Witchvox Article

Author: Caroline Kenner [a WitchVox Sponsor]
Posted: October 25th. 2009
Times Viewed: 3,779

Internationally famous Wiccan authors Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone will be making stops in Maryland, Delaware, Florida and the Nation�s Capital during their upcoming East Coast Samhain tour.

On Samhain evening, Farrar and Bone will attend the annual Samhain drumming event held at the Jefferson Memorial. Sponsored by Ecumenicon Fellowship, Drumming for the Ancestors has been held on Samhain for more than 10 years.

Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone spoke about their upcoming trip: �We are always happy to come back to the Washington, DC/Baltimore area. It was from this area in 1991 that our (Janet and Stewart's) first tour was launched. Without the assistance of the Maryland community back then, neither this, nor our subsequent tours, may have ever happened. Over the years we have always maintained strong connections with the region. We are always honoured to be asked back to give lectures, workshops or be involved in festivals. To be invited back to attend Samhain at Jefferson Memorial is of therefore particular importance to us. We look forward to meeting old friends and new.�

Organizer of the Samhain Drumming event, Rev. Charles Butler Neto of Ecumenicon Fellowship, said, �This year, we are thrilled to have our opening blessing performed by Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone of Ireland, who are movers in the birth of Wicca as a modern religion. Over the years, we have had participation from the Smithsonian, and coverage from diverse sources including the Christian Broadcasting Network with Rev. Jerry Fallwell, as an example of religious freedom in America. This service combines Wiccan, African Diaspora, and interfaith voices together in remembrance of our Ancestors.�

Prior to Samhain, Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone will be holding a press conference at the offices of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, where they will make themselves available for interviews with reporters. We are in deep gratitude to Americans United for supporting the Farrar and Bone Samhain tour with the loan of their Capitol Hill conference room for this press opportunity. In 2007, lawyers from Americans United successfully pressed the Department of Veterans Affairs on behalf of Roberta Stewart in the Quest for the Veteran�s Pentagram.

In addition to attending the Samhain festivities at the Jefferson Memorial, Farrar and Bone will be visiting CedarLight Grove ADF in Baltimore on Friday evening, October 30th. Crystal Groves, Senior Druid, said, �We will be hosting a Friday night potluck event at CedarLight Center. Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone will be speaking on the history of Witchcraft, and there will be time for an open discussion at the end. Space is limited, so please reserve ahead if you would like to attend.�

Farrar and Bone will also be visiting Hard Bargain Farm, an environmental education facility on the Potomac River across from George Washington�s Mount Vernon, as the guest of Chesapeake Pagan Community on Sunday, November 1st. Hard Bargain Farm preserves the environment, and the view from Mount Vernon, directly across the Potomac River in Virginia, much as it was in George Washington�s day. Built on land originally owned by the Piscataway Indians, Hard Bargain Farm includes a shrine to the Piscataway leader Turkey Tayac.

Myth Woodling, CPC Vice President, said, "Chesapeake Pagan Community is delighted to have Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone visit with us on Sunday, November 1, 2009, while we honor our beloved dead and celebrate the festival of Samhain! Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone are living-treasures of the Pagan community--as elders, teachers, and authors of many wonderful books."

Farrar and Bone will be celebrating the Ancestors with Chesapeake Pagans, and also observing the spirit possession ceremony conducted by Rev. Firesong and her Universal Temple of Spirits earlier in the afternoon.

Then Farrar and Bone depart for sunny Florida, where they will be teaching at Florida Pagan Gathering. They will be teaching two workshops, �Working with the Triple Goddess: A Practical Exploration�, �Wyrd and the Runes� and leading a Chakra Ritual.

Other activities in Florida are also planned.

Returning to the mid-Atlantic region in mid-November, Farrar and Bone will make an appearance Friday evening, November 20th at Delaware�s largest metaphysical shop, Bell, Book and Candle in Dover, to speak on the history of Witchcraft. They will also be happy to sign copies of their books for attendees.

Then, on Saturday and Sunday, November 21st and 22nd, Farrar and Bone will teach a full weekend workshop with a Trance Prophecy ceremony on Saturday evening at the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel�s Seelie Court headquarters in Georgetown, Delaware.

Ivo Dominguez, Jr., of the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel, said, �Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone are well-known names internationally within the Wiccan and Pagan communities. They have more than 50 years experience between them in the fields of spirituality and the Occult sciences. We welcome their teachings at Seelie Court.� Farrar and Bone will be teaching Magical Energy on Saturday, and Magical Cosmologies on Sunday.

One of the benefits of working with Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone is their connection with the earliest roots of the modern Witchcraft revival in London in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Our community is so young that it is a rare experience to study with a woman who has been an initiated Witch for almost forty years. The years of coven experience, the years of teaching and writing seminal books on Witchcraft, are very apparent when you learn from Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone.

Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone have changed and evolved their magical practices over time in fascinating ways. Originally associated with British Traditional Witchcraft, they now focus more trance prophecy work. They consider themselves priestess and priest of Freya, the Anglo-Saxon Goddess. Gavin Bone had an extensive background in Seax-Wicca prior to joining the Farrar writing team.

Farrar and Bone break new ground in their courageous book, Progressive Witchcraft, in which they recommend that we Witches learn from modern polytheistic religions such as Hinduism and Santeria. They also recommend visionary practices such as seidr trance and shamanism. This Samhain tour of the mid-Atlantic states and Florida will give many of us here in America a rare opportunity to experience their teachings in our local stores and at gatherings.

Footnotes:
Links for article:
http://www.ecumenicon.org/
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=144316567832 and ref=mf
http://www.au.org/
http://www.cedarlightgrove.org/
http://www.chesapeakepagans.org/
http://www.flapagan.org/
http://www.sacredwheel.org/events.html

First photo: Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone

Second photo: Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone with Sophie at the Kells Cross, which has a carved panel depicting Tyr and the Fenrir Wolf

Third photo: Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone at Slieve na Callaighe, the Hill of the Witch, shown with the caretaker and Sophie on top of the ancient passage tomb

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Article ID: 13599

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Age Group: Adult

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ABOUT...

Caroline Kenner

Location: Silver Spring, Maryland

Website: http://www.mythkenner.com

Author's Profile: To learn more about Caroline Kenner - Click HERE

Bio: Caroline Kenner is a Washington Witchdoctor, a shamanic healer trained for twelve years by Michael Harner and Sandra Ingerman of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, and other fine shamanic teachers. In addition to her shamanic training, Caroline has received initiations and ceremonies in diverse spiritual traditions. She is third degree initiate of Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone, and has been initiated by the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel into their Order of Wandering Stars. Caroline has received several ceremonies in La Regla de Ocha de Lukumi, often known as Cuban Santeria. She wears the Necklaces, and holds the cauldron of the Warriors, and two soperas. Caroline is legally ordained in the state of Maryland, and is a board member of the Sacred Space Foundation, at www.sacredspacefoundation.org For many years, Caroline has worked as a religious freedom activist and media spokesperson for the Washington, DC/Baltimore Pagan community. Caroline has an A.B. degree from Bryn Mawr College in Anthropology, and an M.S. in Communications from Boston University. See www.mythkenner.com for more information about Caroline�s shamanic healing practice in Silver Spring, Maryland.

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