ties in to something a mentor covered a while back.  He posited a threefold process of being, doing, and having.  According to him, Americans belived that you have something, which enables you to do something, which allows you to be something.  For example, I have to have an education, wich allows me to teach, which allows me to be a teacher.  My mentor stated that this process actually works the other way, which is why so many Americans have trouble making their lives work.  He said that first you have to "be" a teacher, and then you will be able to teach, which will allow you to develop an education with which to teach.  That never made much sense to me, as teh act of teaching is so integral to being a teacher that I don't see how you can call yourself a teacher without teaching.  While my mentor insisted that inner perception defined identity, it was very apparent to me that the action did.  The action is much more real that the inner idea, as it has expression in the world.  This is why mysticism and post-modernism have bothered me so -- they assume that inner thought and theory have precedence over reality and experience.  Solopism and mind games do not make for effective magical or life skills.

Lately, however, I've been pondering something.  Is this division between being and doing legitimate?  I'm not sure where it started, but I think that it's related to the division between mind and body (the mind "is," the body "does").  Following the Chaosit assumptions, I reject this division (and I'm actually surprised at how many allegedly nature-based religionbs accept this notion unquestioningly -- I think it's a by product of the fact that Gardener built so much of Wicca from the Qabalah).  If the mind/body division is invalid, wouldn't the be/do division also be invalid?

It seems obvious to me that you cannot be something without doing what that thing is supposed to do.  The action defines the identity.  But are the two so interconnected that ation immediately established identity?  If I teach someone something, I am a teacher.  If I stop, am I no longer a teacher?  Are being and doing the same thing?  And more importantly, if mysticism if to being what doing is to magic, is there really a difference between magic and mysticism?  Does magic have to have a mystical component to it?  I've always thought that it doesn't, but if mysticism is a way of understanding the universe that makes it more malleable to magical effects, then wouldn't even the quantumn metaphysics of CMT be mystical?  Perhaps the real division between magic and mysticism (and doing and being) is which one you want to reap the benefits of.  In many mystical traditions, magical effects are a by-product of practice.  Is mysticism then a by-product of magical practice as well?  Does practice in one automatically amount to practice in the other, with primacy only developing out of personal preference?

I'd be interested to hear what anyone things about this kind of wandering idea.

So a couple of weeks ago I was putting off writing a paper for school, and I decided to write another essay for the Witchvox.  And lo and behold, it has been posted there already!  This is the fastest I have ever seen one of my essays get put up, so I must be on a roll, especially considering that some of my essays have taken as long as six months to show up.

So, you ask, just what is my latest essay about?  It is about considerations that a pagan may want to, well, consider if he or she wishes to construct his or her own altar.  It's called, strangely enough, "Building an Altar."  So please, if you are so inclined, check it out, and as always I am always eager to know what anyone things of my work, so feel free to tell me.

I did not get much feedback on this essay.

I didn't expect this on to get too much positive review, in part because it criticizes what it largely a primary assumption in most New Age thought, neopaganism included: evolution progresses up, and we must evolve up toward the divine.  The skeptic Chaoist in me questions this assumption, and I imagine it irked a lot of people, especially those who base so much of their identity on how "evolved" and enlightened they are.

The only feedback I really received was the following comment in ny guestbook at Blacklight Metaphysics:

a very few sentences is all it takes to recognize one of those bored,
lifeless, argumentative, aimless pseudointellects just wanting someone
to listen and care......what kind of a bullshit website are you trying
to have here?!?! "what makes us thing the Spirit NEEDS to Evolve?!!"
goddamn it, man......the ONE thing EVER EVER EVER that doesn't NEED
pondering

Questioning assumptions is primary to Chaos Magic.  Everything should be questioned, tested, and verified, and if your feelings counter what experience tells you, you should probably re-evaluate what causes those feelings (or change reality, but I suppose that's an existential point).  I question the assumption of progress because: 1) I have seen no real evidence to support a priori progression, at least beyond an emotional need for superiority; 2) I have seen too much detrimental activity predicated by such progressive thought, from New Age and neopagan exclusivism and elitism, to facist socialist and communist thought seeking to enforce progress on others by determining how they shoudl live their lives.  A fascist New Age utopia does not sound pleasant to me, and I'm going to question any thoughts that such philosophies are based upon.

It scares me a little that the poster 1) chose to remain totally anonymous, not allowing me to respond, defend myself, or challenge his assumptions at all; 2) Asserted emphatically not that he was right, but that his presumption of rightness was on a topic that should not, and could not, ever be questioned; 3) the obvious dependence of emotion on his assertion, rather than any kind of reason; and 4) his instant resort to personal attacks (I'm surprised he didn't call me a Nazi -- which would have been hilarious given their acceptance of progressive evolutionary thought!)  This person is not a heavy thinker, and reacts emotionally to things he can't understand (or doesn't want to), making him ripe for any charismatic leader -- be it an author, a guru, or a shiny new president -- to direct with little effort.

..............

“Warding the Home” was written and
published about the same time that “Banishing and Protection” was.  Judging by the numbers of reads on the
Witches’ Voice, it was pretty popular, although I didn’t get too much extensive
feedback from it.  I don’t seem to have
replied to any of these e-mails at the time, so any comments by me are freshly
written, and addressed to the wider audience (if there is one!) rather than the
initial writer.....

.. ..

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.. ..

Hit home when I put up protection for this house, I did Up
stairs basement , under the den, garage, shed, and forgot the back porch. So
while I was about 4 feet away one of the barbaques was stollen. Did not have
time to say enjoy or any thing else. Cover all bases.

.. ..

One thing that I’m careful (read: paranoid)
about is making sure my wards are all-encompassing.  I double-check to ensure that all areas of
the property and living space are covered, and I’m sure to include crawlspaces,
basements, attics, and plumbing connections. 
This reader’s experience shows why this is a good idea.  I’m also partial to layering my wards, so
that in addition to covering components of the dwelling, there is a broader,
encompassing boundary around the whole property.....

.. ..

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.. ..

.. ..

Hello! Your article caught my eye. I have been accused of
being a 'fluffy bunny' in a pagan chat group that I am in, only because I send
out blessings and refuse to hate anyone; however, I have never claimed to like
everyone, incl. the goofs on that site (I mostly lurk there now) . One
discussion that they had involved warding; my e-mail did not get past the
moderator. I did many things before/after we purchased this home. It was a
dream fulfilled, to buy a house instead of renting, and being at the mercy of a
cold-hearted landlord. My sensitive friends will go on and on about how
peaceful and positive the energy vibe is about my home. I grow and dry my own
sage, white and russian, and I make my own sage wands which I use to smudge our
house and yard. I also make my own incenses in several forms, and it is a rare
day that I do not burn some as an offering and prayer out to Godess. I also
buried pennies, placed stones and crystals about the yard; have different items
on my windowsills, etc. THIS is the part that I believe did the moderator in- I
had a friend of mine (an RN) stick a catheter in my arm, and removed about a
pint and a half of my blood in to a bowl. I allowed it to dry (it took a while)
and then I ground it up, and went all about the perimeter of my house,
sprinkling the dry blood on the ground. It is not as ghoulish as some might
think, and it is putting some of myself around to help keep negative
out/positive in. I am a firm believer in the sanctity of a Pagan home. The
mundane has to be kept out and away from us. And as we all are, we like input
on our stuff and sometimes others can give us ideas or have found stuff in our
seeking and research to make sense out of stuff. I never read of any thing
other than this or that with menstrual blood; I did what I did after meditation
and feeling that it was a correct thing to do. The former owner here was an
older invalid, and I wanted any type of left-over patterns from this property
to dissolve. You may be inundated with e-mails after the article, but if you
have any info on 'blood
rituals' that you thnk may pertain, let me know. Blessings and
Peace-chalhydrabat

.. ..

Many contemporary pagans would balk
at Chal’s use of bloodletting in ritual (except maybe some gothic pagans and
Satanists, I suppose).  His use of blood
was highly appropriate, however: 1) it was his own; 2) it was given freely and
mindfully; 3) it seems to have been carefully and properly prepared, instead of
casually splashed about; and 4) it appears to have been stunningly powerful and
effective.  Sure, it may not be for
everybody, but no one can deny the intimacy and power that such actions will
provide to a ward.....

.. ..

Everything else Chal mentions is
also sure to be effective, especially when used together.  Sure, burning sage is almost cliché now, but
it works, as do pennies, crystals, and other sacred and protective objects
placed around the perimeter.  I would
think twice before sending anything Chal’s way, as it would be difficult to
penetrate the perimeter, and anything that did would likely be neutralized
fairly quickly.  Kudos to our intrepid
magician here!....

.. ..

I am kind of curious, however, how
someone could be accused of being too fluffy and yet censored for discussing
the ritual uses of blood.  Go figure.....

..............

I’m far behind on updating the
feedback I’ve gotten from my last few articles, so I think I’ll tackle them
now.  “Banishing and Protection” appeared
some time ago and got some fairly good responses to it.  One reader even asked me for some help with a
banishing ritual, which I provided. 
Comments on readers’ comments, my responses, or the original article are
welcome.....

.. ..

******************************************************************************

.. ..

Hello,



I just read your post about banishing and protection spells and
found it really interesting. I have just moved into a new room and wondered if
you knew of any spells that I could cast to protect myself in the room while
working magic. Your advice would be greatly appreciated.



Blessed
Be



George

.. ..

Dear George,



Thank you for your interest in my article.



What magical system do you work with?  Most magical systems already have
established banishing rituals, and it's just a matter of finding and
implementing them.  For example, I frequently practice Qabalistic
Ceremonial magic, so the banishing ritual that I use most often is the Lesser
Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram.  So, depending on what tradition you
practice, there should be something appropriate to it.



A friend of mine and I did develop a generic banishing ritual, that does not
draw upon too many symbols from specific traditions, but keep in mind that
those symbols help establish the proper mindset and can increase
efficacy.  If you like, though, you can try it out:



Close your eyes, and breathe deeply, imagining that you are drawing a column of
light from far above your head, through your body, down deep into the center of
the Earth.



Face East.  Breathe in deeply, and as you exhale, yell out "HA!"
while pushing forcefully away from you, palms out and thumbs extended, so that
your hands make a triangle.



Repeat this for the other three directions, from South to West to North.



When you have completed the circle, stand in the center with arms raised, and
declare "I am the point of Spirit in the center!"  Repeat the
visualization of the column of light, expect this time, as is passes through
your body, see it spreading out into the circle you have created.



If you do try it or modify it, let me know how it works.



Best Wishes,

Chirotus Infinitum....

.. ..

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.. ..

Greetings. I'm Xan (short for Alyxander)

I read your article on Witchvox, a fascinating piece of writing :) You really
seem to have done your homework. I am curious if you might be willing to help
me with something.

You mentioned in your article the "basic" forms of shielding. The
visualizations of a bubble or ribbons of light, I am afraid my instruction in
such areas are quite lacking. I know the bubble technique, but I find my wards
and shields rather weak. I can make a sort of "early warning" system
for my room. but I cannot stop anything from entering (several.... things....
live at my house and like to try and get in when my guard is down.) I can
deflect other Psychics, in a way. I cannot stop their efforts, but I'm normally
able to deflect their efforts onto something else (Normally a crystal I keep in
my pocket)

Perhaps you could educate me in more effective forms of shielding? Or tell me
were to look? There are several ..... I believe you used the term "Psychic Vampires"
in my school that have taken interest in me and holding them off has become
difficult. As for the things in the house, my friend can normally dissuade
them, and a large crystal on my shelf seems to work better then anything else I
can make to hold them off, but my friend tells me that can only last so long.
My skills lay in healing and sight, I feel terribly out of my depth among these
offensive types. Can you help me?



A hopeful fellow,

-Xan-

.. ..

Dear Xan,....

 ....

Thank you for your interest in my article.....

 ....

My first question for you is what kind of regular magical
practice are you engaging in?  Do you have a regular schedule of
banishing/meditative ritual or practice that you undergo (appropriate to
whatever tradition or style of magic you practice, of course)?  Use of a
regular banishing or other type of energy-raising ritual will help you more
easily recognize, raise, and control the subtle energies that will help you to
generate effective shields.  It may be that you're having difficulty
keeping things out not due to problems of technique, but simply because you
seem more inclined to receive than emit energy, and any practice that helps you
with this should help your shielding efforts.....

 ....

You may find it easier to use external objects in your
shielding efforts.  Black
tourmaline, obsidian, quartz, iron, and copper are all effective
at keeping negative things away.  Perhaps you may want to try inscribing
protective sigils on pieces of copper or iron and placing them at the corners of
your room (don't forget the ceilings!), or for that matter, protective sigils
on simple pieces of paper should work as well.  Experiment and see what
works.....

 ....

As for the problem with psychic vampirism, try copper.  Copper
has Solar qualities that tend to repel those that are a drain on our
energies.  I have a friend that is a huge psychic sponge (and doesn't
realize it!), and my girlfriend was very susceptible to being drained -- I was
going to use a dremmel to engrave a sigil on a piece of copper and make a
necklace out of it, but my girlfriend just put the copper in her pocket and it
worked just fine.  A small bracelet or ring may help as well.....

 ....

For more ideas on magical protection, I recommend the book Protection & Reversal Magick by Jason Miller.  It has provided me with many good examples and
ideas.....

 ....

Good luck, and Best Wishes,....

Chirotus Infinitum....

.. ..

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.. ..

Dear Chirotus Infinitum,



I always read the profiles of authors whose articles I particularly enjoy, and
I was amused to find that you and I are probably about as far apart on the
magical spectrum as we could possibly get. That said, I couldn't have
appreciated your article more. Not only is it well-written, but it makes a
point that desperately needs to be made in this community.



Whether people like it or not, the world, human nature, society, and anything
you can think of is harrowing as well as beautiful, and even if you never, ever
dabble in any kind of magic, in this world, in order to survive, you need
shields. We have them built in, for crying out loud--skin! Mundae interactions,
as you pointed out, require boundaries--so why should somethng so powerful be
exempt?



Something I think you sort of suggested, but didn't really ellaborate on, stuck
in my mind. It occurs to me that so many of the people who don't want to bother
with or refuse to believe they need shielding skills are the people with very poor social skills
and boundaries. Recently my coven has been bombarded with people interested in
joining, but who repell us personally and magically--because we have shileds,
and we can tell that they DON'T. The Pagan/Magical community is apparently rife
with people looking for someone to spoonfeed them all the easy answers to
life's cunundrums and eager to be magical by association--just be virtue of
hanging out with people who are willing to do the work. I personally, and my coven
with me, are not having that--life's too short.



So thanks again for following, and encouraging, the rules.



Blessings,

Castiel

.. ..

Dear Castiel,....

 ....

Thank you for your interest in my article.  I'm glad
that the issues I raised were able to transcend differences in magical
approach.....

 ....

One of the reasons I wrote this particular essay is the fact
that so many people involved in paganism seem too eagar to dismiss the
establishment of any kind of boundaries.  I have noticed that a
substantial part of this, as you have said, seems to be related to the large
number or neopagans that have relatively poor social skills, and therefore usually
have a difficult time dealing with social boundaries of any kind.  I'm not
sure if this is a problem that goes in hand with increased empathic and psychic abilities,
but I suspect that it is indicative of a larger cultural imperative to share
everything with others and expect them to respond in kind, in part due to a
rejection of "restrictive" traditional social boundaries.....

 ....

No one seems to ponder the fact that such social boundaries
exist because they help people function more easily among strangers who they do
not wish to share their deepest secrets with, and in fact I have encountered
some who regard a need for privacy as near pathological.  My cynical
nature wants to believe that this is a sign of socially inept and damaged people
attemptingt to rewrite their problems as gifts and depict normal, adjusted
individuals as unenlightened, a phenomenon I hinted at in my essay on the
Indigo Children, and which I explore more in depth in an essay on the escapist
mentality in neopaganism, which I am just finishing up.....

Again, thanks for your interest, and your feedback.....

 ....

Best Wishes,....

Chirotus Infinitum....

I was thinking today about how in the ancient world cities had patron deities.  How would this work in today's world, I wonder?  Would you have a temple in every State capitol, with a dedicated space to the first governor?  Would you honor local heroes and founders, or establish a personification of the city?  Should Native American other than human beings be addressed and petitioned to see if they're interested?  Festivals on the States founding day?  I'd imagine some kind of pseudo-Chinese hierarchy, with a national deity at the top, then state deities, and then local.  Would the god of a major metro area have authority over the god of a nearby suburb?

Just some thoughts ... I think I'll write more on this ...

The Witches' Voice has finally come through!  My most recent essay has finally been published, on weather magic.  In a little while I hope to have it up on my website as well.  If anyone is interested, please take the time to peruse it and let me know what you think.  Find the essay here.

As always, I'm hoping to get some more writing done, and as always I haven't gotten around to it yet.  PaganSpace.net (on which I have a profile) has a magazine side to it, and I may try to get some of my old essays published there first.  I do think that I'll put some exclusive content on my website before having anything else published elsewhere.  As always, anyone who has any writing he or she wants to contribute on my site is more than welcome to do so!

I was watching a video on Vodoun yesterday, and something the narrator said interested me.  According to the powers that interpreted and produced this video, at any rate, the Lwa in Haiti depend upon sacrifices to sustain them, and without regular sacrifices they will loose their power.

I have encountered many Hellenistic pagans that take a similar attitude.  They maintain that the old Greek (or, I suppose, the Roman ones) have lost their power because they had not been worshipped openly in so long.  By this mindset, the more people who worship a god, the more powerful that god becomes, and the better able it is to affect the reality of its adherents.

I suppose that makes sense.  Hold on, though, I'm going somewhere with this.

In traditional Chinese religion, anscestors are given offerinsg by their descendants.  There are many ways and reasons given for this, but what it amounts to is that you sustain your anscestors by offering them food or money.  If a person has no descendants, he cannot be sustained after death, and becomes a wandering ghosts.  These ghosts are often left offerings during certain ritual celebrations so they won't become a problem.  And what if they do become a problem?  Why, they are left more offerings, and are eventually worshipped openly, the rational being that if such a being is given offerings and kept happy, it won't cause any problems, and may even help people out.  If such a spirit's worship spreads, it can rise in "rank," sometimes elevating to a regional or even national god.  Apparently the Chinses pantheons are full of such deities.

Another case I am vaguely familiar with involves a chap who made a sigil top alter the passage of time.  He passed the sigil out to friends and it became activated as a servitor.  After time and use it developed it own sense of what it wanted to be, and was apparently last seen aspiring to godhood and declaring war on Chronos.

So we are left with many systems of belief that are agreeable to the notion that any person or spirit may atain deity status if fed enough energy over long enough time.  There exists an anthropological theory which states that this is just how pantheons were constructed: great heroes were honored, worshipped, and deified, and this has been seen explicitly in ancient Rome.  Conversely, it stands to reason that a deity may "loose" its position if denied such energy for a long enough time.

So here's what I'm wondering.  Do gods reincarnate?

Holding that human spirits reincarnate into new bodies as a norm, how does that impact the above mentioned theory?  If a human spirit can become a god via power accumulated through worship, would a god that looses its power base eventually be recycled and reincarnate?  If that god's cult is reconstructed thousands of years later, is it that same god being worshipped, or have the cultists manufactured a new entity based on their expectations?  If so, would that entity be capable of incarnating as a human if its worship base fell, or would it simply fall apart?

What would the shelf-life of an unworshipped god be?  2000 years?  5000?  And what does that imply about reincarnation itself?  Is it plausible that the more charisma a person has (and hence, the more recognition he has during life), the longer his spirit can sustain itself without reincarnating?  Is physical incarnation the lowest energy state of a spiritual entity?  If you follow a Chaoist understanding of what a "spirit" is, this may make sense, as periodic incarnation may be necessary to sustain the energy pattern of a "spirit" -- would substantial worship make tis unnessecary?

I don't generally like to wax philosophical, but tis line of thought interests me.  I'd love to hear any thoughts and ideas.

haven't been to Chicago in years. I missed the place. It has such a unique energy to it, one that made me tingle when I was still 100 miles away. It's hard for me to sleep in Chicago, in part because of that energy, and in part because of all the constant activity of so many people in such a close proximity. But I don't seem to need too much sleep while I'm there, or eat as often, for that matter. I did some magic while I was there too, which I didn't do last time -- all I did was ward a U-Haul truck, but it left me buzzing much harder than usual.

I finally got to visit the Sears Tower. That in itself was a religious experience ...

Last time I was there, a psychic told me I would move to Chicago. I wanted to, but never seemed to make it. Perhaps someday I'll end up there. For now, I have friends who have moved up there, so I've got an excuse to go more often and a place to stay when I do. If anyone can suggest places to visit and occult shops to investigate, please do!

I have just completed a new essay on weather magic and submitted it to the Witches' Voice.  I think I may wait the few months until they publish it before I put it on Blacklight, but I could change my mind.  I have a few more essays I'm working on, including a treatise on self-determinacy (which will probably take me some time to polish up), one on free exchange of information, and one I have an idea for on getting laid magic.  We'll see what I come up with -- hopefully I'll be as productive as I'd like.

On May 9th, in Berkeley, California, the radical leftitist group Code Pink, as part of its long-running campaign against a Marine recruiting office, decided to cast a spell to drive the recruiters out and end the confliict in Iraq, and presumable end all militaryconflict and masculine agression in the world.  Code pink has been waging its own war against this particular recruiting office for some time, being granted exotic permits from the left-leaning city council to set up their protests in the recruiter's own parking lot and doing all they can to harrass the Marine and disrupt their work.  Apparently, simply giving people the option of joining the military is an evil that cannot be tolerated.

The political considerations here, however, are not what interests me -- people on the far left demonizing anything to do with military service or freedom of action is nothing new.  I'm interested in the stereotypical and pseudo-religious dressing they decided to give to this particular "protest."

The item on the Code Pink website states:


This smacks of the radical feminist attitudes toward witchcraft that have lingered since the emergence of the neopagan movement.  The fact that Wicca actually acknowledged a goddess led many feminists to conclude that it only needed a goddess, and they developed such wonderful pseudo-anthropological theories as GAM and patriarchal dominator societies.  Wicca and witchcraft, they decided, were not means of attaining religious enlightenment, but feminist political empowerment.  The image of the witch was appropriated as the image of the empowered womyn, who weilded the forces of creation that men could not comprehend, and thus feared and suppressed.  This is the attitude that led that nice Dianic seperatist so many years ago insist that I was I liar when I said I practiced magic, because men simply can't do magic.

Please keep your radical feminist politics out of my religion. Yes, Starhawk, this means you and your Code Pink club, too.  Oh, did I mention that Starhawk is a prominent member of Code Pink?  I'd have hoped that as such a high profile member of the neopagan community, she'd want to project a more comprehensive image of neopaganism than simply as a feminists plaything.  Then again, I've read her books.

It gets better, though.  Take a look at this picture from the "event."


Do those look like the peaceful, white-light witches that so many have worked to build the image of over the decade?  Do they look like empowered womyn who are seeking to bring peace, enightenment, and understanding to heal a bunch of warmongering hypermasculine brutes?  Or do they look a bit more like the stereotype of the evil, cruel witches of past folklore, who use their power to control and harm others?  Do they look enlightened and peaceful in the least, or do they look hysterical?  Thanks for the positive PR for our religion, ladies.

I'm not one to want to restrict the magical or religious practice of others.  Hoestly, if you feel that you have the obligation and the ego, I mean ability, to cast a spell to end a war, go right ahead.  I've considered using spellwork to support some political initiative I'd like to see go through, and I don't see why othesr should abstain.  But that's not what this is.  This is a group of radicals and hysterics appropriating the religious practices of others for their political purposes.  I don't know about you, but I'd rather not be compared to a bunch of hysteric women who have nothing better to do than break into a Marine recruiting station dressed like the wicked witch of the west and sitting on a hot pink circle.  Can you please make your political points without cultuvating negative stereotypes of my religion?  What, has the noble savage image of the Native Americans been overdone?

Here's the story on this: Link.
A response by pagan author AJ Drew (who does initially seem to erroneously believe they were casting a spell to kill the Marines): Link.

A Larger verson of the above photo, which sisplays the ridiculous "spell book" and the hot pink magic circle (which I admit looks kind of cool)

Not too long ago on the Witches’ Voice, this essay appeared, regarding the case of a Saudi woman who has been setenced to death for witchcraft.  The woman, Fawza Falih, is an illiterate peasant, held since 2005 upon accusations that she caused a man to become impotent.  She was convicted, without the benefit of legal counsel, when, after three years of confinement and torture, she was compelled to place her fingerprint on a pre-written "confession."

The essay in question, "The Burning Times Still Smoulder in 21st Century Saudi Arabia," Does an excellent job depicting this poor woman’s plight, as well as the seemingly futile efforts of some well-meaning individuals to influence the law in a foreign country by signing petitions in the US.  In a very slightly more significant, but likely just as futile move, Human Rights Watch has sent a letter directly to the Saudi King asking him to stay the execution and re-examine the case.

My issue with this article is one simple line in the first paragraph: "Visualize yourself a Witch back in the Burning Times, in medieval or Renaissance Europe."

What has happened to Fawza Falih is certainly a travesty of justice.  In addition, its relation to the "Burning Times" is appropriate in this case.  We have a young woman, most likley unmarried, or she might have had a better chance of legal representation, who was charged with an unprovable crime after an accusation of causing importence.  In all likelyhood, this woman refused sexual advances from the accuser, a situation mirroring possibly thousands of cases during the numerous Inquisitions of Europe.  Illiterate, and with no legal counsel to even explain her charges, she was torured until she confessed, and was sentenced to death.  Yes, the parrallel between this case and the Burning Times is undeniable.

Except for that one, simple line: "Visualize yourself a Witch back in the Burning Times, in medieval or Renaissance Europe."

The chances that Fawza Falih is actually a witch, or that even a few of those killed in Europe so long ago were witches, is about as probable as my cat eating 20 pounds of lead shot and filling her litter box with gold bullion.

Thanks to Gerald Gardener’s unquestioning acceptance of Margaret Murray’s survival theory of witchcraft -- which only suffered from the minor flaw of having absolutely no evidence to support it -- and the eagerness of some neo-pagans to continue to tout Murray’s thesis, we have a commentator associating a poor Muslim woman with the crime she was wrongly charged with.  I have no doubt whatsoever that she would be appaled at the comparision.

Far too many neo-pagans still cling desperately to the Burning Times, and some even continue to repeat the infamous 9 million figure fabricated for publication in the Green Egg.  As a minority religious classification, neo-pagans are sometimes ridiculed and persecuted for their beliefs, and having a pagan version of the Holocaust helps justify that fear of persecution, while also bestowing a sort of moral superiority.

But alas, it just wasn’t so.  The Inquisitions and witch-hunts were targeted as people who would certainly have considered themselves devout Christians, and would probably be severely offended if they knew they were being claimed as witches by later neo-pagan upstarts.  The Burning Times show a serious error of Christian doctrine and practice of the time, and as far as I can tell, it is even worse that they were killing actual Christians.  But to claim these victims as witches -- to pull them under the neo-pagan umbrella just because of the crime they were falsely charged with -- is an insult to their memory and morally dishonest.

So by all means support Fawza Falih.  If you feel so compelled, sign a petition or write a government official, or even the Saudi King.  But do so because it is an injustice that she was charged, tortured, and convicted by fraudulent means, not because you think it makes some statement or progress for neo-paganism.  To pretend that she is actually a witch is an insult to her, and a blatant homage to Hubris.  Remember the facts of the case, and be assured of one thing: if Falih is released, she will thank Allah, not Athena.

As usual, school is kicking my ass again.  Grad school is a bit more difficult than I anticipated, at least when balanced with work, relationship, parenthood, and other such things.  In addition, I have a major personal issue that I'm having to deal with, which will consume much in the way of time, sanity, and emotional stability.  Needless to say I probably won't have much of a relevant online presence for a while, and although I'm working on some ideas for some new essays, I doubt I'll get to them anytime soon.

Just thought I'd at least post a shout-out, since someone out there cares enough to check my blog occasionally.

My most recent essay has been posted on the Witches' Voice this week.  It's been quite a while since I submitted it, so I'm not sure how they liked it.  I'm bothered by two things: 1) The fact that so few essays were posted last week, while so many were posted this week -- it's almost like my essay is being drowned out; 2) Directly below my essay appear an essay supporting the exact opposite position -- coincedence?  Probably, but still ...

View it here, and let me know what you think.

This is the last of the essays I have submitted to them, so no more will appear until I have the time to write them. I will keep people current on anything I submit to Witchvox (or any other site), as well as things that appear on my website, should I get around to updating it.


I've also been really slow on posting feedback from my last few essays, and I apologize (although I'm not sure how many people really readthat crap anyway).  But alas, I'm finishing term papers and preparing for finals -- hopefully I'll ahve the time to update some stuff when I'm done with all that.