“I don’t know what made me stand up at that moment” says Deborah Faye Winslow* when asked what brought her to launch a law suit against the local town council due to their use of sectarian invocations at the opening of their meetings.   Deborah Faye not only launched the law suit, she won the law suit.   The town council appealed the verdict all the way to the Supreme Court.   The Supreme Court declined to hear the case which meant the ruling of the Federal Appellate Court would stand.   Deborah Faye won the war, but the battles took their toll on this Pagan in a town of approximately 2,000.

Deborah Faye found herself in this small town after the break up of a long term relationship.   She choose the area because it was close to where her mom lived.   Her mom needed help with driving around so it seemed like the ideal thing to do.   Deborah had bought for herself a 1995 GMC Sonoma pickup, and it was the closest thing to a new vehicle she had ever owned.   The year was 2001, and Deborah was proud of her pickup and some of the local men were leaning up against it discussing her bumper sticker.   The bumper sticker said “Witches Heal.”   The conversation didn’t so much bother Deborah, but she asked them to stop leaning on her truck.   Their cuff links scratched the truck.   There in a convenience store a local minister made rude comments.   It didn’t discourage Deborah.  She liked her new home but things would soon get worse, alot worse.

The jeers and rude comments soon turned to threats.   She attended a town council meeting to learn a little more about the people and give them the chance to know her.   Perhaps she could get help that way.  The council opens with a prayer to Jesus that was directed against her!   That was the breaking point for Deborah.   She knew she had to act.  It was then that she filed the lawsuit.

The grandson of the mayor threatened to burn her out.   Deborah took the threat seriously.   The police didn’t help her so she turned to the mayor and asked for help.   He smiled and told her, “Well maybe you should take heed.”   The vandalism to her home became a regular thing then the unthinkable happened.   Deborah came in from supper with a friend and found her beloved African Gray Parrot beheaded and his heart cut out.   There was a note beside the body that said, “You are next.”  She had to search for the head which was found elsewhere in the home.  Imagine how ominous this was to Deborah.   “No respect for people or lives, it’s normal here,” says Deborah about the atmosphere.

“It wasn’t about the Pagan community, it was what was happening to me.   It was standing up for me.   I think as a woman I had to,” says Deborah.   She filed a law suit against the council.   Deborah’s goal was not to convert anyone to her faith or to be disrespectful of anyone else’s beliefs, but she had been harassed and terrorized to the point she had to put a stop to that because she was literally in fear for her own life.   The law suit was the only action she could take and she did.   It was a fight that was fought alone.   “Supporters didn’t come out until I had one the final case,” and even then there weren’t many.   Even after the victory, the threats continued.   One person threatened her with a shotgun.  Nothing came of that even though he was a convicted felon who was such due to his drug charges.

Some time has passed and this Priestess is still living in the town.   The vandalism to her home was so great that it was not livable.   She was able to get financing for a house that was for sale very close by and lives there now.    At the age of 45, she is a full-time student working towards a Bachelor’s degree which she hopes to complete next year.    The town clerk who had once been a bitter enemy, will now stop and speak pleasantly and politely in the local grocery store.   Deborah is still very cautious as she tells about how she still gets crazy calls and things in the mail sometimes.    I asked if she thought tolerance would ever come and Deborah said, “I think it will be a long time.”  I think she is right.

This is over and done with for the most part and Deborah is glad.  “If I knew then, what I know now, I don’t know that I would have put myself out there.”   She is proud of the fact that she dispelled the myth of you can’t fight city hall.   She did.   Now she will occasionally get calls from the locals when they have a problem with city government.   Deborah also has thought of writing a book about her story.   She plans to title it Hate… A Proud Southern Tradition. Sadly hatred is a tradition.   A tradition that will be here for a long time but a tradition that needs to be banished.    Those of us in the broom closet out of necessity respect Deborah for her strength in standing up for herself.   We can all feel pain for the suffering she has faced.

As women we should all look inside ourselves and ask what can we do to lessen the hatred in the world around us.   That is so complicated and I don’t know what the ultimate answer is, I just know we should all practice acts of love, kindness, and patience whenever possible.    I also know that some are in a position that openly standing up would literally endanger lives.   It’s not just overseas.   It’s here.   I chose to change the name of the person this happend to out of concern for her safety.   Her story needed to be told, but not at the expense of exposing her to such atrocities again.    When you are at your altar’s light a candle for those who can’t openly practice or express their religon.   I offer my own blessing for this lady who got caught up in a storm, and that is Walk in peace, Walk in love, and Walk in the light Deborah Faye Winslow, you have seen the horrors of life now may you see the beauty.  Blessed Be!

* The name of the Priestess and the exact dates and location have been changed to protect her privacy and prevent these awful acts from beginning again.

My friend Sue came to visit me at the end of August.  I’ve known her for many years, since 1996 to be exact, when we were living in the same city.  We’ve both moved several times since then.  Sue is one of the women in my life whom I immediately recognized (from pasts lives) when we first met, and it was a mutual recognition. There have been a few women whom I’ve met and instantly knew, and this has been happening even more these last few years. My S.B.A.#1 Sister Ro is one of them, as is my friend and Sister, Tinne.

Sue traveled far, from the Prairie Provinces in Canada to visit her mother in southwestern Ontario, and then added an additional 7 hours of driving each way just to come see me.  I was thrilled!  Sue arrived with her sweetheart, who is truly a Kouretes* in the Goddess tradition, the second one I’ve met lately and immediately recognized.  We had a wonderful visit, too brief, considering we hadn’t seen each other in three years!

It was the night of the Full Moon.  Sue & I went to the beach, near the Aylmer Marina, accompanied by our very own Kouretes, Darren, as well as Sue & Darren’s adorable Teddy, a fierce & loving little schnauzer. We brought with us sage for smudging, a lighter, a lantern with a candle in it, a Native drum and drumstick, and a Shaman rattle which I had made earlier this summer during a drum camp for womyn and which I gave to Sue.

We walked on the beach until we found an unoccupied space.  Darren spontaneously decided to take Teddy for a walk and throughout our ritual, Sue & I felt his presence on the periphery, even though he wasn’t always close – we knew he was a protection to ensure our privacy.

We removed our shoes and let our toes revel in the cool beach sand.  The water was lapping the shore quite close.  We found a seagull feather, a gift of the Goddess, to help with our smudging.  And so, by the light of the Full Moon, reflected on the mirror surface of the lake, we cast our circle, circling it while drumming.  We invoked the Goddesses, guardians and spirits of West, North, East, South, and Centre.  We did the Mystai “salute to the Moon” (kissing the backs of our hand and sending it to the Moon, while gazing at Her); we stated our intentions for the ritual.  We walked around the circle, drumming and chanting; we talked of our plans and projects for the future; we raised energy and sent our intentions to the Universe, to shower back upon us.  Finally, we thanked the Goddesses, guardians and spirits of West, North, East, South and Centre, and we opened the circle.  Darren shortly reappeared with Teddy.

Although Sue & I had participated in many rituals together with others, it was the first time we had done a ritual, just the two of us, and it felt very very special.  We both felt elated afterwards.  This was when I realized that Darren is truly a Kouretes, and when I told him this, said he felt that this fit him perfectly and described his intentions. He further added that he felt his role keenly while Sue & I were doing our ritual.  Magical!

I’m including a photo taken earlier in the day of the August Full Moon.  Sue & I, at Lac DesChênes (Lake of the Oaks), which is an extension of the Ottawa River

Many blessings,
Eclecta

* Kouretes:  In Z Budapest’s Holy Book of Women’s Mysteries, the Kouretes are described as sons of the Goddess, members of the Goddess-serving priesthood. They were the males who performed service for the Priestesses, who stood around the periphery to ensure privacy for the Priestesses in ritual; they were the sons and lovers of the Priestesses, as well as many of the gay men of the community.

The Cosmick fireworks resulting from this past month’s Saturn-Uranus opposition, coupled with the force of Mercury Retrograde, initiated a GREAT Epiphany within myself that I can best call “The Alchemy of The Soul” Engaged in full force. The Realms of deep, subconscious personal perspectives in relation to old behaviour, came up against the wall of my current self- causing clashes within my immediate environment, and the beings within it whom I hold as significant. The Celestial Trickster’s energy floated in and out of my daily sphere of routines- sparking great levels of resistance at first, followed by self-reflection, re-examination and lastly, Transformation from Within. I had a chance to put into motion, on a primal level, the old adage, “Know Thyself”!

Mercury led me back upon the path to where Great Saturn and Great Uranus were digging up the goods on my personal challenges and issues in life on a vocational level, and my claws came out like a wild cat! The intensity of reaction on my part ignited a Divine moment of Self Awareness, and beckoned me to touch the heart of an old wound despite my fears. My Great Belov-ed Ones came to the fore to be the voices of Wisdom I sought out as I dared to reach to those that I hold close with Deep Respect… and you know who you are! *WINK*

This Mercurial/Saturnian/Uranusian Motion of the Heavens has been a Great Gift of Self Refining thus-far that I hold with Deep Gratitude.

Be Certain to note that following the end of a Mercury Retrograde cycle, things are still subject to the Mercury Retrograde reverberations for a few days… One must choose to lay low and to breath it out for a a little while longer!

Mercury Retrogrades are Great Cosmick gifts to us all in a Strange kind of way….

This energy is a Great Teacher on many levels…

The Celestial Trickster Motion of Mercury reminds us all that there is an Eloquence to the Timing governing the Universe, and our personal lives. It initiates us into moving with the Biorhythms, the Spirals of the months as they unfold.

By Knowing when Macrocosmic cycles are about to unfold through fine-tuning our Transpersonal Awareness, we become more present… more mindful of how we conduct our daily rituals on a “Wholistic” level. We feel the Greater Web of Power of which we are a part- Our Divine Galaxy moves within and Without us- inspiring greater education and time-management within. It most definitely gets a Witch thinking about improving one’s understanding of basic celestial knowledge, and following the motions of the Heavens more lucidly. It enchants one to move into deeper awareness of one’s Natal chart, and having it cast forthwith!

One can see these Mercury Retrograde forces as Spiritual Zen exercises helping us to fine-tune our relationship with the Greater Cosmick Scheme of things as we synchronize our daily activities with the Bigger Sacred Picture.

This is Our individual Selves tuning into Waves of Nature’s Intelligence, and adjusting our Microcosmick “psychic Rabbit Ears” in order to pick up the right Cosmick Stations at the Right time in our Lives.

Like anything, however, one can only approach the lesson with the grace of moderation. One cannot really “plan” for this kind of thing as it is like trying to plan the motion of a Hurricane; however, Mercury Retrograde teaches us the grace of embracing Monthly repose in order to reflect upon past actions, to review and to reorganize something already in motion, to contemplate the details of our methods, and to cultivating a balanced comfort level with the punctuated stillness of our personal Lives Courtesy of the Universe!

May you Move with The Grace of the Celestial Heavens- A Divine Embodiment of Balance in Tandem with the Perfect Infrastructure of the Web of the Multiverse!

BB
)O(
Lady RO!

I have been thinking in these last two increasingly wild and wooley weeks of protests, demonstrations and banter back and forth about the healthcare reform currently before Congress here in these United States. What, in my way of thinking, should be a no-brainer – the availability of standard quality healthcare for every citizen – has become the debate of the year. But why? The neo-con right wingers in power behind the scenes have made puppets and mouthpieces of the usual suspects who are radio show and televisions show hosts to brainwash the susceptible public with fear tactics and double speak, as well as plain, old-fashioned lies. And what a surprise! It works. Now we have good, decent people truly terrified that they or their grandmother may be brought up before a panel of unfeeling government employees who will assess them as no longer a productive member of society and they won’t get the medical care they need so they can hurry up and die and rid the country of their expenses, a la Ebenezer Scrooge. People have taken leave of their senses! In a representative democracy such as ours, any member of Congress who would vote for such macabre absurdity could kiss their career good bye. But somehow common sense and reasoning have jumped ship here.

Additionally, there are those who want us to believe that having government run healthcare will take us down a slippery slope to – *shudder* – Socialism. Well, I don’t want to point out the obvious, but we already have that in Medicare and Medicaid. And don’t even try to tell someone over 65 that they are not any longer going to have Medicare available to them – you’ll have a gray panther riot on your hands. Yet somehow, many people don’t get the connection. It’s the same thing, only expanded to include everybody. And nobody’s going to force it on anybody, every individual will still have the choice to have whatever kind of insurance they want. The idea behind the public option is just that – it would be an OPTION. If people truly understood this, would it be so frightening to them? No. And if people understood that this greatly affects women’s health and the health of future generations because this lack has a greater affect on women – would they be so against it? I certainly hope not.

So how are we, as women of the Goddess, connected to this debate? I have written on several Goddesses who come to mind. Grandmother Spider says we are all related, we are connected – what happens to one of us happens to all of us. If there are millions of people who are ill and possibly die without medical care except at the most critical moments, that affects all the millions of the rest of us. In order for us all to be well, we have to provide for those of us who have no other recourse available to them. That is the sacred wisdom of Grandmother Spider.

And Ma’at – what relationship does She have here? Ma’at is the Goddess of Truth and Justice. The truth about this bill before the House and Senate is being obscured by those who, frustrated and angry about their loss of power in the 2008 elections, only want to take power back for themselves. They seek to misinform and inflame the people who would be their base in the next election and confuse more in hopes to sway them against the President and cause them to vote for the other party in the next election. This is the game of politics, fueled by the powerful medical and pharmaceutical industry lobbies, but it is directed at such an important issue before us now, one that cannot afford to be killed. Ma’at holds power to bring forth Truth and make sure that Justice is carried out.

The Great Kwan Yin, who weeps for Her children who are lost, ill or dying – She would, like the loving Mother Guadalupe-Tonanzin, want all to have the healthcare they need all the time from their cradle to their grave. She wants to see the end of suffering. She wants to protect us. We are the wealthiest nation on the globe – and we should provide care for each of our citizens no matter their ability to pay.

At the feet of the Goddess Pax we should lay wreaths of flowers to invoke Her to keep our nation from wars and tend to the needs of those who live within this country.
And we need to pray to Hekate, Bringer of Light to Darkness, that the Truth will be illuminated so that the Will of the Goddess will come to pass.

For once, a great Feminine principle is on the brink of manifesting: healthCARE for all. Let us do whatever we can, each of us, as women of the Goddess to bring this to fruition. Write, call or email your Congress person, the White House. Speak about it among your friends. Write your local newspaper. This issue is too important to let die, because if it does, it could be decades before it comes up again. We have to fight ignorance, falsity and darkness back like the Amazons we are!

Pagans love a good Fall festival and there are a couple of upcoming events worthy of mentioning.

Some call it a pagan festival. Some say it’s a witch festival. Either way, there’s a lot of fun to be had and interesting new friends to be made. Some festivals are high end with lots of creature comforts, like our Goddess Festival. While others are grassroots camping with little or no amenities; most fall into this second category. Still, there are some high end camping festivals like Wisteria’s Autumn Fires.

Wisteria’s Autumn Fires is happening from October 15-18, 2009. Wisteria is situated on 620 private and rural acres in beautiful southeastern Ohio. They are in the rolling foothills of the Allegheny mountain plateau region of the Appalachian mountain chain. Scattered throughout this enchanted land are forests and fields, winding trails and streams, rocky outcroppings, caves, and lush plant and animal life.

Our friend Diana Paxson is part of this organization of pagans who put on a respectable and well organized festival. The Wisteria event site and campground, provides a transformative, safe place for gatherings, festivals, special events, and concerts. And, it’s a free Wi-Fi hot spot campground!

For more information on the Wisteria Autumn Fires festival, visit their website at www.wisteria.org.

Pagan Festival Campground

Another festival that has a nice feel to it is the GreenSong Grove’s 2009 Mabon Celebration in St. Petersburg, FL. It’s a day time event instead of an overnight event. The celebration is sponsored by GreenSong, an eclectic non-profit Pagan church in St Petersburg, FL, who hold open Sabbats, Workshops, Weekend Events, and Drumming Circles.

For more information about the GreenSong Grove’s 2009 Mabon Celebration, visit their website at www.greensonggrove.org.

Do you have a well organized large scale pagan festival, goddess festival, witch camp, faery camp, etc. that you would like us to know about? Send us a full description of your event, include location, costs, its website and your contact information. Title it “Pagan Examiner Event.”

We don’t make promises to mention every event we receive, but we will have a look at it and the best of the best are what we will mention here. We have started a special listing page for your festivals at www.pagansearch.net.

Reflect on all of the elements as you go about your normal everyday

life. Experience the Air as you observe the trees sway and the

birds and clouds as they journey across the sky. Even as the Air blow

from a fan know that the spirit of Air is with you.

Think about the magick that Fire brings as you drive your car — it keeps the

engine running. When you eat a hot meal or drink a hot beverage the spirit of

Fire touches you and you are invigorated from the warmth.  A campfire or even

the furnace brings comfort and tranquility to an otherwise chilly evening or day.

Experience the element of Water: as you put a load of laundry in the washing machine,

drive through the rain, or fix a kettle of tea.  The use of water in the process of taking a bath

or shower, has literally and figuratively a cleansing affect, it washes away impurities.

Throughout the day whenever you have the opportunity to walk on the

Earth, or even on pavement feel the Earth beneath your feet.

Consciously connect with her and the strength of the Earth will be

yours. If you must be inside all day carry a crystal with

you: to hold whenever you need that instant connection with Gaia.

Throughout the day, consciously invite the elements in and they

will be one with you.

Ohio Supreme Court: Breastfeeding Not Related to Pregnancy – What?

This is one subject near and dear to my heart.  Womyn should NEVER be restricted from breastfeeding their babies!

There are so many benefits to the baby, and to the mother, that are not spoken about enough – especially in this decade.  The baby gets an ironclad immune system, greater and faster brain development, healthier teeth over their lifetime, greater and close bonding with the mother, easier food digestion, more sleep and more regular sleep patterns, less fussiness in general.  The mother gets a vast lowering of her chances of later breast cancer because she actually uses her breasts for the purpose they were designed ( DUH!), a deep satisfaction that she is giving her baby the absolute best nutrition available to her, also more sleep because the baby sleeps better, some women even get faster weight loss after pregnancy – bonus!

I encourage all my pregnant clients to breastfeed.  I would not have traded my experience with it for the world – even though I had a milk duct in my right breast that had a tendency to get plugged up.  Every time, somehow my baby would get it dislodged and save me!

I breastfed for an entire year and I didn’t start feeding my baby solid food till she was 6 months old.  No one would have ever known – she was a very healthy chubbette at 6 months!

There is no more perfect food for a human infant than their mother’s own milk.  It is clear that though the Supreme Court in Ohio had it’s head up it’s – well, did not deliver a wise decision, this mother should have been vindicated and given the justice she deserves.

Lactate on your own time, lady

Friday, Aug. 28, 2009 11:29 PDT
On Thursday, the Ohio Supreme Court affirmed that Totes/Isotoner had the right to fire breastfeeding mother LaNisa Allen for taking breaks to pump milk. Yeah, you read that right. Timothy P. Reilly, attorney for Totes/Isotoner, told the Columbus Dispatch, “Totes has taken the position since the beginning of this case that it terminated the plaintiff (Allen) for a proper reason, and that’s that she took unauthorized work breaks, regardless of her sex or condition.” Because unauthorized pumping, clearly, can be divorced from one’s “sex or condition.” This would be the rare instance in which I find myself tempted to type “LOL,” except the Supreme Court used essentially the same reasoning: It was on Allen to prove that the stated cause for her dismissal (failure to follow directions) was a pretext for discrimination, and technically, she didn’t. Ergo, the court decided not to bother addressing the thornier question of whether lactation counts as a pregnancy-related condition, which would be protected under the state’s anti-discrimination laws.

In the strictest legal sense, the ruling is logical: Allen admitted she took unauthorized breaks, and that’s a firing offense. If she can’t prove that someone said, “Ha! Now’s our chance to get rid of her for being a woman!” then apparently, she can’t prove discrimination. But it’s manifestly weaselly to suggest that her “insubordination” can somehow be separated from the fact that she was lactating, especially since they were responding to a decision that included this colossal eye-roller:

Allen gave birth over five months prior to her termination from [Isotoner]. Pregnant [women] who give birth and choose not to breastfeed or pump their breasts do not continue to lactate for five months. Thus, Allen’s condition of lactating was not a condition relating to pregnancy but rather a condition related to breastfeeding. Breastfeeding discrimination does not constitute gender discrimination.

Of course not.

Chief Justice Thomas Moyer and one of the court’s three women, Justice Maureen O’Connor, at least had the decency to “concur in judgment only,” meaning they agreed that Allen hadn’t technically proved discrimination but believe lactation should, in fact, be covered under the law against pregnancy discrimination. Yet the only straight-up dissenting opinion came from Justice Paul Pfeifer, who wrote, “Seriously? Are you kidding me with this?”

OK, no he didn’t. But he did say that even if you insist on separating Allen’s extra breaks from her condition as a lactating mother, then they should be regarded no differently than unscheduled pee breaks. “There is no evidence in the record about any limit on the length of unscheduled restroom breaks and no evidence that employees had to seek permission from a supervisor to take an unscheduled restroom break. There is evidence only that unscheduled bathroom breaks were allowed and that LaNisa Allen was fired for taking them. What made her breaks different?” Ding ding ding!

More importantly, Pfeifer gets to the heart of why the court’s refusal to address whether lactation counts as “a condition related to pregnancy” is so incredibly disappointing:

We accept cases not necessarily because of how the result might affect the parties in the individual case, but because of how a holding might affect other persons similarly situated. Ohio’s working mothers who endure the uncomfortable sacrifice of privacy that almost necessarily accompanies their attempt to remain on the job and nourish their children deserve to know whether Ohio’s pregnancy-discrimination laws protect them.

Yeah, they do. And furthermore, LaNisa Allen deserved not to be fired because her employer expected a lactating mother to go five hours without expressing milk. Totes/Isotoner may have the law on their side by a hair, but that doesn’t change the facts. LaNisa Allen was terminated for taking 15 minutes a day to relieve a painful and distracting condition that arose because she believed breastfeeding was best for her child and thus chose to maintain her body’s natural post-pregnancy state. Lactation is, in fact, related to pregnancy, even if some women halt it earlier than Allen did. And breastfeeding discrimination is, in fact, gender discrimination, unless I missed the news that men can breastfeed now. That anyone could argue otherwise with a straight face only highlights how absurdly reluctant some people are to acknowledge and oppose blatant sexism.

― Kate Harding

The last witch indeed. Bravo for the person who chose this play as enlightenment, but who put this moron in charge of the media for it? It’s completely a play written by a woman for other women, and it clearly does have a feminist theme to it. And hello! There’s nothing wrong with that!

Here’s a reprinting of the article by the BBC Scotland news (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8213946.stm).

Kathryn Howden and Andy Clark in the Last Witch, part of the Edinburgh International Festival

A play about the last woman in Scotland to be killed for witchcraft would not appear to fit with the Enlightenment theme of this year’s Edinburgh International Festival.

Festival Director Jonathan Mills said the Last Witch, by Scottish writer Rona Munro, was an example of “endarkenment”.

While 18th century Scotland led Europe in science and reason, there still remained an attachment to pagan and supernatural ideas.

The play explores the case of Janet Horne, who was killed in Dornoch, a coastal town in the north west Highlands, in 1727.

The facts are scant, even her name is one often given to witches in Scottish folklore.

She had a daughter who was supposedly born with a deformed hand.

Personal story

It was claimed that Janet rode her daughter like a pony and the deformities were what remained of hooves.

On being led to the fire where she would be burned, she is said to have held out her hands and said: “that’s a bonny warming”.

From such fragments, Munro has written a tale that imagines the circumstances in which a woman could be condemned to death for witchcraft.

Dominic Hill, artistic director of the Traverse Theatre where the play is staged, said prosecutions for witchcraft should have been referred to the high authorities in the church and law, which were based in Edinburgh.

He said: “That did not happen in this case. For some reason, the local sheriff convicted and executed her the next day.

“So Rona has asked the question ‘why was it never referred to Edinburgh?’

“She turned it into a very personal story between the sheriff and Janet Horne.”

He added: “In the play the sheriff is sexually attracted to Janet and they have a relationship.

“Because of his own sense of guilt and shame he has her executed.”

It is a play by a woman in which women play a central part. But at the core it is about attitudes to gender and sexuality Dominic Hill

Mr Hill said witchcraft was often used as a form of attack on women who were seen to be sexually “non-traditional” in activities and outlook.

In the play the sheriff argues he could not possibility be attracted to the woman in a natural way and therefore she must have “charmed” him in some way.

“It is interesting the way men in this play express a fear of the woman and the way she sexually arouses them,” he said.

Mr Hill rejected the idea that it was a “feminist” play.

He said: “It is a play by a woman in which women play a central part. But at the core it is about attitudes to gender and sexuality.”

The Scottish Enlightenment, characterised by an outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments, is often said to have begun when Francis Hutcheson took up the chair of philosophy at the University of Glasgow in 1729.

The Witchcraft Act, which allowed Janet Horne to be given the death penalty, was finally repealed in 1736.

It had not been a capital offence in England since the previous century.

The Dornoch case, which came decades after the previous witch burning, was one of the last in Europe in which someone was condemned to death for witchcraft.

Mr Hill said: “In 1727 in Edinburgh they were founding the Royal Bank of Scotland, while 300 miles away they were burning witches.”

He said the beliefs of Scotland’s pagan and Celtic past came to be seen as old-fashioned, irrational and unenlightened in age of reason.

People no longer believed in the power of the supernatural.

But Mr Hill said there will always be matters we do not understand.

“There is an idea that something was lost,” he said.

“The Enlightenment was a great thing. The age of rationality put-paid to things you can’t explain and maybe something was lost in that process. ”

The world premiere of The Last Witch is Sunday 23 August.

It runs at the Royal Lyceum Theatre until Saturday.

Womyn may wonder at times whether one can really commune with Goddess, or if it is merely a convention of self examination and connection to a deeper part of ourselves. I have had experiences which tell me that the Goddess is very much alive and makes Herself known personally and definitively. Such an experience I had two nights ago on the Dark of the Moon.

As I am a Daughter of Hekate, a journey I began almost a year ago now, and I do believe I will be on the rest of my life, I sought to honor Her on one of Her ancient feast days, the 13th of August. (Her next is the 16th of November.) I prepared a Supper for Her – the traditional offering to be placed at a crossroads, ideally where three roads converge. Hekate’s Supper traditionally consists of meat (often lamb), cheese, loaf of bread, an onion, and 3 eggs. I had hollowed out the center of the small round loaf of bread and filled it with honey – for sweetness. I blessed the offering, placed it all in a small basket, and set out for where I had left this offering for Hekate before. It is a place down in the woods near a river, which also happens to be a city park. I took my dog, as dogs are sacred to Hekate and I wanted his protection as well. It was well after dark, around 10:30. When I reached the turn off to trek back into the woods, there was a park patrol car sitting right at the turn off. I drove on past it and kept driving a while, turned around and came back, only to find the patrol car still sitting there. The park closes at 11:00, and it was getting close, additionally, I didn’t think the patrolman would let me past him – there seemed to be a purpose for him being right there. So I took my offering back home and put it in the refrigerator.

I was disappointed, but I determined that just a few days later, the 19th was the Dark of the Moon. Since I know that time is also sacred to Hekate, I planned to take the offering back then.

I enlisted the company of one of my Circle Sisters and we set off for the site again about 10:00 p.m. It had started to rain. There was a total cloud cover. I realized that the other two times I had left Hekate’s Supper it was raining! Hekate is the Mother of Storms!

We parked the car, opened the doors to get out and were immediately greeted by the sounds of millions of summer insects singing away at the top of their lungs! Frogs, too. I got my dog out, and we set off in the darkness with my flashlight to keep us from falling into any holes or tripping. Along with the offering, this time I brought 3 votive candles and some incense to place on the ground around the offering. We made it back to the crossroads over a small stone bridge and the very rocky path. There was a clearing in the tree cover right over the spot where I set down the basket and the cloud covered sky was a bit more visible. We heard the river gurgling to the south. I arranged the votives and stuck the stick of incense in the ground, lighting them all in succession. It made the offering look even more beautiful and special. Then my Sister and I stepped back and raised our arms in worship. I prayed aloud to Hekate, “Great Hekate, we hail You and we bless You! We leave this offering for You and ask Your blessing on us. I am your Daughter, Hekate. Thank you for calling me and teaching me. May I continue to learn through the years all that You wish me to know.  Thank you for all your blessings of abundance! I love You!”

I had extinguished the flashlight when I lit the candles. We were standing there drinking in the beauty – the offering in the middle of the crossroads surround by the glow of candles, the bright chorus of the insects and amphibians, the rain had reduced to a sprinkle. Then, my friend said to me, “Do you notice it’s lighter?” I looked around. It had been very dark. Now, indeed, it was lighter. I felt goosebumps form all over me. I remembered the phrase carved above the door to Hekate’s Temple: “EN EREBOS PHOS” – “IN DARKNESS, LIGHT”.   The Goddess had answered me by bringing more light – the Great Hekate, Queeen of Earth, Sky and Sea, had heard me and was communicating with us!  It was an incredibly magickal moment for my Sister and I to stand there and realize what had just happened.   I felt so blessed and so enlivened.  We turned and walked back toward my car, without the need of the flashlight,  just once glancing back to see the candles still glowing in the night.   The Goddess is Alive and Magick is Afoot!  Blessed Be.

I really feel that most people fear biting into the true meat of Pagan liberation in an Ancient Feminine sense.

Being provocative, promiscuous and hedonistic does not make one truly free. On the contrary, in a society marred with addictive behaviours, and gender roles determined by social conditioning, these so called “PAGAN BEHAVIOURS AND EXPRESSIONS of FREE-SPIRITEDNESS” are merely the end product of EXPECTED GENDER ROLES FULFILLED by men and women bound by the ways of a one-dimensional, patriarchal society.

The Truth of the matter for me, personally, is that Dianic Witchcraft starts to move into the dangerous terrain of the primordial wild wommon realms in ways that ask us to shift our minds towards more vast paradigms of interaction and living; this is a frightening prospect for most “liberated pagans” because of the accountability it

requires of each individual within the Great Cosmick Scheme of things to be truthful in our modes of Being in ways that do not win popularity contests!

Dianic Witchcraft calls forth a way of perceiving Existence that invokes multi-dimensional awareness – calling for personal expansion and innovation of  Self on an Altruistic, Transpersonal Level. It calls for a total surrender to deeper portals of being in which we take accountability for the Ancient sexual self that evades simple, pre-packaged modes of behaviour, or socially acceptable expressions of “desirability” in us.

Dianic Witchcraft is the TRUE HEART of Witchcraft for me, personally.

There is no more dangerous a place to be in than  in the heart, mind and Soul realms of the Dianic Feminist Witch. She moves and shakes… challenges herself and her sisters with love to strive beyond even our OWN internal “cliques” and conformity behaviours so as to shake down the  shackles that relentlessly attempt to bind the Wild Wommon’s SOUL. Furthermore, the Dianic Witch is an ECSTATIC, Life-Force Driven, Shadow-work tempered, radical WARRIORESS of DIVINE Hag-worthy Nature whose vision speaks of Woman’s experience on her own Terms!

This is threatening to many.

Women are counseled by women,  and it is determined by women, for “WOMAN” alone. This Woman’s Mysteries-Honouring Nature to Dianic Witchcraft is jealously attacked by a grasping world that works in infinitesimal ways to distract WOMAN from true RE-MEMEBERANCE via mundane housework, benign task duties benefiting others, child rearing, and the like. Women, furthermore, are raised “to please”, and bring this energy into the Pagan Realms while carrying the Christian hangover of fear conditioned into their Souls to be good, desirable little priestesses and to serve their LORDS!

Forgive me, but this Dianic Feminist Witch shall not undermine the Complex Beauty, and multi-dimensional Nature of her own Soul! Wimmin have too many of their own fantasies to RE-MEMBER, and to celebrate on her own terms, and I intend to dedicate my Life to enabling exactly that.

ALL HAILS TO DIANIC WITCHCRAFT!!!!!!

BB

)O(

Lady RO!