A Treatise Of Witchcraft

Book: A Treatise Of Witchcraft by Alexander Roberts

I find the idea of rating an historical publication like Alexandr Roberts' A Treatise of Witchcraft difficult, so I have opted not to do so. However, the content itself is very interesting. In his 1620 writing Roberts moves through a series of topics related to witchcraft: he begins by insisting that witches are real (and references historical sources like The Odyssey and the Bible as support), and then outlines exactly why witchcraft is to be abhorred by the Christian community. Roberts speaks of the spiritual salvation of witches (which would ideally come just before their execution), defends the sentencing of witches, and details a specific example of witchcraft that occasioned the writing of his Treatise. The discussion of the contemporary case was intriguing, but I found Roberts' focus on gender roles particularly interesting. Throughout the text he assures his readers that not all witches are women, but he then goes on to explain why women are more susceptible to the Devil, and why the majority of magic Practitioners are therefore women. As you can imagine, Roberts references everything from Eve to physical differences to an inclination towards the passionate as reasons why women are more likely to fall into Satan's grasp.

While the ideas presented would be familiar to anyone with even a passing knowledge of Witchcraft Trials, Roberts' treatise makes for a clear and forward primary source for the discussion of the occult.

Download Alexander Roberts's eBook: A Treatise Of Witchcraft

Downloadable books (free):

Michael Harrison - The Roots Of Witchcraft
George Lyman Kittredge - Notes On Witchcraft
Allen Greenfield - A True History Of Witchcraft
Alexander Roberts - A Treatise Of Witchcraft

Unicorn Tradition Of Wicca

Book: Unicorn Tradition Of Wicca by Bylaws

The Unicorn Tradition is an eclectic one, rooted in a family tradition through which our founders, Lady Galadriel and Lord Athanor, received their training and Initiations.

Goddess and God are honored as essential to the sacred dance we call life, and as emanations of the One Source from which the universe is created. We are a working and teaching tradition which celebrates the Eight Sabbats (solar festivals), the New Moons, and the Full Moons. We are an initiatory mystery tradition, with a five level, three degree system of training and attainment. Common beliefs and practices unite our family, so that no individual trained in one branch of the Unicorn Tradition should ever feel a stranger among those other branches.

As you explore our home on the web, you will get a sense of who we are. You will find information about our founders and some of the core teachings that unite us. You’ll get to know our Elders, Priests and Priestesses as well as connect with the groups that practice our lineage. Writings by our members can be found in the library and portals to interesting information can be found in links and Recommended reading.

Download Bylaws's eBook: Unicorn Tradition Of Wicca

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Anders Sandberg - Asatru The Nordic Subtradition Of The Verbena
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Alexander Roberts - A Treatise Of Witchcraft
Bylaws - Unicorn Tradition Of Wicca

Pagan Christianity Exploring The Roots Of Our Church Practices

Book: Pagan Christianity Exploring The Roots Of Our Church Practices by Frank Viola

Have you ever wondered why we Christians do what we do for church every Sunday morning? Why do we "dress up" for church? Why does the pastor preach a sermon each week? Why do we have pews, steeples, choirs, and seminaries? This volume reveals the startling truth: most of what Christians do in present-day churches is not rooted in the New Testament, but in pagan culture and rituals developed long after the death of the apostles. Coauthors Frank Viola and George Barna support their thesis with compelling historical evidence in the first-ever book to document the full story of modern Christian church practices.

"Frank Viola and George Barna have teamed up to create an intelligent, readable, and yet challenging work about the historical roots of the many unbiblical modern church practices that hinder Christian growth in quality and church growth in quantity. Anyone who reads Pagan Christianity with an open mind and heart will never see the church the same way again. May those with newly-gained spiritual eyes not stop there, but go on to do something about it."
Rad Zdero, Ph.D., Author of "The Global House Church Movement" and Editor of "Nexus: The World House Church Movement Reader."

"Frank has done a masterful job both researching and then weaving together the threads that have made modern church practices what they are - pagan substitutes for authentic church life. One nice thing about PAGAN CHRISTIANITY is that it provides the history behind a perception that many of us Christians share: The way the modern Western church does things has little to do with the organic life we see in the New Testament. The difference is so great sometimes that one wonders how one could possibly have transmuted into the other."
Hal Miller, author of "Christian Community: Biblical or Optional?"

"This is an important book which demonstrates that many of the practical aspects of contemporary church life, ministry and structure have little or no biblical basis and are, in fact, inspired by a wide variety of non Christian patterns and ideas most of which are inimical to Christian life and growth. Many readers will find this book challenging in the extreme but all who are concerned with the future of the church should read it."
Dave Norrington, Lecturer of religious studies at Blackpool and the Fylde College, author of "To Preach or Not to Preach."

Download Frank Viola's eBook: Pagan Christianity Exploring The Roots Of Our Church Practices

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Frank Viola - Pagan Christianity Exploring The Roots Of Our Church Practices

A Version Of The Wiccan Rede

We belief that sharing as much as we knew about the Rede would be helpful as well as checking out what others know. This is not a version of the Rede we use, as we follow the simpler one, but this is an interesting and enlightening poem. Blessed be

Bide the wiccan Laws we must
In Perfect Love and Perfect Trust.
Live and let live.
Fairly take and fairly give.
Cast the Circle thrice about
To keep the evil spirits out.
To bind the spell every time
Let the spell be spake in rhyme.
Soft of eye and light of touch,
Speak little, listen much.
Deosil go by the waxing moon,
Chanting out the Witches' Rune.
Widdershins go by the waning moon,
Chanting out the baneful rune.
When the Lady's moon is new,
Kiss the hand to her, times two.
When the moon rides at her peak,
Then your heart's desire seek,
Heed the North wind's mighty gale,
Lock the door and drop the sail.
When the wind comes from the South,
Love will kiss thee on the mouth.
When the wind blows from the West,
Departed souls will have no rest.
When the wind blows from the East,
Expect the new and set the feast.
Nine woods in the cauldron go,
Burn them fast and burn them slow.
Elder be the Lady's tree,
Burn it not or cursed you'll be.
When the Wheel begins to turn,
Let the Beltane fires burn.
When the Wheel has turned to Yule,
Light the log and the Horned One rules.
Heed ye Flower, Bush and Tree,
By the Lady, blessed be.
Where the rippling waters go,
Cast a stone and truth you'll know.
When ye have a true need,
Hearken not to others' greed.
With a fool no season spend,
Lest ye be counted as his friend.
Merry meet and merry part,
Bright the cheeks and warm the heart.
Mind the Threefold Law you should,
Three times bad and three times good.
When misfortune is enow,
Wear the blue star on thy brow.
True in Love ever be,
Lest thy lover's false to thee.
Eight words The Wiccan Rede fulfill:
An ye harm none, do what ye will.


We would love to have your version or a link to the Rede, especially if you have one that has been passed down from person to person. Hope you enjoy!

Free eBooks (Can Be Downloaded):

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Is Wicca Really Supported By The Us Taxpayers

It is not obvious exactly why people believes that Wicca (a.k.a. Witchcraft) and other minority religions are taxpayer-funded. In fact, a case can be made for the reverse: Wiccan soldiers are probably funded to a lesser degree than are Roman Catholics, Protestants and Jews.

Large armed forces bases frequently have one or more Protestant ministers, Roman Catholic priests, and a Jewish rabbis on staff. The military usually pays clergy salaries, provides chaplains with offices and support staff, etc. Fort Hood has 42,000 military personnel and 96 chaplains. Assuming that each chaplain (with office staff) costs a $75,000 per year, the government allocates $171 per year for the spiritual support of each Christian or Jewish soldier. But there are no Wiccan Priests, Priestesses, or chaplain office at Fort Hood. Wiccans are expected to fend for themselves, and provide their own priests and priestesses from within their own membership. (One reader reports that there is a major concentration of Wiccans in the army stationed in Germany that are served by a Neopagan Priestess.) The cost per Wiccan for spiritual support in Fort Hood is essentially nil.

Some news sources stated that the Army had increased security at Fort Hood "in order to deter members of Christian groups from intimidating the witches, who meet in campgrounds..." 9 The army would certainly incur costs due to this increased security. Perhaps a bit of gas would be used by some military police vehicles while they protected the Wiccans. Probably a few sheets of paper would be consumed by the MPs while preparing reports. MPs are not paid overtime, so there would be no increased cost due to salaries. The total cost of protection would be minimal. These trivial costs are not the fault of the Wiccans. They are caused by perceived danger due to local religious intolerance by a minority of Christians.

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Full Moon Ritual Group

Book: Full Moon Ritual Group by Anonymous

The Esbat takes place on the nights of the New Moon and the nights of the Full Moon. On these nights, the coven usually does any kind of magical work and business they need to. It is enacted, hopefully every Full Moon.

Set up: Place a candle in each of the four cardinal directions.Lay the rest of the tools on the altar cloth or near it. The altar can be on the ground, a table, a rock or a stump. The altar should be in the center or just North of center of the Circle. Light the six candles and the incense, start the music and begin the ritual.

Download Anonymous's eBook: Full Moon Ritual Group

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Welcome To Occult Community

The “occult” community is an almost meaningless term denoting the vast numbers of Neo-Pagans, traditional “practitioners,” ceremonial magicians, root workers, card readers, Vitki, Bokurs, exorcists, Brujas, Witches, Warlocks and all the other people who delve into the practice of magic. As America in particular and the West in general has become more accepting of these practices they have become almost mainstream and indeed in the case of Wicca, crystal workings and other practices they have become less part of the “occult’ and more a part of the watered down “New Age” movement that is the bane of true practitioners.

For the past few years I have seen that proficiency in magical practice, familiarity with the literature of the occult and the ability to discern legitimate rituals and techniques from online role playing and media inspired fads disturbingly rare. Today’s “Witch” is more likely to be familiar with organic vegan recipes than the recipe for making the love philters. Today’s Magician will be more apt to sulkily skip dinner and rail on the Internet about a person who has crossed them than resort to the infamous Black Fast. More people have read Twilight in our so-called community than have read Elizabeth Butler’s excellent introduction to the history of Western Magicians Ritual Magic.

When you do find people who claim to have actually practiced some form of the Art you’ll get wild tales of lightning bolts, levitation, or long-winded explanations about how “everything you do” is magic. And that’s if they believe at all; I’ve had more than one self-described Witch tell me rituals and spells didn’t work.

There was a time, my friends, when that Fraternity of Night called to a select few who, through painstaking research, long hours of studying and experimentation and the will to follow the path least tread, accumulate a few jealously guarded and (more importantly) effective spells that ended up scribbled in a journal and perhaps, if we were lucky, passed to trusted friends. But our own secretive nature and elitist mentality has created several new generations of unguided, unfocused and uninformed practitioners who do little but imperil themselves and those around them. For all our complaints it is we older generations, smug and separate, who have created the New Age by not being involved in it. Spell and Ritual is my small way of making up for the lack of leadership many of us have shown.

This will not be a place for moralizing, political debate or personal attacks. Spell and Ritual will only deal with the mechanics of magic and the literature you should be familiar with. Some of what we will be posting will be academic in origin, as this is an essential piece of a practitioner’s education which many people have missed out on. One cannot understand Necromancy, for example, if you are unfamiliar with the long history of Necromancy in Western civilization which is mainly preserved by classical scholars.

Spell and Ritual will not tolerate racism, sexism or any other -ism. There has been a movement among some young Witches to claim the African diaspora traditions (like Voodoo, Santeria, etc) are “evil” and there is quite a bit of bigotry experienced by Christian practitioners of the Arts. This is not acceptable here. Likewise, since I was very young, there has been considerable pressure put on male Witches (even non-Wiccans) to refrain from using the term Warlock. I myself prefer the term but this will not be open for debate. How people describe themselves and their practice will be respected here. That includes those that practice the Left Hand Path. We are not here to debate what is right and wrong, only what does and does not work.

Spell and Ritual is in the process of actively soliciting spells and rituals that people can verify as working, and we are glad to promote books, services, or Web sites that will be of interest to practitioners.

As a quick aside, I have always found the use of “Magick” instead of magic a bit pretentious. It irks me, but if you must, feel free.

This site will be, I hope, a resource for everyone. Please leave your politics and pettiness at the door and use this site to discuss and learn the Mysteries.

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Some Things To Look For And Avoid In Wiccan Covern

Here are some things to look for:

* People you can respect, trust and love.
* Good people. How could anyone be spiritual without being at least honest and kind?
* Authentic people - people who seem to live in accordance with the values they espouse. If they claim to be able to teach you Nature spirituality, do they live lightly on the Earth? If they claim to be able to teach you magic, do they seem to be grounded, centered and empowered?
* Competent people - people who seem knowledgeable and skilled, people who are organized, who keep their appointments and are well-prepared for their classes.
* People who listen. People who ask the kinds of questions that encourage you to explore your own spirituality and your own ideas and feelings about traditional lore. People who are genuinely open to learning from their students, as well as teaching them.
* People who will respect your confidences. People who will neither gossip nor use information you share to manipulate or hurt you.

and some things to avoid:

* Authoritarians - stay away from anyone who tries to censor your reading or to isolate you from family or friends. Beware of those who get irritated when you ask challenging questions. Be even more wary of anyone who, when you ask a difficult question, either ridicules you or patronizes you ("let your elders worry about that one, dear, your job right now is just to learn what we teach."). If anybody tries to forbid you to express your opinions in the presence of your elders, run screaming out the door. (all these things have happened)
* Sexual predators - unfortunately a few of these creeps infest every religion. If somebody tells you that your magical or spiritual advancement depends on your giving them what they want, first spit in their eye, then get away fast.
* Hypocrites - those who say they love Mother Earth, and live carelessly and wastefully, those who say they love the Goddess and dominate or abuse human women, those who claim to be Spirit-led while their behavior is ego-driven.
* Exploiters - but they're not instantly identifiable. Any coven might ask students to take a turn bringing consumable supplies like candles or cookies. Teaching covens may have monetary expenses, such as photocopying or rental for a meeting room -- and it's entirely reasonable for them to charge dues and cover their costs from the common purse thus created. There is some debate in our community about whether a Craft teacher should accept payment for their time and work. This is a matter of opinion, but you can be sure that a teacher who takes payment is not practicing Traditional Witchcraft.
It's also fair for a teacher or coven to ask you to do your share of set-up and clean-up, or of ongoing coven projects. But if some coven leader expects you to work free in their profit- making business, or act as their domestic servant, run screaming out the door.
* People who order you to go against your values. Again, this involves some subtle issues. One of the major goals of spiritual development is to learn to hear the still, small inner voice. But some of our inner directives are actually cultural or familial programming. These prescriptions and prescriptions may also be wise, or they may be limiting, or actually evil (consider racial prejudice). They often drown out the voice of authentic Spirit. The best teachers will gently challenge their students to override outworn programming, but never to go against core values. The issue of readiness is also important. If you try to override even the nastiest old programming before you are ready, you might cause a painful backlash. This psychological trauma can actually retard your progress. Beware of insensitive autocrats who try to force all their students into the same Procrustean bed. Don't ever let anybody pressure into doing anything - in or out of Circle - that you believe is wrong. In ritual, we speak to our deepest minds, establishing the moods and motivations that shape our lives. Don't ever do in token what you would not do in truth.

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Green Witchcraft

Book: Green Witchcraft by Ann Moura

Positive, practical, and easy to use, Green witchcraft brings together the best of both modern Wicca and the author`s family Heritage of herb craft and folk magic. Green Witchcraft explores the fundamentals of the Wiccan religion, providing magical training for the independent thinker. Step-by-step instructions on a wide variety of magical techniques as well as basic rules of conduct make this the ideal book to get you started. Green rituals for self-initiation, rites of passage, seasonal celebrations and activities provide an excellent foundation for your own magical tradition.

Download Ann Moura's eBook: Green Witchcraft

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Modern Magick Eleven Lessons In The High Magickal Arts

Book: Modern Magick Eleven Lessons In The High Magickal Arts by Donald Michael Kraig

Modern Magick is the most popular, most complete, step-by-step instruction manual on how to do real magick that has ever been published. Already over 100,000 people are using it. What does it cover? Rituals, healing, initiation, talismans, astral travel, creative visualization, psychic self-defense, evocation of spirits, the Kabalah, physical exercise, and magical tools such as wands. Want more? You'll also learn the secrets of true meditation, how to use the Tarot, how to remember your dreams, how to do the rituals of Western Magick, including rituals of the Pentagram, Hexagram, Middle Pillar, Rose Cross, and Watchtower. You'll learn how to manipulate magical energy, secrets of relaxation, Wicca, pathworking, Tantra, and sex magick. Once you have finished working your way through this book you will be an accomplished magician. You will be able to perform real magick. Then this book will become the most valuable reference tool in your collection of books.

What if you want to know even more about a subject? No problem. Each chapter has a bibliography so you can go even deeper into any topic. There is an annotated bibliography at the end with even more resources.

In the new, second edition the contents pages contain more information so it is even easier to find what you need, but there is also an entirely new appendix with answers to many of the most frequently asked questions that Kraig has received over the years. This book is a must!

I still remember reading the manuscript of Modern Magick. Today, as I look over the second edition of this book, I remember why I was so impressed with it back then and remain impressed now: format and breadth.

After all those years of wondering about magick and trying to find a book which really teaches you the REAL secrets of magick, this book wins the ultimate MUST HAVE. Very good for those who are starters in Magick. This book lets you understand and learn the Whats, the Hows, and the Whens of Magick. You will be able to understand other books on the Occult once you have finished reading this book. Most of the beginners would like to jump to COOL Magick like Goetia - then upon reading it and trying to summon things - nothing happens - then you start wondering if you have to read between the lines, well, in a way yes. So, before jumping to those more advance versions of Magick, this book will be your guide to understand what Magick is and how to use other Magickal or Occult books.

The breadth of this book is amazing. It covers so many topics that you will be astounded. From witchcraft to Kabalah, from reincarnation to astral travel, from charging talismans to pathworking up the Tree of Life, this book has it all. Do you need to know rituals for banishing? They're here. Do you want to learn how to make magical tools? It's in this book. Do you want the secrets for safely calling up spirits from the famous grimoires? You can learn it here, too, along with the secrets of sex magick and Tantric sexuality.

But all of these exercises, rituals, and techniques — all of this information — is no good unless you can make use of it and understand it. That is an area where this book really excels. Instead of simply throwing out all of the material at once, this book has a progressive format. What you learn in lesson two is based on what you learned in lesson one. What comes is later lessons is based on your study of the previous ones. Because it is progressive, Don doesn't have to waste space by repeating what came earlier. But because you constantly use everything, you can go much deeper into every subject.

If you have a first edition of this book, be sure to get a copy of the second edition. It adds a section on answers to common questions and more informative contents pages. I think you will be excited with it, too. I know of many people who have worn out two or three copies of this book. Entire magical orders use it as their text. Isn't it time for you to begin?

Author Donald Michael Kraig wrote this after teaching the information in classes for ten years. It is refined, tested, and easy to understand. It is filled with exercises, techniques, and rituals to help you. It is presented in a series of eleven lessons. Follow the lessons, practice the rituals and techniques, and by the end of your work you will be a magician.

I know many who likes to skip chapters just to learn what one wants to learn. If you are serious in Magick, take your time to go from the beginning. You need to build up sufficient knowledge of how to let Magick happen. As for experienced Magicians, I would say that this is a good reference. This book is mainly based on Kabbalistic Magick and a few Low Magick (nature magick). Too bad there isn't much on Enochian. I've been followin the lessons in the book and I can say that: its not complicated and Magick WORKS (this statement are for those who are sceptics)!! All in all this book provides you with good history in Magick though not in detail but still not too boring. For those serious in this, I would also recommend the audio tape to pronounce the difficult words there are in the book.

Buy Donald Michael Kraig's book: Modern Magick Eleven Lessons In The High Magickal Arts

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Yule Celebrations In Denmark

Yule or Yule-tide is a winter festival that was initially celebrated by the historical Germanic peoples as a pagan religious festival, though it was later absorbed into, and equated with, the Christian festival of Christmas. The festival was originally celebrated from late December to early January on a date determined by the lunar Germanic calendar. The festival was placed on December 25 when the Christian calendar (Julian calendar) was adopted. Some historians claim that the celebration is connected to the Wild Hunt or was influenced by Saturnalia, the Roman winter festival.

Terms with an etymological equivalent to “Yule” are still used in the Nordic Countries for the Christian Christmas, but also for other religious holidays of the season. In modern times this has gradually led to a more secular tradition under the same name as Christmas. Yule is also used to a lesser extent in English-speaking countries to refer to Christmas. Customs such as the Yule log, Yule goat, Yule boar, Yule singing, and others stem from Yule. In modern times, Yule is observed as a cultural festival and also with religious rites by some Christians and by some Neopagans.

Danes celebrate on December 24, which is called Juleaftensdag (literally, Yule Eve Day), or simply Jul. An elaborate dinner is eaten with the family in the evening, consisting of roast pork, roast duck or roast goose with potatoes, red cabbage and gravy. For dessert is rice pudding with a cherry sauce, traditionally with an almond hidden inside. The lucky finder of this almond is entitled to a small gift. After the meal is complete, the family gather around the Juletrea to sing Christmas carols and dance hand in hand around the tree. Then the children often hand out the presents which are opened immediately.

This is followed by candy, chips, various nuts, clementines, and sometimes a mulled and spiced wine with almonds and raisins called Glogg is served hot in small cups. Following the main celebration of Jul or Juleaften on December 24, December 25 and December 26 are, respectively, celebrated as Forste Juledag and Anden Juledag, both holidays, and are generally filled with relaxed familial socializing and the enjoying of leftovers from the Juleaften meal. Some Danish families also celebrate December 23 as Lillejuleaften (Little Christmas Eve). Traditions for this day might include decoration of the Juletr?, enjoying roast duck, and caroling.

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Starting A New Coven Looking At Yourself

Book: Starting A New Coven Looking At Yourself by Anonymous

Before you go a step further, take a good long look at your desires, motivation and skills. What role do you see yourself playing in this new group? "Ordinary" member? Democratic facilitator? High Priestess? And if the last -- why do you want the job?

The title of High Priestess and Priestess are seductive, conjuring up exotic images of yourself in embroidered robes, a silver crescent (or horned helm) on your brow, adoring celebrants hanging on every word which drops from your lips... Reality check...

Download Anonymous's eBook: Starting A New Coven Looking At Yourself

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Correlian Wicca

Book: Correlian Wicca by Anonymous

WHAT WILL YOU GET FROM THESE LESSONS

What is all this witchcraft stuff, anyway? Does being a witch mean you can point your finger and make things happen? Does it mean you can learn to fly on a broom and turn people into toads? Well, not quite. Witchcraft, or WICCA, is a religion. Wicca is not primarily about magic, though it does use it. Wicca is about your place in the Universe and your evolution as a spiritual being. Wicca is about moving forward on your personal spiritual journey - about learning, growing, and becoming the most you can be.

If you complete this course of 12 lessons, you will be eligible for initiation into the First Degree of Correllian Wicca. The First Degree is the lowest level of initiatory membership in a WICCAN TRADITION. Wicca is composed of many traditions most -but not all- of which recognize each others initiations. If you choose to take the First Degree initiation -and you are not obligated toyou will become a member of the Correllian tradition. The Correllian tradition is a synchretic and highly philosophical tradition of Wicca, which stresses the inherent unity of all Pagan traditions and the synchronicity of all spiritual paths. We believe that Deity is in all things, therefore all paths can lead to Deity.

Wicca is not an exclusive religion. Because we believe all paths lead to Deity, we do not believe that one must belong to any given faith or tradition to be a good person or to grow spiritually. Nor is it necessary to belong to only one. Being a Correllian initiate does not mean you can not also be an Isian, Druidic, or Dianic initiate as well -or any other tradition you might wish to study or join. You must however respect our tradition as a member and follow Correllian practices in Correllian temples -but what you do other places is your own business. Your private beliefs and conscience are your own business and we have no desire to dictate them to you. Wicca is about learning to make your own choices, and the Wiccan traditions exist to provide a framework in which to learn and grow. Wicca seeks to open your thinking, not to limit it.

Download Anonymous's eBook: Correlian Wicca

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Imagining A Virtual Religious Community Neo Pagans On The Internet

Book: Imagining A Virtual Religious Community Neo Pagans On The Internet by Gregory Price Grieve

Anyone who has spent time exploring the Internet cannot help but notice the prevalence of Neo-Paganism. This paper answers the seeming paradox of why neo-Paganism, a self-proclaimed nature religion, pervades cyberspace. What defines the social space opened up by the Internet is lack of 'presence,' the face-to-face interaction of oral communication which is generally consid-ered necessary for the formation of authentic communities, reli-gious or otherwise (c.f. Benjamin 1968: 217-251; Eliade 1954: 141-147; Eliade 1957: 111-113, 141-147, 164; Eliade 1978: 162; Levi-Strauss 1970: 286-298; Levinas 1985: 85-92; Ong 1967). Yet, in Benedict Anderson's terms, other media besides speech enable human beings to imagine communities which transgress the hori-zons of face-to-face interaction — "all communities larger than primordial villages of face-to-face contact (and perhaps even those) are imagined" (1983: 15). What is unique about neo-Pagan practitioners is that they are able to imagine a religious community which is not dependent on presence. Instead of presence their Internet communities are sustained by the notion of a religious 'energy' which is created and circulated by 'personal rituals.' It is their shared 'feeling of energy' which binds them together in cyberspace, and enables them to imagine a virtual religious community.

Methodologically, my research on the Internet religious groups and neo-Paganism was collected as a 'virtual ethnographer.' I observed four religious Usenet newsgroups — alt.pagan, soc.religion.bahai, soc.religion.christian and soc.religion.eastern — on the Internet between October 1, 1993 and April 1, 1994. I concentrated on 'alt.pagan,' which exists "for the discussion of paganism and witchcraft in their various forms and traditions; for sharing ideas and ritual and completed liturgy" and "for sharing within a larger community than one might find at home." (FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions document)1 Beyond observing reli-gious newsgroups on the Internet, I also compared the ethno-graphic data from alt.pagan with interactions I had with neo- Pagans at the 1993 World Parliament of Religions, especially with members of Circle — a 'Shamanic Wiccan Church' headquartered near Madison, Wisconsin; and Covenant of The Goddess — a Wiccan Coven headquartered in Berkeley, California.

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Highland Superstitions Connected With The Druids Fairies Witchcraft

Book: Highland Superstitions Connected With The Druids Fairies Witchcraft by Alexander Macgregor

The following pages on "Highland Superstitions" by the late Rev. Alexander Macpregor,' M.A., Inverness, first appeared as a series of Articles in Volume II. of the Celtic Magazine, and subsequently as an appendix to the second, third, and fourth editions of " The Prophecies of the Brahan Seer." They were published separately for the first time in 1891, and now reprinted, 1901.

This is lamentable that mankind in all ages of the world have been prone to the most degrading superstitions. The enlightened ages of antiquity were no more exenipi from them than the most ignorant We know from the Bible how difficult it was to restrain the Jews from the most idolatrous and superstitious observances, and to confine them to the worship of the only living and true God, This remarkable tendency of the Hebrew nation was caused, in all likelihood, by their sojourning for the loi^ period of 400 years among the Egyptians, whose system of religion was a mass of idolatrous observances. They had a number of ideal gods, to whom they erected temples of prodigious size and architectural splendour. Their principal deities, were Osiris and Isis, whom they considered typical of the sun and moon. But they had a great variety of other deities, animals of all kinds — (hence the golden calf of the Hebrews), the dog, the wclf, the hawk, the stork, the cat, and several other creatures. They also adored their great river, the Nile, personifying it in the crocodile, to which they erected temples and appointed priests to serve at their altars. The Egyptians also believed in dreams, lucky and unlucky days, charms, omens, and magic — in short, they were grossly superstitious !

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Witchcraft In History Of The English Speaking Peoples

Book: Witchcraft In History Of The English Speaking Peoples by Alan Macfarlane

Witchcraft, in various historical, anthropological, religious and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers, usually to inflict harm or damage upon members of a community or their property. Other uses of the term distinguish between bad witchcraft and good witchcraft, with the latter often involving healing, perhaps remedying bad witchcraft. The concept of witchcraft is normally treated as a cultural ideology, a means of explaining human misfortune by blaming it either on a supernatural entity or a known person in the community. A witch (from Old English wicce f. / wicca m.) is a practitioner of witchcraft.

Beliefs in witchcraft, and resulting witch-hunts, are found in many cultures worldwide, today mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa (e.g. in the witch smellers in Bantu culture), and historically notably in Early Modern Europe of the 14th to 18th century, where witchcraft came to be seen as a vast diabolical conspiracy against Christianity, and accusations of witchcraft led to large-scale witch-hunts, especially in Germanic Europe.

The "witch-cult hypothesis", a controversial theory that European witchcraft was a suppressed pagan religion, was popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Since the mid-20th century, Witchcraft has become the self-designation of a branch of neopaganism, especially in the Wicca tradition following Gerald Gardner, who claimed a religious tradition of Witchcraft with pre-Christian roots.

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Yule Celebrations In Great Britain

Yule or Yule-tide is a winter festival that was initially celebrated by the historical Germanic peoples as a pagan religious festival, though it was later absorbed into, and equated with, the Christian festival of Christmas. The festival was originally celebrated from late December to early January on a date determined by the lunar Germanic calendar. The festival was placed on December 25 when the Christian calendar (Julian calendar) was adopted. Some historians claim that the celebration is connected to the Wild Hunt or was influenced by Saturnalia, the Roman winter festival.

Terms with an etymological equivalent to “Yule” are still used in the Nordic Countries for the Christian Christmas, but also for other religious holidays of the season. In modern times this has gradually led to a more secular tradition under the same name as Christmas. Yule is also used to a lesser extent in English-speaking countries to refer to Christmas. Customs such as the Yule log, Yule goat, Yule boar, Yule singing, and others stem from Yule. In modern times, Yule is observed as a cultural festival and also with religious rites by some Christians and by some Neopagans.

In Britain and other parts of the British Influenced world, the modern Yule or Yuletide is more commonly associated with Christmas (along with Christmastide) which generally supplanted it around the 11th century other than in North East England where it remained the usual word (and had the variants of yel and yul), possibly being reinforced by the Norse influence (see Danelaw) on that region. It was revived in regular use in standard English during the 19th century however the name Yule log was recorded earlier in the 17th century.

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Witchcraft Dictionary Of Craft Terms

Book: Witchcraft Dictionary Of Craft Terms by Athena Gardner

Athena Gardner is a High Priestess in the wiccan Tradition. She has been an active member her entire life. She has been writing on the Wiccan Tradition for 10 years.

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The Prophecies Of The Brahan Seer

Book: The Prophecies Of The Brahan Seer by Alexander Mackenzie

"Kenneth Mackenzie, also known as Coinneach Odhar or the Brahan Seer, was a legendary Scottish clairvoyant. Tradition dates his birth to the early 17th century in Uig, on the island of Lewis. This is the northernmost island of the Outer Hebrides, a chain of islands to the west of Scotland's Northern coast. Legend has it that he came into his talent after napping on a fairy hill and finding a small stone in his coat, which allowed him to view the future. Predictably, legend has it that he was eventually burned to death as a sorcerer by being immersed in a barrel of burning tar. Before his death he forespoke the doom of the noble Mackenzie family who had him executed: the last male heir of this line would be deaf. In the 19th century this came true, as the last of the Mackenzies lost his hearing in his youth.

He is inevitably compared with Nostradamus. However, unlike Nostradamus, many of predictions attributed to the Brahan Seer are very straightforward and literal, instead of being cloaked in word games, riddles and allegory. For instance, a typical prediction is that a specific Church roof would collapse when a magpie made a nest in it for three years running. There are predictions of the birth of a two-headed calf, a boulder falling over, and the plaintive death of a French expatriate in the Isles, mourned by a local woman. Other reputed predictions were of "a chariot without horse or bridle", and "fiery chariot[s]" which could interpreted as a premonition of railroads or automobiles (p. 35), and "hills strewn with ribbons", (p. 10) which sound like powerlines, but this is about as futuristic as he gets. Unlike Nostradamus, none of his predictions are about geopolitics, global war, or the distant future.

The problem with the Brahan Seer is that there is no contemporary or historical record of any such individual ever existing. This is not surprising given the paucity of Scottish written sources from that period. This book, written by the noted Scottish folklorist Alexander Mackenzie, is the primary source for the Brahan Seer legend, and it was written in the late 19th century. The fact is, there are no Brahan Seer manuscripts or old editions with known provenance which could be used to back-test his predictions, as with Nostradamus. These accounts are oral tales which doubtless 'grew in the telling.' Given the Scottish fascination with 'second sight' and story-telling, it is not impossible that the Seer's best predictions were invented after the fact to match up with events, and a generation or two later ended up as being accepted as fact. Indeed, it appears that people are still creating Brahan Seer lore. Some of the material you will find elsewhere on the Internet about him doesn't appear in this book: draw your own conclusions.

However, the narrative is a gripping tale with a punchline delayed by two centuries. There is definitely a subversive subtext in the story arc of a man of humble origins who gains magical powers, and foretells the doom of the landed nobility before his brutal execution. Whether or not he was 'The Scottish Nostradamus,' the tale of the Brahan Seer can be a source of national pride for Scottish people everywhere." (Quote from sacred-texts.com)

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Pagan Scriptures

Book: Pagan Scriptures by Charles Baize

We would like to take this opportunity to make available to all who wish a copy of Pagan Scriptures. Nolan and I have spent three years writing and researching this book, we have copyrighted it and are making it available free of charge to anyone who requests a copy. You may read it onscreen or send it to your printer. This seems to be the fastest and easiest way to reach many people. People who have already read the Manuscript have responded with positive comments which makes us feel that putting Together Pagan Scriptures has been well worth the effort.

Bright Blessings, Charles & Nolan

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