Witches Haven

Beginning

I make a vow to you now; I will do my best not to make this too dry. I'll give you the basics or foundations of Neo-Paganism and witchcraft but you must do the rest yourself. You can't be a (W)witch unless you have a thorough knowledge of where this started, where it came from. The knowledge will protect you from the charlatans and predators that seem to have found their way into our midst.

First off? I am going to recommend that before you buy any "How To" books - the Cunningham stuff, Ravenwolf or any of the other authors who pander to the modern mythology of Witchcraft and it's faux-history, that you buy or borrow this one:

chapters.indigo.ca

This is a terrific book. Prof. Hutton manages to relate the history of Craft in an entertaining and well written way. I found it to be fascinating and couldn't put it down, I enjoyed it that much. He does a far, far better job of explaining where all this came from than I could possibly dream of doing.

Now the other thing, I really would like you to read is this piece: Hyenas in the Hyssop The piece was written, originally, in 2001 after hearing and having to deal with fallout from predators who had found their way into the lives of some very young, vulnerable folk. There is an expression in the Neo-Pagan world "Perfect Love and Perfect Trust". (This term "Neo-Pagan is what we are. We aren't the Pagans of ancient history.)

"Perfect Love and Perfect Trust" does not apply to the human element regardless of what anyone tells you. It applies to the relationship between the Neo-Pagan and their Deities.

In humanity, there is not and will never be such a thing as "perfect love and perfect trust". It is not, quite simply,in our nature. We are beasts, some say parasites on earth. Whatever. We are human and humans are never perfect.

What constitutes Neo-Paganism is not old, it isn't Ancient. No one and I mean no one, can trace a witchcraft lineage any further back than POSSIBLY the late 50's and the appearance of one Gerald Brosseau Gardner. A polytheistic lineage can be a little trickier, as there was the Golden Dawn in the late 1800's but it imploded so someone claiming lineage to them should be approached with a great, great deal of skepticsm. It would be right up there, credibility wise, as someone claiming lineage to Jesus Christ. There are Thelemites is long lineage but they are very few and far between also.

Understand that Witchcraft as practices now is not ancient. Pagan belief systems don't hail back to the Vikings of old, nor the Celts, nor the Greeks, nor the Romans. The only folks who can claim any sort of long lineage, ancient lineage would be the native/aboriginal peoples around the globe.

Now with that said, it doesn't mean that Neo-Paganism is not valid as a belief system. Of course it is. Every belief system had it's beginning and we are no different.

It has been my experience that many people who find their way to the various Neo-Pagan systems have come here due to feeling disenfranchised by the usual suspects in the world of organized religion. A large number were, originally, Roman Catholic. Now, this could be due to the demographics of where I live, so don't take this as gospel .

We don't have, for the most part, churches or temples. There are a few but I find these people to still be carrying the spiritual baggage of their earlier belief systems or falling victim to the belief that without a building, Neo-Pagans are simply not credible.

False assumption because really? Who has the right, the authority to tell you what you believe is wrong? I am not Christian and I admit to a very deep hatred of the institution of the Catholic church but I don't believe the followers are wrong. It works for them. Gives them comfort, guidelines etc. So for them, it is valid. It is not valid for me and if you are reading this? Organized religion is probably not valid for you either.

So, let's move on to Neo-Paganism as a belief system, shall we?

The pic above, the masculine looking fellow, is Anubis. Anubis is an Egyptian Deity and a personal favourite of mine.

A great many Neo-Pagans mix pantheons; in other words, they combine Deities from many different cultures. This drives the Neo-Pagan Religious Right absolutely, well..bugshit. They go on and on and on about never mixing Deities and cultural purity etc. And yes, you would be right in thinking they sound, for all the world, like little Neo-Pagan fundies.

And again, pose this question to yourself; who has the right to decide your spirituality? Your connection with any particular Archetype.

Note: Archetype is how I, personally, view the concept of Deities. The embodiment of a school of thought or concept. Not as sentient beings per se but more along the lines of a belief made whole. Did the Deities create man or did man create the Deities, idea. If you believe them to be real? Then for you, they are. Period.

Are you bored yet? Okay, good. This means you are supposed to be here.

There are thousands and I do mean, thousands of different Archetypes (Deities) out there. We have been around a long time and we've needed answers, comfort and security since, I suppose, the days of primordial ooze. We needed explanations for natural occurences; day/night, birth, death - thunder storms, earth quakes and the changing of seasons.

We weren't controlling these things ergo...somebody was...somebody more powerful than ourselves. Somebody we counted see. We created those somebodies.

Deities.

Through the ages, people have spoken or been spoken to by their Deities. Again, who are we to say otherwise? In our modern world, if a Deity speaks to someone and that someone talks about it? They are likely to end up on medication but through the ages, these people were considered Priests, Priestesses, Prophets, Sages, Shamans and Witches.

Organized religions are very leery and sometimes downright rude to people claiming to speak with Deity but if you put yourself in the shoes of a God; who would YOU be more likely to speak with - some appointed potentate with delusions of piety and the gall to say that he KNOWS what I want as an all-powerful wants from humanity, or Joe-Blow who actually talks to you from his heart/soul? No brainer for me; I would choose Joe-Blow every time.

So find yourself a Deity or rather, have the Deity find you. An archetype that speaks to you, in your life stage. Don't go grabbing up the Bone Mother if you're in your 20's, 30's or even early 40's. That's silly, really. The Bone Mother governs the latter part of life, when experience is your guide. She is not there to teach you buptkus. She's there to validate a life already lived.

Open yourself up to possibilities and above all, be honest. Don't seek out a Deity because the Archetype seems cool or all powerful, if the concepts seem evil or intimidating to others.

(Look, if you are here because you want to worship Set or some common interpretation of Lucifer? Go find another sandbox. There is a plethora of such sites on the 'net. Go on, find one and have yourself a time. I'll see you back here, guaranteed, trying to find some way to fix what you've done.)

Take a look at common invocations of the God and Goddess archetypes; to give you an idea of what lies at the base of Neo-Paganism.

Charges of the Goddess

Charges of the Gods

Find one that mirrors the person you want to be, an Archetype that is a reflection of the life experience you've had to date, where you are as a person. Are you the young nymph or warrior? Perhaps a Mother, the nurturer or a Father, the hunter/gatherer. Research the Archetypes unique to these qualities and you will find or rather your Deity/Archetype will make His/Herself known to you.

That's the whole point of this, isn't it? Not only to find the answers but to raise yourself to a higher plane. To be someone of honour, dignity and honesty. To be the person who reflects all that is your Deity.

There are a few good places to begin your search:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_deities

http://pantheon.org

and for something a little lighter and more fun?

http://www.godchecker.com/

This shouldn't be all serious; let's face it - the creator or creators, if that's what you believe, or even the natural world, if that's your fancy - must have a great sense of humour. Take a real hard look at an ostrich or platypus some time....

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