Category: Articles
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Two Witches
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A Modern Craft Fairy-Tale Once upon a time, there were two Witches. One was a Feminist Witch and the other was a Traditionalist Witch. And, although both of them were deeply religious, they had rather different ideas about what their religion meant. The Feminist Witch tended to believe that Witchcraft…
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The Pentagram
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The pentagram, or five-pointed star, may be the most misunderstood religious symbol around these days. Being the most common symbol of Neo-Pagan Witchcraft, it has nevertheless been denigrated by movie and publishing industries which seem ‘hell-bent’ on connecting it with Satanism and other malevolent practices. However, like the Roman Cross…
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The Finer Points of Ritual
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A Heartland Pagan Festival Keynote Address A Comparative Approach to Liturgical History, Theology and Design Participants: Morning Glory Zell Otter Zell Rhiannon Bennett Carolyn Clark Eldoreth Grey Squirrel Anahita Morwen Chris Dix other audience members not identified [NOTE: This transcription was made from an audio tape dub of a video-recording…
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The Ever-widening Circle
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A New Pattern Glimpsed in the Holidays INTRODUCTION Have you ever held a kaleidoscope up to the light, turning it this way and that, for the sheer pleasure of the beauty it brings—when suddenly, to your startled delight, the pieces fall into place, and you see a pattern that you’ve…
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The Ethics of Love Spells
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Charmed, I’m sure ‘Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness.’ — Bertrand Russell It seems to be an immutable law of nature. You are interviewed by a local radio or TV station, or in some local newspaper. The topic of the…
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Ten Years Gone…
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The View from Heartland of a Changing Pagan Community INTRODUCTION While attending the 1999 Heartland Pagan Festival, I joked to my cabin mate Fritz Jung that I had discovered the true secret of becoming a “legend” in the Pagan community was to simply not do anything for ten years. He jokingly…
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Sexual Come-ons at Pagan Festivals
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An Open Letter to the Web of Oz Like many another Neo-Pagan, I began life under the heavy indoctrination of Christian precepts. Like many others, I found this upbringing to be not only painful, but psychologically damaging, as well. It has taken years of disciplined work to shrug off the…
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Re-Thinking the Watchtowers
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or 13 Reasons Air Should Be In The North ~ Fondly Dedicated to Kathy Whitworth ~ INTRODUCTION It all started many years ago. I was a teenager then, and a recent initiate to the religion of Wicca. Like most neophytes, I was eager to begin work on my Book of Shadows, the…
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Paganism & Pornography
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A 1986 Lantern’s Light Editorial At times my political views seem to lead me into contradictions. Last month saw me writing a furious letter to “Penthouse” magazine concerning their misinformed story on Witchcraft. Within two weeks I was writing to the head of the “QuikTrip” Corporation protesting the removal of “Penthouse” from their stores. You’d think…
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Reflections on Old Guard Paganism
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“OLD GUARD PAGANISM” The phrase started out as a joke, but then caught on. This tells us something. It tells us there is a need for such a term. It also implies Its own antithesis, ‘New Guard Paganism’. And it indicates that there is some difference between the two —…