Course 1, Lesson 1 of 12 page 2 & 3 of 8
Some addition information and views to expand on the ideas and concepts presented
in the course.
Pages 2-3 are really heavy and hard to expound on as they sum up ones view of Life
and universe. So for now I will not add or subtract .
But listen to Your views and Questions.
Page 3
>>Like it or not, agree with the above statement
or not, Wicca dates from the 1940s and 50s and Gerald
Gardner, aided by Aleister Crowley. Notice I said
“Wicca”, not Witchcraft, Magick, Strega, Pagan beliefs
or Goddess worship. Wicca, although a fairly new belief
structure in itself, is based on all of these and more.<<
Yes Wicca will come up a lot but this group is really about Witchcraft , Witches and practical Magick
Some definitions: The following is a list of technical words and phrases originally taken from the first three editions of Real Magic.
Witchcraft:
From “wiccecraeft,” the craft of being a witch. Notice that “craft” has no specifically religious connotation.
Witchcraft, Alexandrian:
A variety of Gardnerian Witchcraft founded by British magician Alex Sanders.
Witchcraft, Anthropologic:
Anything called “witchcraft” by an anthropologist, usually referring to (a) the practices of independent (real or supposed) magic users who are suspected of at least sometimes using their magic outside of their society’s accepted cultural norms, and/or (b) a perceived state, often involuntary, of being a monster who can curse people with the “evil eye.” Definition (a) is what the word “wicce” probably originally referred to, annoying as that may be to modern Wiccans.
Witchcraft, Classic:
The practices of the persons often called “witches” (if seldom to their faces) in pre-medieval Europe, to wit: midwifery; healing with magic, herbs and other folk remedies; providing abortions, love potions and poisons; divination; casting curses and blessings, etc.
A Classic Witch’s religion may well have been irrelevant to his or her techniques. After the monotheistic conquests, most survivors were — at least officially — Christians (or Moslems in Spain and Portugal). Some may have retained a certain amount of pre-Christian/Islamic magical and religious tradition. Classic Witches have continued to exist to this very day, in ever dwindling numbers, mostly in the remotest villages and among the Romany or other Traveling Peoples.
Witchcraft, Dianic:
(1) A postulated medieval cult of Diana and/or Dianus worshipers.
(2) Term used by some henotheistic Neopagan Witches to refer to their concentration on the Goddess.
(3) Term used by some Feminist separatist Witches to describe their practices and beliefs.
Witchcraft, Ethnic:
The practices of various non-English-speaking people who use magic, religion and alternative healing methods in their own communities, and who are called “witches” by English speakers who don’t know any better.
Witchcraft, Familial or “Fam-Trad:”
The practices and beliefs of those who claim to belong to (or have been taught by members of) families that supposedly have been underground Paleopagans for several centuries in Europe and/or the Americas, using their wealth and power to stay alive and secret. Even if they existed, none of them could have a pure religious or magical tradition by now; instead, they would have fragments of Paleopagan customs mixed with Christianity or Islam as well as every new occult wave that hit the West. 99.9% of all the people I have ever met who claimed to be Fam-Trad Witches were lying, or had been lied to by their teachers.
Also sometimes called “Hereditary Witchcraft” or even “Genetic Witchcraft” by those who think they must claim a witch as an ancestor in order to be a witch today.
Witchcraft, Fairy or Faery or Faerie Trad:
(1) Any of several traditions of Mesopagan and/or Neopagan Witchcraft started by the blind poet and scoundrel guru Victor Anderson since the 1970s, mixing British and Celtic folklore about the fairies, Gardnerianism, Voodoo, Hawaiian Huna (itself a Mesopagan invention of Max Freedom Long), Tantra, Gypsy magic, Native American beliefs, and anything else he was thinking about at the time he was training the founders of each trad.
(2) Varieties of Neopagan Witchcraft focused around homosexual or bisexual images and magical techniques rather than the heterosexual (and often homophobic) ones used in most Wiccan traditions.
(3) Other sects of Neopagan Witchcraft focused around real or made-up fairy lore, often taken from romantic poems, plays, and novels about the fairies. In most of these traditions, there is usually an assumption that the ancient associations between fairies and witches were true, and that the fairies were originally the Paleopagan nature spirits and/or deities.
Witchcraft, Feminist:
Several new monotheistic religions started since the early 1970s by women in the feminist community who belonged to the women’s spirituality movement and/or who had contact with Neopagan Witches. It is partially an outgrowth of Neopagan Witchcraft, with male deities booted unceremoniously(!) out of the religion entirely, and partially a conglomeration of independent and eclectic do-it-yourself covens of spiritually-inclined feminists. The religions usually involve worshiping only the syncretic Goddess and using Her as a source of inspiration, magical power and psychological growth. Their scholarship is generally abysmal and men are usually not allowed to join or participate.
Witchcraft, Gardnerian:
The originally Mesopagan source of what has now become Neopagan Witchcraft, founded by Gerald Gardner and friends in the late 1940s and 1950s, based upon his alleged contacts with British Fam-Trads. After he finished inventing, expanding and/or reconstructing the rites, laws and other materials, copies were stolen by numerous others who then claimed Fam-Trad status and started new religions of their own. (See Ronald Hutton’s Triumph of the Moon for all the messy details.) Though Gardnerians are sometimes called “the scourge of the Craft,” together with the Alexandrians and members of some other British Traditions, they may be considered simply the orthodox branch of Neopagan Witchcraft.
Witchcraft, Genetic:
See Witchcraft, Familial and Grandmotherly.
Witchcraft, Gothic:
A postulated cult of devil worshipers invented by the medieval Church, used as the excuse for raping, torturing and killing scores of thousands of women, children and men. The cult was said to consist of people who worshiped the Christian Devil in exchange for magical powers then used to benefit themselves and harm others. Also called “Diabolic Witchcraft” and “Satanic Witchcraft.” I coined this term many years ago, before the rise of the “Goth” subculture of the 1980s.
Witchcraft, Grandmotherly:
Refers to the habit common among modern Witches of claiming to have been initiated at an early age by a mother or grandmother who belonged to a Fam-Trad but who is conveniently dead, doesn’t speak English, and/or is otherwise unavailable for questioning.
Witchcraft, Hereditary:
See Witchcraft, Familial and Grandmotherly.
Witchcraft, Immigrant or “Imm-Trad:”
Refers to the customs and beliefs of Mesopagan peasants and supposed Fam-Trad members who immigrated to the Americas and mingled their magical and religious customs with each other, the Native Americans, enslaved Blacks, and the previous immigrants, helping to produce the dozens of kinds of Voodoo and Hoodoo,along with Pennsylvania “hex” magic and Appalachian magical lore.
Witchcraft, Neoclassic:
The current practices of those who are consciously or unconsciously duplicating some or many of the activities of the Classic Witches and who call themselves (or are called by others) witches.
Witchcraft, Neogothic:
The beliefs and practices of modern Satanists, most of whom work very hard to be everything that the medieval Church and current Fundamentalists say they should be. Some of them perform Black Masses, commit blasphemy and sacrilege, hold (or long to hold) orgies, etc. There is some small overlap with the Goth subculture of the 1980s.
Witchcraft, Neopagan:
Several new duotheistic religions founded since the 1960s, most of which are variations of Gardnerian Witchcraft but some of which are independent inventions and/or reconstructions based on real or supposed Family Traditions, Immigrant Traditions, literary creations, etc. — just like Gardner’s! Most groups who call what they do “Wicca” are Neopagan Witches.
Witchcraft, Neoshamanic:
(1) The beliefs and practices of those modern persons who are attempting to rediscover, duplicate and/or expand upon the practices of the original (postulated) Shamanic Witches.
(2) Neopagan Witchcraft with feathers, drums, crystals, and other New Age additions of a vaguely Shamanic flavor. Most use drums and chanting rather than drugs to achieve their desired trance states.
Witchcraft, Shamanic:
(1) Originally, the beliefs and practices of members of postulated independent belladonna/Moon Goddess cults throughout pre-medieval Europe, remnants of which might have survived into the Middle Ages.
(2) Currently, Neoshamanic Witchcraft done by those who do not use the Neo- prefix.
Witchcraft, Traditional:
See Tradition and Witchcraft, Familial.
Witch Cult of Western Europe:
A European-wide cult of underground Pagans postulated, in a book of that name, by Margaret Murray as having been the actual cause or spark of the medieval persecutions, but which is not believed in by most of the historians, linguists, folklorists or anthropologists who have examined her arguments. Also known as the “Unitarian Universalist White Witch Cult of Western Theosophical Brittany.”
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>>Two major books that are based on the above and contributed
greatly to the formation of Wicca are Leland’s
Aradia, Gospel of the Witches and Frazier’s The
Golden Bough, both from 1890, well before Gardner’s
revolation.<<
Links:
1)http://www.globalgrey.co.uk/Pages/Books-Paganism/Aradia-Or-The-Gospel-Of-The-Witches.html#.Uowm4_k_uUM
info
This classic of neo-Paganism is one of the few books which purports to be an actual sacred text of traditional witchcraft, in particular that of the Tuscan region of Italy. Charles Leland based this book on material which he received from a woman named Maddelena, who had assisted him in collecting regional Italian folklore. On New Years day, 1897 she handed over to him a document in her own handwriting, the Vangel, which is the core of this book. Maddelena then reportedly went missing, and never contacted Leland again. The authenticity of Aradia has always been in question. Ronald Hutton, in his scholarly study of the roots of neo-Paganism, The Triumph of the Moon, presents three divergent theoriesabout Aradia: first, that is a genuine text of an underground Italian Goddess religion, second, that Maddelena wrote it based on her family tradition, or third, that Charles Leland forged it based on his extensive knowledge of folklore. Each of these theories has pros and cons: it may be that the second and third are closest to the truth. Whatever the source of this material, it has had a profound impact on the emergence of neo-Paganism, and is required reading for anyone interested in the subject. (from Globalgray)
info
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion is a wide-ranging, comparative study of mythology and religion. It attempts to define the shared elements of religious belief to scientific thought, discussingfertility rites, human sacrifice, the dying god, the scapegoat and many other symbols and practices which have influenced the 20th century. Its thesis is that old religions were fertility cults that revolved around the worship of, and periodic sacrifice of, a sacred king. Specifically, that man progresses from magic through religious belief to scientific thought. (from Globalgray)
Both of these works are full studies in them self's. I would suggest downloading while we have a free source and study as you can find time, but having for reference is GOOD.
I will address the Elements in a blog for each so that we can expand are view as we good along. Note my views and others I share may differ a bit from course, as these are complex issues.
TDK
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