Embracing the Lash
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An Ethnographic Inquiry of a Coven of Contemporary Witches James Albert Whyte Iowa State University
Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1981 An examen of Witches: an ethnographic inquiry of a coven of contemporary Witches James Albert Whyte Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Anthropology Commons, New Religious Movements Commons, and the Other Religion Commons Recommended Citation Whyte, James Albert, "An examen of Witches: an ethnographic inquiry of a coven of contemporary Witches" (1981). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 16917. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/16917 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. An examen of Witches: An ethnographic inquiry of a coven of contemporary Witches by James Albert Whyte A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department: Sociology and Anthropology Maj or: Anthropology Signatures have been redacted for privacy Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 1981 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION 1 WITCHCRAFT 10 WITCHES 23 AN EVENING WITH THE WITCHES 39 COVEN ORGANIZATION 55 STRESS AND TENSION IN THE SWORD COVEN 78 THE WITCHES' DANCE 92 LITERATURE CITED 105 1 INTRODUCTION The witch is a familiar figure in the popular Western imagination. From the wicked queen of Snow White to Star Wars' Yoda, witches and Witch like characters have been used to scare and entertain generations of young and old alike. -
Read Book Witchcraft Today
WITCHCRAFT TODAY PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Gerald B Gardner | 197 pages | 01 Apr 2004 | Citadel Press | 9780806525938 | English | New York, NY, United States Witchcraft Today PDF Book Note: References to "limited space" reflect the fact that this article was originally published in a printed magazine. Then meet the universal symbols and always keep them in an area near the altar. In fact religion and witchcraft were alike in many ways. Here is a very simple love spell that I hope you'll adapt for your own purposes. This religion is not a joke. Bookseller Waterstone's has launched a Save Harry campaign. Wicca is a religion of fertility. A dedication ritual implies exactly what it sounds to you like. We don't want to convert you. Heathens, Pagans Dec 30, Laura rated it liked it Shelves: religion , witchcraft , book-club. Nor does it require the use of a special wand and sparkly, flashing lights. Yet this is a religion in which drugs and free sexuality are not condemned, but might be encouraged. Then there are those whose work is more directly related to their witchcraft practice, like tarot card readers, and several women who own and operate apothecaries. Free will is a powerful thing and should never be played with. An owl sent by a witch could not be killed. It's a small gesture that really goes a long way. To help set the stage for our discussion of contemporary witchcraft, it will be beneficial to take a brief tour of the modern history of this fascinating phenomenon. We don't harm or seduce people. -
Wicca 1739 Have Allowed for His Continued Popularity
Wicca 1739 have allowed for his continued popularity. Whitman’s According to Gardner, witchcraft had survived the per- willingness to break out of hegemonic culture and its secutions of early modern Europe and persisted in secret, mores in order to celebrate the mundane and following the thesis of British folklorist and Egyptologist unconventional has ensured his relevance today. His belief Margaret Murray (1862–1963). Murray argued in her in the organic connection of all things, coupled with his book, The Witch Cult in Western Europe (1921), that an old organic development of a poetic style that breaks with religion involving a horned god who represented the fertil- many formal conventions have caused many scholars and ity of nature had survived the persecutions and existed critics to celebrate him for his innovation. His idea of uni- throughout Western Europe. Murray wrote that the versal connection and belief in the spirituality present in a religion was divided into covens that held regular meet- blade of grass succeeded in transmitting a popularized ings based on the phases of the moon and the changes of version of Eastern theology and Whitman’s own brand of the seasons. Their rituals included feasting, dancing, sac- environmentalism for generations of readers. rifices, ritualized sexual intercourse, and worship of the horned god. In The God of the Witches (1933) Murray Kathryn Miles traced the development of this god and connected the witch cult to fairy tales and Robin Hood legends. She used Further Reading images from art and architecture to support her view that Greenspan, Ezra, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Whit- an ancient vegetation god and a fertility goddess formed man. -
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hn hk io il sy SY ek eh hn hk io il sy SY ek eh hn hk io il sy SY ek eh hn hk io il sy SY ek eh hn hk io il sy SY ek eh hn hk io il sy SY ek eh SCHOLASTIC INC. Copyright © 2016 by Ed Masessa All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., hn hk io il sy SY ek eh Pub lishers since 1920. scholastic, scholastic press, and associated logos are trade- hn hk io il sy SY ek eh marks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc. hn hk io il sy SY ek eh The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility hn hk io il sy SY ek for author or third- party websites or their content. hn hk io il sy SY ek eh No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or hn hk io il sy SY ek eh transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other wise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Masessa, Ed, author. -
Constructing the Witch in Contemporary American Popular Culture
"SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES": CONSTRUCTING THE WITCH IN CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE Catherine Armetta Shufelt A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY December 2007 Committee: Dr. Angela Nelson, Advisor Dr. Andrew M. Schocket Graduate Faculty Representative Dr. Donald McQuarie Dr. Esther Clinton © 2007 Catherine A. Shufelt All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Dr. Angela Nelson, Advisor What is a Witch? Traditional mainstream media images of Witches tell us they are evil “devil worshipping baby killers,” green-skinned hags who fly on brooms, or flaky tree huggers who dance naked in the woods. A variety of mainstream media has worked to support these notions as well as develop new ones. Contemporary American popular culture shows us images of Witches on television shows and in films vanquishing demons, traveling back and forth in time and from one reality to another, speaking with dead relatives, and attending private schools, among other things. None of these mainstream images acknowledge the very real beliefs and traditions of modern Witches and Pagans, or speak to the depth and variety of social, cultural, political, and environmental work being undertaken by Pagan and Wiccan groups and individuals around the world. Utilizing social construction theory, this study examines the “historical process” of the construction of stereotypes surrounding Witches in mainstream American society as well as how groups and individuals who call themselves Pagan and/or Wiccan have utilized the only media technology available to them, the internet, to resist and re- construct these images in order to present more positive images of themselves as well as build community between and among Pagans and nonPagans. -
Deus Ex Machina? Witchcraft and the Techno-World Venetia Robertson
Deus Ex Machina? Witchcraft and the Techno-World Venetia Robertson Introduction Sociologist Bryan R. Wilson once alleged that post-modern technology and secularisation are the allied forces of rationality and disenchantment that pose an immense threat to traditional religion.1 However, the flexibility of pastiche Neopagan belief systems like ‘Witchcraft’ have creativity, fantasy, and innovation at their core, allowing practitioners of Witchcraft to respond in a unique way to the post-modern age by integrating technology into their perception of the sacred. The phrase Deus ex Machina, the God out of the Machine, has gained a multiplicity of meanings in this context. For progressive Witches, the machine can both possess its own numen and act as a conduit for the spirit of the deities. It can also assist the practitioner in becoming one with the divine by enabling a transcendent and enlightening spiritual experience. Finally, in the theatrical sense, it could be argued that the concept of a magical machine is in fact the contrived dénouement that saves the seemingly despondent situation of a so-called ‘nature religion’ like Witchcraft in the techno-centric age. This paper explores the ways two movements within Witchcraft, ‘Technopaganism’ and ‘Technomysticism’, have incorporated man-made inventions into their spiritual practice. A study of how this is related to the worldview, operation of magic, social aspect and development of self within Witchcraft, uncovers some of the issues of longevity and profundity that this religion will face in the future. Witchcraft as a Religion The categorical heading ‘Neopagan’ functions as an umbrella that covers numerous reconstructed, revived, or invented religious movements, that have taken inspiration from indigenous, archaic, and esoteric traditions. -
DIVINATION SYSTEMS Written by Nicole Yalsovac Additional Sections Contributed by Sean Michael Smith and Christine Breese, D.D
DIVINATION SYSTEMS Written by Nicole Yalsovac Additional sections contributed by Sean Michael Smith and Christine Breese, D.D. Ph.D. Introduction Nichole Yalsovac Prophetic revelation, or Divination, dates back to the earliest known times of human existence. The oldest of all Chinese texts, the I Ching, is a divination system older than recorded history. James Legge says in his translation of I Ching: Book Of Changes (1996), “The desire to seek answers and to predict the future is as old as civilization itself.” Mankind has always had a desire to know what the future holds. Evidence shows that methods of divination, also known as fortune telling, were used by the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, Babylonians and the Sumerians (who resided in what is now Iraq) as early as six‐thousand years ago. Divination was originally a device of royalty and has often been an essential part of religion and medicine. Significant leaders and royalty often employed priests, doctors, soothsayers and astrologers as advisers and consultants on what the future held. Every civilization has held a belief in at least some type of divination. The point of divination in the ancient world was to ascertain the will of the gods. In fact, divination is so called because it is assumed to be a gift of the divine, a gift from the gods. This gift of obtaining knowledge of the unknown uses a wide range of tools and an enormous variety of techniques, as we will see in this course. No matter which method is used, the most imperative aspect is the interpretation and presentation of what is seen. -
The Charge of the Goddess
The Charge of the Goddess: A Wiccan Ethic It has been my experience that many people get involved in Wicca because they like the lack of rules. We don’t have a lot of “Thou shalt nots.” All we have is the Witch’si Rede, they say. But there are many unspoken rules of ethics that we think of as being essentially “Wiccan.” Why? Where do they come from? The answer should be self-evident but often isn’t. What is the one piece of liturgy that Wiccans really have? The answer is the Charge of the Goddess. Most modern Wiccans treat this prose as a lovely way to invoke the Goddess. It does work well that way. But consider the original meaning of the word “charge”. It is a command, a responsibility laid upon someone, an exhortation, a duty, an injunction, or being entrusted with someone’s care. It is a series of rules! In order to illustrate this, and illustrate how this piece of liturgy defines our Wiccan ethics, the remainder of this article will be concerned with breaking down the Charge into its component elements and paraphrasing them in a less poetic fashion. I will present both Doreen Valiente’s version and Starhawk’s version, since both are utilized among different Wiccan traditions. Though there are other versions, these are the most commonly known. There are also some slight differences (some elements present in one version may not be present in the other,) and so these differences need to be addressed as well. Valiente: Listen to the words of the Great Mother; she who of old was also called among men Artemis, Astarte, Athene, Dione, Melusine, Aphrodite, Cerridwen, Cybele, Arianrhod, Isis, Dana, Bride and by many other names: Starhawk: Listen to the words of the Great Mother, Who of old was called Artemis, Astarte, Dione, Melusine, Aphrodite, Cerridwen, Diana, Arionrhod, Brigid, and by many other names: The Goddess says, first and foremost, “Listen!” I don’t believe that this is merely a poetic way of beginning the script. -
OCCULT BOOKS Catalogue No
THOMPSON RARE BOOKS CATALOGUE 45 OCCULT BOOKS Catalogue No. 45. OCCULT BOOKS Folklore, Mythology, Magic, Witchcraft Issued September, 2016, on the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of the Opening of our first Bookshop in Vancouver, BC, September, 1986. Every Item in this catalogue has a direct link to the book on our website, which has secure online ordering for payment using credit cards, PayPal, cheques or Money orders. All Prices are in US Dollars. Postage is extra, at cost. If you wish to view this catalogue directly on our website, go to http://www.thompsonrarebooks.com/shop/thompson/category/Catalogue45.html Thompson Rare Books 5275 Jerow Road Hornby Island, British Columbia Canada V0R 1Z0 Ph: 250-335-1182 Fax: 250-335-2241 Email: [email protected] http://www.ThompsonRareBooks.com Front Cover: Item # 73 Catalogue No. 45 1. ANONYMOUS. COMPENDIUM RARISSIMUM TOTIUS ARTIS MAGICAE SISTEMATISATAE PER CELEBERRIMOS ARTIS HUJUS MAGISTROS. Netherlands: Aeon Sophia Press. 2016. First Aeon Sophia Press Edition. Quarto, publisher's original quarter black leather over grey cloth titled in gilt on front cover, black endpapers. 112 pp, illustrated throughout in full colour. Although unstated, only 20 copies were printed and bound (from correspondence with the publisher). Slight binding flaw (centre pages of the last gathering of pages slightly miss- sewn, a flaw which could be fixed with a spot of glue). A fine copy. ¶ A facsimile of Wellcome MS 1766. In German and Latin. On white, brown and grey-green paper. The title within an ornamental border in wash, with skulls, skeletons and cross-bones. Illustrated with 31 extraordinary water-colour drawings of demons, and three pages of magical and cabbalistic signs and sigils, etc. -
Rosaleen Norton's Contribution to The
ROSALEEN NORTON’S CONTRIBUTION TO THE WESTERN ESOTERIC TRADITION NEVILLE STUART DRURY M.A. (Hons) Macquarie University; B.A. University of Sydney; Dip. Ed. Sydney Teachers College Submission for Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Humanities and Social Science University of Newcastle NSW, Australia Date of submission: September 2008 STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY This work contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. I give consent to this copy of my thesis, when deposited in the University Library, being made available for loan and photocopying subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Signed: Date: Neville Stuart Drury ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby certify that the work embodied in this Thesis is the result of original research, the greater part of which was completed subsequent to admission for the degree. Signed: Date: Neville Stuart Drury 2 CONTENTS Introduction 5 Chapter One: Rosaleen Norton – A Biographical Overview 16 Chapter Two: Sources of the Western Esoteric Tradition 61 Chapter Three: Aleister Crowley and the Magic of the Left-Hand Path 127 Chapter Four: Rosaleen Norton’s Magical Universe 214 Chapter Five: Rosaleen Norton’s Magical Practice 248 Chapter Six: Rosaleen Norton as a Magical Artist 310 Chapter Seven: Theories and Definitions of Magic 375 Chapter Eight: Rosaleen Norton’s Contribution to the Western Esoteric Tradition 402 Appendix A: Transcript of the interview between Rosaleen Norton and L.J. -
Surviving and Thriving in a Hostile Religious Culture Michelle Mitchell Florida International University, [email protected]
Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 11-14-2014 Surviving and Thriving in a Hostile Religious Culture Michelle Mitchell Florida International University, [email protected] DOI: 10.25148/etd.FI14110747 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Part of the New Religious Movements Commons Recommended Citation Mitchell, Michelle, "Surviving and Thriving in a Hostile Religious Culture" (2014). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1639. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1639 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida SURVIVING AND THRIVING IN A HOSTILE RELIGIOUS CULTURE: CASE STUDY OF A GARDNERIAN WICCAN COMMUNITY A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in RELIGIOUS STUDIES by Michelle Irene Mitchell 2014 To: Interim Dean Michael R. Heithaus College of Arts and Sciences This thesis, written by Michelle Irene Mitchell, and entitled Surviving and Thriving in a Hostile Religious Culture: Case Study of a Gardnerian Wiccan Community, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgment. We have read this thesis and recommend that it be approved. _______________________________________ Lesley Northup _______________________________________ Dennis Wiedman _______________________________________ Whitney A. Bauman, Major Professor Date of Defense: November 14, 2014 The thesis of Michelle Irene Mitchell is approved. -
Episode #030 – the Inspiring Wendy Rule
“The Infinite and the Beyond” hosted by Chris Orapello Episode #030 – The Inspiring Wendy Rule 1 Episode #030 – The Inspiring Wendy Rule The Infinite and the Beyond An esoteric podcast for the introspective pagan mind hosted by Chris Orapello www.infinite-beyond.com Underline Theme: Awen and Inspiration Show Introduction MM, BB, 93, Hello and Welcome to the 30th Episode of “The Infinite and the Beyond,” an esoteric podcast for the introspective pagan mind. Where we explore a variety of topics which relate to life and one’s unique spiritual journey. I am your host Chris Orapello. Intro music by George Wood. In this episode… We speak with Australian Visionary Songstress Wendy Rule and get to enjoy some of her music. “Creator Destroyer” from her album The Wolf Sky “Guided by Venus” from her album Guided by Venus “My Sister the Moon” from her album Guided by Venus “The Wolf Sky (Live)” from her album Live at the Castle on the Hill “Circle Open (Live)” from her album Live at the Castle on the Hill We learn about the controversial, “King of the Witches,” Alex Sanders in A Corner in the Occult. In the spirit of creativity we learn about the Awen in The Essence of Magic, but first lets hear “Creator Destroyer” a haunting track by Wendy Rule. Featured Artist “Creator Destroyer” by Wendy Rule Interview Part 1 : Wendy Rule ➢ Wild, passionate and empowering, Australian Visionary Songstress Wendy Rule, weaves together music, mythology and ritual to take her audience on an otherworldly journey of depth and passion. Drawing on her deep love of Nature and lifelong fascination with the worlds of Faerie and Magic, Wendy’s songs combine irresistible melodies with rich aural textures and a rare personal honesty.