NMR ISSUE 28

Astrological Forecast 28
Condor
Dancing with Him
Dog
Editorial 28
Esoteric Symbology of the Tarot
Interpreting Dreams
Letters 28
Magickal Teachings
Moon Song
Revelations from Gnosticism
Rite to Heal the Women of Yugoslavia
Sex Magick 101
She Who Walks in Lightness
The Resolute King Ritual
The Silly Season
Whose Holiday is It, Anyway?

Articles
Authors
Rituals
Book Reviews
NMR Issues
NMR Covers

Letters

Please address letters to New Moon Rising or otherwise make it clear that your letter is available for publication. Please let us know how you would like it signed. Opinions of authors in New Moon Rising and especially in the Letters section certainly do not necessarily reflect those of New Moon Rising.

Witch Wars or What?

[I let my subscription to NMR lapse because] I got burned out, like on a lot of other magazines and papers. Too much fighting on who said what, and half the magazine devoted to their bitching, and I know you are trying to be fair but; they could always write each other, and work it out instead of using your fine magazine as a whipping post. We need more spells, recipes, happy stuff and more spells and neat knowledgeable things. I bet the Holy Rollers must love us for destroying our own selves. No write-ins unless happy.

K.M.
Olympia, WA

I've read many comments lately about Pagans bashing each other in various presses. I had hoped that NMR had remained aloof. On looking back, I can see articles that might appear as attacks. I thought of them as reasonable complaints about certain behaviors, but not about specific people. I apologize if I let any attacks slip through. Also, while I don't think a bashing is of interest to readers (except as it appeals to the parts of our psyches that we don't want to appeal to), I feel that the subject of bashing is highly relevant. Fortunately, it's received much attention lately, but we did receive an article that brings up an important issue that I have not seen addressed elsewhere. It is of a nature that I prefer not to print in the magazine proper, since that is not a focus of our publication, but after consideration I feel that it is appropriate for the Letters section:

Responsibility Begins at Home:
The Problem of Dealing with Abusers Within the Craft

Wicca and Paganism are Earth Religions. Responsibility for the Earth, Ecology, pollution, the basic Freedoms, such as Freedom of Choice (the Abortion issue), has become more and more important among Pagans and Witches as they find themselves able to be more and more public. You can find Paganfolk on the scene at every major demonstration or rally, whether it is Ban Nuclear Testing, Pro-Choice, or Save the Seals. At last, Pagans are able to have a voice, to actively speak out for what they believe, to make a difference.

There is one issue, however, upon which many Pagans and Witches are strangely silent. It is an issue that is very personal and close to home, and one that is vitally important to the public acceptance of Paganism as a religion. This is the issue of abuse, when it is committed by those who present themselves as practitioners of one of the Pagan religions. When this subject arises, the same persons who were boldly carrying the picket signs at the local abortion clinic, those same good folk who went singing off to jail at the nuclear test site, will be heard to say I don't like to listen to gossip, or There's nothing we can do about it, is there, or even I don't get involved in Pagan Politics!

Old ideas die hard and, during the years when Witchcraft was illegal, much stress was put on phrases like Coven autonomy, Circle secrecy, and the authority of the High Priesthood. For reasons of self-protection, groups kept to themselves, and tried to know as little as possible about what happened in other groups. This made good sense at the time, because the less known, the less danger of exposure, and the less possibility of being liable for legal prosecution (or persecution, as the case may be). These ideas had their beginnings during the Burning Times, when it was worth one's very life to know too much, or to allow too much to be known.

Unfortunately, the very Laws that kept us safe had a negative effect as well. The secrecy that was protection for good, ethical Pagans, who simply wanted to be left alone to worship their Gods in privacy provided a secret place where abuses could be perpetrated upon innocent victims without fear of discovery or reprisal. The abuser could levy a charge of violation or Circle secrecy against a victim who dared to complain to someone outside the group. If anyone would then listen to the claims of this oathbreaker (the victim), and try to do anything about it, that person would be accused of or interfering in the workings of another group, once again turning the accuser into the accused. This is a situation that would be abhorred by Pagans if it took place in a mundane situation (example: the tenancy of the courts to view a rape victim as a criminal and the accused rapist as an injured party), yet these victims and their supporters would become outcasts and the abusers would continue with their activities, while safely protected by a sacrosanct Circle.

This mindset still prevails among Pagans and Witches today. While Pagans cheer as Jim Bakker is hauled off to jail for his bilking of Christian believers, still they refuse to listen to complaints that a Pagan Priest or Priestess is taking financial advantage of group members. While working actively to assist battered women and children in their plight, these same Pagan activists don't want to hear the gossip about the Witch who was beaten black and blue by her High Priest during a Circle. They would rather deny the existence of the problem altogether, than face the censure of the old guard who will remind them that a Circle is a place between the Worlds, and therefore set apart from the scrutiny of the world. Statistics indicate that one person in ten is a potential abuser.

This means one Christian in ten, one atheist in ten, and one Pagan in ten. The Pagan abusers can be more dangerous than the Christian or the atheist because not only do they endanger their victims, but also they endanger the Craft and Paganism as a whole. If their actions become known outside Pagan society, the group as a whole will be condemned for the actions of the few. Most of the general public would simply be confirmed in what they already believe: that Pagans are evil devil-worshipers who torture their innocent during black magic rites. The actions of a very few sick or unethical people could destroy all the progress that has been made toward changing the negative images attached to the Pagan religions by the media and the Christian Church.

It is time now for Pagans and Witches to reexamine the old Laws and ideas. It is time to seriously consider the Pagan Ethic, AN' IT HARM NONE, DO WHAT YE WILL, and to determine what these things truly mean to modern Pagans. Can one cover up an abuse, because it is within a Circle, and still remain true to the Ethic? In these times, when the changing face of the Craft brings us together to share festivals and other social activities with other groups, can we still ignore the abusive or illegal behavior of a group within our midst, and say it is none or our business? If we do ignore it, aren't we then responsible for it? Is there such a thing as being passively Ethical?

The following situations have taken place during the last five years within one Pagan community:

A) A certain charismatic High Priest was known to have abused, both physically and financially, a Priestess being trained by him. After her eventual departure, the Priest disappeared from the Pagan scene, and was not heard from for several years. Finally, he returned to the Pagan community in the company of yet another trainee Priestess. Some of the people who had known this person previously passed that information on to more recent arrivals upon the scene, but they all decided there was nothing they could do, they should give him the benefit of the doubt, and it wasn't their place to interfere. The new Priestess-trainee, meanwhile, hid her bruises under long sleeves and high necks, and made excuses for her poor finances, afraid to violate her oaths of secrecy. When finally she went to others for help, they assisted her escape, but took no action against the abuser. Some even continued to give him the benefit of the doubt and continued to associate with him! As of now, he once again has disappeared from view, but what will happen when and if he turns up again? Will these Pagans once again stand silent while this person abuses yet another woman in the name of Craft training?

B) A quite active and visible High Priestess was noticed to have a group consisting mainly of minors (persons under the age of twenty-one). This was noted as unusual, but not questioned by the community. One day, in the course of a business meeting, a former member of her group became acquainted with the High Priestess of another group. As she came to trust the new Hps, she began to tell stories of mental, physical, and emotional abuse within her former Coven. According to the former member, young persons in the Coven in question were made to dance barefoot on sharp rocks, sleep blindfolded on the edge of a high cliff, and engage in sexual activity with the Group's leaders. If they attempted to leave the group, they were threatened and cursed. All were in terror of the results of defection. Encouraged by having found a sympathetic, supportive Coven (the Coven of the newly met Hps) this young woman encouraged others to leave the group. Ultimately, seven members left, each bearing more horror tales. Overwhelmed by their numbers and the magnitude of their stories, the new Hps consulted a friend, an Hps with over 30 years experience. She was told to support the refugees to the best of her ability, but that nothing could be done, since she had no right to interfere in the workings of a Coven other than her own. She then approached officers of a large, well-known umbrella organization (of which the offending group was a member) and arranged for one of the officers to speak to one of the victims, to hear of the abuses first hand. (Another victim was unable to attend this meeting, since her fears of reprisal brought about an ulcer attack that required hospitalization. She was then nineteen years old.) However, the umbrella group didn't want to become involved, even after listening to the details, because they don't interfere in the workings of member groups, and they didn't see how this would provide reason to expel a member group, since it wasn't covered in their by-laws. They chose to remain neutral on the subject, and besides, they said, This High Priestess is really active and public, and does a lot of positive PR work for the Craft. Doesn't that balance out anything bad she might do, they asked. This particular Priestess has since taken her entire group back to nature, to live commune style in the wilds. One wonders when the next refugees will turn up with new horror stories!

C) The third, and final example, took place in November, 1986. A member of a local group was disciplined in Circle, to the tune of a beating that left large, hand-print shaped bruises upon her person. After these bruises were noticed by friends, she was encouraged to talk about her problem to the Initiator of her High Priest and High Priestess. The Initiator first confronted the Hp and Hps quietly, in the presence of a few persons who were fellow members of an outreach group. They admitted to having administered a spanking, but felt their action was justified. At the request of the community (7 persons signed a formal request), their Initiator conducted an open inquiry into the situation. Although the alleged abusers were invited to speak for themselves at this inquiry, they declined to do so. They opted, instead, to convene a secret Council of Elders of their own choosing, but not of their tradition. They alleged that the victim had broken Coven secrecy, and that the community at large was in violation of the autonomy of their Coven. Needless to say, although the public inquiry panel agreed that there had been abuse, the Council of Elders declared no fault and admonished the involved parties to speak of this no more. The community was divided by the differences created by this incident, but the abusers went on with business as usual. Those who had tried to bring the abuse to light and prevent further abuse were branded as interfering gossips. The abusive group was incorporated as a Church, and are among the signers of a widely circulated anti-abuse statement, under their new name, thus placing themselves in a position to be supported as harmless by several well-known and respected signers of the same resolution. It has, however, recently come to the community's attention that these same folk have moved into the area of financial abuse, rather than physical, and have bilked at least two persons of their life savings. Remembering the discomfort of the previous effort to halt these persons, most community folk are taking an I don't want to be involved stand, and what good would it do, anyway? We didn't stop them before, did we? So, they go on with their unethical activities, sometimes shunned by new-thought type Pagans, but as often, supported by the old guard. Just maybe, something will finally be done when the headlines read Witches Cheat Innocent Victims of Life Savings or maybe not!

There will be those who will condemn us for writing this article. We very probably will have a difficult time finding anyone brave enough to publish it. What, they will ask, if your article gets into the hands of Fundamentalist Christians, and they use it as ammunition against us? What if, indeed? And, What if abusers such as those described continue to abuse in the name of the Craft, and we have not gone on record as disapproving? What sort of ammunition will that hand our enemies, if we have passively allowed it to go on?

We are teetering on the edge of a New Age. It can go either way for us. We can be an acceptable, respected religion by the turn of Century, or we can crawl back into our broom-closets and hide away for another generation, safe and secure behind our veil of secrecy while we ignore the actions of the unethical folk in our midst. If we want to be public and be accepted, then we must realize that our every action is open to public scrutiny. The media will not discriminate between ethical Pagans and unethical Pagans. They even have trouble distinguishing between Pagans and Satanists. It is up to us to make the distinction by making it unavoidably obvious that Pagans do not tolerate abuses, and will not condone abusers. We must begin in our own back yard, weeding out those who would take advantage of others while hiding behind old, out-dated, and no longer pertinent laws and ideas. It does no good to take a public stand against child abuse, while protecting the abusers in our own family. It is useless to fight for the protection of Mother Earth from Pollution or War, while allowing Her children to be abused in Her name!

In order to take a strong stand against abusers, we of the Craft will need to engage in some reprogramming of our own thinking. We have to learn to make a distinction between disclosure of truth and gossip, between rightful condemnation of unethical action and politics and between interference and standing up for what we believe to be right. We must overcome our fear of criticism by old-timers who will insist we, not the abusers, are at fault. We must realize that it is no longer enough to be passively ethical; we must learn to take action to support our Ethic, and refuse to tolerate less than ethical behavior from anyone purporting to be Pagans or Witches.

It is of no use to try to clean up the act of the city, state, nation, or world, until our own house is free from harm. Before we can overcome oppression, repression, and corruption, we must put a stop to the oppression of Pagans by Pagans, the abuse of Witches by Witches, the corruption of our own faith by those who would use it as a space in which to perpetrate their crimes against our own sisters and brothers. If we are to make a difference on a national we must make a difference on a personal level first.

So what can we do to stop the abusers? Speak out, and loudly about every case of abuse that comes to your attention! Refuse to associate with abusers, and warn others away from them! NEVER turn a deaf ear to someone who wants to talk about an abusive situation because you don't want to hear gossip. Yes, there will always be those who will bring a false accusation against an innocent party, and it's fine to investigate an allegation before forming an opinion, but don't keep an open mind to the extent of ignoring hard evidence when it is placed before you and don't give a known abuser the benefit of the doubt while providing them with the opportunity to do it all over again! Feel sorry for the victim, not the abuser! Your withdrawn trust is the price they must pay for having indulged in abusive behavior in the first place. If someone told you a convicted child molester had molested another child, you might investigate, but you wouldn't hand over more children in the meantime. Most important of all, don't be afraid to become involved! The next time you feel inclined to say It's none of my business, ask yourself if Paganism and the Craft are your business! Ask yourself if the Ethic is your business! Ask yourself if the well-being of your brothers and sisters is your business! Then, if you can answer no, ask yourself why you became Pagan in the first place, because it's obvious your heart isn't in it. How can you love the Goddess and the God, and turn your back upon the needs of their children? How can you allow harm to continue, and still remain harmless? Then, make it your business! Each and every Pagan and Witch has a responsibility to keep our religion a safe, harmless, peaceful place. If you don't take that responsibility who will?

It is the responsibility of every Pagan and Witch to create a Pagan/Wiccan Community where no abuser will want to remain for long. We are a minority religion. As some small towns, by a concerted effort on the part of the population, are able to boast of a crime rate far below the national average, it is also possible for the Pagan population to boast of abuser statistics far below the national one in ten. We can let abusers know that a) they will be exposed and b) they will not be tolerated. We can make it so uncomfortable that they will not want show their faces in a Pagan environment. We can also let them know that once they have been exposed, there will always be someone looking over their shoulder. There will be no second or third incident, because all potential victims will have been warned away. Then, eventually, we can let the public know that ours is a safe, abuse-free space. In this way, not only will we have taken positive action to rid our own communities of the abusers, but we will have taken positive action to change our negative public image, and promote positive PR for our religion as a whole. This should be the first cause to be undertaken by every Pagan. Pagans and Witches For an Abuser-Free Environment! By the Law of Three times Three, As We Will, So Mote It Be!

Doug and Sandy Kopf

Let this be a reminder that the pendulum can swing too far in the other direction, too. We mustn't tolerate crime any more than malicious gossip. I hope that in rebuilding our connection with society, we will take advantage of its legal systems to help us solve such problems; for though they may be flawed, these systems offer us a better mechanism for justice than rumors and accusations do. Just because we shouldn't rumormonger doesn't mean that we shouldn't pursue every appropriate means our society offers to eradicate illegal behavior. I think that as long as we treat Pagan problems as people problems, we will be handling things as best as we can.

Access to Nutritional Supplements
is in Danger

The FDA is about to enact a series of regulations that will severely restrict public access to nutritional supplements, according to the New Jersey Health Freedom Coalition, an organization formed to protect consumer access to non-harmful vitamins and other dietary supplements. Among the supplements facing restrictions are herbs, amino acids, certain minerals and antioxidant formulas.

In a report released on June 15, the FDA said it is seeking to limit the potency of vitamins and minerals that are allowed in supplements, thereby reducing the benefits of many supplements. Vitamin C, for example, would be banned in dosages of more than 100 milligrams, which is far below the potencies reported to be of benefit in many studies.

This new series of regulations comes at a time when an emerging body of evidence shows that nutritional supplements may help prevent many life-threatening diseases such as heart disease and cancer, NJHFC said. The FDA, which NJHFC believes should be expediting research that shows the important contribution that supplements can make, has stated that they do not want the presence of dietary supplements in the market [to] act as a disincentive for the development of drugs. According to NJHFC, the FDA actions will limit public access to a whole range of nutrients that are lower in cost and have fewer side effects than many pharmaceutical products.

NJHFC is urging individuals who are concerned about protecting their choice to use nutritional supplements to write their U.S. senators and congressmen. Many lawmakers are currently considering co-sponsoring a bill entitled The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (S. 784/H.R. 1709). This law will protect supplements by establishing that dietary supplements are not drugs or food additives and ensuring that truthful health information about dietary supplements is made available to the general public. The Act will also redefine the term ~dietary supplements| to include herbs and other specialty supplements.

For more information, please contact the National Nutritional Foods Association at (800) 966-6632 or, locally, Ken Choat of the New Jersey Health Freedom Coalition at (908) 247-0070.