The latest in NeoPagan News http://www.witchvox.com http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usks&c=words&id=13852 http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usks&c=words&id=13852 A great deal has been written about the benefits and advantages of coming out as Pagan to your family, friends and co-workers, both here on Witchvox and in other places. Living an honest life, helping Paganism be more accepted as more people say “I know a Pagan, ” and taking pride in who and what you are – these are all excellent reasons to be open about your faith. However, as a friend of mine reminded me recently, coming out is never something you do just once. You continue to choose with ever http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usal&c=words&id=13846 http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usal&c=words&id=13846 The other day I was speaking to a friend regarding the result of ritual work. We had both been encountering some radical results in response to our individual practices and we noted with a wry sense of irony that sometimes we get what we don’t really need but think we want. Further, what we often want is presented to us in such a way as to demonstrate that this not something that we really need. I think we were on the verge of laughing had it not been so utterly depressing in the moment. (In ret http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usin&c=words&id=13704 http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usin&c=words&id=13704 What is Paganism?This is an often-asked question. And many answers are given. Paganism, both ancient and modern is such a diverse phenomenon that it is no wonder that it may be understand in any number of ways. Even today’s Pagans are divided.The word itself is derogatory. The Latin 'paganus' was used originally to designate a person who dwelt in the countryside, a “hayseed” or a “country bumpkin, ” or so we are often told, but as Chuvin points out, it could also be used for town http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=gtxx&c=words&id=13838 http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=gtxx&c=words&id=13838 Witchcraft is a craft. It’s something you learn. Witches usually do have supernormal powers. However, these powers are learned. There can be inborn talent, but it takes a lifetime of practice just to perfect one such power. This is why the terms “occultism”, “secret science”, “mysticism”, and so forth are silly. There is nothing secret or hidden going on here. Witchcraft is merely a matter of paying conscious attention to the things, which our society has taught us to ignore. Witchcraft http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usny&c=words&id=13809 http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usny&c=words&id=13809 In darkness the chant begins, first a single voice intoning from the center of the circle. Soon other voices are heard, joining the incantation. Their ululating tones rise, not in unison, but in alternation--the one voice leading, the many responding. As they reach a crescendo a flame is struck and the circle is gradually illuminated. Standing in the center is the priestess. In the ethereal glow she approaches the altar. And there, surrounded by candle flames and incense smoke, is the Book. Thic http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usnm&c=earth&id=13842 http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usnm&c=earth&id=13842 It is remarkable that many of us have trouble naming five or ten plants associated with smoke medicine. In my search through the ethno botany of Mesolithic Britain I was delighted to re-discover at least 120 species indigenous to that area alone.Smoke is an area of medicine that is, to me, a practitioner’s dream. There are fires made from specific species for specific purposes. I found a surprising number that went to fire-making tools. The pallet of plants for smudging or smoldering was http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=uswi&c=words&id=13736 http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=uswi&c=words&id=13736 Was Imbolc the old winter solstice? I ask this question completely aware that many megaliths were fashioned to intentionally record “cross-quarter days”.This speculation is not entirely a mystical story of connect-the-dots. Although astrology is given a bad rep as pseudo-science, it was an integral part of our time keeping system in ancient days. While Paganism seems to have gained a European flavor in many sects, ancient images that we use do connect us to religions that emerged from th http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usaz&c=words&id=13673 http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usaz&c=words&id=13673 In the case of civilizations such as the Egyptians and the Sumerians, we are fortunate enough to have extensive written records concerning their society and religious beliefs. However, in this case, Minoan writings have yet to be deciphered, so must attempt to visualize their civilization through the study of their remaining artifacts and other historical data. Our awareness of the Minoan civilization, on the island of Crete, began in the early 20th century, after Sir Arthur Evans discov http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=ustn&c=words&id=13451 http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=ustn&c=words&id=13451 As I drift off to sleep this cold, winter night in March underneath the full moon, the Storm Moon, I see a young native Indian man. He is very strong and wise beyond his years. He is a healer, what some might call a medicine man. I lay before him in a trance like state as he begins his ritual. He starts off with chants and a bit of a dance. With leaves of some sacred plant tucked into his ear lobes he dances about my body, cleansing my soul and the air that surrounds me so that the heali http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usoh&c=teen&id=13731 http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usoh&c=teen&id=13731 Many people have said their peace about the different paths. You can be a Heathen, a Wiccan, a Pagan, anything. We are all here for the same reason though, to be connected. For a long time we have been prosecuted by others. We could not be open about our religion with our neighbors and friends. Some of us have problems with our families because of our choice, or we have not told them at all. However, through all the different sources and types of passages in Wiccan faith it says that we should a http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usaz&c=teen&id=13734 http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usaz&c=teen&id=13734 How do you explain to a family member that you are not acting out “Charmed, ” and playing as Pheobe or Piper? It can be difficult to get someone to understand what Wicca is and that you are practicing it. Ask any Pagan or Wiccan about their first experience with ‘coming out of the broom closet, ’ or just telling a loved one they are interested in practicing Wicca. With everyone it is different, but I am sure, especially for teenagers, that we have all dealt with the situation I am talking about. http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=ustn&c=passages&id=13866 http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=ustn&c=passages&id=13866 Lady Gillan / Lynn Perry (June 17, 1946 – March 9, 2010) Gillan passed beyond the veil on Tuesday March 9th. She had been suffering for some time and although we will miss our sister dearly, we know joy that Her pain has ended. She leaves behind her only son Kevin and well as many friends, craft family, and people She had touched in the community.Descended from a Masonic background, Gillan was a member of many local organizations both pagan and otherwise. Gillan was NorthWind's v http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usva&c=passages&id=13869 http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usva&c=passages&id=13869 It is my sad duty to report the death of D. Anthony and quot;Tony and quot; Farley of Pulaski, VA. Tony lost his battle to cancer after a long 4 year fight. His is survived by his soul mate Sharon Farley who wishes to invite the community and his friends to his memorial service and Rite of Passage Ritual. The ritual will be held at Chrysalis in Radford, VA on March 28th at 3:00PM. Flowers may be sent the days leading to the service if you would like. Also cards and condolences may be sent as well:Farley http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usaz&c=holidays&id=13850 http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usaz&c=holidays&id=13850 When did our blessed Ostara get to be such a juvenile holiday? I recall being new to the Craft but long attuned to the seasons and cycles of the earth, and smelling the first breath of Spring in the air. There was a subtle shifting of energies, an inward stirring of freshness, possibility and new hope in the air. As a wilderness child, I avidly searched for the first hint that the cold earth had thawed, for the first glimpse of wild Dutchman’s’ Breeches, sweet violets and bloodroot flowe http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usny&c=words&id=13701 http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usny&c=words&id=13701 Not too long ago, in the context of a charitable association I have through the coven that I co-lead, I was invited to a “thank- you” cocktail party. The experience inspired some bizarre behavior on my part. Let me explain.Many witches and polytheists these days have an uncomfortable relationship with what is commonly called amongst many of us “the broom closet”. We are sometimes uncomfortable discussing our membership in a non-mainstream faith, despite all this “fastest growing religion http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=caon&c=words&id=13708 http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=caon&c=words&id=13708 In July of 2000, I was on a camping trip with some friends and family in Aptos, California. The mornings would change slowly, beautifully from a cool, grey fog so thick that you couldn’t see the campsite next to your own, to a gentle heat and sunlight that danced between the Manresa leaves just so… People came alive with the change, they’d rise about the same time, chatter at the one faucet that fed twenty campsites, cook breakfast on butane stoves, and sit lazily by all enjoying the same weathe http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usks&c=words&id=13856 http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usks&c=words&id=13856 In a previous piece here on Witchvox, I related the story of how I dared to show up at a hot, Southern Pagan Pride event in *gasp* shorts and a T-shirt rather than the apparent requisite flowing skirt, glitter and fairy wings. One of the other attendees took offense at my attire and sent me a very nasty anonymous email taking me to task for not being “Pagan enough” to present at the event.What I didn’t mention in that previous piece is that my anonymous e-mailer also railed at me for pac http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usor&c=words&id=13800 http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usor&c=words&id=13800 Wicca is, without doubt, the greatest threat to the establishment of the Christian church today. I predict that, given time, the views and the points that the Wicca bring forth to argue and defend their own faith, will, without fail, turn many people away from the dogmatic doctrines of the Christian faith. I predict that someone will take the bible and begin to ask hard, theological questions to the Christians that will not have ready-made answers. I predict that, given time, someone will bring http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usca&c=words&id=13848 http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usca&c=words&id=13848 Witches are taught that life is an intricate web of interconnected forces; that we are all one and that each piece of the microcosm can influence the whole. We are also taught to think for ourselves (a bit of an oxymoron, I know) and that every living being has its own destiny and right to exist. Furthermore, we are told that everyone should be able to believe whatever they choose and that all beliefs have validity even if only for their respective adherents, since one’s perceptions can influenc http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=uspa&c=words&id=13691 http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=uspa&c=words&id=13691 As I walk along an unexplored trail through the forest, I take notice that there are no obstructions in my way. There are no brambles waiting to snag me with their thorns. There are no fallen trees to stumble over. There is no wayward stream forcing me to forage across. There is only the solitude of the woods and the associated sounds of woodland life. Above me in the branches of an old Elm tree are a couple of birds that are singing a morning duet. It is a song about joy and the happine