Letters
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Guest Letter
It's a little strange to print a letter responding to another publication's article—but what the heck, it seems appropriate for this issue.
I write this letter in response to an article within another Wiccan newspaper. [It is] in response to support of spiritual services.
I find myself appalled at the materialistic direction that I see so many within Wicca taking today. In all my years of studying my craft and being schooled by many teachers along this path, not once have I ever been asked to pay for what knowledge was given. I have often gifted those teacher's altars with money; and just as often I gave in return the labor of my hands. Not ever was there a requirement of cash payment; as a matter of fact, those who have educated me instilled in me that it is important [not] to do so, that your path is actually the chooser and you owe nothing but dedication.
I do believe Vera Stanley Alder said it correctly: A wise one will never ask for money for teaching spiritual things; it is against the law. He/She will have reached the stage where money sufficient for his needs comes without asking. Nor will he/she ever try to persuade anyone to do anything or think anything, nor will he/she attempt to teach unless earnestly asked to do so; for he/she has learned to have the greatest of care for another's free will. A wise one seldom uses the word `I.'
Entering the New Age of Aquarius where brother/sisterhood should be the mode for peaceful cohabitation, let us throw off the chains of greed that have destroyed so many of our brothers and sisters, while also very [nearly] killing our Mother and planet. Let us live and learn together freely so that we may grow.
Wild Oak
Des Moines, IA
A Public Service Announcement
I don't know, perhaps this is in poor taste, but I've been waiting ages for a venue even half this good for the following conundrum: What do you call scrying with Ascorbic Acid?—Vitamancy!— That out of the way, can we move on to more serious issues?
The Vitamin C Rip-off
There are three things vitally necessary to continued good health and all must be present for good health to continue. They are proper nutrition, rest and exercise. There are barriers built into our society to prevent us from having these things and the ways of breaching these barriers need to he passed out to everyone whether they be Pagan or otherwise. In this little article, I want to point out some things about nutrition and, specifically, vitamin C.
Vitamin C is the glue that holds our body together. Without it, we can develop scurvy and our body falls apart. It is also very essential to the proper functioning of our immune system and insufficient amounts of it lead to more diseases. For some years now many veterinarians have used it to clear stones from the urinary tracts of male cats that have very small urethras, which tend to get blocked. Most kidney stones in humans can be prevented and even dissolved with large doses of vitamin C (acid stones are not, but most kidney stones are of basic substances).
This vitamin was thoroughly researched by Linus Pauling who has since been misrepresented by many groups for one reason or another. I have found that using his recommendations as he gave them work very well, but this requires ignoring what others say he said and using his specific approach to health with vitamin C.
According to most authorities, this vitamin is not manufactured within the human body, although most animals can make their own. This is strange, in its own way, because vitamin C is made of fructose (fruit sugar) that has hydrogen added and should not be that difficult for the body to manufacture. However, humans are strange creatures and we don't make our own vitamin C. This means we need to obtain it from food. And the amount we need is from 5 to 10 grams (not milligrams or units) a day for the average person. That is a lot of vitamin C according to most people, but I have found that I need 5 grams a day to avoid being ill—and it works. I had to find out the hard way one winter when I kept getting colds, flu, and the like. When I upped my C intake to Pauling's minimum recommended amount, I was OK.
Our ancestors never took that much, did they? No, but they got enough vitamin C from food, which is something we cannot do anymore unless we grow our own. The old custom of having orange juice with breakfast once gave us quite a bit of vitamin C. Today, it does not. A friend of mine who worked for a while as an inspector for one of the major manufacturers of citrus juices was kind enough to clue me in. He told me that these people get their juice from three major sources, which are Florida, California, and places south of our border. The juice is mixed in one big vat to make sure it all tastes the same way. It is then pasteurized (boiled), dehydrated, frozen as a concentrate, and reconstituted in various forms.
The boiling of the juice breaks the vitamin C down into fruit sugar and water. A token amount of C is added (well below the amount we would expect to receive) just so that the food company can say that vitamin C is present. The FDA under our dear president has been catering to the big boys so that our labeling and food laws, in general, are not being informed (the economy is the excuse). So you can't tell by a label what you are getting now. But you can tell vitamin C by the taste.
First of all, vitamin C is also called ascorbic acid and it is, like any other acid, very sour. So our new wonderful sweet fruit juices are great for our tasters which like sugar, but bad for our health. If the orange juice is sweet, the C has turned to fruit sugar and water. In short, it don't got any. Very few juices sold have any decent amount of vitamin C anymore. This includes other juices such as cranberry juice which was once a great cure for urinary infections. It isn't anymore unless you go to the health food section and buy the sour stuff. What you get in most bottles is pasteurized juice with lots of sugar or corn syrup added. By the way, watch out for the radiated fruits, very likely they will be broken down adversely too. And another thing, sweet oranges that have ripened too long, are not very rich in C either. Use your taster and buy sour. Boycott the sweet.
So how do you get C now? The least expensive source is plain old ascorbic acid in powder form. One level teaspoon of this is equal to 5 grams and it can be added to whatever needs it. Even our bad orange juice tastes like fresh stuff when some of this sour substance is added. There is no organic versus inorganic vitamin C, so don't pay a premium for the so-called organic type. All of it is made from hydrogenated fructose, so it is all-natural. The makers of vitamin C simply take what the pasteurizing or ripening processes broke down and build it up again by adding hydrogen to the molecule. Also, lemon juice can usually be trusted because people buy it for its sour flavor and sweet lemon juice is still a no-no. It is largely our love affair with sugar that has led us into this role of acceptance of pasteurized Juices.
We can reduce the amount of vitamin C that we require by using it more effectively. This is done by taking it at several times throughout the day rather than all at once when much of it may be lost through the urine. Also, it is absorbed and used best when buffered and when taken with other nutrients. The best time to take it is after a meal or toward the end of a meal. Do not bother to buy the expensive buffered tablets unless you want to get some for fever-breaking use (yes, it can kill a fever—nice to know if you have children that develop very high fevers). It is far more effective when buffered naturally by using the meal itself to do the job.
If you are using C to combat a cold or some other infection, don't expect too much from it. The horse is already out of the barn. However, it will help in massive doses or up to 25 grams a day. You can tell if you are getting too much when you get diarrhea from it, short of that, you are metabolizing it and evidently need that much. Everyone is different. For most things, I find that I max out at about 15 grams, and everyone needs more than their usual amount during bouts with disease. In case of injury, vitamin C will promote healing, but less is needed than in the case of disease.
Lastly, how do we get our good old-time food back? Political and economic pressure is all that works in this country. Let people know what is going on and they can write letters and boycott certain products. When enough know the score, something will be done. Your congressman, no matter how corrupt he may be, still wants to get the right food for himself and his family.
Lew Paxton Price
Garden Valley, CA
And Now for Something
Completely Different
I wonder if this really qualifies as Wicca, but evidently someone thinks it does, and it's interesting, and it ended up in our mailbox?
Burnapian Wicca
Burnapian Wicca advocates the invoking of both Light and Darkness, personified as Active and Passive dichotomies or the Lord and Lady. Burnapian Wiccans define sacred space by casting the Magick Circle. We invoke the Watchtowers by the Greater Pentagram ritual. We work in pairs of male and female if at all possible. We honor the marriage of Heaven and Earth (the Great Rite) usually by blade and grail, and sometimes as the incarnated God and Goddess.
Three Laws Do We Hold to:
1.Self Preservation
2.Procreation
3.An' It harm None, Do What You Will
Three Things Do We Seek:
1.Where we differ from other religions is that we are primarily interested in the Left Hand Path. What we mean by Left Hand Path is that we are more concerned with the Carnal, Mundane, and Animal Nature of Man, than some abstract spiritual concept, that most spiritual religions cannot even agree on.
2.We find nothing desirable about union with the universe as advocated by more esoteric pseudo spiritual religions. The Burnapian Wiccan has considered the existence of the conscious intelligence, and has taken satisfaction from its existence as something unlike anything else in the universe. A Burnapian Wiccan desires the psyche to live, to experience, to continue. This person does not wish to die or lose his or her consciousness. The Burnapian Wiccan Is, Reality he wants to Be. This decision in favor of individual existence is the second premise of Burnapian Wicca.
3.Thirdly, we seek Evolution and Equilibrium (Growth and Balance).
Burnapian Wicca recognizes the Creative Life Force, the Macrocosm, the Androgynous Force; we call this the Divine Darkness. This is the Darkness that existed before the light. There are many names for this principle over the course of human history: from the Hebrew Saytun, and Persian Ahriman, Mahakala, to Apeiron, Aeshna-devi, as well as ideas of aspects of this force such as Hecate, Tiamat, Kali, Ophianeus, Callirhoe, and so on. Many names from many cultures all refer to the all pervading Dark Force infused in everything, balancing, changing, and notably existing before the Light.
Burnapian Wicca is an initiatory tradition. We are always looking for serious, like-minded people to join our ranks.
For more information, please send your phone number along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope, and $1 to help defray our printing costs to:
Burnapian Wicca
P.O. Box 3492
Apache Junction, AZ 85278-3492
And Now for Something
Even More Completely Different
Here's something fun that a friend sent us:
When evolution is outlawed,
only outlaws will evolve.
P. L.
Anaheim, CA | 
