Wiccan and Pagan Traditions

ТОЛЬКО ОЗНАКОМИТЕЛЬНЫЙ ФРАГМЕНТ, электронная версия не распространяется.

Гальцин Д. Д. Лики Протея: история современного язычества как религиозной идентичности / под общ. ред. Д. М. Ильиной. — СПб.: Издательство РХГА, 2020. — 296 с. — (Серия «Ариадна». Научные исследования эзотеризма и мистицизма. Вып. 5). ISBN 978-5-907309-10-4

Ответственный редактор Двинянинов Б. К.

В книге прослеживается история такой религиозной идентичности, как «язычество». На протяжении веков в различных культурах Евразии бытовали различные наименования чужой религиозности, которые могут быть переведены термином «язычество». ВM XX в. на Западе впервые появляются группы, принимающие этот термин в качестве определения собственной религии. Такие новые религиозные движения, как викка, асатру, друидизм, духовность Богини, родноверие, ромува, диевтуриба, гетанизм, элленизм и многочисленные этнические реконструкционизмы сегодня вM большей или меньшей степени используют религионим «язычество» для самоописания. Также к началу XXI в. окончательно складывается область исследований современного язычества, или «неоязычества» (так называемых Pagan Studies), где языческие религии исследуются с позиций религиоведения, социологии, антропологии, культурологии.

Dmitry, Galtsin. Faces of Proteus: A History of Modern Paganism as a Religious Identity. — SPb.: Publisher RHGA, 2020, 296 p.

The book dwells upon the history of “Paganism” as a religious identity. For centuries various cultures of Eurasia used different monikers for alien religiosity (exonymes) which can be translated into modern languages as “Pagan/Heathen”. In the 20th century first groups appeared in the West which accepted this term as a self-designation (endonyme), a name for one’s own religion. Such new religions as Wicca, Asatru, Druidism, Goddess spirituality, Rodnoverie, Romuva, Dievturiba, Hellenismos and many ethnic reconstructionisms today more or less use the appellation “Paganism” for self-description. By the early 21st century an academic field of Pagan Studies emerged, exploring the existing Pagan religions from the vantage points of religious studies, sociology, anthropology, culture studies etc.

Adelina St. Clairhas been a student of Wicca and Paganism for over ten years—a passion she combines with an ever-growing interest in Christian studies. She has also studied fields as varied as microbiology, bioethics, Reiki, shamanism, theology, and herbalism.
Adelina works as an occupational therapist in a Cree community in northern James Bay, Quebec, Canada, where she lives with her husband and two children. She also spends part of the year in Montreal with her family.

Pagans have long been linked to environmentalism in multiple studies and practicing Pagans generally believe that environmentalism is inherent in Pagan paths. Further projects deduced that the motives for environmentalism by Pagan individuals are altruistic in motivation. My research highlights the slightly paradoxical individualistic nature of the various Pagan paths which argues that environmentalism is only inherent by proxy of the people that practice the various paths and that when utilizing ecological practices within rituals, motivations become more self-serving. This research also uniquely gains insight into path specific attitudes towards environmental policies and participation in advocacy by the naming of specific organizations.

The past century has borne witness to a growing interest in the belief systems of ancient Europe, with an array of contemporary Pagan groups claiming to revive these old ways for the needs of the modern world. By far the largest and best known of these Paganisms has been Wicca, a new religious movement that can now count hundreds of thousands of adherents worldwide. Emerging from the occult milieu of mid twentieth-century Britain, Wicca was first presented as the survival of an ancient pre-Christian Witch-Cult, whose participants assembled in covens to venerate their Horned God and Mother Goddess, to celebrate seasonal festivities, and to cast spells by the light of the full moon. Spreading to North America, where it diversified under the impact of environmentalism, feminism, and the 1960s counter-culture, Wicca came to be presented as a Goddess-centred nature religion, in which form it was popularised by a number of best-selling authors and fictional television shows. Today, Wicca is a maturing religious movement replete with its own internal divisions, distinct world-view, and unique culture.

This book represents the first published academic introduction to be exclusively devoted to this fascinating faith, exploring how this Witches' Craft developed, what its participants believe and practice, and what the Wiccan community actually looks like. In doing so it sweeps away widely-held misconceptions and offers a comprehensive overview of this religion in all of its varied forms. Drawing upon the work of historians, anthropologists, sociologists, and scholars of religious studies, as well as the writings of Wiccans themselves, it provides an original synthesis that will be invaluable for anyone seeking to learn about the blossoming religion of modern Pagan Witchcraft.

Resumo O estudo propõe conhecer saberes da tradição, linguagens e sistema religioso da Wicca diante das vivências de oito famílias neopagãs brasileiras: Brasília, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Belém e São Paulo. A identificação e escolha das cidades deu-se pelos encontros nacionais e o critério de seleção consistiu em: famílias cujo núcleo familiar há filhos; praticantes há mais de cinco anos em sistemas de Círculos, Covens, Grove ou Tradições. Abordagem em estudos culturais e linguagem da religião; metodologia mista em métodos e técnicas etnográficas. A 1ª etapa nos eixos: 1) criação familiar e tradição religiosa; 2) compreensão familiar sobre a Wicca e suas vertentes/paganismo; 3) saberes e processos formativos de natureza religiosa e principais ritos. Os resultados iniciais indicam famílias com menor tempo de prática de 12 anos e a maior com 18. Rituais familiares envolvem crianças e adolescentes e que o desconhecimento pela sociedade dessa religião gera conflitos e intolerância. Abstract The Religion of the Goddess: spirituality and knowledge of the tradition of neo-pagan families in Terra Brasilis The study proposes meet the traditional knowledge, languages and religious system of Wicca on the experiences of eight Brazilian neopagan families: Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Belem and Sao Paulo. The identification and selection of cities was given by national meetings and the selection criteria consisted of: families whose household there are children; practitioners for more than five in circles systems, covens, Grove or Traditions. Approach in cultural studies and language of religion; mixed methodology in methods and ethnographic techniques. The 1st step in the axes: 1) family upbringing and religious traditions; 2) family understanding of Wicca and its variations / paganism; 3) knowledge and training processes of a religious nature and main rites. Initial results indicate families with less practice time than 12 years and most with 18. Processes family rituals involving children * Doutora em Educação pela UFPA. Professora Adjunta I, atuando na Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Religião na Universidade do Estado do Pará. Líder do Grupo de Pesquisa Arte, Religião e Memória-ARTEMI.

This paper examines the representation of Minoan Crete within the feminist Goddess Movement, separatist, feminist, Dianic Witchcraft, and the male only Minoan Brotherhood. Analysis and critique of the matriarchalist understanding of Minoan material culture by these groups demonstrates that it is interpreted in a highly ideological manner that has little to do with actual Minoan religion.

Learn how to cast spells with candle. Candle Magic is done by Witches of all backgrounds, including Wiccans, Neopagans, Santeros, Brujas, and many more. Wish spells, protection rituals, love magic and more can be accomplished with the Magic of candle burning rituals.

The Moon is Earth’s only natural satellite. She accompanies and influences us in many ways, even if we can’t always perceive it. Most Witches are extremely sensitive to the lunar cycles and can sense the effect that the Moon and its phases are having on them. This can be used to make better decisions and expect better results in turn.

Un estratto del lavoro di sviluppo della via archetipica al contatto con la Dea, imago dell'Anima. Il testo, scritto dall'accademica Vivianne crowley, è tradotto in italiano come " I poteri della Wicca". E' un approccio interessante  ed originale al sacro ed al numinoso, in cui il concetto di inconscio collettivo junghiano si confronta con quello inerente all'idea delle ipostasi meoplatoniche, segnatamente nell'accezione di Proclo e Giamblico.

Popularizačne vedecký článok Stará viera v novom šate: Moderné pohanstvo na Slovensku predstavuje krátky úvod do dejín slovenského novopohanstva a jeho súčasných podôb. V prvej časti článku stručne popisujem rozdiely v dejinách slovenského novopohanstvo v kontraste s inými novopohanstvami zo strednej a východnej Európy. Ďalej sa text venuje socio-politickému kontextu, ktorý formoval jeho prvé formy v druhej polovici deväťdesiatych rokov. Po krátkom predstavení najpopulárnejších foriem slovenského novopohanstva autor diskutuje jeho budúcnosť.

Buddhism and Wicca are two religions separated by thousands of years and thousands of miles in origin yet they appear to share a similar ethical system. Karma and the Three-Fold Law are both mechanisms by which individual actions are judged. Karma can be viewed almost as a universal balance sheet. An individual’s actions are scored as good or bad and the end goal of the individual is to eliminate all Karma in order to attain Nirvana and escape from the eternal cycle of rebirth. The Three-Fold Law states that whatever an individual puts out will be returned to them three fold. Unlike in Buddhism, Wiccans see no need to escape from the rebirth cycle and their system of ethics reflects that. Although the Wiccan religion draws inspiration from various religious systems, an analysis of the ethical systems of both religions shows that Indian religions heavily influenced the Wiccan ethical system.

Wicca or Pagan Witchcraft is the most popular branch of contemporary Western Paganism. Its self-image is that of an ‘old religion’; a reawakening of the spiritual values, ideas, ideals and practices of Pagan ancestors. Amongst these ideas is a romantic veneration of ‘Nature’. Nature is considered to be ensouled, alive, ‘divine’: Wiccan beliefs encompass elements of pantheism and animism. The divine is described both as an impersonal ‘force’ or ‘energy’ manifest in the world of nature and as deities – Goddess and God – who are venerated in ritual in different forms at different seasons of the year. These forms draw on images of wild and untamed nature – the Huntress God, the Green Man of the forest, the Sun God, and agricultural deities, such as Corn Goddess and Corn God. Themes and symbols drawn from nature are central to Wiccan belief and practice, but hearken back to a world far removed from the experience of most Wiccans. How does Wicca view its relationship to the world of nature and does Wiccan belief and practice provide a basis for an environmental ethic?

Используя концепцию Джорджа Стокинга о презентизме и историцизме как двух методах изучения историографии, автор данной статьи ставит вопрос о том, ограничено ли было использование эвгемеристического метода в британской фольклористике только в викторианский период, как это традиционно считается в современной науке. Через анализ трудов Маргарет Мюррей, посвященных феномену ведьмовства, а также публикаций в журнале "Фольклор" (Folk-Lore) демонстрируется, что не только обсуждение эвгемеристической теории не завершилось с концом викторианской эпохи, но и сам эвгемеризм продолжал рассматриваться как вполне рабочий подход вплоть до 50-х годов XX в.

Although Wicca, or contemporary Pagan witchcraft, is by all defini- tions a new religious movement, it lacks many of the characteristics the NRMs often display, such as a charismatic founder(s), millenarian prophecies, or new forms of social order. Nor have Wiccans been identified with commonly studied forms of violence with NRMs, such as mass suicides, violence against former members, or attacks on surrounding populations. In 1980, however, as Wicca was on the verge of both a growth spurt and increased media attention, Loy Stone, a leader of one organization, the Church of Wicca, was tried for murder in Texas. The victim, a fifteen-year-old girl, was one of a large group of teenagers who had been committing acts of harassment and vandalism during October 1977 at the farm inhabited by Stone, his wife, and his elderly mother, actions I would categorize as falling into the folkloric definition of “legend trips.” The Stone case makes clear the persistence of abusive stereotypes of “devil-worshipers” in America. Finally, it challenged members of the Wiccan community to decide whether the Stones should be supported or rhetorically cast out.

Keywords: Wicca, witchcraft, murder, Texas, violence, legend trip

Earth-based, Wiccan Goddess, and Ancient Pagan prayers. Click here to watch them: https://spells8.com/pagan-prayers-for-cozy-witches

Part of your witchcraft is to devote and meditate in honor of the Earth, God, Goddess and deities of ancient Wisdom.

The custom of sacrificing animals on St. Martin’s Eve (November 10), or ‘spilling blood for St. Martin’, was known in a large part of Ireland until recently. This ritual offering has played an important role in the religious calendar of Christian communities in Western Europe for many centuries. Numerous authors over the last two hundred years have explored ideas about ancient pagan survivals being involved in the festival. Billy Mag Fhloinn addresses this situation, offering both an account and an analysis of the folk manifestation of the cult of St. Martin in the 19th and 20th centuries. In Blood Rite: The Feast of St. Martin in Ireland, Mag Fhloinn presents theories on the origin, meaning and function of traditions and narratives associated with the cult, which has existed in Ireland since at least the seventh century. Bill Mag Fhloinn is an adjunct lecturer in Irish studies at the University of Limerick, and the Sacred Heart University Centre for Irish Cultural Studies. He was awarded a PhD in Irish Folklore from University College Dublin 2013. His area of research interest includes folk religion, ritual, and calendar customs.

Exploring Ancient Magic 1I. MAGIC Texts - II. MIRACLES - III. DAEMONOLOGY
IV. DIVINATION - V. ASTROLOGY - VI. ALCHEMY -  The Survival of Pagan Magic 457
Psychoactive Substances in Religion and Magic 479 - Vocabula Magica 493
According to Lynn Thorndike, magic includes ‘‘all occult arts and sciences, superstitions and folklore.’ In truth, however, this is not a satisfactory definition, for magic is but one of the occult sciences. Moreover, Thorndike uses the vague term superstition, which characterizes the attitudes of a supposedly more enlightened age and civilization. Finally, he includes folklore, which in itself is not an occult art,
although folktales are often about witches, sorcerers, and the like. In the present context, I would define magic as a technique grounded in a belief in powers located in the human soul and in the universe outside ourselves, a technique that aims at imposing the human will on nature or on human beings by using supersensual powers. Ultimately, it may be a belief in the unlimited powers of the soul. The multitude of powers can, perhaps, be reduced to the notion of power, or mana. The Greek equivalents, found in Hellenistic texts, are dynamis ‘power’, charis ‘grace’, and arete ‘effectiveness’. This magical mana is freely available; all it needs is a vessel or a channel, and the true magus is such a medium—even his garments or something he touches can receive and store the mana. In a polytheistic society such as Greece or Rome, it was only natural that the one Power took on the forms and names of many powers—gods, daemons, heroes, disembodied souls—who were willing, or even eager,
to work for the magus. When the magus summoned these powers by means of his magical knowledge and technique, he could either help and heal or destroy and kill.
//Olympians, and one of
them, Hermes, equips Odysseus with a magical antidote, the mysterious
herb moly, and provides the necessary instructions.
It is clear that witchcraft was part of Greek folklore from the earliest
times. Some of Homer’s material may go back to the Bronze Age,
Hippocrates, On the Sacred Disease 1–4 Jones , Theophrastus (c. 370–285 B.C.) studied with Aristotle, whom he succeeded as head of the school in Athens. In
addition to a large number of specialized philosophic, scientific, and critical works.
Aesop’’ is the semilegendary author of a fairly large number of prose
tales. This tale about a sorceress is preserved in a Byzantine collection, but
it must be older (probably fifth–fourth century B.C.), f the agyrtai and manteis
that Plato (Republic 364b6–c2, Laws 909b2–4) attacks. Paradoxically, Plato’s teacher, Socrates, was also condemned to death for introducing ‘‘religious innovations,’’ but he was hardly the type of agyrtes or magos, and in his case the charge was a pretext.
pp AUTHORS
Achilles Tatius, Adventures of Leucippe
and Clitopho 1.3.2, 292
Acts of Peter 32, 8
Acts of the Apostles 1:3, 182; 5:1–11,
467; 8:9–21, 8, 64; 11:27, 297; 13:1,
297; 13:6–12, 16, 89n75, 468; 15:32,
297; 18:1–6, 467; 19.13–20, 16, 470;
19:18–20, 47–48, 470, 475n4
Aelius Aristides, Sacred Orations, 48.30–
35, 193–94; 48.74–78, 194–95
Aeschines, Against Timarchus 23–24 D.,
482
Aeschylus
—Agamemnon 316n7, 336; 178, 289; 975,
289; 1203√. 285
—Oresteia, 209
—Persians 607–99, 212, 230–32
Aesop, Fable 56 Perry, 102
Alexander Romance b, Bergson 1.3.8,
25n26
Ammianus Marcellinus, Roman History
Bks. 14–31, 458; 29.1.25–32, 23, 50,
314
Anthologia Palatina 7.330, 210; 7.657.11–
12, 21
Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica
4.1635–90, 103–4
Apuleius
—Apologia sive de Magia 25–43, 149–53;
27, 72; 31, 72; 32, 483; 42, 313; 42–53,
10; 43, 483
—De Genio Socratis, 233; 154, 216
—Florida 19, 189–90
—Metamorphoses 1.10, 72; 2.20–21, 72;
2.21–30, 266–71; 3.21–28, 153–57;
11.4, 483
Aristotle
—De Philosophia fr. 12a Ross, 288, 290
—Historia Animalium Bks. 7–10, 43
—Parva Naturalia, 290–91
Arnobius, Adversus Gentiles 1.43, 63
Artemidorus, Onirocritica (Art of Judging
Dreams) Bk. 1 dedication,
Athansius, Life of St. Anthony 9–10, 465,
476n3
Augustine
—Contra Academicos 1.7.19–21, 75
—De Civitate Dei 5.1–7, 378; 5.3,
386n19; 22.8, 180–81530
Index of Ancient Sources
Augustine (continued )
—De Genesi ad Litteram 12.17, 288;
12.18, 79
Carmen adversus Paganos, 476n14
Cato, De Agricultura 160, 109
2 Chronicles 1:3–12, 288
Chrysippus, Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta
(SVF) 2.338 von Arnim, 207
Cicero
—De Divinatione,  —De Fato, 286, 350—De Natura Deorum, 286
—De Republica Bk. 6, 400; 6.12, 406;
6.16, 400 —Tusculanae Disputationes, 263Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis 6.3, 64
Pseudo-Clement
—Homiliae 2.26, 89n76
—Recognitiones 2.15, 65, 66, 89n76
Comarius, 2:278–87 and 3:289–99
Berthelot, 448–54
1 Corinthians 1:14, 43, 345–47; 5:1–5,
468; 12:10, 84; 12:28, 297
Corpus Hermeticum 2.353√. Fest.–Nock,
134; 4.2 and 5.5, 25n25
Daniel, 15, 373; 2.48, 373
Deuteronomy 18.9–14, 16
Didache Duodecim Apostolorum 11–12,
297
Dio Cassius, Historia Romana 49.43.5,
391–92; 52.36.1–2, 391–92
Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica
17.50.6, 83
Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Demosthenes
22, 7
Ephesians 2:2, 466; 6:12, 385
Eunapius, Lives of the Philosophers and
Sophists (Giangrande) 5.2.1–7, 169–
70; 6.6.5–8, 201–4; 6.9.11–17, 366–
68; 7.1.1–3, 171–73; 7.11.6–3.3, 484
Euripides
—Bacchae 894, 207
—Iphigenia Taurica 1261–88, 289
Eusebius, Praeparatio Evangelica 4.1.6–9,
162–63; 4.5, 217; 4.5.1–3, 276–77;
9.27.3, 68
Exodus 7, 131, 178; 7:8–14, 57; 7:10–13,
16; 8:1–3, 16; 8:1–15, 57; 22:18, 16;
ch 30, 438–39 Firmicus Maternus, Libri Mathesis,Galatians 4:3–11, 372; 5:19–21, 459
Galenus, On Medical Terminology  Kuhn), Genesis Geoponica Gregory the Great, Dialogorum Libri, Heliodorus, Aethiopica (Ethiopian Ta les)Heraclitus fr.Diels-Kranz, 321 Hermes Trismegistus, The Precepts of,, Herodotus, Historiae Hesiod—Theogony —Works and Days  Hippocrates of Cos, On the Sacred Disease Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies —Homeric Hymn to Demeter — Homeric Hymn to Hermes  —Homeric Hymn to the Pythian Apollo, —Iliad — Odyssey  Horace — Epodes —Satires - Hyginus, Fabulae
Iamblichus (Neoplatonist)
—Life of Pythagoras 65, 294; 114, 294;
154, 481
—On the Mysteries of Egypt, 4, 77;
1.9.19–32, 166–68; 1.20.61–3, 274;
2.1.67–2.79, 274–76; 2.11.95–98,
168–69; 3.4–6, 361–63; 3.11, 363–
65; 3.13, 484; 3.27, 52; 3.31.15, 207;
4.2.183–84, 161–62
Ignatius, To the Smyrnaeans 3.2, 208
Isaiah 29:14, 183; 44:25, 16; 47:13, 373
Isidorus of Seville, Etymologies 8.9.13,
311
Jerome, Life of Hilarion, 463
John 4:46b–54, 180
Josephus Flavius
—Antiquitates Iudaicae 1.19, 8; 2.284√.,
178; 8.45, 58
—Contra Apionem 1.232, 8
Judges 5:20, 573
Justin (martyr), Dialogue with Trypho
85.3, 58
1 Kings 3:4–15, 288
2 Kings 21:6, 2
Lucan, Pharsalia 1.584–610, 310; 5.86–
224, 341–45; 5.124–61, 298; 6.413–
830, 30, 246–56
Lucian
—Alexander the Pseudoprophet 23, 297
—The Lovers of Lies 10–13, 195–97; 14–
17, 146–49; 17, 218; 21, 81; 34–36,
74
—Menippus, 74
—The Ship, 74
Lucretius, On Nature 4.749–822, 292;
4.961–1036, 292
Luke 7:1–10, 180; 7:24, 208; 8, 63; 11:15,
208; 11:18–19, 208; 23:44–45, 377
Manetho, Apotelesmatika 4.271–85, 419
Manilius, Astronomica 1.25–112, 392–
95; 1.149–254, 395–98; 1.475–531,
398–99; 1.758–804, 399–401; 2.60–
79, 401–2; 2.80–149, 402–4; 2.567–
607, 404–5; 3.47–66, 405–6; 3.560–
617, 406–8; 4.1–118, 408–11
[Marcellus Empiricus], De Medicamentis,
9; 15.11, 109
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 1.6, 294;
1.17.20, 294; 9.27, 294
Mark 7:24–30, 180; 8:28, 297; 15:33, 377
Martyrium Petri 3 (1.4), 476n14
Matthew 2:1–12, 376; ch. 8, 63; 8:5–13,
180; 8:31, 207; 15:21–28, 180; 27:45,
377
Menander, frag. 550–52 KörteThierfelder (= 714 Sandbach), 216
Numbers 20:7–11, 314
Origen, Against Celsus 8.3, 76
Ovid
—Fasti 2.569–82, 20
—Metamorphoses, 395; 4.444, 13
—Tristia 4.10.87–88, 13
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.32.3–5,
239–40; 6.6.7–11, 265–67; 9.39.2–
14, 303; 10.28.1–29.1, 240–42
Petronius, Satyricon 35, 390; 39, 375;
130.7–131.5, 131, 126–27
Philo of Alexandria, De Plantatione 12,
377
Philostratus
—Heroicus, 214
—Life of Apollonius of Tyana 3.38–39,
200–201; 4.20, 271–72; 4.25, 235;
4.44, 143–44; 4.45, 199–200; 5.12, 3,
352–53; 6.10, 217; 7.38–39, 197–99;
8.7, 67; 8.7.9–10, 144–46
Phlegon of Tralles, Strange Stories 1,
235–38
Plato
—Apology of Socrates 33B8–E8, 233–35;
33C, 290; 39C–40B, 233–35
—Charmides, 149
—Laws 905D–907D, 211; 909B, 211;
933A–E, 211
—Phaedo 60C–61C, 290; 81C–D, 213;
107D–E, 216
—Phaedrus 242B, 215
—Republic 364B–E, 211; 571C, 290;
617D, 216; 620D–E, 216
—Symposium 202E, 207
—Timaeus 72A, 286532
Index of Ancient Sources
Pseudo-Plato, Theages, 83
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 2.6, 375;
11.250–51, 70; 12.82–83, 483; Bks.
20–32, 70; 25.59, 69; Bk. 28, 70; 28.4,
69; 28.85, 70; Bk. 29, 70; 29.20, 69;
30.5–6, 69; 37.40, 69; 37.75, 69
Plotinus, Enneads 2.3.1–5.12, 426–31;
2.9.14, 164–65; 3.1.5–6, 423–26;
Wisdom of Solomon,
Xenophon
—Apologia Socratis 12, 233
—Memorabilia
Zosimus, On Completion 3:239–40,

Meanings of witch-words in European languages. Prophetic witches, knowers, wisewomen, diviners. Sortiaria, sortilega, and sorceress. Staff- women: the völur. Chant, invocation, charms. Healing witches: lyb, luppa, and lybbestre; herbalists, herb-chants, the wyrtgælstre. Mugwort and the serpent-initiation of Chernobyl. Shapeshifters and mascae. Wolf-witches in Ireland and Scandinavia. Night-farers. From hagedisse to hexe.
A litany of ethnic witch-names.
Chapter III from Witches and Pagans: Women in European Folk Religion, 700-1100, Veleda Press. ISBN: 9780692740286
Excerpt includes a table of contents for the book

This chapter is based on fieldwork carried out in Spain and Portugal among different spiritual groups that were influenced by the international Pagan movement. The women (and few men) I encountered did not feel at ease with the term “Pagan” and preferred to refer to a “Goddess spirituality”. They held that British and American forms of Paganism needed to be transformed and adapted in order to be successfully imported into traditionally Catholic countries. Analyzing the transplantation process of the Glastonbury Goddess Conference to the Iberian Peninsula I will try to explain while it failed and why it was perceived by some of my interlocutors as a sort of religious colonialism. An important number of the Iberian followers of the Goddess I encountered refused the Anglo-imperialism they saw as inherent to established international Pagan traditions and were looking instead for more “authentic” rituals and theories that could take into account local specificities. The controversies I describe offer a privileged window upon the peculiarities of Pagan movements in Southern Europe and on the processes of resistance to religious forms of colonialism

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar o culto a Maria na wicca, religião na qual ela assume o papel de deusa e é cultuada como uma das diversas manifestações de "A Deusa", a principal divindade dessa religião. Esse estudo também apresenta as tensões que o culto a Maria gera entre os wiccanos, visto a wicca se constituir sobre um ethos de oposição histórica ao cristianismo. Sendo a Virgem Maria uma figura religiosa central ao cristianismo, esses conflitos intrarreligiosos se fazem inevitáveis entre os próprios wiccanos.

Il mio incontro con la cultura zingara (termine dispregiativo, attualmente, anche se come vedremo più sotto, agli inizi non lo era) risale a qualche settimana fa, quando, leggendo questo libro una vera miniera d'oro per quanto riguarda la simbologia della cose, mi trovo a leggere, per la prima volta, di una misteriosa figura, legata al folklore zingaro, denominata Sara la Nera o Sara la Kali.

White candle love spells are powerful but you can also use a white candle for protection spells, for money, and almost any other intent or wish that you want to work on. Cleansing spells with white candles are the most widely used. Learn how to cast a Magick spell with a single white candle or with a combination of them.

As inheritors of Western esoteric magic traditions and nature religion, the New Age, Wicca, and Paganism are religious movements that have arisen as responses to Western modernity. These movements generally, though not exclusively, draw white, Western, middle-class participants. The New Age, Wicca, and Paganism function as self-identification labels with few formal criteria for inclusion. There is overlap and mutual influence between the Pagan and New Age movements, with hard lines being difficult to draw, but there are also important differences, especially in terms of ultimate cosmology and the orientation of the individual within it.

This is a short description of Wiccan sexuality, written for the Springer Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion, edited by David A Leeming (pp 1638-1641). It locates Wicca's ethos and practice as contemporaneous with the  twentieth century secular milieu from  which Wicca emerged, yet encompassing  traditional Western esoteric philosophy, with some eastern influence.

Both revered and feared, Lilith is only mentioned once in the Bible, but throughout history she has stirred up much controversy. In this fascinating and lavishly illustrated talk, Dr Alinda Damsma will discuss Lilith in all her different roles: from Ancient Mesopotamia up to the modern-day Wicca movement. What do we actually know about Lilith? What does she look like? Why is her name written on ancient skulls? Why is Lilith so important in the Kabbalah? Does she have a role to play during the time of the witch-hunts? These and many other topics will be discussed in this compelling lecture. Further information: https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/talks/divine-feminine/lilith-goddess-demon-or-witch/

Hablar del Libro de San Cipriano es hablar de uno de esos textos míticos cuya presencia se hace efectiva en muchas obras de estudiosos de las ciencias ocultas. Es uno de los conocidos grimorios o libros prohibidos que fueron fruto del interés de muchos lectores a lo largo de la historia. En él, el moje alemán Jonás Sufurino transcribe supuestamente los textos que unos espíritus le han dictado. Dentro de este libro se incluyen texto míticos como La clavícula de Salomón, varia invocaciones, pactos con el demonio, exorcismos, El dragón rojo y la cabra infernal, la gallina negra, la escuela de sortilegios, el gran grimorio y el pacto de sangre, la Candela mágica para descubrir encantamientos, una recopilación de magia caldea y egipcia, filtros, encantamientos, hechicerías y demás sortilegios.La edición está adornada con muchas ilustraciones repartidas a lo largo del texto.

This article examines historically competing categories of magic and religion and their gendered traces in the history of religious studies. On one hand, we have a genealogy that traces the term, “magic”, back to an early modern European Christianity trying to understand itself through contrast with an imagined heresy that comes to be personified with a woman’s face. On the other, we have contemporary political and religious communities that use the identification as Witches to reverse this version of dichotomous Christian gaze and legitimize religious difference, which also comes to be symbolized by a female body. Between these historical moments we have the beginning of the academic study of religion, the theoretical turn in which Christian-dominant scholarship comes to see itself on a continuum with, rather than opposed to, different religions, as first characterized by cultural evolution theories about the origins of religion. Especially given the field’s theological roots, examining the constructed relationships between religion and magic, both of which represent crucial foci for early theorists, through the analytical lens of gender, which does not, provides opportunities to surface implicit assumptions of the current field about what is and is not worth studying.

This thesis examines the phenomenon called “New Religious Movements” in the
United States in relation to various cultural and ideological trends in the course of what is
known as the counterculture that reportedly took shape in the 1960s. This study addresses
several spiritualities of the New Age and uncovers intricate relations between the cultural
context and New Agers’ own spirituality. It draws specific attention to the social and
historical context and thus demonstrates the existence of direct relations between ideological
trends and the principles and belief systems of New Religious Movements. More specifically,
the thesis focuses on individuals on the verge of social change and argues that the impact of
New Religious Movements transcends the level of the individual to attain a more universal
range of implication that fits into the post-modern condition.

This article explores some of the ways of remembering and honouring the ancestors in contemporary Pagan religious traditions, with a focus on the Irish context. An overview is provided of how the "ancestors" are conceptualised within Paganism, as well as where they are believed to be located in the afterlife or Otherworld. Veneration of ancestral peoples is a significant part of many Pagan rituals. Some methods of honouring the dead, and contacting the dead, through ritual practices are described. Remembering and honouring the dead, whether distant forebears or more recent relatives, is particularly important during the Pagan celebration of the festival of Samhain, feast of the dead, on October 31. Issues around ancestors, lineages and ethnicity are significant in many Pagan traditions, and attention is paid to these factors in terms of the Irish Pagan community"s sense of cultural belonging as well as their sense of place in a physical respect in relation to the landscape, proximity of sacred sites, and other features of their geographical location.

Macbeth is the tale of a Scottish king, and in many ways the story itself is essentially Celtic. If one were to enumerate the many striking characteristics of the Scottish Tragedy,  features certain to be noted would be its pervasive darkness,  supernatural omens,  perilous witches, and  the villainous Lady MacBeth. One might even mention the curious porter scene as the source of much disagreement, and the theme of equivocation which runs throughout MacBeth like a great undercurrent.  These are all aspects of the play normally discussed in terms of Elizabethan England, the Gunpowder Plot, Father Garnet, and the Jesuits, discussions which have yielded valuable insights into Shakespeare’s great work, but early Celtic literature such as the Welsh Mabinogi  found in The White Book of Rhydderach and  the Irish Táin Bó Cuailnge  found in The Book of Leinster, along with numerous shorter tales and tale fragments, also offer a few interesting insights that seem worth exploring; a native perspective, if you will, into the “hurly burly” world that is Macbeth.

This article based thesis discusses five contemporary Pagan branches: Wicca (or Modern Witchcraft), Druidry, Asatru (or Modern Heathenism), the Goddess Movement and Neo-Shamanism from an anthropological angle. The focus of the thesis is on the ritual practice, especially the celebrations of the Wheel of the Year, magic and divination practices. It also elucidates the importance of trance rituals and spiritual experiences and its therapeutic uses