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These are reprinted articles and other material I have happened across that I think are of extreme value and should be read by all. Any author that has a problem with their article on this site please let me know and I will remove it. I have tried to give credit when it was available to me as well as links and contact
Very interesting statistics. I, We are not alone.
A
study of the Pagan Movement, Presented on Roan Grove Site.
Study conducted by soliciting responses from people in attendance at festivals
in several areas, including the Phoenix Phyre gathering in FL, the Pagan
Spring Gathering and others. Total returned: 650, making this study 4
times the size of any such previous study and the first to be conducted
under rigorous academic supervision.
Tradition? 22% eclectic, 47% Wicca, Druids, Magicians, etc.
Gender? 54% female, 45% male, and a couple undecided. This suggests more men have joined since last study.
Race? 89% WASP background, some Hispanic, very few blacks
How many in U.S.? Estimated between 200,000 and 500,000; the Frosts (Gavin & Yvonne) report that their mail order class in Wicca has had over 50,000 people FINISH the course.
Ages? Over 50% between 26 and 41, so it is NOT just dumb kids and over-the-hill Hippies!
Group Affiliation? 46% report to be solitary (no way of knowing if this is by choice or not!), and for those in working groups, the average group size is 6.
Festival attendance? 40% report going to 2 or 3 a year.
How long involved in this practice? 31% report involvement for over 10 years, hardly a passing fad!
Are Pagans persecuted? Yes, 62% report knowing someone who has been persecuted for their beliefs, and 26% say they have been personally persecuted. This is far higher than the numbers for anti-Semitism (persecution of Jews).
At what age did you get involved with Pagan practices? Av. 29.5 suggesting, again, that many arrived here after trying the more traditional religions. And there ARE in the sample some who grew up within the Pagan community (18.6%).
An educated group? Very. 5% Ph.D. (0.7% in general population), OR, the character dancing around the fire wearing horns, feathers and little else is some SEVEN TIMES as likely to be a Ph.D.! At the M.A. level, four times as likely; and twice as likely to have a B.A. degree.
Conclusion: a rather bright, educated group. Areas of study? Concentration mostly in humanities and health care professions. This study is important in that it is the first "real research" to state that yes, there IS a real, enduring Pagan/Wiccan social movement out there. In particular, several pending court cases involving custody of children have raised the issue of whether or not Witches can be fit parents.
If there is any doubt to the intelligence of the leaders of the pagan community this article should put them to rest. This article is VERY well written and this Witch really did her homework.
Liberty
For All.
By Druydess
Reprinted from the Rowan Grove site
Recent anti-Wiccan/Pagan events perpetrated by political and religious
leaders have prompted me to present a few facts for your review. As I'm
sure you all know by now, Bob Barr has made it a mission to keep Wiccan
worship off military bases, Rev. Harvey encourages his congregation to
carry handguns to be used against Wiccans, and even Governor Bush states
he "doesn't think Witchcraft is a religion".
Is it just me, or is there a fundamental lack of intelligence here? Doesn't a leader have a responsibility to know the facts? Shouldn't Senators and Governors be familiar with the Constitution? The Freedom of Religion part must be in "politics 101"... I would think. I am appalled that these men who are representing our own Constitution, and have the responsibility to uphold its laws, either don't know what is written in it, or simply choose to ignore it for their own ends.
Governor Bush shouldn't think Witchcraft is a religion... he should know it. This is supposed to be something he is knowledgeable about. He has a duty to those who elected him to protect the rights of the people. This means all people. His own opinions have no bearing in a political decision, which should have the peoples' best interest in mind. This kind of narrow-minded, self-serving agenda will not inspire many Pagan votes.
Mr. Barr vehemently states that our country was founded on Christianity. Mr. Barr is apparently rewriting history. I'm sure Mr. Barr has no idea that our founding fathers were Deist.
They were not Christian. In fact, I'm sure both Mr. Barr and Mr. Bush would be surprised to learn that only 7% of the people in the 13 colonies even belonged to a Church of any kind at the time the Declaration of Independence was signed. This hardly represents the majority.
I am not content to allow men in positions of power to weave a web of deceit and misrepresentation in the name of religious dogma, especially when their own agendas threaten my religious liberties. Jesus was the first man to espouse the separation of Church and State, "Give unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and unto the Lord that which is the Lord's". I would like to see more religious and political leaders follow their own God's advice.
Jesus also said, "There is nothing hidden that will not be made public; there is no secret that will not be well known". I believe that Knowledge is Power. I believe knowledge is a far greater weapon than anything found in any man made arsenal. It is with these thoughts that I submit the following statements from our Founding Fathers... History is clear... You decide...
Thomas Paine was a pamphleteer whose manifestos encouraged the faltering spirits of the country and aided materially in winning the war of Independence: "I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. Each of those churches accuse the other of unbelief; and for my own part, I disbelieve them all."
From: The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine, pp. 8,9 (Republished 1984, Prometheus
Books, Buffalo, NY)
George Washington, the first president of the United States, never declared
himself a Christian according to contemporary reports or in any of his
voluminous correspondence. Washington championed the cause of freedom
from religious intolerance and compulsion. When John Murray (a universalist
who denied the existence of hell) was invited to become an army chaplain,
the other chaplains petitioned Washington for his dismissal. Instead,
Washington gave him the appointment. On his deathbed, Washington uttered
no words of a religious nature and did not call for a clergyman to be
in attendance.
From: George Washington and Religion by Paul F. Boller Jr., pp. 16, 87,
88, 108, 113, 121, 127 (1963, Southern Methodist University Press, Dallas,
TX)
John Adams, the country's second president, was drawn to the study of
law but faced pressure from his father to become a clergyman. He wrote
that he found among the lawyers' "noble and gallant achievements"
but among the clergy, the "pretended sanctity of some absolute dunces".
Late in life he wrote: "Twenty times in the course of my late reading,
have I been upon the point of breaking out, "This would be the best
of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it!""
It was during Adam's administration that the Senate ratified the Treaty
of Peace and Friendship, which states in Article XI that "the government
of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian
Religion."
From: The Character of John Adams by Peter Shaw, pp. 17 (1976, North
Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC) Quoting a letter by JA to Charles Cushing
Oct. 19, 1756, and John Adams, A Biography in his Own Words, edited by
James Peabody, p. 403 (1973, Newsweek, New York NY) Quoting letter by
JA to Jefferson April 19, 1817, and in reference to the treaty, Thomas
Jefferson, Passionate Pilgrim by Alf Mapp Jr., pp. 311 (1991, Madison
Books, Lanham, MD) quoting letter by TJ to Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, June,
1814.
Thomas Jefferson, third president and author of the Declaration of Independence,
said: "I trust that there is not a young man now living in the United
States who will not die a Unitarian." He referred to the Revelation
of St. John as "the ravings of a maniac" and wrote: "The
Christian priesthood, finding the doctrines of Christ leveled to every
understanding and too plain to need explanation, saw, in the mysticisms
of Plato, materials with which they might build up an artificial system
which might, from its indistinctness, admit everlasting controversy, give
employment for their order, and introduce it to profit, power, and preeminence.
The doctrines which flowed from the lips of Jesus himself are within the
comprehension of a child; but thousands of volumes have not yet explained
the Platonisms engrafted on them: and for this obvious reason that nonsense
can never be explained."
From: Thomas Jefferson, an Intimate History by Fawn M. Brodie, p. 453
(1974, W.W) Norton and Co. Inc. New York, NY) Quoting a letter by TJ to
Alexander Smyth Jan 17, 1825, and Thomas Jefferson, Passionate Pilgrim
by Alf Mapp Jr., pp. 246 (1991, Madison Books, Lanham, MD) quoting letter
by TJ to John Adams, July 5, 1814.
James Madison, fourth president and father of the Constitution, was not
religious in any conventional sense. "Religious bondage shackles
and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise."
"During almost fifteen centuries has the legal establishment of Christianity
been on trial. What have been its fruits? More or less in all places,
pride and indolence in the Clergy, ignorance and servility in the laity,
in both, superstition, bigotry and persecution."
From: The Madisons by Virginia Moore, P. 43 (1979, McGraw-Hill Co. New
York, NY) quoting a letter by JM to William Bradford April 1, 1774, and
James Madison, A Biography in his Own Words, edited by Joseph Gardner,
p. 93, (1974, Newsweek, New York, NY) Quoting Memorial and Remonstrance
against Religious Assessments by JM,
June 1785.
Ethan Allen, whose capture of Fort Ticonderoga while commanding the Green
Mountain Boys helped inspire Congress and the country to pursue the War
of Independence, said, "That Jesus Christ was not God is evidence
from his own words." In the same book, Allen noted that he was generally
"denominated a Deist, the reality of which I never disputed, being
conscious that I am no Christian." When Allen married Fanny Buchanan,
he stopped his own wedding ceremony when the judge asked him if he promised
"to live with Fanny Buchanan agreeable to the laws of God."
Allen refused to answer until the judge agreed that the God referred to
was the God of Nature, and the laws those "written in the great book
of nature."
From: Religion of the American Enlightenment by G. Adolph Koch, p. 40
(1968, Thomas Crowell Co., New York, NY.) quoting preface and p. 352 of
Reason, the Only Oracle of Man and A Sense of History compiled by American
Heritage Press Inc., p. 103 (1985, American Heritage Press, Inc., New
York, NY.
Benjamin Franklin, delegate to the Continental Congress and the Constitutional
Convention, said: "As to Jesus of Nazareth, my Opinion of whom you
particularly desire, I think the System of Morals and his Religion has
received various corrupting Changes, and I have, with most of the present
dissenters in England, some doubts as to his Divinity; tho' it is a question
I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless
to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing
the Truth with less trouble." He died a month later, and historians
consider him, like so many great Americans of his time, to be a Deist,
not a Christian.
From: Benjamin Franklin, A Biography in his Own Words, edited by Thomas
Fleming, p. 404, (1972, Newsweek, New York, NY) quoting letter by BF to
Exra Stiles March 9, 1970.
In a sermon of October 1831, Episcopalian minister Bird Wilson said, "Among
all of our Presidents, from Washington downward, not one was a professor
of religion, at least not of more than Unitarianism."
Mr. Barr states "even our money has In God We Trust on it",
however he neglects to mention that the words "In God We Trust"
were not on all currency until 1956, during the McCarthy Hysteria.
Freedom as was intended by our forefathers requires vigilance. We have
a responsibility to be educated and to protect that which many have shed
their blood for. Don't let apathy subvert our Liberty. Use you head...
and use your vote.
Blessings, Druydess )O(
druydess@rowangrove.org
http://www.rowangrove.org/_n.htm
For this article and MANY more excellent articles on Witchcraft and your
rights log on to the Roan Grove site at http://www.rowangrove.org/_n.htm
To contact Druydess at druydess@rowangrove.org
or call them at (386) 860-6739.
Its a great site and an amazing group. A leader, guide and example of
what a group should be.
Why do I have to listen to the Christians flout their religion as if it were the only religion on earth? Wake up folks, speak out or the zealots will take your rights away. (Stone the Gary)
School Prayer
By Steve Burton
A local middle school recently held a mandatory assembly where the Fellowship
of Christian Athletes exclusively promoted Christianity. The principal
of the school later apologized to those students who tried to leave, but
were forced back to listen to the religious message. The Christian students
who backed the assembly then sued the school for apologizing. Their claim:
The school principal hurt their feelings by equating their Christian beliefs
to any other religion.
Local newspaper and radio personalities noted the minimal community response to the iffy lawsuit. If only people shouted back, louder and more often, they said, Christians would not disrespect the beliefs of secular and pagan citizens. However, lets look at why these Evangelists do not care about our beliefs. That people rationally choose a different belief becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy to these proselytizers, validating their monotheism. In their minds, both pagan and secular belief systems merge into "the dark side", or even the "enemy". Local Christian hard-liners feel justified with a take-no-prisoners approach in our communities over library censorship, school flagpole ceremonies, or opening prayers at public government meetings. A sometimes-amusing technique of this guerilla war for public mind share is the civil disobedience constructed and financed to appear either as innocent spontaneity or as a courageous stand of social conscience. A few years back Brevard County libraries experienced a minor crime wave of book-swiping grandmothers determined to protect young minds from the realization that gays can be parents.
Slick Internet Web sites sell marketing kits for biannual "See You At The Pole" ceremonies that include promotional tee shirts and posters for school hallways. Last month, local governments considered opening public meetings with prayer, two years after a Titusville City Council member resigned when she received death threats for sponsoring a Wiccan invocation.
Robert Graves wrote in The White Goddess, "In scientific terms, no god at all can be proved to exist, but only beliefs in gods, and the effects of such beliefs on worshippers." The beliefs of fundamentalist Christians today do not prove the existence of their supreme being, but they do show the human capacity for learning unquestioning intolerance, confrontation, and violence. Indeed, Christian fundamentalists see themselves as the last stand in a battle.
The futurist Riane Eisler in her book The Chalice & The Blade describes how the Judeo-Christian-Islamic religions violently imposed their beliefs on conquered cultures. Eisler researched why their patriarchs greatly feared the beliefs of other peoples. Eisler distilled three core values that differentiate the monotheistic religions from pagan and secular cultures: knowledge is bad, birth is dirty, and death is holy. Of practical importance, Eisler advocates an important strategy for preventing regression back to mindless domination: social cohesion linked by partnership.
If we discard the tired old ways and apply her model of partnership to our families, schools and workplaces, we'll find communication flows freely, diversity is valued, and teams of people work effectively and creatively. For instance, by openly discovering and learning new information, we establish healthy and fulfilling paths for living. By nullifying the stain of birth, we not only start males and females sharing an equal footing in life, but also remove the highly charged stereotypes and misinformation associated with sex. By celebrating life, we commit ourselves to justice for our planet and ourselves, now and not in the hereafter.
When a fearful English mob attacked John Merrick, the Elephant Man, his single cry for human decency eventually wove a web of understanding, tolerance, and compassion for his situation.
Let's take a lesson from his example and say, "We are here!" whenever intolerance forces its ugly hand. Don't be afraid to write to the newspapers, to call the radio stations, or most important, to register and to vote. If you do, then we'll all see just how powerful a partnership of mutually discovered, shared, and celebrated values can be.
Blessed Be,
Stephen Burton, Mount Plymouth
Stephen Burton works as a software application engineer and lives in Mount
Plymouth, Florida.
Please e-mail your comments about this article to Steve Burton
steveb@iag.net
As Adopted By The Council Of American Witches Spring Witch meet of 1974, Minneapolis, Minnesota
The Council of American Witches finds it necessary to define modern Witchcraft
in terms of the American experience and needs. We are not bound
by traditions from other times and other cultures and owe no allegiance
to any person or power greater than the Divinity manifest through our
own being.
As American Witches, we welcome and respect all life-affirming teachings
and traditions, and seek to learn from all and to share our learning within
our Council.
It is in this spirit of welcome and cooperation that we adopt these few principles of Wiccan belief. In seeking to be inclusive, we do not wish to open ourselves to the destruction of our group by those on self-serving power trips, or to philosophies and practices contradictory to these principles. In seeking to exclude those whose ways are contradictory to ours, we do not want to deny participation to any who are sincerely interested in our knowledge and beliefs, regardless of race, color, sex, age, national or cultural origins, or sexual preference.
We therefore ask only that those who seek to identify with us accept these few basic principles:
- 1. We practice rites to attune ourselves with the natural rhythm of life forces marked by the phases of the Moon and the seasonal quarters and cross-quarters.
- 2. We recognize that our intelligence gives us a unique responsibility toward our environment. We seek to live in harmony with Nature, in ecological balance offering fulfillment to life and consciousness within an evolutionary concept.
- 3. We acknowledge a depth of power far greater than is apparent to
the average person. Because it is far greater than ordinary, it is sometimes
called "supernatural," but we see it as lying
within that which is naturally potential to all. - 4. We conceive of the Creative Power in the Universe as manifesting
through polarity - as masculine and feminine - and that this same creative
Power lives in all people, and functions through the interaction of
the masculine and feminine. We value neither above the other, knowing
each to be supportive of the other. We value sexuality as pleasure,
as the symbol and embodiment of Life, and as one of the sources of energies
used in magical practice and
religious worship. - 5. We recognize both outer worlds and inner, or psychological worlds - sometimes known as the Spiritual World, the Collective Unconscious, the Inner Planes, etc. - and we see in the interaction of these two dimensions the basis for paranormal phenomena and Magic al exercises. We neglect neither dimension for the other, seeing both as necessary for our fulfillment.
- 6. We do not recognize any authoritarian hierarchy, but do honor those who teach, respect those who share their greater knowledge and wisdom, and acknowledge those who have courageously given of themselves in leadership.
- 7. We see religion, Magic, and wisdom-in-living as being united in
the way one views the world and lives within it - a worldview and philosophy
of life which we identify as Witchcraft or
the Wiccan Way. - 8 .Calling oneself "Witch" does not make a Witch - but neither does heredity itself, or the collecting of titles, degrees, and initiations. A Witch seeks to control the forces within him/herself that make life possible in order to live wisely and well, without harm to others, and in harmony with Nature.
- 9. We acknowledge that it is the affirmation and fulfillment of life, in a continuation of evolution and development of consciousness, that gives meaning to the Universe we know, and to our personal role within it.
- 10. Our only animosity toward Christianity, or toward any other religion or philosophy-of-life, is to the extent that its institutions have claimed to be "the one true right and only way" and have sought to deny freedom to others and to suppress other ways of religious practices and belief.
- 11. As American Witches, we are not threatened by debates on the history of the Craft, the origins of various terms, the legitimacy of various aspects of different traditions. We are concerned with our present, and our future.
- 12. We do not accept the concept of "absolute evil," nor do we worship any entity known as "Satan" or "the Devil" as defined by Christian tradition. We do not seek power through the suffering of others, nor do we accept the concept that personal benefits can only be derived by denial to another.
- 13.We work within Nature for that which is contributory to our health and well-being.
If any of this
has interested or angered you,
please send me an E-Mail and
let's talk about it.
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It is not my wish or intent to disrespect anyone or any religious belief. I respect your right to believe as you wish and hope you will extend the same courtesy to me.
