Letters
Dear Rose & Quill,
I did the ritual for money in your letter column, on Thursday, June 29. On Friday the 30th, I received a check for a very substantial sum of money, which I did not know I was getting. A dear Goddess must love me. Thanks for printing a most effective ritual. I really enjoy the R&Q.
Blessed Be
M. G.
Dear Rose & Quill,
I have recently received the second issue of the Rose & Quill. I am very exited and pleased with this magazine. The information is superb and very interesting I especially like the articles for wiccan solitary rituals by Jason Rath. It is not too difficult to find material for "group rituals" for the Sabbats, but very rarely does one find complete rituals for the solitary wiccan. I personally performed the ritual for Summer Solstice and found it to be very powerful and very moving. The observation guidelines of the Holly King, Oak king, and Goddess given in the ritual made this Sabbat much more personal and meaningful to me. I thank the Rose & Quill for making this information possible, and I am looking forward to practicing the solitary Lammas ritual as presented in the second issue.
Bless it Be!
.E.
Dear Rose & Quill,
What is the Gaia Hypothesis?
I'm glad you asked me that question. See the article on page 31.
Dear Rose & Quill:
Regarding: The "Witchcraft" vs. "Wicca" Debate.
When I was first introduced to (Traditionalist) Witchcraft, I loved what I heard and saw in spite of the name, not because of it. The "naughty" aspect of the name had and has no attraction for me. But like it or not, in 1971, the "Old" Religion of the Goddess and God called itself Witchcraft. When one answered that familiar urge to come home, one was made a Witch. (And, while Wicca was used secondarily, but synonymously, with Witchcraft and was indicative of a particular sect of Priesthood, Pagan was used to refer to practitioners of many different pre-Christian based nature religions and non-initiated (Outer Court) followers/students of the "Old" Religion.)
Today, some "old school" Wiccans believe the cry to renounce Witchcraft is equivalent to telling a Jew to renounce Judaism—just because the factions lying about his ways happen to be powerful and ruthless. This knuckling under sends the signal out that there must be some truth to the slanderous/libelous defamations of Witches' practices and beliefs.
While in all probability, the pre-Christian nature religionists never use the term Witchcraft in reference to their ways, the best argument for retaining it now is that, through understanding the Old Religion as a body of beliefs persecuted as Witchcraft and now reclaimed, one's survival instincts are intensely sharpened. When one sticks by "Witch," one doesn't get lulled into a false sense of security.
As Cultwatch Response (P.O. Box 1842, Colorado Springs, CO 80901) vol. 1, no. 5, reports—at an Occult Crime Training Seminar sponsored by Exodus, S.A., "a Fundamentalist group of self-styled, self-appointed Christian `experts' on Satanism and the occult, . . . Paganism, Witch, Wicca and New Age are used synonymously with Satanism, warlock, black magick and similar terms. The confusion they create in listeners' minds (many of whom look to Exodus as their sole source of information) creates fear [in] non-Christians, who would willingly join forces with them in combating violent cults." So while discarding "Witch" might buy time in the short run, remember the would-be Witch-burners are in it for the long run and their tactics haven't changed. Their song remains the same: "Kill them all and God will know His own."
Why Witch?
Why, when you could live as kings, do you risk
again the pyres deadly tongue?
When you could pass unnoticed in gilded
pretense, choose a banner,
maybe even dying young?
What moves these dancing prophets, when to
look away would add another year?
What merriness can be worth the price the
flames extract for living free from fear?
Why do you do it?
Is there some other way to turn the seasons'
wheel?
Does the moon not shine on prime time as
certainly as upon the Witches' reel?
To Which I Say:
The moments spent encircled by the hallowed
hearts of stars
In the Lady's healing hearth-light, the wounds
of hatred leave no scars.
Secure in the fortress of the Mighty Ones,
even warriors are free to love.
The Lance and Grail unite in splendor
beneath the Lord's bright skys above.
You say, to live in peace.
I have only to deny these sacred rites—
to forsake the light I've found within
Illuminating all my earthbound days and
nights?
I cannot run to sweeten or increase my
numbered days—
Cannot return my voice to mindless braying
when I have sung the hymns of Natures
ancient ways.
For if I die at heart to escape the outward
flame,
The inward fire would consume me and,
instead of passion, die in shame.
Blessed Be,
Meredydd | 
