NMR ISSUE 46

Abundance Circle
Activating Miraculous Success
And Now for Something a Little Different
Astrological Forecast 46
Circle of Fire
Circle of the Stars
Dolphin Magick
Earwig & Cow
Editorial 46
Esoteric Symbology of the Tarot
Finding the Goddess in Ancient Greece
Hear O Humankind
Letters 46
Magick in the Forest
Making the Break
Old Ways to Celebrate New Life
Other Editorial 46
So True, So Real
Spring Equinox Rite
The Lesson of the Tree
The Portrait of the Beast
To Be a Witch
To Pythia
We Are Everywhere
Weasel, Black Beetle & Plover

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We are Everywhere!

By Trish Reynolds

We've all seen that bumper sticker. It can mean anything/anyone/anywhere, but I've most recently seen it in a Witch-shop. Interesting.

Years ago, when I first began writing for New Moon Rising, Scot asked me if I would do an article on being hereditary. I was hesitant, as you can see by how long it's taken me to actually put finger to keyboard. There are a number of reasons. One is that my own hereditary Tradition of the Old Religion is an arcane order, and still very secretive even today. Another is that my maternal great-grandmother, a Strega who laid the groundwork for my ultimate becoming, was of another era.

Born in southern Italy in the late 1800's before the turn of the Century, she practiced a craft which followed both what we'd call today the Left Hand Path and the Right. In her village, she filled the roles of herbalist, midwife, healer, social advisor and psychological counselor. Magick, knowledge and power were tools to use on the journey through one's current incarnation. Although a very good woman by anybody's standards, she wouldn't hesitate to use a curse (the evil eye was a favorite) to rectify a wrong. Sour milk, bad dreams, mysterious rashes or any number of minor ills, were within her range of maledictions. She did not consider this harm, merely a mundane reminder to those who needed reminding. I guess in her mind, it was the equivalent of spanking a wayward child (again, something that today is becoming more and more culturally unacceptable in our enlightened society). There was no Wiccan Rede, indeed, there was no Wicca as we call it today. Being a Strega was not merely her religion and way of life, it was also her livelihood, her very survival.

By the standards we hold now, this is very difficult to write about. Even though today's Pagan is ostensibly tolerant, human beings tend to be judgmental regardless of philosophy. Grandma didn't understand Karma, or know the Law of Three. She also didn't worship the Christian version of Satan. Though she considered black magick as viable as white, there was no separation of a good god or an evil god; in fact, magick didn't come from any god, it came from nature. She was a country Witch, from a time more innocent than our own.

On my paternal side my Irish grandmother, and hers before, were practitioners of what they simply called the Old Religion, or the Old Ways. In my family a baby born in the veil (meaning with the placental sack intact) is, according to ancient tradition, a sign of one born with the Sight, a strong Witch. My own entrance into this world was made this way. Coven secrets are passed down orally within the family. The gods are the Old Ones, the Tuatha D Danann. For propriety's sake, The Good God, the Nameless or Gifting God, could be construed as a version of the Christian God, although Goddesses such as Anu, Brigit and Cerridwyn were also very much a part of the pantheon I grew up with. As in the Italian tradition, the emphasis was on herbal lore, healing and the crafting of spells for survival. As an adult I was drawn more to the Celtic tradition probably because I speak little Italian and was educated in England. Today, I am called a priestess of Wicca, but that is a modern term. I have always been a Witch.

As a teenager, I would occasionally confide this fact to special friends. My very best friends understood me well and simply accepted me as I was, in truth, not much different from any other teenager. Of course, it was the 60's. Bewitched was a popular TV show, the film Bell, Book and Candle had been around a few years. Many of my peers were experimenting with alternative religions and lifestyles. Nearly everyone had at least some knowledge, however little, of one mystic philosophy or another. Zen, Hari Krishna, and a myriad of others explored by the leaders of our youth culture, were gaining in popularity. The Age of Aquarius was upon the world, love filled the sky, crystals were powering spells and watches, and holistic medicine began to be almost accepted within the mainstream. Tolkien had created a Middle Earth that at times seemed more real to us than our own. Suddenly being a Witch began to seem quite ordinary.

After generations of practicing in secret, hiding beliefs in spells and magick, and disguising a pantheon of heroes and gods unaffiliated with the Holy Bible (King James, of course) as almost Christian, we were free to openly be Witches. At first this confused my family. Gradually, though, they became used to the idea that being a Witch is no longer a hanging offense; nobody was going after me with a net. Not only that, but my unsuppressed imagination and ability to focus, a result of years of magical training, made me a valuable commodity in business. Now my mother maintains a scrapbook of my published articles, and doesn't hesitate to ask me to perform spells for her and her close friends. Whether she consciously uses it or not, my mother has a well developed ability to see `round the corner, another euphemism for the Sight, the gift of prescience. In an effort to be more involved with her own birthright, she began subscribing to astrological magazines, and proudly presented me with a whole year's worth, not understanding that it was rather like giving me last year's calendar. It was still a big step.

I was initiated into my first coven outside the family in Hampshire, England. I brought a lot of my great-grandmother's herbal knowledge to my Grove, thus enriching the knowledge we share. That's easy today. There are books, seminars, lectures, even television talk shows, which disseminate information about us. Some is accurate, some is not. Most is a mix.

Why did I decide to write this article now? I am certainly not suggesting that Witches or Wiccans today should feel free to practice cursing or hexing just because that's what our great-grandmothers may have done. Neither would I seek to invalidate the Wiccan Rede as I understand it.`An it harm none, do what thou wilt. Every living religion must evolve, adapt to the times. We modern Witches know more about the physics of magick and the philosophical and metaphysical repercussions of Karma than our ancestors, just as we know more of so much else. Nevertheless, there is a reason and it goes back to tolerance. Tolerance within our own community.

I understand that many, if not most so called Hereditary Traditions, my own included, do not generally accept initiates who were not raised within the Craft. This, I am happy to say, is beginning to change, albeit slowly. I have recently been permitted to formally train a student in my Tradition who has no familial background. I say formally, because of course I am always free to teach who I will, so long as I revealed none of my own coven secrets. In other words, I could teach the Celtic Mythology and pantheon so long as I used standard rituals and practices, and didn't presume to perform an initiation into my coven. What happened was I didn't bother? I wrote instead. As my work was published in various media something started happening. I started finding us everywhere. And we, profoundly curious, intensely creative and passionately motivated, are hungry to learn.

Because I am fortunate enough to work for a culturally progressive, EEOP minded company; I've been out of the broom closet for many years with few repercussions. Local newspapers have carried my bylined articles with photo more than once and I have no problem wearing my pentacle openly. By being publicly recognizable, other Wiccans have been able to come up to me in all manner of places. I met my current student in my horseback riding class. Walking into a local writer's guild meeting, I was greeted with Blessed Be by a new member. Even the supermarket checkout lady is one of us. I've discovered that Women's Circles where the Goddess is the primary, or only deity, exist with large followings all over the Country. Although a few still use the term Witch, most prefer Wiccan or Pagan. Unfortunately, I have found that many such groups don't follow any pantheon of deities except in the most general terms. Magick, except for occasional healings, is seldom performed, and the raising of Power seems to lack focus. Often these circles remind me more of women's support groups than a coven. Men are often excluded. I'm not really clear if it's because their maleness is perceived as part of the problem with no part in the solution, or what. Sometimes women need to connect with women. I know that, but must we risk sacrificing our Balance to make that connection? There is a universal duality in all things; positive and negative. There is no Yin without Yang; no feminine without masculine, no dark without light, you get the idea. It is encouraging that the nurturing quality of a matriarchal society is itself being nurtured, but I believe it takes much more to complete the picture.

In a hereditary Tradition, one gets a sense of just that, tradition. There is a history, an evolution that goes with a sense of permanence and focus. As life is a circle, a wheel turning inexorably, so we come back to the beginning. Is it the New Age or the Old Ways? Even those of us who practice historical traditions have changed the way we practice; influenced heavily by rapidly changing cultural values and the general awareness of spirituality making itself felt throughout the world. More and more of us turn to a blending of science and occultism; a natural progression it seems to me. Books of Shadows are today as likely to be on floppy disk as on black-bound parchment turning yellow with age. This is good mostly.

While I am heartened to see the emergence of a more spiritual way of life, and the feminine aspects finally coming back into vogue, I fear that what most of us are getting is a kind of watered down version. Individual aspects of goddess seem to have been replaced by The Goddess with the male deity sometimes ignored entirely. Most circles acknowledge the triple deity, Maiden, Mother, Crone, but fail to recognize that these aspects do have names, personalities, histories. The names may differ from culture to culture, but in order to truly come to know a particular aspect, I think one must acknowledge that aspect as an individual, distinct as any human. I would not like to see that old/new Christian GOD simply replaced by His female counterpart, GODDESS, as some nebulous omnipotent entity. It seems to me that there must be some acknowledgment of the binary aspect inherent in all matter.

Regrettably, I find that many of the Sabbats and even Esbats are celebrated out of sync. I mean, it is nice to have a large holiday gathering for the Yule, perhaps over a weekend to make it convenient. But that is not to say that it is the Yule. Yule happens on a specific day at a specific time. Just as the Full Moon Esbat really needs to be held at the full moon, not when it's convenient. After all, what makes our way different is that we are supposed to be in tune with the natural cycles. We do not try to subdue and dominate, we work within. But when we begin rearranging the holidays to meet our schedule, we are working without. So, while it might be fun to have a coven party to celebrate the season, we should also remember the importance of what it is we are celebrating. The time of solstice or equinox is the reason behind Yule or Ostara. To maintain the connection with the cycle and the Wheel, we must connect at the right time, not when it suits our schedule. This doesn't have to be elaborate; sometimes a candle and a short meditation will suffice. The important thing is to maintain that link to our place in Nature, not Nature's place in our lives.

The time for the melding of the New with the Old is long overdue. Yes, I agree that Covens must still maintain some censure and control over traditional secrets, to a point. But, as the New-Agers raise a crop of First Generation Hereditaries, can we afford to allow the rich oral history and mythologies we have guarded so carefully through the Burning Times to just fade into obscurity? I believe we have too much to offer to simply turn up our noses at those new to the Craft, and I am not alone. It is time to teach and to be taught.

There is nothing wrong with New Traditions; they can be as rich in lore and ritual as any. There is nothing wrong with Hereditary Traditions, with a wealth of knowledge gleaned from trial and error over centuries. We, the members of today's occult community, have much to offer to a species struggling through adolescence. Gaia, the Great Earth Mother, Anu, Gruagach, Tiamat, by whatever name She is known, the Earth will always be here. It is our place in Her cycle that is in question. Students of the Arcane must take the wonderful opportunity afforded by our technology to learn from each other, to incorporate ideas and philosophies and histories. Someone once told me that a good Witch would steal anything that works. Well, we don't have to steal that which is freely given. My local newspaper said that Goddess/Pagan/Wicca is now the fastest growing religion in our country. I can't imagine anything more exciting, given that we are a non-proselytizing philosophy.

WE ARE EVERYWHERE. New Age and Old Ways. As we enter the second millennium of the Common Era, I hope we can bring with us the knowledge and power that will allow the spiritual evolution of our species to catch up with our technological advancement. While there is no one right path, every path must bring us back to ourselves; or else we are truly lost.

The Circle is open, but unbroken.

Merry meet and merry part
to merry meet again.

1995, Trish Reynolds