329 lines
15 KiB
Plaintext
329 lines
15 KiB
Plaintext
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History of Witchcraft (part 4)
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As Christianity became a part of this nation, there is much
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evidence to show where the Christians of the time, and the pagans
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lived peacefully together.
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In theology, the differences between early Christians, Gnostics
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(members - often Christian - of dualistic sects of the 2nd
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century a.d.), and pagan Hermetists were slight. In the large
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Gnostic library discovered at Naj'Hammadi, in upper Egypt, in
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1945, Hermetic writings were found side by side with Christian
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Gnostic texts. The doctrine of the soul taught in Gnostic
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communities was almost identical to that taught in the mysteries:
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the soul emanated from the Father, fell into the body, and had to
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return to its former home.
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It was not until later in Rome that things took a change for the
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worse. Which moves us on to Greece.
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The doctrinal similarity is exemplified in the case of the pagan
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writer and philosopher Synesius. When the people of Cyrene
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wanted the most able man of the city to be their bishop, they
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chose Synesius, a pagan. He was able to accept the election
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without sacrificing his intellectual honesty. In his pagan
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period, he wrote hymns that follow the fire theology of the
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Chaldean Oracles. Later he wrote hymns to Christ. The doctrine
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is almost identical.
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To attempt to demonstrate this...let's go to some BASIC tenets
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and beliefs of the two religions:
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Christian Beliefs
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The 10 Commandments
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1.) You shall have no other gods before me.
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To the Christian, this means there will be no other God. Yet, in
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the bible, the phrase is plural. I does not state that you will
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not have another god, it says that you will have no other gods
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before the Christian God.
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In the case of the later, it could be interpreted to mean that
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whereas other gods can be recognised, as a Christian, this person
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should place YHVH ahead of all gods recognising him/her as the
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supreme being of all.
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2.) You shall not worship idols
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Actually, what it says in the New International Version is "You
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shall not make for yourself an idol in the form af anything in
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heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You
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shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your
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God, am a jealour God, punishing the children for the sin of the
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fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
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but showing love to thousands who love me and keep my
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commandments.
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3.) You shall not take the name of the lord in vain.
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This one is pretty self explanitory. When a person is calling on
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the lord he/she is asking the lord for guidance or action. Thus,
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the phrase "God damn it!" can be translated into a person asking
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the lord to comdemn whatever "it" is to hell. The phrase "To
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damn" means to condem to hell. In modern society, several
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phrases such as the following are common usage:
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"Oh God!", "God forbid!", "God damn it!", "God have mercy!"
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Each of these is asking God to perform some act upon or for the
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speaker with the exception of "Oh God!" which is asking for Gods
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attention.
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4.) Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
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Depending on which religion you are looking at (i.e. Jewish, from
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which the 10 commandments come; or Christianity, which adapted
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them for their use as well.) the Sabbath is either Saturday or
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Sunday. You may also take a look at the various mythological
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pantheons to corelate which is the first and last days of the
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week...(i.e. Sun - Sunday.. Genesis 1:3 "And God said, "Let there
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be light,' and there was light., Moon - Monday.. Genesis 1:14
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"And God said,"Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to
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separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to
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mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the
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expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. 16
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God made two great lights - the greater light to govern the day
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and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the
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stars." Thus the Sun was created first. With the day of the Sun
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being the first in the week, then Saturday would be the 7th or
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Sabbath.
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5.) Honor thy mother and thy father.
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This is another that is fairly self explainitory. It is any
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parent's right after spending the time to raise you to expect
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that you respect them.
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6.) You shall not murder.
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This does not say "You shall not murder...except in my name." It
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says YOU SHALL NOT MURDER. PERIOD. Out of the 10 commandments, I
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have found that over the course of history, this one has been the
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most ignored. As we look as the spread of Christianity from
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around 300 A.D. forward, we find that as politics moved into the
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church and those in charge of man's "souls" were given more
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control that this one commandment sort of went out the window.
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We see such things as the Crusades, the inquisition, and the
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dominating fear that was placed into the Christian "psyche" that
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one should destroy that which is not like you.
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Even though we here stories about the "witch trials", and the
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"witch burnings" etc....There were actually very few "Witches"
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tried or burned. Most of these poor souls were that of
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Protestant beliefs (Against the Catholic Church) yet still
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maintained that they were Christians. But...more on this later.
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7.) You shall not commit adultery.
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You can look up the meaning in the dictionary, and this one
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becomes pretty self-evident. What it comes down to is that no
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person who has ever been divorced can marry again, and you don't
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have sex with someone that you are not married to.
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8.) You shall not steal.
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Again, enough said. However...don't go looking at Constantine to
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be obeying this one! The Pagan temples were looted to make his
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coinage.
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9.) You shall not give false witness against thy neighbor
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Again, during the times of the inquisition, this also went out
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the window. Such tools as torture were used to pull confessions
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from these poor people who then signed statements that the
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inquisitors had written up saying that they freely signed this
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document. Of course...the inquisitors stated that this person
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was not tortured, but it was his clever wit that had extracted
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this confession.
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It was also during this time that persons, refusing to take
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responsibility for their own actions or accept that nature does
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in fact create strange circumstances...(i.e. drought, flood,
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etc.) and the resulting illness and bug infrestations. Very
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often, as the Witch-craze developed stronger, the one neighbor
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would accuse another of Witchcraft and destroying the fields or
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making their child sick, or whatever.
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10.)You shall not covet your neighbor.
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On the surface, this one is pretty self explainitory. Don't
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crave your neighbor's possessions. Yes...I can relate this back
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to the inquisitional times as well since most of the accused's
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property reverted back to the Catholic church at this
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time...there were several accused and convicted of Witchcraft
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simply because they would not sell their property to the church.
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However...How does this effect persons today? How far do we
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carry the "Thou shalt not covet..."? This can be even so much as
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a want, however is it a sin to want a toy like your neighbor has?
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If so...we're all in trouble. How many of us "want" that Porsche
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that we see driving down the road? Or how about that beautiful
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house that we just drove past? Do we carry this commandment to
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this extreme? If so...I pity the person that can live by it for
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what that would say is "Thou shalt not DREAM."
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Wiccan Beliefs
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Since the religion of Wicca (or Witchcraft) is so diverse in it's
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beliefs, I have included several documents here that encompass
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the majority of the traditions involved. Again, this is simply a
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basis...NOT the be all and end all.
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Wiccan Rede
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Bide ye wiccan laws you must,
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in perfect love and perfect trust
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Live ye must and let to live,
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fairly take and fairly give
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For the circle thrice about
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to keep unwelcome spirits out
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To bind ye spell wll every time,
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let the spell be spake in rhyme
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Soft of eye and light of touch,
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speak ye little, listen much
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Deosil go by the waxing moon,
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chanting out ye baleful tune
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When ye Lady's moon is new,
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kiss ye hand to her times two
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When ye moon rides at her peak,
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then ye heart's desire seek
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Heed the north winds mighty gale,
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lock the door and trim the sail
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When the wind comes from the south,
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love will kiss thee on the mouth
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When the wind blows from the east,
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expect the new and set the feast.
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Nine woods in the cauldron go,
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burn them fast and burn them slow
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Elder be ye Lady's tree,
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burn it not or cursed ye'll be
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WHen the wheel begins to turn,
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soon ye Beltane fires will burn
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When the wheel hath turned a Yule
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light the log the Horned One rules
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Heed ye flower, bush and tree,
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by the Lady blessed be
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Where the rippling waters go,
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cast a stone, the truth ye'll know
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When ye have and hold a need,
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harken not to others greed
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With a fool no season spend,
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or be counted as his friend
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Merry meet and merry part,
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bright the cheeks and warm the heart.
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Mind ye threefold law ye should
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three times bad and three times good
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When misfortune is enow,
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wear the star upon thy brow
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True in love my ye ever be,
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lest thy love be false to thee
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These eight words the wiccan rede fulfill;
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An harm ye none, do what ye will.
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One of the Pagan Oaths recognised nationally here in the U.S.
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A Pledge to Pagan Spirituality
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I am a Pagan and I dedicate Myself to channeling the Spiritual
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Energy of my Inner Self to help and to heal myself and others.
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* I know that I am a part of the Whole of Nature. May I
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grow in understanding of the Unity of all Nature. May I
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always walk in Balance.
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* May I always be mindful of the diversity of Nature as
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well as its Unity and may I always be tolerant of those whose
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race, appearance, sex, sexual preference, culture, and other ways
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differ from my own.
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* May I use the Force (psychic power) wisely and never use
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it for aggression nor for malevolent purposes. May I never
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direct it to curtail the free will of another.
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* May I always be mindful that I create my own reality and that
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I have the power within me to create positivity in my life.
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* May I always act in honorable ways: being honest with
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myself and others, keeping my word whenever I have given it,
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fulfilling all responsibilities and commitments I have taken
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on to the best of my ability.
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* May I always remember that whatever is sent out always
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returns magnified to the sender. May the Forces of Karma move
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swiftly to remind me of these spiritual commitments when I
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have begin to falter from them, and may I use this Karmic
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feedback to help myself grow and be more attuned to my Inner
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Pagan Spirit.
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* May I always remain strong and committed to my Spiritual
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ideals in the face of adversity and negativity. May the Force
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of my Inner Spirit ground out all malevolence directed my way
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and transform it into positivity. May my Inner Light shine
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so strongly that malevolent forces can not even approach my
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sphere of existence.
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* May I always grow in Inner Wisdom & Understanding. May I
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see every problem that I face as an opportunity to develop
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myself spiritually in solving it.
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* May I always act out of Love to all other beings on this
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Planet -- to other humans, to plants, to animals, to minerals,
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to elementals, to spirits, and to other entities.
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* May I always be mindful that the Goddess and God in all
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their forms dwell within me and that this divinity is
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reflected through my own Inner Self, my Pagan Spirit.
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.pa
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* May I always channel Love and Light from my being. May my Inner
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Spirit, rather than my ego self, guide all my thoughts, feelings, and
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actions.
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SO MOTE IT BE
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In the Wiccan Rede above, and scattered in the oath, we find
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words such as Perfect Love and Perfect Trust. What are these
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strange words and what do they mean?
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Before one can analyse the meaning behind the phrase "Perfect
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Love and Perfect Trust", one must first define the words. For
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this purpose, I will use the Webster's New World Dictionary of
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the American Language 1982 edition. Perfect: adj. [L. per-,
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through + facere, do] 1. complete in all respects; flawless 2.
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excellent, as in skill or quality 3. completely accurate 4.
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sheer; utter [a perfect fool] 5. Gram. expressing a state or
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action completed at the time of speaking - vt. 1. to complete 2.
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to make perfect or nearly perfect - n. 1. the perfect tense 2. a
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verb form in this tense - perfectly adv - perfectness n.
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Love: n. [<OE. lufu] 1. strong affection or liking of someone or
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something. 2. a passionate affection for one of the opposite sex.
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3. The object of such affection, sweetheart.
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Trust: n.[ON, traust] 1. a) firm belief in the honesty,
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reliability, etc. of another; faith b) the one trusted 2.
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confident expectation, hope, etc. 3. responsibility resulting
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from confidence placed in one. 4. Care, custody 5. something
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entrusted to one....
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Using these definitions, we come up with "Flawless strong
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affection and flawless faith.
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Is this possible? Those that follow the religion of Wicca often
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give excuses for this just being words. When this is the case,
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they are not obeying their faith....thus..they are not following
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perfect love and perfect trust. But to the rest...the answer is
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a resounding YES. This does not ask that you "like" a person.
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It asks that you see the divine light and love within individual
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whether you like them or not. Can this be done...YES. As to the
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perfect trust...we can always trust a fox to be a fox right.
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Therefore, when we are entering circle, we can honestly answer
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perfect trust even if it is on shaky ground. We may have faith
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that this person will act like any other human.
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It with these beliefs and doctrines that I state that not only
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was the doctrine, or teaching almost identical, but the
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vocabulary was extensively the same.
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