TYPE 4

WITCHCRAFT & THE NEW AGE

…䡔⁅䕎⁗䝁⁅†††††††

WITCHCRAFT & THE NEW AGE.

Today a great many taboos are being swept away. The frank discussions of the

occult & the supernormal is going hand in hand with a franker attitude

towards sex, nudity, reincarnation, meditation, visualization techniques &

other previously banned subjects. People are beginning to say what they

really think & feel about these matters, instead of what they have imagined

that they ought to think or feel in order not to offend society. The wind of

the Age of Aquarius is rising.

In these extraordinary days, it is no wonder that anything so apparently

extraordinary as a revival of witchcraft should be taking place world-wide.

People are not trying to turn back the clock, they are advancing towards a

new society of which a regenerated & enlightened Paganism is going to be a

part..

Many wild guesses have been made as to how many practising witches there are

in the world today. None of them could be accurate, because the Craft of the

Wise is not all organised under the same leadership. There are Covens that

seek publicity & others that abhors it. Some are small family groups that

have been hiding for generations under cover of their Christian label & only

if you marry into these groups will you be initiated into their Pagan ways.

The Neo Pagan family is usually started by one or more family member being

initiated into a Coven ,then leaving it to start a family. It is estimated

that there are more solitary witches in the broom closet than those that are

not. Training Covens are sometimes more likely to attract those who seek

knowledge of the Craft & are usually easier to find.

There is a general belief among witches in the invocation & worship of the

forces of life, the male & female aspects of nature through which all

manifestations take place. These powers are personified as the Horned God of

nature & the Moon Goddess. They have a great many names because of Their

great antiquity. Witches believe that ancient works of art, dating back to

the Stone Age, depict the same Deities which they worship today & therefor,

they say, witchcraft is the oldest religion in the world.

The cult group of 13 called a Coven, is generally, though not invariably

adhered to. Covens meet every Esbat, Sabbat & socially. Training Covens also

have lesson nights once or twice a week for those in the outer circle & for

those who are moving up the various degrees. Once they have attained Priest

or Priestess they may choose to create a Spin- off Coven. In the Spin off

Coven, lessons are given & Esbat & Life initiations are done, but all Sabbat

Rites are celebrated with the Mother Coven. When the Priest or Priestess

attain their High Priest /High Priestess status, then their Coven becomes the

Mother Coven from which" Spin offs " occur.

To attain this rank of High Priest / High Priestess they will have to be

initiated by their Mother Coven if they have left at the priest /priestess

level.

Witchcraft is the remains of the Old Religion of Europe, driven underground

by the rise of Christianity & compelled to organise itself as a secret cult,

which spread world wide, taken to the new world by European immigrants & in

some cases the Europe an influences were influenced by the Shamanistic

practises of the Country as in the case of America & Australia today. In

Europe due to invasions & the fleeing of groups of people from one country to

another & the inevitable inter marriage, the Paganism of Northern & Western

Europe eventually became one, & new Gods were often added to the old ones.

In America today Pagan, Wicca, Witta[ Irish Wiccan Covens] & various

Shamanistic groups are getting to gather to form large groups that not only

celebrate the 8 Festivals of the Wheel openly, but are also pressing for

recognition by the government. They say that for us to survive we must come

out of the broom closet, so that we can be counted & our collective voice may

be heard once more in the coming new age. We need our religious rites of

birth, marriage & death to be recognised by the state, so that we will no

longer be seen as the lunatic fringe of lapsed Christians, but as a religion

that is growing & strong in our beliefs.. We need schools where our children

will not be forced into Christian thinking, play groups run by fellow pagans,

community activities where we can meet other Pagans & exchange our thoughts

& ideas, clubs where our teenagers can meet & coffee shops, restaurants &

pubs that are run by Pagans for Pagans. We also need to make contact with

Pagans in other Countries & form a home from home for visiting Pagans.

This does not imply that they wish us to become one in our thinking, for our

Pagan teachings tell us that we should be tolerant of all Religions & this

includes being tolerant of different Pagan sects.

BLESSED BE.