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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 19409
[Civil]
Date Posted:
2/24/2008
7:36:57 am EST
Wvox Stats
Views: 6,857
RSS: 16,338
Comments: 15
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Wiccans Worship Nature, Not Satan
Author: Leila Pitchford-English Source: The Advocate (LA)
Title: WICCANS WORSHIP NATURE, NOT SATAN
A law in Livingston Parish outlawing soothsaying is being challenged by residents who practice Wicca.
The Wiccans in Livingston say that the parish law interferes with their right to practice their religion.
Wicca is a neopagan religion that started in the 1940s in Britain. Characterized by nature worship and white magic, it pulls its beliefs from pre-Christian Europeans, especially the Celts.
Wicca doesn’t worship Satan or evil.
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Community Thoughts: There are 15 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Wicca=Withcraft? | Feb 26th. at 12:09:13 pm EST
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KyJenn (Robins AFB, Georgia) - Email Me
Some folks will say 'I’m a Witch but I’m not Wicca'...or 'I'm Wiccan but not a Witch'. Everyone has their personal definition of what either is and is not. When I encounter other Pagans I use a standard Definition from the The American Council of Witches.
"Principles of Wiccan Belief" (1974)
7. We see religion, magick and wisdom-in-living as being united in the way one views the world and lives within it -- a world view and philosophy of life which we identify as Witchcraft, the Wiccan Way.
I define Witchcraft as an Art, Science and Spirituality. Art being the magick, Science being the Wisdom and Religion being the Spirituality. Either works as a base for defining most Wiccan's and Witch's...now not all Wiccan's practice the "Craft", or Art as i like to call it, but it is included in most definitions that i have seen.
Divination and/or soothsaying are among the many forms/ways to practice magic. To say that it is not part of being Wicca or a Witch is like saying we don't do rituals, which itself is part of the combining all 3 aspects, Art, Science and Spirituality.
The article itself is stating some good stuff about our community. I say its good press and if those Witch's/Wiccan's...which ever they be...wanted to practice their art without prejudice from the law...so be it....just my opinion.
k
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| Opps | Feb 25th. at 5:32:41 pm EST
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Lady-hearted Mojo (Irving, Texas) - Email Me
Since when was soothsaying and fortune-telling a part of the Wiccan religion and why doesn't deserve religioius protection?
That should have read "why does it deserve religious protection." Damn typos.
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| This Is Absurd | Feb 25th. at 5:31:36 pm EST
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Lady-hearted Mojo (Irving, Texas) - Email Me
Are these people daft? Since when was soothsaying and fortune-telling a part of the Wiccan religion and why doesn't deserve religioius protection? Personally, I think these people are wasting their time and energy on a losing proposition.
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| Sarcastic Comment Alert | Feb 25th. at 5:14:09 am EST
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Jed (Bakersfield, California) - Email Me
All this time, being a Wiccan and I had no idea... heh. Not bad, if on the par of a high school essay.
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| Since When? | Feb 24th. at 4:08:22 pm EST
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Ursyl (Murrysville, Pennsylvania) - Email Me
are religious services not paid for?
I don't know any Christian ministers or priests who do not recieve a salary of some sort. We certainly pay our UU minister. She likes having a roof over her head, just like the rest of us.
Couples certainly pay ministers for performing weddings, and families pay the minister for the funeral too.
So why does doing a card reading have to be justified as not being religious if to some it is?
It is a service, by whatever philosophy, and as long as the reader is open about just what she/he is doing, and the client is clear about that, and there's no blackmail or other "this won't happen if you give me...." crap--as those who've given readings a badname do, I see no fraud. There is nothing wrong about being paid for a service.
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| Interesting The Way Some People See Things | Feb 24th. at 3:12:33 pm EST
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Moonlight Willows (Hampden, Maine) - Email Me
There is no problem charging for a reading as long as it is a fair price. Life is not free. I give readings for free I can die of starvation.
I have bills to pay. but I do not plan on taking someone's life savings either. Nothing fraud about that. NOTHING!
Counsellor is paid for there work are they not?
Advisor? Why not a reader.
Divination is a large part of some peoples religion, and some Wiccans as well.
It is not a bad article but it could have been better.It does have inaccuracies, although they are not inflammatory. I am a Witch I am not Wiccan. Divination is part of my faith as well as energy work.
No one can make blanket statements about this sort of thing, since all Pagan religions are different and that is just the way it is.
And we should all, have the right to charge a fair price for our time and wears. As a previous poster said, Gasoline and cards and supplies cost money.
I do not charge for religious information, but If I were a teacher I could do that as well since Teachers, too need to eat.
But anything is better then nothing the article is a beginning.
Moonlight
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| Non Damning Info About Wicca, But.. | Feb 24th. at 2:49:14 pm EST
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Medea (Somewhere, Massachusetts) - Email Me
Interesting that the article states that it's only the Wiccans who are challenging the law, on religious grounds. In my experience, (at least around here,) there is a percentage of people who are neo-pagan who are professional readers, but the vast majority, including the storefront psychics are not. They're either New Age folk, who describe themselves as "Spiritual, not religious" but still deal with the Christian pantheon for guidance (angels, Virgin Mary, God, etc) ,
or outright tolerant avowed Christians who acknowledge they have a "gift" that comes from the aforementioned pantheon.
I also disagree that charging for readings is in some way unethical. Is charging for an appointment with a Psychologist unethical? I see it as basically the same thing, depending on the style of the reader. Some out there discern exactly what it is a client wants to hear, then proceeds to sell them such "information" at an outrageous rate. This is unethical, in my opinion, no matter what faith someone happens to be.
Others use divination to identify personal issues, and how the client feels about situational occurrences in their lives, thus attempting to assist said client in empowering her/himself to deal with aforementioned life issues. That's the way I read, for clients, for money.
I am a consultant. It costs me quite a bit to travel to where I need to go to see these folks, with gas prices the way they are. My cards weren't free. If I do a faire somewhere, I have operating costs. I don't charge for " religious content" I charge for time and materials. Nor do I even attempt to "tell the future" because in my opinion, no one knows what the future is. We create our own, through our choices and actions. I also make sure I tell any potential clients about my reading philosophy as well, so they don't expect to hear about how many children they'll have, when they'll meet "The One", or get a better job.
Instead they'll learn whether or not they might hold any unproductive, self defeating attitudes concerning relationships, self worth, finances, or whatever, and make the choice whether or not to address those issues.
It may not sound all "mystical", but it does cut down on what Frank Zappa referred to as "Cosmic Debris".
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| Accuracy Is Hard To Come By | Feb 24th. at 2:04:37 pm EST
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David Eagan (Cleveland, Wisconsin) - Email Me
I personally sent the author if this article an email thanking her for accurate reporting regarding Wicca. I am glad she took the time to research to the point of discovering the accurate age of Wicca, as opposed to the antiquity some of us claim without proof.
I am always confused about the resistance these kinds of laws get from our community for three reasons.
1. Soothsaying is not an integral part of Wicca/Neo-Paganism.
2. Fortune telling for money is fraud.
3. Even if you believe that fortune telling is an important part of your faith and it works, it is unethical to charge others for a religious service.
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| My Apologies... | Feb 24th. at 1:39:01 pm EST
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Cwydd ap Gwydion (Hudson, New York) - Email Me
... for not seeing things exactly the way another did.
Perhaps expanding upon the original idea in the first place would have been more informative.
Thank you though.
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| ... | Feb 24th. at 12:25:08 pm EST
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Draken (Bronx, New York) - Email Me - Web
1) The article did get it right about Wicca. I doubt Wicca as a religion was spontaneously invented in the 1940s (as it would take time for a cohesive, ritualized religion to form) and they failed (as the media often does) to capitalize the "p" in "Pagan."
2) That being said, the "anti-soothsaying" ordinance in Livingston is unconstitutional because it discriminates against Wiccans.
So I repeat, WHERE IS THE ACLU?
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| Okay... | Feb 24th. at 11:18:16 am EST
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Cwydd ap Gwydion (Hudson, New York) - Email Me
... not sure why the ACLU would be needed here first of all.
And the fact that they got it at all is better than how long it took for them to figure it out.
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| OK.... | Feb 24th. at 9:52:24 am EST
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Whitewolf (Schenectady, New York) - Email Me
it took them THIS long to figure that out????
Love to all
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| ... | Feb 24th. at 9:05:40 am EST
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Draken (Bronx, New York) - Email Me - Web
Okay, so where is the ACLU in all of this?
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