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 Mixing Politics And Witchcraft Author: Buyekezwa Makwabe Source: The Times (S. Africa) Title: MIXING POLITICS AND WITCHCRAFT His pagan name is Malachite and he belongs to the Coven of the Silver Sickle. Meet Adrian Williams, the only pentacle-wearing witch in parliament. But the card-carrying ANC and South African Communist Party member, 43, from Mpumalanga has renounced the terms “witch” and “witchcraft” because he maintains the issue needs to be treated with sensitivity in South Africa. Williams practises “magick”, but calls himself a pagan or eclectic wiccan. | |
| Community Thoughts: There are 6 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| South African Pagan Rights Alliance Responds | Aug 10th. at 7:34:29 am EDT |
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Damon Leff (Hoogekraal - southern Cape, South Africa) - Email Me - Web Mpumalanga ANC MP Adrian Williams has accused the South African Pagan Rights Alliance (SAPRA) of being arrogant in pursuing the reclamation of the terms Witch and Witchcraft. SAPRA rejects the allegation of arrogance and notes that reclamation of loaded terminology has long been a recognized method of educating the broader public and fighting for the rights of unrecognized minorities. While Mr Williams self-identifies as Pagan, it should be noted that he has no mandate to speak on behalf of all the Witches or Witchcraft practitioners in South Africa, many of whom have already expressed a desire to reclaim the terminology. SAPRA believes that the difficulty is one of translation and attitude, with an inappropriate substitution of the word 'Witch' for "bad practitioner of magic" by early settlers who perpetuated a prejudice against Witchcraft long seen in European society. Contrary to Mr Williams, SAPRA believes that no person has the right to perpetrate acts of violence against another on the basis of their cultural or religious beliefs. No person is guilty of practising Witchcraft (whether for harm or good) on the basis of an accusation. Accusations of bewitchment are rarely based on sound evidence or fact, but are often motivated through fear, superstition, jealousy, envy and spite. Any and all cultural and religious beliefs that portray Witches as inherently evil and portray Witchcraft as a danger to society are based on historically constructed superstitions and deliberately constructed propaganda. The only real Witches in Africa are those (whether white or black-skinned) who actually claim to be Witches. We Witches will NEVER relinquish our right to call ourselves Witches. We fervently work towards an understanding and acceptance of all cultures, in which all South Africans will have the right to practice their own religions with tolerance and understanding, and we do not believe we will achieve that goal through fooling people with words. The South African Pagan Rights Alliance advises Mr. Williams to refrain from dictating religious policy to South African citizens who are Witches and who seek to exercise their constitutional right to freedom of religion. SAPRA |
| Energies And Beliefs | Aug 10th. at 6:44:11 am EDT |
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Lunaschylde (Palmyra, Pennsylvania) - Email Me I believe that the gods, all of them, and that includes Satan, are human constructs, given energy and sentience through belief and worship. I realize that Christianity is plagiarized, but enough people have embraced it for 2000 years that Yahweh, Jesus, Satan, etc, all exist within the context of Christianity. Based on Christian doctrine, I am worse than the Pagan who doesn't believe Yahweh and Jesus exist, I believe they do, but think Yahweh is an egomaniacal a##h### and Jesus was a niave human whose words were most likely corrupted by his disciples. |
| ... | Aug 9th. at 9:49:12 am EDT |
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Draken (Bronx, New York) - Email Me - Web I believe the website is called "THE WITCHES' VOICE, " and most Witches, Wiccan or otherwise (yes, contrary to the skewed opinions of "reconstructionists, " Wiccans ARE witches) , don't recognize the existence of a xian deity named "satan." There is a LiveJournal icon that points out "cite one part of the buy-bull in favor of a specific belief, cite it all, 'kay?" It's geared more towards the anti-gay crowd, but can be analogous with this debate: [Web LINK] One important fact needs to be remembered here: xian mythology is 100% PLAGIARISM. The idea for their "satan" likely came from actual antagonistic Gods such as Set or Pazuzu. More info can be found in part one of the first Zeitgeist movie: [Web LINK] ...getting back to the article at hand, I need to point one more thing out. This is Africa it's coming from. It's an accomplishment for someone neither the cathaholics nor some imam approved of to gain political office. Also, the lack of education that's well-documented allows xian superstitions to take root, making said accomplishment a very big uphill battle in that region. Whether you agree with his statements or not, this guy deserves applause. Now if we can only get a Wiccan in Congress past all the "tent revival"-style political rallies... |
| Perceptions | Aug 9th. at 5:18:03 am EDT |
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Little Red (Nottingham, England) - Email Me On the astral plane, all thoughtforms and entities are in existence. Therefore their devil and indeed their god are up there, along with Harry Potter and Father Christmas. Ask anyone you meet today who these characters are; there can be no escaping their impact upon our collective consciousness. Our perception of deity and magick is, among many other things, tied up with our cultural and psychological perceptions. There is no need to poo-poo the existence of what others believe in; after all, aren't we hoping they will accord a little more respect to our beliefs? There are many indications that their devil is a sort of rough sketch of our Horned God, and that many of his 'licentious' characteristics are bastardisations of our ideals. If we can enter into a more open-minded discussion of these similarities and differences, we stand a better chance of some day reaching a better understanding with Christians (to use their proper name, which is, again, more respectful) . |
| A Political Pagan - Cool! | Aug 8th. at 10:27:45 pm EDT |
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nasionnaich (Stanchfield, Minnesota) - Email Me So, Adrian Williams is a Pagan, an Eclectic Wiccan (not a witch, as he has so clearly stated, for the extremely clear reason stated) -- and a member of the South African Parliament. He is in a position to influence his Society, and has seemingly decided to use his position to educate his country on just what a "witch" really is. From the comments on the article's webpage (admittedly, only 5 when I read the article) , it looks like even South Africans care very little about what religion their politicians follow -- and far more about whether those politicians do what is needed to be done. Oh, and something else on.... "I believe that the devil exists in as much as I believe that a coat hanger exists. ****I don’t worship the coat hanger and don’t worship the devil.****" Well, there is no actual, physical proof that any god or goddess exists, either -- no photos, and the only times anyone has ever seen one it has been in "dreams" or "visions". That means, according to some peoples' thinking, that there are no gods or goddesses at all........ --nasionnaich ....have never seen, touched, or spoken to/with a Tasmanian Devil (never mind Odin or Thor) - so they must not be real. hey, "evidence" can be faked, same as "eye-witness accounts". |
| ... | Aug 8th. at 6:44:48 pm EDT |
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Draken (Bronx, New York) - Email Me - Web The good: That a Pagan in Africa (of all places) would have gotten that far. The bad: "I believe that the devil exists in as much as I believe that a coat hanger exists." Sorry, but there's proof that coat hangers exist while "da debbil" is just xian mythology. |
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