Messages In This Digest (3 Messages)

1a.: File - Do NOT Send Invitations to other Groups.txt From: Witch_Essentials@yahoogroups.com

2.1.: File - Warning about Grouply.txt From: Witch_Essentials@yahoogroups.com

3.1.: Re: I want to know about Paganism Please. From: gaia_d

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1a.: File - Do NOT Send Invitations to other Groups.txt

Posted by: "Witch_Essentials@yahoogroups.com" Witch_Essentials@yahoogroups.com

Sun Mar 6, 2011 2:03 am (PST)

On Sending our Members "Invitations" to Other Groups:

PLEASE NOTE:

It is against the rules of many Groups to use their membership lists to "mine" names for other Groups -- including "social networking" Groups -- and this includes Witch Essentials.

You would be wise to ASK PERMISSION of Group Owners or Moderators, BEFORE sending any "invitations" to other groups, to them or their members.

Sincerely -
~Gaia, Group Moderator

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2.1.: File - Warning about Grouply.txt

Posted by: "Witch_Essentials@yahoogroups.com" Witch_Essentials@yahoogroups.com

Sun Mar 6, 2011 2:03 am (PST)

Once more, please be reminded that Yahoo FORBIDS ITS MEMBERS to belong to "Grouply":

Warning about Grouply.Com

You will not be allowed to join this group with a 'grouply' email
account.

This is a new site which advertises they can make accessing your
groups faster and easier. Most of us are too seasoned to fall for
something like this, but I am posting this as CYA.

This is what happens when you join:

"First, when a member joins, it automatically changes their primary
email address for the groups, giveing them a @grouply.com extension.
This is being done unaware to those who are joining.

Secondly, members who join the grouply website are having to give
their member ID and password. This opens up a security issue for
those members.

Thirdly, once a member joins grouply, it opens access to the files
and posts of each group to the grouply website. Grouply staff can
then access these files. If they get hacked, then it opens the doors
to the groups getting hacked as well. It has also been reported that
it's generating a lot of spam already."

In other words, information from a group can be made accessable to
everyone, and massive amounts of spam with your email address can be
generated.

The following information tells you the steps which needed to be taken
if someone has joined Grouply.com

IDENTIFY THEFT AT GROUPLY.COM

There is a message going out to different Yahoo Groups advertising
and suggesting that you join a new group called GROUPLY. This group
claims to help manage all your Yahoo groups and you will get a
summary, at the end of the day, telling you what is going on in all
your groups.

IF YOU JOIN THIS GROUP, they use your Yahoo ID and password to
post "mass mailings" (can be junk, can be porno) and send them to
anyone, and since it's YOUR ID they are using, others will think it
is coming from you.

For instance, you could get an email CLAIMING that it came
from "emagic2" Yahoo group and it really is not from this group. I
could get an email, with this mass mailing, claiming it came from me,
and it wouldn't have been from me.

Again, IF YOU HAVE JOINED THIS GROUP called "GROUPLY" IMMEDIATELY
leave Grouply. Then go into your account at:
http://groups. yahoo.com/ mygroups and change your password. Some
groups have posted that this will help. Unsubbing from that group
won't make a difference (but I think you will want to) so change your
Yahoo Password.

By joining this group you have also exposed all your groups, group
members and group leaders to hacking of their emails and group
information.

Because of this problem, all members with a email grouply.com are
being removed from the affected groups. This is the only way to
protect all the members. This is how Identity theft gets going.
They now have your real email, your yahoo emails, any emails listed
in your yahoo group and can mail as you in and out of the yahoo
groups.

I hope you understand what is happening and will take precautions to
protect your Yahoo ID.

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3.1.: Re: I want to know about Paganism Please.

Posted by: "gaia_d" Gaia_D@yahoo.com gaia_d

Sun Mar 6, 2011 5:54 am (PST)

On the Definition of Paganism:

I must respectfully differ from my esteemed colleague, BlackBird -- (Hi,
BB!) His definition is (as usual!) very good, but i think there are
some Pagan paths that his description doesn't quite cover, such as the
Asatru.

So i'd like to offer my "take" on this question, if i may:

Here's an article i wrote some time ago on the definitions of (and
differences between) Pagan, Witch, and Wicca -- (I do apologize for the
loooong length, but i was trying to be as thorough and complete as
possible) -- I hope it's helpful.

DEFINING WITCH, WICCA, PAGAN -- (c) By Gaia

The terms "Witchcraft" and "Wicca" are *not* interchangeable; yet there
can be considerable difficulty in distinguishing between them, even for
experienced Pagans, witches and Wiccans.

WITCHCRAFT:
Part of the problem is the definition of the terms "Witch" is unclear
and has been highly politicized.

As the new religious fad from the East (Christianity) swept across
Europe, it labelled every practice belonging to the Old Pre-Christian,
(Shamanic-type) Religions -- including herbalism, midwifery, divination,
spiritual and emotional healing, and psycho-spiritual-shamanic
practices --"witchcraft" , by which it meant evil, demonic.

There are many different kinds of "witchcraft".
First, there are various ethnic types of Witchcraft, like Stregheria
(Italian), Hawaiian, Norse, and others.

Second, there are religions that incorporate many *practices* (like
divination, herbalism, and Shamanism) referred to as "witchcraft" --
including Druidism, various Native American, and other paths.

Thirdly, there have also in recent years developed various *created*
paths, made up from popular fiction -- for example, Klingon Witchcraft,
and the Necronomicon -- a FICTIONAL book authored by HP Lovecraft,
which has been used by some folks to create an entire
magickal-metaphysical system, For more info, see:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/9879/necpage.htm
<http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/9879/necpage.htm>
http://www.necronomicon.org/ <http://www.necronomicon.org/>

So witchcraft may be said to be the "art", (and some maintain, science)
or PRACTICES -- of various paths.

It has been variously defined as:
"The art and science of changing consciousness at will", and "the art of
making change occur in harmony with will".

PAGAN, HEATHEN:
There are many kinds of Paganism which uses witchcraft. ("Pagan" is from
the Latin "pagani" meaning "people of the countryside", because it was
the country folks who held onto their pre-Christian practices longer
than the city folks. "Heathen" has a similar meaning)

WICCA:
The term "Wicca" may have ancient roots -- (there is evidence of it
being used as far back as 1600) -- but it and the practices that the
term encompasses, were relatively recently popularized by Gerald
Gardner, a British government worker, around 1940-1950.

Gardner said he learned much of what was later called "Wicca" from a
group of "New Forest" witches when he was taught and initiated by their
High Priestess, "Old Dorothy" Clutterbuck, around 1930-1940.

Gardner added material and practices from various other Paths, including
Ceremonial Magick, Kabbalah (the Jewish mystical system), folk
practices, and more. Gardner published a fictionalized account of
"Wiccan" witchcraft in 1949 -- "High Magick's Aid".

After the last anti-Witchcraft laws were repealed in England in 1951,
Gardner published the first non-fiction account of modern (Wiccan)
Witchcraft titled "Witchcraft Today", in 1954.
From Gardnerian Wicca developed nearly every other form of Wicca, with
the possible exception of some "FamTrads" (Family Traditions), although
there is evidence that they too incorporated Gardnerian material when it
become popular.

USE OF THE TERM "WITCH" and "WITCHCRAFT":

Many various kinds of witches feel that the use of the term "Witch" is a
way of reclaiming and honoring the tremendous costs that were paid by
those Pagans of the Old Religions, when they were horrifically tortured
and murdered, due to religious persecution.

"BURNING TIMES" ERROR:
(Just a note here: the figure of 9 Million victims has been thrown
around by folks who have unfortunately accepted erroneous information --
in fact, there is *absolutely NO* credible evidence for anywhere near
that many victims.

From a Statement by High Priestess and author Margot Adler, author of
"Drawing Down the Moon":
"We now know that most persecutions of witches occurred during a
100-year period, between 1550 and 1650, and the total number hanged or
burned probably did not exceed 40,000. For years, many Wiccans
understood that the figure of 9 million, so casually bandied about by
many of us, was hyperbole, yet this number continued to find its way
into countless books, films, and news articles."

(If we want to be respected, we need to be careful about our facts and
the accuracy of the information we put out. For futher info on this,
see: http://www.twpt.com/burning.htm <http://www.twpt.com/burning.htm>
)

Others who use practices called witchcraft feel that the words "witch"
and "Witchcraft" have been hopelessly demonized by a culture which does
not understand the positive spiritual values embraced by true "witches",
and they prefer to use other words to describe themselves.

"WARLOCK":

About "Warlock": it's believed by some to come from Anglo-Saxon words
that meant "oath-breaker" (althought there is some controversy over
this) and therefore, few authentic witches would use it to refer to
themselves; it is a term often used by "newbies" and "wannabee's" who
generally know very little about authentic witchcraft but want to
impress people.

WHAT IS WICCA:

So what *is* Wicca?
To answer this question, it's important to keep several things in mind:

A. There are various Traditions (like sects) of Wicca, each of which has
their own practices and beliefs.

B. there is no "ruling body", no "Prophet" or "Pope", or head Dude; no
single Sacred Text or Bible, in Wicca.
Instead, there are High Priest/esses who have many years of study and
experience and are generally appreciated for their contributions; there
are "Elders" who are generally (but INformally) recognized as such
because of their long and dedicated study, experience, and service to
the Wiccan Community.

Similarly, there are some books that are considered "classics"; there
are some writings that might be termed "Liturgy", which are frequently
heard in Wiccan rituals and circles. But there is no single, unifying
body, code, leader(s), or text(s) to authoritatively declare what is and
is not "Wiccan". In fact, Wiccans pretty much resist any such
"standardization" of the religion.

C. Wicca is a religion/ Spiritual Path of poetry, myth, and
PERSONAL EXPERIENCE rather than "belief" and dogma. (The term "myth"
does NOT mean "a story that is untrue"; it means a story that may or may
not be factual, but contains and reveals basic *symbolic* truths about
the nature of life, reality, humanity, divinity, etc).

For example, in Wicca, Divinity is envisioned as both male and female,
thus God(s) and Goddess(es). (A) Goddess can be seen as a youthful
Maiden, a nurturing Mother, or a wise (or crotchety) old
Grandmother-Crone -- all at the same time. The God can be Her son, Her
lover,and Her Spouse --

While paradoxical, these different images are not seen as contradictory
or mutually exclusive; they are seen as revealing or emphasizing
various, equally valid and important truths about Divinity; thus they
are POETIC rather than rigid and dogmatic views of divinity.

4. Because Wicca is a very individualistic Spiritual Path, if you ask
four Wiccans a single theological question, you're likely to get at
least SIX different answers -- it's been said that getting Wiccans to
agree is like "herding cats" --
Wiccans prize their individuality and independence.

However, YES, there are some things that most Wiccans have in common.
Because of the poetic, symbolic, non-dogmatic nature of Wicca, it makes
more sense to me to define it in terms of "Experiences and Practices"
rather than "Beliefs":

1. Wiccans experience all things as inter-related, interconnected in a
great "web of Life", alive and enspirited/ ensouled.

2. Wiccans experience Divinity as both IMMINENT (right here and now;
within us and everything around us) *and* TRANSCENDANT ("out there" --
above and beyond human experience); as both male and female, God(s) and
Goddess(es);

3. Wiccans recognize, seek to understand, attune and work *with* (rather
than against) Natural energies and cycles. The cycles are experienced
as embodying great truths about the nature and process of all Life:

Birth -> growth -> individuation -> maturation ->
-> Fertility -> Reproduction -> Harvest -> Decline ->
-> Death-> Disintegration -> Rebith.

This cycle of growth and rebirth or renewal manifests in many
metaphysical systems -- everything from the Tarot to Astrology to the
Wiccan Sabbats to the Wiccan Esbats, and more.

4. Wiccans generally acknowledge and celebrate the cycles of nature in
two basic ways:

a. Sabbats: the eight seasonal holidays (approx 6 weeks apart), based
upon the old agricultural and hunting cultures of Europe.

The Solstices and Equinoxes (aka the "Lesser Sabbats") have been
celebrated by Pagans for a very long time: Avebury Barrow in England,
for example, is over 2000 years OLDER than the pyramids --yet it was
specially constructed so that the first rays of the rising sun on Winter
Solstice morning wout strike and illuminate the innermost chamber.

The "Greater Sabbats" -- ie, the "Cross-Quarter Days", which fall
BETWEEN the Solstices and Equinoces -- are peculiarly and specifically
*Wiccan* -- although they are beginning to be celebrated by many
different Pagans, as well.

b. Esbats: the Lunar holidays -- consisting of the Full Moon (which is
considered "psychic high tide", and whose energies are used by Wiccans,
rather than allowed to degenerate into nervous tension); and in some
Traditions, also the New or Dark moon, and perhaps the first waxing
crescent ("Diana's Bow") of each month.

5. Many (but by no means all) Wiccans tend to follow some version of the
basic Wiccan ethic called the "Wiccan Rede". There are several
versions of the Rede; the major, shorter version is a simple, two-line
couplet:

"Eight words the Wiccan Rede Fulfil -
An ye harm none, do as ye will."

(Meaning: "if you will harm nothing and no one, you can do whatever you
want."
For a more complete discussion of the history and meaning of the Wiccan
Rede, see: The Wiccan Rede Project
http://www.draknetfree.com/sheathomas/
<http://www.draknetfree.com/sheathomas/>

6. Many (but by no means all) Wiccans tend to beleive in some version of
Karma and the "Threefold Law":
"What you send out returns to you, multiplied".

Therefore, most Wiccans generally try to *avoid* sending out negative
energy in the form of curses, hexes, etc, and recognize that if/when
they do, there *will* be consequences and prices to be paid.

7. The vast majority of Wiccans do not beleive in, let alone worship --
a personalized god of evil, ie the Christian -Islamic "Satan".
(Please NOTE: There is some controversy over the fact that there are
some who call themselves "Wiccan Satanists" or "Satanist Wiccans". For
a discussion/debate on the relationship between Wicca and Satanism, see
the following two articles:

"Satanism and the History of Wicca" by Diane Vera
http://fcos.us//vera.html <http://fcos.us//vera.html>

"A Response to Diane Vera's Article":
http://www.angelfire.com/ny2/wiccan/critiqueofdianevera.html
<http://www.angelfire.com/ny2/wiccan/critiqueofdianevera.html>

8. Wicca is a "Mystery" religion; that is, there are some Truths that
cannot be told -- not because they are secret, but because they must be
*experienced* to be understood.

There are several mysteries that most kinds / Traditions of Wicca honor
and celebrate:

Many of them are "open Mysteries" -- fully available to anyone with
"eyes to see and ears to hear" in experiencing what it is to be human
and alive.
However, there are others which are particularly Wiccan, and which
various Traditions celebrate/ commemorate in various ways:

a. The Mystery of the Descent of the Goddess: (ie the Descent of Innana
or Persephone) into the Underworld, to die and be reborn anew.

b. The Mystery of the *Hieros Gamos* or "Sacred Marriage" --
The Union of the God and Goddess, which symbolizes the Union of all
dualities: (light & dark, heaven and earth, logic and emotion, spirit
and matter, male and female, order & chaos, culture and nature, etc)
--in one great, sacred, beautiful and integrated Whole.

This is most often celebrated by Wiccans in the ritual of the "Great
Rite" or the "Symbolic Great Rite" -- (the latter of which often takes
place in ritual during the Blessing of the drink to be shared.)

(It is important to note that to Wiccans, sex is considered sacred,
divine, joyous, deightful and wondrous, and an appropriate way to
worship the God/dess: "All acts of love and pleasure are My rituals")

c. The Mystery which is enacted during the Wiccan ritual
of "Calling Down the Moon" -- when the Goddess literally inhabits the
body of the High Priestess and speaks to the coveners.

d. The Mystery which is enacted during the Ritual of Lughnassadh -- the
Wake of Lugh, the Sun-God and Corn(or Wheat/oat/rice) King, who
represents the first Harvest of Grain, and dies a sacrifice on Summer
Solstice eve, with the dying of the sun as it begins its long descent
into darkness and winter.

There are other Mysteries, but these are a few basic ones. (For more on
Wiccan Mysteries, please see Raven Grimassi's book, "Wiccan Mysteries")

Furthermore, each Tradition may have its own Mysteries, which are
revealed only to its inititates and are considered oath-bound material.

I feel that this definition of Wicca is one with which most Wiccans can
agree.

Blessings --
~Gaia

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