In calling the directions to create sacred space, we traditionally place Air in the East, Heat in the South, Water in the West, and Earth in the North. The question has arisen many times as to where this set of directions came from: The word tradition is insufficient.
The answer is clearly: the Punjab. The Punjab is an area in northeastern India and southeast Pakistan, and the word itself means five rivers. It is the area of one of the oldest civilizations yet discovered: the Indus Valley civilization. It is also an area subject to disastrous floods, and may actually be the source for ideas of Noah's flood, if we trouble to scrape off our shoe the old habitual assumptions.
Go to the web or to your public library, and look up trade winds. You will find that in the area of the Punjab the wind blows from the east: therefore it is logical to assign Air to the East. Similarly, the Himalayan massif is to the north, so that putting Earth in the North is logical.
Today most thinking occultists and Wiccans acknowledge that the directions should be called depending on the location of the worker. To do so is a symptom that the workers are thinking about the significance of what they are doing, in contrast to passively, numbly continuing to work the old patterns handed down on who-knows-what authority from who-knows-what distant land. If you are on the east coast of North America, it is logical--rational, mindful--to put Water in the East. If you are on the west coast, vice versa: you would put Water in the West. From the perspective of the northern hemisphere, Heat is in the South. Again, in the southern hemisphere the thinking is flipped.
Thus we can develop a set of directions for a ritual on the east coast or on the west coast of North America with the only decision left to make being what to put in the north. For many years now we Frosts have recommended putting Time in the North. This equates to old age, white hair, and (we may hope) wisdom. Many of us also add the sixth direction; that is, Above. Here it is logical to use either Spirit or Grandfather Sky. Since Time is in the North in our circle, we prefer to use Spirit.
Thus to fit our location USA east, we use, Earth (what workers stand on): below our feet.
Water in the East (the place of new beginnings; e.g. dawn), Heat and emotion in the South, Air in the West (since the winds blow from the west), Time in the North, and Spirit Above. If you tune your calls to fit your location, we think you will feel more comfortable with the result than you would by using the ancient Indus Valley/Punjab system. Do your research, and let us know.
Blessed be. Gavin and Yvonne
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Monday, April 8, 2013
Correspondances
A very capable student of the School of Wicca has prompted us to explain the use of correspondences when it comes to timing your services. As we all know, astrological signs influence the work we do and there is a correspondence between doing, for instance, a healing ritual for a heart attack and Aries.
Throughout a 24-hour day we move (that is, the earth rotates) through the twelve signs of the zodiac. Each sign exerts the most powerful influence for a two-hour period. Conventionally we assign various times of the year to the dawn sign, and dawn is normally taken as 6 a.m. in the time zone where you are working. The astrologers among you can in fact work this out in finer detail and tell you exactly when Aries (for example) is in its ascendant.
So if you take it that Aries is at 6 a.m., on a day that the moon is full, when you plan a major ritual at midnight, what sign will you be in at that hour? That is, which sign will have the strongest influence over your efforts? Since midnight is is 18 hours away from 6 a.m., that means you will have moved 9 signs around the zodiac. This will place you in Sagittarius; therefore you must do something appropriate to Sagittarius to fine-tune your work to the proper sign. All you have to do then is (1) figure out when you will schedule your service, (2) figure out what is the dawn sign, and then (3) count around the signs to the one appropriate for your service.
You may have decided to do the service at 10 p.m. In this case you would count around only 8 signs. Simple, isn't it?
Career ... wealth ... healing ... If you need a complete table of correspondences that will suggest the most appropriate day and time for your intent, send the School a stamped addressed No. 10 envelope with an extra stamp inside; we'll send you a copy of such a table. A more complete explanation of this phenomenon can be found in our book Helping Yourself with Astromancy from Parker Publishing.
Throughout a 24-hour day we move (that is, the earth rotates) through the twelve signs of the zodiac. Each sign exerts the most powerful influence for a two-hour period. Conventionally we assign various times of the year to the dawn sign, and dawn is normally taken as 6 a.m. in the time zone where you are working. The astrologers among you can in fact work this out in finer detail and tell you exactly when Aries (for example) is in its ascendant.
So if you take it that Aries is at 6 a.m., on a day that the moon is full, when you plan a major ritual at midnight, what sign will you be in at that hour? That is, which sign will have the strongest influence over your efforts? Since midnight is is 18 hours away from 6 a.m., that means you will have moved 9 signs around the zodiac. This will place you in Sagittarius; therefore you must do something appropriate to Sagittarius to fine-tune your work to the proper sign. All you have to do then is (1) figure out when you will schedule your service, (2) figure out what is the dawn sign, and then (3) count around the signs to the one appropriate for your service.
You may have decided to do the service at 10 p.m. In this case you would count around only 8 signs. Simple, isn't it?
Career ... wealth ... healing ... If you need a complete table of correspondences that will suggest the most appropriate day and time for your intent, send the School a stamped addressed No. 10 envelope with an extra stamp inside; we'll send you a copy of such a table. A more complete explanation of this phenomenon can be found in our book Helping Yourself with Astromancy from Parker Publishing.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
The Principle of Least Effort
We are repeatedly amazed and puzzled that many people (self-styled "witches" or "magicians") are apt to cast some kind of imaginary circle with a fancy sword or some other comic-book hoodoo paraphernalia. Students of the School of Wicca's international student body have cast thousands upon thousands of circles; and we have tested the effectiveness of the circles both as (a) a container of intentional psychic energy and as (b) a shield excluding extraneous psychic energy (noise) from outside. In serving this two-fold need, such circles provide a safe area in which to work--though only when accurately cast.
As part of our work, we have used a hypersensitive magnetometer to detect the presence or absence of psychic influences. We have tried to encourage other people to do the same, because independent verification or lack thereof is instructive. The results of the experiments have consistently shown that effective circles must be (a) cast in electrically conducting materials and (b) of a very definite specific size.
We have found too that magnetic materials interfere with psychic reception. (You may remember Julius Caesar's report that before rituals, all iron and steel objects were stored away under lock and key.)
Regrettably, the Principle of Least Effort manifests itself all too often. The Principle of Least Effort is a polysyllabic way of describing simple laziness. When it relates to the casting of circles, it implies a certain self-enchantment and an inaccurate assumption that the self-appointed worker has not done his/her homework or is simply too lazy to follow techniques defined through generations of hard and even dangerous work.
In casting circles and in doing most magical work, you will do well to keep the Principle far away from the actual work. If you do sloppy work in an attempt to achieve whiz-bang hoodoos, you are insulting those who have gone before. If you want to play dress-ups or do claw-and-fang thumb games, that's all well and good--but don't call it Witchcraft, let alone Wicca. Lazy witchy-play and comic-book games do no honor to those who have gone to the effort to do the research. Our proud heritage deserves better.
Blessed be. Gavin and Yvonne
As part of our work, we have used a hypersensitive magnetometer to detect the presence or absence of psychic influences. We have tried to encourage other people to do the same, because independent verification or lack thereof is instructive. The results of the experiments have consistently shown that effective circles must be (a) cast in electrically conducting materials and (b) of a very definite specific size.
We have found too that magnetic materials interfere with psychic reception. (You may remember Julius Caesar's report that before rituals, all iron and steel objects were stored away under lock and key.)
Regrettably, the Principle of Least Effort manifests itself all too often. The Principle of Least Effort is a polysyllabic way of describing simple laziness. When it relates to the casting of circles, it implies a certain self-enchantment and an inaccurate assumption that the self-appointed worker has not done his/her homework or is simply too lazy to follow techniques defined through generations of hard and even dangerous work.
In casting circles and in doing most magical work, you will do well to keep the Principle far away from the actual work. If you do sloppy work in an attempt to achieve whiz-bang hoodoos, you are insulting those who have gone before. If you want to play dress-ups or do claw-and-fang thumb games, that's all well and good--but don't call it Witchcraft, let alone Wicca. Lazy witchy-play and comic-book games do no honor to those who have gone to the effort to do the research. Our proud heritage deserves better.
Blessed be. Gavin and Yvonne
Monday, March 25, 2013
Russian Spring
The two witch hazels that bracket our front door are very confused right now: They came into full bloom a couple of weeks ago, complete with the classic scent so familiar from those old drug-store bottles. Yet today they're covered with snow because we're having a Russian "spring" here in climate zone 6. For over a week now temperatures have been below normal--and we're promised that this will last at least another week. Indeed, temperatures are way below the normal for this time of year--and of course the self-appointed prophets of doom are gloating while they trumpet that global warming is a myth.
We're glad to report that Yvonne will never see 81 again. We had a quiet lunch out to celebrate.
Gavin's health seems to be improving though progress is terribly slow. We're sure that all those people who have sent energy have really helped the healing process. Let's recall that his surgeons thought he'd never walk again.
We had a good presenter at the Unitarian-Universalist fellowship last Sunday. He's a Russian exchange student and smarter than two or three whips. Whew. He's kind enough to say he likes it here but will be happy to get back to Russia where people don't wear meaningless smiles all the time.
That's all we know right now. Blessed be Y'all
We're glad to report that Yvonne will never see 81 again. We had a quiet lunch out to celebrate.
Gavin's health seems to be improving though progress is terribly slow. We're sure that all those people who have sent energy have really helped the healing process. Let's recall that his surgeons thought he'd never walk again.
We had a good presenter at the Unitarian-Universalist fellowship last Sunday. He's a Russian exchange student and smarter than two or three whips. Whew. He's kind enough to say he likes it here but will be happy to get back to Russia where people don't wear meaningless smiles all the time.
That's all we know right now. Blessed be Y'all
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Gun Control
After the school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, the whole queston of gun control in the United States has once again become a cause celebre; and once again everyone seems to be throwing up their hands in helpless dismay, giving up the battle before they have really begun to fight.
We had already been invited to give a presentation on the topic to our nearest (Beckley WV) Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. In researching for that presentation, we have now come across a very good article--an eye-opener--which we recommend that everyone read. It is contained in the March/April 2013 issue of Mother Jones, the independent investigative journal that repeatedly leads us to say "Hoo boy." Some of the conclusions from the article are worth repeating. Example: The number of guns owned by this nation's military and law-enforcement bodies is estimated to be four million (4,000,000). The guns owned by civilians is three hundred ten million (310,000,000). In the two weeks after Newtown, more than a million guns were sold.
Gun deaths by state came as a shock: Wyoming led with 18 deaths per 100,000 per annum. And of all things, Massachusetts was lowest with 4 per 100,000 per annum. The other thing that was pretty startling to us was that in 2008 there were 11,030 gun deaths in the United States. Contrast that figure with 11 in Japan. The commonly held idea that video games produce gun homicides is sunk by this statistic: In Japan $55 per person is spent on video games per annum; whereas only $44 is similarly spent in the United States. Also everyone believes that the NRA controls gun legislation--and indeed that is true. But when polled, 74 percent of NRA members say (note: they say) that they support background checks for all buyers of guns. You might like to know that 40 percent of guns are sold without background checks, mainly at gun shows and on line. Also 67 percent of NRA members would support background checks for buyers of ammunition. And 45 percent say they support a ban on assault weapons.
After we looked at these (and a lot more) statistics in the Mother Jones article, we came up with the talking points below for discussion at the Fellowship. We thought we would share them with you to get your opinion on these and other things that could be done to reduce gun homicides.
Can we act as a group?
Ban assault weapons
Require background check for all sales
Require background check for purchase of ammunition
If you want to purchase a gun or ammunition, you must prove you own a safe in which to store it
Develop a black list naming criminals and mental patients
Install and use more metal detectors at schools, stores, bars, churches, restaurants
Toughen up requirements for permits to carry weapons include handguns, shotguns and rifles
People who buy/own guns must consent to warrantless random searches of vehicles and homes
If loaded gun found not in a safe, first offense confiscation of all weapons and $10,000 fine;
second offense, 10 years in jail with no option, no appeal
We had already been invited to give a presentation on the topic to our nearest (Beckley WV) Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. In researching for that presentation, we have now come across a very good article--an eye-opener--which we recommend that everyone read. It is contained in the March/April 2013 issue of Mother Jones, the independent investigative journal that repeatedly leads us to say "Hoo boy." Some of the conclusions from the article are worth repeating. Example: The number of guns owned by this nation's military and law-enforcement bodies is estimated to be four million (4,000,000). The guns owned by civilians is three hundred ten million (310,000,000). In the two weeks after Newtown, more than a million guns were sold.
Gun deaths by state came as a shock: Wyoming led with 18 deaths per 100,000 per annum. And of all things, Massachusetts was lowest with 4 per 100,000 per annum. The other thing that was pretty startling to us was that in 2008 there were 11,030 gun deaths in the United States. Contrast that figure with 11 in Japan. The commonly held idea that video games produce gun homicides is sunk by this statistic: In Japan $55 per person is spent on video games per annum; whereas only $44 is similarly spent in the United States. Also everyone believes that the NRA controls gun legislation--and indeed that is true. But when polled, 74 percent of NRA members say (note: they say) that they support background checks for all buyers of guns. You might like to know that 40 percent of guns are sold without background checks, mainly at gun shows and on line. Also 67 percent of NRA members would support background checks for buyers of ammunition. And 45 percent say they support a ban on assault weapons.
After we looked at these (and a lot more) statistics in the Mother Jones article, we came up with the talking points below for discussion at the Fellowship. We thought we would share them with you to get your opinion on these and other things that could be done to reduce gun homicides.
Can we act as a group?
Ban assault weapons
Require background check for all sales
Require background check for purchase of ammunition
If you want to purchase a gun or ammunition, you must prove you own a safe in which to store it
Develop a black list naming criminals and mental patients
Install and use more metal detectors at schools, stores, bars, churches, restaurants
Toughen up requirements for permits to carry weapons include handguns, shotguns and rifles
People who buy/own guns must consent to warrantless random searches of vehicles and homes
If loaded gun found not in a safe, first offense confiscation of all weapons and $10,000 fine;
second offense, 10 years in jail with no option, no appeal
Monday, March 11, 2013
Travel Plans, Spring and Summer 2013CE
Greetings Y'all.
Gavin's health is sufficiently recovered that we now feel able to travel. At present our travel plans include Florida Pagan Gathering in Ocala National Forest early in May (see below).
Additionally we plan to go to Sirius Rising and SummerFest at Brushwood Folklore Center outside Sherman, NY, 30 miles east of Erie, PA. We expect to be away a little more than two weeks for this one, because we are committed as well to a prison visit in the Finger Lakes district of NY State.
Students who have been a while with the School of Wicca will see that once again their mail will be delayed while we are on these adventures. We don't know how many more such annual trips we'll be able to accomplish, but we plan to continue as long as we can, in case there are people we haven't yet offended. We feel it is especially important to meet again with other old-timers while they too are still able to travel. Example: We are most pleased that Margot Adler has agreed to come to Sirius Rising. We've known and admired her since the days when we were running our pig farm (the early '70s) in rural Missouri.
We'd love to cross paths with all of you at one or both of the gatherings, Florida and/or New York. We believe sincerely that single voices speaking out for the Craft can do a lot of good; but if we could form real alliances, then the groups could speak with more authority and be genuinely taken note of.
Gathering Dates, and Location Details
Florida Pagan Gathering May 1 - 5 Ocala Nat'l Forest see: flapagan.org
Sirius Rising July 15 - 21 Brushwood Folklore Center, Sherman NY
SummerFest July 22 - 28 Brushwood Folklore Center, Sherman NY
For both Sirius Rising and SummerFest see: brushwood.com/index.html
See y'all there. BB Gavin and Yvonne
Gavin's health is sufficiently recovered that we now feel able to travel. At present our travel plans include Florida Pagan Gathering in Ocala National Forest early in May (see below).
Additionally we plan to go to Sirius Rising and SummerFest at Brushwood Folklore Center outside Sherman, NY, 30 miles east of Erie, PA. We expect to be away a little more than two weeks for this one, because we are committed as well to a prison visit in the Finger Lakes district of NY State.
Students who have been a while with the School of Wicca will see that once again their mail will be delayed while we are on these adventures. We don't know how many more such annual trips we'll be able to accomplish, but we plan to continue as long as we can, in case there are people we haven't yet offended. We feel it is especially important to meet again with other old-timers while they too are still able to travel. Example: We are most pleased that Margot Adler has agreed to come to Sirius Rising. We've known and admired her since the days when we were running our pig farm (the early '70s) in rural Missouri.
We'd love to cross paths with all of you at one or both of the gatherings, Florida and/or New York. We believe sincerely that single voices speaking out for the Craft can do a lot of good; but if we could form real alliances, then the groups could speak with more authority and be genuinely taken note of.
Gathering Dates, and Location Details
Florida Pagan Gathering May 1 - 5 Ocala Nat'l Forest see: flapagan.org
Sirius Rising July 15 - 21 Brushwood Folklore Center, Sherman NY
SummerFest July 22 - 28 Brushwood Folklore Center, Sherman NY
For both Sirius Rising and SummerFest see: brushwood.com/index.html
See y'all there. BB Gavin and Yvonne
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Ethics Morality and "Sin"
Recently we heard a member of the NRA (National Rifle Association) address a group of students and parents on the subject of gun control. After the usual blah-blah-blah reasons why every American should pack an automatic weapon with a magazine of at least 20 shots to kill off the lethally homicidal deer population, he wrapped up with this thought:
"If someone breaks into your home, shoot to kill. Do not shoot to wound:
If the criminal lives, he or she will sue you."
Naïve fools that we are, we had imagined that most of the members of the NRA, and certainly of the audience of which we were a part, were Christians and thus would subscribe to the commandment, "Thou shall not kill."
The question that occurs to us is this: Was the speaker being ethical? Was he being moral? Or was he committing a sin by suggesting that we the audience break a "sacred" commandment?
Let us deal with the "sin" first. The commandment was written, we are given to understand, by a man (Moses), presumably at the behest of "God" or "Jehovah" himself. Should one regard written commandments as an absolute law? Should a religious law apply to all taxpayers in a nation founded by Enlightenment thinkers honoring absolute separation of church and state?
This is probably a good commandment, even though it is honored more in the breaking than in the usage. Mostly we obey the laws of the nation. We do not excessively exceed the speed limit on the highways or molest one another. Such laws are developed for the benefit of the whole of society.
We don't consider breaking them a "sin", though: It's merely a risk: the risk of being punished. So the arbitrary labeling of an act a "sin" probably has very little effect on our selection of the ethical set by which we choose to run our lives.
The question then becomes: When we recall the speaker who urged that we break the sacred law "Thou shall not kill", was he being moral? In our opinion the answer is "Of course not!" though in his own weird twisted way he probably thought of himself as a very upright, even exemplary citizen.
The killing of someone has a lower pain threshold for the killer than being sued. Where then do ethics come into this question? Are you "ethically" going to shoot the criminal--and shoot to kill, not to wound? It depends, of course, on what your ethical set really is. If you were brought up in a neighborhood of criminals, you will have an entirely different set of ethics than someone who was brought up in a good, friendly, "Christian" area. (Of course the two adjectives may be mutually exclusive.)
In America the murder rate is approximately 1000 times the murder rate in Japan and 100 times that of France; we are conditioned to think of life as being very cheap. So the ethics of American society permit acts which in those foreign societies would be anathema--unthinkable ... and memorably punishable.
If I go to the dictionary and look up morality and ethics, I find myself directed from ethics to morality and from morality back to ethics. Apparently the writers of our tomes don't know the answer either. The derivation of ethics in the etymological dictionary concludes with "a placing of oneself, hence self-assertion, self will, and habit relating to custom" and moral under "excellent in conduct"--and it is noted that the root of moral is "uncertain". So both ethical and moral relate to the way we conduct ourselves, but it is apparently up to each individual person to define their own level of "morality" and what is "ethical" behavior.
For most of us the dictionary definition is nothing like satisfactory. Many of us alternative individuals cannot and will not turn to the "bible" and St. Moses to improve the dictionary definition. We Frosts can suggest only that you try working out a definition for yourself. The thought of the Wiccan Rede might fleetingly cross your mind.
If it harm none, do what you will.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)