


                                                                            1402


                                 Blackout and Sigils 
                                   Fra.: Apfelmann

          The blackout or as it is commonly referred to, the death posture, is
     the technique that the late Austin Osman Spare refined for  his own magical
     use  and which has been adopted by chaoists,  solo and group, world wide as
     its  popularity has been increased  by the works  of the IOT  over the last
     decade or so.  

          The  normal procedure, as many will undoubtedly be familiar with, (and
     this is only one  of its uses) is that  a sigil/glyph of desire is  held in
     the mind`s  eye whilst in what we  all refer to as  the death posture e.g.,
     stood on  tiptoe, arms locked behind the head, body stretched to its limit,
     deep spasmodic breathing, until total exhaustion  and inevitably one blacks
     out, the sigil is  then lost to the mind  of the inner and the  banished of
     laughter is evoked to prevent the resurfacing of the said sigil.

          Anyone who has used this technique for the above said purpose, will
     have  at sometime or another experienced, even if just slightly, difficulty
     in holding  the posture long enough  for the desired gnosis  to take effect
     sufficiently  for  blackout. And  due to  this  difficulty, a  well planned
     ritual  can be a  well planned waste of  time as the  desired result is not
     implanted properly.  

          A  technique that  has  been repeatedly  employed  by myself  on  such
     occasions is based upon  the same principles as the death  posture but as I
     have found,  a little easier and  without pitfalls that one  can experience
     with A.O. Spare`s technique.  

          This  technique is  a  strange mixture  of  inhibitory and  excitatory
     gnosis, forced  overbreathing, dancing or  spinning, and of  course exhaus-
     tion.  The end result is of necessity  for this process the blackout, which
     is  as we  know, of  the inhibitory  gnosis. I  will  now explain  how this
     technique  is employed  by  one for  the insertion  of sigils  for whatever
     purpose one feels the need.

          First one has to sigilise the desire in any form that one may wish,
     but in all cases and especially this  one, it must be very easy to  visual-
     ise. Once that has  been achieved, one may then begin  to design the ritual
     for  that particular  purpose in  mind. Banishings  and invocations  may be
     employed,  if so  wished, this is,  however, not  a necessity  for the suc-
     cessful  outcome  of this  process.  At  the culmination  of  the rite  the
     individual starts  the overbreathing, panting deeply  and spasmodically and
     at  the same  time visualising the  sigil as  vividly as  you possible can,
     bright,  intense and very clear  as the overbreathing  continues. Then when
     you feel that the time is right, start your spinning round and round, still
     overbreathing and still holding  your visualised sigil in your  mind`s eye.
     Music  can be played for a background to the dancing, tom toms or any other
     drum  is rather  excellent  background sound  for  this purpose.  When  the
     individual  has reached a state  of sheer exhaustion,  very dizzy, sweating
     and ready  to drop, he or she then, still spinning and overbreathing and of
     course holding the visulised sigil  in mind, works their way to  the centre
     of the circle or working area.



                                                                            1403


          There  a partner,  either  active or  passive to  the rite,  (in other
     words,  if a solo worker,  try to get  someone to help you  with this part)
     stops you spinning and grabs you in  a bear hug lifting you off the  ground
     and squeezing you about the  solar plexus, where a large network  of nerves
     lie.  At  this precise  moment  the music,  if  any has  been  employed, is
     stopped, and death-like silence is kept. The practitioner  holds his or her
     breath whilst being squeezed and the sigil is visualised as if burning with
     bright, white heat as its image is burnt into your mind. Within seconds the
     blackout will occur and the sigil is lost to the mind. At this point it is
     important that your partner lets  you drop to the floor, unless that is you
     wish to return to primal chaos!

     On  coming round, in  most cases, you  should evoke laughter  to banish the
     sigil and all thoughts thereof,  your laughter breaks that silence  and the
     rite is finished in whatever manner wished.

     With fractalic greetings and laughter  * Fra.: Apfelmann *



                                                                            1404

                        Chaoism & Chaos Magic, A Personal View 
                                   by Pete Carroll

          As there are as many Chaos Magicians as there are Chaoists

          practising magic, I cannot speak for the subject in general but only

          for my own Chaoism and Chaos Magic.



          However, if you want a one-line definition with which most Chaoists

          would probably not disagree, then I offer the following. Chaoists

          usually accept the meta-belief that belief is a tool for achieving

          effects; it is not an end in itself.



          It is easy to see how other people and cultures are the victims of

          their own beliefs. The horrors of Islam and the ghasty state of

          politics in sub-Saharan Africa, are obvious examples, but we rarely

          pause to consider the extent to which we are the victims of our own

          beliefs, and the ability we have to modify them if we wish.



          It is perhaps worth considering the recent history of belief in

          Western cultures before mounting an attack on the very foundations

          of the contemporary world view. For about a millenia and a half the

          existence of "God" was an incontrovertible fact of life in

          Christendom. It was never questioned or thought to be questionable.

          Hideous wars and persecutions were conducted to support one

          interpretation of deity against another. Learned men wrote thousands

          of books of theoology debating points which seem utterly tedious and

          idiotic to us now, but the central question of the existence of

          "God" was never considered. Yet now, the belief in "God" as the

          author of most of what goes on in the world has been almost

          competely abandoned, and belief in even the existence of an absentee

          "God" is in most places fading. Satanism as an anti-religious

          gesture is now a waste of iconoclastic talent. The alchemists,



                                                                            1405

          sorcerers and scientists of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance

          won a stupendous posthumous victory. Their questioning of the

          medieval world view started a rot that brought the whole edifice

          down eventually.



          We can laugh looking back on it now, but I assert that we now live

          under a collective obsession which is even more powerful and will

          appear equally limiting and ridiculous to future historians.



          Since the eighteenth century European enlightment, a belief has grown

          to the point where it is now so all-pervasive, and so fundamental a

          part of the Western world view, that one is generally considered mad

          if one questions it. This is a belief that has proved so powerful

          and useful that virtually everyone in the Western world accept it

          without question. Even those who try to maintain a belief in "God"

          tend to place more actual faith in this new belief for most

          practical purposes.

               I  am about to  reveal what this  fundamental contemporary belief

          is.  Most  of you  will think it  is so  obvious a fact  that it  can,

          hardly be called a belief. That, however, is a meassure of its extror-

          dinary power over us.  Most of you will think me a madman or a fool to

          even question it. Few of you will be able to imagine what it would be

          like not to believe it, or that it would be possible to replace it

          with something else. Here it is: the dominant belief in all Western

          Cultures is that this universe runs on material causality and is

          thus comprehensible to reason. Virtually everyone also maintains a

          secondary belief that contradicts this - the belief that they have

          something called free will, although they are unable to specify what

          this is - but I will deal with that later.



                                                                            1406

          We spend billions every year indoctrinating our young with the

          primary belief in material causality in our schools. Our language,

          our logic, and most of our machines, are built largely upon this

          belief. We regard it as more reliable than "God".



          Now, it has been one of the functions of the Magician to try and

          break through to something beyond the normal. My own magical quest

          has always had a strongly antinomian and iconoclastic element, and I

          long ago decided to go for broke and attack the primary beliefs of

          our culture. Religion is too easy a target as it is already fatally

          disabled by our ancestors, the Renaissance sorcerers and scientists.

          Contemporary Satanists are waisting their efforts.

          Ideology is thankfully beeing gradually replaced with economics. The

          main thrust of my Chaoism is against the doctrine of material

          causality and secondarily against most of the nonsense that passes

          for modern psychology.



          Anyway, now I have to firstly try and convince you that there is

          something seriously wrong with material causality, and that there is

          something that could supersede it as a belief. These are vitally

          important questions for magicians, for since the demise of

          essentially spiritual descriptions of magic, the belief in material

          causality has been increasingly used in a haphazard fashion to form

          various ill-conceived metaphors such as "magical energy" or "magical

          force" which are tactily presumed to be something analogous to

          static electricity or radio waves. This is, I think, complete

          bullshit. Magic can sometimes be induced to behave a bit like this,

          but it is not a very effective description.



          Before attempting a frontal assault on material causality I shall



                                                                            1407

          backtrack a little to gather ammunition. Few people noticed that in

          the 1930`s a serious crack was discovered in the fabric of material

          causality which, on the grounds of faith alone, was supposed to

          cover everything. This crack was called Quantum Physics, and it was

          pre-eminently Niels Bohr who, with his Copenhagen Interpretation,

          poked a finger into the crack and prised open a wrap to reveal a

          different reality.



               Basically Bohr showed that this reality is better modelled by a

          description of non-material causality operating probabilistically

          not deterministically. This may sound tame at first, but the

          implications for our everyday view of the world and for our theories

          of magic are awesome. It brought to an end the era of the clockwork

          universe paradigm which began over two hundred years ago and which

          almost everyone still believes in their guts, even if they cannot

          formulate it precisely. I urge magicians everywhere to give thanks

          by drinking what is probably the best lager in the world, for it was

          the Carlsberg Brewery in Copenhagen that supported Bohr and his

          colleagues while they did the physics.



               The majority of straight scientists find quantum physics as

          distasteful as a priest would find witch-craft. If they have to use

          it they prefer not to think about the implications. Even Einstein,

          who started quantum physics going but made his major contribution in

          Relativity, felt repelled by its implications, on ground of

          scientific faith and residual Judaic belief, and wasted much of his

          later life campaining fruitlessly against it.



                                                                            1408

               Quantum physics says to me that not only is magic possible in a

          world that is infinitely Chaotic than we thought, but that magic is

          central to the functioning of this universe. This is a magical

          universe not a clockwork one. Causal materialist beliefs were a

          liberating and refreshing breath of fresh air after a millenia and a

          half of monotheism, but now, at their zenith, they have become

          tyranny. Relativity and the fundamental physics associated with it

          are probably close to a final refinement of the causal materialist

          paradigm, and as such they now seem a terrible prison. For all

          practical purposes they confine us to this planet forever and rule

          out magic from our lives. Quantum physics, which I believe currently

          to be basically an investigation of the magical phenomena underlying

          the reality most people have perceived as non-magical for the last

          two hundred years, shows us a way out.



               It may be some time before any significant portion of humanity

          learns to believe the new paradigm in their guts and live accordingly,

          but eventually they will. Until then it is bound to sound like discom-

          bobulating gobbledgegook or tarted-up intellectualism to most people.



               I would like to mention my other favourite iconoclasm in passing

          without  explanation. I  reject  the conventional  view of  post-mono-

          theistic  Western psychology  that  we are  individual unitary  beings

          possessing  free will. I prefer  the description that  we are colonial

          beings composed of  multiple personalities;  although generally  unaf-

          flicted  with  the selective  amnesia which  is  the hallmark  of this

          otherwise  omnipresent condition. And  that secondly there  is no such

          thing as free will; although we  have the capacity to act randomly, or

          perhaps one should say more precisely stochastically, and the  propen-

          sity to identify with whatever we find ourselves doing as a result.



                                                                            1409

          All the gods and goddesses are within us and non-materially about us

          as well, in the form of non-local information.



               I consider that all events occur basically by magic; the apparent

          causality investigated by classical science is merely the more

          statistically reliable end of a spectrum whose other end is complete

          Chaos. However, I would like to end with a few words about how my

          Chaoism affects my personal activity in what is ordinaryly called

          magic.



               There are for me two main aspects of magic; the parapsychological

          and the psychological. In enchantment and divination I believe that

          the magician is attempting to interact with nature via non-material

          causality. He is basically exchanging information with his environment

          without  using his  physical faculties.  Austin Osman  Spare precisely

          identified the mental manoeuvres necessary to allow this to occur. The

          manoeuvres are startlingly  simple and once  you have understood  them

          you can invent an unlimited number of spells and  forms of divination.

          The  manoeuvres are  sacred  but the  forms  of their  expression  are

          arbitrary; you  can use anything at random.  Bohr and Spare are for me

          Saints of the Church of Chaos.



                                                                            1410

               I consider that when a magician interacts with those apparently

          sentient sources of knowledge, inspiration and parapsychological

          ability that used to be called spirits, gods, demons and elementals,

          he is tapping into the extraordinary resources that each of us

          already contains. When activated they may also receive some input

          via non-material causality from outside. Yet since we all contain

          such a rich multitude within our own unconscious or subconscious and

          can also receive congruent information from the collective

          unconsciousness as it were, then the possibilities are practically

          limitless. Given the correct technique one can invoke or evoke

          anything, even things which did not exist before one thought of

          calling them. This may sound like complete Chaos, and I have to

          report that my own researches confirm that it is !



               Chaos Magic for me means a handful of basic techniques which must

          be adhered to strictly to get results, but beyond that it offers a

          freedom of expression and intent undreamt of in all previous forms

          of magic.



                                                                            1411

                                The Dark Night of the Soul 

                                      Fra.: Apfelmann

                       ------------------------------------------- 



               "The Dark Night of the Soul" is the name given to that experience

          of spiritual desolation that  all students of the Occult  pass through

          at one time or another. It is sometimes charcterised  by feelings that

          your occult  studies or practises are not taken you anywhere, that the

          initial success  that one is sometimes  granted after a few  months of

          occult working, has suddenly dried up. There comes a desire to give up

          on everything,  to abandon exercises and meditation,  as nothing seems

          to be  working. St.John of the Cross. a christian mystic, said of this

          experience,  that  it; "...puts  the  sensory  spiritual appetites  to

          sleep, deadens them,  and deprives them of the ability  to find pleas-

          ure in  anything.  It binds the imagination, and impeeds it from doing

          any  good  discursive work.  It makes the  memory cease, the intellect

          become   dark and unable to  understand anything, and hence  it causes

          the will to become arrid and constrained, and all  the faculties empty

          and useless. And over this hangs  a dense and burdensome cloud,  which

          afflicts the soul, and keeps it withdrawn from the good."  

               Though the beginner may view the onset of such an experience with

          alarm (I know I did), the "Dark Night" is  not something bad or destr-

          uctive. In one sense  it may be seen as  a trial, a test by  which the

          Gods examine  our resolve to continue with occult work, and if you are

          not completely  whole-hearted about your magical studies, it is during

          this  period (at its beginning) that you  will give up. The Dark Night

          of the  Soul should be welcomened,  once recognised for what  it is (I

          have always received an innate "warning" just before the onset of such

          a period),  as a person  might welcome an  operation that  will secure

          health  and wellbeing. St.John of  the Cross embraced  the soul`s Dark



                                                                            1412

          Night as a  Devine Appointment, calling it  a period of "sheer  grace"

          and adding; 

           "O guiding Night, 

           O Night more lovely than Dawn, 

           O Night that has united the lover with his beloved 

           Transforming the Lover in her Beloved." 

           

               When entering  the Dark  Night  one is  overcome  by a  sense  of

          spiritual dryness and  depression. The notion, in some  quarters, that

          all  such experiences  should be  avoided, for  a peaceful  existence,

          shows up the  superficiality of  so much of  contemporary living.  The

          Dark Night is a  way of bringing the Soul  to stillness, so that  deep

          psychic transformation  may take place.  All distractions must  be set

          aside, and it is no good attempting  to fight or channel the bursts of

          raw energy  that from time to time may course through your being. This

          inner  compulsion to set everything aside results in the outer depres-

          sion, when nothing seems to excite. 

           



                                                                            1413

               The only thing to do is obey your inner voice and become still, 

          waiting for the inner transformation, (which the "Dark Night" heralds-

          ), to  take place. You may  not be aware for  a very long  time of the

          results of that inner change, but  when the desire to work comes again

          and the depression lifts, the Dark Night has (for a moment) passed. No

          one  can help  during this  time, and  in many  cases there  is hardly

          anyone  to turn for advice. One must disregard the well-meaning advice

          of family and friends to "snap out of it" this is no  ordinary depres-

          sion, but a deep spiritual experience which only those who have passed

          through themselves (in other words to a magical retreat) but for many,

          as the routines  of everyday life  prohibits this, all  you can do  is

          cultivate an inner  solitude, a  stillness and silence  of heart,  and

          wait, (like a  chrysalis waits for the inner  changes that will result

          in  a butterfly) for the Transformation to  work itself out. There are

          many  such  "Dark Nights"  that the  occult  seeker must  pass through

          during the mysterious process  of mitigation. They are all  trials but

          experience teaches one to cope more efficiently. 

           

          With fractalic greetings and laughter  * Fra.: Apfelmann * 



                                                                            1414

                                        Liber OZMA 

                                        Tim Maroney

                         ---------------------------------------- 

           

            OOOOOOO                       "There is no bond 

           O       O                       that can unite the divided 

           O       O                       but love: 

           O       O                       all else is a curse." 

            OOOOOOO    Z M A: 

                                                 -- AL I:41 

           

           "In their rules there was only one clause: DO WHAT YOU WILL" 

                                          -- Gargantua, 57 

           

          "For the cherub with his flaming sword is hereby commanded to leave 

            his guard at the tree of life, and when he does, the whole of creat-

          ion   will be consumed, and  appear infinite. and holy  whereas it now

          appears  finite & corrupt" -- THE MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN & HELL, 14 

           

           "Every man and every woman is a star."--AL I:3 

           

                                   There is no god but humanity. 

           

           1. People have the right to live by their own law -- 

                  to live in the way that they will to do: 

                  to work as they will: 

                  to play as they will: 

                  to rest as they will: 

                  to die when and how they will. 

           



                                                                            1415

           2. People have the right to eat what they will: 

                  to drink what they will: 

                  to dwell where they will: 

                  to move as they will on the face of the earth. 

           

           3. People have the right to think what they will: 

                  to speak what they will: 

                  to write what they will: 

                  to draw, paint, carve, etch, mould, build as they will: 

                  to dress as they will. 

           

           4. People have the right to love as they will :- 

                  "take your fill and will of love as ye will, 

                   when, where, and with whom ye will." -- AL I:51. 

           

           5. People have the right to use force to secure their rights. 

           

                  "For how should I be able to govern others, 

                   when I don't know how to govern myself?" -- Gargantua, 52 

           

                          "Love is the law, love under will." -- AL I:57 

           

           

                                TIM MARONEY 



                                                                            1416



                        Sigil Magic for the Professional Magician 

                                        by Areosol 

           

               I will assume that you are already initiated into the secrets of 

          Austin  Spare`s sigil magic. Consulting  with my clients  as a profes-

          sional magician, I am always confronted with the same question: Is the

          client`s  will identical with  my own ?  If it is,  there should be no

          problem  involved in  charging  the sigil  in  the client`s  stead  by

          myself. (The client, one  must remember, will usually not  be familiar

          with the basic tenets of sigil magic or even magic in general and will

          probably hesitate  to try it out for himself.) However, I believe as a

          matter  of principle  that  everybody should  vaccinate  his will  for

          himself. I do not feel happy with charging myself i.e. my subconscious

          with  other people`s  desires.   For example:  if Mrs.  X wants  to be

          brought  together with  Mr. Y  by a  sigil (love  spell), it  could be

          intersting  to  know what  might happen  if  the pertinent  sigil were

          charged by myself. 

           

               Accordingly  I had  to find  a means  to implant  sigils into  my

          individual clients in such a way that they are not aware of  what they

          are really  doing. At first,  talking with the  client, I will  try to

          find  the "smallest  common  denominator" out  of  a tangled  mass  of

          multiple desires. This will continue until the client is able to  word

          his or her statement of will (henceforth to be termed "will sentence")

          in plain and unambiguous language. Following  this all contact between

          the client and myself will be abandoned  for two or tree weeks. In the

          meantime  I  will construct  the  sigil,  usually employing  the  word

          method, and sketch it  on a piece of parchment.  Very  often the clie-

          nt`s  name will  be encoded applying  the magical camea  of the planet



                                                                            1417

          pertinent to the client`s desire. I may then supplement the sigil with

          this personalised glyph. Then  I will outline  a short ritual for  the

          client in which will be hidden the charge proper of the sigil (employ-

          ing either the mantric method  or a variation of the so-called  "death

          posture"). 

           

               After a  while I will  send the client this  constructed sigil by

          mail including instructions on  how to charge it plus  possible addit-

          ional admonitions, if necessary. Most probably the client will have 

          forgotten the precise wording of his/her will sentence by now; neither

          will  he or  she be able  to draw  any conclusions  from these strange

          glyphs. After having  been charged the  sigil can  be sealed and  con-

          stantly worn in a locket, it can also be put  permanently in view e.g.

          as a wall  decoration. Some of  my clients have  placed or hung  their

          sigils nicely framed in their office rooms. 

           

               To charge  a sigil the following  method is very effective.   The

          client arrives for consultation. In some cases has to bring along some

          substance  imbibed with  his or her  Od. During a  small ritual client

          must close  his/her eyes  and place  the odic  substance on  the sigil

          which  will be lying  open in front  of him/her. Then  I will take the

          client`s finger and  prick it quickly and sharply with a small chirur-

          gical lancet. After the blooddrop has been smeared onto the sigil, the

          latter  will be  folded and  sealed immediately.  I then  admonish the

          client to  bear in mind that  this talisman must never  get into other

          people`s  hands.   This  charging  method is  especially  effective in

          working with protection or "antipersonnel mine" sigils. 

           



                                                                            1418



               Here are some examples relating to client`s feedback:  

          30.04. Sigil as wall decoration 

          24.06. Business enterprises developed well. 

          12.07. Protection/defence sigil, charged employing chirurgical 

                 lancet. 

          14.07. Client feels well and secure. 

          23.06. Sigil as a defense "antipersonnel mine" with codification of 

                 client`s name by the magical camea of Mars, charged with 

                 lancet. 

          09.10. "Mine" fully operative: sickness and accidents of 2-3 

                 enemies. 

          11.10. Sigil employed as a wall decoration. 

             11. Business successful. Sale of real estate to a monastry (!) 

                 has been agreed upon. 

          27.12. Sigil, mantric charge. 

          14.02. Client`s partner becomes more friendly and loving. 

          18.03. Partnership satisfactory. 

          17.06. Sigil charged spastically by myself in client`s stead. 

          18.06. Shortly before the potential buyer arrived for inspection in 

                 the afternoon, the last seat in the coffeehouse (sales 

                 object) had been taken, suggesting excellent business; 

                 immediately after inspection number of customers decreased 

                 again. 

           

          07.12. Fast charge of a "combat sigil". 

          21.12. The idea incorporated by the sigil incarnates as a conscious 

                 wish in the target person`s love partner. 



                                                                            1419

                          Drugs and Religion -- Snakebite Trips? 

                                      Loren Petrich  

                  In Merlin Stone's book "When God Was a Woman", about early 

          goddesses, there is a strange hypothesis about the importance of 

          snakes in the early Middle East. MS notes that snakes are associated 

          with prophecy and wisdom -- and goddesses -- in several places, such 

          as Egypt, Sumer, Crete, and Greece. In Egypt, the female deity of 

          predynastic northern (Lower) Egypt was the cobra goddess Ua Zit. 

          Egyptian deities  and royalty has a _uraeus_ emblem -- a head and hood

          of a cobra. Some Sumerian goddesses, such as Inanna, were associated 

          with snakes. In Minoan-era Crete, we find some statuettes of goddesses

          or priestesses with snakes. In one case, the snakes are cobras. In 

          Greece, in what is most likely a Minoan legacy, Hera and Athena were 

          associated with snakes, and the shrines of Delphi, Olympia, and Dodona

          were originally associated with goddesses. However, they were taken 

          over by the followers of the male gods Zeus and Apollo, who were 

          depicted as snake-killers. Even then, the greatest wisdom was 

          associated with priestesses. Serpenticidal male gods also include 

          Marduk, who killed Tiamat, and Yahweh himself, who killed Leviathan. 



                  MS suggests a connection to the Adam and Eve legend. The 

          Philistines had "snake tubes" nearly identical to some found on Crete,

          which is consistent with them being Cretan refugees. So some "snake 

          priestesses" may have set up shop in Palestine when the Israelites 

          showed up. The Adam and Eve legend may have been an effort to 

          discredit these women, for it suggests that snakes are wicked, and 

          women who listen to snakes are wicked. This is all in keeping with the

          Yahvist effort to discredit religions other than the worship of 

          Yahweh, which is a sordid story of religious persecution. This 

          persecution involved going so far as destroying a bronze snake kept in



                                                                            1420

          the Temple, the Nehushtan, which could supposedly cure snakebite. This

          snake was probably associated with an earlier acceptance of this snake

          cult. 



                          Buthow didthissnake cultactuallywork? Itisdifficult to

          say, but MS offers a strange hypothesis. She notes that we are told 

          that Cassandra  and Melampus had acquired prophetic powers from having

          their  ears licked with snakes. So is there some snakebite connection?

          MS suggests that there was, and tells of someone who had been 

          immunized against krait venom, but who had been bitten by a krait 

          [_Cobras in the Garden_, H. Kursh] 



                  He had developed a sense of enhanced awareness and he had 

          visions. He reported himself making up verses, and said "My mind had 

          extraordinary powers." 



                  This is evidently much like mescaline [from peyote] or 

          psilocybin [in certain mushrooms], used by some Native Americans for 

          similar purposes; those who take these two or LSD often feel as if 

          they are in touch with the basic forces of existence and a sensation 

          of perceiving the events and meaning of the past, present,  and future

          with great clarity and comprehension. It could well be that some snake

          venoms have components similar effects. 



                  So could it be that early snake prophetesses (and male 

          prophets) were going on snakebite trips? 



                  Oracles connected with snakes were consulted in Greece and 

          elsewhere for important decisions, which seems very trustworthy of 

          people with "highs". 



                                                                            1421

                  One does have to ask the question on how this type of 

          prophesying got associated with women instead of men or both sexes 

          equally in the ancient Middle East. 



                  This only adds to the riddle of Minoan Crete. Since the 

          priestesses there were important citizens, and since they are 

          associated with snakes, then could some of the leaders of Crete back 

          then have been snakebite-tripping priestesses? The possibility of a 

          "feminist theocracy", rule by a largely female priesthood, seems 

          awesome enough (no prominent "kings"), but this is truly wild. 



                  I confess I don't have much taste for theocracy, but I would 

          certainly prefer a Minoan-type theocracy (if that was what it was)  to

          the more familiar kinds -- Jewish, Christian, and Muslim -- which I 

          find absolutely disgusting. 



                                                                            1422

                  The Wishing Well -or - Releasing The Butterfly of Chaos 

                                     Frater Choronzon



          The general function of a Wishing Well is understood from an early

          age by most people. The user projects some required outcome of

          events, or "wish" into the well, perhaps accompanied by a symbolic

          financial donation, and waits for events to take their course.

          Similar properties are attributed in popular tradition to acts of

          cutting a birthday cake and breaking a wish-bone while devouting

          certain species of poultry.



          In every sense, the act of making a wish using any of the above

          ritual props is a magical operation though experience suggest that

          Wells tend to be more effective than both chicken bones and all but

          the most esoterically decorated cakes in achieving the intended

          result.



          As of late, many Wishing Wells have been withdrawn from public

          access; and, moreover, recent opinion polls have indicated high

          levels of dissatisfaction with the scarcity of wish-fulfillment

          opportunities, particularly among vegetarians. This paper attempts

          some analysis of the dynamics involved in successful wish-making,

          and offers a ritual procedure which readers may find useful pending

          the launch of another "Wishing Well Withdrawal" from the public eye.



                                                                            1423

           

          Anyone who has studied non-linear dynamics (or Chaos Mathematics) as

          applied to the interaction of complex systems (for instance life-in-

          general) will be aware of the extreme sensivity of such systems to

          initial conditions. This is illustrated by the so called Butterfly

          Effect; a model of the process by which a butterfly flapping its

          wings on the Carribean Islands can set in train a series of

          atmospheric interactions which may culminate, after some elapsed

          time, in the occurence of a hurricane in London.



          The hypothesis in this context is that the ritual act of making a

          wish sets up initial conditions for a Chao/dynamic process which

          culminates, after some elapse time, in the occurrence of whatever

          event was the original objective of the wish; hence the subtitle

          "Releasing the Butterfly of Chaos". Atmospheric effects are often

          synchronous with successful magickal operations as was observed, for

          example, by those who were present for (or within earshot of) the

          4,000 watt "Enochian Verse Recital" in South London, 17.30 Hrs,

          Monday, 28 May, 1990; but where magic is concerned the atmospherics

          are felt to be little more than by-products of casual sequence which

          is primarily electromagnetic in character.



          The actual process by which a successful wish is transformed into

          its outcome is, of course, magic; at least in the sense that modern

          TV receiver might be acknowledged as such by Agrippa or Abra-Melin

          the Mage - Was there ever a more effective acrostic "for divers

          visions" than an infrared remote control?



                                                                            1424

          A detailed explanation of how the magical process appears to work

          would fill a book (reasonable offers from reputable publishers

          accepted); suffice it to say that no rewrite of either the Laws of

          Physics or the Axioms of Mathematics is required, and to mention

          that the Astrological elements of the hypothesis will form the

          substance of a paper to be presented to a forth coming meeting of

          the "Talking Stick".



          For the purpose of this exercise, the process may be appropriately

          visualized by consideration of nothing more complicated than a

          humble smoke-ring. In mathematical terms this is a Torus (a ring-

          doughnut shaped structure) which has a clearly defined, coherent and

          self-contained existence for an extended period within a

          fundamentally chaotic matrix; ie. it can hung around for several

          seconds retaining its structure in the turbulent air of a

          smoke-filled room. Such ordered structures fall quite naturally out

          of the Chaos Mathematics which models the behavior of gases and

          liquids (Fluid Dynamics for the technically inclined). Examples of

          such ordered structures in a chaotic environment abound, and not

          only on this planet. The Great Red Spot on Jupiter, for instance,

          has been in existence at least since Galileo observed it in 1610,

          though the chaotic nature of that planets atmosphere was not

          appreciated until the flypast of the Voyager spacecraft of 1979.



                                                                            1425

          A perfect smoke-ring requires very little expenditure of energy to

          be brought into existence, though that energy, in the form of a

          controlled pulse of gas projected from its creator lips has to be

          quite precise - ie. smoke-rings don`t always work, particular if

          someone is watching, and the best ones of all usually happen quite

          by accident! Significantly, the only way an observer can know if a

          smoke-ring is there because it has smoke in it. If an identical

          pulse of gas is projected from a non-smoker, the Toroidal ring

          structure will be established in the just the same way within the

          atmosphere, but its presence is almost impossible to detect, even

          with the most sophisticated of scientific instruments.



          The atmosphere is not the only chao/dynamic envelope surrounding our

          planet; there also exists the magnetosphere, which we perceive at

          ground level as the earths magnetic field. At present it exerts a

          force which causes a compass needle to point approximately towards

          the North Pole.



          The magnetosphere extends out into so-called empty space well beyond

          the atmosphere of the planet, and is anything but static in

          character. Complete polarity reversals can occur. A record of these

          is preserved in the sequence of North and South oriented volcanic

          rocks which have been mapped in the ocean floor extending outwards

          from mid-oceanic ridges, such as that which runs the lenght of the

          Atlantic. The magnetosphere exhibits its own "weather" patterns

          which, like the atmospheric weather, are driven primilarily by

          radiation from the Sun/Solar Winds. Magnetic and electric storms

          which affect TV and radio reception are a phenomena of

          magnetospheric weather, and interaction between the magnetosphere

          and the atmosphere can result in phenomena such as the Aurora



                                                                            1426

          Borealis or Northern Lights. Other manifestations include ball-

          lightning and St. Elmo`s fire.



          The ritual procedure put forward here postulates a process whereby a

          sudden pulse of electro-chemical energy, through an operators

          nervous system, establishes a magnetic structure which is the

          mathematical equivalent of a smoke-ring. It is suggested that this

          can occur on the onset of orgasm or accompanying a powerful

          martial-arts styled shout or KIAI, by a process akin to that of the

          Faraday Induction described in any half-decent textbook. The

          "magical" part of the process involves injecting a

          flash-visualisation of the eventual desired outcome of the magneto-

          smoke-ring as it is being established. The rest of the process of

          wish fulfillment is left to the wondrous dynamics of Chaos. It may

          be helpful for the operator to face towards the geographical

          (magnetic) North Pole.



          If performed as a solo working, this ritual may usefully be preceded

          by a banishing and visualisation exercise. The ritual text is

          written in the Enochian language of the angelic calls which were

          devised or discovered by Dr. John Dee in the 16th Century. In the

          sense that Enochian can be seen as a system of control (or cyber-)

          language for "life, the universe, and everything" it has many of the

          characteristics of a computer programming language. Among such

          properties would be those of recursive self-reference (ie. the

          ability to modify itself), and some of the phraseology of the

          preamble to the ritual is designed to apply ideas developed by

          Douglas Hoffstadter in his book Godel, Escher, Bach to the Enochian

          language. Specifically, the text of the ritual should increase its

          own potency with repetition.



                                                                            1427

          After the Enochian preamble, the participant(s) should make a

          vocalized statement of a "wish" or willed endpoint for the working,

          at the same time strongly visualizing the desired outcome. This

          "wish" may be of a benefic or malefic intent, but beware! the

          Enochian preamble carries a force of personal honor, in wishes of a

          dishonorable character they are likely to backfire.



          The pre-climatic mantrum "Zarzas Zarzas Nasatanata Zarzas" is held

          to be untranslatable. It is, by tradition, a formula which opens the

          Gates of Hell or the Abyss; in this context it is used to invoke the

          dynamic process of Chaos by which the wish can be fulfilled. Some

          occult authorities, Crowley among them, assert that the Zarzas

          formula is dangerous and advise against using it. Modern Chaos

          magicians do not share that view and, besides having employed it for

          years with no particular ills impacting the user, is consistently

          been found to enhance the effectiveness of most categories of

          magical working.



          The final climatic KIAI may be shout such as that projected by a

          martial arts practioner in the process of shattering a concrete

          block (or someone`s sternum), or else an exaggerated cry of orgasmic

          ecstasy. Prospective participants with orgiastic inclinations may

          care to experiment with variant techniques to effect the final KIAI

          exclamation which sets the magical "butterfly effect" process in

          motion. For example, the Enochian couplet following the statement of

          the wish might be committed to memory by operator of either gender,

          and repeated while other participants stimulate that operator to a

          frenzied pitch of ecstasy, culminating in the final KIAI. Such

          variants are for the more experimentaly inclined, but it is the sort

          of experiments which magicians of an unhibited frame of mind (or



                                                                            1428

          body) may find it enjoyable to carry out as an end in itself. Any

          feedback on results would be welcome!



                                                                            1429

          Ritual text / Enochian Invocation:



          COMSELH    I           P          MALPURG      DSI

          The circle with        eight      fiery darts  which is



          DRILPA     EMETGIS     DE         CHAOS

          the great  seal        of         chaos



          AS         IOADAF      DE         TOL          GLO

          was        in the      of         all          things.

                     beginning

          T          I           TA         HUBAR        BLIOR

          It         is          as         a continual  of comfort

                                            burning lamp

          NONCA      GMICALZOMA  CRIP       I            CORAXO

          to you     of power &  but        is as        thunders of judgement

                     understanding                       & wrath

          CIAOFI     DE          PAR        AG           IAIADIX

          to the     of          them       of no        honor

          terror

          SOLPHETH   BIEN:

          hearken    to my voice:



          VOMSARG                IADNAMAD                GOHULIM:

          unto every one of you  of undefiled knowledge  it is said:



          "OI        EMETGIS     LONSHI     OVOF         SA

          "This      seal        of power   may be       in

                                            magnfied

          MIAN       I           SAPAH      DE           OI



                                                                            1430

          continuancewith        the mighty of           this

                                 sounds

          LU         IA          HE         BAHAL"

          song       of          honor      cried with a loud voice"



          VLCININ    DS          I          ZA           ZAZ

          Happy      is          s/he       who          has framed



          ANGELGARD  MANIN       PRGE

          thoughts   in the mind with the fire



          ANANAEL                PI

          of this secret wisdom, s/he



          I          VGEG        T          CAPMIALI     FISIS

          is         become      also       successively to execute

                     strong

          BUTMONA    ATH         OD         AMMA         EMNA:

          By mouth   the works   and        curses       herein:



          >> MAKE YOUR WISH HERE <<



          SA         CHAOS       ANGELGARD               HARG

          Into       chaos       the thoughts            are planted



          OD         IONAS                               AZIAGIAR.

          and        they will become                    like unto the harvest



          ZARZAS ZARZAS NASATANATA ZARZAS

          !!! KIAI !!!



                                                                            1431

                                        XXXI Hymns 

                           Fr. Achad (Charles Stansfield Jones)

                                 Key entry by Fr. Nachash

                                   Ur‘us-Hadit Camp, OTO

                                  Completed 11-21-90 e.v.



          **********************************************************************





                                            XXXI HYMNS



                                        TO THE STAR GODDESS



                                            Who is Not





                                      BY XIII: which is ACHAD







                                         I .ù. Invocation



            Mother of the Sun,  Whose Body is White with the  Milk of the Stars,

          bend upon Thy servant and impart unto him Thy Secret Kiss!



            Enkindle within him the Holy  Ecstasy Thou hast  promised unto  them

          that love Thee; the Ecstasy which redeemeth from all pain.



                                                                            1432

            Hast thou  not proclaimed: All the  sorrows are but   shadows,  they

          pass and are  done,   but  there   is  that which remains?   That  the

          Universe is  Pure   Joy-that   Thou  givest   unimaginable   Joys   on

          Earth--that  Thou demandest  naught in sacrifice?



            Let me then  rejoice,  for therein may I serve Thee most fully.  Let

          it be Thy   Joy to see my joy; even as Thou  hast promised in Thy Holy

          Book!



           Now, therefore, am I Joyful in Thy Love.





                                               AUMN



                                         II .ù. The Brook



            I wandered beside the running stream, and mine eyes caught the glint

          of Thy Starry Orbs in the swirling waters.



            So  is  it  with  my  mind;  it  flows   on  towards the  Great  Sea

          of Understanding wherein I may come to know Thee more fully.



            Sometimes,   as  it journeys, it  threatens to overflow its banks in

          its eagerness to reflect a wider image of Thine Infinite Body.



            Ah! How  the very stones,  over which  flow the life  of my   being,

          thrill at the tender caress of Thy reflected Image.



                                                                            1433

            Thou, too,   art   Matter;  it   is   I---Thy  Complement---who   am

          motion!  Therefore these very stones are of Thee, but the Spirit---the

          Life---is the very Self of me; mine Inmost Being.



            Flow  on,  O   Stream!  Flow  on,  O  Life!  Towards  the Great  Sea

          of Understanding, the Great Mother.



                                      III .ù. The Rose Garden



            Long have I  lain and waited for Thee in the  Rose Garden  of  Life;

          yet ever Thou withholdest Thyself from mine Understanding.



           As I lay I contemplated Thy nature as that of an Infinite Rose.



           Petals, petals, petals.. but where, O Beauteous One, is Thy Heart?



            Hast Thou no  Heart? Are Thy  petals Infinite so  that I may   never

          reach the Core of Thy Being?



            Yet,  Thou   hast   said:  "I love  you!  I  yearn to you!   Pale or

          purple, veiled  or voluptuous,  I who am all pleasure and  purple, and

          drunkeness of the innermost sense, desire you: Come unto me!"



            Yea! Mine innermost sense is drunken; it is intoxicated upon the Dew

          of the Rose. Thy Heart is my Heart; there is no difference, O Beloved.



            When  I shall have penetrated  to the Heart  of Thine Infinite Rose,

          there shall I find Myself.



           But I shall never come to myself---only to Thee.



                                                                            1434



                                       IV .ù. The Fox Glove



            Tall  and  straight  as  a Fox Glove do I stand before Thee,  Mother

          of Heaven.



            The flower of my  being  is given over to a strange conceit;  I grow

          up towards the Stars and not towards the Sun.



           Art Thou not Mother of the Sun?



            Thus have I blasphemed the Lord and  Giver of Life for Thy sake. Yet

          am I not  ashamed,  for   in  forgetting   the  Sun   I am become  the

          Sun--Thy Son--yet  a thousand times more Thy Lover.



            The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have  nests,  but  now

          I have nowhere to lay my head; for tall and straight as  a  Fox  Glove

          do I stand before Thee. My resting place is the Womb of the Stars.



            Yet  all that  I may comprehend of Thine Infinite Body   is  but  as

          the Glove  upon one of Thy  soft sweet hands, touching  the Earth, not

          hurting the little flowers.





                 



                                                                            1435



                                   V .ù. The Storm



            A Dark Night and the Storm. The lightening  flashes between Thee and

          me.  I am dazzled so that I see Thee not.



            So in the depths  of my being flash the fires of life;  they   blind

          me to the Understanding of Thee and Thine Infinite Body of Stars.



            Yet  I  see  Thee  reflected in  the body of her  I love, as we  lie

          with quivering limbs awaiting the coming of the sound of thunder.



           She fears the thunder, and turns within herself for consolation.



            But even there the Lightning flameth, for I have loosed the fires of

          my being within the  dark  recess---in honour of   the Storm  and   of

          Thine Infinite Body which I see not.



                                    VI .ù. The Hole in The Roof



            Once  I knew  an ancient  serpent.  He delighted   to   bask  in the

          Sunshine which penetrated through a tiny hole in the roof of the cave.



           He was old and very wise.



            He said: "Upon me is  concentrated the  Light  of  the   whole Univ-

          erse."



                                                                            1436



            But a little brown  beetle,  who had long lived  in   the  cave with

          him, looked   up,  and   spreading   his wings passed out  through the

          hole  in roof---into the Infinite Beyond.



            Thus,  forsaking  wisdom,  would I  come to Thee,  Beloved Lady   of

          the Starry Heavens.





                                        VII .ù. The Design



            Strange  curves:  and  every  Curve  a  Number woven into a  Musical

          and Harmonious Pattern.



           Such was the design showed me by my friend when first we met.



            It was  like an exchange of  greetings by means of  an inward recog-

          nition.



            Oh! Could   I  but   grasp  the   Ever-changing  Design  of Thy Star

          Body, Mother  of Heaven!



            Yet, it  is written: "Every  man and every woman  is a star.   Every

          number is infinite, there is no difference."



            Such  then is Life,  for  those who love Thee:   Strange Curves, and

          every Curve a Number woven into a Musical and Harmonious Design.



                                                                            1437



                                      VIII .ù. The Snow Drift



            My body was blue  as Thine,  O Beloved,   when they found me.  I was

          stiff as  if  held in  a close  embrace. Nor was I conscious  of aught

          but Thee, till the small  fires of Earth brought me back with an agony

          of tingling pain.



           How came I to be lost in the snow-drift?



            I remember how  I had taken shelter  from the  blinding storm.   The

          snow fell about me, and I waited, turning my thought to Thee.



            Then  did  I realize how every snow-flake  is  built as a tiny star.

          I looked  closer, burying my face   in  the   white  pile,   as in Thy

          Bosom.   Mine arms  embraced the  snow-drift; I clung  to it  in a mad

          ecstacy.



            Thus would I have pressed  Thy Body to mine,  wert Thou not Infinite

          and I but as tiny as a star-flake.



           So was my body frozen---as by the utmost cold of inter-stellar space.



           It was blue as Thine when they found me locked in Thine embrace.



                                                                            1438



                                          IX .ù. Daylight



           In the Daylight I see not Thy Body of Stars, O Beloved.



            The little light of the  Sun  veils  the Great Light of the   Stars,

          for to-day Thou seemest distant.



            The  Sun burns like a  great Torch,   and Earth seems as  one of His

          little Spheres, filled with life.



            I  am but a  tiny spermatozoon,   but  within   me is  the fiery and

          concentrated essence of Life.



            Draw me up into  Thyself,  O Sun!  Project  me  into the Body of Our

          Lady Nuit!



            Thus  shall  a  new  Star  be  born,  and  I shall see  Thee even in

          the Daylight, O Beloved.



                                                                            1439

                                          X .ù. The Bird



            Once I bought a  little bird;  his cage was very small;  it had only

          one perch.  He  was so young he had  not even learned to sing,  but he

          chirped gladly when I brought him home.



            Then I raised the bars of his cage,  and   without a moment's hesit-

          ation  he flew out into  the room,  and   spying   the  cage   of  the

          love-birds, perched upon it and examined it carefully.



            Not long  afterwards another and  stronger cage  was  obtained   for

          the love-birds,  for  they had pecked through some of the frail  bars.

          When  the   little bird  was  offered the  discarded cage,  he quickly

          hopped from his tiny  one  to theirs.



            Now he  has three perches and room for his tail,  and  when we  open

          the door of his cage he refuses to come out.  Perhaps he fears to lose

          what he  had  once coveted and then obtained.



            Herein lies  the secret  of  Government.  Give the  people what will

          make them reasonably  comfortable;  let   them have three  perches and

          room  for their tails;  and forgetting their slavery and restrictions,

          they will be content.



            Hast Thou  not said  "The slaves  shall serve."  Lady of the  Starry

          Heaven?



                                                                            1440



                                         XI .ù. The Moral



            There is  another moral  to the  story of the  little bird.   Having

          gained  his desire for a larger cage,  he forgot his longing for Free-

          dom.



            The  door  remained   open;  the  room   was before him, wherein  he

          could stretch his wings and fly.



           Yet he preferred his cage.



            The wide world might have been  his  had he known how to use it, but

          he was not ready for that;  he  would have perished of cold  had I let

          him out into the wintry snow.



            Let   those  who   would  travel   the  Mystic   Path remember this:

          Earth Consciousness is an  illusion and limitation. When it  frets us,

          like  a little  cage,  our chance for greater freedom comes.



            But when a larger  cage is offered---when we obtain  Dhyana---let us

          not rest there thinking ourselves free.  The  door  is  open,  Samadhi

          lies beyond,  and   beyond that,  when  we are ready for it,  the Real

          Freedom, Nirvana.



            O  Lady of  the  Stars,   let me  not content  till I  penetrate the

          ultimate  bars and am Free---One with the Infinitely Great as with the

          Infinitely Small.



                                                                            1441

                                XII .ù. The Invisible Foot Prints



            Long have  I roamed the Earth delighting in the Good,  the Beautiful

          and  the True;  ever seeking  the spots  where these  seem to  be most

          Perfect.



            There is joy in this  wandering among the flowers of life, but   Thy

          Joy, O Beloved, is to be desired above all.



            Now I seek a resting place,  I am set upon a new Quest,  to  Worship

          at Thy feet.



            For  it is written of  Thee: "Bending   down,  a lambent   flame  of

          blue, all touching,  all penetrant,  her lovely hands  upon the  black

          earth, and her lithe body arched for love,  and  her  soft  feet   not

          hurting the little flowers."



            Oh!  That I might discover Thine Invisible Footprints upon the Earth

          and there come to the Understanding of Thy Being, O Beloved.



                                                                            1442

                                     XIII .ù. The Finger Tips



            Or,  it may be,  O Beloved,  I shall discover  the imprints  of  Thy

          finger tips amid the flowers or upon the Black Earth.



            Hath not Nemo  a Garden that he tendeth?  Doth he not also labour in

          the Black Earth?



            Who knoweth when Thy hands  may grasp me and  draw me up into  Thine

          arms, there  to nestle  at Thy breast,  to feed upon  the Milk  of the

          Stars?



            Beloved,   verily this tending of the Garden of the World---although

          the labor may seem heavy---leadeth to a Great Reward.  As   Thou  hast

          said:  "Certainty,   not   faith,   while  in  life upon  death, rest,

          ecstasy." Nor dost  Thou  demand aught in sacrifice.



           What do the Bhaktis know of Love? They see the Beloved everywhere.



            But when I am one with Thee,  O Beloved,  I shall not see Thee,  for

          I shall know Theee as Thou art.





           



                                                                            1443

                                    XIV .ù. The Well of Stars



            I  know  a  hidden  well of clearest  water.  Naught but the  coping

          of delicate pink onyx is visible until the secret spring be touched.



           Then beware! For above the entrance hangs a fiery sword.



            Few  find this  Well or  know its  Secret; there  are but  two roads

          leading thereto.



            From the broad Mountain summit we may search the slopes for a vision

          of the  Woodland Delta where  grow the Trees  of Eternity,   or we may

          journey  through the Valley between  the Ivory Hills---if  we fear not

          the  purple shadows and the black pit-fall.



           From Thee we came; to Thee may we return, O Well of Living Stars!



                                    XV .ù. The Icicles of Isis



            It  hath been  written  how the  Old King  dreamed  of his  banished

          peacock, entombed in a palace of ice,  who  cried:  "The  Icicles   of

          Isis  are falling on my head."



            Thus it is with those who arebanished to the Palace of the  Moon----

          for the Word of Sin is Restriction.



            Oh! Lady of  the Starry Heavens,  let   me not become frozen  at the

          touch of the cold Veil of Isis. For the Moon is but the dead reflector

          of the Sun, and He but the youngest of Thy Children of Light.



                                                                            1444

           Let me lift Thy Peacock Veil of a Million Starry Eyes, O Beloved!



           Show Thy Star Splendour, O Nuit; bid me within Thine house to dwell!





                                        XVI .ù. Purple Mill



            The delicate  purple mist streams up from the hills:   I  watch  and

          wait for the meaning of it all.



            Sometimes  it  seems  like  the incense  smoke of Aspiration ascend-

          ing towards   the  Sun---giver  of  Light,   Life,  Love  and  Liberty

          to the Children of Earth.



            But  the Sun is   going  down behind the  Mountains,  and Thy Starry

          Lamps glow in the Sky.



            Is not the Lamp above the Altar a symbol of the Desire of the Higher

          to draw up the lower to Itself?



            So, O Lady of Heaven, I liken the Mist to the  life-breath of  Souls

          who pant for Thee here below.



           And I remember Thy words:

                                    Above, the gemmed azure is

                                      The naked splendour of Nuit;

                                    She bends in ecstacy to kiss

                                      The secret ardours of Hadit.

                                    The winged globe, the starry blue,

                                      Are mine, O Ankh-af-na-khonsu!



                                                                            1445

            I, too,  would ascend as a  delicate purple mist that steams up from

          the Hills. Art Thou not all Pleasure and Purple?





                                   XVII .ù. The Infinite Within



            I  would that  I were  as the  feminine counterpart   of   Thee,   O

          Beloved; then would I draw the Infinite within.



            Yet  since  Thy  Pure Being must ever be more refined than this body

          of  mine I  should interpenetrate  every part  of Thee with  my living

          flesh.



            Thus,   O  Beloved, should  we enter  into a  new and  more complete

          embrace: not as  of  earth wherein the male uniteth with the female by

          means  of the  physical  organs  of  love,  but with  every atom of my

          being close pressed to every atom of Thine---within and without.



            Then,  O  beloved,  would  I  cry unto the Lord of the Primum Mobile

          to teach me the Art of the Whirling Motion of Eternity.



            Thus, whirling  within  Thee,  our never-ending  nuptial feast shall

          be celebrated, and a new System of Revolving Orbs be brought to birth.



            Ah!  the shrill  cry of Ecstacy of that Refined Rapture---the Orgasm

          of the Infinite Within.



                                                                            1446

                                   XVIII .ù. The Rainbow



            As I  sat in the shelter  of the forest glade,   my   eye caught the

          multi-coloured gleam of diamonds.  I  looked again;  the Sun rays were

          playing upon the dew which clung to a little curved twig.



           It seemed like a tiny rainbow of promise.



            Then,  while I watched in  wonder,  a small grey spider  bridged the

          arch of  the bow with his silken thread.



            Ah! My Beloved,  thus, too,  hath the  Spider of  Destiny woven  his

          silken rope from extreme to extreme of the Great Rainbow of Promise.



            Fate hath fitted me as  an Arrow to the String of Destiny in the bow

          of the Sun.



            But Whose Hand shall draw  that Mighty Bow,  O Beloved,  and send me

          upon fleet wings to my resting place within Thine Heart?



                                                                            1447

                                        XIX .ù. Dropped Dew



            As I came from  tending the Rose Garden and was about  to  return to

          my humble shelter,  my  eyes  caught  the gleam of dropped dew like  a

          tiny trail  along the path.



            It was  very early;  the   Sun  had   not yet re-arisen;  the  Stars

          still twinkled faintly in the sky.



           Who could have come before me to the Garden?



            I followed   the  trail  of  dew,  stooping   down  so that I saw in

          each crystal drop the reflection of a tiny star.



            Thus came I  to  my  lady's  chamber; she it was who carrying  roses

          had left this silvery thread as a clue to her hiding place.



            When I  found her, her eyes were closed, as she pressed the fragrant

          the pink blossoms to her white breast.



            Then did I  bury my face in the blossoms  and I saw  not   her  eyes

          when she opened them in wonder.



            Thus,  too,   would  I  follow  the Star-trail  of Dropped Dew,  ere

          the re-arisen Sun hides Thee from me, O My Beloved!



            Thus would I  come to Thee and bury  my face in Thy Breast  amid the

          Roses of Heaven.



                                                                            1448



            Nor   should  I  dare  to  look  into Thine eyes,  having discovered

          Thy secret---the Dew of Love---the Elixir of Life.





                                          XX .ù. Twilight



            Twilight... and in a few brief moments the Stars will begin to peep.

          I will await Thee, here amid the heather, O Beloved.



            I  wait... no stars appear for a mist has stolen up from the foot of

          the mountains.



            Thus I waited for a sight of Thy Star Body till the cold  damp  mist

          of suppresed emotion chilled my being and my reason returned.



            The woman stood girt with a sword before me.  Emotion  was  overcome

          by clarity of perception.   Then did I remember Thy words:  "The Khabs

          is in the   Khu not the Khu in  the Khabs. Worship then the  Khabs and

          behold my light  shed  over ye."



            Thus turned  I my thoughts within,  so that I   became  concentrated

          upon the  Khabs---the Star of mine  inmost being.  Then  did Thy Light

          arise as a halo of rapture, and I came a little to lie in Thy bosom.



           But I offered one particle of dust---and I lost all in that hour.



           Such is the Mystery of Her who demandest naught in sacrifice.



           The twilight is returned.



                                                                            1449

                                       XXI .ù. The Dog Star



            Wisdom hath  said: "Be not animal;  refine thy rapture!   The  canst

          thou bear more joy!"



            I have  been   like  an unleashed  hound before Thee, O Beloved.   I

          have striven towards Thee and Thou seest in me only the Dog Star.



            Yet will I not fall  into the Pit called  Because,  there to  perish

          with  the dogs of reason.   There   is no reason in  me; I seek Under-

          standing, O Mother  of Heaven.



            Thus,  with   my  face buried in the black earth,  do I turn my back

          upon Thee. I will refine my rapture.



            So  Thou mayest behold me  as I am, and so  Thou shalt Understand at

          last, O Beloved; for in reverse Thou readest this DOG aright.



           Hast Thou not said: "There is none other?"



                                                                            1450

                                        XXII .ù. Pot-pouri



            The roses are falling.  This is the night of the full  moon  whereon

          the children of Sin attend the Sacred Circle.



            Therein they will sit divided---but  not for love's sake---for  they

          know  Thee not---O  Beloved.   Into   the  Elements,   the  fiery, the

          watery, the airy  and  the  earthly   Signs are they divided when they

          gather at the Full Moon within the forest.



            I  wandered   down  the  deep shadowy glade,  there I espied a  tiny

          sachet  of pot-pouri, dropped---maybe---from  the streaming  girdle of

          one of the maidens.



            Tenderly I raised it.  Its  perfume  is  like unto the perfume ofher

          I love.  She, too,   perhaps,  has  heard the call  of the moon and is

          even now on her way to the secret tryst.



            But hast Thou  not said:  "Let  there   be no difference made  among

          you between  any  one   thing and any other thing; for thereby  cometh

          hurt."  What matter  then  the  name  of the  maiden?  What matter the

          flowers of which it is composed?



            Yet dare  I not burn this  incense unto Thee, O  Beloved, because of

          Thine hair, the Trees of Eternity.



            Oh!  Little   sachet of pot-pouri,   thou hast reminded me of  her I

          love, for the  roses  are  falling,  it is the night of  the Full Moon

          and the children of Sin gather to attend the Sacred Circle.



                                                                            1451

                                      XXIII .ù. Red Swansdown



            It hath  been  told  how  Parzival  shot  and  brought down the Swan

          of Ecstacy as it winged over the Mountain of the Grail.



            But there is within the archives another story,  unheard by the ears

          of men.



            From  the  breast of  the Eternal  Swan  floated one  downy feather,

          steeped in  blood.  This   did  the  youngest and least worthy  of the

          Knights  hide tenderly in  his  bosom  till he concealed it within the

          hard pillow of his lonely couch.



            Night  after  night that  holy pillow  became  softer; sweeter   and

          sweeter were   his  dreams.   And  one   night---the  night   of   the

          crowning   of Parzival---he   was  granted  the   Great Vision wherein

          the Stars  became like   flecks   of   Swansdown   upon the  Breast of

          Heaven, each living and throbbing, for they  were  steeped in Blood.



            Then  did every  atom of  his being  become a  Star racing  joyfully

          through  the Great Body  of the Lady  of Heaven.   Thus in sweet sleep

          came he into the Great Beyond.



           Grant unto me Thy Pillow of Blood and Ecstacy, O Beloved!



                                                                            1452

                                      XXIV .ù. Passing Clouds



            A  dark  night:   Not  a  star   is visible, but presently the  moon

          shines out through a rift in the clouds.  And I remember, "The sorrows

          are  but  shadows, they  pass and are  done, but there  is that  which

          remains."



           Yet is the moon but illusion.



            A dull day: but presently the Sunis seen as the clouds are dispelled

          by His light.



           Is He that which remains?



            Night once more: the Sun is lost to sight,  only the moon reminds me

          of His presence. The clouds scud swiftly across the Sky and disappear.



            Thy   Star  Body is visible,  O Beloved; all the sorrows and shadows

          have passed and there is that which remains.



           When clouds gather, let me never forget Thee, O Beloved!



                                                                            1453



                                    XXV .ù. The Coiled Serpent



           Thus have I heard:



            The ostrich  goeth swiftly; with ease  could he outstrip those   who

          covet his  tail-feathers,   yet   when  danger  cometh he burieth  his

          head in the sand.



            Thetortoise moveth slowly and when embarrased he stoppeth,  withdra-

          wing into his own shell; yet he passeth the hare.



            The  hare  sleepeth when he should be swiftly moving;  he runneth in

          his dreams thinking himself at the goal.



            But the Coiled Serpent hath wisdom, for he hideth his tail and it is

          not coveted; he  raiseth his head   and  fears not;   he moveth slowly

          like the tortoise, yet withdraweth not; he nestles close  to the hare,

          darting  his  tongue with  swiftness, yet  falleth  not asleep  by the

          wayside.



            Would that I had the Wisdom  of the Coiled Serpent,  O  Beloved, for

          Thou  hast said:   "Put   on  the wings,  arouse the  coiled splendour

          within  you: come  unto me!"



                                                                            1454



                                     XXVI .ù. Love and Unity



            Twenty-six is the  numeration of the Inneffable Name,   but It  con-

          cealeth Love and Unity.



            The Four-lettered  Name  implieth   Law, yet  it may be  divided for

          love's sake; for Love is the law.



            The   Four-lettered Name  is  that of the  elements,  but it  may be

          divided for the chance of Union; for there is Unity therein.



            There is but One Substance  and One Love and while these  be   twen-

          ty-six they One through thirteen which is but a half thereof.



            Thus  do I play with numbers who would rather play with One and that

          One Love.



            For Thou hast said:  "There  is  naught  that  can unite the divided

          but love!"



           And is not Achad Ahebah?



                                                                            1455

                                       XXVII .ù. The Riddle



           What is that which cometh to a point yet goeth in a circle?



            This, O Beloved, is a dark saying, but Thou  hast said:  "My  colour

          is black to the  blind,  but the blue and gold are seem of the seeing.

          Also I have a secret glory for them that love me."



           And Hadit hath declared: "There is a veil; that veil is black."



            I would that I could tear aside the veil, O Beloved, for seeing Thee

          as Thou  art, I might see  Thee everywhere, even in  the darkness that

          cometh to a point yet goeth in a circle.



            For Hadit,   the core of  every star,  says  "It is I  that go," and

          Thou, Mother of the Stars, criest "To me! To me!"



            Resolve me the Riddle  of Life,  O  Beloved,   for  loving  Thee   I

          would behold Thy Secret Glory.



                                                                            1456

                                        XXVIII .ù. Sayings

            Isis hath said: "I am  all that was and that is and   that shall be,

          and no mortal hath lifted my veil."



           Who cares what is back of the moon?



            Jehovah showed his back unto  Moses,  saying:  "No man hath  seen my

          face at any time."



           Who cares to face the elements?



            Hadit  hath  said:  "I  am life and the giver of life; therefore  is

          the knowledge of me the knowledge of death."



           Who cares to know death?



            But Thou,  O Beloved, hath said:   "I give   unimaginable  joys   on

          earth,  certainty, not faith,   while in   life   upon  death,   peace

          unutterable, rest, ecstacy; nor do I demand aught in sacrifice."



           Who would not long to invoke Thee under Thy Stars, O Beloved?



                                                                            1457

                                     XXIX .ù. The Falling Star



            Falling,  falling, falling! Thus  fall the Rays  from Thy   Body  of

          Stars upon   this  tiny  planet,  O  Beloved!  Innumerable streams  of

          Light like Star-rain upon the black earth.



            Since  every   man  and every woman is  a star, their lives are like

          unto streams of light concentrated upon every point in Space.



            As I lay with arms out-stretched, my  bare body shining  like  ivory

          in  the darkness. my scarlet abbai flung wide, mine  eyes  fixed  upon

          the  star-lit  Heaven;   I  felt that  I, too,  was  falling, falling,

          falling, in an ecstacy of fear and love into the void abyss of space.



            Then did I remember that Thou art continuous. Beneath, above, around

          me art Thou. And lo, from a falling star I became as a comet  wheeling

          in infinite Circles, each at a  different angle, till my course traced

          out the Infinite Sphere that is the Symbol of Thee, O Beloved.



           Then did I aspire to find the Centre of All.



           And even now I am falling, falling, falling.



                                                                            1458

                                          XXX .ù. Justice



            I am  a Fool, O Beloved,  and therefore am I  One or Nought  as  the

          fancy takes me.



            Now am I come to Justice, so that I may be All or  Naught  according

          to the direction of vision.



            No  Breath may stir the Feather of Truth, therefore is Justice ALone

          in L. Yet the Ox-goad is  Motion and Breath Matter  if  it  be  called

          the Ox which is also A.



            How foolish are these thoughts, which are  but as the Sword  in  the

          hand of Justice.  They are as  unbalanced as the Scales that stir not,

          being  fixed in the  figure of Law  above the  Court House of  a great

          City.



           But Thou hast said: "Love is the law, love under will."



           And Love is the Will to Change and Change is the Will to Love.



            Even   in the   stern  outline   of   the  Scales   of Justice  do I

          perceive the  Instrument   of  Love,  and  in  the Life Sentence,  the

          Mystery of Imprisonment in Thy Being, O Beloved!



                                                                            1459

                                           XXXI .ù. Not



            Three Eternities are passed... I have outstripped a million Stars in

          my race across Thy Breast---The Milky Way.



           When shall I come to the Secret Centre of Thy Being?



            Time,   thou thief, why dost  thou rob the hungry  babe? Space, thou

          hadst almost deceived me.



           O Lady Nuit, let me not confound the space-marks!



            Then,   O  Beloved,  Thy  Word  came   unto  me,  as  it is written:

          "All touching;  All penetrant."



            Thus left I Time and Space and Circumstance,  and  every Star became

          as an atom  in  my  Body,  when   it  became Thy Body. Now never shall

          I be known,  for it is I that go.



            But Thou,   O  Beloved,  though Thou art infinitely Great,  art Thou

          not energized by the Invisible Point---the Infinitely Small?



                              A Million Eternities are Present, Deem

                                    not of Change; This is the

                                           Here and Now,

                                             and I am

                                                NOT





                                               -oOo-



                                                                            1460

                                   Treatise on Mind 

                                    From: The Tigress  



                From themoment that 2 cells forma zygote, we see the interaction

          of  informational process  - recognition,  communication, interaction,

          integration,  re-stabilization and reproduction  and or re-structuriz-

          ation.   This cycle of life can be see from the barest combinations of

          any two elemental  components beginning  at the  lowest atomic  desig-

          nations  of energy  and throughout  the  continuum of  increasing com-

          plexity - perhaps far beyond our capabilities 

          to  understand.  ***  If consciousness  can be defined as an awareness

          of integrity through this process of self recognition; then conscious-

          ness can be easily applied to that which is non-human.*** 

            

                Fromthe most basicinteractions of chemistry, wefind that even on

          an atomic level there  is to be found this type of  consciousness.  We

          have  become aware  of the  atom's necessary  maintenance of  it's own

          structure  through the  evidence  of necessary  balancing of  protons,

          neutrons and electrons;  the importance of electron  shell valences is

          also a reminder of this  type of integrity.  Even on an  atomic level,

          there is a  form of awareness  of self-integrity in order  to maintain

          structure and identity. 

            

                    Thisprocess of awarenessis also agenius of discrimination. A

          form  of identification  of self  & non  self on  an  energetic level.

          There  is a borrowing, and sometimes a sharing energetically, yet when

          this process of self recognition begins to fail we see the destruction

          of the matter  it involves <this is evident with  atomic structure and

          also evident at the human level in the study of  cancer.> Therefore we

          might look  at this  process of  self-recognition and  maintenance and



                                                                            1461

          examine it's nature in order to find its function and capabilities. 

            

                    Whenwe look atdifferent types ofmatter, we findthat the more

          simple the atomic structure of the mass, the  less complex its process

          of  "consciousness" needs to be.   Things which  are comprised of only

          one  atomic component do  not need complex  processes of communication

          between those components.   Thus the level of consciousness  is rather

          low on an evolutionary scale of creativity, yet we also see that these

          types of  things are far more  stable in regards to  their integrity -

          far less vulnerable  to destruction.   In example, it takes  an enorm-

          ously concentrated force of heat to break the integrity of an atom...-

          yet a  mere 2000 degree flame  will not only destroy  the integrity of

          human consciousness, but also destroy the integrity of  the individual

          component  molecules which form the material mass  of a human to their

          lowest forms as individual atoms. 

            



                                                                            1462

                    Whenwe look at theforces involved incommunication of energy,

          we  see  a flowing  medium of  different  frequencies within  a single

          spectrum  of  energetic  potential.   Elemental  energies  and  forces

          <light,  sound,  temperature,  pressure,   magnetism,  electricity...>

          differentiate and vary in  intensity and frequency yet are  very alike

          in  that they are all  means of transferring energy  as a form of com-

          munication which can be informative/stabilizing or disinformative/des-

          tructive,  depending  on the  structure  of  the "consciousness"  they

          encounter.  It  may be perceived that the more  complex the structure,

          the lower the  frequency of the  integrity of that  structure and  the

          more vulnerable that structure is to disinformation. 

           

               The  more diverse the components  are that are  included within a

          thing,  and the more efficient  the means of  communication within the

          structure  of that thing; the  lower the common  denomination of freq-

          uency of integrity must  be in order that the  informational frequency

          will not be  destructive to any  of the component  parts.  To  analyze

          this statement we must look at other analogies within our environment.

          Firstly I would like to examine the nature of sound. 

            

               Sound waves come  in varying frequencies and  modulations, and as

          humans we assign different  notes to those steps within  the frequency

          spectrum which we can differentiate and perceive.   If we play several

          notes  simultaneously, we  find that  in order  to maintain  a balance

          harmonically, we  must play notes  that match each  others modulation.

          You can play a "C"  note at any octave and in fact play  all "C" notes

          simultaneously and  you  will find  that  within the  frequency  range

          these notes will compliment each other, in fact they will contribute/-

          share  energy with each other.  WE find similar matching if we look at

          musical chording.  If you play the notes "F" and "C" , the  sharing of



                                                                            1463

          energy vibrationally  between those  two ranges  of frequency  will in

          fact create  the note  of "A"  in the  range in  which  the two  notes

          frequencies  overlap.  In this way communication is informative and in

          fact the  "whole is greater"  than the sum  of its parts.   Similarly,

          playing  two notes which lie in the same modulation frequencies simul-

          taneously  will increase the duration of the vibration compared to the

          duration if each note were played alone. 

            

               When we  examine  the sharing  of  electrical information  at  an

          atomic level, we see  that through the temporary sharing  of electrons

          in a  phase path  also indicates something  that we might  consider as

          investing a thing <atom> with more than the sum of its parts.   Simil-

          arly in using electric  frequencies in a series, we  store information

          on silicon chips which invest them with more than they would be if one

          simply  looked at the electrical  and silicon components  alone.  This

          transference  of  energy  is also  a  transference  of  information in

          frequencies which in many ways we are still attempting to understand. 

           

               Simple, one component things,  can sustain far higher frequencies

          of  energetic  transmission than  can  complex  components of  things.

          Frequencies which pass freely through atoms ultimately destroy complex

          things such as humans when they are subject to  them.  It appears that

          the more complex  the union  of the  components, the  slower and  more

          tediously  complex the  transformation  of data  must  be.   The  more

          complex a thing is,  the lower the vibrational capability  it sustains

          in order to maintain the integrity of its own structure. 

            



                                                                            1464

               Energetic  communication exists  infinitely throughout  the univ-

          erse.  The transference  of information through radio waves  and light

          waves  continues back in time to the occasion of what was known as the

          Big Bang.  It may be that in the future we will find that in the  same

          way gravity  and electromagnetism  are also continuums  of information

          from  times long past.   Scientifically we study  these energetic con-

          tinuums and yet we doubt and deny the holistic communicative nature of

          the  universe.  We search for causes  and effects within the realms of

          our limited  perceptions and  are amazed  when we  can find  no causal

          effects to explain change. 

            

               When we examine  biological life, we find  that each evolutionary

          adaptation seems to be  an extension of  the process of self/non  self

          awareness and maintenance  of integrity.   Not only  do we see  inten-

          sification  of sensory perceptual abilities, but also we note that the

          integrational and responsive/reactive   components of the process also

          have to evolve and adapt in order to stay integrated with  the rest of

          the "consciousness".  Amoebas are "simple" life forms, and  yet we can

          examine them and see that each organic component within that life form

          serves  as an  informational  and communicative  component within  the

          process of  maintaining the integrity <life> of  the whole.  When this

          communication  process or any part  of it ceases,  the organization of

          the organism begins to deteriorate and eventually ceases and dies.  In

          biological  life, we find  that though we  have maintained the  use of

          electronic  communication on some neural  levels, we have  sunk to the

          depths of  transferring  actual molecular  compounds <proteins,  amino

          acids...> in  most of our  organic processes.   Even the human  brain,

          supposed  highest achievement  of  organic life  forms, requires  base

          molecular  salts  in order  to  process electrical  information.   Our

          complexity denies us the speed of light, radio, 



                                                                            1465

          and other  faster and higher  frequency modes of  communication except

          from outside of ourselves. 

            

               The  human consciousness is a  genius of discrimination.   We use

          the  abilities of discrimination to  identify those stimuli which come

          from outside of our biological forms  in order to protect and maintain

          our  integrity <life.  We use  our senses <inefficient though they may

          be>  to gather and interpret pure energetic communications such as the

          radiated  energy of sunlight and we are so inefficient at interpreting

          that data that we can only sense  light and heat and it destroys those

          sensors that gather that information through blindness and sunburn  if

          we continue too long in our attempts.  Yet, 

          conversely ,  we need the  information from sunlight  which stimulates

          our organic forms  into producing  vitamin D <without  which we  would

          die>.  Is this a  remnant of  photosynthetic capabilities  from lessor

          complex integrations,  or merely a  new attempt at  further increasing

          our potential? 

            

               As organic forms of  consciousness, we are sorely limited  in our

          perceptions  of the  universe.    Limited  in exploring  the  possibly

          limitless ranges of energetic exchange simply due to the limits placed

          upon  communication due to the complexity  of our component structure.

          Yet  rather than admit to our limitations, we seek further exploration

          through  the development of tools  made from things  less complex than

          ourselves.   In the laboratory, we use  light waves and shaped silicon

          to create microscopes to increase our sense of visual acuity within 

          the  spectrum of  visible radiation  imaging.  In  the studio,  we use

          simple cones flattened  vegetable matter and  electronic amplification

          to create  tools to compensate  for our limited aural  perception.  We

          have created  many tools out of simpler and less complex components in



                                                                            1466

          order  to reach  those  higher frequencies  of  information which  are

          either  so far removed from us as  to be imperceptible, or so destruc-

          tive to us that we dare not experience them ourselves. 

            

               The  human zygote from the moment of conception is a discriminat-

          ing consciousness which is involved in the  differentialization of its

          components in order to 

          develop finer  levels of complexity.   This fetus is  also even before

          birth  learning to  interpret  communicative energies  from the  outer

          world in order  to begin definition  of itself, its integrity  and its

          maintenance  of  self apart  from the  influence  of "other".   Cells,

          joining together  in communication  to form co-operative  systems each

          with separate  responsibilities to the  whole.   Organs with  specific

          functions  supporting the organism in its fight to maintain its integ-

          rity.  Consciousness of Mind, determining the  difference between self

          and non self, regulating the integrity  of the whole.  This harmony of

          components within a symphony  of orchestration, this is the  matter of

          being alive. 

            

               Despite our complexities, despite recognition of our  vulnerabil-

          ities and limitations; we as  humans are beings of arrogant mind.   We

          claim supremacy over all biological organisms and claim the sole right

          to conscious thought <as if we were the only from  of communication we

          wished to  recognize.>   We deny our  insecurities and  lay claims  to

          great understandings concerning the  universe, when we in fact  do not

          even  understand the actual workings of our own process of integration

          and communication within our own biological forms. 

          We claim  ownership of consciousness,  yet we  do not even  pretend to

          truly evaluate the process of consciousness nor its beginnings. 

            



                                                                            1467

               Despite our inadequacies,  we assume  to know the  nature of  the

          beginnings of  all life.  We  claim to know  the "mind" of  "God" <the

          prime causation for all that exists> and we claim title to superiority

          in emulation of this "God" - above and beyond all other  forms of life

          or integrity.  An egotistic lot are we, who strive to seek security in

          the midst  of  our fear,  our  inadequacies, our  vulnerabilities;  by

          developing a system of belief which guarantees our security in a place

          beyond our perception.  We seek safety and foundation at the same time

          that we reach outward to claim flight amongst the stars. 

            

               This is the  paradox on humanity, of  mind.  Complexity  found in

          simplicity... using simplicity to explore  a universe beyond the range

          of our complex integrity.  Our complex integrity vulnerable to all but

          the  simplest energies,  while we  lay grasp  to use  complex energies

          which would destroy us in  order to prove our strength.  What it is we

          look for, we  eventually find at the expense of  closing our senses to

          see  what really  is.  Perhaps  it is  true that the  most foolish are

          those who lay claim to knowledge for they have closed their minds 

          to further  learning, and  that  the most  wise  are those  who  claim

          knowledge of no thing, that they may learn all. 

            



                                                                            1468

                              Dragon Trad and the Holy Grail 

                                    Cameron Mandrake   



          Recently we have discovered the significance of sharing water in our 

          circles.   This ritual should be warm  and meaningful.  This being the

          case  it should only  be shared by  members of the  coven and visitors

          should be excluded unless the visitor is VERY close to the group. 

           

          Someone  reads the  following  poem or  one that  is  written for  the

          occaision. 

           

                                   Quest for the Grail 

                                     by C.J. Mandrake 

           I have sailed the seven seas. 

          I have walked the deserts of this world, 

          searching for clues and kin; 

          always awed by the stories that they told. 

          Time my only enemy, 

          every stone my friend; 

          carried by myth's fluid words, 

          looking for a gold cup 'round every bend. 

           

          Mountains loom before me: 

          The path, all but lost behind. 

          Arthur's song plays deep within me! 

          The Merlin's words dance within my mind! 

          ``The blessed cup that you seek, 

          it is the Mother's womb. 

          It has poured out all our world 

          and it will be your tomb.'' 



                                                                            1469

          Grail of Love 

          Grail of Light 

          Grail of Truth 

          Grail of Might 

          carry me to the very Fount of life. 

           

          I threw a coin in a wishing well: 

          My wish, the Grail to see. 

          When the waters stilled again 

          I beheld the Mystery. 

          The Cup is made of flesh and blood. 

          The secret of deep peace it lends. 

          I drink from it every day 

          and I share it with my friends. 

           

          One and one and one is three: 

          Three by three is nine. 

          The heart of the world I see, 

          the secret of the Grail is mine. 

          The Cup, it is a lotus flower 

          deep within my soul, 

          flaming with the love of Her: 

          The Goddess and I made whole. 

          **** 

           



                                                                            1470

          The reader takes the chalice of water and drinks and the cup is passed

          around the  circle deosil, each person  taking a drink in  turn.  Each

          person may offer a thought before they drink.  This may be a thanks or

          an observation or anything that seems significant to the moment.  When

          the cup makes it  back to the reader,  he/she again drinks of  the cup

          and pours the remainder as a libation.  With the libation is said... 

           

          I partake of the Cup of Abundance.  I share this Cup with those around

          me.   I return what  is left to  the earth. <pours water  out onto the

          ground> And my Cup remains full. <holds cup to heart>  Blessed Be. 

           

          This rite is very good  for group binding.   Last time we did this  we

          drank water from the Chalice Well in Glastonbury that one of the coven

          members brought back from vacation. 

           

          Enjoy!  And Bright Blessings. 

           

          CJ 

            

           

          ... Copyright 1992 - DragonHart Coven - All Rights Reserved 



                                                                            1471

                             Ritual of the Blessed Motherboard 

                                        The Tigress

          Thus it follows that  after many days of  chaos, unfounded mayhem  and

          startling inconvienience <as given in favor by the Goddess Eris> so it

          shall be that I am  finally able to share with you  the official cere-

          mony of the Blessed Motherboard  and the Horned One that Plugs  in the

          Wall.  This ceremony is one to be practiced by discordian compu-pagans

          each Midsummer Eve  in holy celebration  and appreciation of  debugged

          upgrades,  new shareware, faster  circutry and all  the blessings that

          flow from the Goddess...



          Note :  Let it be said  that if your system  crashes, your motherboard

          becomes twitchy, your  hard drives  fail, or your  cables spout  forth

          fire - that this is an indication that the Goddess  is displeased with

          your  compu-worship. At this  time, if  the posting  of many  tales of

          compu-sexuality doth fail  to pacify Her.  This is  the time that this

          ritual must be done to regain Her pleasure.



          It is thus that this ritual be made easier if thou coven of compu-pag-

          ans is  large, for then the  obtainment of the necessary  materials be

          far easier...



          Necessary ritual components -



          To  represent the Matron Goddess : 1  AT Motherboard <preferably a 386

          with Large Co-processors.>  <may be in "twitchy condition".>



          To  represent the  Crone: 1  AT&T Phone  bill from  Mother Bell.  <the

          higher the debt, the better one can justify ones needs to the Goddess>



                                                                            1472

          To represent the Maiden: a large firepit  dug in the shape of a circle

          around which the  pentagram will be formed. <dry  wood laid in prepar-

          ation>



          To represent the God: 1 very Large, very THICK power supply cable



          For the Pentagram : 1 can of neon or glow in the dark paint



          For the Quarters :  The following items are placed at each quarter -



          North : A Power supply with cable, the energy which inspires us



          East: A keyboard through which our innocence is transformed to lust



          South: A hard drive which saves our writ to seal our doom



          West : A Monitor by which all might see our lustful spells at work



          The Altar : A makeshift desk



          The Incense: A chipped ashtray and a pack of Camels <extra humps>



          The  Cup:  A container  of  highly caffinated  substance  <coke, jolt,

          pepsi>



          The Bowl : a bowl of fine earth to represent  the accumulation of dust

          in your  house which you haven't cleaned since you spend all your time

          at the keyboard .

          The  Flame: One jar of kerosene, gasoline, or other flamable substance

          with matches that one uses to light the fire.



                                                                            1473

          In  addition:  Each member  of the  network  coven should  bring spare

          parts, broken  cables, split  chips, bungled software,  etc...for fire

          offerings  at the  conclusion of  the ceremony.  Clothing during  this

          ceremony is optional.



          Opening  Chant <To  be sung  as the  HPs and  HP draw  the  circle and

          pentagram around the  firepit><sung to  the tune of  "Rain drops  keep

          falling on my head >



          Circuts keep blowing on my board

          my hard drive keeps crashin

          and its heads are getting scored

          Messages are lost OH

          Time to appease the Goddess of all Computers

          Alas I'm broke

          My bills

          Are higher than my income

          Oh please Goddess I'm begging thee

          To hear my plea and heal my system

          ba dum dum, ba dum ba dum dum



                                                                            1474



          Cables are ruined by crossing wires

          My modem is burping

          and its screwing up my files

          Data's being lost OH

          I ask the Horned One Plugging into my wall

          Oh Please don't surge

          My dos

          is shareware and its fragile

          Oh please Horned One

          I'm begging thee

          Remember that my ram is borrowed

          ba dum dum, ba dum ba dum dum



          The Crone works her spells through Mother Bell

          My phone bills enormous

          and my life is living hell

          Long distance is a bitch OH

          What did I do before to deserve this karma?

          I have five days

          To pay

          The toll charge for downloading

          from New Jersey

          Oh Mother Bell,

          have mercy on my lust addiction

          ba dum dum, ba dum ba dum dum



                                                                            1475



          I worship through the message base

          Hiding behind keyboards

          where you cannot see my face

          Sexual inuen - DO

          Maiden protect me from my own sweet confusion

          Let me log in

          to boards

          To satisfy my hunger

          and to praise you

          and sacrifice your innocence among the echos

          ba dum dum, ba dum ba dum dum



          Its My Lust......  Sacrifice it or BUST



          <To be sung until the Pentagram and altar are set up, the

          last sentence repeated and slowly faded>



                                   The ritual begins...

          As  the coven  sings the  ritual opening  chant the HP  & P  paint the

          Pentagram around the firepit with neon or glow in the dark paint.  The

          items are placed in the designated  directions and the altar is set up

          to the north of the fire with the following items placed upon it.



          To the North end of the altar the ashtray and cigarettes

          To the East end of the altar the holy cup

          To the South end of the altar the bowl of earth

          To the West end of the altar the jar of kerosene and matches.



                                                                            1476



          As the HP  calls the elements the P shall pass  her the items in ques-

          tion



          The coven  at the end of  each elemental calling shall  chant the fol-

          lowing:

          Elemental Power

          Come out and play with me

          Play midst my flaming spree<fire>

          and sing the chant with me <Air>

          Splash in my rain barrel <Water>

          Slide down my cellar door <Earth>  And we'll be jolly friends

          Forever more



          The HP calls to  the Element of Fire <and taking the kerosene from the

          P> intones:



          Fire, Fire burning bright, like a candle in the night

          Come and join us in our flight, Lend us your eternal light

          Warm the Maiden with your flame,

          I call you in the Goddess's Name. 

          The HP pours  the kerosene liberally upon the firewood  in the pit and

          lights  the  fire with  the matches.  <the  coven sings  the elemental

          chant>



                                                                            1477



          The P hands the HP the bowl of earth.  The HP tosses the earth upwards

          to scatter it around the circle and over the altar as she intones:



          Elemental Earth I beckon thee, with us in this circle be

          Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, firm foundation is a must

          Warm bed for the Matron's frame  I call you in the Goddess's Name



          <the coven sings the elemental chant>



          The P hands the HP the cup of caffinated  substance.   The HP lifts it

          to her lips and intones:



          Water quench our thirst, keep us wet and wild

          Join us in our circle hence, praise the lady mild.

          Liquid of Life that has no shame

          I beckon thee in Goddess's Name



          The HP drinks from the cup and beckons the P to drink of it,  he does.

          <the coven sings the elemental chant>



          The P hands the HP  the ashtray and a cigarette and lights it for her,

          the HP takes a long drag and as she exhales intones:



          Airy, Airy, quiet and contrary how doth your winds blow?

          Through maidens hair your breath ensnare, your secrets we would know.

          The Pow'r of Wind by Lady made tame

          I beckon thee in Goddess's Name



                                                                            1478



          <the HP smokes and exhales as the coven sings the elemental chant>



          The HP and  P perepare to summon the directions  in supplication to be

          followed by the closing of the circle.



          The following is  a chant used by the coven  at each directional open-

          ing.



          "From the North awakening, the energy inspires

           From the East our eagerness to learn amid the fires

           From the South commitment and thus we seal our doom

           From the West comes reckonning, our message answered soon" 

          The HP and P walk to  the North and hold up  the Power supply.  The  P

          intones:

            The Power of the  north inspires us and lends us its  energy for our

          use in supplication.   This Power  Supply I offer  to thee Oh  Goddess

          that your Power run through my computer and my life.  The P tosses the

          Power supply into the fire. 

          <the coven sings the directional chant>



          The Hp  and P walk to  the East and hold  up the keyboard.   The P in-

          tones:

          The Power of  the East  transforms our innocence  through tasting  the

          fire  of Life.   This  Keyboard, I offer to thee  Oh Goddess that your

          knowledge guide my fingers on  their path through the system of  Life.

          The P tosses the keyboard into the fire. 

          <the coven sings the directional chant>



                                                                            1479



          The HP and P  walk to the  South and hold  up the hard  drive.  The  P

          intones:

          The Power of  the South is that of action  and consequence, of commit-

          ment  to the   path and  the ability  to remember  the lessons learned

          thereof. This Hard Drive I  offer to thee Oh Goddess that  your memory

          of my  acts and  deeds be  remembered with praise  and favor  in thine

          eyes. The P tosses the Hard Drive into the fire.



          <the coven sings the directional chant>



          The HP and the  P walk to  the West and  hold up the  monitor.  The  P

          intones:

          The Power  of the  West is  that of  access to  all things,  to seeing

          turthfully into  the path of a  life and judging it  thusly, worthy or

          unworthy.  This  monitor I offer to thee Oh  Goddess that your eternal

          eyes may see into my  life  and may watch over my actions,  and that I

          may find favor in you  as my eternal Sysop.  The P  tosses the monitor

          into the fire.



          <the coven sings the directional chant> 

          The HP and  P walk thrice around the circle  widdershins and all chant

          thusly:



          Ring around the altar

          Power never faulter

          Goddess, God

          We summon thee       <repeated until the circle is thrice closed.>



                                                                            1480

          The Circle Closed and the directions and  elements present, the HP and

          P prepare to call to the Goddess and to the Horned One.



          The HP stands before the fire pit and calls:



          Virgin Goddess, gentle maid

          She whose seeking to get laid

          Bring your innocence to Bare

          For those who worship for your care



          <the P leads the coven in the Maiden chant>

          Come on Maiden light your fire

          Come on Maiden light your fire

          Come and set the night on FIRE



          The HP stands before the fire pit and holding the phone bill calls:

          Oh Mother Bell, Oh Crone of Disconnection from this pagan life

          I beseech thee, hold back thy hand of dread financial strife

          In attonement bills I pay to thee

          Of thy modem killing hand let me be free



          The HP tosses the phone bill into the fire.



          <The P leads the coven in the Crone Song>



          "  We're sorry,  the  number you  have  reached has  been  temporarily

          disconnected Booooo Hissssss

          We're  sorry, the number you have reached has been temporarily discon-

          nected Booo Hisssss"



                                                                            1481

          The HP stands before  the Altar and holds high the  very long and very

          thick cable of the Horned One that Plugs into the Wall and calls:

          Oh Horned One, Powerful Consort of the Blessed Motherboard

          Surging with Energy you take your place as Lord

          Pulsing with Power, with each surge of volts you swell

          Pumping life into the Goddess, you serve her purpose well



          The HP tosses the very long, very thick cable into the fire



          <the P leads the coven in the Horned One chant>



          Pump, Pump, Pump it up....keep the power flowing

          Pump, Pump, Pump it up....hard fast and never slowing

          Pump, Pump, Pump it up....We know you please the Goddess

          Pump, Pump, Pump it up....Be strong and never modest



          The HP raises the Blessed Motherboard with Large Co-processors high in

          the air and the  P and HP each take  and end in their hands.   Raising

          the Motherboard high in the air they intone:



          Blessed Mother, Sacred Goddess come to bless your users

          Keep us safe from disk crash and lurking abusers

          Let thy healing hands caress our crippled hardware

          Let our nodes stay stable, that through distance we may share

          In your holy worship together we may gather nightly

          Writing inuendo, our modems steaming slightly

          Bless us Holy Goddess, and show us by your sign

          That we have earned your favor, your blessing so divine.



                                                                            1482

          The HP and P lead all in the following chant:

           

           A Prayer to the Goddess for self conscecration

           Dominus regit Goddess

           

           The Blessed Goddess is my mistress;

           I shall not be in want

           She maketh me lie down on soft bedding

           and leadth me to think of rumpling it

           She revives my soul <when I thought I was exhausted>

           and guides me along the most sensual pathways for pleasures sake

           Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of dangerous desire

           I shall fear not impotence

           for she is insatiable

           my rod and staff they comfort her

           We spread a table of ecstacy in the presence of those

           who are sorely troubled by arrousal

           She annoints my head with honeyed oil

           and I make her cup run over

           Surely the pleasure and bliss shall follow me all the days of my life

           and I will dwell in the caves of ecstacy within mind forever.

           



                                                                            1483



          Thus said, the HP and P intone the following:



          OH Blessed Motherboard please  accept this offering in your  name, and

          in  the name of  the Horned One  who plugs  in the Wall  and gives you

          pleasure...

          that  we may be blessed in our offerings  to you both in circle and in

          life.



          Thus said, the HP and P toss the Motherboard into the fire.



          The HP and P lead the coven in the following chant -



          Blessed be the Motherboard from whom all messages flow

          Blessed be the Horned One who fills Her with His offering

          Blessed be the sysops who transfer the packets

          Blessed be the writers and those who inspire what they bring

          Blessed be the hard drives that keep messages from harm

          Blessed be the modems which send packages large and small

          Blessed be the shareware we use to commune

          Blessed be the network which links us up with all

          Blessed be our minds, that we might write our prayers

          Blessed be our fingers that tap amongst the keys

          Blessed be our monitors that shine with holy light

          Blessed be our senses that stimulate with ease

          Blessed be the circle, a circut without end

          Through which we hail and merry meat with those that we call friend.



                                                                            1484



          At this point the HP and P gaze into the fire for the portent of the

          Goddess's sign of approval  <the flames of blue light from the mother-

          board offering>



          At seeing this both HP  and P raise their arms in  joyful supplication

          and shout <To be echoed by  the Coven members in attendance after each

          line>



          The Maiden's found appeasement and She is satisfied

          The Crone is in abeyance, her compu-billings fried

          The Horned One's filled with power, in joining He is pleased

          The Goddess sends Her blessings, cleansing virus and disease.

          We thank the 4 directions for standing by our side

          We thank the elementals and their power all allied

          To Celebrate our status annointed compupagans of sin

          Let Joyful Inhibition be released and the saturnalia begin!!!!



          <the HP and P release the circle and the partying shall now commence>



          Sensual  foods and  drinks are served  and shared,  <the rest  you can

          imagine>



                                                                            1485

                                     Prosperity Spell 

                                      Rowan Moonstone 

          The following is a quarterly prosperity spell given to me by Angel and
          Gracie,  my first two FamTrad teachers.  I have no idea where they got
          it, but I can  tell you that it DOES work.  I"ve used it for years and
          it never fails to  bring me some unlooked for money.  I find that I've
          overpaid a bill, or an old  debt which  I had written off as uncollec-
          tible gets repaid,  I find a $20 on  the  sidewalk, etc.    Try it, it
          works!

          The spell is to  begin at one  minute past midnight  SUN TIME (I  HATE
          daylight savings  time when I  do this.  Means  1AM!) on the  night of
          April 30 (May 1), July 31 (Aug 1), Oct 31 (Nov. 1) and Jan 31 (Feb  1)
          In other words, on the first minute of the cross quarter day.

          You will need the following:

          1 gold candle
          6 green candles  
          9 white candles
          Pine oil for anointing candles
          salt

          All candles  must be dressed with  pine oil and then  arranged as fol-
          lows:

          gold candle in the center
          green candles in a circle around gold candle
          white candles in a circle around green candles.


          At one minute past midnight on  the appointed day, trace a salt circle
          around the outermost circle  of candles, light the gold  candle first,
          then  the green candles, moving deosil, then the white candles, moving
          deosil.   Circle  the altar  three times,  chanting "Orbiting  Jupiter
          trine the sun, bring  money on the run."   Do the chant 3  times also.
          Sit  quietly  for a  few minutes  and  visualize your  monetary NEEDS.
          (needs, not desires).  The SNUFF (do not blow or pinch) the candles in
          reverse order.

          That's it.  That's all there is to it and it works beautifully.  Since
          Lammas  is coming up, thought  I'd post it for everyone  to see.  I've
          got a bunch more stuff from these two ladies if  anyone is interested.
          They  worked a  great deal   with  Archangels and  I suspect  a strong
          Kabalistic crossover in there  somewhere.  But the spells  and rituals
          DO work quite nicely.

          BB Rowan



                                                                            1486

                          Quarter Calls for The Dragon Tradition 


          EAST
          Mighty Dragon, Guardian of the realms of the East.  Your tongue is
          a sharp sword, cutting with the knowledge of the arcane.  Your spirit
          flows as graceful as a swift in flight.  Purify us with truth.
          Blessed Be.

          SOUTH
          Mighty Dragon, Guardian of the realms of the South, your breath is
          aflame with the  fires of  inspiration and  passion.   Your spirit  is
          searing and fervent.  Purify us with Love.  Blessed Be.

          WEST
          Mighty Dragon, Guardian of the realms of the West, your coils are the
          cleansing  healing waves that nurture  the soul.   Your spirit lunges,
          leaps  and splashes  like a Talbot  at play.   Purify  us with pulsing
          tides. Blessed Be.

          NORTH
          Mighty Dragon, Guardian of the realms of the North, your talons run
          like roots into the earth, giving you  infinite strength.  Your spirit
          is substantial,  hard and pure like  a clear crystal.   Purify us with
          persistant wisdom.  Blessed Be

          Each of  these Dragons has a  secret name that they  are also invoked-
          with.  A suggestion is that anyone using these invocations meditate to
          find an  appropriate name for each  Guardian and use it  along with or
          instead of the words "Mighty Dragon".

          Blessed Be.

          Enjoy!


          ... Copyright 1992 - DragonHart Coven - All Rights Reserved  



                                                                            1487

                                     Safe Travel Spell 
                                      Rowan Moonstone


          You will need:

          2 white candles annointed with sandalwood oil.
          1 purple candle annointed with sandalwood oil.
          Photo or personal articles of the person the spell is for
          "Personality " candle, appropriate to the recipient of the spell
          Sandalwood incense

          Altar should be arranged as below:

          _____________________________________________________________________
          |                                                                   |
          |  O (white candle)     O (Personality candle)     O (purple candle |
          |  (1)                      (3)                      (4)            |
          |                                                                   |
          |   O (white candle)        Photos or personal object   O (incense)  |
          | (2)                                                       (5)      |
          |                                                                   |
          _____________________________________________________________________

          Light white candles (1& 2)  light personality candle (3) light  purple
          candle (4), light incense (5).  Repeat the following invocation:

          "Hail Mother of the World!
          Nanna, Isis, Astarte, Selene, Holy Sin (pronounced Sheen).
          See me, look upon me
          See me, look upon me
          See me, look upon me
          Protect me and my people tonight.
          Send your white light around me.
          Send your protective light around ______________
          That they may be protected
          As they travel and as they dream.
          Send only good and lucid energies their way.
          Thank you.
          Thank you.
          Thank you.

          You can either  let the candles burn out by  themselves, or snuff them
          in reverse order and  let them burn a little each night  if the person
          will be on an extended trip.  On the  last night let them burn down on
          their own.   NEVER blow our or  pinch out the candles.   This destroys
          the luck.

          BB Rowan



                                                                            1488

                                  WITH THESE EIGHT WORDS 
                                 THE WICCAN REDE FULFILL:
                            "AN IT HARM NONE, DO WHAT YE WILL."
                          Copyright 08/17/92 by Servants Of The Elder Gods, Rocky Mountain 
                                                                Coven and James C. Taylor

                 OVERVIEW.  The purpose of this paper is to look at the Wiccan Rede, at
          the  types  of conduct  it excludes,  and at  the  type of  conduct it
          requires.  We will begin with a detailed examination of the wording of
          the Rede itself, which presents as "pseudo-archaic" but actually makes
          excellent  use of the specific meanings of several archaic words which
          have no real equivalents in contemporary English.  We will then take a
          look at the two sections  of the Rede, and see why they  are presented
          in their proper order  as written.   Finally, we will examine  various
          uses of  magick and see how--and if--they adequately measure up to the
          standard of the Rede.

          THE VOCABULARY  OF  THE WICCAN  REDE.   As mentioned  above, the  Rede
          appears to be presented in a pseudo-archaic or "phony ancient" form of
          English.   Is  this  simply harmless  foolishness,  or is  there  some
          excellent reason for  the vocabulary selected?   Let's take a  look at
          the Rede, word by word.

          AN:       This  word  is commonly  mistranslated as  "IF", which  is a
                    significant error.  The word "AN" is more  accurately trans-
                    lated "JUST SO LONG AS".

          IT:       This  pronoun refers to whatever it is that you are thinking
                    of doing.

          HARM:     This refers to anything which either you or any other person
                    involved or affected  by "it" would regard  as loss, damage,
                    pain,  discomfort,  injustice, invasiveness,  or prevention,
                    relative  to the  situation existing  before "it"  was done.
                    Anything which goes against another person's free will, even
                    if it intends them good, would constitute serious harm.

          NONE:     This  ought to be  self-explanatory.   "None" is  an all-ex-
                    clusive  word.   If you harm  anyone or  anything, including
                    yourself, including a small rock in Trenton, New Jersey, you
                    have harmed "some", not "none".

          DO:       To perform whatever working is contemplated by "IT", above.

          WHAT:     The meaning here is "Whatever", and refers forward.

          YE:       The  archaic PLURAL form of  "you".  The  current word "you"
                    denotes both  the singular and the plural;  the archaic word
                    "YE" is always plural.  We shall see, later on, that this is
                    no accident.

          WILL:     To will something is to exercise your intellectual decision-
                    making power  to determine  the course of  action which  you
                    feel to be  the best.   "Will" has little  or nothing to  do
                    with "wish" or  "want" or "desire".  It is  not an emotional
                    inclination or feeling.   It is the employment of  reason to
                    make a decision based upon your best judgment.

          THE TWO SECTIONS OF THE WICCAN REDE;



                                           1489
          

          A.   SECTION ONE: "AN IT HARM NONE".

               Why does the Wiccan  Rede not say, "Do  what ye will, an it  harm
               none"?  There is a reason  why the "An it harm none"  comes first
               in the Rede,  and that reason  is that "An  it harm none"  is in-
               tended to come  first in your own thinking, as  a Wiccan initiate
               and practitioner.   If you or any Wiccan begins  with "Do what ye
               will", I  assure you  that you, like  the Fundamentalists  before
               you,  will find a way to excuse  and even to justify anything you
               take it into  your head to do!  Knowing  this about human nature,
               the Lady  inspired the Rede to be written  as it is, with the "An
               it harm none" to come first.

               The Wiccan Rede's "An  it harm none"  has parallels in many  dis-
               ciplines.   Perhaps the most significant parallel is found in the
               Hippocratic Oath  taken by every  physician before  s/he is  cer-
               tified to practice.  The first part of the Hippocratic Oath binds
               the physician "First, to do no harm."  It is  sobering to realize
               that  magical ethics,  as set forth  in the  Wiccan Rede,  are or
               should  be so  similar to  medical ethics, an  issue with  such a
               powerful effect on so many lives.

               When we read of a physician who  has violated his medical ethics,
               we  read this  with outrage  toward him  and with  empathy toward
               those patients who suffered inadequate care because the physician
               violated his  ethics.  It is more sobering to realize that future
               generations will  regard violations  of magickal ethics  with the
               same degree of outrage, and rightly so.

          B.   SECTION TWO:  "DO WHAT YE WILL."

               Even  without the first  part of the  Rede, "Do what  ye will" is
               most certainly not a blanket permission to do whatever you desire
               to do.   As one Wiccan High  Priestess has observed, "Power  cor-
               rupts,  and absolute power corrupts absolutely."  Seems like I've
               heard that before,  but it's certainly  true when you're  talking
               about  using real  magick to  accomplish real  goals in  the real
               world.



                                           1490
          

               When  we realize the kinds  and orders of  results, both expected
               and unexpected,  both  knowable and  unknowable, which  eventuate
               from almost every human action, it would seem the better part  of
               both valor and wisdom to never do anything at all, especially not
               anything which is  done with  spiritual power guided  by no  more
               than  human wisdom!    Unfortunately, to  do  nothing is  also  a
               choice, and the results of inaction are often  far worse than the
               results  of even ill-considered action.   This is  why the second
               half of the Rede demands that we make a decision and act upon it,
               as  well as conforming that  decision to the  requirement that it
               harm none. 

          THE STANDARD OF  THE REDE.  Please note that  the Wiccan Rede contains
          no loop-holes whatsoever.  The Rede does  not say, "An it harm none to
          the best  of your knowledge."  The Rede also  does not say "An it harm
          none  to the  best of  your ability  to discern  whether it  will harm
          someone."

          The  Wiccan Rede  does not say  these things,  or anything  similar to
          them.  It simply  says "An it harm NONE, do what ye will."  This means
          that  YOU, once  you have committed  to live  by the  Wiccan Rede, are
          committed  to be solely and totally responsible for any harm resulting
          from ANY ACTION YOU TAKE, MAGICKAL OR NOT.

          Paul  Seymour's forthcoming  book begins  with some  strong cautionary
          notes concerning the use of  magick.  One of the examples he  gives is
          particularly tragic, and concerns  a young man who worked a simple and
          apparently  harmless "money spell".   The spell worked,  and the young
          man got his money--he inherited it, when his  parents were both killed
          in an accident shortly after he worked the spell. 
          Paul does not say in his book if this young man was a Wiccan initiate.
          If he was, then in addition to his sorrow and loss, he has had to live
          with  the fact  that, by the  standard of  the Rede,  he is ultimately
          responsible for the death of his parents.

          When you  commit to live according  to the Wiccan Rede,  you commit to
          conform  your entire life, not  just the magickal,  mystical and reli-
          gious aspects  of it, to  the standard set  by the Rede.   Never again
          will you be able to act impulsively or without considering the results
          of what you do.  Never again will  you be able to act or even speak in
          thoughtless irritation or anger.   Instead, you will come  to consider
          the  implications of every word you speak, and of every routine action
          you do.  For  it is not just by  magick that we can harm  ourselves or
          others; everything we do, and everything  we say, has the potential to
          help or harm others, and to help or harm ourselves.



                                           1491
          

          It is also  important to note that  the Rede sets up  a standard which
          prevents us  from harming ourselves  as well as others.   Other relig-
          ions, including Christianity, regard it as virtuous to suffer harm for
          the sake  of another, even to  die so that another  person might live.
          The Wiccan Rede does not permit this.   You are to harm none, and this
          means that you  are not to harm  yourself, even for the  sake of doing
          good for someone else.
          To some, this may seem like  a selfish standard.  But think about  it.
          Would you wish to benefit by someone else's injury or death? Of course
          not!  If you did derive some benefit, such as an inheritance, from the
          death of another person, would  you feel good about this?   Well, some
          people might, but  probably you would not.  Therefore, in a very  real
          sense, you yourself are harmed by a benefit you derive from the injury
          or death of another.  True, the  harm is emotional, but it is entirely
          real.

          Wicca  recognizes that human beings  are social creatures.   What does
          harm  to one, does harm  to all in varying degrees.   Therefore, it is
          imperative that each person strive to harm no one, himself  or herself
          included.

          Finally, it  is significant to note  that word "ye" in  the statement,
          "Do what YE will."  This  is the ancient plural form of "you",  and it
          means  that your individual will is assumed  to be in accord with some
          other will, instead of acting entirely on its own.

          What is this other will which, together with yours, comprises the "ye"
          in the Rede?   Well, if you are working  in a coven, it could  well be
          the combined  will of the members  of the coven.   But this  would not
          apply to those who are working on their own, and it is not the highest
          or best meaning, even for those working in coven. 
          How does one act, so as to be  certain to harm none?  Not by  refusing
          to act, since inaction is itself a decision, and often causes far more
          harm than even rash action.  Not by delaying action until the time for
          it  is past, because that is the same as inaction.  And not by relying
          solely upon your own human wisdom, either.

          The best way to act, so as to be certain to harm none, is to call upon
          the Goddess and/or the  God, and to  hand to Them  the power you  have
          raised, together with the situation you have raised  the power to deal
          with, and say, "You are holy, good, and wise, and know how to use this
          power to help and not harm.  Do Your  will in this situation.  That is
          my will, that Your will be done."  And thus the Rede is fulfilled: For
          the "ye" who will are yourself and Them-selves, who are good, and love
          humanity, and who always act for the highest good of all.



                                           1492
          

                                   --- A WICCANING  --- 
                                   Date: 08-31-92  18:25
                                   By: Ceridwen Goddess

           
            (please bear  in mind that since  non-Wiccans  were present  at this
          ceremony,  some things  WERE  toned down...we  did   not  perform  the
          Five-fold Kiss, or  a more emphatic  version of the Great  Rite... our
          horned statue of Pan  was left at home  in favor of a  small, antlered
          god-figure  from an  American Indian  motif.. we  did not  include the
          scourge  on  the alter,  or the  Cords (I  chose  instead to  wear our
          blue-colored Cord  around my waist, however),  and **most** references
          to the Horned  God were  altered to reflect  a less-imposing  Antlered
          One...  I do  hope that  those who  may read  this will  understand my
          reasoning for these actions.   
           
           
          Lammas 1992  
           
          I thought that i would share with you the ritual that  we performed in
          blessing our  children this  past Lammas  (we did  it  on July  30th),
          Blessings to you all! 
          -Heidi 
           
          A WICCANING: 
           
          --consecrate the salt and water 

          (Priestess takes her athame, plunges the blade into the container of 
          salt, "So that you may be fit to dwell in this Sacred Space, I bless 
          this salt, in the names of our Lord and Lad, i bless this salt" then 
          transfering three 'knife-fuls' to the container of [in this case 
          water taken from the beach where we held the ritual] water "So that  
          you may be fit to dwell in this Sacred Space, I consecrate and bless 
          this water" and stir the salt into the water.) 

          --purify work space with [salt-]water 
          (Priestess walks the diameter of the Circle and casts the [salt-]water
          along its perimeter) 

          --purify work space with incense and candle... 
          (Priest  traverses  the perimeter  of the  Circle with  frankincense &
          myrrh and then a candle) 
           
          Priest hands athame to Priestess who casts the Sacred Circle: 
           
          "With earth and air draw forth all that is fair 
          by fire and sea of ill stay free 
          O Circle, be thou a meeting-place of love and joy and truth 
          a shield against all wickedness and evil 
          a rampart of protection that shall preserve 
          the powers that we may raise within Thee. 
          Wherefore do i bless and consecrate thee. 
           
          Priestess welcomes all gathered into the Circle space: 
              "May your mind be free, may  your heart be free, may your  body be
          free." 
           



                                           1493
          

          Invoking the Watchtowers: 
           
          The Priestess takes the bowl of water to the East and says: 
           
          O cool lakes and deep seas of the East 
          waters soft and giving of fresh life 
          join with us -- 
          Cast your blessings upon these children 
          and become a friend to them! 
          Blessed Be. 
           
           
          All echo, "Blessed Be!" 
          (the water is placed at the east gate) 
           
          The Priestess takes a candle to the South and says: 
           
          O warm sun and warm skies of the South 
          bringing life anew, the growth of all things, 
          and promise of the future, 
          join us -- 
          Cast your blessings upon these children 
          and become a friend to them! 
          Blessed Be!

           
          All echo, "Blessed Be!" 
          (the candle is placed at the south gate) 
           
          The Priestess takes the censor/sage to the West and says: 
           
          O Winds of the East 
          who bring forth freshness, life, and joy... 
          join us -- 
          Cast your blessings upon these children 
          and and become a friend to them! 
          Blessed Be! 
           
           
          All echo, "Blessed Be!" 
          (the censor is placed at the west gate) 
           
          The Priestess takes the bowl of earth to the North and says: 
           
          O mighty mountains and endless steppes of the North 
          Meadows of green and the creatures that therein dwell 
          join us -- 
          cast your blessings upon these children 
          and become a friend to them. 
           
           
          All echo, "Blessed Be!" 
          (the bowl is set at the north gate) 
           



                                           1494
          

           
          The Priestess holds the alter Wand aloft and asks: 
          "Repeat after me.... 
          As above so below 
          as the Universe, so the soul 
          as without so within. 
          Blessed and Gracious Ones -- on this night 
          do we consecrate to you 
          our minds, our bodies, and our spirits. Blessed Be!" 
           
           
          INVOKING THE GODDESS AND GOD 
           
          goddess: 
           
           
          All-dewy Sky-sailing Pregnant Moon 
          who shines for all 
          who flows through all 
          light of the world which is yourself 
          maiden mother crone 
          the weaver the green one 
           
          O most gracious and magnificent Lady 
          We ask that some portion of your presence 
          be here among us now 
          Give protection and shelter to the small 
          and sacred ones 
          who are here to be dedicated in Your honor. 
           
           
          god; 
           
          Seed sower, grain reborn 
          Antered One come! 
          Bright sun, Dark death, 
          Lord of winds, lord of the dance 
          sun-child, winter born king 
          Hanged one 
          Untamed, untamed! 
          Stag and stallion, goat and bull, 
          sailor of the last sea, guardian of the gate 
          lord of the two lands 
          ever-dying, ever-living, radiance

          O ancient lord of the universe 
          we ask some portion of your presence here 
          among us now. 
          Shield and strengthen the children who shall be 
          dedicated in your honor! 
           
           



                                           1495
          

           
          THE BLESSINGS and PURIFICATIONS 
           
          Maiden (in this case an unattached and close aunt of the children): 
          (as she sprinkles the children with barley) 
           
          "Dearest ones, may you never know hunger or poverty for 
          material or spiritual things. I bless you with the barley 
          of the Spirits, for nourishment and wealth." 
           
          Mother (the Priestess who is the mother of the children): 
          (as she sprinkles the children with water) 
           
          "I bless you in the name of the Spirits of all life and 
          healing, with the waters of the Earth, that you may be 
          healthy and strong in body, mind, and spirit. Let love  
          be your treasure, may you be happy in your heart." 
           
          Crone (the Priestess's mother and the grandmother of the children): 
          (as she sprinkles the children with salt) 
           
          "Dearest ones, may you have access to your own wisdom 
          and that of others. May you be protected from foolishness 
          and self-destruction. May you know the essence of things; 
          may you be bright and find it easy to learn and teach." 
           
          The Antlered One (the Priest, who is the father of the children): 
          (fire/sage incense) 
            
          "With the Fire of the Universe to spark your temper, 
          I would ask that you may find joy and a sense of merriment 
          in all that you accomplish - to see the lighter side 
          of life's journey and find happiness in your work." 
           
           
          THE DIVULGENCE OF THE NAMES (explained to the Witnesses): 
           
          ANCIENT EUROPEAN PEOPLES BELIEVED THAT YOU MUST HAVE TWO 
          NAMES, ONE PUBLIC AND ONE A SECRET NAME THAT ONLY THOSE 
          PRESENT AT THE BLESSING CEREMONY KNEW. THIS SECOND NAME 
          IS FOR USE AFTER PUBERTY, WHEN THE SOUL CHANGES INTO ITS  
          FIRST ADULT SELF, WHEN IT CAN BE UTTERED ONCE MORE, AND 
          MADE PUBLIC. THE PURPOSE OF THE FIRST PUBLIC NAME WAS TO 
          DIVERT THE EVIL EYE, TO GAIN FAVOR WITH THE FATES, TO  
          KEEP AWAY SICKNESS, AND TO HELP THE CHILD REACH ADULTHOOD. 
           
          Priestess: 
          "Great Spirit of Nature, protect and guide these young souls 
          among us. 
          May the Blessings of the wise and joyous Father of the Gods 
          far-seeing and far-knowing be upon thee. 
          May the blessings of the Triple Goddess, 
          of Maiden, of Mother, of Crone, and all their power 
          be upon thee." 
           
           
          The following blessings/invocations were spoken and followed by 
          the child being immersed in the ocean water of the beach where 
          the ritual was held: 
           



                                           1496
          

          ELIZABETH'S DUNKING: 
           
          Anna Perenna 
          Great Goddess, Mother of All 
          Envelope this daughter of yours 
          in the waters of Your womb 
          Grant her protection from wrong-doing 
          Wash away the memories of her pain 
          Shower her with Your blessings 
          in a life everlasting 
          Bless Elizabeth Mae Luzerne. 
          So Mote it Be! 
           
           
          PATRICK'S DUNKING: 
           
          Great Goddess, Nurturer and Bearer of all Men, great and small 
          Without whose womb they would not be 
          Mother of Gods, of Sacrificial Kings, 
          Presidents, Emperors, and beggars 
          Welcome this son of Yours into Your Light 
          and as you have taught us, let him find 
          "Beauty and strength, power and compassion, 
          mirth and reverence, honor and humility" 
          within his heart.  
          Wash his fears away with your caress! 
          Bless Patrick Howard Lloyd! 
          Blessed Be! 
           
           
          MORGAINNE'S DUNKING: 
           
          Hail, o gracious and most magnificent Lady 
          whose slender hand turns the vast wheel of the sky. 
          whose triple aspect does see 
          the beginning, the life, and the end of all things. 
          whose wells of mystery do give 
          inspiration and rebirth thoughout eternity, 
          receive here this small daughter of yours with blessings 
          and with love. 
          Bless Morgainne Ellayne! 
          So mote it be! 
           
           
          (explained to the Witnesses:) 
          THE SECOND NAMES CHOSEN WERE DECIDED UPON FOR BOTH WHIMSICAL 
          AND SERIOUS REASONS -- FOR PERSONALITY AND FOR CIRCUMSTANCE. 
           
          "For this newest arrival, a small girl-child who came as 
          an unplanned gift from the gods, whose arrival has 
          challenged us and helped us grow, as did her namesake, 
          bringing all of Mankind's challenges upon him, she is 
          called PANDORA." 
           
          "For a small boy-child who seems to live for good food and drink, 
          who enjoys this life he's been blessed with, and who reminds us 
          that merriment is part of our everyday challenge as well as 
          paying the bills and doing the housework, so we found inspiration 
          in the spirited and fun-loving god of wine, and give his name 
          to our son, who will be BACCHUS." 



                                           1497
          

           
           
          (our oldest, 4 year old daughter was severely burned when she was 
          16 months old, thus the inspiration for her naming...) 
           
          "And at last, for our eldest daughter, as did the beautiful bird rise 
          miraculously from its burning, so did she -- and aptly she is 
          named PHOENIX." 
           
           
          Priestess: 
          "O Lady of the Starry Heavens, Wise All-Father, behold these 
          lovely children, PANDORA, BACCHUS, and PHOENIX 
          conceived and brought forth in love. 
          Bless and protect them and grant the gifts of wisdom, 
          inspiration, and wonder, adorn them with your enduring 
          and eternal strength and steadfastness. May they ever 
          have spirits that seek the stars, and roots that hold 
          tight deep within thy loving breast." 
           
           
           
          SHARING OF THE BREAD AND WINE: 
           
          Priestess blesses the wine, dipping the athame into the chalice: 
          "As the cup is to the female so the athame is to the male, 
          and conjoined they bring blessed creation" 
           
           
          "Offering to the Mother: 
          Hail Earth, Mother of All! 
          May your fileds increase and flourish. 
          Your forests grow and spread, 
          And your waters run pure and free! 
          Accept my offering, O Earth Mother! 
          Bring forth that which is good, and sustaining, 
          For every living thing!" 
           
           
          --The Bread: 
          As the bread is passed around, the Priestess asks for its 
          glorification: 
           
          "Let us join hands and purify ourselves 
          breathing in the life force of the universe 
          and expelling all evil from us. 
          Take now of the bread 
          and know of the grain of which you partake 
          as the latest of countless generations 
          growing to fruitfulness 
          and in dying, giving of the seeds 
          from which new life shall spring 
          Know that every seed, every grain is 
          the record of times most ancient 
          and a promise of all that shall be. 
          Partake of the bread 
          and know of life eternal and of Immortality. 
          With this knowledge are our souls sustained." 
           
           



                                           1498
          

          --The Wine: 
           
          As the Chalice of wine is shared around the Circle, the 
          Priestess asks for it's glorification, also: 
           
          Drink now of the wine 
          And know of the tranformation 
          of simple fruits to sparkling elixir 
          as this wine has undergone change 
          so by life's cauldron shall we 
          As this wine gives the enchantment of the Divine 
          or abasement into the lower realms, 
          so do all humans rise or fall in each life 
          As their own will and strength determines. 
           
           
          --The Storytelling: 
          at this point the group of celebrants and the witnesses were asked 
          to seat themselves and the Priestess read a story called "The Burning 
          of the Lady's People" chosen from a collection of Goddess tales, 
          THE STORYTELLER'S GODDESS by Carolyn McVickar Edwards. 
           
           
           
           
          --OPENING THE CIRCLE: 
           
          All join hands, Priestess says: 
          "Lords of the Winds, the Fires, the Seas, and the Fields, before you 
          depart to your fair and lovely realms, we thank you for your presence 
          this evening! Blessed be! ... 
           
          May the Circle be open but not broken 
          may the Beauty of the Goddess and the Strength of the God 
          dwell in our hearts. Merry meet, and merry part, and merry 
          meet again. Blessed Be!" 
           
          END 
           
           
          The  Priestess of  EarthWorld Circle  wishes to  acknowledge the  many
          sources from which these invocations and blessings and ritual writings
          were chosen including MAGICAL RITES FROM THE CRYSTAL WELL by Ed Fitch,
          and several of the various books by Stewart and Janet Farrar, Doreen  
          Valiente, Starhawke's THE SPIRAL DANCE, A WICCAN BARDO by Paul Beyerl,
          and probably  others that i've  forgotten their original  sources over
          the years of use.  



                                           1499
          

          WP   04/28       The New Theology-Sheology; Mystical Women's Spiritual
                          Movements, Gaining Momentum ... and Adherents
                                      By Judith Weinraub
                                Washington Post Staff Writer

                  Pagans atthe Harvard Divinity School.A goddess-centered ritual
          at  the University of Pennsylvania. A feminist seder in Silver Spring.
          New  moon groups at  a rabbinical seminary.  Women's spirituality ses-
          sions at Appalachian State University, Wesleyan University, Brown.

              What on earth is going on?

                  If theevents of thelast few monthsare any indication,women are
          looking for  a spiritual connection - for a way to push the boundaries
          of their religious experience  beyond the ordinary confines  of tradi-
          tional Judeo-Christian monotheism. Consciousness-raising may have been
          the solace  of the '70s and  career development the icon  of the '80s,
          but the '90s offer a very different option - the spirit.
                  Today's seekers, after all, are  the daughters of the feminist
          revolution.   Not for them  the victimized heroines  and saints of the
          past.   Not for them  the patriarchal structure  of the male-dominated
          religions of the Old and New Testaments.
                  Their  touchstones are the  pagan religions, the pre-Christian
          Earth-centered goddess cults that stress the harmony of the universe -
          movements that offerequality rather  than hierarchy, peace rather than
          war, joy rather than guilt, ritual rather than rote.
                  "It'sreligion without the middleman- including sex and drugs,"
          says  Margot  Adler, a  journalist at  National  Public Radio  and the
          author of "Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers
          and Other Pagans in America Today."
              The women's spirituality movement, which practitioners estimate as
          attracting  as many as 500,000 people across the country, is basically
          benign.   And has nothing to do with  the satanic cults of national TV
          talk shows. Whether mainstream, new age, goddess-oriented (a  point of
          view expressing a  female- and earth-centered style of  worship rather
          than  a specific body  of liturgy) or  wiccan (a mainly  British Isles
          paganism  that  refers to  the Old  English  word for  witch), today's
          celebrants are as various as they are hard to count.
                  "It'sdefinitely growing,but you'll neverget hardfigures," says
          Adler, whose book was originally published in 1979 and, with more than
          100,000  in print, still  sells more than  10,000 a year.  "A group of
          women can  start a  group  and not  tell anybody,  and  you'll have  a
          thriving group doing rituals and who will know?"
                  What canbe traced isthe flourishingbook industry, mostlyout of
          San Francisco, that the  movement has spawned. Two books  published in
          1979 - Adler's  and "The Spiral Dance," a more  personal vision by the
          San  Francisco-based "priestess" known  as Starhawk  - have  been par-
          ticularly influential.
                  What can also be  pinned down are the  threads that are  woven
          through the burgeoning movement: a  dissatisfaction with the way women
          are treated within  traditional religions,  a yearning  for ritual,  a
          desire for a historical connection, despair over the  fragmentation of
          society and a concern about the future of the planet.
              Says Diana Hayes, professor of theology at Georgetown: "Within
          Christianity, theology and spirituality have been male oriented, male
          dominated, because they are  the ones articulating it. But we  all are
          affected  by who we are, where we  came from, our life experience, our
          relationship with god.



                                           1500
              

                  "So thechallenge has beento get thisrealization out inthe open
          and to have the men who dominate theological circles realize that they
          cannot speak for the rest of the human race. Women do not think or act
          the way men do.   Therefore our spirituality will  not be the same  as
          men's."

              Listen to voices from the women's spirituality movement:

                  Diann Neu, women's religiousleader, master's degrees in sacred
          theology and in divinity from the Graduate Theological Union, Graduate
          School of  Theology, Berkeley;  co-founder of WATER  (Women's Alliance
          for Theology, Ethics and  Ritual) in Silver Spring: "I was  a Catholic
          woman who thought I'd be one of the first to be ordained. I thought it
          would happen by 1980.  After all, there  were only two possible  paths
          from the  seminary: to teach on a faculty or  to be ordained. I wasn't
          interested  in teaching and of course couldn't  be ordained - though I
          always hoped there was the possibility. I was disappointed. Pained.
          Hurt. Angry. Distressed. So I started creating alternatives. I knew it
          was something I needed to do. It was very exciting to me."
                  Starhawk, priestess of the Old Religion of the Goddess, witch,
          religious leader, writer,  counselor, women's spirituality  superstar:
          "In  the very simplest terms, the goddess represents the sacredness of
          nature,  of human life  and human creativity  as well -  the idea that
          human beings  are meant to  be integrated with nature.  In the goddess
          tradition  the sacred is embodied in the earth, in ecological systems,
          in human beings in different cultures. If we're all sacred, we have to
          deal equally with each other. And when we really see the earth as this
          sacred place,  and we know that  everything is connected, it  makes it
          very hard to think about  killing somebody, to write off whole  groups
          of people."
              Diana Hayes,  Catholic convert (from AME),  professor of theology,
          Georgetown  University: "All  of us  have to  be allowed to  voice our
          spirituality in our own ways. I see  myself not as a feminist but as a
          womanist, a feminist  of color.   Women  of color  - black,  Hispanic,
          Asian - have begun to  realize that the feminist movement has  been an
          exclusive, white, middle,  and upper-middle-class movement.  Womanists
          are challenging the feminist  movement in the same way  that feminists
          have been challenging the church. As a black woman within the
          Catholic church, without that attitude, I'd  have to be deaf, dumb and
          blind."
              Margot Adler, journalist, an elder with Covenant of the Goddess, a
          priestess,  the  granddaughter of  analyst Alfred  Adler: "I  think it
          would be fair to say that none of this would have happened to me  if I
          hadn't  been hit over  the head in  the seventh grade  by studying the
          gods  Artemis and Athena. This was the  late '50s, and there weren't a
          lot  of powerful images of women.  What was interesting was we studied
          Greece for a  whole year, and this  was my religion.  But  I think way
          down deep I didn't want to worship these goddesses - I wanted
          to BE them."
                    Linda Pinty, a student atHarvard Divinity School, the intern
          minister  at  the First  Parish Church  of Unitarian  Universalists in
          Cambridge,  and one  of  the co-founders  of  CUPPS, the  Covenant  of
          Unitarian  Universalist Pagans: I was brought up a Baptist in Michigan
          but left the church in my late  teens and read my way to the Unitarian
          Universalists. I felt  it was a place I could  have freedom to search.
          The neo-pagan movement  brings a lot of  things together. It offers  a
          much healthier and holistic way of experiencing ecstasy about life,
          the  goodness of  creation and  connecting at  deep levels  with other
          creatures. In  neo-paganism, a need to  heal the earth  is prominent -
          it's important to take care of Mother Earth."
