917 lines
41 KiB
Plaintext
917 lines
41 KiB
Plaintext
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ELECTRIC GARTERS OF CALIFORNIA
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YULE 1986
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Please address commments and inquiries to:
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NEW WICCAN CHURCH OF CALIFORNIA
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P.O. BOX 162046
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SACRAMENTO, CA 95816
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ATTN; ALLYN WOLFE
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ELECTRIC GARTERS an abridged version of RED GARTERS is
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available on various Pagan computer BBS.
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The RED GARTERS of California is the official voice of the
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New Wiccan Church of California. The Office of the
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California State Summoner publishes a minimum of 8 issues
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per year, as a function of the membership and mailing lists
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of the New Wiccan Church.
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Subscription to RED GARTERS is included among the benefits
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of membership in the New Wiccan Church of California.
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RED GARTERS of California is available non-members for a
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minimum donation of $8 (U.S.A. and Canada) or $12 (foreign)
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NOTE: SUBSCRIPTION DONATION INCREASE BEGINNING MARCH 1ST,
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1987. See details following.
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Statements by the Grand Council of Elders of the New Wiccan
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Church published in any RED GARTERS delineate NWC national
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policy.
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Statements by the Council of Elders of the NWC of California
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published in any RED GARTERS delineate NWC state policy.
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Such other items as may be published in RED GARTERS are to
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be regarded as the views of their authors/artists; such
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items do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of
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the New Wiccan Church.
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Items not carrying a "by line" may be presumed to be
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included at the discretion of the editor.
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Submissions to RED GARTERS/ELECTRIC GARTERS are welcomed (as
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are donations). Such submissions will not be returned unless
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accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Any item
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submitted to RED GARTERS for publication may also be
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published in ELECTRIC GARTERS unless otherwise specified at
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the time of submission. All copyrights remain with the
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author(s)/artist(s).
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We reserve the right to edit and censor material.
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Inflammatory or provocative submissions will be edited. Seek
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UNITY in the faith.
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The New Wiccan Church of America and its various state, area
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and city branches are secret, non-profit, religious
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organizations dedicated to promulgating English Traditional
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Wicca in its various traditions, rites, forms, and orders.
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Political and/or criminal activity by any branch of this
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church is absolutely prohibited. Any member engaging in
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either does so as an individual.
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------------------------------------------------------------
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NATIONAL OFFICERS
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Grand Queen Haragano
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Grand Magus Gwyddion
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Grand Summoner Lleu
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------------------------------------------------------------
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STATE OFFICERS
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Please note new California officers
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CALIFORNIA
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Queen Moira
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Magus Herne
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Summoner Saluna
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Publications: Allyn Wolfe
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OREGON
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Queen Marisha
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Grand Magus Gwyddion
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WASHINGTON
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Queen Haragano
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Magus Tiller
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WISCONSIN
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Queen Kyril
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Magus Enqito
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------------------------------------------------------------
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New Wiccan Church of California telephone: (916) 489-6147.
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All calls are screened through the answering machine, so you
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MUST identify yourself to the machine before any human will
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respond.
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------------------------------------------------------------
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New Wiccan Church, National Office, P.O. Box 162046,
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Sacramento, CA 95816
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New Wiccan Church of California, P.O. Box 421044,
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Sacramento, CA 95842
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Bay Area New Wiccan Church, P.O. Box 551,
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Pinole, CA, 94564-0551
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New Wiccan Church of Wisconsin, P.O. Box 64,
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Mt. Horeb, WI 53572
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New Wiccan Church of Washington, P.O. Box 30511,
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Seattle, WA 98103
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New Wiccan Church of Oregon,
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Temporary address: P.O. Box 162046, Sacramento, CA 95816
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------------------------------------------------------------
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BACK ISSUES of RED GARTERS: All of the "Open Pagan
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Community" issues are available: Set #1 (AUG/SEPT 83, IMBOLC
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83, BELTANE 84, LITHA/LUGHNASSAD 84, SAMHAIN 84, NOV 84) $3;
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Set #2 (MAR 85, APR 85, JUNE 85, SEPT 85, NOV 85, DEC 85)
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$5.50; SET #3 (FEB 86, MAR 86, BELTANE 86) $2.50; INCLUDE $1
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PER ORDER FOR THE ABOVE TO COVER SHIPPING AND HANDLING. The
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following are available at $1 @, no handling charge: JULY
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86, AUG 86, OCT 86. DEC 86 IS $2. Additional restricted
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issues are available exclusively to New Wiccan Church
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members; contact Publications Officer for listing.
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------------------------------------------------------------
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General Notice from the California Council of Elders:
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The California Council of Elders held elections
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recently. The office of State Queen, temporarily held by
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Lady Maeburn since the resignation of Lady Raven, has now
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been filled by Lady Moira. In addition, the duties of the
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office of State Summoner have so expanded in recent years,
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that the Council has seen fit establish a new office to
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handle the production of New Wiccan Church publications.
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Lord Allyn Wolfe is the new Publications Officer, and Lady
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Anea is the new Summoner. The staff of Red Garters wishes
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each of our new officers a prosperous and peaceful term of
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office.
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------------------------------------------------------------
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Notice to RED GARTERS Subscribers
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The subscription rate to RED GARTERS will be going up
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to $10 ($15 Foreign) per year for non-members, effective
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with the March issue of RED GARTERS . This change was
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directed by the California Council of Elders, and is the
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first subscription increase in the four years RG has been
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offered outside of the New Wiccan Church membership.
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However, as a way of thanking you for your support, if we
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receive a renewal or new subscription postmarked prior to
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March 1, you will continue to receive RED GARTERS at the old rate.
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------------------------------------------------------------
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SUMMONER'S CALLING
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By Lord Lleu
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Grand Summoner of the New Wiccan Church
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I always hate writing against a deadline, especially when I
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still haven't come up with a topic. This time around I
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think I will focus on last time. To those of you who
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panicked at the last Summoner's Calling. I can assure you
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that I was not spying on you. I did not even use
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clairvoyance. However, if you have been Summoner as long as
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I have (8 years), you begin to know the kind of things that
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cause trouble, and for me misrepresentation has headed the
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list, while jumping to conclusions comes next.
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Misrepresentation, be it well intentioned (I thought I was
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protecting my oath), accidental (gosh, I am sorry, my brains
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were in the Bahamas), or due to sociopathic tendencies (its
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the gospel truth! I swear on my mother's grave [of course
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she's not dead yet]) always causes the same problems.
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Someone hears and believes and pretty soon a flock of foos
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are nesting in everyone's hair. No one is happy to wear the
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end product.
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There are two inexcusable parts of such a problem:
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deliberate misrepresentation, and the failure of Craft
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Elders to do more than scream and yell. I think that the
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problem with the first is self evident. There is no
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injunction in the Craft against lying, but there is a demand
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that Sisters and Brothers of the Art be treated with honor
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and respect. They are our's, not outsiders, even if they do
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move in different circles (pun intended). The second
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inexcusable, in my book, is in some ways even worse. Elders
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determine the quality of the Craft. An Elder who flies into
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a fury, or panics, and never even asks how such a rumor got
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started, hurts himself, hurts the Craft's image, and
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achieves nothing positive. Curiosity, and a desire to
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reveal the truth, to get things straight, and a gentle
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approach to these goals will always serve better, and they
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provide a better example.
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------------------------------------------------------------
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KALISHA'S CAULDRON
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Congratulations to Priestess Marissa, who received her
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first initiation into the Kingstone Tradition at Sagitarius
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Full Moon (December 14). It is a pleasure to welcome you,
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Marissa, newly made Priestess and Witch!
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The Sacramento New Wiccan Church held its annual Yule
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Gathering on December 20, 1986. Attendance was down a bit
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from previous years, but there were still four local New
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Wiccan Church covens represented, and also several guests
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from other groups in Sacramento
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and the San Francisco bay area.
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The well-written Rebirth of the Sun ritual was
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conducted by students of two Sacramento New Wiccan Church
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covens. They deserve our praise and thanks for their
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efforts, which also included a gift cauldron, potluck, and
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clean-up before and after the event. A lot of work goes
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into organizing these events to insure that all runs
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smoothly. Three cheers! And thanks to all who attended for
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making this a memorable holiday celebration.
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The California branch of the New Wiccan Church is
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sponsoring a prize drawing to benefit the Covenant of the
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Goddess. Tickets are $1 each and are available from the
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Publications Officer, Lord Allyn Wolfe, c/o Red Garters.
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There are some nifty prizes to be raffled off once we have
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100 tickets in the till. So far, we have 58 entries, and
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are waiting to hear from you! The prizes include: a Hindu
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statue of the Goddess (donated by a Sacramento Hindu), a
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sequined dragon sculpture (donated by Tina of "Dragons by
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Tina"), a turquoise and silver necklace of Amerindian
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manufacture bearing Pagan designs (donated by Coven of the
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Hawk, NWC #2), four oil fueled hurricane lanterns suitable
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for the four quarters (donated by Coven Winged Horse, NWC
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#25), and a one year subscription to RED GARTERS.
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Among the inquiry letters that RED GARTERS gets, we
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have begun to receive letters from prisoners interested in
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Wicca. Prison libraries do not routinely stock books or
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magazines on the Craft. However, direct mailings to inmates
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are apparently received. Those incarcerated have little
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funds for books or magazine subscriptions, and ask for
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donations of either. If you or your coven is interested in
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sponsoring any of these prisoners for a subscription to RED
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GARTERS or can donate any new or used books, contact me in
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care of the California State Office.
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A few more words to conclude this issue's Cauldron -
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I'd like to wish you all a happy 1987, and may you find in
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the abundance given by Our Lady, Perfect Peace! - Kalisha
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Grand Queen needs help. Lady Lydea, formerly Queen of Coven
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Isis the Ibis in Sacramento, and Grand Queen to most of the
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Kingstone tradition, is desperate. She is now residing in
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the mid-west on limited retirement income. Harsh weather,
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failing health, and rising energy costs are taking their
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toll; she needs to come to California in the Spring. At the
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present time, she plans on a visit, but hopes to eventually
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relocate to the west coast. Needed: a driver to fly or bus
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to the midwest and drive the Grand Queen and her gear back
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to California (in her car); a rent free place to stay (she
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can pay for her own board); and of course $ ! This Lady is
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deserving of our help; please seriously consider what YOU
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can do to help.
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------------------------------------------------------------
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IN THE BIG ROCK CANDY COVEN
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by Dana Corley
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You may not have noticed it, but the Craft is in trouble.
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Like many another esoteric group, the Craft sowed the seeds
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of its own ruin when it began deliberately to appeal to a
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broader range of people, not all of them, perhaps, truly
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suited to the life and beliefs of Witchcraft. When
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initiation ceased to be a requirement in all traditions,
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when people began to accept each other as "in the Craft" on
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the basis of attendance at a few festivals - in short, when
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the Craft ceased to require work - our numbers increased
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dramatically. This delighted everyone, at first; going to a
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Summer Solstice rituals with several hundred fellow Witches
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in the countryside is vastly more exciting than timidly
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conducting one in your basement with the half-dozen members
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of your own Coven. After a while, though, some of us began
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to be alarmed The "Craft" many of these new folks were
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practicing bore only a casual likeness to the Craft we'd
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been taught. It bore a striking resemblance, however, to
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both the transcendentalism of Christianity and other
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Oriental religions and the jargon-loaded hipness of EST and
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the whole "New Age" grab bag - and it was spreading fast.
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It's a truism in the social sciences that a society which
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allows no cross-fertilization from outside soon dries up.
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There's a difference, though, between eclectic open-
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mindedness and bastardization. The Craft is a Western
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magical tradition, not an Eastern mystical path. To impose
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the transcendentalism of the East on the Craft creates only
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an emasculated hodge-podge. For example:
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More and more, we hear the Craft spoken of as "of the
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light", meaning, one supposes, that we're "the good guys".
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It is clearly contrary to Craft teaching to identify the
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good, the positive, with the concept of light. That is an
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oriental and wholly patriarchal concept, associated also
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with the triumph of the spiritual (i.e., non-material) over
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the physical, of the intellect over the senses. It leaves
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no room for the Craft ideal of dynamic balance, and it
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certainly excludes that aspect of Our Lady which is the Dark
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Mother, the Primal Chaos from which all else arises. I feel
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that this concept has crept into our belief system partly
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due to the incompleteness of many people's Craft education,
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and partly out of pandering to the beliefs of others.
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Because they are afraid of the Dark, we begin to exclude it
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from our consciousness, lest we scare the poor dears! And if
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they aren't afraid of us, they won't persecute us, and they
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might even invite us to their swell interfaith breakfasts
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down at the Elks Hall.
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Again, seemingly out of a combination of shallowness and too
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mu |