


                                                                            1601
          

          "Pseudomemories have been acquired through dreams (particularly if 
          one is encouraged to keep a journal or dream diary and to regard 
          dream content as 'clues' about the past or as snippets of history), 
          substance-induced altered states of consciousness (alcohol or other 
          drugs), group influence (particularly hearing vivid accounts of 
          events occurring to others with whom one identifies emotionally such 
          as occurs in incest survivor groups), reading vivid accounts of 
          events occurring to others with whom one identifies emotionally, 
          watching such accounts in films or on television, and hypnosis. The
          most efficient means of inducing pseudomemories is hypnosis.

          "It is characteristic of pseudomemories that the recollections of 
          complex events (as opposed to a simple unit of information, such as 
          a tag number) are incomplete and without chronological sequence. 
          Often the person reports some uncertainty because the pseudomemories 
          are experienced in a manner they describe as 'hazy', 'fuzzy', or 
          'vague'. They are often perplexed that they recall some details 
          vividly but others dimly.

          "Pseudomemories are not delusions. When first telling others of 
          pseudomemories, these individuals do not have the unshakable but 
          irrational conviction that deluded subjects have, but with social 
          support they often come to defend vigorously the truthfulness of the 
          pseudomemories.

          "Pseudomemories are not fantasies, but may incorporate elements from 
          fantasies experienced in the past. Even where the events described 
          are implausible, listeners may believe them because they are 
          reported with such intense affect (i.e. with so much emotion 
          attached to the story) that the listener concludes that the events 
          must have happened because no one could 'fake' the emotional aspects 
          of the retelling. It also occurs, however, that persons report 
          pseudomemories in such a matter-of-fact and emotionless manner that 
          mental health professionals conclude that the person has 
          'dissociated' intellectual knowledge of the events from emotional 
          appreciation of their impact."

          -- b. TRAUMATIC MEMORY.

          The second possible answer is *traumatic memory*. Fear and severe 
          trauma can cause victims to distort reality and confuse events. This 
          is a well-documented fact in cases involving individuals taken 
          hostage or in life-and-death situations. The distortions may be part 
          of an elaborate defense mechanism of the mind called "splitting" - 
          The victims create a clear-cut good-and-evil manifestation of their 
          complex victimization that is then psychologically more manageable.

          Through the defense mechanism of dissociation, the victim may escape 
          the horrors of reality by inaccurately processing that reality. In a 
          dissociative state a young child who ordinarily would know the 
          difference might misinterpret a film or video as reality.



                                                                            1602
          

          Another defense mechanism may tell the victim that it could have 
          been worse, and so his or her victimization was not so bad. They are 
          not alone in their victimization - other children were also abused. 
          Their father who abused them is no different from other prominent 
          people in the community they claim also abused them. Satanism may 
          help to explain why their outwardly good and religious parents did 
          such terrible things to them in the privacy of their home. Their 
          religious training may convince them that such unspeakable acts by 
          supposedly "good" people must be the work of the devil. The 
          described human sacrifice may be symbolic of the "death" of their 
          childhood.

          It may be that we should anticipate that individuals severely abused 
          as very young children by *multiple* offenders with *fear* as the 
          primary controlling tactic will distort and embellish their 
          victimization. Perhaps a horror-filled yet inaccurate account of 
          victimization is not only not a counterindication of abuse, but is 
          in fact a corroborative indicator of extreme physical, 
          psychological, and/or sexual abuse. I do not believe it is a 
          coincidence nor the result of deliberate planning by satanists that 
          in almost all the cases of ritual abuse that have come to my 
          attention, the abuse is alleged to have begun prior to the age of 
          seven and perpetrated by multiple offenders. It may well be that
          such abuse, at young age by multiple offenders, is the most 
          difficult to accurately recall with the specific and precise detail 
          needed by the criminal justice system, and the most likely to be 
          distorted and exaggerated when it is recalled. In her book _Too 
          Scared to Cry_ (1990), child psychiatrist Lenore Terr, a leading 
          expert on psychic trauma in childhood, states "that a series of 
          early childhood shocks might not be fully and accurately 
          'reconstructed' from the dreams and behaviors of the adult" (p. 5).
           
          -- c. NORMAL CHILDHOOD FEARS AND FANTASY.

          The third possible answer may be *normal childhood fears and 
          fantasy*. Most young children are afraid of ghosts and monsters. 
          Even as adults, many people feel uncomfortable, for example, about 
          dangling their arms over the side of their bed. They still remember 
          the "monster" under the bed from childhood. While young children may 
          rarely invent stories about sexual activity, they might describe 
          their victimization in terms of evil as they understand it. In 
          church or at home, children may be told of satanic activity as the 
          source of evil. The children may be "dumping" all their fears and 
          worries unto an attentive and encouraging listener.

          Children do fantasize. Perhaps whatever causes a child to allege 
          something impossible (such as being cut up and put back together) is 
          similar to what causes a child to allege something possible but 
          improbable (such as witnessing another child being chopped up and 
          eaten).



                                                                            1603
          

          -- d. MISPERCEPTION, CONFUSION, AND TRICKERY.

          Misperception, confusion, and trickery may be a fourth answer. 
          Expecting young children to give accurate accounts of sexual 
          activity for which they have little frame of reference is 
          unreasonable. The Broadway play _Madame Butterfly_ is the true story 
          of a man who had a 15-year affair, including the "birth" of a baby, 
          with a "woman" who turns out to have been a man all along. If a 
          grown man does not know when he has had vaginal intercourse with a 
          woman, how can we expect young children not to be confused?

          Furthermore some clever offenders may deliberately introduce 
          elements of satanism and the occult into the sexual exploitation 
          simply to confuse or intimidate the victims. Simple magic and other 
          techniques may be used to trick the children. Drugs may also be 
          deliberately used to confuse the victims and distort their 
          perceptions. Such acts would then be M.O., not ritual.

          As previously stated, the perceptions of young victims may also be 
          influenced by any trauma being experienced. This is the most popular 
          alternative explanation, and even the more zealous believers of 
          ritual abuse allegations use it, but only to explain obviously 
          impossible events.
           
          -- e. OVERZEALOUS INTERVENORS.

          *Overzealous intervenors*, causing intervenor contagion, may be a 
          fifth answer. These intervenors can include parents, family members, 
          foster parents, doctors, therapists, social workers, law enforcement 
          officers, prosecutors, and any combination thereof. Victims have 
          been subtly as well as overtly rewarded and bribed by usually well-
          meaning intervenors for furnishing further details. In addition, 
          some of what appears not to have happened may have originated as a 
          result of intervenors making assumptions about or misinterpreting 
          what the victims are saying. The intervenors then repeat, and 
          possibly embellish, these assumptions and misinterpretations, and 
          eventually the victims are "forced" to agree with or come to accept 
          this "official" version of what happened.

          The judgment of intervenors may be affected by their zeal to uncover 
          child sexual abuse, satanic activity, or conspiracies. However 
          "well-intentioned", these overzealous intervenors must accept 
          varying degrees of responsibility for the unsuccessful prosecution 
          of those cases where criminal abuse did occur. This is the most 
          controversial and least popular of the alternative explanations.



                                                                            1604
          

          -- f. URBAN LEGENDS.

          Allegations of and knowledge about ritualistic or satanic abuse may 
          also be spread through *urban legends*. In _The Vanishing 
          Hitchhiker_ (1981), the first of his four books on the topic, Dr. 
          Jan Harold Brunvand defines urban legends as "realistic stories 
          concerning recent events (or alleged events) with an ironic or 
          supernatural twist" (p. xi). Dr. Brunvand's books convincingly 
          explain that just because individuals throughout the country who 
          never met each other tell the same story does not mean that it is 
          true. Absurd urban legends about the corporate logos of Proctor and 
          Gamble and Liz Claiborne being satanic symbols persist in spite of 
          all efforts to refute them with reality. Some urban legends about 
          child kidnappings and other threats to citizens have even been 
          disseminated unknowingly by law enforcement agencies. Such legends 
          have always existed, but today the mass media aggressively 
          participate in their rapid and more efficient dissemination. Many 
          Americans mistakenly believe that tabloid television shows check out 
          and verify the details of their stories before pulling them on the 
          air. Mass hysteria may partially account for large numbers of 
          victims describing the same symptoms or experiences.

          Training conferences for all the disciplines involved in child 
          sexual abuse may also play a role in the spread of this contagion. 
          At one child abuse conference I attended, an exhibitor was selling 
          more than 50 different books dealing with satanism and the occult. 
          By the end of the conference, he had sold nearly all of them. At 
          another national child sexual abuse conference, I witnessed more 
          than 100 attendees copying down the widely disseminated 29 "Symptoms 
          Characterizing Satanic Ritual Abuse" in preschool-aged children. Is 
          a four-year-old child's "preoccupation with urine and feces" an 
          indication of satanic ritual abuse or part of normal development?

          -- g. COMBINATION.

          Most multidimensional child sex ring cases probably involve a 
          *combination* of the answers previously set forth, as well as other 
          possible explanations unknown to me at this time. Obviously, cases 
          with adult survivors are more likely to involve some of these 
          answers than those with young children. Each case of sexual 
          victimization must be individually evaluated on its own merits 
          without any preconceived explanations. All the possibilities must be 
          explored if for no other reason than the fact that the defense 
          attorneys for any accused subjects will almost certainly do so.

          Most people would agree that just because a victim tells you one 
          detail that turns out to be true, this does not mean that every 
          detail is true. But many people seem to believe that if you can 
          disprove one part of a victim's story, then the entire story is 
          false. As previously stated, one of my main concerns in these cases 
          is that people are getting away with sexually abusing children or 
          committing other crimes because we cannot prove that they are 
          members of organized cults that murder and eat people.



                                                                            1605
          


          I have discovered that the subject of multidimensional child sex 
          rings is a very emotional and polarizing issue. Everyone seems to 
          demand that one choose a side. On one side of the issue are those 
          who say that nothing really happened and it is all a big witch hunt
          led by overzealous fanatics and incompetent "experts". The other 
          side says, in essence, that everything happened; victims never lie 
          about child sexual abuse, and so it must be true.

          There is a middle ground. It is the job of the professional 
          investigator to listen to all the victims and conduct appropriate 
          investigation in an effort to find out what happened, considering 
          all possibilities. Not all childhood trauma is abuse. Not all child 
          abuse is a crime. The great frustration of these cases is the fact 
          that you are often convinced that something traumatic happened to 
          the victim, but do not know with any degree of certainty exactly 
          what happened, when it happened, or who did it. 

          7. DO VICTIMS LIE ABOUT SEXUAL ABUSE AND EXPLOITATION?

          The crucial central issue in the evaluation of a response to cases 
          of multidimensional child sex rings is the statement "Children never 
          lie about sexual abuse or exploitation. If they have details, it 
          must have happened." This statement, oversimplified by many, is the 
          basic premise upon which some believe the child sexual abuse and 
          exploitation movement is based. It is almost never questioned or 
          debated at training conferences. In fact, during the 1970s, there 
          was a successful crusade to eliminate laws requiring corroboration 
          of child victim statements in child sexual abuse cases. The best way 
          to convict child molesters is to have the child victims testify in 
          court. If we believe them, the jury will believe them. Any challenge 
          to this basic premise was viewed as a threat to the movement and a 
          denial that the problem existed.

          I believe that children *rarely* lie about sexual abuse or 
          exploitation, if a lie is defined as a statement deliberately and 
          maliciously intended to deceive. The problem is the 
          oversimplification of the statement. Just because a child is not 
          lying does not necessarily mean the child is telling the truth. I 
          believe that in the majority of these cases, the victims are not 
          lying. They are telling you what they have come to believe has 
          happened to them. Furthermore the assumption that children rarely 
          lie about sexual abuse does not necessarily apply to everything a 
          child says during a sexual abuse investigation. Stories of 
          mutilation, murder, and cannibalism are not really about sexual 
          abuse.

          Children rarely lie about sexual abuse or exploitation. but they do 
          fantasize, furnish false information, furnish misleading 
          information, misperceive events, try to please adults, respond to 
          leading questions, and respond to rewards. Children are not adults 
          in little bodies and do go through developmental stages that must be 
          evaluated and understood. In many ways, however, children are no 
          better and no worse than other victims or witnesses of a crime. They 
          should not be automatically believed, nor should they be 
          automatically disbelieved.



                                                                            1606
          

          The second part of the statement - if children can supply details, 
          the crime must have happened - must also be carefully evaluated. The 
          details in question in most of the cases of multidimensional child 
          sex rings have little to do with sexual activity. Law enforcement 
          and social workers must do more than attempt to determine how a 
          child could have known about the sex acts. These cases involve 
          determining how a victim could have known about a wide variety of 
          bizarre and ritualistic activity. Young children may know little 
          about specific sex acts, but they may know a lot about monsters, 
          torture, kidnapping, and murder.

          Victims may supply details of sexual and other acts using 
          information from sources other than their own direct victimization. 
          Such sources must be evaluated carefully by the investigator of
          multidimensional child sex rings.

          -- a. PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE.

          The victim may have personal knowledge of the sexual or ritual acts, 
          but not as a result of the alleged victimization. The knowledge 
          could have come from viewing pornography, sex education, or occult 
          material; witnessing sexual or ritual activity in the home; or 
          witnessing the sexual abuse of others. It could also have come from 
          having been sexually or physically abused, but by other than the 
          alleged offenders and in ways other than the alleged offense.

          -- b. OTHER CHILDREN OR VICTIMS.

          Young children today are socially interacting more often and at a 
          younger age than ever before. Many parents are unable to provide 
          possibly simple explanations for their children's stories because 
          they were not with the children when the events occurred. They do 
          not even know what videotapes their children may have seen, what 
          games they may have played, or what stories they may have been told 
          or overheard. Children are being placed in day care centers for 
          eight, ten, or twelve hours a day starting as young as six weeks of 
          age. The children share experiences by playing house, school, or 
          doctor. Bodily functions such as urination and defecation are a 
          focus of attention for these young children. To a certain extent, 
          each child shares the experiences of all the other children.



                                                                            1607
          

          The odds are fairly high that in any typical day care center there 
          might be some children who are victims of incest; victims of 
          physical abuse; victims of psychological abuse; children of cult 
          members (even satanists); children of sexually open parents; 
          children of sexually indiscriminate parents; children of parents 
          obsessed with victimization; children of parents obsessed with the 
          evils of satanism; children without conscience; children with a 
          teenage brother or pregnant mother; children with heavy metal music 
          and literature in the home; children with bizarre toys, games, 
          comics, and magazines; children with a VCR and slasher films in 
          their home; children with access to dial-a-porn, party lines, or 
          pornography; or children victimized by a day care center staff 
          member. The possible effects of the interaction of such children 
          prior to the disclosure of the alleged abuse must be evaluated, 
          Adult survivors may obtain details from group therapy sessions, 
          support networks, church groups, or self-help groups. The 
          willingness and ability of siblings to corroborate adult survivor 
          accounts of ritual abuse varies. Some will support and partially 
          corroborate the victim's allegations. Others will vehemently deny 
          them and support their accused parents or relatives.

          -- c. MEDIA.

          The amount of sexually explicit, occult, anti-occult, or violence-
          oriented material available to adults and even children in the 
          modern world is overwhelming. This includes movies, videotapes, 
          television, music, toys, and books. There are also documentaries on 
          satanism, witchcraft, and the occult that are available on 
          videotape. Most of the televangelists have videotapes on the topics 
          that they are selling on their programs.

          The National Coalition on Television Violence News (1988) estimates 
          that 12% of the movies produced in the United States can be 
          classified as satanic horror films. Cable television and the home 
          VCR make all this material readily available even to young children. 
          Religious broadcasters and almost all the television tabloid and 
          magazine programs have done shows on satanism and the occult. Heavy 
          metal and black metal music, which often has a satanic theme, is 
          readily available and popular. In addition to the much-debated
          fantasy role-playing games, there are numerous popular toys on the 
          market with an occult-oriented, bizarre, or violent theme.

          Books on satanism and the occult, both fiction and nonfiction, are 
          readily available in most bookstores, especially Christian 
          bookstores. Several recent books specifically discuss the issue of 
          ritual abuse of children. Obviously, very young children do not read 
          this material, but their parents, relatives, and therapists might 
          and then discuss it in front of or with them. Much of the material 
          intended to fight the problem actually fuels the problem and damages 
          effective prosecution.



                                                                            1608
          


          -- d. SUGGESTIONS AND LEADING QUESTIONS.

          This problem is particularly important in cases stemming from 
          custody/visitation disputes involving at least one child under the 
          age of seven. It is my opinion that most suggestive, leading 
          questioning of children by intervenors is inadvertently done as part 
          of a good-faith effort to learn the truth. Not all intervenors are 
          in equal positions to potentially influence victim allegations. 
          Parents and relatives especially are in a position to subtly 
          influence their young children to describe their victimization in a 
          certain way. Children may also overhear their parents discussing the 
          details of the case. Children often tell their parents what they 
          believe their parents want or need to hear. Some children may be 
          instinctively attempting to provide "therapy" for their parents by 
          telling them what seems to satisfy them and somehow makes them feel 
          better. In one case a father gave the police a tape recording to 
          "prove" that his child's statements were spontaneous disclosures and 
          not the result of leading, suggestive questions. The tape recording 
          indicated just the opposite. Why then did the father voluntarily 
          give it to the police? Probably because he truly believed that he 
          was not influencing his child's statements - but he was. 

          Therapists are probably in the best position to influence the 
          allegations of adult survivors. The accuracy and reliability of the 
          accounts of adult survivors who have been hypnotized during therapy 
          is certainly open to question. One nationally-known therapist 
          personally told me that the reason police cannot find out about 
          satanic or ritualistic activity from child victims is that they do 
          not know how to ask leading questions. Highly suggestive books and 
          pictures portraying "satanic" activity have been developed and 
          marketed to therapists for use during evaluation and treatment. 
          Types and styles of verbal interaction useful in therapy may create 
          significant problems in a criminal investigation. It should be 
          noted, however, that when a therapist does a poor investigative 
          interview as part of a criminal investigation, that is the fault of 
          the criminal justice system that allowed it and not the therapist 
          who did it.

          The extremely sensitive, emotional, and religious nature of these 
          cases makes problems with leading questions more likely than in 
          other kinds of cases. Intervenors motivated by religious fervor 
          and/or exaggerated concerns about sexual abuse of children are more 
          likely to lose their objectivity.

          -- e. MISPERCEPTION AND CONFUSION.

          In one case, a child's description of the apparently impossible act 
          of walking through a wall turned out to be the very possible act of 
          walking between the studs of an unfinished wall in a room under 
          construction. In another case, pennies in the anus turned out to be 
          copper-foil-covered suppositories. The children may describe what 
          they believe happened. It is not a lie, but neither is it an 
          accurate account of what happened.



                                                                            1609
          


          -- f. EDUCATION AND AWARENESS PROGRAMS.

          Some well-intentioned awareness programs designed to prevent child 
          set abuse, alert professionals, or fight satanism may in fact be 
          unrealistically increasing the fears of professionals, children, and 
          parents and creating self-fulfilling prophesies. Some of what 
          children and their parents are telling intervenors may have been 
          learned in or fueled by such programs. Religious programs, books, 
          and pamphlets that emphasize the power and evil force of Satan may 
          be adding to the problem. In fact most of the day care centers in 
          which ritualistic abuse is alleged to hate taken place are church-
          affiliated centers, and many of the adult survivors alleging it come 
          from apparently religious families. 

          8. LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSPECTIVE.

          The perspective with which one looks at satanic, occult, or 
          ritualistic crime is extremely important. As stated, sociologists, 
          therapists, religious leaders, parents, and just plain citizens each 
          have their own valid concerns and views about this issue. This 
          discussion, however, deals primarily with the law enforcement or 
          criminal justice perspective.

          When you combine an emotional issue such as the sexual abuse of 
          children with an even more emotional issue such as people's 
          religious beliefs, it is difficult to maintain objectivity and 
          remember the law enforcement perspective. Some police officers may 
          even feel that all crime is caused by evil, all evil is caused by 
          Satan, and therefore, all crime is satanic crime. This may be a 
          valid religious perspective, but it is of no relevance to the 
          investigation of crime for purposes of prosecution.

          Many of the police officers who lecture on satanic or occult crime 
          do not even investigate such cases. Their presentations are more a 
          reflection of their personal religious beliefs than documented 
          investigative information. They are absolutely entitled to their 
          beliefs, but introducing themselves as current or former police 
          officers and then speaking as religious advocates causes confusion. 
          As difficult as it might be, police officers must separate the 
          religious and law enforcement perspectives when they are lecturing 
          or investigating in their official capacities as law enforcement 
          officers. Many law enforcement officers begin their presentations by 
          stating that they are not addressing or judging anyone's religious 
          beliefs, and then proceed to do exactly that.

          Some police officers have resigned rather than curtail or limit 
          their involvement in this issue as ordered by their departments. 
          Perhaps such officers deserve credit for recognizing that they could 
          no longer keep the perspectives separate.



                                                                            1610
          

          Law enforcement officers and all professionals in this field should 
          avoid the "paranoia" that has crept into this issue and into some of 
          the training conferences. Paranoid type belief systems are 
          characterized by the gradual development of intricate, complex, and 
          elaborate systems of thinking based on and often proceeding 
          logically from misinterpretation of actual events. Paranoia 
          typically involves hypervigilance over the perceived threat, the 
          belief that danger is around every corner, and the willingness to 
          take up the challenge and do something about it. Another very 
          important aspect of this paranoia is the belief that those who do 
          not recognize the threat are evil and corrupt. In this extreme view, 
          you are either with them or against them. You are either part of the 
          solution or part of the problem.

          Overzealousness and exaggeration motivated by the true religious 
          fervor of those involved is more acceptable than that motivated by
          ego or profit. There are those who are deliberately distorting and 
          hyping this issue for personal notoriety and profit. Satanic and 
          occult crime and ritual abuse of children has become a growth 
          industry. Speaking fees, books, video and audio tapes, prevention 
          material, television and radio appearances all bring egoistic and 
          financial rewards.

          Bizarre crime and evil can occur without organized satanic activity. 
          The professional perspective requires that we distinguish between 
          what we know and what we're not sure of.

          The facts are:

          -- a. Some individuals believe in and are involved in something 
          commonly called satanism and the occult.

          -- b. Some of these individuals commit crime.

          -- c. Some groups of individuals share these beliefs and involvement 
          in this satanism and the occult.

          -- d. Some members of these groups commit crime together.

          The unanswered questions are:

          -- a. What is the connection between the belief system and the 
          crimes committed?

          -- b. Is there an organized conspiracy of satanic and occult 
          believers responsible for interrelated serious crime (e.g., 
          molestation, murder)?

          After all the hype and hysteria are put aside, the realization sets 
          in that most satanic/occult activity involves the commission of *no* 
          crimes, and that which does usually involves the commission of 
          relatively minor crimes such as trespassing, vandalism, cruelty to 
          animals, or petty thievery.



                                                                            1611
          

          The law enforcement problems most often linked to satanic or occult 
          activity are:

          -- a. Vandalism.

          -- b. Desecration of churches and cemeteries.

          -- c. Thefts from churches and cemeteries.

          -- d. Teenage gangs

          -- e. Animal mutilations.

          -- f. Teenage suicide.

          -- g. Child abuse.

          -- h. Kidnapping.

          -- i. Murder and human sacrifice

          Valid evidence shows some "connection" between satanism and the 
          occult and the first six problems (#a-f) set forth above. The 
          "connection" to the last three problems (#g-i) is far more 
          uncertain.

          Even where there seems to be a "connection", the nature of the 
          connection needs to be explored. It is easy to blame involvement in
          satanism and the occult for behaviors that have complex motivations. 
          A teenager's excessive involvement in satanism and the occult is 
          usually a symptom of a problem and not the cause of a problem. 
          Blaming satanism for a teenager's vandalism, theft, suicide, or even 
          act of murder is like blaming a criminal's offenses on his tattoos: 
          Both are often signs of the same rebelliousness and lack of self-
          esteem that contribute to the commission of crimes.

          The rock band Judas Priest was recently sued for allegedly inciting 
          two teenagers to suicide through subliminal messages in their 
          recordings. In 1991 Anthony Pratkanis of the University of 
          California at Santa Cruz, who served as an expert witness for the 
          defense, stated the boys in question "lived troubled lives, lives of 
          drug and alcohol abuse, run-ins with the law ... family violence, 
          and chronic unemployment. What issues did the trial and the 
          subsequent mass media coverage emphasize? Certainly not the need for 
          drug treatment centers; there was no evaluation of the pros and cons 
          of America's juvenile justice system, no investigation of the 
          schools, no inquiry into how to prevent family violence, no 
          discussion of the effects of unemployment on a family. Instead our 
          attention was mesmerized by an attempt to count the number of 
          subliminal demons that can dance on the end of a record needle" (p. 
          1).



                                                                            1612
          

          The law enforcement investigator must objectively evaluate the legal 
          significance of any criminal's spiritual beliefs. In most cases, 
          including those involving satanists, it will have little or no legal 
          significance. If a crime is committed as part of a spiritual belief 
          system, it should make no difference which belief system it is. The 
          crime is the same whether a child is abused or murdered as part of a 
          Christian, Hare Krishna, Moslem, or any other belief system. We 
          generally don't label crimes with the name of the perpetrator's 
          religion. Why then are the crimes of child molesters, rapists, 
          sadists, and murderers who happen to be involved in satanism and the 
          occult labeled as satanic or occult crimes? If criminals use a 
          spiritual belief system to rationalize and justify or to facilitate 
          and enhance their criminal activity, should the focus of law 
          enforcement be on the belief system or on the criminal activity? 

          Several documented murders have been committed by individuals 
          involved in one way or another in satanism or the occult. In some of 
          these murders the perpetrator has even introduced elements of the 
          occult (e.g. satanic symbols at crime scene). Does that 
          automatically make these satanic murders? It is my opinion that the 
          answer is no. Ritualistic murders committed by serial killers or 
          sexual sadists are not necessarily satanic or occult murders. 
          Ritualistic murders committed by psychotic killers who hear the 
          voice of Satan are no more satanic murders than murders committed by 
          psychotic killers who hear the voice of Jesus are Christian murders.

          Rather a satanic murder should be defined as one committed by two or 
          more individuals who rationally plan the crime and whose *primary* 
          motivation is to fulfill a prescribed satanic ritual calling for the 
          murder. By this definition I have been unable to identify even one 
          documented satanic murder in the United States. Although such 
          murders may have and can occur, they appear to be few in number. In 
          addition the commission of such killings would probably be the 
          beginning of the end for such a group. It is highly unlikely that 
          they could continue to kill several people, every year, year after 
          year, and not be discovered.

          A brief typology of satanic and occult practitioners is helpful in 
          evaluating what relationship, if any, such practices have to crimes 
          under investigation. The following typology is adapted from the 
          investigative experience of Officer Sandi Gallant of the San 
          Francisco Police Department, who began to study the criminal aspects
          of occult activity long before it became popular. No typology is 
          perfect, but I use this typology because it is simple and offers 
          investigative insights. Most practitioners fall into one of three 
          categories, any of which can be practiced alone or in groups:



                                                                            1613
          


          -- a. "YOUTH SUBCULTURE.

          "Most teenagers involved in fantasy role-playing games, heavy metal 
          music, or satanism and the occult are going through a stage of 
          adolescent development and commit no significant crimes. The 
          teenagers who have more serious problems are usually those from 
          dysfunctional families or those who have poor communication within 
          their families. These troubled teenagers turn to satanism and the 
          occult to overcome a sense of alienation, to rebel, to obtain power, 
          or to justify their antisocial behavior. For these teenagers it is 
          the symbolism, not the spirituality, that is more important. It is 
          either the psychopathic or the oddball, loner teenager who is most 
          likely to get into serious trouble. Extreme involvement in the 
          occult is a symptom of a problem, not the cause. This is not to 
          deny, however, that satanism and the occult can be negative 
          influences for a troubled teenager. But to hysterically warn 
          teenagers to avoid this "mysterious, powerful and dangerous" thing 
          called satanism will drive more teenagers right to it. Some 
          rebellious teenagers will do whatever will most shock and outrage 
          society in order to flaunt their rejection of adult norms.

          -- b. "DABBLERS (SELF-STYLED).

          "For these practitioners there is little or no spiritual motivation. 
          They may mix satanism, witchcraft, paganism, and any aspects of the 
          occult to suit their purposes. Symbols mean whatever they want them 
          or believe them to mean. Molesters, rapists, drug dealers, and 
          murderers may dabble in the occult and may even commit their crimes 
          in a ceremonial or ritualistic way. This category has the potential 
          to be the most dangerous, and most of the "satanic" killers fall 
          into this category. Their involvement in satanism and the occult is 
          a symptom of a problem, and a rationalization and justification of 
          antisocial behavior. Satanic/occult practices (as well as those of 
          other spiritual belief systems) can also be used as a mechanism to 
          facilitate criminal objectives.

          -- c. "TRADITIONAL (ORTHODOX).

          "These are the so-called true believers. They are often wary of 
          outsiders. Because of this and constitutional issues, such groups 
          are difficult for law enforcement to penetrate. Although there may 
          be much we don't know about these groups, as of now there is little 
          or no hard evidence that as a group they are involved in serious, 
          organized criminal activity. In addition, instead of being self-
          perpetuating master crime conspirators, "true believers" probably 
          have a similar problem with their teenagers rebelling against their 
          belief system. To some extent even these Traditional satanists are 
          self-stylized. They practice what they have come to believe is 
          "satanism". There is little or no evidence of the much-discussed 
          multigenerational satanists whose beliefs and practices have 
          supposedly been passed down through the centuries. Many admitted 
          adult satanists were in fact raised in conservative Christian 
          homes."



                                                                            1614
          

          _Washington Post_ editor Walt Harrington reported in a 1986 story on 
          Anton LaVey and his Church of Satan that "sociologists who have 
          studied LaVey's church say that its members often had serious 
          childhood problems like alcoholic parents or broken homes, or that 
          they were traumatized by guilt-ridden fundamentalist upbringings, 
          turning to Satanism as a dramatic way to purge their debilitating 
          guilt" (p. 14).

          Some have claimed that the accounts of ritual abuse victims coincide 
          with historical records of what traditional or multigenerational 
          satanists are known to have practiced down through the ages. Jeffrey 
          Burton Russell, Professor of History at the University of California 
          at Santa Barbara and the author of numerous scholarly books on the 
          devil and satanism, believes that the universal consensus of modern 
          historians on satanism is (personal communication, Nov. 1991):

          "(1) incidents of orgy, infanticide, cannibalism, and other such 
          conduct have occurred from the ancient world down to the present; 
          (2) such incidents were isolated and limited to local antisocial 
          groups; (3) during the period of Christian dominance in European 
          culture, such groups were associated with the Devil in the minds of 
          the authorities; (4) in some cases the sectaries believed that they 
          were worshiping Satan; (5) no organized cult of Satanists existed in 
          the Christian period beyond localities, and on no account was there 
          ever any widespread Satanist organization or conspiracy; (6) no 
          reliable historical sources indicate that such organizations 
          existed; (7) the black mass appears only once in the sources before 
          the late nineteenth century."
           
          Many police officers ask what to look for during the search of the 
          scene of suspected satanic activity. The answer is simple: Look for 
          evidence of a crime. A pentagram is no more criminally significant 
          than a crucifix unless it corroborates a crime or a criminal 
          conspiracy. If a victim's description of the location or the 
          instruments of the crime includes a pentagram, then the pentagram 
          would be evidence. But the same would be true if the description 
          included a crucifix. In many cases of alleged satanic ritual abuse, 
          investigation can find evidence that the claimed offenders are 
          members only of mainstream churches and are often described as very 
          religious.

          There is no way any one law enforcement officer can become 
          knowledgeable about all the symbols and rituals of every spiritual 
          belief system that might become part of a criminal investigation. 
          The officer needs only to be trained to recognize the possible 
          investigative significance of such signs, symbols, and rituals. 
          Knowledgeable religious scholars, academics, and other true experts 
          in the community can be consulted if a more detailed analysis is 
          necessary.

          Any analysis, however, may have only limited application, especially 
          to cases involving teenagers, dabblers, and other self-styled 
          practitioners. The fact is signs, symbols, and rituals can mean 
          anything that practitioners want them to mean and/or anything that 
          observers interpret them to mean.



                                                                            1615
          

          The meaning of symbols can also change over time, place, and 
          circumstance. Is a swastika spray-painted on a wall an ancient 
          symbol of prosperity and good fortune, a recent symbol of Nazism and 
          anti-Semitism, or a current symbol of hate, paranoia, and adolescent 
          defiance? The peace sign which in the 1960s was a familiar antiwar 
          symbol is now supposed to be a satanic symbol. Some symbols and 
          holidays become "satanic" only because the antisatanists say they 
          are. Then those who want to be "satanists" adopt them, and now you 
          have "proof" they are satanic.

          In spite of what is sometimes said or suggested at law enforcement 
          training conferences, police have no authority to seize any satanic 
          or occult paraphernalia they might see during a search. A legally-
          valid reason must exist for doing so. It is not the job of law 
          enforcement to prevent satanists from engaging in noncriminal 
          teaching, rituals, or other activities. 

          9. INVESTIGATING MULTIDIMENSIONAL CHILD SEX RINGS.

          Multidimensional child sex rings can be among the most difficult, 
          frustrating, and complex cases that any law enforcement officer will 
          ever investigate. The investigation of allegations of recent 
          activity from multiple young children under the age of seven 
          presents one set of problems and must begin quickly, with interviews 
          of *all* potential victims being completed as soon as possible. The 
          investigation of allegations of activity ten or more years earlier 
          from adult survivors presents other problems and should proceed, 
          unless victims are at immediate risk, more deliberately, with 
          gradually-increasing resources as corroborated facts warrant.

          In spite of any skepticism, allegations of ritual abuse should be 
          aggressively and thoroughly investigated, This investigation should 
          attempt to corroborate the allegations of ritual abuse. but should 
          *simultaneously* also attempt to identify alternative explanations. 
          The only debate is over how much investigation is enough. Any law 
          enforcement agency must be prepared to defend and justify its 
          actions when scrutinized by the public, the media, elected 
          officials, or the courts. This does not mean, however, that a law 
          enforcement agency has an obligation to prove that the alleged 
          crimes did not occur. This is almost always impossible to do and 
          investigators should be alert for and avoid this trap.

          One major problem in the investigation of multidimensional child sex 
          rings is the dilemma of recognizing soon enough that you have one. 
          Investigators must be alert for cases with the potential for the 
          four basic dynamics: (a) multiple young victims, (b) multiple 
          offenders, (c) fear as the controlling tactic, and (d) bizarre or 
          ritualistic activity. The following techniques apply primarily to 
          the investigation of such multidimensional child sex rings:



                                                                            1616
          

          -- a. MINIMIZE SATANIC/OCCULT ASPECT.

          There are those who claim that one of the major reasons more of 
          these cases have not been successfully prosecuted is that the 
          satanic/occult aspect has not been aggressively pursued. One state 
          has even introduced legislation creating added penalties when 
          certain crimes are committed as part of a ritual or ceremony. A few 
          states have passed special ritual crime laws. I strongly disagree 
          with such an approach. It makes no difference what spiritual belief 
          system was used to enhance and facilitate or rationalize and justify 
          criminal behavior. It serves no purpose to "prove" someone is a 
          satanist. As a matter of fact, if it is alleged that the subject 
          committed certain criminal acts under the influence of or in order 
          to conjure up supernatural spirits or forces, this may very well be 
          the basis for an insanity or diminished capacity defense, or may 
          damage the intent aspect of a sexually motivated crime. The defense 
          may very well be more interested in all the "evidence of satanic 
          activity". Some of the satanic crime "experts" who train law 
          enforcement wind up working or testifying for the defense in these 
          cases.

          It is best to focus on the crime and all the evidence to corroborate 
          its commission. Information about local satanic or occult activity 
          is only of value if it is based on specific law enforcement 
          intelligence and not on some vague, unsubstantiated generalities 
          from religious groups. Cases are not solved by decoding signs, 
          symbols, and dates using undocumented satanic crime "manuals". In 
          one case a law enforcement agency executing a search warrant seized 
          only the satanic paraphernalia and left behind the other evidence 
          that would have corroborated victim statements. Cases are solved by 
          people- and behavior-oriented investigation. Evidence of satanic or 
          occult activity may help explain certain aspects of the case, but
          even offenders who commit crimes in a spiritual context are usually 
          motivated by power, sex, and money.

          -- b. KEEP INVESTIGATION AND RELIGIOUS BELIEFS SEPARATE.

          I believe that one of the biggest mistakes any investigator of these 
          cases can make is to attribute supernatural powers to the offenders. 
          During an investigation a good investigator may sometimes be able to 
          use the beliefs and superstitions of the offenders to his or her 
          advantage. The reverse happens if the investigator believes that the 
          offenders possess supernatural powers. Satanic/occult practitioners 
          have no more power than any other human beings. Law enforcement 
          officers who believe that the investigation of these cases puts them 
          in conflict with the supernatural forces of evil should probably not 
          be assigned to them. The religious beliefs of officers should 
          provide spiritual strength and support for them but should not 
          affect the objectivity and professionalism of the investigation.



                                                                            1617
          

          It is easy to get caught up in these cases and begin to see 
          "satanism" everywhere. Oversensitization to this perceived threat 
          may cause an investigator to "see" satanism in a crime when it 
          really is not there (quasi-satanism). Often the eye sees what the 
          mind perceives. It may also cause an investigator not to recognize a 
          staged crime scene deliberately seeded with "satanic clues" in order 
          to mislead the police (pseudo-satanism). On rare occasions an 
          overzealous investigator or intervenor may even be tempted to plant 
          "evidence of satanism" in order to corroborate such allegations and 
          beliefs. Supervisors need to be alert for and monitor these 
          reactions in their investigators.

          -- c. LISTEN TO THE VICTIMS.

          It is not the investigator's duty to believe the victims; it is his 
          or her job to listen and be an objective fact finder. Interviews of 
          young children should be done by investigators trained and 
          experienced in such interviews. Investigators must have direct 
          access to the alleged victims for interview purposes. Therapists for 
          an adult survivor sometimes want to act as intermediaries in their 
          patient's interview. This should be avoided if at all possible. 
          Adult survivor interviews are often confusing difficult and 
          extremely time-consuming. The investigator must remember however 
          that almost anything is possible. Most important the investigator 
          must remember that there is much middle ground. Just because one 
          event did happen does not mean that all reported events happened, 
          and just because one event did not happen does not mean that all 
          other events did not happen. Do not become such a zealot that you 
          believe it all nor such a cynic that you believe nothing. Varying 
          amounts and parts of the allegation may be factual. Attempting to 
          find evidence of what did happen is the great challenge of these 
          cases. *All* investigative interaction with victims must be 
          carefully and thoroughly documented.

          -- d. ASSESS AND EVALUATE VICTIM STATEMENTS.

          This is the part of the investigative process in child sexual 
          victimization cases that seems to have been lost. Is the victim 
          describing events and activities that are consistent with law 
          enforcement documented criminal behavior, or that are consistent 
          with distorted media accounts and erroneous public perceptions of 
          criminal behavior? Investigators should apply the "template of 
          probability". Accounts of child sexual victimization that are more 
          like books, television, and movies (e.g. big conspiracies, child sex 
          slaves, organized pornography rings) and less like documented cases 
          should be viewed with skepticism but thoroughly investigated. 
          Consider and investigate all possible explanations of events. It is 
          the investigator's job, and the information learned will be
          invaluable in counteracting the defense attorneys when they raise 
          the alternative explanations.



                                                                            1618
          

          For example, an adult survivor's account of ritual victimization 
          might be explained by any one of at least four possibilities: First, 
          the allegations may be a fairly accurate account what actually 
          happened. Second, they may be deliberate lies (malingering), told 
          for the usual reasons people lie (e.g. money, revenge, jealousy). 
          Third, they may be deliberate lies (factitious disorder) told for 
          atypical reasons (e.g. attention, forgiveness). Lies so motivated 
          are less likely to be recognized by the investigator and more likely 
          to be rigidly maintained by the liar unless and until confronted 
          with irrefutable evidence to the contrary. Fourth, the allegations 
          may be a highly inaccurate account of what actually happened, but 
          the victim truly believes it (pseudomemory) and therefore is not 
          lying. A polygraph examination of such a victim would be of limited 
          value. Other explanations or combinations of these explanations are 
          also possible. *Only* thorough *investigation* will point to the 
          correct or most likely explanation. 

          Investigators cannot rely on therapists or satanic crime experts as 
          a shortcut to the explanation. In one case, the "experts" confirmed 
          and validated the account of a female who claimed to be a 15-year-
          old deaf-mute kidnapped and held for three years by a satanic cult 
          and forced to participate in bizarre rituals before recently 
          escaping. Active investigation, however, determined she was a 27-
          year-old woman who could hear and speak, who had not been kidnapped 
          by anyone, and who had a lengthy history of mental problems and at 
          least three other similar reports of false victimization. Her 
          "accurate" accounts of what the "real satanists" do were simply the 
          result of having read, while in mental hospitals, the same books 
          that the "experts" had. A therapist may have important insights 
          about whether an individual was traumatized, but knowing the exact 
          cause of that trauma is another matter. There have been cases where 
          investigation has discovered that individuals diagnosed by 
          therapists as suffering from Post-Vietnam Syndrome were never in 
          Vietnam or saw no combat.

          Conversely, in another case, a law enforcement "expert" on satanic 
          crime told a therapist that a patient's accounts of satanic murders 
          in a rural Pacific Northwest town were probably true because the 
          community was a hotbed of such satanic activity. When the therapist 
          explained that there was almost no violent crime reported in the 
          community, the officer explained that that is how you know it is the 
          satanists. If you knew about the murders or found the bodies, it 
          would not be satanists. How do you argue with that kind of logic?

          The first step in the assessment and evaluation of victim statements 
          is to determine the disclosure sequence, including how much time has 
          elapsed since disclosure was first made and the incident was 
          reported to the police or social services. The longer the delay, the 
          bigger the potential for problems. The next step is to determine the 
          number and purpose of *all prior* interviews of the victim 
          concerning the allegations. The more interviews conducted before the 
          investigative interview, the larger the potential for problems. 
          Although there is nothing wrong with admitting shortcomings and 
          seeking help, law enforcement should never abdicate its control over 
          the investigative interview. When an investigative interview is 
          conducted by or with a social worker or therapist using a team 
          approach, law enforcement must direct the process. Problems can also 
          be created by interviews conducted by various intervenors *after* 
          the investigative interview(s).



                                                                            1619
          

          The investigator must closely and carefully evaluate events in the 
          victim's life before, during, and after the alleged abuse.

          Events to be evaluated *before* the alleged abuse include:

          ---- (1) Background of victim.
          ---- (2) Abuse of drugs in home.
          ---- (3) Pornography in home.
          ---- (4) Play, television, and VCR habits.
          ---- (5) Attitudes about sexuality in home.
          ---- (6) Extent of sex education in home.
          ---- (7) Activities of siblings.
          ---- (8) Need or craving for attention.
          ---- (9) Religious beliefs and training.
          ---- (10) Childhood fears.
          ---- (11) Custody/visitation disputes.
          ---- (12) Victimization of or by family members.
          ---- (13) Interaction between victims.

          Events to be evaluated *during* the alleged abuse include:

          ---- (1) Use of fear or scare tactics.
          ---- (2) Degree of trauma.
          ---- (3) Use of magic deception or trickery.
          ---- (4) Use of rituals.
          ---- (5) Use of drugs.
          ---- (6) Use of pornography.

          Events to be evaluated *after* the alleged abuse include:

          ---- (1) Disclosure sequence.
          ---- (2) Background of prior interviewers.
          ---- (3) Background of parents.
          ---- (4) Co-mingling of victims.
          ---- (5) Type of therapy received.

          -- e. EVALUATE CONTAGION.

          Consistent statements obtained from different multiple victims are 
          powerful pieces of corroborative evidence - that is as long as those 
          statements were not "contaminated". Investigation must carefully 
          evaluate both pre- and post-disclosure contagion, and both victim 
          and intervenor contagion. Are the different victim statements 
          consistent because they describe common experiences or events, or 
          because they reflect contamination or urban legends?

          The sources of potential contagion are widespread. Victims can 
          communicate with each other both prior to and after their 
          disclosures. Intervenors can communicate with each other and with 
          victims. The team or cell concepts of investigation are attempts to 
          deal with potential investigator contagion. All the victims are not 
          interviewed by the same individuals, and interviewers do not 
          necessarily share information directly with each other. Teams report 
          to a leader or supervisor who evaluates the information and decides 
          what other investigators need to know.



                                                                            1620
          


          Documenting existing contagion and eliminating additional contagion 
          are crucial to the successful investigation and prosecution of these 
          cases. There is no way, however, to erase or undo contagion. The 
          best you can hope for is to identify and evaluate it and attempt to 
          explain it. Mental health professionals requested to evaluate 
          suspected victims must be carefully selected. Having a victim 
          evaluated by one of the self-proclaimed experts on satanic ritual 
          abuse or by some other overzealous intervenor may result in the 
          credibility of that victim's testimony being severely damaged.

          In order to evaluate the contagion element, investigators must 
          meticulously and aggressively investigate these cases. The precise 
          disclosure sequence of the victim must be carefully identified and
          documented. Investigators must verify through active investigation 
          the exact nature and content of each disclosure outcry or statement 
          made by the victim. Second-hand information about disclosure is not 
          good enough.

          Whenever possible, personal visits should be made to all locations 
          of alleged abuse and the victim's homes. Events prior to the alleged 
          abuse must be carefully evaluated. Investigators may have to view 
          television programs, films, and videotapes seen by the victims. It 
          may be necessary to conduct a background investigation and 
          evaluation of everyone, both professional and nonprofessional, who 
          interviewed the victims about the allegations prior to and after the 
          investigative interview(s). Investigators must be familiar with the 
          information about ritual abuse of children being disseminated in 
          magazines, books, television programs, videotapes, and conferences. 
          Every possible way that a victim could have learned about the 
          details of the abuse must be explored if for no other reason than to 
          eliminate them and counter the defense's arguments.

          There may, however, be validity to these contagion factors. *They 
          may explain some of the "unbelievable" aspects of the case and 
          result in the successful prosecution of the substance of the case.* 
          Consistency of statements becomes more significant if contagion is 
          identified or disproved by independent investigation. The easier 
          cases are the ones where there is a single, identifiable source of 
          contagion. Most cases, however, seem to involve multiple contagion 
          factors.

          Munchausen Syndrome and Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy are complex and 
          controversial issues in these cases. No attempt will be made to 
          discuss them in detail, but they are documented facts (Rosenberg, 
          1987). Most of the literature about them focuses on their 
          manifestation in the medical setting as false or self-inflicted 
          illness or injury. They are also manifested in the criminal justice 
          setting as false or self-inflicted crime victimization. If parents 
          would poison their children to prove an illness, they might sexually 
          abuse their children to prove a crime. "Victims" have been known to 
          destroy property, manufacture evidence, and mutilate themselves in 
          order to convince others of their victimization. The motivation is 
          psychological gain (i.e. attention, forgiveness, etc.) and not 
          necessarily money, jealousy, or revenge. These are the unpopular, 
          but documented, realities of the world. Recognizing their existence 
          does not mean that child sexual abuse and sexual assault are not 
          real and serious problems.



                                                                            1621
          

          -- f. ESTABLISH COMMUNICATION WITH PARENTS.

          The importance and difficulty of this technique in extrafamilial 
          cases involving young children cannot be overemphasized. An 
          investigator must maintain ongoing communication with the parents of 
          victims in these abuse cases. Not all parents react the same way to 
          the alleged abuse of their children. Some are very supportive and 
          cooperative. Others overreact and some even deny the victimization. 
          Sometimes there is animosity and mistrust among parents with 
          different reactions. Once the parents lose faith in the police or 
          prosecutor and begin to interrogate their own children and conduct 
          their own investigation, the case may be lost forever. Parents from 
          one case communicate the results of their "investigation" with each 
          other, and some have even contacted the parents in other cases. Such 
          parental activity is an obvious source of potential contamination.

          Parents must be made to understand that their children's credibility 
          will be jeopardized when and if the information obtained turns out 
          to be unsubstantiated or false. To minimize this problem, within the 
          limits of the law and without jeopardizing investigative techniques, 
          parents must be told on a regular basis how the case is progressing.
          Parents can also be assigned constructive things to do (e.g. 
          lobbying for new legislation, working on awareness and prevention 
          programs) in order to channel their energy, concern, and "guilt".

          -- g. DEVELOP A CONTINGENCY PLAN.

          If a department waits until actually confronted with a case before a 
          response is developed, it may be too late. In cases involving 
          ongoing abuse of children, departments must respond quickly, and 
          this requires advanced planning. There are added problems for small- 
          to medium-sized departments with limited personnel and resources. 
          Effective investigation of these cases requires planning, 
          identification of resources, and, in many cases, mutual aid 
          agreements between agencies. The U.S. Department of Defense has 
          conducted specialized training and has developed such a plan for 
          child sex ring cases involving military facilities and personnel. 
          Once a case is contaminated and out of control, I have little advice 
          on how to salvage what may once have been a prosecutable criminal 
          violation. A few of these cases have even been lost on appeal after 
          a conviction because of contamination problems.

          -- h. MULTIDISCIPLINARY TASK FORCES.

          Sergeant Beth Dickinson, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, 
          was the chairperson of the Multi-Victim, Multi-Suspect Child Sexual 
          Abuse Subcommittee. Sergeant Dickinson states (personal 
          communication, Nov. 1989):

          "One of the biggest obstacles for investigators to overcome is the 
          reluctance of law enforcement administrators to commit sufficient 
          resources early on to an investigation that has the potential to be 
          a multidimensional child sex ring. It is important to get in and get 
          on top of the investigation in a timely manner - to get it 
          investigated in a timely manner in order to assess the risk to 
          children and to avoid hysteria, media sensationalism, and cross-
          contamination of information. The team approach reduces stress on 
          individual investigators, allowing for peer support and minimizing 
          feelings of being overwhelmed."



                                                                            1622
          

          The team approach and working together does not mean, however, that 
          each discipline forgets its role and starts doing the other's job.

          -- i. SUMMARY.

          The investigation of child sex rings can be difficult and time 
          consuming. The likelihood, however, of a great deal of corroborative 
          evidence in a multivictim/multioffender case increases the chances 
          of a successful prosecution if the crime occurred. Because there is 
          still so much we do not know or understand about the dynamics of 
          multidimensional child sex rings, investigative techniques are less 
          certain. Each new case must be carefully evaluated in order to 
          improve investigative procedures.

          Because mental health professionals seem to be unable to determine, 
          with any degree of certainty, the accuracy of victim statements in 
          these cases, law enforcement must proceed using the corroboration 
          process. If some of what the victim describes is accurate, some 
          misperceived, some distorted, and some contaminated, what is the 
          jury supposed to believe? Until mental health professionals can come 
          up with better answers, the jury should be asked to believe what the 
          *investigation* can corroborate. Even if only a portion of what 
          these victims allege is factual, that may still constitute 
          significant criminal activity. 

          10. CONCLUSION.

          There are many possible alternative answers to the question of why 
          victims are alleging things that don't seem to be true. The first 
          step in finding those answers is to admit the possibility that some 
          of what the victims describe may not have happened. Some experts 
          seem unwilling to even consider this. Most of these victims are also 
          probably not lying and have come to believe that which they are 
          alleging actually happened. There are alternative explanations for 
          why people who never met each other can tell the same story.

          I believe that there is a middle ground - a continuum of possible 
          activity. Some of what the victims allege may be true and accurate, 
          some may be misperceived or distorted, some may be screened or 
          symbolic, and some may be "contaminated" or false. The problem and 
          challenge, especially for law enforcement, is to determine which is 
          which. This can only be done through active investigation. I believe 
          that the majority of victims alleging "ritual" abuse are in fact 
          victims of some form of abuse or trauma. That abuse or trauma may or 
          may not be criminal in nature. After a lengthy discussion about 
          various alternative explanations and the continuum of possible 
          activity, one mother told me that for the first time since the 
          victimization of her young son she felt a little better. She had 
          thought her only choices were that either her son was a pathological 
          liar or, on the other hand, she lived in a community controlled by 
          satanists.

          Law enforcement has the obvious problem of attempting to determine 
          what actually happened for criminal justice purposes. Therapists, 
          however, might also be interested in what really happened in order 
          to properly evaluate and treat their patients. How and when to 
          confront patients with skepticism is a difficult and sensitive 
          problem for therapists.



                                                                            1623
          


          Any professional evaluating victims' allegations of "ritual" abuse 
          cannot ignore or routinely dismiss the lack of physical evidence (no 
          bodies or physical evidence left by violent murders); the difficulty 
          in successfully committing a large-scale conspiracy crime (the more 
          people involved in any crime conspiracy, the harder it is to get 
          away with it); and human nature (intragroup conflicts resulting in 
          individual self-serving disclosures are likely to occur in any group 
          involved in organized kidnapping, baby breeding, and human 
          sacrifice). If and when members of a destructive cult commit 
          murders, they are bound to make mistakes, leave evidence, and 
          eventually make admissions in order to brag about their crimes or to 
          reduce their legal liability. The discovery of the murders in 
          Matamoros, Mexico in 1989 and the results of the subsequent 
          investigation are good examples of these dynamics.

          Overzealous intervenors must accept the fact that some of their 
          well-intentioned activity is contaminating and damaging the 
          prosecutive potential of the cases where criminal acts did occur. We 
          must all (i.e., the media, churches, therapists, victim advocates, 
          law enforcement, and the general public) ask ourselves if we have 
          created an environment where victims are rewarded, listened to, 
          comforted, and forgiven in direct proportion to the severity of 
          their abuse. Are we encouraging needy or traumatized individuals to 
          tell more and more outrageous tales of their victimization? Are we 
          making up for centuries of denial by now blindly accepting any 
          allegation of child abuse no matter how absurd or unlikely? Are we 
          increasing the likelihood that rebellious, antisocial, or attention-
          seeking individuals will gravitate toward "satanism" by publicizing 
          it and overreacting to it? The overreaction to the problem can be 
          worse than the problem.

          The amount of "ritual" child abuse going on in this country depends 
          on how you define the term. One documented example of what I might 
          call "ritual" child abuse was the horror chronicled in the book _A
          Death in White Bear Lake_ (Siegal, 1990). The abuse in this case, 
          however, had little to do with anyone's spiritual belief system. 
          There are many children in the United States who, starting early in 
          their lives, are severely psychologically, physically, and sexually 
          traumatized by angry, sadistic parents or other adults. Such abuse, 
          however, is not perpetrated only or primarily by satanists. The 
          statistical odds are that such abusers are members of mainstream 
          religions. If 99.9% of satanists and 0.1% of Christians abuse 
          children as part of their spiritual belief system, that still means 
          that the vast majority of children so abused were abused by 
          Christians.

          Until hard evidence is obtained and corroborated, the public should 
          not be frightened into believing that babies are being bred and 
          eaten, that 50,000 missing children are being murdered in human 
          sacrifices, or that satanists are taking over America's day care 
          centers or institutions. No one can prove with absolute certainty 
          that such activity has *not* occurred. The burden of proof, however, 
          as it would be in a criminal prosecution, is on those who claim that 
          it has occurred.



                                                                            1624
          


          The explanation that the satanists are too organized and law 
          enforcement is too incompetent only goes so far in explaining the 
          lack of evidence. For at least eight years American law enforcement 
          has been aggressively investigating the allegations of victims of 
          ritual abuse. There is little or no evidence for the portion of 
          their allegations that deals with large-scale baby breeding, human 
          sacrifice, and organized satanic conspiracies. Now it is up to 
          mental health professionals, not law enforcement, to explain why 
          victims are alleging things that don't seem to have happened. 
          Professionals in this field must accept the fact that there is still 
          much we do not know about the sexual victimization of children, and 
          that this area desperately needs study and research by rational, 
          objective social scientists.

          If the guilty are to be successfully prosecuted, if the innocent are 
          to be exonerated, and if the victims are to be protected and 
          treated, better methods to evaluate and explain allegations of 
          "ritual" child abuse must be developed or identified. Until this is 
          done, the controversy will continue to cast a shadow over and fuel 
          the backlash against the validity and reality of child sexual abuse. 

          XI. REFERENCES.

          American Psychiatric Association, _Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 
          of Mental Disorders_ (3rd Ed., Rev.). Washington, DC: 1987.

          Breiner, S.J., _Slaughter of the Innocents: Child Abuse Through the 
          Ages and Today_. New York: Plenum Press, 1990.

          Brown, R., _Prepare for War_. Chino, CA: Chick Publications, 1987.
           
          Brunvand, J.H., _The Vanishing Hitchhiker_. New York: Norton, 1981.

          Harrington, Walt, "The Devil in Anton LaVey". Washington, D.C.: _The 
          Washington Post Magazine_, February 23, 1986, pages #6-17.

          Lanning, K.V., _Child Molesters: A Behavioral Analysis_ (2nd Ed.). 
          Washington, D.C.: National Center for Missing and Exploited 
          Children, 1987.

          Lanning, K.V. (1989). Child sex rings: A behavioral analysis. 
          Washington, DC: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
           
          LaVey, Anton, _The Satanic Bible_. New York: Avon Books, 1969.

          Mayer, R.S., _Satan's Children_. New York: Putnam, 1991.

          Michigan Department of State Police, _Occult Survey_. East Lansing, 
          Michigan, 1990.

          _National Coalition on Television Violence (NCTV) News_, June-
          October 1988, page #3.

          _National Incidence Studies on Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and 
          Thrownaway Children in America_. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department 
          of Justice, 1990.

          Prattanis, A., "Hidden messages", _Wellness Letter_.  Berkeley, 
          California: University of California, January 1991, pages #1-2.



                                                                            1625
          

          Rosenberg, D.A., "Web of Deceit: A Literature Review of Munchausen 
          Syndrome by Proxy", _Child Abuse and Neglect_ #2, 1987, pages #547-
          563.

          Rush, E., _The Best Kept Secret: Sexual Abuse of Children_. New 
          York: McGraw-Hill, 1980.

          Smith, M., & Pazder, L., _Michelle Remembers_. New York: Congdon and 
          Lattis, 1980.

          Siegal, B., _A Death in White Bear Lake_. New York: Bantam, 1990.

          "Stranger-Abduction Homicides of Children", _Juvenile Justice 
          Bulletin_. Washington, D.C.: U. S. Department of Justice, 1989.

          Stratford. L., _Satan's Underground_. Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House, 
          1988.

          Terr, L., _Too Scared to Cry_. New York: Harper & Row, 1990.

          Timnik, L., "The Times Poll", _Los Angeles Times_, August 25-26, 
          1985.

          Virginia Crime Commission Task Force, _Final Report of the Task 
          Force Studying Ritual Crime_. Richmond, Virginia.


          12. SUGGESTED READING.

          -- a. Cooper, John Charles, _The Black Mask: Satanism in America 
          Today_. Old Tappen, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1990.

          Probably the best of the large number of books available primarily 
          in Christian bookstores and written from the Christian perspective. 
          This one, however, is written without the hysteria and 
          sensationalism of most. Recommended for investigators who want 
          information from this perspective.

          -- b. Hicks, Robert D., _In Pursuit of Satan: The Police and the 
          Occult_. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1991.

          Undoubtedly the best book written to date on the topic of satanism 
          and the occult from the law enforcement perspective. Robert D. Hicks 
          is a former police officer who is currently employed as a criminal 
          justice analyst for the state of Virginia. Must reading for any 
          criminal justice professional involved in this issue. Unfortunately, 
          in the chapter on "Satanic Abuse of Children", the author appears to 
          have been overly influenced by extreme skeptics with minimal or 
          questionable credentials in this area. The book is easy to read, 
          logical, and highly recommended.



                                                                            1626
          

          -- c. Richardson, James T.; Best, Joel; & Bromley, David G.; Eds, 
          _The Satanism Scare_. NY: Aldine de Gruyter, 1991.

          The best book now available on the current controversy over satanism 
          written from the academic perspective, The editors and many of the 
          chapter authors are college professors and have written an 
          objective, well-researched book. One of the great strengths of this 
          book is the fact that the editors address a variety of the 
          controversial issues from a variety of disciplines (i.e., sociology, 
          history, folklore, anthropology, criminal justice). Because of its 
          academic perspective it is sometimes harder to read but is well 
          worth the effort. The chapter on "Law Enforcement and the Satanic 
          Crime Connection" contains the results of a survey of "Cult Cops" 
          and is must reading for law enforcement officers. The chapter on 
          "Satanism and Child Molestation: Constructing the Ritual Abuse 
          Scare" was written, however, by a free-lance journalist who seems to 
          take the position that these cases involve little or no real child 
          abuse.

          -- d. Terr, Lenore, _Too Scared to Cry: Psychic Trauma in 
          Childhood_. New York: Harper and Row, 1990.

          An excellent book written by a psychiatrist that provides important 
          insights into the nature and recallability of early psychic trauma. 
          For me, Dr. Terr's research and findings in the infamous Chowchilla 
          kidnapping case shed considerable light on the "ritual" abuse 
          controversy.



                                                                            1627
          

                             PERSECUTION: ANCIENT AND MODERN  

          This is the  text of a talk entitled  PERSECUTION: ANCIENT AND MODERN.
          Written  by  Julia Phillips,  it was  presented  by Julia  and Matthew
          Sandow at  the Wiccan  Conference, Canberra,  September 1992,  and was
          illustrated with slides of medieval woodcuts, paintings and documents.


          To begin, an example of religious persecution:

          I  am told  that,  moved by  some foolish  urge,  they consecrate  and
          worship the head of a donkey, that  most abject of all animals.   This
          is a cult worthy of the customs from which it sprang! Others say  that
          they reverence the genitals of the presiding priest himself, and adore
          them as  though they were their  father's... As for  the initiation of
          new  members, the details are as disgusting  as they are well-known. A
          child,  covered in  dough to  deceive the  unwary, is  set before  the
          would-be  novice. The novice stabs  the child to  death with invisible
          blows;  indeed, he himself, deceived  by the coating  of dough, thinks
          his  stabs harmless. Then -  it's horrible! -  they hungrily drink the
          child's blood, and  compete with one another as they divide his limbs.
          Through this  victim they are bound  together; and the fact  that they
          all share the knowledge of the crime pledges them all to silence. Such
          holy rites are more  disgraceful than sacrilege. It is  well-known too
          what happens at their feasts.... On the feast day they forgather  with
          all their children,  sisters, mothers,  people of either  sex and  all
          ages. When the company is all aglow from feasting, and impure lust has
          been set  afire by  drunkenness, pieces  of meat are  thrown to  a dog
          fastened to  a  lamp. The  lamp,  which would  have been  a  betraying
          witness, is overturned and goes out. Now, in the dark so favourable to
          shameless behaviour,  they twine the  bonds of unnameable  passion, as
          chance  decides. And  so all  alike are  incestuous, if not  always in
          deed, at least by complicity; for  everything that is performed by one
          of them corresponds to the wishes of them all... Precisely the secrecy
          of this evil  religion proves  that all these  things, or  practically
          all, are true. (Minucius Felix: Octavius) 

          Although  the language is not modern, the description of the practices
          could have come straight from last week's "Picture" magazine! And this
          is the point  that I wish to  make; the facts of  persecution have not
          changed in almost 2,000 years,  for that piece was written in  the 2nd
          century AD. Moreover,  the religion it  condemns is Christianity,  not
          Paganism, for Paganism at  that time was the dominant  state religion.
          In fact  the author  is a  Christian apologist,  and is  attempting to
          rebuke what he  sees as  unfair criticism, by  parodying the  offences
          which Pagans accuse Christians of perpetrating.

          Persecution  of religious  minorities  is  quite  simply that;  it  is
          persecution by a large  body of people - generally those who represent
          "society"  - against a smaller  one; generally comprised  of those who
          have  either rejected, or  for one reason or  another, fall outside of
          the social "norm".



                                                                            1628
          


          Let us look at the medieval picture of the  witch; society's scapegoat
          par excellence: here we see her - for it is most often "her" - an old,
          ugly woman,  most likely poor,  and most likely  on the fringe  of the
          society in  which she lives. This  is the stereotype of  the witch. We
          know it is false; we know it has no basis in fact;  however, it became
          an integral part of the mindset of medieval  Europe, and through fairy
          tales,  drama and literature, and more latterly, cinema, the media and
          television, it has remained  an integral image in modern  society. One
          has only to look to Roald Dahl's "Witches", or Frank Baum's "Wizard of
          Oz", for  proof of this.   It came as a  surprise to me  to learn that
          "The  Wizard  of Oz"  was in  fact  a deliberate  propaganda exercise,
          released just at  the beginning of World War II.  If you remember, the
          magic words are: "There's no place like home"; and where was "home"?
          Kansas! that epitome of the WASP culture.

          When looking at medieval persecution of heresy, the waters are muddied
          by  the many  different causes  and effects  which permeate  the whole
          matter. There was no single cause, and no single victim.  It is a fact
          that far  more women than men  were persecuted; there are  a number of
          reasons  for this, not least  that throughout this  period, Europe was
          engaged in one war after another - most notably The Crusades - and men
          were in rather short supply.  There were also several epidemics of the
          plague, not to mention  other diseases such as dysentery  and cholera,
          which in  the Middle  Ages were sure  killers. Another  reason is  the
          rampant  misogyny  which,  begun  with the  earliest  Christians,  has
          permeated their theology ever since:
                    "What else  is woman but  a foe to  friendship, an
                    inescapable  punishment, a necessary  evil, a nat-
                    ural  temptation, a desirable calamity, a domestic
                    danger, a delectable detriment, an evil of nature,
                    painted in fair colours...  The word woman is used
                    to mean  the lust of the  flesh, as it is  said: I
                    have  found a woman more bitter  than death, and a
                    good woman more subject to  carnal lust... [Women]
                    are more credulous; and since the chief aim of the
                    devil is  to  corrupt faith,  therefore he  rather
                    attacks them  [than  men]... Women  are  naturally
                    more impressionable... They have slippery tongues,
                    and are unable to  conceal from their fellow-women
                    those  things  which by  evil  arts they  know....
                    Women are intellectually  like children... She  is
                    more  carnal than a man, as is clear from her many
                    carnal abominations... She is an imperfect animal,
                    she always deceives....  Therefore a wicked  woman
                    is by  her nature quicker  to waver in  her faith,
                    and  consequently  quicker  to  abjure  the faith,
                    which is  the root  of witchcraft.... Just  as th-
                    rough the first defect in  their intelligence they
                    are  more prone  to abjure  the faith;  so through
                    their second defect of inordinate affections and
                    passions they search for,  brood over, and inflict
                    various vengeances,  either  by witchcraft  or  by
                    some  other means....  Women also  have weak  mem-
                    ories; and it is a natural vice in them not to be
                    disciplined,  but  to  follow  their  own impulses
                    without  any sense of what is due... She is a liar
                    by nature... (Malleus Maleficarum, edited by
                    Jeffrey Russell).



                                                                            1629
          


          It  is easy to  comprehend the persecution  of women when  one is con-
          fronted with such obvious hatred and fear of the sex.  But perhaps the
          most powerful impetus of the witch trials era is one which is subtly -
          and  sometimes not so subtly!  - present in all the  trials; that of a
          pursuit of power  or wealth. For an  example we can look  to Gilles de
          Rais, who  as the wealthiest man in  Europe (as well as  Joan of Arc's
          military Captain), was  a prime victim  for a charge of  heresy. Found
          guilty,  his  lands, properties  and  wealth were  confiscated  by his
          accusers.  Curiously though he was buried on consecrated ground in the
          Churchyard; normally forbidden to heretics.  In  "The Encyclopaedia of
          Witchcraft and Demonology", Russell Hope Robbins says:

                    "At  first, Gilles dismissed  their accusations as
                    "frivolous  and  lacking credit",  but  so certain
                    were the principals of  finding him guilty that on
                    September 3, fifteen days  before the trial began,
                    the Duke disposed of  his anticipated share of the
                    Rais  lands.   Under  these  circumstances, it  is
                    difficult  to place  any credence in  the evidence
                    against him, among the most fantastic and obscene
                    presented in this Encyclopaedia."

          Charges included the now obligatory conjurations  of devils and demons
          - Satan, Beelzebub,  Orion and Belial are mentioned by  name - and the
          practice of that  dreadful art:  geomancy! And of  course the  charges
          included human sacrifice and paedophilia; no self-respecting Christian
          could exclude these crimes from charges against a confirmed heretic!

          There were not many who had the wealth of Gilles de Rais, but in
          a small parish, even the meanest property was eagerly seized, and
          the  witch hunts became a  profitable business. The  victims were even
          required to pay for the fuel upon which they were burnt.  But the laws
          were  not  consistent throughout  Europe, and  in  some areas,  if the
          victim confessed, then his  or her property could not  be confiscated,
          but  was inherited by the next of  kin. However, many of these victims
          were  in fact  devout Christians,  who would  be  loath to  confess to
          heresy  just so that their family could  inherit their land! Of course
          many were  tortured to the point  were they would admit  to being any-
          thing demanded of them,  although technically, they were only  allowed
          to be tortured once. This is why you will read in trials  records that
          the  torture was "continued", which, of course, gets round the problem
          of the poor torturer missing out on his lunch and dinner.

          Although most heretics were  women, a great many men were  also taken,
          tortured,  and put to death. This is a  letter from one such victim at
          the notorious Bamberg in  Germany; a poignant  epitaph to one of  Eur-
          ope's most hideous crimes:

                    Many hundred thousand good-nights,  dearly beloved
                    daughter Veronica. Innocent have I come into pris-
                    on, innocent have I been tortured, innocent must I
                    die. For whoever comes  into the witch prison must
                    become  a witch  or be  tortured until  he invents
                    something out of  his head  - and God  pity him  -
                    bethinks him of something.

                    I  said: "I  have  never renounced  God, and  will
                    never do it - God graciously keep me from it. I'll
                    rather bear whatever I must."



                                                                  1630
                    

                    And then  came also -  God in highest  heaven have
                    mercy  - the executioner,  and put the thumbscrews
                    on  me, both  hands  bound together,  so that  the
                    blood spurted from the nails and everywhere,
                    so that for four  weeks I could not use  my hands,
                    as you  can see  from my writing.  Thereafter they
                    stripped me, bound my hands behind me, and drew me
                    up  on the ladder. Then I thought heaven and earth
                    were  at an end. Eight  times did they  draw me up
                    and let me fall again, so that I suffered terrible
                    agony.

                    All  this happened  on Friday  June 30th  and with
                    God's help I had to bear the torture. When at last
                    the executioner led me back into the cell, he said
                    to me: "Sir, I beg you, for God's sake, confess
                    something, whether it be true or not. Invent some-
                    thing, for  you cannot bear the  torture which you
                    will be put to; and, even if you bear it  all, yet
                    you will not escape, not even if you were an earl,
                    but one torture will  follow another until you say
                    you are a witch."

          The  author of  this letter,  Johannes Junius,  did indeed  confess to
          being a  witch, and in  August of 1628, was  burned at the  stake.  He
          managed  to send  his final  letter to  his  daughter, which  ended by
          saying:

                    Dear child, keep this  letter secret, so that peo-
                    ple  do not find it, else I shall be tortured most
                    piteously and  the jailers  will be beheaded.   So
                    strictly is  it forbidden... Dear  child, pay this
                    man a thaler... I have taken several days to write
                    this - my hands are both  crippled.  I am in a sad
                    plight. Good night, for your  father Johannes Jun-
                    ius will never see you more.

          This  letter describes  more accurately  than any  historical treatise
          just how uncompromising the ecclesiastical courts were in their
          hunt for heretics. Witches, of course, were only one kind of heretic.

          I mentioned earlier that  there are many causes, and  many effects, to
          the period which  is commonly referred to  as "The Burning  Times", or
          the Great  Witch Hunt. It is  often assumed by many  people today that
          Christianity  has been the dominant  western religion for 2,000 years.
          This is  not so. The death  of Christ, which probably  occurred in the
          year AD  30, may have heralded  the new religion, but  there was cert-
          ainly  not an immediate conversion of the world to Christianity. Parts
          of Scandinavia remained wholly  Pagan until as late  as the 12th  cen-
          tury. The British Isles  and mainland Europe were converted  to Chris-
          tianity  over a lengthy  period covering  mainly the  4th to  9th cen-
          turies.  Some  parts have  never truly  been  converted, and  with the
          opening  up of the Eastern bloc countries, we are now re-discovering a
          wealth  of Pagan  tradition  and folklore  that  has been  hidden  for
          hundreds of  years:   initially from  the invading  Christian mission-
          aries, and then later from the various communist regimes.



                                                                            1631
          


          As the new religion of Christianity began to spread, many different
          sects and  cults appeared within its  ranks. The Pope in  Rome was the
          nominal head, but rarely was the Pope a person of spiritual purity and
          ascetic tastes; the political scene in Rome has always been cut-throat
          and devious. A truly spiritual person  would have lasted approximately
          two seconds  amongst the clever  and calculating  politicians who  in-
          fested the Papal See! The enormous wealth and power controlled  by the
          Pope was an incentive to the most grasping  and corrupt of men at that
          time to aspire to the Papacy. Pope Alexander VI (1492) is a superb ex-
          ample of the type who  made it to Europe's foremost political  seat of
          power:  otherwise known as Rodrigo Borgia; father (yes, we all know
          Catholics practise celibacy!) of Cesare, Juan, Lucrezia and Jofre,
          and supreme commander  of a private army of  which any modern dictator
          would be proud.

          Because of their sumptuous lifestyle, their obvious disregard and
          contempt for vows of poverty and chastity, and their abuse of the
          spiritual authority invested in them, many spiritually inclined
          Christians rejected the Catholic Church, and instead followed
          leaders who lived simple, ascetic lives in accordance with the
          teachings of Christ. Some of these sects became very popular,
          and were soon perceived by the Pope as a threat to his status and
          power. It has been suggested that the witch trials were a direct
          result from the persecution of these sects. Rather than incorporate a
          discussion of the different sects within this talk, handouts are
          available which very briefly describe the main ones.

          The main thrust was against the Cathars or Albigensians, and the
          Waldensians (Vaudois), and it was their persecution which gave rise to
          the legal  machinery which  developed into  the  Inquisition, and  the
          so-called witch hunts.  It began with Pope Lucius III and the emperor,
          Frederick I  Barbarossa; they met  at Verona  in 1184, and  issued the
          decree "Ad abolendam", which excommunicated sects like the Cathars and
          Waldensians, and  laid down  the procedures for  ecclesiastical trial,
          after which the accused  would be handed  over to the secular  author-
          ities  for  punishment. The  punishment  decreed  was confiscation  of
          property,  exile, or death.  By the  12th century, burning had already
          become  the established means of  execution for heretics,  and so this
          became enshrined in law.

          At  the beginning of the  13th century, the  Dominican Order of Friars
          was  established, and  its  members were  instructed  by the  Pope  to
          investigate  and prosecute heresy. From this simple beginning grew the
          awesome  machinery  of the  Inquisition,  which  although never  aimed
          particularly  at witches,  became  a byword  for  terror in  parts  of
          Europe.

          As you  can see, the motives  for the heresy persecutions  were not to
          stamp out Paganism - although that was certainly a by-product - but
          to remove the threat of any competition to the power of the Church
          (and thus to the Pope), in Rome. And the greatest threat came from
          other "Christian" sects, not the Pagans. The change from an accusatory
          to an inquisitorial  process became established,  and the legal  mach-
          inery which allowed  - indeed encouraged -  individual psychopaths and
          religious maniacs to persecute at will, was in place.



                                                                            1632
          


          Have you  got a neighbour  who annoys  you? plays loud  music, or  who
          keeps their smelly refuse next to your garden fence? Now your recourse
          is to the local council or the police; in  the Middle Ages, you simply
          denounced the  offender as a witch or heretic, and let the Church deal
          with them  for you.  Not only  did it  cost you  nothing, if  you were
          lucky, you might also inherit their property!

          For once you  were taken  as a witch  or a heretic,  there was  little
          chance of escape.  Certainly some victims were  pardoned and released,
          but the vast majority were  not so lucky. When you consider  the style
          of questioning, this is not surprising:

          1     How long have you been a witch?

          2     Why did you become a witch?

          3     How did you become a witch and what happened on that occasion?

          4     Who is the one you chose to be your incubus? What was his name?

          5     What was the name of your master among the evil demons?

          6     What was the oath you were forced to render to him?

          21    What animals have you bewitched to sickness and death, and
                why did you commit such acts?

          22    Who are your accomplices in evil...?

          24    What is the ointment with which you rub your broomstick
                made of...?

          This  set of questions came  from Lorraine, and  was used consistently
          throughout the three centuries  of the main persecutions.   Bearing in
          mind that  the accused HAD to answer - no  answer at all, or a denial,
          was tantamount to guilt - you can see how easily the composite picture
          of the witch evolved.  As Rossell Hope Robbins says:  "The confessions
          of witches authenticated the experts, and the denunciations ensured  a
          continuing  supply  of victims.  Throughout  France  and Germany  this
          procedure became  standardised; repeated year  after year, in  time it
          built  up a  huge mass  of "evidence", all  duly authorised,  from the
          mouths of the accused. On these confessions, later demonologists based
          their compendiums and so formulated the classic conceptions of witchc-
          raft, which never existed save in their own minds."

          As the new religion of Christianity began to spread, many different
          sects and  cults appeared within its  ranks. The Pope in  Rome was the
          nominal head, but rarely was the Pope a person of spiritual purity and
          ascetic tastes; the political scene in Rome has always been cut-throat
          and devious. A truly spiritual person  would have lasted approximately
          two seconds  amongst the clever  and calculating  politicians who  in-
          fested  the Papal See! The enormous wealth and power controlled by the
          Pope was an incentive to the most grasping and corrupt of men  at that
          time to aspire to the Papacy. Pope Alexander VI (1492) is a superb ex-
          ample of the type who  made it to Europe's foremost political  seat of
          power:  otherwise known as Rodrigo Borgia; father (yes, we all know
          Catholics practise celibacy!) of Cesare, Juan, Lucrezia and Jofre,
          and supreme commander of a  private army of which any  modern dictator
          would be proud.



                                                                            1633
          

          It is also rather disturbing to discover just how important individual
          religious maniacs appear to have been in the persecutions. Rather like
          today, where  a crusading  tele-journalist, or evangelical  vicar, can
          cause untold  harm to innocent people. Without exception, these accus-
          ations  are  by those  with an  unhealthy  mania against  anyone whose
          theology  or practices  differ from  their own.  In the  words of  one
          modern evangelist:  "if you're not  fighting and winning,  you're los-
          ing.".

          Conrad of Marburg, described by Norman Cohn as, "a blind fanatic", was
          a  severe  and formidable  persecutor. As  confessor  to the  young 21
          year-old  Countess of Thuringia, he would trick her into "some trivial
          and unwitting disobedience, and then have her and her maids flogged so
          severely  that the  scars were  visible weeks  later". (Cohn).  Conrad
          became Germany's first official Inquisitor, and his zeal in denouncing
          heretics was  unsurpassed. Another Conrad, a  lay-Dominican Friar, and
          his sidekick Johannes,  were also vigorous in denouncing  heretics. As
          they  moved from village to village, they  claimed to be able to iden-
          tify a  heretic by his or  her appearance, based on  nothing but their
          own  intuition. They were responsible for the burnings of many people,
          and said, "we would gladly burn a hundred if just one among them were
          guilty". (Annales Wormantiensis).

          Their comment about appearance is an important one; as we saw earlier,
          the stereotype of the witch hasn't changed much in hundreds of  years.
          We know it is false; we know that it exists only in the imagination of
          the persecutors, and yet how powerful and enduring this stereotype has
          proven to be.

          If we think about this stereotype,  what images do we conjure up?   An
          old woman -  occasionally an old man; or perhaps  a young and alluring
          temptress?  Flying through  the  air on  a  broomstick; worshipping  a
          devil, often in the form of a goat; trampling upon  the sacred symbols
          of Christianity; and  of course our  old friend  the Sabbat, with  its
          practices  of  sexual  license,  debauchery,  drunkenness  and  ritual
          murder; the latter often of children.

          But persecution does not restrict itself to witches; the similarities
          between this stereotype and that of the Jew are obvious: Jews have
          been persecuted throughout their history, but it is interesting to
          compare some aspects of their persecution with that of witches.

          In the 12th century, the word  "Synagogue" was used for the first time
          to  describe the  meeting place  of  heretics. Professor  Russell says
          that:  "This usage, obviously designed  to spite the  Jews, was common
          throughout the Middle Ages, being replaced only towards the end of the
          15th century by the equally anti-Jewish term 'sabbat'.

          The Encyclopaedia Britannica says on the subject of Jewish persecution
          that: "To  reinforce racial and religious  prejudice, the preposterous
          ritual murder accusation  became common  from the  12th century."  The
          third and fourth Lateran Councils had already prohibited gentiles from
          entering  Jewish  service, or  being  employed  by  Jews, and  further
          ordered that Jews  should wear a distinctive  badge, and live  only in
          Jewish  settlement  areas. This  of course  was  the beginning  of the
          ghetto.



                                                                            1634
          


          As we have seen though, the ritual murder accusation  was already over
          a thousand  years old, before it  was used against either  the Jews or
          the heretics  and witches. Most people  know of the  expulsion of Jews
          from Spain in the 15th  century, but perhaps not so commonly  known is
          that for about  200 years prior  to the expulsion,  the Jews had  been
          massacred and persecuted.  Indeed, it  was against the  Jews that  the
          infamous Spanish  Inquisition of  the 15th century  was directed.  The
          persecution  of Jews  in  20th century  Europe  is too  well-known  to
          require further comment  here, but  perhaps a few  comments about  its
          encouragement would be useful.

          We are discussing  persecution in  this talk, and  how persecution  is
          manifested. Throughout  history, the written word  has been invaluable
          as a  means of  spreading  propaganda. Even  in  the Middle  Ages  the
          "crimes"  of the heretic were  publicised by records  of trials, where
          the  "confessions" were made known to the general public. The infamous
          "Malleus  Maleficarum"  became  highly  influential  in  Europe mainly
          because  its  publication  coincided  with the  introduction  of  mass
          printing.  It had little effect in England because no English transla-
          tion  was available until 1928. This fact alone demonstrates the power
          of the written word.

          In  medieval Europe, a pamphlet  describing the crimes  of a convicted
          heretic  would be pinned to a  post in the town  square, and those who
          could not  read had it read to them. In 20th century Europe, pamphlets
          were  still used  by one  group to  spread lies  about another.  As we
          approach  the 21st  century, this  technique is  still used  with very
          great success; for the persecutor needs to make only a glancing nod to
          the truth, and the lies which are published (or more frequently broad-
          cast) are far more scandalous than the reality!

          An example: soon after the launch  of the Pagan Alliance, Sydney radio
          2MMM broadcasted a  news story about the  sexual abuse of children  by
          occultists and witches.  Matthew responded  immediately, and  provided
          the  station  with copy  documents  and news  clippings  from Britain,
          proving the story to be without foundation, and a scheme by the Chris-
          tian  fundamentalists to discredit  Pagans. The news  editor and chief
          journalist  were impressed by the  material, and agreed  that they had
          been used by the fundies. However, they refused to broadcast a retrac-
          tion because it  would be "old news".   So, the damage had  been done,
          and the fundamentalists achieved their objective.

          This technique was used with very great effect in the early part of
          the 20th century, with the circulation of a pamphlet called, "The
          Protocols of the Elders of Zion". This purported to be, "an account
          of  the World Congress  of Jewry held  in Basel, Switzerland  in 1897,
          during which  a conspiracy  was  planned by  the international  Jewish
          movement and the Freemasons to achieve world domination." (M Howard).

          German nationalists made very great use of the Protocols, which it
          was  claimed were "smuggled out of Switzerland by a Russian journalist
          who  had placed the  documents in the  safe keeping of  the Rising Sun
          Masonic Lodge in Frankfurt." (ibid) They were widely disseminated, and
          writing in  "Mein Kampf", Hitler "denounced  the Jews as agents  of an
          international conspiracy devoted  to world  domination...". (ibid)  We
          all know what happened next.  



                                                                            1635
          


          The point  is that although the Protocols were confirmed as a fraud in
          1921, they continued to have an effect, and once published, could  not
          effectively be  retracted. This is  the aim of  today's fundamentalist
          Christian, who  believes that if he or she throws enough dirt at their
          opponents (basically anyone who  does not agree with  their uncomprom-
          ising version of Christianity),  then some will stick, and  the battle
          will be won. This is the strategy which has been used for thousands of
          years  to persecute minorities, and  has always been  successful.  The
          formula  is  simple: discover  what most  people  fear most,  and then
          accuse your enemies of practising it.  It is an interesting comment on
          humanity that those things which occur time and time again are consis-
          tent: conspiracy, buggery,  paedophilia, sacrifice (human  and animal)
          sexual  license,  drunkenness and  feasting.    More specific  charges
          relating to  a pact  with a  devil or desecrating  sacred objects  are
          additions to these core accusations.

          A further interesting aspect is that many of the accusations were
          made by children; interesting parallels can be drawn to modern accusa-
          tions by  children "encouraged" to reveal  information about occultism
          and  witches. It has been  widely recorded that  Hitler's "Youth Army"
          required  children to spy upon their parents, and report any indiscre-
          tions; modern social workers use  an identical process for identifying
          Pagan parents  - children are  asked about what their  parents do, and
          leading questions are commonly used.  And of course there have  always
          been children  who, for one reason or another, tell the most fantastic
          tales. It is unlikely  today that the victims of these child fantasies
          will be burned at the stake,  but there have been families torn apart,
          children  placed in detention  centres, and untold  misery for parents
          and children alike,  based upon no  more than the  verbal report of  a
          child.

          Commentators on this  aspect of  persecution have  suggested that  the
          children wish to be the centre of attention; or to direct punishment
          for their own misdeeds elsewhere; or are simply reacting in a hyperac-
          tive manner to  the onset of puberty. Whatever  the cause, the effects
          are  dramatic, and  have caused  severe suffering,  and in  the middle
          ages, loss of life, on many occasions.

          In medieval England, there were many occasions where children's "evid-
          ence" (sic) was  used to  convict witches. "The  Leicester Boy",  "The
          Burton  Boy" and "The Bilson Boy" were a few of many who claimed to be
          bewitched by witches.  Eventually proven to be  a fraud, at  least ten
          women died  as a result of  the accusations of The  Leicester Boy, and
          the Burton Boy  caused the death of at least one  of the women whom he
          accused. In  the 17th century a  number of women were  executed on the
          allegations  of  hysterical  children,  even though  fraud  was  often
          discovered  during the  course of  the trial.  It is  a fact  that the
          delusions  of delinquent  or  disturbed children  were  often used  by
          judges  to confirm their own prejudices; how little things have chang-
          ed!



                                                                            1636
          


          Salem (1692)  is probably the best known of all the cases where child-
          ren were the  chief accusers.  Although in fact,  the "children"  were
          more like young adults, with only  one under the age of ten,  and most
          in their late teens or  early twenties. However, as the panic  grew, a
          great  many more were sucked into the  web of lies, and Martha Carrier
          was hanged on the "evidence" (sic)  of her 7 year-old daughter. At the
          height of  the hysteria  almost 150 people  were arrested;  thirty-one
          were convicted, and nineteen hung.  Some died in jail, and others were
          reprieved. As was common in Europe,  the accused were required to  pay
          their  expenses whilst in jail,  even if they  were subsequently found
          innocent. Sarah Osborne and Ann Foster both died in jail, and costs of
          œ1 3s  5d and œ2 16s  0d respectively were demanded  before the bodies
          would be released for burial.

          The  chief of the accusers, Ann Putnam, confessed fourteen years later
          that  the whole thing  was a fraud.  In 1697 the  jurors publicly con-
          fessed they  had made an error  of judgement, and ten  years after the
          executions, Judge  Samuel Sewall  "confessed the  guilt of  the court,
          desiring  to take the blame and shame of  it...". By then of course it
          was too late  for those who were  dead, or whose lives had  been dest-
          royed by the accusations.

          But we  are getting ahead of ourselves here,  for Salem is the last of
          the great witch trials, coming as it does towards the end of the 17th
          century.

          We mentioned earlier that in Continental Europe, the heresy trials
          appeared to arise from the persecution of the Christian sects of the
          Bogomils, Cathars, Albigensians, and others such as the Jews,  Walden-
          sians,  and even the Knights Templars. The stereotype of the witch was
          compounded  from  many different  sources,  and  gradually became  the
          composite figure of the  shape-shifting hag, who flew through  the air
          on a broom, and flung her curses at all and sundry.

          The concept of the pact with the devil existed as early as the 8th
          century, and as we have seen, sexual license, buggery and ritual
          sacrifice have long been seen as activities supposed to be practised
          by those outside of society's norm, whether they be Christian or
          Pagan. During the 9th century, shape-shifting, maleficia and the
          incubus/succubus became more  commonly reported, and by  the 10th cen-
          tury, the idea of nocturnal flight was established.  Published in 906,
          the Canon Episcopi described how some women were deluded in the belief
          that at  night they could  fly behind  their Goddess, Diana  (Holda or
          Herodias):

                    "Some wicked women are  perverted by the Devil and
                    led astray by  illusions and fantasies  induced by
                    demons,  so that  they  believe they  ride out  at
                    night on beasts with Diana, the pagan goddess, and
                    a horde of women.  They believe that in  the night
                    they cross huge distances. They say that they obey
                    Diana's commands and on certain nights are  called
                    out in her service..."



                                                                            1637
          


          Echoes here to Maddalena's story recounted by Leland in Aradia: Gospel
          of the Witches:

                      "Oncein the month, and when the moon is full, ye
                    shall assemble in some desert place,  or in a for-
                    est all  together join to adore  the potent spirit
                    of your Queen, my mother, great Diana". 

          Carlo Ginzburg has also published a remarkable book about the Witches'
          Sabbath, and  the night flight,  where he  suggests that these  are in
          fact  based on  genuinely ancient shamanic  practices; nothing  new in
          this  concept to modern Witches, but  a novel observation in the acad-
          emic circles in which Ginzburg moves.

          In  1012, Burchard's Collectarium was published:  the first attempt to
          assemble a  book of Canonical Law. Book number 19 of this vast collec-
          tion was called  the Corrector,  and chapter five  deals with  various
          sins, and their respective penances. As we might suppose, Maleficia is
          prominent in  this chapter! It  enshrines in law  the notion of  night
          flight,  together with  murder, and  the cooking  and eating  of human
          flesh. Although both the  Canon Episcopi and Burchard's Corrector  are
          specific in attributing  the powers of  flight to  Witches, it is  not
          until  1280 that  the first  picture of  a witch  riding upon  a broom
          appears. This is found in Schleswig Cathedral.

          In 1022, the first burning occurred: at Orleans, the victims were
          accused of, "holding sex orgies at night in a secret place, either
          underground  or in  an abandoned  building. The  members of  the group
          appeared bearing torches. Holding the torches, they chanted the  names
          of  demons until an evil  spirit appeared. Now  the lights were extin-
          guished, and  everyone seized  the person closest  to him in  a sexual
          embrace,  whether mother, sister or nun. The children conceived at the
          orgies  were burned  eight  days after  birth,  and their  ashes  were
          confected in a substance that was then used in a blasphemous parody of
          holy communion."

          Strange how  these charges appear to have changed so little in so many
          years!  Compared with our first  example, and indeed  with the accusa-
          tions of modern day fundamentalists, one would be forgiven for believ-
          ing that time is a  figment of our imagination, and that  nothing ever
          really changes; certainly not human nature.

          The 14th  century saw a steady growth in the number of accusations and
          trials, and by the 15th century, the idea of the  Devil's (or Witch's)
          mark had become established. So too was the idea of a flying ointment,
          and  a consistent image  of The Devil  became common in  trials liter-
          ature.

          The Papal Bull of  1484, Summis Desiderantes Affectibus, and  then two
          years later, publication of the Malleus Maleficarum, further establis-
          hed the "crime" of witchcraft as a heresy, and confirmed Papal support
          for its  eradication. This infamous work - The Hammer of the Witches -
          was incredibly influential in establishing a code of practice by which
          witches were to be denounced, tried, convicted and executed. There was
          no escape  from this dreadful fate.  The third part of  the book desc-
          ribes how to deal with one who will not confess to the charges:

                    "But if the accused, after  a year or other longer
                    period which has been deemed sufficient, continues



                                                                  1638
                    

                    to maintain his denials,  and the legitimate  wit-
                    nesses abide by their evidence, the Bishop and
                    Judges shall prepare to abandon him to the secular
                    Court; sending  to him certain  honest men zealous
                    for the  faith, especially religious, to  tell him
                    that he cannot escape temporal death while he thus
                    persists in  his denial, but will  be delivered up
                    as  an impenitent heretic to the power of the sec-
                    ular Court.

          It is also in this section that our friendly Dominican monks refer to,
          "witch  midwives, who surpass all other witches in their crimes... And
          the number of them is so great that, as has been found from their con-
          fessions, it  is thought  that there is  scarcely any  tiny hamlet  in
          which at least one is not to be found."

          Despite its  incredible influence  in Europe, the  Malleus had  little
          effect in England, Wales or Ireland, where witchcraft accusations
          and trials were very different to those of the continent and Scotland.
          In fact Wales and Ireland seemed to escape from the witch persecutions
          almost entirely, with very few trials, and even fewer executions.

          Although many  laws have been  enacted in England  against witchcraft,
          there has never been  anything like the hysteria about  witches common
          in  mainland Europe. The earliest  known person accused  of sorcery in
          England was Agnes, wife of  Odo, who in 1209 was freed  after choosing
          trial by ordeal of grasping a red-hot iron.

          Until 1563, commoners accused  of witchcraft in England met  light (if
          any) punishment. Those of noble birth were treated rather more severe-
          ly,  as the crime could easily be one of treason, and any action which
          implied a threat  to the  monarch was treated  very seriously  indeed.
          This resulted in the charge of  witchcraft being used to remove polit-
          ical  opponents  with  great  expediency. There  were  certainly  laws
          against  the  practice of  witchcraft  or  sorcery:  Alfred the  Great
          (849-899  AD), King  of Wessex  and overlord  of England,  decreed the
          death penalty  for Wiccans (that was  the word he  actually used), and
          Aethelstan - perhaps  one of  the most compassionate  of Saxon  Kings,
          ordered  those who practised Wiccecraeft  to be executed,  but only if
          their activities resulted in murder.

          Under Henry VIII's Act of 1546, the penalty for conjuration of evil
          spirits was death, and the property of the accused was confiscated
          by the King. However, this was in effect for only one year, being
          repealed by Edward VI in 1547, and only one conviction under this
          Act is  recorded. In 1563,  the statute of  Queen Elizabeth I  was es-
          tablished, which also made death the penalty for invoking or conjuring
          an evil spirit, but those who practised divination, or who caused harm
          (other  than death)  by their  sorceries, were  sentenced to  a year's
          imprisonment for a first offence. Subsequent offences could be punish-
          able  by death, and  in some  cases, the  confiscation of  property as
          well.



                                                                            1639
          


          However, even though laws against the practice of witchcraft had
          been established for hundreds of years, the first major trial was not
          until 1566, at Chelmsford, and was typical of the English style of
          witchcraft: no pact with the devil, no gathering at Sabbats, but
          simple and direct acts of maleficia, and the introduction of witches'
          familiars. It was an important trial, for it set the precedent in
          English law for accepting unsupported, and highly imaginative, stories
          from  children as evidence. It  also accepted spectral evidence (sic),
          witch's marks, and the confession of the accused.

          There are  some very distinctive aspects to  English witchcraft, which
          set it apart from its Continental and Scottish counterparts, and which
          are worth  noting. There was a relative lack of torture, and, this may
          come as  a surprise to some  people, but witches were  never burned in
          England. Traitors  and murderers were  burned; witches  were hung.  Of
          course, a traitor or a  murderer could also be  a witch, but this  was
          actually quite rare. The torture used in England - when it was used at
          all - was typically swimming, pricking, enforced waking, and a diet of
          bread  and water.  Unpleasant, but when compared to squassation, being
          skinned  alive,  the strappado,  the rack,  and  such delights  as the
          thumbscrews and the  iron maiden, hardly in the same  class. The focus
          of  English witchcraft  was  more towards  simple,  personal, acts  of
          maleficia  than a perceived conspiracy against the power of the Chris-
          tian Church.  As one of  Britain's foremost  folklorists says:  "Trad-
          itions  of an organised, pagan witch-cult were never very plentiful in
          England, although they did exist occasionally, especially in the later
          years of  the witch belief. They  were never really strong,  and after
          the end of the persecution in the early 18th century, they disappeared
          altogether."   (Christina  Hole) This is  interesting, because  it has
          been suggested that the witch trials phenomena was largely inspired by
          the heretical Christian sects; this  would seem to be born out  by the
          type  of  accusations made  in England,  which were  largely neighbour
          against neighbour  rather than Church  and State against  an organised
          conspiracy of heretics.

          What is also interesting is  that it was commonly believed  in England
          that if the  bewitched victim  could draw blood  from the witch,  then
          they  would be  cured, and  the witch's  power made  ineffective. This
          belief has persisted in folk  traditions to modern times. In 1875,  at
          Long Compton,  the body of an  old woman, one Ann  Turner, was discov-
          ered. She had  been pinned to  the ground by  a pitchfork through  her
          throat, and across her face  and chest had been  carved the sign of  a
          crucifix. James Heywood, a  local farmer, had once claimed:  "It's she
          who  brings the floods and drought.   Her spells withered the crops in
          the field.  Her curse drove  my father  to an  early grave!".  Heywood
          maintained  that the only  way to destroy  her power was  to spill her
          blood, and so after her murder, he was  taken and tried for the crime.
          He was convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Long Compton has
          always been associated with the practice of witchcraft, and is located
          only a short distance from  the magical Rollright Stones, and near  to
          the aptly  named Wychwood Forest. The derivation  of this name is from
          the curiously named tribe of THE HWICCE,  who lived in the area at the
          time of King Penda of Mercia, and who seemed always to be ruled by two
          brothers. But back to Long Compton:              



                                                                            1640
          


          In 1945, Charles Walton, a  local labourer, set out one morning  to do
          some hedging on nearby Meon Hill. That evening, his mutilated body was
          found in a field -  pinned to the ground  by his pitchfork, which  had
          been stuck through his throat.  There were cuts to his arms  and legs,
          and local police were baffled as to  the motive for the crime, and who
          the likely culprit might have been. But gradually locals began to talk
          about Mr Walton; they said  he was a solitary and vindictive  old man,
          who was concerned more  with searching out the secrets  of nature than
          in taking company  with his  neighbours. They said  that he  harnessed
          toads, using reeds and pieces of ram's horn, and then sent them across
          fields  to  blight the  crops.  They also  remembered that  he  kept a
          witch's mirror - a piece of  black stone polished in a mountain stream
          - concealed in his pocket-watch, which he used for weaving spells  and
          seeing into the future.  The police never discovered the  culprit, but
          it was accepted locally that Mr Walton was murdered because he was a
          witch. His wounds were a result of the belief that a victim could be
          freed from enchantment if he or she were able to draw the blood of
          the witch.

          We could not leave English witchcraft without mention of that infamous
          gentleman, Matthew Hopkins; self-styled  Witchfinder General. For  all
          his fame, his activities  were restricted to a relatively  small area,
          and a relatively short period of time.  However, his boundless energy,
          and boundless enthusiasm for the collection of large amounts of money,
          ensured that his name has not been forgotten.

          Matthew Hopkins  used the  unrest of  the Civil War  to prey  upon the
          fears of  the common people. Little is known of his early life, except
          that he became a lawyer "of little note", and failing to make a living
          at Ipswich  in Suffolk,  moved to  Manningtree in Essex  - an  area of
          Civil War tension.

          With virtually no knowledge of witchcraft, but  armed with a couple of
          contemporary documents (including James I's "Demonology"), Hopkins set
          himself up in business  as a witchfinder.  And a very profitable  bus-
          iness  it was  too. At  a time  when the  average daily  wage  was 6d,
          Hopkins received  œ23 for a single  visit to Stowmarket, and  œ6 for a
          visit to Aldeburgh.

          His  approach  was consistent:  James  I  mentioned that  witches  had
          familiars, and suckled imps; therefore, anyone who kept a familiar
          spirit or imp must be a  witch! Bearing in mind the English partiality
          to keeping  pets, and you begin  to see just how  very successful this
          technique  could be.  For example,  Bridget Mayers  was  condemned for
          entertaining an  evil spirit in  the likeness  of a  mouse, which  she
          called "Prickears"; another (unnamed) woman was rescued  by her neigh-
          bours from  a ducking,  where she  confessed to having  an imp  called
          "Nan". When  she recovered she said:  "she knew not what  she had con-
          fessed,  and she  had nothing  she called  Nan but  a pullet  that she
          sometimes called by that name...".

          Hopkins  moved from Essex to Norfolk and Suffolk, and by the following
          year, had  operations in  Cambridge, Northampton, Huntingdon  and Bed-
          ford, with a team of six  witch finders under his control. "In Suffolk
          alone it is estimated  that he was responsible for arresting  at least
          124 persons  for witchcraft, of  whom at least 68  were hanged." (RHR)
          However, Hopkins moved too  far too quickly, and public  opinion began
          to go against him. In 1646, a clergyman in Huntingdon preached against
          him, and judges began  to question both his  methods of locating  wit-



                                                                            1641
          

          ches, and  the fees that he  charged for the service.  In 1647 Hopkins
          published a pamphlet called  "Discovery of Witches", in which  he sup-
          ported his methods in sanctimonious and pseudo legal language.  Howev-
          er, it  was to no  avail, for later that  year he died,  "in some dis-
          grace" according to most authorities. Witchcraft legend has it that he
          was drowned  by irate villagers in  one of his own  ducking ponds, but
          this has no recorded evidence to support it. However, it would be a
          fitting end to such an evil man, and I hope it was true.

          Moving away from England; Scottish and Continental witchcraft shared a
          great many similarities;  Mary Queen of Scots, and her  son, James VI,
          were  both educated  in  France,  and  this ensured  that  continental
          attitudes  towards  witches  were enshrined  in  Scottish  law  at the
          highest level. In fact the concepts of witchcraft were introduced into
          Scotland by Mary in about 1563. Before then, trials for witchcraft had
          been few,  and there  were no  recorded burnings  of witches. In  "The
          Encyclopaedia of Witchcraft and Demonology" Rossell Hope Robbins says:

                    "Scotland is  second only  to Germany in  the bar-
                    barity of its witch trials. The Presbyterian cler-
                    gy acted like inquisitors, and the Church sessions
                    often shared the prosecution with the secular law
                    courts. The Scottish laws were, if  anything, more
                    heavily loaded against  the accused. Finally,  the
                    devilishness of  the torture was  limited only  by
                    Scotland's backward technology in the construction
                    of mechanical devices."

          It is  well known that James  VI was an ardent  prosecutor of witches,
          and  it  was under  his  authority that  the  Bible was  translated to
          include the word "witch"  (Exodus 22:18) to provide Biblical  sanction
          for the death  penalty for witches. The original Hebrew word - kashaph
          - meant either a magician, diviner or sorcerer, but was definitely not
          a witch. In  the Latin Vulgate (4th century version  of the Bible) the
          word had been translated as "maleficos", which could mean  any kind of
          criminal, although in practice often referred to malevolent sorcerers.
          Similarly, the  so-called Witch of  Endor, consulted by  King Solomon:
          the  original Hebrew was "ba'alath  ob": "mistress of  a talisman". In
          the Latin Vulgate she  became a "mulierem habentem pythonem":  a women
          possessing an oracular spirit. It was only in the version of the Bible
          authorised by King James that she became a witch.

          By the time that James acceded to the English throne in 1603, his
          attitude towards witches had undergone a subtle transformation. In
          fact,  he was  directly  responsible for  the  release and  pardon  of
          several accused "witches", and personally interfered in trials where
          he believed that fraud or deception was being practised.  However,
          Lynn Linton writing in 1861 says of him:

                    "Whatever of blood-stained folly belonged special-
                    ly to the Scottish trials of this time - and here-
                    after -  owed its  original impulse to  him; every
                    groan  of the  tortured  wretches driven  to their
                    fearful doom, and every tear of the survivors left
                    blighted and desolate to drag out their weary days
                    in  mingled grief  and terror,  lie on  his memory
                    with shame and  condemnation ineffaceable for  all
                    time."



                                                                            1642
          


          But it was under Charles II that perhaps the most famous -  and endur-
          ing  - of  Scottish  witches was  tried,  and most  probably  executed
          (although records  of her punishment have not survived). Isobel Gowdie
          of Auldearne,  on four separate  occasions during 1662  testified that
          she  was a witch, and gave what  Russell Hope Robbins describes as: "a
          resum‚ of popular beliefs about witchcraft in Scotland.". He says that
          Gowdie "appeared clearly demented", but that "it is plain she believed
          what she confessed, no matter how impossible...".

          From Gowdie are  derived some of the concepts of  today's Wicca, incl-
          uding the idea of a coven, comprised of 13 people.  Gowdie said that a
          coven was  ruled by a  "Man in Black",  often called "Black  John". He
          would often beat the witches severely, and it seemed their main  tasks
          were  to raise storms, change  themselves into animals,  and shoot elf
          arrows  to injure or kill people. Coming  as she does right at the end
          of  the witchcraft persecutions, it is difficult to establish how much
          of Gowdie's confession  is based upon real, traditional folk practices
          of  Auldearne, and  how  much she  is  simply repeating  the  standard
          accusations against witches.   The Coven of 13 is  probably the single
          aspect of her confessions  which does not appear elsewhere  in records
          of witchcraft trials, and my own feelings are that she was probably as
          genuine a witch as was ever taken and tried.

          We have already commented how terrifying it is to consider the  impact
          that a single person  can have upon  the lives of  so many people.  We
          have looked  at a number of  these - King James,  Kramer and Sprenger,
          Matthew Hopkins, Conrad of  Marburg - and their latter  day successors
          are no  less  dangerous. Let  us  consider some  of the  20th  century
          persecutors.  We  have  already  mentioned Adolf  Hitler;  what  about
          Stalin?  his great purge in  the period following  1936 saw charges of
          treason, espionage and terrorism brought against anyone who showed the
          least inclination to oppose him. Using techniques which would not have
          been  out of  place during  the great  witch hunts,  Stalin's henchmen
          enforced "confessions", and effectively exterminated any threat to his
          political power.

          We could look  too at  McCarthy, whose fame  for persecution was  such
          that his name is now used to describe "the use  of unsupported accusa-
          tions  for any purpose".  It is no  accident that  his activities were
          referred to as a "witch hunt", nor that Arthur Miller's play about the
          Salem  witch trials, "The Crucible",  was more a  comment about McCar-
          thyism than a comment about 17th century American life.

          In 20th century Australia we are heirs to a European history, which
          maintains  that witches  are  servants of  the  devil, and  should  be
          prosecuted for their crimes against humanity. In some States these
          laws actually remain upon the Statute Books; in others, the legal
          machinery has been removed, but often public opinion hovers around the
          middle ages, believing that the only good witch is a dead witch.

          Our latter-day inquisitors play upon these fears, in much the same
          way as  Matthew Hopkins played upon the fears of the people during the
          Civil War. Christian Fundamentalists have no hesitation in using every
          dirty trick in the book to  ensure that public opinion remains opposed
          to witchcraft. If this means  that some of them  have to stand up  and
          say: "Yes, I  was a witch:  I sacrificed my  babies to the  devil, and
          copulated with  a goat; I took  part in drunken orgies,  and drank the
          blood of the sacrifice"; but  then I found Jesus, and was  born again,



                                                                            1643
          

          and now I'm  a really nice person; well so be  it. Some of them are so
          psychiatrically unbalanced they may even believe it themselves.

          Listen to a  sample of the claims made by  Audrey Harper, who achieved
          notoriety in Britain as an  ex-HPS of a Witches' Coven.   This extract
          is from an article by Aries, which appeared in Web of Wyrd #5:

                    Sent to  a Dr  Barnado's home by  her mother,  she
                    grew up  with  deprivation and  social stigma.  In
                    time she becomes a WRAF, falls in love, gets preg-
                    nant, boyfriend dies, she turns to booze, gives up
                    her baby  and becomes homeless. Wandering  to Pic-
                    cadilly Circus she meets some Flower Children with
                    the  killer weed,  and  her descent  into Hell  is
                    assured. By day she gets stoned and eats junk
                    food; by night she  sleeps in squats and doorways.
                    Along  comes Molly; the whore with a heart of gold
                    who teaches  Audrey the art  of streetwalking. She
                    flirts with shoplifting, gets into pills, and then
                    gets talent spotted and  invited to a Chelsea par-
                    ty,  where  wealth, power  and tasteful  decor are
                    dangled as bait. At  the next party she is  hooked
                    by the  "group", which meets "every  month in Vir-
                    ginia Water". She agrees to go to the next meeting
                    which is to be held at Hallowe'en.

                    Inside the  dark Temple  lit by black  candles and
                    full of "A heady,  sickly sweet smell from burning
                    incense", she  is  "initiated" by  the  "warlock",
                    whose "face was deathly pale and skeletal... his
                    eyes ...  were dark and sunken"  and whose "breath
                    and body seemed to exude a strange smell, a little
                    like  stale alcohol."  She signs  herself over  to
                    Satan with her own blood on a parchment scroll,
                    whereupon a baby is  produced, its throat cut, and
                    the blood  drank.  Following this  she gets dumped
                    on the  "altar" and  screwed as the  "sacrifice of
                    the White Virgin". The meeting finishes with a
                    little  ritual cursing  and  she's left  to wander
                    "home" in the dark.

                    Her life  falls into a steady  routine of meetings
                    in Virginia  Water, getting  screwed by the  "war-
                    lock", drug  abuse,  petty crime,  and  recruiting
                    runaways for parties, where  the drinks are spiked
                    -"probably with  LSD" - and  candles injected with
                    heroin  release "stupefying  fumes into  the air";
                    the  object being  sex kicks and  pornography. She
                    falls pregnant again, gets committed to a psychia-
                    tric hospital, has the baby, and gives it away
                    convinced that the "warlock" would sacrifice it.
                    Things then become a  confusion of Church desecra-
                    tion,  drug  addiction, ritual  abuse, psychiatric
                    hospital, and  falling in with Christian  folk who
                    try vainly to save her soul. For rather vague
                    reasons the  "coven" decide  to drop her  from the
                    team, and she dedicates herself to a true junkie's
                    lifestyle with a steady round of overdosing, jaun-
                    dice, and detoxification units. The "warlock"



                                                                  1644
                    

                    drops by  to threaten her,  and she makes  her way
                    north  via some psychiatric  hospitals to a Chris-
                    tian Rehabilitation farm. She  gets married, has a
                    child which she keeps, and becomes a regular chur-
                    chgoer.  But  beneath  the  surface  are recurring
                    nightmares,  insane  anger and  murderous feelings
                    towards her brethren.  At the Emmanual Pentecostal
                    Church  in Stourport  she asks  the  Minister, Roy
                    Davies, for help. He prays, and God tells him that
                    she was involved with  witchcraft. An exorcism has
                    her born again, cleansed of her sin. She gets bap-
                    tised and has no  more nightmares, becoming a gen-
                    erally nicer person.  She becomes the  "occult ex-
                    pert" of the  Reachout Trust  and Evangelical  Al-
                    liance, and makes a career out  of telling an edi-
                    ted version of her tale.

                    Geoffrey Dickens  MP persuades her to  tell all on
                    live TV; "Audrey, to your knowledge is child sacr-
                    ifice still going on?" To this she replies, "To my
                    knowledge, yes." After  this the whole thing  ram-
                    bles into an untidy conclusion of self-congratula-
                    tion, self-promotion,  and self-justification; and
                    for a grand finale pulls out  a list of horrendous
                    child abuse, which is shamelessly exploited in
                    typically  journalistic fashion, and  by the usual
                    fallacious  arguments which  links it  to anything
                    "occult"; help-lines, astro  predictions in  news-
                    papers, and even New Age festivals.

          And so we are left with a horrifying vision of hordes of Satanists
          swarming the country, buggering  kids, sacrificing babies, and feeding
          their own faeces to the flock."

          Whilst all this  seems incredible to any rational  person, unfortunat-
          ely, in the age old tradition, it confirms the worst fears of the  man
          and woman in the street, and so they swallow  it whole.  After all, it
          was on telly, so it MUST be true!

          As a direct result of people like Audrey Harper publicising their lies
          and fantasy,  children in England  and Scotland were  forcibly removed
          from their homes, and subjected to the type of questioning that we had
          previously believed had died out at the end of the Middle Ages.

          A consultant  clinical psychologist  scrutinised the  interview trans-
          cripts and audio records of the recent Orkney child abuse case,
          and in her summing  up said: "[the  Social Workers] told the  children
          they knew things had happened  to them and were generally  leading all
          the  way. When  the children  denied things,  the questions  were con-
          tinually put until  the children got hungry and gave  them the answers
          they wanted."

          Who says that torture is no longer legal in the British Isles?  

          The father of four of the children who were taken into care said:
          "At first I thought the allegations were laughable, but I found out
          how serious the police were...". Just to remind you of the words of
          Gilles de Rais some 500 years ago: [the accusations] are frivolous
          and lack credit...".



                                                                            1645
          

          One 11 year-old described being asked to  draw a circle of ritualistic
          dancers. He said: "They got me to draw by  saying, 'I am not a drawer.
          Can you draw that?' It was meant to be a ring with children around and
          a  minister in the  middle wearing  a black robe  and a crook  to pull
          children in."

          The boy said  he had been promised  treats such as  a lesson on how  a
          helicopter worked if he co-operated, and was told that he could
          go if he gave one name. How remarkably similar to medieval witch
          trials,  where the victims were  always pressed to  name their accomp-
          lices - for is it not said, "thou canst not be a witch alone?"!

          In 1990,  journalist Rosie  Waterhouse commenting upon  the Manchester
          child  abuse  case said:  "After three  months  of questioning  by the
          NSPCC,  strange  stories began  to come  out  and other  children were
          named. The way the children began telling "Satanic" tales in this case
          is  remarkably similar  to  the way  such  stories first  surfaced  in
          Nottingham. As "The  Independent on Sunday" revealed last week (23/9/-
          90), the  Nottingham children  began talking about  witches, monsters,
          babies  and blood  only after  they had been  encouraged, by  an NSPCC
          social  worker, to  play with toys  which included  witches' costumes,
          monsters, toy babies, and a syringe for extracting blood."

          Believe it or not, the parents of these children had no access to
          them whatsoever. Why? Because our modern, scientifically trained,
          20th century social workers believed that, "[the parents] would try
          to  silence  the children,  using  secret Satanic  symbols  or trigger
          words".

          By  March 1991,  senior Police spokesmen  were publicly  claiming that
          "police have no evidence of ritual or satanic abuse inflicted on
          children anywhere in England or Wales". Scotland has a different
          legal system, which is why it was not included in the statement -
          not because the police have evidence there, for they do not.

          When the Rochdale case finally came to court, after the children
          had been in care (sic!) for about 16 months, the judge delivered a
          damning indictment upon those  who were responsible for it,  and said:
          "the way  the children had  been removed  from their parents  was par-
          ticularly upsetting." He  saw a video of the removal  of one girl from
          her home during a dawn  raid, and commented that, "It is  obvious from
          the  video tape  that the  girl is not  merely frightened  but greatly
          distressed at being removed from home. The sobbing and distraught girl
          can be seen. It is one of my most abiding memories of this case."

          Let us  return briefly to  Salem, where, in 1710,  William Good petit-
          ioned for  damages in respect of  the trial and execution  of his wife
          Sarah, and the imprisonment of his daughter, Dorothy, "a child of four
          or five  years old, [who] being  chained in the dungeon  was so hardly
          used  and terrified  that she  hath ever  since been  very chargeable,
          having little or no reason to govern herself.".



                                                                            1646
          


          Today's Christian Fundamentalist, like his vicious  and self-righteous
          predecessors, will use anything in his or her power-including innocent
          children -  to destroy the evils of Paganism and the occult. Sometimes
          I wonder if we are becoming paranoid, or the subjects of a persecution
          complex, but  in writing this lecture  it was brought home  to me more
          strongly than ever before: the witch trials of the Middle Ages are not
          a bloody stain  on the history  of Christianity; they  are the  source
          from where today's fundamentalists  draw their power, and are  just as
          terrifying  today  as they  were hundreds  of  years ago.  Bigotry and
          persecution have changed in only one respect: 20th century mankind has
          far  more efficient and effective  means of spreading  lies and propa-
          ganda than was available to our ancestors.
          PERSECUTION: ANCIENT AND MODERN

          Appendix A

          The  subject of the  European Witch Trials  has been  written about ad
          infinitum  (and nauseam!),  and there  are a  great many  useful books
          which  the student will find  of interest. There  follows a short bib-
          liography of those to which I referred when writing this lecture.

          Select Bibliography



          Bradford, Sarah                 Cesare Borgia (1981)
          Cohn, Norman                    Europe's Inner Demons (1975)
          Ginzburg, Carlo                 Ecstasies: Deciphering The
                                          Witches' Sabbath (1990)
          Hole, Christina                 Witchcraft in England (1977)
          Howard, Michael                 The Occult Conspiracy (1989)
          Kieckheffer, Richard            European Witch Trials (1976)
          Larner, Christina               Enemies of God: The Witch Hunt in     
                                         Scotland (1981)
          Larner, Christina               Witchcraft and Religion (1985)
          Maple, Eric                     The Complete Book of Witchcraft and   
                                         Demonology
                                          (1966)
          Radford, Kenneth                Fire Burn (1989)
          Ravensdale & Morgan             The Psychology of Witchcraft
          (1974)
          Robbins, Rossell Hope           The Encyclopaedia of Witchcraft and   
                                         Demonology (1984)
          Russell, Jeffrey                A History of Witchcraft (1980)
          Scarre, Geoffrey                Witchcraft and Magic in 16th and 17th 
                                        century Europe (1987)
          Stenton, Sir Frank              Anglo-Saxon England (1971)
          Summers, Montague (Trans)       Malleus Maleficarum (1986)
          Thomas, Keith                   Religion and the Decline of Magic     
                                         (1971)
          Trevor-Roper, H R               The European Witch-Craze of the 16th  
                                         and 17th Centuries (1988)
          Walsh, Michael                  Roots of Christianity (1986)
          Worden, Blair (Ed)              Stuart England (1986)

          Encyclopaedia Britannica (1969 edition)
          Collins Dictionary of the English Language (1980)
          Newspapers: The Times, The Guardian, The Independent (Britain)



                                                                            1647
          

          PERSECUTION: ANCIENT AND MODERN

          Appendix B - Historical Periods


          Anglo-Saxon:       broadly 550 AD to 1066 AD (the Norman invasion).

          Middle Ages:       broadly the period from the end of classical       
                                              antiquity
                                                      (476
                                                         AD)
                                                           tothe
                                                               Italian
                                                                     Renaissance
                                                                               (or
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                            fall
                                               of
                                                Constantinople
                                                             in
                                                              1453).
                                                                   More
                                                                      specifically
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                           the period from 1000 AD to the 15th century.

          Medieval:          of, or relating to, the Middle Ages.

          Tudor:             the Royal House, descended from Welsh Squire Owen  
                                              Tudor
                                                  (d.1461),
                                                         which
                                                             ruled
                                                                 in
                                                                  England
                                                                       between
                                                                             1485
                                                                                
                            AD - 1603 AD

          Stuart:            the Royal House which ruled in Scotland between    
                                              1371
                                                 ADand
                                                     1714,and
                                                            inEngland
                                                                    between1603
                                                                              AD-
                                                                                
                           1714 AD.

          Jacobean:          relating to the period of James I's rule of England
                            (1603-1625).

          Reformation:       a 16th century religious and political movement    
                                              which
                                                  beganas
                                                        anattempt
                                                                toreform
                                                                       theCatholic
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                            Church,
                                                  but
                                                    actually
                                                           resulted
                                                                  inthe
                                                                      establishment
                                                                                  
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                          of the Protestant Church.

          Renaissance:       usually considered as beginning in Italy in the    
                                              14th
                                                 century,this
                                                            isthe
                                                                period
                                                                     whichmarked
                                                                               the
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                            transitionfromtheMiddleAges
                                                                      tothemodern
                                                                                
                                          world.Itis
                                                   characterisedbyclassicalscholar
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                        ship,scientific
                                                      andgeographicaldiscovery,and
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                        the exploration of individual human potential.

          Civil War:         1640-1649, between the Royalists under Charles I,  
                                              and
                                                the
                                                  Parliamentarians
                                                                 ledby
                                                                     Oliver
                                                                          Cromwell.
                                                                                  
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                           Charles I was executed in 1649.

          Crusades:          a series of wars undertaken by the Christians of   
                                              western
                                                    Europe
                                                        with
                                                           the
                                                             authorisation
                                                                         of
                                                                         the
                                                                           Papacy
                                                                                
                                              from1095untilthe
                                                             mid-15thcenturyforthe
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                            purpose
                                                  of
                                                   recoveringthe
                                                               HolySepulchre
                                                                           atJerus
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                          alemfrom
                                                 theMuslimsand
                                                             defendingpossessionof
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                         it. (Enc. Britannica)

          Thirty Years' War: a major conflict involving Austria, Denmark,       
                                              France,
                                                    Holland,Germany,
                                                                   Spain
                                                                       andSweden
                                                                               that
                                                                                  
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                            devastated
                                                     central
                                                           Europe,
                                                                 but
                                                                  especially
                                                                           Germany.
                                                                                  
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                          It
                                           beganas
                                                 awarbetween
                                                           Protestantsand
                                                                        Catholics
                                                                                
                                          but
                                            developedintoa
                                                         generalpowerstruggle
                                                                            (1618
                                                                                
                         1648).

          Lateran Councils:  Five ecumenical councils held at the Lateran Palace
                                              (the
                                                 official
                                                        residence
                                                                ofthe
                                                                    Pope)
                                                                        between
                                                                              1123
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                           AD and 1512 AD.



                                                                            1648
          


          PERSECUTION: ANCIENT AND MODERN

          Appendix C - Gnostic and Christian sects

          Manichaeism:       a dualistic Gnostic religion first preached by Mani
                                              (q.v.)in
                                                     the
                                                       3rdcentury
                                                                AD.
                                                                  Itsearly
                                                                         centrewas
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                          Babylonia,then
                                                       partofthePersianempireanda
                                                                                
                         meeting place of faiths. (EB)

               The  basic  theology of  Manichaeism is  that  good and  evil are
          separate  and opposed principles, which have become mixed in the world
          through  the  action of  the evil  principle.  There is  a complicated
          mythology  which describes the creation of the world and the elements,
          and a set of complex correspondences by which the seeker can return to
          a state of salvation. Manichaeism spread across a huge area, including
          the Roman  Empire. However, by the  6th century it had  virtually been
          eradicated  from Spain, France and  Italy, although was  strong in the
          eastern Mediterranean until the 9th century, when it was absorbed into
          the neo-Manichean sects of the Bogomils, Cathars, etc.

          Bogomils:          a religious sect which flourished in the Balkans   
                            between the 10th and 15th centuries. 

               Their central teaching was  strictly dualistic; that the visible,
          material world was created by the Devil, and that everything within it
          was therefore evil.   They  rejected many of  the trappings of  Chris-
          tianity, and  their condemnation of  anything to  do with the  flesh -
          including eating and drinking! - has rightly earned them the nickname,
          "the greatest puritans of the middle ages".

          Cathars:           a heretical Christian sect that flourished in      
                            western Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries. 

               They believed that  goodness existed only in the  spiritual world
          created  by God, and  that the material  world, created by  Satan, was
          evil. Their theology bore  a great resemblance to that  of Manichaeism
          and the Bogomils, and they were closely connected with the latter.

          Waldensians:       also known as Valdenses or Vaudois. The sect was   
                                              founded
                                                    in
                                                     southern
                                                            France
                                                                 in
                                                                  the
                                                                    12th
                                                                       century,
                                                                              and
                                                                                
                                              emphasised
                                                      poverty,
                                                            abstinence
                                                                     from
                                                                       physical
                                                                              labou
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                           r, and a life devoted to prayer.

               They  were influenced by other  "heretical" sects, and rejected a
          number of  the basic tenets  of the Catholic  faith.  They  were stern
          opponents  to the acquisition of  wealth and power  within the Church,
          and  thus came into direct  opposition to the  Papacy,which thrived on
          both.   They  were fiercely  persecuted, and  by the  end of  the 15th
          century, confined mainly to the French and Italian
          valleys  of the Cottian Alps. During the 16th century, the Waldensians
          were transformed into a Protestant church, but suffered heavy persecu-
          tion throughout the 17th century from the Dukes of Savoy.  This ceased
          only after Oliver  Cromwell intervened personally on their behalf with
          the duke, Charles Emmanuel II. In  the latter part of the 17th century
          the Waldensians returned to their original homeland, and in 1848 the
          Waldensians  were given  civil rights,  and are  today members  of the
          World Presbyterian Alliance.



                                                                            1649
          

          PERSECUTION: ANCIENT AND MODERN

          Appendix D - A  calendar of events  connected with the persecution  of
          heretics


          640 AD             Eorcenberht succeeds Eadbald as King of Kent, and  
                                              becomes
                                                    the
                                                      firstEnglish
                                                                 king
                                                                    toorder
                                                                          the
                                                                            destr
                                                                                
                           uction of pagan idols throughout his kingdom;

          663 AD             Council of Whitby determines the date of Easter to 
                                            be
                                             inaccordance
                                                        withRomanpractice,
                                                                         andso
                                                                             ends
                                                                                
                          Celtic Christianity in Northumberland;

          668-690 AD         Liber Poenitentialis by Theodore, Archbishop of    
                            Canterbury.  Probably the first legislation against
                                                witches.
                                                       Itadvised
                                                               penances
                                                                      (eg,
                                                                         fasting)for
                                                                                   
                                                                                  
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                              those
                                                  who"sacrificedto
                                                                 devils,foretold
                                                                               the
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                            futurewiththeiraid,atefoodthathadbeen
                                                                                
                                          offeredin
                                                  sacrifice,orburnedgrainafter
                                                                             aman
                                                                                
                                        was deadforthewell-beingofthelivingandof
                         the house."

          735-766 AD         the Confessional of Ecgberht, Archbishop of
                             York, which prescribed a 7-year fast for a woman
                             convicted of "slaying by incantation";

          871-899 AD         reign of King Aelfred (brother of Aethelred), who  
                                              declared
                                                     the
                                                       death
                                                           penaltyfor
                                                                    those
                                                                        who
                                                                          practise
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                            Wicca;

          925-939 AD         reign of King Aethelstan, where murder - including 
                                            murderbywitchcraft
                                                             -waspunishablewith
                                                                              the
                                                                                
                          death penalty;

          936 AD             Otto elected King of the Germans, whereupon he     
                                              declaredit
                                                       hisintention
                                                                  to
                                                                   drivethe
                                                                          pagans
                                                                               out
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                           of his land;

          951                Otto crowned King of Lombardy;

          955                Otto defeated the Magyars and proclaimed himself   
                            "Protector of Europe";

          962                Otto crowned Holy Roman Emperor;

          1022               the first burning (at Orleans) for heresy;

          1066-1087 AD       reign of William the Conqueror in England; he      
                                              reduced
                                                    Aethelstan'ssentence
                                                                       ofdeath
                                                                             forcon
                                                                                  
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                           victed murderers to banishment;

          1118               King Baldwin II of Jerusalem suggested to Sir Hugh 
                                            dePayensthat
                                                       heorganiseachivalric
                                                                          orderof
                                                                                
                                          knightsto
                                                  defendtravellersto
                                                                   theHolyLand,
                                                                              and
                                                                                
                                        grantedpartofhispalace,which
                                                                   stoodonthesite
                                                                                
                                        ofSolomon'soriginaltemple,
                                                                 fortheirheadquar
                                                                                
                                      ters.Asaresultof thisgesture,HughdePayens 
                                    calledhisOrdertheTempliMilitia,andthenlater 



                                                                            1650
                       

                                    changedthisto KnightsoftheTempleofSolomonin 
                       Jerusalem;

          1162               Pope Alexander III issued a special papal bull     
                                              releasing
                                                      Templars
                                                            from
                                                               spiritual
                                                                       obedience
                                                                               to
                                                                               any
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                            butthe
                                                 Popehimself,gavethemexemption
                                                                             from
                                                                                
                                          paying
                                               tithes,
                                                     andallowed
                                                              themtheir
                                                                      own
                                                                        chaplains
                                                                                
                          and burial grounds;

          12/13th cent       the Cathar heresies: introduction of the obscene   
                            kiss and ritual adoration of the devil;

          1243-44            Siege of Montsegur;

          1244               225 Cathars burned at the stake at Montsegur;

          1259               relationships between the Knights Templars and the 
                                            Hospitallers
                                                       ofKnights
                                                               ofStJohn
                                                                      deteriorated
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                          into open warfare;

          1291               the Saracens took Jerusalem, and the Knights       
                                              Templars
                                                    were
                                                       expelled,
                                                              and
                                                                lost
                                                                  their
                                                                     headquarters
                                                                                
                            on the site of Solomon's Temple;

          1301               Walter Langton, bishop of Coventry, tried by       
                            ecclesiastical court for diabolism and acquitted;

          1302               trial in Exeter for defamation of a man who called 
                           a woman a "wicked witch and thief";

          1307               King Philip of France ordered the arrest of every  
                                              member
                                                   ofthe
                                                       KnightsTemplar
                                                                    in
                                                                     France:this
                                                                               was
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                            followed
                                                   bya
                                                     papalbull
                                                             toall
                                                                 rulersin
                                                                        Christian
                                                                                
                           Europe that all Templars were to be arrested;

          1311               investigation in London by episcopal authority into
                            sorcery, enchantment, magic, divination and
                             invocation;

          1312               the Pope officially disbanded the Knights Templars;

          1314               Jaques de Molay (last Grand Master of the Knights  
                            Templars) burned as a relapsed heretic;

          1321               last Cathar burned at the stake;

          1324               Alice Kyteler tried in Kilkenny by secular and     
                                              ecclesiastical
                                                           authorities
                                                                    for
                                                                      diabolism,
                                                                               invoca
                                                                                    
                                                                                  
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                           tion and sorcery;

          1347               the Plague spreads over the whole of Italy, and    
                            arrives in France by the end of the year;

          1348               the Plague reaches Paris, then the Low Countries,  
                            and then via the Channel to southern England;

          1349               Britain ravaged by the Plague, which passes into   
                            Germany, Austria and Scandinavia;



                                                                            1651
          

          1360               the Plague, complicated by influenza reappears in  
                            Europe, continuing in waves until 1441, and finally
                             ending around 1510;

          1390               woman tried in Milan for attending an assembly led 
                           by "Diana", "Erodiade" or "Oriente";

          1408               the Plague, still rampant in Europe is complicated 
                           by an epidemic of Typhus and Whooping Cough;

          1409               trial of Pope Benedict XIII at Pisa for divination,
                            invocation, sorcery and other offences;

          1428-47            Dauphine: 110 women and 57 men executed by secular 
                           court for witchcraft, especially diabolism;

          1431               Joan of Arc tried for heresy and burnt at the      
                                              stake:
                                                   the
                                                     trial
                                                         decision
                                                                was
                                                                  annulled
                                                                         in
                                                                          1456,
                                                                              and
                                                                                
                                              in
                                               1920
                                                  shewas
                                                       canonised
                                                               byPope
                                                                    Benedict
                                                                           XVwith
                                                                                
                           the date of her execution (May 30) becoming a
                             national holiday in France;

          1440               Gilles de Rais tried on 47 charges including con   
                                              juration
                                                     of
                                                      demons
                                                           and
                                                             sexual
                                                                  perversions
                                                                            against
                                                                                  
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                            children:
                                                    nearlyall
                                                            evidence
                                                                   washearsay,
                                                                             none
                                                                                of
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                          his
                                            servantswascalled
                                                            totestify,and
                                                                        theprocee
                                                                                
                                        dingswerehighlyirregular:
                                                                hewasstrangledand
                                                                                
                                      thensenttothe pyre,buthisfamilyweregiven  
                                    permissionto removehisbodybefore theflames  
                      reached it for burial at a nearby Carmelite Church;

          1441               Margery Jourdain ("the Witch of Eye") convicted of 
                                            plottingtokillKingHenry
                                                                  VI,andburnedasa
                                                                                
                          traitor;

          1458               first recorded use of the word "sabbat" (Nicholas  
                                              Jacquier).
                                                       
                                                      "Synagogue"
                                                                was
                                                                  the
                                                                    word
                                                                       commonly
                                                                              used
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                            todescribethemeeting
                                                               placesofhereticsand
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                           witches;

          1470               trial before Royal Court in England for defamation 
                           - man had accused the Duchess of Bedford of image
                             magic;

          1479               Earl of Mar executed for employing witches
                             to kill James III of Scotland;

          1484               Papal Bull of Pope Innocent VIII officially
                             declaring witchcraft a heresy;

          1486               first publication of the Malleus Maleficarum;

          1488               Metz: 31 women and 4 men tried by secular court for
                            weather magic: 29 burned;

          1492               expulsion of Jews from Spain;

          1521               Martin Luther excommunicated by Pope Leo X, and so 
                           begins the Reformation;



                                                                            1652
          

          1532               the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina: the criminal  
                                              code
                                                 for
                                                   the
                                                     HolyRoman
                                                             Empire
                                                                  which
                                                                      specified
                                                                              how
                                                                                
                                            witches,
                                                   fortunetellers,
                                                                 etc
                                                                   wereto
                                                                        be
                                                                         tried,and
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                           punished;

          1542               first statute against witchcraft in England passed 
                           by Parliament (revoked 1547);

          1557               first list of prohibited books issued by the Roman 
                           church;

          1562               statute enacted in Scotland under Mary Queen of    
                                              Scots
                                                  declaring
                                                          the
                                                            death
                                                                penalty
                                                                      for
                                                                        witchcraft,
                                                                                  
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                            sorceryand
                                                     necromancy:theAct
                                                                     wasconfirmed
                                                                                in
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                          1649 and repealed in 1736;

          1563               statute against witchcraft by Elizabeth I in       
                                              Englandordering
                                                            the
                                                              deathpenalty
                                                                         for
                                                                           witches,
                                                                                  
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                            enchantersand
                                                        sorcerers(undercivil,
                                                                            notecc
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                          lesiastical law);

          1566               first major trial under statute of 1563: Elizabeth 
                                            Francis,
                                                   Agnes
                                                       Waterhouseand
                                                                   JoanWaterhouse
                                                                                at
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                          Chelmsford:
                                                    Agneshanged,Elizabethreceived
                                                                                a
                                                                                
                        light sentence and Joan was found not guilty;

          1584               "Discoverie of Witchcraft" by Reginald Scot
                             published - a Protestant argument against belief in
                             witchcraft;

          1590-92            North Berwick trials by James VI;

          1595               Nicholas Remy publishes "Demonolatreiae" where he  
                            boasted on the title page that he had condemned 900
                             witches in 15 years;

          1596               John Dee as Warden of a Manchester College acts as 
                           an advisor for cases of witchcraft and demonology;

          1597               "Daemonologie" by King James VI published;

          1600               Giordano Bruno burnt at the stake in Rome
                             as an "impenitent heretic";

          1603               ascension of James VI to the English throne as     
                            James I;

          1604               new statute against witchcraft by James I
                                                which
                                                    established
                                                             pact,
                                                                 devil-worship
                                                                             and
                                                                               other
                                                                                   
                                                                                  
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                            continental ideas in English law;

          1611               King James authorises a new translation of
                             the Bible to include the word "witch";

          1612               twenty witches tried together at Lancashire
                             (the Pendle witches);

          1628               in Massachusetts, an English lawyer, Thomas
                                                Mortonordered
                                                            amaypoleto
                                                                     beerectedin
                                                                               the
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                              colony
                                                   which
                                                      he
                                                       founded
                                                             (Merrymount),
                                                                         and
                                                                          celebrat
                                                                                 
                                                                                



                                                                            1653
                           

                                            ed
                                             MaywithlocalIndians
                                                               andrefugeesfromthe
                                                                                
                                          Puritans,withstag
                                                          antlers,bellsandbrightly
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                         coloured clothes, under an elected "Lord and Lady"
                                                to
                                                 ruleover
                                                        thecelebrations;
                                                                       He
                                                                        wasarrested
                                                                                  
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                              under
                                                  charges
                                                        ofpractising
                                                                   witchcraft,but
                                                                                was
                                                                                  
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                           released;

          1633               the public exorcisms of the nuns of Loudun as part 
                                            ofa
                                              plotby
                                                   CardinalRichelieu
                                                                   to
                                                                    revengehimself
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                         upon Urban Grandier: Grandier arrested and tried by
                             investigating committee;

          1634               Grandier tortured then burned alive;

          1644               maypoles made illegal in England;

          1644-5             Matthew Hopkins active in Chelmsford;

          1646               Matthew Hopkins retired - he died the following
                             year;

          1647               first witch hung in the USA, in Connecticut;

          1649               first newspaper astrology column by Lilly;

          1662               at Bury St Edmunds women were accused and convicted
                                              ofwitchcrafton
                                                           thetestimonyof
                                                                        hysterical
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                           children;

          1662               the trial of Isobel Gowdie in Auldearne, Scotland: 
                           Gowdie introduces the idea of a coven of thirteen;

          1663               the Licensing Act determined that books could not  
                                              be
                                               published
                                                       without
                                                             priorconsultation
                                                                             with
                                                                                the
                                                                                  
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                           Church or State;

          1679-82            the Chambre Ardente affair: a star chamber court   
                                              admittingof
                                                        noappealarraigned
                                                                        totry
                                                                            Madame
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                            Bosse,
                                                 her
                                                   daughter
                                                          and
                                                            sons;
                                                                Madame
                                                                     Montvoisin
                                                                              (La
                                                                                
                                            Voisin)and
                                                     La
                                                      DameVigoreux.
                                                                  Duringthe
                                                                          courseof
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                          the
                                            trial,severalhundredsofthehighestcour
                                                                                
                                        tiersofKing LouisXIVwereimplicatedinthe 
                                      poisoningscandal.Theaffairdegeneratedintoa
                                    searchforheresyandwitchcraft,andeventually  
                                  CatholicPriestsDavot, Gerard,Deshayes,Cotton, 
                                Tournet,Guibourg andMariettewere alsodrawnin,   
                              accused ofperforming theBlackMass. Evidencewas    
                            collectedto showthat Madamede Montespan(Louis'      
                          former mistress)attempted to poisonLouis andhis       
                        new mistress, andwas the leader ofthe Satanic           
                      cult. In all, 319 peoplewere arrested and 104             
                    sentenced: 36 to death,4 to slavery in the gal              
                  leys, 34 to banishmentand 30 acquitted. In 1709               
                Louis attempted to destroy the records of the                   
            affair, but failed;

          1684               Alice Molland was the last person executed as a    
                            witch in England (at Exeter);



                                                                            1654
          


          1689               Cotton Mather (New England) publishes "Memorable   
                                              Providences
                                                       Relating
                                                             to
                                                             Witchcraft
                                                                     and
                                                                      Possessions"
                                                                                
                            supporting belief in witchcraft;

          1692               Salem witch trials: 19 hung and more than 100      
                                              jailed;
                                                    thelast
                                                          personexecutedin
                                                                         theUSA
                                                                              for
                                                                                
                           witchcraft;

          1727               last execution in Scotland for witchcraft;

          1731               last trial for witchcraft in England: Jane Wenham, 
                           who was convicted, then pardoned and released;

          1736               the repeal of the statutes against witchcraft of   
                                              Mary
                                                 Queen
                                                     of
                                                      Scots(1562),
                                                                 Elizabeth
                                                                         I
                                                                         (1563)
                                                                              and
                                                                                
                                            JamesI
                                                 &VI(1604):
                                                          replacedwith
                                                                     astatutewhich
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                          statedthat,"no
                                                       prosecution,suitor
                                                                        proceeding
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                        shallbe commencedorcarriedoutagainstany 
                                      personorpersonsforwitchcraft,
                                                                  sorcery,inchant
                                                                                
                                    ment (sic),orconjuration."Itprovided forthe 
                                  prosecutionof thosepretendingtopossessmagical 
                     powers, but it denied reality to those powers;

          1745               last execution in France for witchcraft;

          1775               last execution in Germany for witchcraft;

          1829               Lamothe-Langan fabricated and published documents  
                                              represented
                                                        to
                                                         berecords
                                                                 of
                                                                  trialsof
                                                                         witches
                                                                               in
                                                                                
                                            Toulouse
                                                   andCarcassonne,
                                                                 probably
                                                                        in
                                                                         an
                                                                          attempt
                                                                                to
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                            provethe
                                                   continuingexistenceof
                                                                       theworship
                                                                                of
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                          the old religion;

          1830               in "Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft" Sir      
                                              Walter
                                                   Scott
                                                       argues
                                                            thatalleged
                                                                      witches
                                                                            had
                                                                              been
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                           misunderstood and mistreated;

          1862               Jules Michelet argues in his book "La Sorcerie"    
                                              that
                                                 witchcraftwas
                                                             aprotest
                                                                    bymedieval
                                                                             serfs
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                           against a crushing social order;

          1865               Pope Pius X again attacked secret societies,claim  
                                              ing
                                                that
                                                  Freemasonry
                                                            was
                                                              anti-Christian,
                                                                            satanic,
                                                                                  
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                           and derived from paganism;

          1899               publication of Aradia: Gospel of the Witches by    
                            Leland;

          1928               first English translation of the Malleus Malefic   
                            arum (tr Summers);

          1951               repeal of the 1736 Witchcraft Act with the Fraud   
                            ulent Mediums Act;

          1963               demand made for reinstatement of the Witchcraft    
                                              Laws
                                                 in
                                                  England
                                                        following
                                                                desecration
                                                                          of
                                                                           churches
                                                                                  
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                           and graveyards;



                                                                            1655
          


          1966               the Index (of prohibited books) abolished;

          1991               Anti-occult amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill 
                           had its third reading in Parliament. Presented by
                                                Geoffrey
                                                     Dickens,
                                                           this
                                                             prescribed
                                                                     imprisonment
                                                                               for
                                                                                
                                            not
                                              morethan
                                                     five
                                                        yearsagainst
                                                                   one
                                                                     who,"permits,
                                                                                 
                                                                                
                                          entices
                                                orencourages
                                                           aminorto
                                                                  participatein,
                                                                               or
                                                                                
                                        bepresentataceremonyorotheractivityofany
                                      kindspecifiedinsub-section3...".Subsection3
                                                                                
                                    says:"Theceremoniesoractivitiestowhichthis  
                                  sectionappliesare thoseof,orassociated with,  
                                Satanism andotherdevilworshipping, blackmagic,  
                              witchcraft, oranyactivity towhich Section1 of     
                   the Fraudulent Mediums Act (1951) applies.

                                                The
                                                  Bill
                                                     was
                                                       rejected
                                                              for
                                                                a
                                                                number
                                                                     of
                                                                      reasons,
                                                                             not
          least because it made newspaper/magazine editors culpable if
          minors should read the astrology column!



                                                                            1656
          

                      HISTORY OF WICCA IN ENGLAND: 1939 - present day 

          This talk  was given  by Julia Phillips  at the  Wiccan Conference  in
          Canberra, 1991.  It is  mainly about  the early days  of the  Wicca in
          England;  specifically what  we  now call  Gardnerian and  Alexandrian
          traditions. The text remains  "as given", so please remember  when you
          read  it that  it was  never intended  to be  "read", but  "heard" and
          debated.

          Text begins:

          There are three main strands I intend to examine: one, Gardner's claim
          of  traditional  initiation,  and  its  subsequent  development;  two,
          magical  traditions to which Gardner would have had access; and three,
          literary sources.

          As  we look at  these three main  threads, it is important  to bear in
          mind  that Gardner was 55 years old at the time of his claimed initia-
          tion; that  he had  spent many  years in Malaya,  and had  an enormous
          interest in magic, Folklore  and Mythology.  By the  time he published
          High  Magic's Aid, he was 65, and  75 when "The Meaning of Witchcraft"
          appeared. He died in 1964, at the age of 80.

          Gardner was born in 1884,  and spent most of his working adult life in
          Malaya. He  retired, and  returned to  the UK in  1936. He  joined the
          Folklore  Society,  and in  June 1938,  also  joined the  newly opened
          Rosicrucian  Theatre at  Christchurch  where it  is  said he  met  Old
          Dorothy Clutterbuck.

          I chose 1939 as my arbitrary starting point as  that was the year that
          Gerald  Gardner claims he was initiated by Old Dorothy into a practis-
          ing coven  of the  Old Religion, that  met in the  New Forest  area of
          Britain. In his own words,

          "I realised that I had stumbled upon something interesting;  but I was
          half-initiated before the  word, "Wica" which they used  hit me like a
          thunderbolt, and I  knew where I was, and that  the Old Religion still
          existed. And so I found myself in the Circle, and there took the usual
          oath of  secrecy, which bound me  not to reveal certain  things." This
          quote is taken from The Meaning of Witchcraft,  which was published in
          1959.

          It is interesting that in this  quote, Gardner spells Wicca with  only
          one  "c"; in the earlier  "Witchcraft Today" (1954)  and "High Magic's
          Aid"  (1949), the word Wicca is not  even used. His own derivation for
          the word, given in "The Meaning of Witchcraft", is as follows:

          "As they  (the Dane and Saxon  invaders of England) had  no witches of
          their own they had no special name for them; however, they made one up
          from "wig" an idol,  and "laer", learning, "wiglaer" which  they shor-
          tened into "Wicca".

          "It  is a curious fact  that when the  witches became English-speaking
          they adopted their Saxon name, "Wica"."



                                                                            1657
          


          In  "An ABC of Witchcraft Past  and Present", Doreen Valiente does not
          have  an entry for Wicca, but when discussing Witchcraft, does mention
          the Saxon derivation from the word Wicca or Wicce. In the more recent-
          ly  published The  Rebirth Of  Witchcraft, however,  she rejects  this
          Saxon  theory in favour of  Prof. Russell's derivation  from the Indo-
          European root "Weik", which relates to things connected with magic and
          religion.  

          Doreen  Valiente  strongly  supports Gardner's  claim  of  traditional
          initiation,  and published the  results of  her successful  attempt to
          prove  the existence  of Dorothy  Clutterbuck in  an appendix  to "The
          Witches' Way" by Janet and Stewart Farrar. It is a marvellous piece of
          investigation, but  proving that Old  Dorothy existed does  nothing to
          support Gardner's claims that she initiated him.

          In  his book, "Ritual Magic  in England", occultist  Francis King does
          offer some anecdotal evidence in support of Gardner's claims. However,
          it is  only fair  to point  out that  in the  same book,  he virtually
          accuses  Moina Mathers of murder,  based upon a  misunderstanding of a
          story told by Dion Fortune! With that caveat, I'll recount the tale in
          full:

          King  relates that in 1953, he became acquainted with Louis Wilkinson,
          who  wrote under  the pen-name  of Louis  Marlow, and  had contributed
          essays to Crowley's Equinox. He later became one of Crowley's literary
          executors. King  says that  in conversation,  Wilkinson told him  that
          Crowley  had  claimed to  have been  offered  initiation into  a witch
          coven, but that he refused, as he didn't want to be bossed around by a
          bunch of women. (This story is well-known, and could have been picked
          up anywhere.)

          Wilkinson  then  proceeded to  tell King  that  he had  himself become
          friendly with members of a coven operating in the New Forest area, and
          he  thought that whilst it was  possible that they derived their exis-
          tence from Murray's "Witch Cult in Western Europe", he felt that  they
          were rather older.  

          King  draws the obvious conclusion;  that these witches  were the very
          same as those who initiated Gardner. King claims that the conversation
          with  Wilkinson took place in 1953, although "Ritual Magic in England"
          was  not published - or  presumably written -  until 1970. However, on
          September 27 1952, "Illustrated" magazine published a feature by Allen
          Andrews, which included details  of a working by, "the  Southern Coven
          of British Witches", where 17 men and women met in the New Forest
          to  repel an  invasion  by Hitler.  Wilkinson  had told  King of  this
          working  during their conversation,  which King  believes to  be proof
          that  such a  coven existed;  there are  some  differences in  the two
          stories, and so it is possible that two sources are reporting the same
          event,  but  as Wilkinson's  conversation  with  King came  after  the
          magazine article, we shall never know.

          In the recently  published "Crafting  the Art of  Magic", Aidan  Kelly
          uses this  same source to "prove" (and I use  the word advisedly - the
          book "proves" nothing") that Gardner, Dorothy, et al created Wicca one
          night following a social get together!  Of one thing we can be certain
          though: whatever its origin, modern Wicca derives from Gardner.  There
          may  of course be other  traditional, hereditary witches,  but even if
          they are genuine, then it  is unlikely that they would have  been able
          to "go public" had it not been for Gardner.



                                                                            1658
          


          There have been many  claims of "hereditary" origin (other  than Gard-
          ner's  own!) One of the most famous post-Gardner claimants to "heredi-
          tary" status  was actress Ruth Wynn-Owen, who fooled many people for a
          very  long time before being exposed. Roy  Bowers, who used the pseud-
          onym  Robert  Cochrane, was  another:  Doreen  Valiente describes  her
          association  with him in "The Rebirth of Witchcraft", and The Roebuck,
          which is still  active in the  USA today, derives directly  from Coch-
          rane, via Joe Wilson.  "Witchcraft: A Tradition Renewed" by  Evan John
          Jones with Doreen Valiente describes a tradition derived from Robert
          Cochrane.  Alex Sanders, of  course is another  who claimed hereditary
          lineage,  and like Cochrane, deserves  his own place  in this history,
          and we'll get to both of them later.

          Many people have been suspicious of Gardner's claims, and have accused
          him of making the  whole thing up. They  suggest that the Wicca is  no
          more than  the fantasy of an  old man coloured by  a romantic imagina-
          tion. One particularly  virulent attack upon Gardner came from Charles
          Cardell, writing under the pseudonym of Rex Nemorensis.

          One of Gardner's initiates who is still active in the  Wicca today has
          an interesting tale to tell about Cardell, whom he knew:

          "Cardell claimed  to be a  Witch, but  from a  different tradition  to
          Gardner's.  Cardell was  a  psychopathic rat,  with malevolent  intent
          toward all  and sundry. He managed  to get a woman  called Olive Green
          (Florannis) into Gardner's coven, and told her to copy out the Book of
          Shadows so  that Cardell could  publish it,  and destroy Gardner.   He
          also contacted  a London paper, and told them when and where the coven
          meetings were held, and of course the paper got quite a scoop. Cardell
          led people in the coven to believe that it was Doreen Valiente who had
          informed on them.

          Doreen had just  left Gardner in a bit of a huff after a disagreement;
          another coven member, Ned Grove,  left with her.  Anyway, the  day the
          paper printed the  exposure, Cardell sent  Gardner a telegram  saying,
          "Remember  Ameth tonight". (Ameth was  Doreen's Craft name,  and as it
          has now been published, I see no reason not to use it here)."

          My  informant also said that  Olive Green was  associated with Michael
          Houghton, owner of  Atlantis book shop  in Museum Street, who  was the
          publisher  of  High Magic's  Aid. Through  this association,  she also
          encountered  Kenneth Grant of the OTO,  although their association was
          not friendly.

          Cecil Williamson, the original  owner of the witchcraft museum  on the
          Isle of Man, and present owner of the Witchcraft Museum in  Boscastle,
          has also published a number of articles where he states quite categor-
          ically that Gardner was  an utter fraud; but, he offers only anecdotes
          to support these allegations.

          Although Gardner  claimed his initiation  occurred in  1939, we  don't
          really hear anything about him until 1949, when "High Magic's Aid" was
          published by Michael Houghton.



                                                                            1659
          


          This book has very  strong Solomonic leanings, but like  Gardner's own
          religious  beliefs, combined the more natural forms of magic with high
          ceremonial. In his introduction  to the book, Gardner says  that: "The
          Magical rituals are authentic, party from the Key of Solomon (MacGreg-
          or Mathers' translation)  and partly  from magical MSS  in my  posses-
          sion)." Gardner did indeed have a large collection of MSS, which
          passed with  the rest of  his goods  to Ripleys in  Toronto after  his
          death.

          Scire (pseudonym) was  the name Gardner took as a  member of Crowley's
          branch of the OTO; although it is generally agreed that his membership
          was  purely  nominal, he  was certainly  in  contact with  people like
          Kenneth  Grant and  Madeline Montalban  (founder of  the Order  of the
          Morning Star).

          Gardner was given  his OTO degree and Charter by  Aleister Crowley, to
          whom he was introduced in 1946 by Arnold Crowther.  As Crowley died in
          1947, their association was not long-lived, but Crowther confirms that
          the two men enjoyed each other's company.

          So, after that brief introduction  we can have a look at  the first of
          the strands I mentioned.

          In 1888, the  Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn  was born, beginning a
          renaissance  of interest  in  the occult  that  has continued  to  the
          present day. It is impossible to overstate the importance of the GD to
          modern occultists; not only in its  rituals, but also in its personal-
          ities; and of course, through making available a  large body of occult
          lore  that would otherwise have remained unknown, or hidden in obscur-
          ity.

          I  will be  looking at this  body of  occult lore  with other literary
          influences  later, and will here  concentrate on the  rituals and per-
          sonalities that have influenced Wicca.

          We cannot  look at the  GD in isolation  from its  own origins. It  is
          descended from a myriad  of esoteric traditions including Rosicrucian-
          ism, Theosophy, and Freemasonry. The latter  in its own right, as well
          as via  the  SRIA -  a scholarly  and ceremonial  association open  to
          Master Masons only.

          Whether  the German Lodge or  Fraulein Sprengel actually  existed is a
          matter still  under debate; but either  in fact or in  spirit, this is
          the source for the  "Cypher Manuscripts" which were used to  found the
          Isis-Urania Lodge in 1888.

          As I'm sure everyone  knows, Isis-Urania was founded by  Dr Wynn-West-
          cott,  Dr  Woodman, and  MacGregor Mathers.  Not  only were  all three
          Master  Masons; Wynn-Westcott  and Mathers  were also  members of  the
          Theosophical  Society. The most important thing though is the fact the
          these three men were a ruling triumvirate that managed the  affairs of
          the SRIA. This is  important, for the SRIA included  Hargrave Jennings
          in its membership, and Jennings is reputed to have been involved with
          a  Pagan group at the end of  the 19th century, which drew its inspir-
          ation from Apuleius - The Golden Ass.



                                                                            1660
          


          But back to the GD - whether the Cypher  Manuscripts actually existed,
          or  Wynn-Westcott manufactured  them  is now  irrelevant; Mathers  was
          commissioned to write-up the  rituals into a workable shape,  and thus
          the Golden Dawn was born.  

          Members  of the Isis-Urania Lodge at various times also included Allan
          Bennett, Moina  Mathers, Aleister Crowley, Florence  Farr, Maud Gonne,
          Annie Horniman, Arthur  Machen, "Fiona Macleod",  Arthur Waite and  WB
          Yeats.  Also associated  were Lady  Gregory, and  G W Russell,  or AE,
          whose "The Candle of Vision" was  included in the bibliography of "The
          Meaning of Witchcraft". The literary and Celtic influences within  the
          GD were immense.

          From  the  Isis-Urania  Lodge sprang  all  the  others, including  the
          so-called Dissident  Orders derived through  Crowley. It is  this line
          that some  commentators trace to modern  Wicca, so it is  the one upon
          which we will concentrate.

          Aleister  Crowley  was  initiated  into the  Isis-Urania  Lodge  on 18
          November  1898. As  you most probably  know, Crowley  later quarrelled
          with MacGregor Mathers, and in 1903 began to create his own Order, the
          Argenteum  Astrum, or Silver Star. In 1912, Crowley was initiated into
          the OTO, and in 1921, succeeded Theodor Reuss as its Chief.

          According to  Arnold Crowther's account, it was in 1946, a year before
          Crowley's  death, that  Crowley gave  Gardner an  OTO  Charter. Ithell
          Colquhoun says only that it occurred  in the 1940s, and further states
          that  Gardner introduced material from the OTO, and less directly from
          the GD, into "...the lore of his covens".

          As  Doreen Valiente also admits, "Indeed, the influence of Crowley was
          very  apparent throughout  the (Wiccan)  rituals.". This,  Gardner ex-
          plained to her, was because the rituals he received from Old Dorothy's
          coven were  very fragmentary, and  in order to make  them workable, he
          had to supplement them with other material.

          To  give an example of some  of the lines by  Crowley which are rather
          familiar to modern Wiccans:

          I  give unimaginable  joys on  earth; certainty,  not faith,  while in
          life,  upon death; peace unutterable,  rest, ecstasy; nor  do I demand
          aught in sacrifice.

          I am Life, and the giver of Life, yet therefore is the knowledge of me
          the knowledge of death.

          And of course, the Gnostic Mass has been immensely influential.

          Not only poetry, but also magical practices in Wicca are often derived
          from GD sources. For example:

          the way  of casting  the circle:  that  is, the  visualisation of  the
          circle, and the  pentagrams at the quarters,  are both based  upon the
          standard GD Pentagram Ritual;



                                                                            1661
          


          both the  concept and word  "Watchtowers" are of course  from the Eno-
          chian system  of Magic, passed to  Wicca via the GD  (although I would
          like  to make  it very  clear  that their  use within  Wicca bears  no
          relation  to the use  within Enochia -  the only similarity  is in the
          name);

          the  Elements and  colours generally  attributed  to the  Quarters are
          those of the GD; 

          the  weapons and their attributions  are a combination  of GD, Crowley
          and Key of Solomon.

          In "Witchcraft Today",  Gardner says, "The people  who certainly would
          have had the knowledge and  ability to invent (the Wiccan  rites) were
          the people who formed the Order of the Golden Dawn about seventy years
          ago...".

          The GD is  not the only influence upon Gardner;  Freemasonry has had a
          tremendous  impact upon the Wicca. Not only were the three founders of
          Isis-Urania  Temple Masons, so too were Crowley and Waite; Gardner and
          at least  one member of the  first coven (Daffo) were  both Co-Masons.
          Gardner was also  a friend of JSM Ward, who had  published a number of
          books about Masonry.

          Doreen describes Ward as a "leading Mason", but Francis King says only
          that Ward was, "a bogus Bishop... who had written some  quite good but
          far-fetched books on masonry, and who ran a peculiar religious-cum-oc-
          cult  community called The  Abbey of Christ the  King..."  Whether the
          books were far-fetched  or not, we  can assume that  some of the  many
          similarities  between Wicca and Masonry are in some ways due to Ward's
          influence.

          Some of these include:

          The Three Degrees
          The Craft
          So Mote It Be
          The Challenge
          Properly Prepared
          The 1st Degree Oath (in part)
          Presentation of the Working Tools at 1st degree

          and so on.

          It seems to me quite clear that even if Gardner received a traditional
          set  of  rituals from  his coven,  they  must have  been exceptionally
          sparse,  as the  concepts that  we know  of  as Wicca  today certainly
          derive from ceremonial magic  and Freemasonry to a very  great extent.
          Indeed, Gardner always claimed that they were sparse.

          It could  be argued  that all  derive from a  common source.  That the
          appearance  of a phrase, or technique in one tradition does not autom-
          atically  suggest that its appearance elsewhere means that the one was
          taken  from the  other. However,  Gardner admits  his sources  in many
          cases, and Doreen confirms them  in others, so I  think it is safe  to
          presume  that the rituals and  philosophy used by  Wicca descends from
          the traditions of Freemasonry and Ceremonial magic, rather than from a
          single  common source.  However,  as Hudson  Frew  points out  in  his
          commentary upon Aidan  Kelly's book, the  phenomena of the  techniques



                                                                            1662
          

          and practices  of ceremonial  magic influencing  folk magic  and trad-
          itions is widely recognised by anthropologists, and certainly does not
          indicate plagiarism.  And of course there are  many traditional witch-
          craft aspects in the Wicca.

          We have looked at the development of the magical orders which resulted
          from  the British occult  revival of the 19th  and 20th centuries, and
          now we can see where this  ties in with Wicca, and Gardner's claim  of
          traditional initiation.

          I have here a "family  tree" of the main branches of British Wicca. It
          is by no means exhaustive, and is intended to provide  an outline, not
          a definitive history! I have included my own coven  lines and develop-
          ment as an  indication of the kind of  "cross-over" of tradition which
          often occurs,  not to suggest that  these are the  only active groups!
          Also,  it would  not be  ethical for  me to  include details  of other
          covens.

          We have  two possible  "hereditary" sources  to the  Gardnerian Craft:
          one, the Horsa Coven of Old Dorothy, and two, the Cumbrian Group which
          Rae  Bone claims to have  been initiated into  before meeting Gardner.
          (NB: Doreen Valiente  says that the Horsa Coven is  not connected with
          Old Dorothy, but is  another group entirely.) There is  also sometimes
          mention of a St Alban's  group that pre-dates Gardner, but as far as I
          know, this is mistaken. The St Albans group was Gardner's own group,
          which as far as research confirms, did not pre-date him.

          To return  to Rae Bone: she was one of  Gardner's HPSs, and her "line"
          has been immensely important to the modern Wicca;  she was featured in
          the  magazine series,  "Man Myth and  Magic" if  anyone has  a copy of
          that.

          In her heyday  she ran two  covens: one in  Cumbria, and one in  South
          London. Rae is  still alive, and lives  in Cumbria, although her  last
          coven  moved  to New  Zealand many  years ago,  and  she is  no longer
          active. No-one has ever been able to trace the coven in New Zealand.

          At  this point, I will just mention  George Pickingill, although he is
          not shown on the tree, as I think it extremely dubious that he had any
          connection with Gardner, or any other modern Wiccan.

          Pickingill died  in 1909, whilst  Gardner was still  in Malaya.   Eric
          Maple  is largely  responsible  for the  beginnings of  the Pickingill
          myth,  which  were expanded  by Bill  Liddell  (Lugh) writing  in "The
          Wiccan" and "The Cauldron" throughout the 1970s. Mike Howard still has
          some of  Liddell's material which  he has never published,  and I have
          yet to  meet anyone  within the British  Craft who  gives credence  to
          Liddell's claims.

          In the  book, "The Dark  World of  Witches", published in  1962, Maple
          tells of a number of village wise  women and cunning men, one of  whom
          is George Pickingill.  There is a  photograph included of  an old  man
          with a stick, holding a hat, which Maple describes as Pickingill. This
          photograph has subsequently been re-used many times in  books about
          witchcraft and Wicca.



                                                                            1663
          


          Issue number 31  of "Insight"  Magazine, dated July  1984, contains  a
          very interesting letter from John Pope:

          "The photograph purporting to  be Old George Pickingill  is in fact  a
          photo of Alf Cavill, a station porter at Ellstree, taken  in the early
          1960s.  Alf is  now dead, but  he was  no witch, and  laughed over the
          photograph when he saw it."

          A  very respected  Craft authority  has told  me that he  believes the
          photo, which  is in his possession,  to be of Pickingill,  but like so
          much  to do with Craft history, there  is no definitive answer to this
          one.

          Many claims were  made by  Liddell; some  obviously from  cloud-cuckoo
          land, others  which could,  by a  stretch of  the imagination, be  ac-
          cepted.  The very  idea of  Pickingill,  an illiterate  farm labourer,
          co-ordinating and supervising nine covens across the breadth of the UK
          is staggering. To accept - as Liddell avers - that he had the likes of
          Alan Bennett and Aleister  Crowley as his pupils bends  credulity even
          further.

          The infamous  photograph which  Liddell claims shows  Crowley, Bennett
          and  Pickingill  together  has conveniently  disappeared,  and  no-one
          admits to ever having seen it. Like most of Liddell's claims,  nothing
          has ever been  substantiated, and  when pushed, he  retreats into  the
          time  honoured favourite  of, "I  can't reveal  that -  you're  not an
          initiate"!

          But to  return to the family  tree: the names of  Doreen Valiente, Pat
          and Arnold Crowther, Lois Bourne (Hemmings), Jack Bracelin and Monique
          Wilson will probably be the most familiar to you.

          Jack  Bracelin is the author of  Gardner's biography, "Gerald Gardner,
          Witch",  (published 1960) now  out of print,  although still available
          2nd  hand, and  in libraries.  (In  Crafting the  Art of  Magic, Kelly
          claims that  this book was actually written by Idries Shah, and simply
          published under  Bracelin's  name. As  with every  other claim,  Kelly
          offers no evidence of this)

          I have seen a copy of Bracelin's Book of Shadows, which it  is claimed
          dates  from 1949, although in  The Rebirth Of  Witchcraft, Doreen says
          that Bracelin was  a "relative newcomer" in the mid-1950s. I have also
          been  told by two different sources that Bracelin helped Gardner write
          "The Laws". In The  Rebirth Of Witchcraft, Doreen states that  she did
          not see The  Laws until the  mid 1950s, when  she and her partner  Ned
          Grove accused Gardner of concocting them in order to re-assert control
          over the coven. As Bracelin was in the Gardner camp during the breakup
          of the group, it seems reasonable that he did in fact help with  their
          composition.  (NB:  Alex Sanders  increased the number  of "The  Laws"
          much  later -  these appeared in  June Johns'  book, "The  King of the
          Witches")



                                                                            1664
          


          Although Doreen claims that the reason for the coven  break-up was the
          fact that Gardner and Bracelin were publicity crazy, there was another
          reason, which  was the  instatement  of a  new  lady into  the  coven,
          effectively replacing Doreen as  HPS. This is also the main reason for
          Gerald's  Law which states that the HPS will, "...gracefully retire in
          favour  of a younger  woman, should the  coven so  decide in council."
          Needless to  say, Doreen was not  impressed, and she and  Ned left the
          coven under  very acrimonious  circumstances. It  was quite some  time
          before Doreen had contact with Gardner again, and they never quite
          regained the degree of friendship that had previously existed.

          Monique  and Campbell  Wilson  are infamous,  rather  than famous,  as
          Gardner's heirs  who sold  off his  magical equipment  and possessions
          after his death, to Ripleys in the USA.

          Monique was the last of his  Priestesses, and many Wiccans today still
          spit  when her  name is  mentioned. Pat  Crowther was  rather scathing
          about her recently in an interview, and in The Rebirth  Of Witchcraft,
          although  Doreen tells of the sale of Gardner's magical possessions to
          Ripleys, she doesn't  ever mention the Wilsons by name. In effect, the
          Craft closed ranks against them, and they became outcasts.

          Eventually, in the face of such opposition they had to sell the Museum
          in Castletown, and  they moved  to Torremolinos, where  they bought  a
          cafe. Monique died nine years after selling the Museum. It is rumoured
          that Campbell Wilson  moved to the  USA, and met  with a car  accident
          there:  this is only  hearsay though -  I really do  not know for sure
          what happened to him.

          However, Monique was influential in a way that even she could not have
          imagined, when in 1964 or  5 she initiated Ray Buckland, who  with his
          wife Rosemary (later divorced),  was very influential in  the develop-
          ment of the Wicca in the USA.

          Fortunately,  Richard and  Tamarra James  managed to  buy the  bulk of
          Gardner's collection back from  Ripleys in 1987, for the  princely sum
          of US$40,000, and it is  now back within the Craft, and  available for
          initiates to consult and view.

          D and  C S. are probably completely anonymous, and  if it were not for
          the fact that C initiated Robert  Cochrane (briefly mentioned earlier)
          they would probably stay that way!

          Cochrane's  origins  are obscure,  but I  have been  told that  he was
          initiated into the Gardnerian tradition by C S, and met Doreen Valien-
          te through a mutual acquaintance in 1964. When he met Doreen, however,
          he  claimed to  be a hereditary  witch, from a  different tradition to
          Gardner's,  and as Doreen confirms, was contemptuous of what he called
          "Gardnerian" witches.   Indeed,  Doreen believes  he coined  the term,
          "Gardnerian".

          Doreen said she was completely  taken in by Cochrane and for  a while,
          worked with  him and  the "Clan  of Tubal-Cain"  as  he described  his
          tradition,  which was  also known  as "The  Royal Windsor  Cuveen", or
          1734.

          The  figures "1734" have an interesting history. Doreen gives a rather
          strange  account of them in  The Rebirth Of  Witchcraft, which contra-



                                                                            1665
          

          dicts what Cochrane himself describes in a letter to Joe Wilson, dated
          "12th Night 1966", where he says,

          "...the  order of  1734 is not  a date of  an event but  a grouping of
          numerals that mean something to a witch.

          "One that becomes  seven states of wisdom - the  Goddess of the Cauld-
          ron. Three  that are the Queens of the Elements - fire belonging alone
          to Man, and the Blacksmith God. Four that are Queens of the Wind Gods.

          "The Jewish orthodoxy  believe that  whomever knows the  Holy and  Un-
          speakable name of God has absolute power over the world  of form. Very
          briefly,  the name of God spoken  as Tetragrammaton ... breaks down in
          Hebrew  to the letters  YHVH, or the  Adam Kadmon (The  Heavenly Man).
          Adam Kadmon is a composite of all Archangels - in other words a poetic
          statement of the names of the Elements.

          "So  what the Jew  and the  Witch believe alike,  is that  the man who
          discovers the secret of the Elements controls the physical world. 1734
          is the witch way of saying YHVH." (Cochrane, 1966)

          Although  Doreen says that Cochrane's group was small, it still proved
          to be remarkably influential.  As well as Cochrane and his  wife (whom
          Doreen refers to as "Jean") and Doreen herself, there  were others who
          are  well-known today, and  a man called  Ronald White, who  very much
          wanted to  bring about a new  age in England, with the  return of King
          Arthur.

          In The Rebirth Of Witchcraft, Doreen elaborates upon the circumstances
          surrounding the death of Cochrane: the bald facts are that  he died at
          the Summer Solstice of  1966 of an overdose. Craft  tradition believes
          that he became in fact, and of  his own choice, the male ritual sacri-
          fice which is sometimes symbolically enacted at the height of Summer.

          The Royal Windsor  Cuveen disbanded  after Cochrane died,  only to  be
          re-born from  the ashes at  Samhain that year  under a new  name - The
          Regency. All  of its early members were from the Royal Windsor Cuveen,
          and they were under the leadership of Ronald White. The Regency proved
          to be  of great importance to  the development of the  Wicca, although
          its  existence was kept  a fairly close secret,  and even today, there
          are relatively few people who have ever heard of it.

          Meetings were held in North London,  at a place called Queens Wood. As
          well as Ron White  and Doreen Valiente, members included  "John Math",
          founder  of the Witchcraft Research Association in 1964, and editor of
          Pentagram magazine, and the founder of the Pagan Movement, Tony Kelly.
          At  its height, there  were frequently more  than 40 in  attendance at
          rites, which tended to be of the dramatic, pagan kind rather than the
          ceremonial  associated with  high ritual  magic. The  Regency operated
          fairly consistently for over twelve years, finally disbanding in 1978.
          The Membership roll reads like a who's who of the  British Wicca! Some
          of the rites  have been incorporated  into modern Wiccan rituals  - in
          fact, one  was used at  the Pan European  Wiccan Conference 1991  with
          very great success.

          Moving back over to Rae Bone's line, there are a number of influential
          people  here,  mainly through  her  initiates, Madge  and  Arthur, who
          probably take the award for the most prolific pair in Wiccandom!  Rae,
          although  initiated by Gardner, does of course also claim a hereditary
          status in her own right.



                                                                            1666
          

          Madge and Arthur's initiates include:

          John and Jean Score

          John Score  was the partner  of Michael Houghton  (mentioned earlier),
          and the founder of the Pagan Federation, which is very active today.

          Houghton died  under very  mysterious circumstances, which  is briefly
          mentioned  in  "The Sword  of Wisdom"  by  Ithell Colquhoun.  My Craft
          source told me that this was  actually a ritual that went badly wrong,
          and Houghton ended up on the wrong end of some fairly potent energies.

          There  is an  interesting anecdote  about Houghton  in The  Rebirth Of
          Withcraft, which is taken  from "Nightside of Eden" by  Kenneth Grant,
          and  agrees in some  respect to a  similar story that  I was told some
          years ago. Doreen suggests in The Rebirth Of Witchcraft that the story
          may relate to a magical working  involving Kenneth Grant and his wife,
          Gardner, Dolores  North (Madeline  Montalban), and an  un-named witch,
          who was probably Olive Green.

          They were all to perform a  ritual together, supposedly to contact  an
          extra-terrestrial being. The material  basis for the rite, which  took
          place in 1949, was a drawing by AO Spare.

          Apparently soon after the rite commenced, a nearby bookseller (Michael
          Houghton)  turned  up and  interrupted  proceedings.  On hearing  that
          Kenneth Grant was within,  he declined to enter, and wandered off. The
          rite was disrupted, and the story goes that everyone just went home.

          Kenneth Grant claims  that as  a result of  disturbing their  working,
          Houghton's  marriage broke  up, and  that Houghton died  in mysterious
          circumstances. In fact, the Houghton divorce was a cause celebre, with
          her suing  him for cruelty because  he boasted of being  a Sagittarian
          while sneering at her because she was only a dingy old Capricorn!

          The interrupted ritual  could well  have taken place.  Madeline had  a
          flat  near to  Atlantis (Houghton's  shop), and  would certainly  have
          known  both Grant and  Houghton. I know  for a fact  that Madeline was
          acquainted with Gerald, although her opinion of both him and the Wicca
          was  rather poor. One  of Madeline's older  students told  me that she
          thought Gardner rather  a fraud, and  ritually inept. She  also had  a
          very low opinion of Wiccans, and refused to allow her own students to
          participate in Wiccan rites. The reason  for this lies in an  anecdote
          which  Doreen doesn't relate: the  story goes that  Madeline agreed to
          participate in a rite  with Gerald, which turned out to  involve Made-
          line being tied  up and tickled with a feather  duster! The great lady
          was not amused.

          Prudence Jones

          Prudence was for many years the president of the Pagan Federation, and
          editor  of its  newsletter. She  inherited her  role from  John Score,
          after he passed away. With Nigel Pennick, Prudence also runs the Pagan
          Anti-Defamation League (PADL), and is an active astrologer and therap-
          ist. She  has edited a book  on astrology, and with  Caitlin Matthews,
          edited "Voices from  the Circle",  published by Aquarian  Press.   Al-
          though  Prudence took her degree in Philosophy, her main interests lie
          in the areas of the Grail  and troubadour tales, and she has published
          privately  an excellent essay  on the Grail  and Wicca. She  is also a
          very highly respected astrologer, who lectures extensively in Britain.



                                                                            1667
          

          Vivianne and Chris Crowley

          Vivianne Crowley,  is author of "Wicca  - The Old Religion  in the New
          Age", and  also secretary of  the Pagan Federation.  She has a  PhD in
          Psychology, and  is perhaps the only  person to have been  a member of
          both a Gardnerian Coven and an Alexandrian one simultaneously!

          Vivianne is very  active at the  moment, and has  initiated people  in
          Germany  (having memorised  the  ritual in  German  - a  language  she
          doesn't speak!), Norway, and - on the astral - Brazil. As a result  of
          her book,  she receives many letters  from people from all  around the
          world, and  organised the  first ever pan-European  Wiccan conference,
          held in Germany 1990. The second conference was held in Britain at the
          June solstice, and the third (1992) in Norway. In 1993, the Conference
          will be in Scotland.

          John and Kathy  (Caitlin) Matthews, are probably well-known  to every-
          one, but  possibly their  Gardnerian initiations  are not such  common
          knowledge.  The story that John  Matthews relates in  "Voices from the
          Circle" is  essentially the one  which he told  the HPS who  initiated
          him.

          Pat and Arnold Crowther

          I have left  Pat and Arnold till last,  as it is from their  line that
          the infamous  Alex Sanders derives! It is no secret anymore that Alex,
          far from being initiated by his grandmother when he was  seven, was in
          fact turned  down by Pat Crowther  in 1961, but was  later accepted by
          one  of her  ex-coven  members, Pat  Kopanski,  and initiated  to  1st
          Degree.

          In "The Rebirth of Witchcraft" Doreen  says that Alex later met  Gard-
          ner, and was allowed to copy from the Book of Shadows; Craft tradition
          is somewhat different!  It has always been  said (even by Alex's  sup-
          porters!) that he pinched what he could from Pat Kopanski before being
          chucked out, and that the main differences between the Alexandrian and
          Gardnerian Books of Shadows occur  where Alex mis-heard, or mis-copied
          something!   There are  certainly significant differences  between the
          two  Books; some parts of  Gardnerian ritual are  quite unknown within
          the Alexandrian  tradition, and the  ritual techniques are  often dif-
          ferent. It is usually very easy to spot whether someone is an Alexand-
          rian, or Gardnerian initiate.

          Alex needed a HPS,  and as we know, chose Maxine Morris  for the role.
          Maxine is a striking Priestess, and made a very good  visual focus for
          the movement which grew in leaps and bounds.

          In  the late  1960s, Alex and  Maxine were prolific  initiators, and a
          number of their initiates have become well known. Some came to Austra-
          lia, and  there are still a number of covens  in the UK today whose HP
          and/or HPS was initiated by Alex or Maxine.

          Alex and Maxine's most famous initiates are almost certainly Janet and
          Stewart  Farrar, who left them in 1971  to form their own coven, first
          in England, then  later, in  Ireland. Through their  books, they  have
          probably had the  most influence  over the direction  that the  modern
          Craft has  taken. Certainly  in  Australia, the  publication of  "What
          Witches  Do" was an absolute  watershed, and with  Janet and Stewart's
          consistent output, their form of Wicca is more likely to become the
          "standard" than any other type.



                                                                            1668
          

          Since their early days of  undiluted Alexandrianism, they have drifted
          somewhat towards a more Gardnerian approach, and  today, tell everyone
          that there are  no differences  between the two  traditions. In  fact,
          despite the merging that has  been occurring over the last  few years,
          there  are  very distinct  differences  between  the traditions;  some
          merely external, others  of a very  significant difference of  philos-
          ophy.

          Seldiy Bate  was originally  magically trained by  Madeline Montalban,
          and  then took  an Alexandrian  initiation from  Maxine and  Alex. Her
          husband,  Nigel,  was also  initiated by  Maxine,  and they  have been
          "public" witches for  a number of  years now,  often appearing on  TV,
          radio and in the press. Their background in ritual  magic is expressed
          in the type of coven that they  run; a combination of Wicca and Cerem-
          onial Magic.

          In 1971,  Alex and Maxine went their separate ways. David Goddard is a
          Liberal Catholic Priest, and for  many years, he and Maxine worked  in
          the Liberal Catholic faith, and did not  run a coven of any kind. Then
          in  1984, Maxine gathered together  a group again,  and started pract-
          ising a combination of Wicca, Qabalah and Liberal Catholicism. She and
          David separated in 1987, and since then her coven has been exclusively
          Wiccan. In 1989, she  married one of her initiates, Vincent,  and they
          are still running an active coven in London today.

          Alex's history after the split was a little more sordid, with one girl
          he married, Jill,  filling the  gutter press with  stories about  Alex
          being homosexual, and defrauding her of  all her money to spend on his
          boyfriends. Sally Taylor was  initiated by Maxine and David,  but then
          transferred to Alex.  She was trained by him, and then started her own
          group.

          I'd now like to focus upon the last of the strands which I believe has
          been influential upon the birth and development  of Wicca; that of the
          literary  traditions  and sources  to  which  Gardner  would have  had
          access.  To a  certain extent  these are  contiguous with  the magical
          traditions described  earlier, as  nowhere is  it ever  suggested that
          Gardner  did in fact ever work  in a magical Lodge,  so we must assume
          that  his knowledge came from the written  form of the rites, not from
          the actual practise of them.

          From  reading  Gardner's books,  it  is quite  apparent  that Margaret
          Murray had  a tremendous impact  upon him. Her  book, "The God  of the
          Witches"  was published  in 1933,  and  twelve years  previously, "The
          Witch Cult in Western  Europe" had appeared. "The God of  the Witches"
          has been tremendously influential on a number of people, and certainly
          inspired Gardner.

          In  fact, "Witchcraft Today", published by Gardner in 1954 contained a
          foreword by Margaret Murray. At this time, remember, Murray's work was
          still taken seriously, and she remained the contributor on the subject
          of witchcraft for the Encyclopedia Britannica for a number of years.



                                                                            1669
          


          Now  of course  her work  has been  largely discredited,  although she
          remains  a source  of  inspiration,  if  not historical  accuracy.  In
          Gardner's day, the idea of a  continuing worship of the old pagan gods
          would have been a staggering  theory, and in the second article  in my
          series about Murray (published in The Cauldron), I made the point that
          Murray may have had to pretend scientific veracity in order to get her
          work published in  such times. Don't  forget that Dion Fortune  had to
          publish her work privately, as did Gardner with High Magic's Aid.
          Carlo Ginzburg's  excellent book, "Ecstasies", also  supports Murray's
          basic  premise; although of  course he  regrets her  historical decep-
          tions.

          There  were of  course other  sources than  Murray. In  1899, "Aradia:
          Gospel  of  the Witches"  was published.  Most  of Crowley's  work was
          available  during the  pre-  and post-war  years,  as were  the  texts
          written  and translated by  MacGregor Mathers and  Waite. Also readily
          available  were works such  as The Magus, and  of course the classics,
          from which Gardner drew much inspiration.

          Of paramount importance would have been "The White Goddess", by Robert
          Graves,  which is  still  a standard  reference  book on  any  British
          Wiccan's bookshelf. This was published in 1952; three years after High
          Magic's Aid appeared, and  two years before Gardner's  first non-fict-
          ional book  about witchcraft. I would  just like to say  at this point
          that Graves  has taken some very  unfair criticism in  respect of this
          book. The White Goddess was written as a work of  poetry, not history,
          and to criticise it for being historically innaccurate is to miss the
          point. Unfortunately, I agree that some writers have referred to it as
          an "authority", and thus led their readers up the garden path. This is
          not Graves's fault, nor do I believe it was his intention.

          Another book which  has had a profound influence on  many Wiccans, and
          would  undoubtedly  have been  well known  by  Gardner is  "The Golden
          Bough";  although the entire book was written based upon purely secon-
          dary  research, it is an extensive examination of many pagan practices
          from the Ancient World, and  the emphasis of the male  sacrifice could
          certainly have been taken  from here equally as  well as from  Murray.
          Certain of the Gardnerian ritual practices were almost certainly
          derived from The Golden Bough, or from Frazer's own sources.

          In  "Witchcraft  Today"  Gardner mentions  a  number  of authors  when
          speculating where the  Wiccan rites came from. He says that, "The only
          man  I can think  of who  could have invented  the rites  was the late
          Aleister Crowley."

          He continues to say, "The only other man I can think of who
          could have done it is Kipling...". He also mentions that,
          "Hargrave Jennings might have had a hand in them..." and then
          suggests that "Barrat (sic) of The Magus, circa 1800, would
          have had the ability to invent or resurrect the cult."

          It's  possible that these references are something of a damage control
          operation  by Gardner, who, according to Doreen, was not too impressed
          when she kept telling him that  she recognised certain passages in the
          Witch rites! "Witchcraft Today" was published the  year after Doreen's
          initiation, and  perhaps by seeming genuinely interested  in where the
          Rites came from, Gardner thought he might give the appearance of
          innocence of their construction!



                                                                            1670
          

          As  mentioned  previously, Gardner  also  had  a large  collection  of
          unpublished  MSS, which he used extensively,  and one has only to read
          his books to realise that he was a very well-read man, with wide-rang-
          ing  interests. Exactly  the sort  of man  who would  be able  to draw
          together a set of rituals if required.  

          The extensive bibliography to "The Meaning of Witchcraft" published in
          1959, demonstrates this rather well. Gardner includes Magick in Theory
          and  Practice and  The Equinox  of the Gods  by Crowley;  The Mystical
          Qabalah  by Dion Fortune; The Goetia; The White Goddess (Graves); Lady
          Charlotte Guest's  translation of The Mabinogion;  English Folklore by
          Christina Hole; The  Kabbalah Unveiled and  the Abramelin by  Mathers;
          both Margaret Murray's books and Godfrey Leland's Gypsy Sorcery, as
          well as a myriad of classic texts, from Plato to Bede!

          Although this bibliography postdates the creation of Gardnerian Wicca,
          it  certainly indicates from where Gardner draws his inspiration from.
          There  are also  several books  listed which  are either  directly, or
          indirectly, concerned with sex magic, Priapic Cults, or Tantra.

          Hargrave Jenning, mentioned  earlier, wrote a  book called "The  Rosi-
          crucians, their  Rites and Mysteries", which Francis King describes as
          a  book, "concerned  almost  exclusively with  phallicism and  phallic
          images - Jennings saw the penis everywhere."

          As I  mentioned earlier, Hargrave Jennings, a member of the SRIA, also
          belonged to a group, described as a coven, which met  in the Cambridge
          area  in the  1870s, and  performed rituals  based upon  the classical
          traditions - specifically, from  The Golden Ass. There is  no evidence
          to support this,  except that there  are often found  references to  a
          "Cambridge  Coven" linked to Jennings'  name.  Many  of the rituals we
          are  familiar  with today  were of  course  later additions  by Doreen
          Valiente, and  these have  been well  documented by  both her  and the
          Farrars, in a  number of books.   Doreen admits that she  deliberately
          cut much of the poetry by Aleister Crowley, and substituted either her
          own work, or poems from other sources, such as the Carmina Gadelica.

          Of course we can never really know the truth about  the origins of the
          Wicca. Gardner  may have  been an  utter fraud;  he may  have actually
          received  a "Traditional" initiation; or,  as a number  of people have
          suggested, he  may have created  the Wicca  as a result  of a  genuine
          religious experience, drawing upon  his extensive literary and magical
          knowledge to create, or help create, the rites and philosophy.

          What I think we can be fairly certain about is that he was  sincere in
          his belief. If there had been no  more to the whole thing than an  old
          man's  fantasy, then the  Wicca would not  have grown to  be the force
          that it is today, and we would not all be sitting  here in Canberra on
          a Saturday morning!



                                                                            1671
          

                                   The Wheel of the Year 

              From "The Witches of Oz", by Julia Phillips and Matthew Sandow,
          Sydney,
                                     New South Wales.


               The Wheel of the year is of great significance to Wiccans, and
          is one of the principle keys to understanding the religion.  As we
          said earlier, Wicca sees a profound relationship between humanity
          and the environment.  For a Wiccan, all of nature is a manifesta-
          tion of the divine and so we celebrate the turning seasons as the
          changing faces of our Gods.

               The Wheel of the Year is a continuing cycle of life, death and
          rebirth.  Thus the Wheel reflects both the natural passage of life
          in the world around us, as well as revealing our own connection
          with the greater world.  To a Wiccan, all of creation is divine,
          and by realizing how we are connected to the turning if the seasons
          and to the natural world, we come to a deeper understanding to the
          ways in which we are connected to the God and Goddess. o when we
          celebrate our seasonal rites, we draw the symbolism that we use
          from the natural world and from our own lives, thus attempting to
          unite the essential identity that underlies all things.

               Undoubtedly the significance of the Festivals has changed over
          the centuries, and it is very difficult for us today to imagine the
          joy and relief that must have accompanied the successful grain
          harvest.  What with factory-farming, fast freezing and world wide
          distribution, our lives no longer depend upon such things and as a
          consequence, our respect for the land has diminished in proportion
          to our personal contact with it.

               Wiccans believe that we can re-affirm this contact by our
          observance of the passage of the seasons, in which we see reflected
          our own lives, and the lives of our gods.  Whether we choose to
          contact those forces through silent and solitary meditation, or
          experience the time of year in a wild place, or gather with friends
          in a suburban living room, we are all performing our own ritual to
          the Old Ones, reaching out once more towards the hidden forces
          which surround us all.

               What is of the utmost importance with the Wheel of the Year is
          that we understand what we hope to achieve through our festival
          celebrations, and avoid the trap of going through empty motions,
          repeating words from a book which may sound dramatic, but have no
          relevance in our everyday lives.  That simply leads to the creation
          of a dogma, and not a living breathing religion.  It is not enough
          to stand in a circle on a specific day, and "invoke' forces of
          nature, those forces are currents which flow continuously through-
          out our lives, not just eight times a year, and if we choose not to
          acknowledge them in our everyday lives, there is no point in
          calling upon them for one day.



                                                                            1672
          

                By following the Wiccan religion you are affirming your belief
          in the sanctity of the Earth, and acknowledging that you depend
          upon the Earth for your very life.  Although modern lifestyles do
          not encourage awareness of our personal relationship with the
          turning seasons, or the patterns of life, growth, death and decay,
          that does not mean that they no longer exist.  The ebb and flow 
          of the Earth's energies may be hidden beneath a physical shell of
          tarmac and concrete, and a psychic one of human indifference, but
          they are nevertheless there for those who wish to acknowledge them
          once more.

               We do this by observing the changes of the seasons, and
          feeling the changes reflected in our innermost selves, and in our
          everyday lives.  In our rituals we focus upon different aspects of
          the God and Goddess, and participate in the celebration of their
          mysteries; thus we re-affirm our connections on the most profound
          levels.

               The Wiccan Wheel has two great inspirations; it is both a
          wheel of celebration, and a wheel of initiation.  As a wheel of
          initiation it hopes to guide those who tread its pathway towards an
          understanding of the mysteries of life and the universe, expressed
          through the teachings of the Old Ones made manifest in the turning
          of the seasons.  For a Wiccan, the gods and nature are one.  In
          exploring the mysteries of the seasons we are seeking to penetrate
          more deeply the mysteries of the God and Goddess.

               As a wheel of celebration, Wiccans accord to the words of the
          Charge of the Goddess, where She says, "Let my worship be within
          the heart that rejoiceth, for behold, all acts of Love and Pleasure
          are my rituals"; and that, "Ye shall dance, sing, feast, make music
          and love, all in my praise".  Anyone can celebrate the turning of
          the seasons, in their own way, and in their own time.  Wiccan
          covens will commonly gather together, and make the Festivals times
          of joyful merrymaking, but you can just as easily make the
          celebration a solitary one, or with just one or two friends.  The
          principles do not alter; just the way in which you acknowledge
          them.

               Wiccans generally celebrate eight Festivals, roughly six weeks
          apart, which are pivotal points in the solar (seasonal) cycle. 
          Four of the Festivals are called the Lesser Sabbats: these are the
          Spring and Autumn Equinoxes, and the Winter and Summer Solstices. 
          The other four Festivals are called the Greater Sabbats, and relate
          to particular seasons when in bygone days, certain activities would
          have been undertaken, usually followed by a party of some kind. 
          There are variations upon the names by which these Greater Sabbats
          are known, but the simple ones are Candlemas, Beltane, Lammas and
          Samhain.  Candlemas is also known as Imbolg, Oimelc, or Brigid;
          Lammas is sometimes called Lughnassadh.



                                                                            1673
          

                It is important to understand that the Festivals are celebrat-
          ing a time of year: a season, not a date.  Most books written about
          Wicca have been written by an author living and working in the
          northern hemisphere, who may quite rightly say that "Beltane is
          celebrated on May Eve."  Northern hemisphere readers will automati-
          cally interpret this as, "Beltane is at the end of spring, just
          before summer gets underway."  IN the Wiccan Book of Shadows, the
          poem by Kipling is used at this Festival which says, "O do not tell
          the Priests of our art, for they would call it sin; but we've been
          out in the woods all night, a'conjurin' summer in.... ."

               Of course, "May eve" in the southern hemisphere is autumn
          heading into winter, entirely the wrong time of year to celebrate
          the portent of summer.  In much the same way, Christmas and Easter
          are celebrated at the wrong time of year here.  In the Christian
          calendar, Christmas coincides with the Winter Solstice - and the
          growing popularity of the June Yule Fest in the Blue Mountains in
          NSW each year suggests an awareness of this, even if it is, in this
          case, expressed in a commercial sense.  The date of Easter changes
          each year, because it is the first Sunday after the first Full Moon
          after the Spring Equinox, (And they try to tell us that Easter
          wasn't originally a Pagan Festival!)  So in the southern hemi-
          sphere, according to the rules by which the date of Easter is
          determined, it should fall sometime in late September or early
          October each year.  However, Christianity is not a religion which
          sees a particular connection between humanity and the environment,
          and therefore has no problem in celebrating Easter in autumn, and
          Christmas at the Summer Solstice.  Wicca is different, and it IS
          important to us to attune ourselves to the passage of the seasons,
          hence we follow the natural cycle wherever we live.  In the
          southern hemisphere this means celebrating Beltane at the start of
          summer, i.e., the beginning of November, not the beginning of May.

               The Wiccan year starts and ends with Samhain, which is also
          known as Hallowe'en, or All Saints Eve.  It is the celebration
          which falls just before the dark nights of winter take hold.  The
          Winter Solstice comes next, where Wiccans celebrate the rebirth of
          the Sun; at Candlemas about six weeks later, we celebrate the first
          signs of the growing light (longer days,) and of spring beginning
          to show itself.  The Spring Equinox (around 21 September - it
          varies from year to year) is the time when day and night are equal
          in length, and the Sun is on its increase.  Next is Beltane, the
          Festival where Wiccans celebrate the union of the young man and
          woman, and everyone dances around a tree, crowned with a garland of
          flowers, and decked with red and white ribbons.



                                                                            1674
          

               About six weeks after Beltane we come to the Summer Solstice,
          when the Sun reaches its greatest height.  It is the longest
          day/shortest night, and in the southern hemisphere, falls around 21
          December.  Then the Sun begins its way back down towards winter,
          but we are still in summer.  Six weeks after the Solstice is
          Lammas, when in agricultural societies, the harvest is reaped, and
          we receive the benefits from our hard work.  The Sun at Lammas
          still has great strength, for it is the ripening time, rather than
          the growing time which ceases around the Summer Solstice.  The
          Autumn Equinox follows this, usually around 21 March (again, it
          varies from year to year), which is often celebrated as a Harvest
          Festival.  The next Festival, some six weeks after the Equinox, is
          Samhain, which is the time just before the winter really sets in,
          and when food is stored, and we remember those who have passed
          away.  In many countries this is the time when the Lord of the Wild
          Hunt rides, which is mirrored in the way that the winds are often
          wild at this time of year, and the clouds ragged and wind-torn.

               In parts of Australia you will find that some of these
          seasonal aspects are a little different, but generally speaking,
          you should be able to feel the change from winter to spring; spring
          to summer; summer to autumn and then autumn to winter.  The
          specifics will change, but the general trend is very similar - one
          season leading to another.  You have only to become aware of the
          natural changes in your own environment to realize that the
          concepts of the Wheel of the Year are valid wherever you may be.

               As a Wheel of initiation, the Wheel of the Year is the path
          which leads us through the experiences of our gods towards that
          point which Jungian psychologists call individuation, and which
          Wiccans call knowledge of the Old Ones.  As with all mystical
          experiences, these mysteries are not communicated in an academic or
          intellectual manner; they are direct experiences which each
          individual shares with the Old Gods.  Different traditions have
          developed different ways of travelling the Wheel, but all ways have
          a common purpose, and all are equally valid, provided the basic
          principles are sound.

               We gave a very brief description of the cycle of the Wheel of
          the Year above.  Now we can have a look at this in more detail,
          using for our framework a mythology which is used by our own Coven. 
          It is based upon the Gardnerian and Alexandrian traditions in which
          we were initiated, but has evolved over several years, and has been
          greatly modified to reflect our own understanding of the turning
          wheel of the seasons.  We should say at this point that we use the
          terms "King" and "Queen" to refer to the principle characters in
          the mythology.  It is important to understand that we are not
          referring to a modern monarchy, but to the ancient pagan principles
          those titles infer.  The King is the priest/king of the forest: 
          his tale is told in many forms in many lands.  He is the essential
          male that lies within all men, and is the animus (in it Jungian
          sense) of all women.  The Queen is Sovereignty:  she is the
          mysterious soul of nature; the essential woman that lies within all
          women, and is the anima of all men.



                                                                            1675
          

               So to begin our journey:  how do we set out to explore the
          mysteries of existence?  Well, the journey begins with a question -
          we have first to be aware that there is a mystery to explore!  And
          that most basic of questions is:  "where did life come from?  how
          did it all begin?"  For a Wiccan there is an underlying spiritual
          intuition that the answer to that question is quite simply that the
          universe was created by deity.  So we celebrate the beginning of
          the Wheel of the Year as a being the creation of all life by the
          God and the Goddess; we begin with a creation myth.

               The Wheel of the Year starts with Samhain; at this time we
          celebrate the Great Rite - the joyful union of the God and Goddess
          in the Otherworld.  This touches the very depths of the mystery. 
          We celebrate at this time the conception that will lead to the
          birth of all creation.

               Wiccans celebrate all life as a manifestation of the mystery
          of the gods, but do not pretend to understand how such life came
          into being.  Nor do we claim to fully understand our gods; to the
          Wicca they are a mystery, and when describing our vision of deity
          we use symbols to express as best we can the vision we have seen. 
          We do not know how the universe was created and this remains
          essentially mysterious.  However, by choosing to take the path of
          initiation - that is, by following the Wheel of the Year - we can
          learn to commune more deeply with the gods, and experience visions
          which can reveal a little of the mystery.

               The vision that we have of Samhain is of the creation.  In the
          Wicca the inexpressible mystery of the deity is symbolized in the
          form of the God and Goddess.  Thus at Samhain we celebrate their
          love as the root of all creation.  Samhain is the time of creation: 
          the moment when life is conceived in the womb of the Great Mother.

               As we proceed to the next of the festivals - Yule - it should
          not be surprising to find that following the moment of conception
          we should seek to understand the moment of birth.  The conception,
          the moment of creation deep within the mystery, took place at
          Samhain.  The seed planted at this time gestates in the womb of the
          Goddess until the child of the gods - in essence, the whole of
          creation - emerges from the womb of the Great Mother.  This is
          celebrated at Yule, which is symbolized by the birth of the Sun. 
          In pre-Christian times, this time was called "Giuli," and followed
          "Modra Necht" - the Night of the Mothers.

               Yule is celebrated at the time of the Midwinter Solstice. 
          This is the time of the longest night, and of the shortest day. 
          The Sun is seen to be symbolically born anew, as the Great Mother
          gives birth at the time of the darkest night.  The Sun is a vitally
          important symbol to us, for it has been long known that all life on
          Earth is dependant upon the Sun.  The Wheel of the Year itself is
          based upon the solar cycle, and the Sun is seen as symbolic of the
          life force which we worship as the God and the Goddess.  The Sun is
          the dominant force in all our lives.  Without its light and heat,
          life as we understand it is impossible.  The passage of the Sun
          through the heavens regulates the passage of the seasons we
          experience upon the Earth, and is therefore the foundation of the
          Wiccan Wheel of the Year.



                                                                            1676
          

               At the Midwinter Solstice we celebrate the rebirth of the Sun. 
          Many Wiccan covens follow the old pagan tradition of enacting this
          as the Goddess giving birth to the Child of Promise.  It was at the
          Midwinter Solstice in the northern hemisphere that the birth of
          Mithras was celebrated.  For the same reason it was decided in 273
          A.D. to appoint this date to celebrate the birth of Christ; the
          "son" of God.

               In the world of nature, Yule signifies the moment of the
          rebirth of the Sun.  In our own lives we can take it to represent
          the moment of physical birth.  Thus in our ritual cycle, we enact
          the rebirth of the Sun by the lighting of candles, and especially
          the lighting of a flame within the cauldron to represent the
          emergence of new life from the darkness of the womb of the Goddess. 
          We ritually invoke the Great Mother and All-Father, and we
          symbolically enact the Goddess giving birth to the new year.  In
          human terms the child represents all the potential for life, as yet
          unaware that all the mysteries of the universe lies hidden deep
          within.  Like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the child is born
          in innocence, created in the image of the gods.

               We have taken the second step upon our journey.  From now on
          the days continue to lengthen as the Sun climbs toward its height
          at the Summer Solstice.  In response to the greater heat of the
          Sun, the land begins to awaken as we start the journey from winter
          towards spring.  The next festival is Candlemas.  As we might guess
          from the name (given to it by the Christians), it is a festival of
          lights which celebrates the growth of the Sun.  By Candlemas, the
          days are appreciably longer.  Our understanding of this festival
          has been guided by ancient pagan tradition and our own inspiration. 
          We see this as a time of purification and most especially a time of
          initiation into the female mysteries.  At Candlemas we observe in
          nature the awakening potential for the fullness of summer.  In
          human terms we represent this by the first female menstruation. 
          This is the virgin aspect of the Goddess, marking the awakening of
          her potential to become the mother.

               We celebrate this ritual by arming the young virgin with the
          powers of the elements.  We celebrate her initiation into the
          mysteries of her sex.  To reflect this essential female mystery, we
          enact the young girl being instructed by her mother and grandmother
          into the mysteries of being a woman.  Thus we reveal that the
          mystery of the virgin is also found within the mother crone as
          well.

               It is at Candlemas in many parts of Britain that the women of
          the house dress a sheaf of oats in woman's clothing, and lay it in
          a basket called "Brighid's bed."  They also place a small phallic
          club in the bed and then call out three times, "Brighid is come,
          Brighid is welcome!", and leave candles burning all night beside
          the bed.  Behind all this we catch glimpses of deeper mysteries
          that can only be grasped by passing beyond a mere intellectual
          appreciation of the symbolism.



                                                                            1677
          

               To continue our journey we now come to the Spring Equinox.  It
          might seem that celebrating Candlemas as a female mystery is rather
          unbalanced in a religion which is based upon polarity of male and
          female; but no; for reasons of tradition, and because woman reach
          puberty before men, it is not until the Spring Equinox that the
          initiatory male rite is enacted.  In this we arm the young god with
          the knowledge of his own creative power; he is initiated into the
          mysteries of sex, just as the young girl was armed with the powers
          of her potential.  This ritual expresses the mystery that he
          contains within his young life; the potential to become a father
          and wise old man.

               This continues to reflect the turning tide of the seasons.  We
          are now in the spring.  New life is awakening on all sides.  The
          sap is rising in the trees, and both the young man and young girl
          have awakened to the mysteries of their sexuality.  The Spring
          Equinox is a vital moment in the passage of the solar cycle.  Day
          and night now stand equal, and from this point onwards the light
          will dominate the darkness.  The long dark nights of winter have at
          last been overthrown.

               Between the Spring Equinox and Beltane the young man and woman
          pursue one another, each becoming more aware of the other sex. 
          Thus the man understands that there is more to the mystery of life
          than pure masculinity, and the woman sees that there is more to
          life than her femininity.  Having found this vision, they express
          it in their desire to be joined as one.

               We arrive now at Beltane.  This is the time of the sacred
          marriage when the young man and woman are joined together as
          husband and wife.  With their wish to be married, they have
          glimpsed that the mysteries of love may lead to a deeper union
          still - in essence, to a union with the gods.  By going beyond
          their sense of individual self to embrace one another, they have
          taken a profound step toward the God and Goddess.  They have
          discovered that deep within themselves they are both male and
          female, and the experience of this brings a new sense of joy and
          wholeness.

               Beltane is a time of joy and celebration; the dark of winter
          is forgotten, and summer is coming.  It is a time of fertility and
          fire.  We dance the ancient mystery of the Maypole, celebrating our
          understanding our understanding of the mystery of the love of a man
          for a woman.  The pole is crowned with a garland of flowers to
          symbolize their joining; the ribbons are red and white, reminding
          us of blood and sperm.  The dance is the sexual fire, as we dance
          about the pole winding the ribbons in the pattern of the spiral,
          which reveals the mystery of the serpent; that ancient awakener who
          slumbers until warmed by the rising Sun.

               This is the time of the sacred marriage.  It is a moment when
          human consciousness has grasped the powers of nature, joined with
          those powers and shared in the mystery of life.  The land and our
          lives are married as one.  For those that are able to see it, there
          is a vision of the creation of all life by the God and the Goddess. 
          For the mystery is now revealed for all to see - the woman
          conceives of her husband.  She is pregnant and will bear a child.



                                                                            1678
          

               Through their union they discover their deeper selves, which
          we symbolize as the King and Queen of the land.  The man and woman
          now take up their new roles, and rule the kingdom of their new
          found lives.  At Candlemas and the Spring Equinox a man and a woman
          were instructed in the powers of nature.  Now at Beltane that
          knowledge is transformed into understanding.  For in joining
          together they have understood that their lives and the land are
          one.

               The land continues to bring forth life in an ever greater
          profusion.  The woman who is now the Queen begins to show the first
          signs of the Beltane seed planted in her womb by her husband, the
          King.  She is pregnant; the mirror image of the maturing crops.

               Now we come to Midsummer, the height of the solar Wheel.  This
          is the time of the longest day and shortest night, and a time of
          maturity, both in the agricultural cycle and the lives of the man
          and woman.  They rule now as King and Queen; just as the Sun is at
          its height, so too they are at the height of their creative powers. 
          The woman's mature power is reflected in her approaching mother-
          hood.  The man's power is reflected in his kingship, and in his
          mastery of nature and rule of the kingdom.  Together the King and
          Queen preside over the kingdom of their lives, celebrating the
          vision of creative light.

               But the light does not continue to rise.  The vision of light
          must once more give way to a growing darkness.  As things grow, so
          too they must wither and die.  From Midsummer, the Sun must fall,
          until reborn once more at the Winter Solstice.  Thus Midsummer is
          a celebration of the King and Queen's power, but must also reflect
          the returning current of darkness.  We symbolize this by the
          appearance of a challenger who confronts the couple.  Until now the
          King and Queen have ruled supreme; they have imposed their will
          upon the kingdom without challenge, but now a single dark figure
          must appear.  This is the beginning of the ancient pagan theme of
          the battle between the brothers; the light and dark kings now begin
          their conflict.

               The challenger seeks to abduct the Queen; the child she bears
          represents the kingdom.  The King must now defend the land.  They
          fight, light against dark, but as yet the sun is still supreme, and
          the King drives the challenger back.  But, the challenger is armed
          with the power of fate; we know that the Sun must fall.  With a
          single stroke the challenger wounds the King, laying open his
          thigh; but still the light is the greater power, and the King
          defeats the challenger.  The light still rules supreme, but a
          shadow has fallen over the kingdom.

               Thus Midsummer comes to a close.  The King and Queen remain at
          the height of their power, yet a new force - darkness - is
          awakening in the world.  As the seasons continue to turn, the gods
          begin to reveal a further mystery:  not only are they light, they
          are also dark as well.  Thus the King and Queen have awakened to a
          deeper mystery; they have seen that not only are they male and
          female, but they are also light and dark as well.



                                                                            1679
          

               As we look at the natural world, we see that the Sun is now
          waning.  The days grow shorter, and we sense profound changes in
          the world around us.  After Midsummer, the next festival we come to
          is Lammas.  The crops have matured, and in the way of nature, aged
          and turned to seed.  The days are still longer than the nights; the
          light still rules in the land, but the powers of darkness are now
          visibly growing.  Summer is coming to an end and we are approaching
          autumn.  To symbolize the theme of the waning light and growing
          power of darkness, we celebrate Lammas as a Harvest Festival.  In
          cutting the corn (wheat), we celebrate the end of the vision of
          light.  We cut the corn with joy; as we have sown, so now we reap,
          but in cutting the corn we signal the end of the cycle of growth.

               As we gather in the harvest we watch as the power of the Sun
          wanes.  The cutting of the corn is an ancient symbol of death and
          transformation, and reflects the seasonal changes at work in the
          land around us.  As we look to the King and Queen, who were married
          to the land at Beltane, we see in their lives a reflection of these
          themes.  Just as the harvest is reaped, so the Queen now births her
          child.

               The mystery of Lammas is that by fulfilling the vision of
          light in bringing to fruition the seed sown in the spring, we must
          face the vision of death.  For the King bears the wound he received
          at Midsummer, it is a wasting wound and will not heal.  He slowly
          weakens, his creative power spent.  He is still King, but his
          powers are waning, a reflection of the falling light.  But Lammas
          is also a time of hope, for in the cutting of the corn the seed is
          gathered in, which is the hope for life to come.  As the King looks
          to his first born son he looks to the heir of the kingdom.  We
          celebrate Lammas as a time of fulfillment; it is a time of joy,
          when we reap all we have sown.

               Both King and Queen have been transformed.  The King had to
          accept the glimpse of the vision of death in his killing of the
          challenger and taking of a mortal wound; so now the Queen dies to
          herself, for in giving birth she has given the child a part of her
          life, passing her power to her son.  As the Wheel of the Seasons
          turns, it reveals that the gods embrace both life and death.  Just
          as the man and woman were born, so too they must die.  Lammas
          brings the vision of mortality, but reveals the hope of the
          immortal spirit hidden in the new cut grain, made manifest in the
          new born child, who symbolizes the awakening darkness; he is the
          power of the waning Sun.  He emerges from the womb as the growing
          darkness appears in the natural world.

               We must now move on.  Time will stand still for no-one.  The
          wheel must turn, and we must turn with it.  This is our fate, as
          our lives reflect the turning cycle of the seasons.  We must now
          make our way to the Autumn Equinox, where once again the powers of
          light and darkness stand as equals - but now it is the darkness
          that is in the ascendant.

               It is the nature of human beings to resist the darkness. 
          Humanity fears death above all things.  It is the root of all our
          fears; death is the final initiation.  Only through an acceptance
          and understanding of death can we hope to understand the goods. 
          Only in accepting death can we truly accept life.  Life and death
          are two sides of the same coin; we cannot have one without the
          other.



                                                                            1680
          

               By the time we reach the Autumn Equinox, it becomes harder to
          describe the mysteries that we celebrate.  The mystery that can be
          taught or explained is not, after all, a mystery.  At the Autumn
          Equinox we must face life's greatest mystery:  death.  This is the
          hardest trial of all.  In the ancient mystery schools, and in
          shamanic practices, the most important of initiations was - and is
          - the near death experience.

               The child born at Lammas is now a young man.  He is the
          reflection of the growing powers of darkness.  The old King of
          Light bears his mortal wound and is now advancing in years, his
          powers waning as the days grow shorter, and the Sun falls lower and
          lower in the sky.  The Queen also is no longer young; the flower of
          her youth is past.  The King and Queen are aging with the land, for
          they and the land are one.

               But as is natural in human affairs we none of us want to admit
          the darkness.  We fight against the coming of the night.  So the
          King and Queen each in their own way try to hold onto the kingdom
          they have been at such pains to build.  The King's powers are
          waning; his son is in the first flush of youth and vigor, and has
          been initiated into the mysteries of his power.  The King grows
          weak, and must rely upon his son to defend the kingdom.  But, the
          King now fears his son as a potential challenge to the throne.  The
          Queen likewise does not want to relinquish her power.  She sees
          that her husband grows weak and infirm, and is no match for a
          challenger.  To maintain her position in the kingdom she relies on
          the power of her son.
                Finally, in the dead of the night, the old pagan tale replays
          itself.  The battle begun at the Midsummer Solstice between the
          light and darkness must now be resumed; the King and his son fight
          as the Equinox comes upon us.  Sword against spear the battle
          rages; the experience of the King against the naked strength of his
          son's youth.  The Queen watches as they fight, torn by hope and
          fear.  But as they fight, there is a great mystery at work.  Both
          the King and Queen now face their fear of death, and as they look
          death in the eye there is a moment of understanding.  The King, the
          Queen, and the land are one.  Thus they are both the light and
          darkness.  In the moment of vision the King looks upon his son, and
          at last realizes that he is only fighting himself, for all things
          are one.  The King and his son understand the mystery, and they
          join in love as one.  They give up the conflict of light and dark
          to pass beyond this world, and they become the Lord of the
          Otherworld.  The Queen too has seen both life and death, and knows
          that they are one.  With this realization she becomes the crone,
          and understands the ancient mystery.  The Equinox marks her last
          menstrual cycle; she can no longer bear children.

               So now we must take our last step upon the Wheel; we come at
          last to Samhain, from where it all began.  As we saw at the
          beginning this is the Wiccan New Year.  The Queen has become the
          crone - the hag, the Witch.  She lives alone, for the King is now
          dead.  The Sun is waning toward the Solstice; winter is upon us,
          and the night is now longer than the day.



                                                                            1681
          

               If we look to the land, the cycle of growth has come to an
          end.  The kingdom of the old year has symbolically passed away,
          transformed by the turning of the seasons.  The Queen is now a
          Witch; the ancient hag crone who knows the mysteries of life and
          death.  In making her journey she has discovered the ancient power
          which lies behind the Wheel of the Year.  She has seen the spring,
          the summer, autumn and winter, and she knows that an ancient
          mystery lies hidden within it all.

               Standing alone, for she is feared by those who have yet to
          walk the Wheel, she kindles the ancient Samhain fire.  As she
          raises her arms in invocation to the Lord of the Otherworld, a
          great storm gathers.  The veil is opened between the worlds.  The
          storm breaks, and the Wild Hunt is upon us as the spirits of the
          dead are led from the Otherworld by the ancient Horned God; the
          Ancient Lord of the Samhain fire.  To complete the final turn of
          the Wheel, the Crone must now join with his mystery, and go with
          him back into the Otherworld.  She and the Horned Lord travel
          together back into the depths of the mystery.  There they join in
          love as one; the supreme moment of the true Great Rite in which all
          the mysteries of the male and female, all the mysteries of the
          light and dark are married together as one as the seed is planted
          deep within the womb of the Great Mother.

               For now in the natural cycle the seeds of nature fall to the
          ground, the seed of life to come.  The seed harvested at Lammas is
          now planted in the earth, fulfilling the mystery of the return. 
          For a while the land sleeps, and lies fallow.  The darkness seems
          to complete, but of course we know that we will eventually return
          to the Winter Solstice, and the cycle will continue.

               Let us now approach the Wiccan Wheel of the Year as it is
          meant to be:  as a mystery.  Forget the intellect, and allow your
          intuition and emotions to be your guide.  What follows is a guided
          visualization, which you can read onto a tape, or have one person
          read aloud, as you follow the journey it describes.  Allow the
          images to form naturally in your imagination, and you will find
          yourself making a magical journey through the mysteries of the
          gods.

               For those who are not used to following a guided visualiza-
          tion, there are a few simple rules to observe.  Before starting any
          meditation work (which includes the kind of altered state that
          guided visualization encourages), seat yourself comfortably in a
          quiet room, free from distractions.  Take the phone off the hook,
          and tell anyone who lives with you not to disturb you.  You can of
          course do this out of doors, but if you do, make sure you are well
          off the beaten track, with no danger of bush walkers stumbling over
          you, or any other kinds of disturbance.  Have a pen and pad handy,
          and if it helps you to relax and focus, use some incense.



                                                                            1682
          

                      The Wheel of The Year, A Guided Visualization:
                             Julia Phillips & Rufus Harrington

               Make sure you are seated comfortably, and spend a few moments
          quietly, allowing your mind and body to relax.  Now, close your
          eyes, and allow these images to build in your imagination:

               It is dark, and a chill wind is blowing.  You are standing
          within a mighty forest, and can feel the ground hard and cold
          beneath your feet.  You look up, and see the stars, but there is no
          Moon.  Patiently, you wait.  You hear a sound behind you, and turn
          and look over your shoulder.  You realize that you are standing
          upon the edge of a clearing; at its center burns a fire, with an
          old man seated before it.  He is wearing tattered animal skins, and
          has long ragged hair which blows about in the wind.  On the far
          side of the clearing you see the mouth of a cave, and standing
          before it is the mighty figure of the Horned God.

               You turn back and look through the trees, looking towards the
          eastern horizon.  For tonight is the longest night:  the dark time
          before the Sun is reborn at the Winter Solstice, and you wait
          patiently for the first rays of the new born Sun.  At last you see
          a faint glimmer of light upon the eastern horizon, and as the rays
          of the new born Sun rise in the morning sky, you hear the sound of
          a new born babe crying.  You turn and look back across the clearing
          as an old woman walks out of the cave carrying a new born child in
          her arms.  The Horned God reaches forwards and caresses the child's
          cheek, and then the old woman takes the child, and sits by the side
          of the old man at the camp fire.

               As the Sun continues to rise in the sky, you know that you
          have witnessed a very great mystery - the mystery of birth - the
          birth of the Sun, and of the Son.  You leave the clearing, and walk
          back through the forest to your own cottage, where you warm
          yourself at the fire, for you are chilled through after your long
          vigil throughout the darkest night.

               Days pass, and although the ground is still hard and cold, and
          the nights long and dark, you are aware of a change in the season,
          and know that winter is drawing to its close.  One night as you are
          about to go to bed, you hear a tinkling of bells from deep within
          the forest, and are strangely drawn towards their sound.  As you
          make your way through the night, a waxing Moon lights your path,
          and at last you find yourself once more in the clearing.  You look
          towards the cave, and see that a great red veil hangs across the
          mouth, and that the old Crone, and another woman stand before it. 
          The other woman is younger than the Crone, but obviously not a
          youth, and you instinctively realize that this is the Crone's own
          daughter.

               As you stand and watch you realize that the bells are being
          shaken by the Crone, and that she and her daughter are softly
          singing an ancient song:  a song which calls to the Virgin to
          awaken, and to come forth as the herald of winter's end, and
          spring's beginning.  The two women reach up, and with a single
          movement, rend the veil, tearing it away, revealing the Virgin
          standing poised upon the threshold.  She is purity and innocence: 
          a young figure - blindfolded, dressed in white, and carrying in her
          hands a posy of bright yellow flowers, symbolic of the growing
          powers of the Sun.



                                                                            1683
          

               The Mother and Crone reach forward, and linking their hands
          behind the Virgin, they pull her out of the cave.  They lead her
          towards the fire, and then the Mother speaks quietly to her.  You
          see the Virgin nod.  The Crone then seems to ask her a question,
          and although you cannot hear the answer, it seems she has spoken
          truly, for the Crone nods, and reaches up to remove the blindfold. 
          The Virgin blinks her eyes, and stretches.  She begins to dance
          slowly around the fire at the center of the clearing, full of the
          joy of her awakening, and in the knowledge of her power and
          potential as a woman.

               Self-contained, she dances the dance of life; of blood and
          waters flowing freely, no long frozen and still.  You turn and
          leave the clearing, taking one last look at the Virgin dancing
          joyfully around the fire.  As you walk back through the forest, you
          feel an answering power moving through the land, and you are aware
          that the Earth is beginning to come alive beneath your feet, and on
          the trees you see the yellow blooms which are the promise of
          spring, and the end of winter.

               Day by day the Sun now grows visibly stronger:  the land has
          awakened from its sleep with the fire dance of the Virgin, and now
          the Sun itself approaches the magical time of the Equinox:  the
          time when day and night are equal, but when light is in the
          ascendant.  The day of the Equinox dawns bright and clear.  The
          wind is fresh, and all around you are signs of spring.  From deep
          within the forest you hear the sound of a horn, and deep within
          your innermost self you are aware of a stirring response to its
          call.  You make your way quickly through the forest; as you
          approach the clearing, you realize that you are not alone, for all
          the creatures of the forest are gathered upon the edge of the
          clearing.  They too have answered the summons of the horn.

               At the center of the clearing stands a naked young man, his
          skin shining with reflected sunlight.  He is blindfold:  before him
          stands the old man, and behind him, the mighty figure of the Horned
          God.  It was he who blew the horn.  The old man dances around the
          youth - slowly, a shambling kind of dance - shaking a rattle and
          chanting softly.  He stops.  The Horned God whispers to the youth,
          who nods his head in reply.  The old man then asks the youth a
          question, and after listening to the reply, nods, and reaches up
          and removes the blindfold.  The youth blinks, and stretches.  The
          Horned God hands him the horn.  He puts this to his lips, and a
          single blast echoes through the forest.  With a laugh the youth
          leaps away into the forest, followed by all the birds and animals,
          for he is Lord of the Forest.  You feel a stirring in your own
          blood, and before you realize what has happened, you find yourself
          chasing the figure of the youth on his mad dash through the forest. 
          It is a wild and carefree dance, and you feel the answering echo
          from the trees, and from the Earth, as they are warmed by the
          growing Sun.  The Land and the Youth both awaken to their fertile
          potential.



                                                                            1684
          


               As you run through the trees, out of the corner of your eye
          you see a flicker of white; you turn, and there hidden in the trees
          you see the Virgin, watching and waiting.  She is looking curiously
          at the Lord of the Forest, intrigued by his strength and drawn by
          his beauty.  He sees her watching, but on this day, he is too full
          with the joy of being in control of his own creative power to cease
          his headlong chase through the forest.  Gradually you tire, and at
          last you find yourself walking back through the forest to your own
          cottage, where you find rest.

               All through the growing spring the Virgin and the Young Lord
          watch each other through the forest.  Each aware of the other, but
          both self-fulfilled with their own potential and power.  But the
          Sun keeps getting stronger, and at last we come to that moment
          where the Young Lord and the Virgin realize that they have a
          greater destiny to fulfil, and driven by their natural desires, and
          the signs of the burgeoning world all around them, they seek each
          other out, and in celebration of the great mystery of the Land
          Marriage, they join as one.

               It is the height of spring, and the signs of fertility are all
          around.  As you make your own way towards the clearing, you feel
          the warm Sun upon your face, and feel the life in the Earth beneath
          your feet.  In the center of the clearing stands a great tree
          trunk, crowned with a garland of spring flowers, with many red and
          white ribbons fluttering in the breeze.  From far and wide people
          have travelled to the clearing, for today is the day of celebrating
          the growing Sun, and the fertile Earth.  Men and women take hold of
          the ribbons, and enact their own celebration of Life as they dance
          the pattern of the sacred spiral of creation around the tree.  You
          hold your ribbon firmly, and watch the spiral form as you dance the
          ancient steps that have been danced since first Man and Woman were
          joined as one.

               You hear cheering and shouts of laughter, and there, walking
          through the crowd hand in hand come the Young Lord and his wife -
          Virgin no longer.  Together they have celebrated the sacred mystery
          in accordance with the Old Laws:  for they have joined in love, and
          so have become the King and Queen of the Land.

               And the weeks pass, and the Sun grows ever stronger in the
          sky, and the King grows in strength and majesty.  The Queen begins
          to show signs of her pregnancy, the mirror of the crops and fruits
          that the Land begins to produce, for the Queen represents the Land,
          and is at one with it.

               At last the day arrives when the Sun reaches its most powerful
          time:  the Midsummer Solstice.  The King and Queen are at their
          peak too, reflected in the majesty of the King, and the growing
          life in the womb of the Queen.  To mark this day, the King and
          Queen host a great celebration in the forest clearing:  a feast to
          mark the Solstice day, and their own creative powers which have
          brought many good things to the Land.  All day the feast and games
          continue, with the King and Queen bestowing their blessings upon
          everyone.



                                                                            1685
          


               At long last the Sun begins to sink slowly towards the west;
          as it falls you hear a disturbance upon the edge of the clearing. 
          You see people running, and hear their screams.  And then into the
          clearing stalks a dark figure, his black cloak swirling around him,
          wearing a helmet which obscures his face from view - shadow of
          darkness in the forest.  He strides towards the King, and in a loud
          clear voice, challenges him for the right to rule the kingdom, and
          for the Queen as his consort.

               The King must protect what he has striven so hard to create,
          and must protect his wife and unborn child.  He accepts the
          challenge, and a great battle ensues as the Sun slowly sinks in the
          west.  The challenger lays the King's thigh open with a sweep of
          his sword, but is unbalanced, and despite his wound, the King
          manages to throw the challenger to the ground and disarm him.  The
          challenger begs for mercy, but the King fears this dark and
          threatening figure, and so ignoring his cries for mercy, he plunges
          his sword deep into the challenger's heart.  And so in order to
          protect, the King destroys, and a shadow of darkness is cast upon
          the Land.  The challenger's blood soaks into the Earth, and the Sun
          finally sinks beyond the western horizon.

               You make your way back to your cottage, as the King is carried
          away to have his wound attended to.  The next day the Sun rises as
          before, and seems as strong as it ever was, but you have seen and
          felt the shadow of the dark, and now sense a change in the Land. 
          Instead of growing, things are ripening; the heat of the summer Sun
          brings the crops and fruit to ripeness, but the growth is now over. 
          And just as the Land gives forth its fruits, so now does the Queen
          give birth to her son.  The wheat is harvested; the barley made
          into ale; and a great feast is held to give thanks for all the good
          things of the Earth, and for the safe birth of the King and Queen's
          son.

               But in giving birth, the Queen is no longer simply a wife; she
          becomes the Mother.  She knows that her son is the hope for the
          Land, for the King's wound, taken at the Midsummer battle, is a
          wasting wound, and will not heal.  He grows weaker by the day, a
          reflection of the waning powers of the Sun.  The Queen knows this,
          and as her son grows, she trains him in the ways of sovereignty. 
          The King sees only that his son grows stronger, as he grows weaker. 
          He watches the Sun wane day by day as summer slips towards the time
          of the Equinox, when once again day and night are equal; but this
          time, the dark is in the ascendant.

               At last the night of the Equinox arrives.  The King feels
          drawn towards the clearing in the forest, and under a waning Moon,
          he makes his way along the track.  He remembers his initiation at
          the Spring Equinox; his love for the Virgin, and their joyful
          celebration of the Land Marriage at Beltane; he remembers how proud
          he was of his creative powers at the Midsummer Solstice, and with
          a pang of sadness, he remembers how he had to face the dark
          challenger who threatened his Kingdom and his Queen.  And finally,
          he remembers the birth of his son - a joy now turned to sorrow, as
          the King finds himself once more in the clearing, where waiting at
          the center is his son, armed with a spear.



                                                                            1686
          


               Out of the corner of his eye, the King sees a movement in the
          shadows, and remembers how he first saw his beloved wife, when she
          was newly awakened, a young Virgin, and he was the Lord of the
          Forest.  Now his wife hides in the shadows - she wears a black
          cloak, and covers her face with its hood.  The King and his son
          face each other, and then without a word being spoken, the King
          draws his sword and they begin to fight.  Sword against spear, a
          mighty battle rages in the clearing.  The powers of light and dark
          are equal, but the powers of darkness are now in the ascendant, and
          as the night grows on, the King begins to tire.  The wasting wound
          he suffered at the Summer Solstice has never healed, and his powers
          - like those of the Sun - are waning.

               There is a brief pause in the fight:  the King and his son
          look deep into each others eyes.  There flashes between them
          recognition of the mystery that light and dark are equal:  that
          they are not fighting each other, but that each is fighting
          himself.  For the light and the dark are one and the same, as are
          the King and his son, and with this realization, the King joyfully
          lifts his guard, and is impaled upon the spear as he drives his
          sword deep into his son's heart.  Together they fall dead to the
          ground, and their blood pours out upon the Earth.

               At the edge of the clearing the Queen watches, and as she sees
          her husband/son die, she sends a great wail echoing through the
          forest.  There, standing in the cave mouth is the Lord of Death and
          Resurrection, but she cannot see him.  For her husband/son/lover
          has now become the Lord of the Otherworld, and she is still of this
          world.  The waning Moon watches as she tears her hair, and as one
          possessed, runs through the forest in an agony of grief.  For she
          too saw the mystery, and now she understands that the light and
          dark are but the same.  She knows that her husband/lover/son has
          passed beyond the veil, and that her creative time is passed.  For
          the Queen is now a Witch:  the ancient Hag Crone who knows the
          mysteries of life and death and has walked the path of initiation. 
          In making her journey she has truly found the gods, and knows that
          behind the wheel of the seasons there is an ancient power.  By
          walking the wheel she has joined with the mystery.  She has been a
          Virgin, a Wife, the Queen, the Mother and the Crone.  She has
          walked the way of the seasons.  She has seen the spring, the
          summer, autumn and winter, and she understands that an ancient
          truth lies hidden within it all.

               At last the time of the dark Moon arrives, when the Sun's
          powers are low, and the veil between the worlds is thin.  Standing
          alone in the forest she makes her way to the clearing.  She stands
          alone for she is feared by those who have yet to walk the wheel. 
          For now she must perform the supreme act of magic.  She kindles the
          ancient Samhain fire, with woods of all the sacred trees.  One for
          each season, one for each way, one for the night and one for the
          day, one for her lover and one for her son, one for the serpent and
          one for her song.



                                                                            1687
          


               As she raises her arms in invocation a great storm gathers. 
          With a final act of understanding she opens the veil between
          herself and the gods.  She opens the veil of the Otherworld and
          calls back the spirits of the dead.  For she knows now to fulfil
          the mystery she must join with the Lord of the Otherworld; they
          must love and join as one.  The storm breaks:  lightning and
          thunder tear and crack at the ancient night as the trees creak and
          bend in the wind.  For the wild hunt is now upon us as the spirits
          of the dead are led from the Otherworld by the Horned God.  Chaos
          now reigns in the world for the Mystery is upon us.

               But to join with this mystery the Crone must embrace the Lord
          of Flame, the Lord of Death and Resurrection, and go with him back
          into the Otherworld.  To join with him she must become the Goddess. 
          So of her own free will, she dies the death of true initiation and
          enters into the cave, and passes with the Horned Lord back into the
          depths of the Otherworld.  There they join in love as one:  the
          supreme moment of the true Great Rite in which all the mysteries of
          the male and female; all the mysteries of the light and dark are
          married together as one.  For love has always been the key.  It is
          love that conquers our fear and shows the way to union.  For true
          love is true death, as the individual sense of self is transcended
          by a vision of the One.  As the gods fulfil the mystery of love,
          the seed of new life is planted deep within the womb of the Great
          Mother.

               And the land sleeps, for the dark time is upon us once again,
          and the God and Goddess lay in each others arms, deep within the
          Land, hidden from sight.  The Sun quickly wanes day by day, the
          nights growing longer, the days shorter.  Winter grips the land as
          a cold wind blows through the forest.  The darkness seems complete,
          but those of the Wicca are wise and weep not for they know that the
          Sun will be reborn through the love of the God and Goddess.  Life
          will not fail - the Sun will return again.  And at last the night
          of the Midwinter Solstice arrives:  the longest night of the year,
          but we know now it is only the darkness that comes before the dawn.

               As you stand upon the edge of the forest, you see the first
          signs of the new born Sun rising upon the eastern horizon, and hear
          the sound of a new born babe.  But this time, you walk away from
          the clearing towards the rising Sun, and as you leave the forest,
          you turn and see that it is no more than a shadow behind you. 
          Before you is a world which you know well; it is the world in which
          you live, and now it is time to return.  The Otherworld is real,
          and you may return at any time, for the mysteries of the gods are
          there for all to understand, if you have but eyes to see.  You
          continue to walk into the everyday world, and become aware of the
          sounds around you, and of the place in which you sit.  Spend a few
          moments quietly re-attuning yourself to your normal state, and then
          open your eyes and stretch.  (End of Guided Visualization)

               If you want to make any notes do, but please remember that the
          Wheel of the Year is an emotional experience, not an academic
          exercise!

               And finally, always have something to eat and drink after any
          activity which uses an altered state of consciousness.  This is the
          most effective and efficient way to "ground," and is vital if
          participants are travelling home after the working.



                                                                            1688
          

                                 The Coven at Pooh Corner 


          (This article was first given as a talk at The Wiccan Workshop
          Number 6, held at Coombe, North Cornwall, in May 1989, and was publis-
          hed in Web of Wyrd #7, January 1993)

          This  talk is designed to  illustrate  that  spiritual significance is
          present  in everything around us (see "Wicca and the Art of Motorcycle
          Maintenance:  Children of Sekhmet, May 1988). On this occasion I shall
          be using  for my inspiration the stories of that world famous writer A
          A Milne, to whit, Winnie the Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner. These
          are  of  course coded  allegories of  the  spiritual development  of a
          certain bear.

          Firstly I would like  to introduce the characters because there may be
          someone here not enlightened enough to have read these great works, in
          a similar sort of way as a Christian may not have read his Bible.

          Our Hero. W T Pooh.

          Pooh, as he  is known to his more intimate  acquaintances, is a modest
          chap not known  for his intellectual ability,  and has been called  "a
          bear  of very little brain". He is  given to composing hums well aware
          that being a bear his singing voice  is not what it might be. I  would
          think he is probably  a Taurean and  all in all  a well rounded  pers-
          onality; possibly because it is always time for a little something.

          Piglet

          Piglet is a small timid little person, a very young spirit, and Pooh's
          best friend. He  is a chattery soul who tends to dwell on his fears of
          heffelumps and woozles. It is generally thought he may be a Gemini and
          would  be an  extrovert if  he could  find more  confidence. He  has a
          peculiar aversion to being clean.

          Wol

          Wol has delusions of being  the wise old owl based mainly on  the fact
          that he  can spell his  name, which is OWL.  He lives in  the grandest
          house in the woods, the old oak tree. It is quite obvious  to everyone
          that he is in fact Libran because he comes out with statements of fact
          which are more often than not wrong. All the other animals turn to him
          for advice, which he  gives freely although no-one understands  a word
          of it.

          Eeyor

          Eeyor is a  very interesting character. He is a  very, very old spirit
          who in this incarnation has come back as a donkey.  Nothing much seems
          to bother him and he lives all alone in a boggy field. He is generally
          perceived to be miserable. This is wrong. He is quite happy in his own
          little world  and is thought to  be a Piscean with  a Capricorn ascen-
          dant. He  is in fact the most intellectual of  them all because he can
          make the letter A out of three twigs. Also he has a brain whilst all
          the rest have grey fluff which has blown in by mistake. 



                                                                            1689
          


          Kanger

          Kanger is a newcomer to the  forest and something of a matriarch being
          very protective of  her offspring,  Roo. She is  of course  Cancerian,
          like my wife, and will mother everybody whether they like it or not.

          Tigger

          Tigger is the archetypal extrovert and obviously an Aries.  Overwhelm-
          ingly friendly and bouncy. Piglet is terrified of him because he jumps
          out at you and says "WorraWorraWorra" in what he thinks  is a friendly
          tone... He has no idea  that he can't do something until after  he has
          done it. He shows no trace of forethought and eventually is adopted by
          Kanger.

          Christopher Robin

          A small boy who will be fully explained at the end.

          The Parables of Pooh

          1    Down the Rabbit Hole

          In  this story,  Pooh  after breakfast  of  honey followed  by  honey,
          decides to  go visiting. First he  visits Piglet, and is  just in time
          for  a little  something, ie  a little  honey. Eventually  they  go to
          Rabbit's place. Rabbit,  who has hundreds and  thousands of relations,
          naturally lives  in a rabbit hole,  where Pooh and Piglet  are just in
          time for  a little something. Pooh  however eats too much  and being a
          stoutish bear anyway,  finds that when he leaves he  gets stuck in the
          rabbit hole, with  his feet dangling in  Rabbit's living room  and his
          head out in the air. Everyone comes to his aid, but no amount of
          pulling or pushing will  shift him. Christopher Robin is  summoned and
          decides that  Pooh will have  to stay there without  honey until think
          enough to leave.  Rabbit is obviously not well  pleased about having a
          bear wedged  in his  front door.   However he  is compensated  when he
          discovers that Pooh's legs make excellent towel rails.

          Moral: From this escapade we can see that Pooh is not very spiritually
          developed. He is far too keen on the physical desires of the  body and
          through  this forced period of  fasting and the  altruistic use of his
          lower limbs, he learns that  it is alright to be portly so long as you
          don't block  someone's portal. In other  words, you are at  liberty to
          follow your own way so long as you do not block another's. This is the
          experience of the tarot card of The Devil. Deluded  about the relative
          sizes of the door and his  tummy, he cannot pass through until he  has
          cast off the chains of his baser desires for honey. Most covens have a
          Pooh at this stage  of development. This is the witch who overindulges
          in the communal wine during the rite, becomes comatose before the
          altar, and neither heaven, earth, or High Priestess's boot, can shift.



                                                                            1690
          


          2    In which Pooh and Piglet go hunting heffalumps

          One  snowy day,  Piglet finds Pooh  staring at some  footprints.  Pooh
          thinks this may be a  heffalump or maybe a woozle, and  exhorts Piglet
          to  come and follow it. Piglet is not  keen. He agrees as long as Pooh
          is with him. Sometime later they notice that  the footprints have been
          joined by another set, two heffalumps, or, as it may be, woozles! Pooh
          composes a hum  to keep their  spirits up, "How  cold my nose,  tiddly
          pom....".  A little  while later  there are  four sets  of footprints.
          Piglet is getting frightened. They sit down for a think and eventually
          realise they are walking around a wood following their own footprints.
          So off they go for a little something.

          Moral:  Here we see Pooh's total lack  of brilliance. He gets there in
          the  end with a  bit of help. On  the other hand  there is the immense
          faith he  inspires in others. People feel safe with Pooh. He knows the
          value  of a  kind word and  a cheery  song. This  also illustrates the
          danger of overwhelming others  with your enthusiasm for a  path, which
          may not be the path they would choose. This is why in Wicca we are not
          evangelical. Each must find his or her own heffalump or woozle.

          In Which Pooh Builds Eeyore a House

          One  rainy day  Pooh sets  out  to find  Piglet. After  many hours  of
          careful  thought  he has  realised that  everyone  has a  house except
          Eeyore, but he has a plan. On one side of the wood he has discovered a
          pile of sticks,  so with Piglet's help they take  the sticks around to
          the other  side of the wood  and build Eeyore  a fine Des.  Res. After
          some moments  of contemplation of their labours,  they set off to find
          Eeyore. They come  across Eeyore  in the approximate  location of  the
          pile of sticks looking  puzzled. So they take him off  to show him his
          new house. Eeyore is muttering but Pooh and Piglet take no notice
          whatsoever.  They arrive  at Eeyore's  house and  Pooh and  Piglet say
          proudly, "There!".  Eeyore looks  pleased, but even  more puzzled.  It
          transpires that Eeyore built  a house out of a  pile of sticks on  the
          other  side of  the wood.  He  puts down  the change  of location  and
          certain architectural  improvements  to the  high  wind of  the  night
          before. Pooh and Piglet say nothing to Eeyore, and then Pooh says that
          he thinks it's "Time for a little something."

          Moral:  From this  we can  see that  although still  not devastatingly
          intelligent, Pooh has managed to perceive someone else's  problem, and
          has made some attempt  to solve it for them. It may  however have been
          better if he had  consulted Eeyore who had already gone  about solving
          his problem  for himself. Thus  we see that  we should not  impose our
          particular perception of the universe on others. Fortunately Eeyore is
          of such greatness of spirit that he lets this event pass, and Pooh has
          developed  sufficient maturity to let discretion be the better part of
          valour. As Eeyore was muttering perhaps we should also learn to listen
          to others.



                                                                            1691
          


          The Great Flood

          Pooh looks out one morning and sees that it  is STILL raining.  Chris-
          topher  Robin has  been  getting concerned  about  the rising  waters,
          measuring their  progress with sticks. Each  morning yesterday's stick
          has disappeared.  He  goes around  and warns  everyone to  go to  high
          ground. Pooh laboriously takes his stock of honey and balances all his
          jars on a high branch of  a tree, where he takes refuge. When  all his
          stock  is exhausted  he ponders  for a  while, then  makes a  not very
          successful  boat  out of  a honey  jar. The  boat  and Pooh  have some
          disagreement as to whom  should be on top. He eventually  paddles this
          Craft over to Christopher Robin's house where they take to Christopher
          Robin's upturned umbrella. They then ensure that all the other animals
          are safe.

          Moral:  This story illustrates Pooh's growing concern for the environ-
          ment  and his fellow creatures.  In this particular  crisis, Pooh does
          not go off half cock making rash  decisions, but seeks the help of the
          most  developed spirit in the  forest.  Pooh  exhibits great fortitude
          and  determination in  his quest  for this  higher spirit. Also  he is
          showing  better use  of his  baser desires,  ie for  honey. There  are
          obvious parallels  with numerous  other flood  myths although  in this
          Wiccan  version, having had our fill  of our favourite tipple, the Ark
          mark 1A  has some design  faults. This  is why in  the world of  today
          there aren't quite so many  unicorns and other mythical beasts.   They
          lost the argument with their honey pots.

          What Tiggers Eat

          Pooh, strolling through the woods, hears this peculiar noise: 
          "WorraWorraWorra". He picks  himself up, looks around  and espies this
          strange creature. The creature  bounces up and down and  says, "Hello,
          I'm Tigger". Pooh,  being a generous soul, asks him  back for a little
          something. He  asks Tigger what  he would like to  eat. Tigger doesn't
          know what he eats,  so Pooh gives him some  honey. Tigger is not  imp-
          ressed, so off they go  to Piglet's house with Tigger  bouncing along,
          running  ahead  of Pooh  and leaping  our at  him  in a  very friendly
          fashion. When they arrive,  Piglet gives him some acorns.  Tigger does
          not like Acorns. So off they  go to Eeyore's where Tigger tries thist-
          les. Tigger definitely does not like thistles. Lastly they try Kanger.
          Kanger  is very  concerned, but  doesn't know  quite what  to suggest.
          However, whilst giving malt extract to her baby Roo, Tigger bounces up
          and grabs  the spoon and says  "Mmmmmmm". So we find  out what Tiggers
          eat.

          Moral: This shows Pooh's ready acceptance of all types of people, even
          Aries! He goes to great lengths to help this very young spirit to find
          spiritual sustenance and someone willing to look after him. Kanger, as
          is the  case with most Cancerians, does not believe they can solve the
          problem  but in  fact the  solution is  in their  grasp all  the time.
          Unfortunately, Kanger is now stuck with this waif and stray.  Pooh has
          climbed a long way  from the days when he got  stuck in Rabbit's door,
          and has learnt  the responsibility that goes with new initiates in our
          world.

          N.B. Please note that in the true Pagan spirit of this tome,
          even Tiggers eat vegetarian food.



                                                                            1692
          


          Pooh and the Honey Tree

          On this day we find Pooh staring  up into the branches of a tree.  His
          highly tuned senses  have detected  honey. Being a  portly bear he  is
          none too good  at climbing trees, so  he comes up with  a plan. Chris-
          topher  Robin had  a party with  lots of  balloons. So off  he goes to
          Christopher Robin's house to ask if he might borrow a balloon. He also
          asks  Christopher Robin to help him. They set off with Pooh's require-
          ments. The balloon is painted black to look like a thundercloud, and
          blown up. Pooh, grasping the  string, floats aloft. Christopher  Robin
          stays beneath with  his umbrella  announcing "Tut tut,  it looks  like
          rain." The  bees of course are  not fooled for an  instant. About this
          time Pooh  discovers the major flaw  in his plan. He  cannot get down.
          After much careful thought, Christopher Robin  shoots the balloon with
          his pop  gun, and Pooh descends  very rapidly and lands  on a thistle.
          Eeyore considers this a waste of a good thistle.

          Moral: This is the pinnacle of Pooh's intellectual development. He has
          solved  his immediate problem, but  not really thought  out the conse-
          quences. In a  spiritual sense, he has  strived too far  without being
          properly prepared  and is  brought back  to earth  with a  bump. Pooh,
          having developed so far, has  forgotten that if you are to  go flying,
          astrally or  not, then you  must not  forget your  parachute. As  Pooh
          found with the bees, we must  learn not to underestimate life forms we
          perceive  as being  lower than  ourselves. Eeyore  is another  case in
          point. Although he is  seen as under-developed because he does not say
          much, he has obviously seen the outcome from the word go, and  is only
          upset at the demise of a juicy thistle. Christopher Robin is obviously
          an interplanes adept  since once  again he rescues  Pooh after  having
          clairvoyantly foreseen the outcome.

          Conclusion:

          To lead up  to my  great revelation  I must  conclude the  story.   On
          frequent  occasions when Pooh calls  on Christopher Robin,  he is out,
          but has left a  note that he will be  "BAK SON", and is nowhere  to be
          seen. Pooh takes these notes to Wol, who is not sure if they  refer to
          a herbaceous "Bakson" or a spotted "Bakson". One evening,  Christopher
          Robin arrives  at Pooh's house  and reveals to  Pooh that his  time in
          this place is nearly over and he must go to school. He and Pooh have a
          long chat and Christopher  Robin decides that Pooh is  ready to accom-
          pany him on this great adventure  and they walk off hand in  hand into
          the Sun.

          This illustrates the basic fact of life that no matter how comfortable
          we are  we must be prepared  to grow and  develop and move on  when we
          must. Christopher  Robin is in fact  Pooh's Higher Self and  as can be
          seen from  the stories, unless you  use your Higher Self  you will not
          reach  your desired aims, and  indeed may go the  same way as the uni-
          corns  and their honey pots.  Between Christopher Robin  and Pooh they
          have achieved sufficient development to leave their current  plane and
          move on to higher things.  Christopher Robin, as can be seen  from his
          name, Christ/Robin, is  a Tipherathic  aspect of Pooh;  ie the  centre
          where the lower  and higher self come together. When  they have united
          the way is open  and clear for them to  move on to the next  sphere of
          existence.



                                                                            1693
          


          Thus it  should be every witch's ambition to be reincarnated as a bear
          of very little brain who lives in the hundred acre wood on a  plane at
          least one  above this one.  After all the  idiots we see  running this
          world have to be  seen as a damn sight more stupid  than even Wol. (PS
          Mrs Thatcher is also a Libran!)

          copyright to  David Wadsworth, who has been a bear of little brain for
          many a long year!

          The End
                                  



                                                                            1694
          

                         Wicca & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance 
          by David Wadsworth 
          (This article first appeared in Children of Sekhmet, May 1988. It  was
          originally given by  Dave as a talk at a  Wiccan Workshop organised by
          Chris and Vivianne Crowley in 1987)

          This talk aims to illustrate  the all-pervading nature of Wicca. If  a
          system  of  natural laws  or beliefs  is true,  it  can be  applied to
          virtually  anything. I intend to try and apply parts of Wiccan beliefs
          to my other passion, biking.

          There  is a  peculiar sort  of bonding  between a  real biker  and his
          machine. The  biker will put  the well-being of his  machine far above
          his  own. I have seen men  cry over a bent bike,  or after an accident
          tell  the driver  off for  hitting his  bike rather  than him.  I have
          personally fought off two ambulence men so that I could hop to my bike
          to inspect  the damage before being  taken to hospital. My  theory for
          this  strange bond  is that the  motorcycle and  rider form  a sort of
          Gestalt being, a conplete  entity, either part of which  is incomplete
          or useless without the other.

          The  motorcycle represents the male  part of this  entity. It provides
          all the force and power, but lacks control and direction. It is all
          potential, in Wiccan terms, the God force, waiting for the female
          aspect,  the  Goddess, in  the form  of  a horrible  grubby motorcycle
          rider.   The rider takes the  force and harnesses  it, giving purpose,
          form and direction.  Controlling the raw male potential, and together,
          in harmony, they  will be  capable of reaching  heights impossible  to
          either on their own.

          The motorcycle can be seen as a way through which to tap a source of
          cosmic energy.  The energy  which we  in the  Wicca  use for  healing,
          spells, divination, as a  gateway to alternative universes. Just  as a
          witch  wouldn't attempt to tap this  awesome power without protection,
          neither would a biker. The biker will put on boots, gloves, helmet and
          leathers  in a  similar sort  of way as  a member  of the  Craft would
          surround themselves with a protective circle to preserve the power and
          keep out undesirable spirits. In the biker's case he is also aiming to
          keep in  the heat, and protect him from the road, onto which demon car
          drivers  possessed of  evil spirits  (gin, vodka, whiskey  etc.) would
          lure him to his death!

          This brings us neatly (?) to the subject of reincarnation. Most of you
          reading this will have some knowledge of the ideas of reincarnation;
          i.e. that we are born, live in the world, die, and are then reborn to
          develop further. Not many of you will realise that motorcycles go
          through a similar process.  They leave the  factory to roam about  the
          face of the earth, then some parts wear out, and they descend into the
          dark underworld of the  workshop. Here they are consoled  and repaired
          by  the creative  force of  the female,  who is  the biker,  to emerge
          re-born  in Spring, once more  blooming with refreshed  colour of res-
          tored  paintwork, and the cycle starts again. Many British machines go
          through this every year. About  Yule they are ready, and in  the first
          days of Spring  they roar about in the  first flush of youth.  Then at
          the peak of their  power, at Lammas, they are cut down, usually due to
          some  terminal mechanical problem. They dwell for the remainder of the
          year in Hades, the garage, thus mirroring the cycle of the God.



                                                                            1695
          


          The spirituality of bikes is perceived by man in different forms, and
          each has its followers. Here are some of the major religions:

          THE CHRISTIAN

          This  newcomer to  the  spiritual motorcycle  rides a  modern Japanese
          bike.  He  pays little more than  lip service to his religion.  He has
          few rituals, all he has  to do is turn  the key and start the  starter
          engine.   He  tends to  be into  power and  speed, tearing  past older
          machines which he regards with contempt. He cares little for the inner
          workings of the  machine, running to  his priest/mechanic whenever  he
          has a  problem.  Should his  machine pass on, i.e., wear  out, it will
          believed to be irreparable, i.e., too expensive, and gone to the great
          scrap heap  in the sky. The makers of this  are the great salesmen and
          evangelists of the bike, not to mention the profit makers.

          THE MAGICIAN

          He  will typically be an older bearded gentleman, who rides an immacu-
          late old British  motorcycle. They  are into status,  and will  pootle
          along at 40 mph all day, imagining themselves  the envy of all who see
          them.  They are into ritual  and mystery. The  performance required to
          summon some older bikes into life is awesome and  dangerous. Yet these
          fellows will watch in silence as a machine spits at a new initiate and
          breaks  his shin. They will endlessly pontificate on the correct shade
          of colour for the petrol tank, or whether a part is the right year for
          the model; mostly that's all they do.

          THE WITCH

          The bike will most likely be filthy, not from lack of care, but from
          constant use  in all sorts of  conditions. The rider knows  and under-
          stands the inner workings of his machine, its every click and whistle.
          He relies on no  guru for his understanding,  he is not afraid  to try
          things  out and see if  it works. Not for him  the search for power or
          acclaim. He is just out to  explore the universe and glean its myster-
          ies. He  will get there  in the end,  there's plenty of time.  He will
          rebuild bikes time  after time,  not sticking to  rigid formulae,  but
          with whatever  comes to hand. he  enjoys his bike and  is in-tune with
          it.

          As a biker-witch, I am now going to use two useful tools to explain my
          theory  of Life, the Universe  and Everything: i.e.,  the Kaballah and
          the four-stroke cycle.

          Firstly the act of invocation and the four-stroke cycle. For those of
          you who are not mechanically minded, I'll try and keep this simple.
          Officially the four-stroke cycle is referred to as Induction,
          Compression, Power and Exhaust. I prefer the much more evocative Suck,
          Squeeze,  Bang, Blow. There  are a few  parts that  really matter: the
          crank  shaft,  the con  rod,  the piston  and  the inlet  plus exhaust
          valves.  



                                                                            1696
          


          1)  Suck:  Initially the  piston is  at the  top  and both  valves are
          closed.  As the  crank shaft turns, the inlet valve opens, the con rod
          pulls the piston down which draws air and fuel in. At this point in an
          invocation,  the invoker is opening his chakras and drawing the cosmic
          energy which surrounds us into his body.

          2) Squeeze: The crank  shaft continues around, the inlet  valve shuts,
          and the  piston is pushed  up, squeezing tha  gases together. This  is
          when the  invoker says  the invocation  and passes  the  power to  the
          invokee.

          3) Bang: The fuel/air mixture ignites and pushes the piston down. The
          priest/ess takes on the aspect of God/dess being invoked.

          4) Blow: The exhaust valve opens and the piston pushes the charge into
          the exhaust pipe. The God/dess charges and shares his/her power with
          those assembled.

          And now - motorcycles on the Tree of Life:

          Kether - traditionally the godhead from which all energy flows. It is
          formless. This is the high tension spark which ignites the fuel and
          without which the bike is naught.

          Chokmah - Formless, directionless energy, raw untamed power. In the
          engine this is the burning fuel mixture.

          Binah - this takes the raw force and starts organising and forming it.
          The piston, conrod  and crankshaft  takes the power  of the  expanding
          gases
          and converts it to rotary motion.

          Chesed - Takes  the potential  energy of  Binah, gives  it order,  and
          makes it more solid and  usable. In the engine, the gearbox  and final
          drive take the power  from the crank shaft and  make it usable to  the
          whole machine.

          Geburah - An essential breaking down.  Where there is life, there must
          be death. In an engine when you  have got two lumps of metal thrashing
          about in violent motion, they must wear each other away.

          Tiphareth - This is the image of the godhead, the wayshower, Lucifer,
          Prince of Light. In the bike this is represented by the electrical
          system and the ignition system, and the lights, which on British
          machines are provided by Joe Lucas, Prince of Darkness!

          Netzach -  This is the spirit of nature, intuition and sexuality. This
          is more  concerned with what bikers  do. They are in  tune with nature
          and tend  to get drawn  to ancient  sites, eg Stonehenge,  Avebury and
          Wayland Smithy, or  just standing  around in a  muddy field  communing
          with nature  and the  local brewery.  This is also  the source  of the
          sexual bond between man and machine.

          Hod - Communication, intellect and travel. It is also where your will
          produces  power. The travelling  aspect of  motorcycles is  fairly ob-
          vious, and hordes  of despatch riders  fulfil the communication  role.
          This is  where we get  the knowledge of the  workings of the  bike. It
          definitely  takes Hodic willpower on  a cold, wet  morning, along with



                                                                            1697
          

          highly verbal expletives, leaping up and down  on the kickstart to get
          the bugger moving.

          Yesod - This is the lunar aspect of biking, linked to Tiphareth on the
          Middle Pillar (refer Joe Lucas, Prince of Darkness). Many bikers will,
          by the light of the Full Moon, switch their lights off and ride by
          moonlight in their lunatic hunt for the local  hostellry. In the event
          of  a biker meeting his  death through this  ridiculous activity, look
          into  the sky.  For there you  will espy,  on his  silver machine, the
          spirit  of the biker riding across the astral heavens. Scientists tend
          to think these are meteors. There is also the illusion of security one
          gets from riding  around with one's  head in  a goldfish bowl,  collo-
          quially known as a blood bucket.

          Malkuth - The concrete world, reality. On a bike you are cold, wet,
          tired, frequently uncomfortable, and very vulnerable, and no-one in
          their right mind would do it if it wasn't for something else......

          Despite Malkuth,  biking opens up  other realms, other  worlds (Birmi-
          ngham, London, Glasgow, etc) and  puts you in tune with the  inner and
          outer universes.

           The End.



                                                                            1698
          

                               THE GREEK & ROMAN GOD(ESSE)S 
                             A quick overveiw by Thomas Palmer

          APOLLO-Also called Phoebus, the  bright one. Identified with the  sun.
          Said to be the  most powerful of the Gods. Son of  Zeus and Leto. Born
          on  Delos, taken  North and  raised by  the hyperboreans,  he went  to
          Delphi and killed the dragon Python, guardian of the oracle of Themis,
          but a ravager of the countryside.
                          Tall,handsome,outstanding inword anddeed,he wasthe god
          of  ever-renewed  youth,  archetype  of virile  beauty  and  masculine
          virtue. He was also known as  a seducer & extremely arrogant. Talented
          in music,  inventor of the lyre,  he was the inspiration  of poets and
          soothsayers. His oracles were expressed in verse.
                          Hecould cure illnessand banish evil.He was adoctor who
          knew  the purification rites and was invoked against plague. His image
          was set at dangerous places for protection (Lighting the ways) Nothing
          escaped his vision (light of day).

          ARIES  (MARS)-Son  of Hera,  born without  male  assistance. He  was a
          supreme fighter, loved battle and cared little about issues, switching
          sides without scruple. He delighted in massacres. 
                          Hewas god of war,not victory, andwas thoughtless about
          winning, only fighting. Was on occasion disarmed by Athena, Goddess of
          restraint and forethought,  to keep  him from  interfering in  battles
          that did not concern him.
                          He wasprolific inlove, butalso arapist.He wasrun byhis
          passions.

          CRONOS (SATURN)- Son of  Uranus (Heaven) and Gaea (Earth).  Gaea, worn
          out by  numerous pregnancies, requested to be  free of this burden, so
          Cronos (Saturn) took up  a sickle and cut off  his father's testicles.
          His  wife  was Rhea,  and he  fathered  Hestia, Demeter,  Hera, Hades,
          Poseidon and Zeus. Was eventually deposed by Zeus. 
                          Hisfestivals, theSaturnalia,were atimeof liberationand
          freedom for  all and got  pretty wild. They were  celebrated from Dec.
          17th until the new year. Saturn is the archetype for "father time".

          DIONYSUS- Son of Zeus and Semele. His escort was satyrs and marginally
          sane gods. He  did not respect laws or customs,  loved disguises, wild
          screaming, licentious dances  and wild  places. He was  a drunken  god
          with no  home, living in the  wild and eating raw  meat. He encouraged
          excesses of all kinds.
                          HerahatedDionysus becauseofZeus'sinfidelity andhounded
          him. She caused him to be killed by the Titans, but he was resurrected
          through the efforts of  Athena, Zeus, Apollo, and Rhea. She  drove him
          mad, but through Cybele he gained  mastery of it. He drove many people
          mad for various reasons.

          EROS  (CUPID)- A  primordial god,  contemporary of Chaos,  who existed
          before Cronos (Saturn) and Zeus. He came out of an egg that formed the
          earth and  sky when it broke  in two. He precipitated  the embraces of
          Gaea (the Earth) and Uranus (the heavens), which resulted in the birth
          of  Oceanus, Tethys, Coeus, and Cronos (Saturn). The Earth and heavens
          were so tightly  embraced that none of the children could rise towards
          the light until Cronos (Saturn) castrated his father.
                          CupidwasassociatedwithAphrodite, whomoderatedhispower.
          Where he was desire, instinct and violent sex, she  was grace, tender-
          ness and sweet pleasure.
                          Cupidmadepeoplelosetheir reasonandparalyzedtheirwills,
          even inspiring Zeus to capricious sexual desires.



                                                                            1699
                  

                          AsEros heis saidto bethe childof Porus(Expedience) and
          Penia  (Poverty). Like Penia,  he was said  to always be  in search of
          something, and like Porus,  he always found  a means of attaining  his
          aims.

          FAUNUS- A Roman God, Son of Circe and Jupiter. Protector  of the Roman
          peoples, he  lived on Palatine Hill  in Rome. His oracle  was given in
          nightmares.  Lupercalia was his festival, during which his priests ran
          through  the streets with leather straps and struck any women they met
          with them to bestow health and fertility. The women were said to strip
          themselves to be better targets. He reproduced himself in the satyrs.

          HADES (PLUTO)- Son of  Cronos (Saturn), brother of Zeus  and Poseidon.
          When  the world was divided between the three brothers, the underworld
          and  hell fell to Hades, while Zeus  took the heavens and Poseidon the
          seas. He had a  helmet that made him invisible. He ruled the dead, and
          forbade his subjects to  leave his domain. He desired  Persephone, but
          Zeus forbade the marriage. He then kidnapped her. 

          HEPHAESTUS (VULCAN)- Son of Zeus and Hera. He was lame, either because
          his  mother, startled by his  ugliness, dropped him,  or because Zeus,
          angry that  he took  his mother's  side in a  dispute, threw  him from
          Olympos. He dwelled among mortals and became the god of black smithing
          and  artistic metal work. He made  a golden throne that imprisoned any
          who sat in it, and gave it to Hera to avenge himself for his fall from
          Olympos.

          HERMES (MERCURY)-  Son of Zeus  and the nymph  Maia. He stole  some of
          Apollo's cattle shortly after his birth and  concealed them, sacrific-
          ing two to the Olympian Gods. This theft won  him recognition as a God
          himself.  When Apollo discovered the  theft and Hermes  was tried, his
          defense was so  skillful and spirited that Zeus laughed and ruled that
          there should be a friendly settlement between the brothers.
                          Hermes was Godof the spoken wordand oratory and wasthe
          intermediary between  the Gods and  men. Also the God  of commerce and
          contracts, where  language  must  be precise  to  convey  the  correct
          meaning.

          JANUS- ROMAN- The Two faced God. he was God of beginnings and presided
          over new undertakings, gateways and initiations. he was revered as the
          first king  of Rome and made order reign. His  temple was left open in
          wartime so the God could act, but was closed in peace.

          THE LARES- Roman- Twin children  of Mercury by the rape of  Lara. They
          protected the land. Were symbolized by two boys and a dog.

          PAN- Half man, half goat, with horns on his brow and lust in his eyes.
          Son of Hermes and a daughter of the Dryops, he was the God of pastoral
          regions  and wilderness.  Special friend  of shepherds, he  guided and
          protected them from afar. Protector of all wild things and places. His
          pipes  had an aphrodisiac  effect on those who  heard them and induced
          mating.
                          Pan wasalecherand adrunkwho constantlypursuednymphswho
          would flee in terror. Caves rang with their cries when he caught them.
          He  was famous for his rages, where  he attacked anyone who got in his
          way. His  irrational behavior led people  to flee him in  "panic."  He
          was dangerous  when he took  possession of a being.  The possessed, or
          panoleptic, took on his  bearing and would  wander in the wild,  laugh
          madly,  or throw  themselves  on others  for  sex without  respect  to
          gender, or have epileptic fits.



                                                                            1700
          

          POSEIDON (NEPTUNE)- Son of Cronos (Saturn) and Rhea, he is represented
          wielding a  trident and being  pulled by monsters in  a chariot. After
          Zeus's  victory over  Cronos (Saturn), the  young gods,  who preferred
          life  on earth, divided the  various domains of  earth. Poseidon chose
          the seas. He represented  the hidden forces of germination  and death.
          Together with his wife Amphitrite, he had powerful ties with Gaea, the
          Earth,  mother of  the Titans.  As subterranean  Gods, they  shook the
          world from inside.
                            Poseidoncausedearthquakes whenhemade lovetohis wife.
          The  mystery isle  of  Atlanta belonged  to  Poseidon. Poseidon  could
          provoke  storms, set  fire to  rocks on  shore and  create springs  of
          water. He had many children, most wicked and violent, like the Cyclops
          of the Oddessy.

          PRIAPUS-  A small god  with a penis  of immense size.  Son of Zeus and
          Aphrodite, he was deformed by Hera in revenge. Aphrodite abandoned him
          in fear that she would be ridiculed for her ugly child. He began  as a
          symbol of fertility,  but of  no significance. Although  he was  over-
          sized, he was  impotent. He seemed to fail at  everything he tried. He
          was compared to an ass and ridiculed. He lent his name  to the disease
          priapism, an incurable illness where the penis remains painfully erect
          but incapable of ejaculation.  Ended up as an obscure gnome.

          QUIRINUS- A Roman warrior god originally, he became a  god who watched
          over the well  being of the community, opposite  to his former nature.
          Called an apparition of Romulus the founder of Rome.

          ZEUS  (JUPITER)- Son of Cronos  (Saturn) and Rhea.  He defeated Cronos
          (Saturn)  in a ten  year battle and  then divided the  realms with his
          brothers by lot,  getting the heavens  for his own.  He was ruler  and
          judge,  the arbiter of disputes among Gods and men. His decisions were
          just  and well balanced, showing  no favoritism. He  had several wives
          and many lover's, earning the title  "all father" or "father god". His
          infidelity caused much strife  on Olympos and in the world  through he
          raging of his wife, Hera.

                                            Goddesses

          APHRODITE (VENUS)- Daughter of Zeus and Dione according to Homer. 'The
          Woman Born Of The Waves' according to Hesiod, born of the foam impreg-
          nated  by the  sexual  organs of  Uranus,  which Cronos  (Saturn)  had
          severed  and thrown  into  the sea.    Plato identifies  these  as two
          separate Aphrodites. One Urania, the daughter of Uranus was goddess of
          pure love.  The other, called Pandemos, (Root of pandemonium?) was the
          Goddess  of 'common' love. She  married Hephaestus, but was unfaithful
          with Aries.
                            Arieswascaughtandhumiliated. Aphroditefledinshame to
          Cyprus, and there took Thrace as lover, resulting in the birth of Eros
          (Love), Anteros (Love in return), Deimos and Phobos (Terror and Fear).
          She also  was a lover of  Adonis, a human shepherd  named Anchises who
          fathered Aneas, of Hermes and  of Dionysus who fathered Priapus.   She
          was known for jealousy. She made Eos (Dawn) fall in love with Orion in
          spite for her seduction of Aries. She punished all who did not succumb
          to her.  A beauty competition between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite was
          proposed by Eris (Discord) with the prize being a golden apple. It was
          judged by the  human Paris. All  the Goddesses  offered him bribes  to
          win.
