category
stringclasses 21
values | filename
stringlengths 3
191
| page
int64 1
4.42k
| text
stringlengths 1
49k
|
|---|---|---|---|
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,214 | SOURCE: Cornerstone, vol. 21, iss. 98, pp. 7-9,11-14,16-17,19,30,38
DATE: 1992
TITLE: Selling Satan: The Tragic History of Michael Warnke
NOTES: Copyright 1992 by Cornerstone Communications, Inc.
"I always wanted to write him a letter and
say, `Mike, when were you able to have this
coven of fifteen hundred people?' About the
most exciting thing we used to do was play
croquet."
ÄÄOne of Mike Warnke's college friends
SELLING SATAN:
The Tragic History of Michael Warnke
by Jon Trott & Mike Hertenstein
This is the story of well-known comedian, evangelist, and professed
ex-Satanist Mike Warnke.
Known as "America's Number One Christian Comedian," Mike Warnke has
sold in excess of one million records. June 29, 1988, was declared
"Mike Warnke Day" by the governor of Tennessee. The Satan Seller has,
according to its author, sold three million copies in twenty years.[1]
His 1991 Schemes of Satan quickly climbed the best-seller list. Mike
Warnke's press material includes credits for appearances on "The 700
Club," "The Oprah Winfrey Show," "Larry King Live," "Focus on the
Family," and ABC's "20/20." Mike has won numerous awards from the
recording industry, including the 1992 Grady Nutt Humor Award. He
continues to perform two hundred live shows a year. He is truly a
figure of national prominence.
Mike Warnke's ministry and public profile are based upon the story
he tells of his previous involvement with Satanism. As written in The
Satan Seller, the story goes like this: a young orphan boy raised in
foster homes drifted from whatever family and friends he had to join a
secret, all-powerful satanic cult. First, he descended into the hell of
drug addiction. Then he ascended in the satanic ranks to the position
of high priest, with fifteen hundred followers in three cities. He had
unlimited wealth and power at his disposal, provided by members of
Satanism's highest echelon, the Illuminati. And then he converted to
Christ.
A generation of Christians learned its basic concepts of Satanism
and the occult from Mike Warnke's testimony in The Satan Seller.
Based on his alleged satanic experiences, Warnke came to be recognized
as a prominent authority on the occult, even advising law enforcement
officers investigating occult crime. We believe The Satan Seller has
been responsible, more than any other single volume in the Christian
market, for promoting the current nationwide "Satanism scare."[2]
Through the years, Cornerstone has received many calls from people
2629
who felt something was not right concerning Mike Warnke. After our
lengthy investigation into his background, we found discrepancies that
raise serious doubts about the trustworthiness of his testimony. We
have uncovered significant evidence contradicting his alleged satanic
activity. His testimony contains major conflicts from book to book and |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,215 | tape to book, it contains significant internal problems, and it doesn't
square with known external times and events. Further, we have
documentation and eyewitness testimony that contradict the claims he
has made about himself.
The evidence we present here includes testimony from Mike's closest
friends, relatives, and daily associates ÄÄpeople whose names Mike
disguised or omitted entirely in his "official" testimony. These people
knew the real Mike Warnke, who was not a drug fiend or a recruiter for
Satanism. But he was a storyteller.
Michael Alfred Warnke was born November 19, 1946, to Alfred "Al"
Warnke and his wife, Louise. Mike's parents lived in Evansville,
Indiana, and according to their son's confirmation certificate, had
Mike baptized at St. Anthony's Catholic Church.[3]
When Mike was five, the Warnkes moved to Manchester, Tennessee,
where Al opened Warnke's Truck Stop.[4] Located on Highway 41, north of
town, the diner soon became part of the local landscape. On January 15,
1955, Louise, on her way home from town, lost control of the family's
brand-new Packard and was killed. She was thirty-seven; Mike was eight
years old.[5]
Mike had other family, too, from his father's previous marriage. His
half sister, Shirley Schrader[6] was twenty-two years older than he
was. She first met Mike in 1954, when Al brought his family to
California on a visit. As Shirley recalls, "Dad, Louise, and Michael
came out to California in the mid-fifties. Prior to that, I wasn't
writing my father. I didn't even know where he was. My dad had
abandoned me when I was little. He was an alcoholic, and maybe twice in
my childhood did he make any effort to communicate with my mother. So I
was working and they came to my office, very unexpectedly. He says,
`I'm your father,' and he came on big and strong, `Oh, my daughter, my
daughter.' They spent maybe a week in California, and then went back to
Tennessee."
When Mike's mother was killed, Al flew Shirley to Tennessee for the
funeral. During that visit, Al Warnke asked Shirley if she and her
husband, Keith, would move to Manchester and help run the truck stop.
"You always think, Wouldn't it be neat to know your own dad? That was
probably one of the biggest mistakes I ever made."
Shirley, Keith, and their six-year-old son Keith, Jr., came out to
Manchester in February of 1955. But Al and Shirley soon had their
problems. "He had me working days, with Thursday off, and he had my
husband working nights, with a different day off. Then there was the
fact that my father was a drunk. We weren't there but a few days when
he went off on a big binge and didn't show up again for a week. There
would have been enough money to support us all. But he forgot we were
supposed to be paid."
Al Warnke seems to fit the description given him by his son in his
books and records. But what about Mike Warnke? Shirley recalls Mike as
2630
a little boy who spent a lot of time "sitting two feet from the
television. I tried to tell my dad, `Hey, the boy can't see.' And he'd
say, `Don't try to tell me about my son!' And my dad would give the kid
ten bucks and send him uptown. That was a lot of money for those days."
Disgusted with Al and his truck stop, but feeling empathy for Mike,
the Schraders returned to California. Two years later, Al Warnke was
dead of heart failure.[7] |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,216 | Mike Warnke's story of his life, The Satan Seller, opens just
after Al's funeral, with adults discussing Mike's future as he
eavesdrops. As the book indicates, the eleven-year-old boy was
initially placed with his two aunts, Dorothy and Edna, who lived in
Sparta, Tennessee. Warnke has a segment on his Mike Warnke Alive![8]
album called "Tennessee Home and Blankety-Blank," in which he describes
how he raised one aunt's dander with his crude, truck stop ways.
The first night I was up there this lady came out and she
said, "Well, honey, how do you think you're gonna like it
here?" And I said, "Well, this is a pretty nice
blank-blankety-blank place. We oughta get along pretty
blank-blankety-blank well as long as you feed me
blank-blankety properly."
Aunt Edna Swindell[9] denies any such child appeared at her
Tennessee home. "He was just a typical boy. We had no problems." What
about his claims about being a foulmouthed brat? "He wasn't that here."
Meanwhile, Shirley Schrader was trying to get custody of young Mike.
"We wanted Michael," Shirley recalls. "And we fought through the
courts for Michael for months before they let him come out here."
Aunt Edna notes, "He stayed with me seven months. I guess if I
wanted him, I could have kept him the entire time. His half sister in
California wanted him, and that's where he wanted to go."
Mike Moves in with the Schraders
During the summer of 1959, Mike went to live with his half sister
and her family near Riverside, California. Shirley confirms Warnke's
story of how his Aunt Edna sent him to California loaded down with
anti-Catholic materials.
Shirley Schrader took the boys to church ÄÄthat is, she took her
eleven-year-old son Keith with her to Catholic mass and allowed
thirteen-year-old Mike to attend a nearby Protestant church. "And that
was fine for as long as he wanted to do it, because we weren't going to
force religion on him."
In Riverside, Keith, Jr., attended a parochial schoolÄÄSt. Francis
deSales. Mike eventually decided he wanted to go to that same parochial
school. "He went for a year, until we moved up on the mountain," says
Shirley.
In February of 1961, the Schraders and fourteen-year-old Mike moved
to Crestline, a small community planted among the pine trees atop the
San Bernardino Mountains overlooking the vast San Bernardino Valley.
The Schraders were well respected in Crestline. Community pillars,
2631
they ran a tight ship at home. Keith, Sr., head of the Pilot Rock
Conservation Camp, was in charge of minimum security inmates assigned
to fight forest fires. "We took the boys on camping trips. We rock
hounded. We did things together," recalls Shirley. "We sat them down
and had the sex talk. We had the talk about alcohol. We were a regular
family."
Keith, Jr., recalls, "Mike and I had a good time growing up
together. We were real close during high schoolÄÄwhen we weren't
fighting."[10]
Mike Warnke attended Rim of the World High School. His best friends
through these years were Tim Smith[11] and Jeff Nesmith.[12] "We'd |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,217 | spend lots of time at each other's houses," says Jeff Nesmith, "go to
school dances together, proms, and one summer Mike and I worked for my
dad in the construction business. We weren't hellions, but we weren't
angels either. We had our parties, gate crashed some dances."
All of Mike's friends and family we were able to contact denied his
assertion that he drifted at one point to a "rougher" crowd. In fact,
most of the kids Mike hung out with were, by all reports, good, clean,
Catholic boys. Tim Smith and another local boy, David Goodwin,[13] were
altar boys at St. Francis Cabrini Church. "Tim and I went to morning
mass every day before school," says Goodwin. "Sometimes Mike Warnke
attended mass with us." Tim's sister Terri explains, "I believe Mike
got interested in Catholicism from hanging out with us. He was like a
piece of furniture at our house."[14]
One day Mike announced to the Schraders that he, too, wanted to
become a Catholic. In the spring of his senior year in high school,
Warnke was confirmed in the Catholic Church. His sponsor was Tim's dad,
Paul "Jerry" Smith.[15] Two months after being confirmed, Mike
graduated with the rest of his class at Rim High in the class of '65.
Everybody we talked to who knew Mike Warnke at "Rim" remembers him
first and foremost as a chronic storyteller. His high school partner in
various escapades was Jeff Nesmith. Once, says Jeff, Mike had a date
but no car, and Jeff had his parents' Lincoln. "Mike talked me into
dropping him and his date off at a restaurant and then picking them up
after dinner. Before we picked up Mike's date, we stopped at a local
uniform store and got me a chauffeur's cap. From the moment the girl
got into the car, Mike spun this wild tale about me being an orphan boy
and how his family had taken me in, and how I sometimes performed
various services for them such as being their chauffeur. She just
soaked it all in."
The thing that always struck Nesmith about his pal was that Warnke
would never break out of character. "We'd go into some restaurant, and
Mike would pretend to be a Russian immigrant who couldn't speak
English. I'd translate Mike's order into English for the waitress.
Sometimes ÄÄjust to get himÄÄ I'd order something I knew he'd hate. But
Mike was always enough of a pro that he'd stick with it and wouldn't
say anything . . . until we got outside the restaurant and he'd yell at
me."
The Schraders also knew Mike as a boy with the gift of gab. "Michael
is a showman," says Shirley. "He is an actor, and he always swore he
would never make a living with his hands, that he would make his living
2632
with his mouth." Keith, Jr., adds: "Mike is the kind of guy that can
sell somebody the Golden Gate Bridge. Or swamp land in Florida. I gotta
hand it to him. I wish I was as good a salesman."
In high school, storytelling had been a diversion, a way to get by.
According to his friends in college, it would increasingly become a
part of Mike Warnke's identity.
Mike Warnke at College
Here begins the critical period described in The Satan Seller, the
defining moment of Mike Warnke's later testimony and ministryÄÄhis
involvement with and subsequent banishment from a satanic cult.
On September 13, 1965, Mike Warnke began school at San Bernardino
Valley College, a two-year school.[16] Mike writes in The Satan
Seller that it was after he started college that he first was |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,218 | introduced to drugs, sex, and finally Satanism. And, he continues, it
was only after the Satanists threw him out of their coven that he
joined the navy. Warnke's military records say he entered the navy on
June 2, 1966.[17] Therefore, whatever happened in Mike's life regarding
Satanism had to have happened between September 13, 1965, and June 2,
1966. (See sidebar "Under a Full Moon," p. 9.)
Mike, in his 1991 book, Schemes of Satan, claims to have had no
close friends at college and to have virtually disappeared:
In my own case, being away from home at college and not
having any close friends there meant that almost no one could
have known what was happening to me except, of course, the
members of the Satanic Brotherhood, and they were not
telling![18]
In reality, Mike Warnke simply did what countless other freshmen
have done: he found a new circle of friends. We found that new circle,
and they were not a part of the Satanic Brotherhood. None of these
people are mentioned by Warnke in The Satan Seller or anywhere else.
Greg Gilbert[19] was one of Mike's first and closest friends at
college. Today an English professor at a southern California
university, Greg reflects upon the notoriety of his old college
roommate. "After Mike became a star, I assumed that since he had gotten
this far with his Satan story, he'd always get away with it. I never
knew what to do. Who could you tell?"
Right around the time college started in 1965, Greg met Mike through
a mutual friend, Dennis Pekus.[20] Greg was living with his elderly
grandparents in San Bernardino and took Warnke to meet them. "When my
grandparents said they were from Tennessee, Mike said, `I come from
Tennessee, too,' " Greg recalls. "Before the evening was over he had us
all convinced he was a long-lost relative. Next thing we knew, he'd
talked his way into living with us."
Greg's college girlfriend, Dawn Andrews,[21] gave us her assessment.
"The first time I saw Mike Warnke was at Greg's house. He was
introduced to me as Greg's cousin," says Dawn. "He told everybody he
was. I remember how upset I was when The Satan Seller came out,
because what Warnke said was a lie. He has a very fertile imagination."
2633
Dyana Cridelich[22] was another of Mike Warnke's college friends
introduced by Greg. "After he got famous, I always wanted to write him
a letter and say, Mike, remember me? The one you gave the silver cross
to? When were you able to have this coven of fifteen hundred people?
Don't you remember, about the most exciting thing we used to do was
play croquet in Greg's backyard?' "
In The Satan Seller, Mike never mentions croquet. He was too busy
becoming a teenage alcoholic.
I attended classes regularly at first, but I wasn't about
to cut down on my drinking. As the days went by, it became
harder to concentrate on what the professors were saying, but
I could still talk my way out of anything, and this carried me
through. I was drinking so much by now, it was starting to
wreck my stomach."[23]
Was Mike a heavy drinker? Not according to those who knew him. "We
drank occasionally," says Greg, "but mostly we just talked about it. We
weren't of age, and alcohol was hard to come by." |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,219 | This group of college freshmen often sat on the lawn between
classes, or got together in the student union cafeteria, The Tomahawk
Room. It was there that Lois Eckenrod,[24] a girl who was soon to be
his fiancee, joins the story. "Mike and I met in September or October,
that first semester at Valley," Lois said. "It was only a couple of
months before we got engaged. Hardly a day went by that we didn't see
each other."
His friends remember Mike Warnke as thin, with thick glasses and
short hair. He was bright, he was mainly happy ÄÄthough Lois remembers
he could swing easily to depression. Yet Mike says in The Satan
Seller that when college started, he was a "heavyset, jovial guy" who
only later lost weight due to drug use. His hair, he writes, was
already collar length. Within a short time, he claims to have become a
full-fledged hippie:
I made a return trip to the Salvation Army and bought some
black pants and freaky shirts. My hair was longer than ever,
and I bleached it blond. I was really craving attention, and I
got it. You know, weird people attract chicks.[25]
"He looked like everybody else," says Greg. He did have one constant
accessory, a silver cross. (This cross Warnke gave to Dyana, she says.)
Warnke writes in The Satan Seller that he frequented a coffeehouse
called Penny University, where he danced, obtained hard liquor, and got
acquainted with the owner while practicing his fake English accent.[26]
Lois says that she and Mike did go to Penny University, "quite a bit
because Mike really liked folk music. But there was no room for
dancing. The place was full of tables and stuff."
Cornerstone also talked with John Ingro,[27] who in 1965 not only
owned Penny U., but also was a district attorney (currently he is a San
Bernardino judge). "You couldn't dance there. It was very small, and
packed with chairs. As far as alcohol, we only served coffee at a penny
a cup. That's where the place got its name." As for remembering Mike
2634
and the fake English accent? "No. Is this a joke?"
Storytelling in the Tomahawk Room
Storytelling developed into an art form among the Tomahawk Room
crowd. One student, Gary Manbeck, is remembered as having some of the
best stories. "Gary always told stories about being in the Green
Beret," says Dawn. "He was very good, but I never thought any of it was
true."
Mike Warnke joined right in. "Gary and Mike vied for attention with
stories, trying to be the life of the party," says George Eubank,[28]
another of the Tomahawk crowd. "Who can one-up ya. That's a real good
description of the two of them together."
Warnke produced a never-ending stream of tall tales. "He claimed he
had some kind of white witchcraft background," recalls Greg Gilbert.
"He claimed he'd been reincarnated any number of times, that he was
born in the Irish Moors in the 1570s. Along with his other stories, he
claimed he'd once been a Trappist monk."
In The Satan Seller, Warnke paints himself as a freshman guru,
dispensing wisdom to an eager audience of disciples:
Most of my friends were the pseudo-intellectual type. We |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,220 | liked to lie out on the lawn in the quad after classes and
discuss psychology, philosophy, religion, art, and politics.
Other students began coming around, and they seemed to look to
me for answers to their questions. Anything I said was okay
with them. And it was certainly okay with me. If they were
that hung up for a leader, I was happy to oblige." [29]
Greg Gilbert remembers things this way: "We sat out under the trees
at school, all right. And there were times we listened to Mike tell his
tall tales. But if Mike thought we believed what he was saying, or that
we looked at him like some kind of guru, he was greatly mistaken. We
were all part of the same bragging team."
It was difficult, at times, to know whether Warnke believed his own
stories or not. "I don't think it was in fun. I think he himself wanted
to believe it," says Phyliss Catalano,[30] Lois's best friend. "I used
to sit there and be embarrassed, because I'd think, How could somebody
that young have done all these things? He'd done everything. And
everything he told was with a straight face."
Phyliss's mother, Mary Catalano,[31] saw Warnke on a regular basis
when the gang gathered at the Catalano house. "He was a likable young
man when he visited our house," she says, "but anything brought up in
conversation ÄÄhe'd done it. He said he'd been a Greek dancer, and he'd
dance for us, round and round. He said he'd been a professional
ambulance driver. And he was a monkÄÄhe'd come to the house all dressed
in black. Of course, we never believed him. We just said, `Boy, is he
one big liar.' "
In college, as he'd done in high school, Warnke continued to costume
himself for his roles. Mike particularly liked being a priest. "I
remember at Halloween he dressed up like a priest and went around
pretending," says Dawn. "My parents saw him ÄÄthey're very CatholicÄÄ so
2635
I heard about it." Another occasion for the priest impersonation was a
double date with Lois and Phyliss and her boyfriend David Gibbet. "I'll
never forget when he went dressed as a priest to Jay's Coffeehouse,"
says Lois. "He met us there, and came walking in wearing robes and a
white collar. I about died."
Yet another student, Tom Bolger,[32] recalls Warnke boasting how
he'd dressed as a priest and gone panhandling in downtown San
Bernardino. "He said he'd made fifty dollars." And finally, Greg
recalls Mike unsuccessfully using the priest bit to get drinks. "He got
the robes at a costume shop, went to Corky's Liquor Store, and tried to
get Christian Brothers wine for the mass. They just laughed him out."
"The Satan Seller" And the Way Things Really Were
According to The Satan Seller, though, things are by now getting
serious. The story is set in motion by the mysterious college-age
individual named "Dean Armstrong," who Warnke alleges was a satanic
high priest. Mike says Dean lured him into drug use, sexual
promiscuity, witchcraft, and Satanism. We will examine these elements
of the story, then compare each with what witnesses remember. For
starters, Mike's associates at school affirm that none among them
remotely resembled the Dean character in The Satan Seller.
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
2636
According to the book, Mike was encouraged by Dean to quit drinking
so much and start smoking marijuana. Mike tells Dean no, but later an |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,221 | unnamed roommate brings up the subject again:
My stomach was still hurting. I tried everything I could think
of, except giving up drinking. My new roommate suggested I try
. . . [grass], and not wanting to be left out, I finally went
along with it. . . .
. . . I really liked marijuana.[33]
Regarding drug use, Greg laughs. "Drugs? No way, not at Valley, and
not in 1965. Two years later there was plenty of grass around, but back
in '65 we still believed Reefer Madness."
Did Warnke ever talk about drugs around anybody else? "None of us
were into drugs," says Dyana. "We didn't even smoke cigarettes." Yet in
The Satan Seller, Warnke and his friends are allegedly full-blown
into drug use early in the year:
When we tried the peyote, we decided it was better and
heavier than pot. We also started eating mescaline in our food
in increasing quantities, and from there we went on to reds. .
. . . . . Some doctors came to the campus to conduct
controlled group experiments on [LSD]. My friends and I
decided to volunteer for the tests.[34]
Not only do Mike's friends deny controlled or uncontrolled
experimentation with drugs, but according to the records, no LSD
experiments took place on the campus of San Bernardino Valley College.
This was underscored in our conversation with Dr. George Zaharopoulos,
head of the Social Sciences Department at Valley. "I taught here during
those years, and we never, ever, asked for or had any LSD experiments
take place here. This is only a junior college."
In ®The Satan Seller¯ Mike not only claims to have used drugs, but
to have been a major-league drug trafficker:
One time I took some money for a drug payoff down to El
Centro, a burg in the desert of California, not far from the
border town of Mexicali. A really big load was involved, and
this caused quite a flap. It was the most money I had ever
seen at one time ÄÄfifty thousand dollars in bundles of
hundred-dollar bills.[35]
On his Mike Warnke Alive! album, Mike further claims:
I'd had hepatitis four times from shooting up with dirty
needles. I had scabs all over my face from shooting up
crystal. I was a speed freak. I weighed 110 pounds soaking
wet. My skin had turned yellow. My hair was falling out. My
teeth were rotting out of my head. I'd been pistol-whipped
five or six times. My jaw had been broken. My nose had been
almost ripped off. I had a bullet hole in my right leg. Two
bullet holes in my left leg.
Greg Gilbert and the others saw Mike on a daily basis, and say that
it is totally impossible for Mike to have had hepatitis, facial scabs
from injecting "crystal," and wounds from being shot three times.
2637
"Without us knowing it? It's a lie," Greg says.
Lois's reaction to Mike's tale? "That's just make-believe," she
states. "Mike never fell in with drugs. My dad was an alcoholic, and
because of our family situation, I'd had to move in with the Catalanos.
So I was really sensitive to things like that. Second, I was training |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,222 | to be a nurse, and I think I would have known if he was using drugs. I
wouldn't have dated Mike if he was drugged. I didn't even allow people
to drink around me."
In The Satan Seller, drugs and sex were the magnet that drew Mike
Warnke along. Warnke gradually found himself running errands for Dean,
attending occult discussion meetings, until, finally, Dean decided his
charge was ready for the real thing: a satanic ritual service.
The Black Mass in an orange grove turned out to be just what anybody
would expect who's seen ®Rosemary's Baby¯ or other films of this genre:
black robes, a naked woman on the altar, blasphemy and incantations.
"After the Invocation of Satan, I listened intently to the Offertory,
where the members offered their souls to Lord Satan."[36]
According to ®The Satan Seller¯, Warnke signed his name in blood to
give his soul to Satan, and a few pages later took over the coven from
Dean as the new High Priest.
I swung the now screaming cat over the smoking caldron and
then over the heart of the girl on the altar. Then, when the
sword point touched the cat's belly, I thrust it in.
"Now!" I suddenly shouted. . . . I drew an upside-down star
on the girl's stomach, with the freshly spilled blood. From
the weird utterances that now came from her mouth, I knew we
were being graced by the presence of one of the denizens of
hell.[37]
Just before he published The Satan Seller in 1973, Warnke brought
manuscript copies to his old high school friends Jeff Nesmith and Tim
Smith, and asked them to sign affidavits swearing the events depicted
were true. Jeff Nesmith had lost track of Warnke after high school and
had little idea what he did during college or who he hung out with. On
a rare visit to Mike's apartment during his college days, Mike asked
Jeff to join a "coven." But Jeff laughed it off, thinking it was one of
Mike's stories. In any event, when Warnke asked Jeff to sign the
affidavit, he refused.[38] "My initial reaction to the book was, `Come
on, Mike! This is poppycock!' "
Tim Smith dropped out of college after only two months, but notes,
"I had contact with Mike off and on all the way through the fall of
1965 until the summer of 1966." Tim states he never saw Warnke with
long hair or in the drug-induced emaciated state he claimed to be
during that period. "Sign the affidavit? I told him, `Nope. Can't do
that.' "
Warnke's two high school buddies saw him sporadically throughout the
year, but not every day. Yet Mike brought Jeff and Tim the affidavits,
but not Lois, Greg, Dawn or the others. It does not speak well for the
veracity of Warnke's claims that he did not ask those who knew him on a
daily basis in San Bernardino Valley College to endorse his story.
2638
The College Crowd and the Occult
Interestingly, most of Mike's college friends did dabble in occult
activities. "Some of them were into seance and Ouija board type stuff,"
says George Eubank. "But it wasn't serious, just the kind of stuff
freshmen in college play with. Especially sheltered freshmen in college
that are all of a sudden free from their parents, spreading their
wings, so to speak."
Bill Lott,[39] another college student who is now a Christian, |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,223 | took the experimentation more seriously. "People were messing around
with stuff like reincarnation, tarot cards, Ouija boards. Mike was one
of those people. But he never talked about Satanism or being a devil
worshiper," Lott says.
"People talked about witches and Ouija boards," says Dawn. "It was
that era. None of us belonged to a coven, and none of us were witches.
If we'd have thought anybody was serious, it would have scared us to
death. We did table tipping once, and the table tipped and that was
that. No more table tipping for me."
Warnke and a few of the guys created a not-so-secret society. "We
started a club called The Royal Order of the Lantern," says Greg. "We
played chess, drank beer, and told tall tales. It was a group that
really never took off."
Adds George Eubank, "The Royal Order of the Lantern had to do with
this lamp we'd stolen from somebody's driveway. Warnke wanted to get an
apartment and have a group of guys. I don't think it was supposed to be
secret. It was supposed to be fun and games. It flopped because nobody
was willing to put the effort into it. Mike carried it as far as he
could at the time. It was kind of a defunct fraternity that never got
anywhere." The Royal Order of the Lantern is a far cry from ®The Satan
Seller¯'s fifteen hundred followers in three cities, financed by a
worldwide network of Satanists.
Mike eventually did get his own apartment, and the place became a
favorite hangout for the Tomahawk Room crowd ÄÄthe guys in particular.
Mike gave both Greg Gilbert and Bill Lott keys. The apartment "was
above a garage," says Greg. "There was an exterior stairway that went
up to a room with an open-beam ceiling, the gable coming to a point."
In The Satan Seller, Warnke describes the exterior of his
apartment in this way: a second-floor apartment approached by an
outside stairway. The interior, however, was redecorated by the
Satanists after Warnke became high priest:
A long, low, oxblood leather couch replaced the sagging old
brown horsehair one, and there were two sets of bookshelves
full of books [on the occult]. . . . The biggest surprise was
on the floor ÄÄtwo chicks sitting on a white rug . . . .
. . . "We hope you like it, Mike, because we come with the
apartment," said the blonde one named Lorraine.[40]
The two women allegedly remained at Warnke's beck and call, rarely
leaving the apartment unless it was to get groceries or drugs. "It's a
fantasy," says Dennis Pekus, who knew Mike in both high school and
2639
college. Greg Gilbert says he never knew Mike Warnke to have a
girlfriend in college besides Lois Eckenrod. None of the college
friends who frequented the apartment ever saw occult books, an oxblood
leather couch, or two love slaves.
Mike says plenty of "soft pink sex"[41] is at the center of his
satanic experiences. These begin with the orgies Warnke says initially
drew him into the coven:
Then they split off into couples. It was great, because there
was a girl for every guy, not like most places I had been
where there is a chronic chick shortage.
Cool-looking, sexy girls, too. . . . These chicks were |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,224 | free-lovers. . . .
"Come on over here, Mike," a blonde said.[42]
Then there's the sexual recruiting Mike says he helped organize and
rituals that degenerate from cat killing to the rape of an innocent
virgin. (Warnke is careful to exclude himself from direct participation
in the rape, though he writes that it was his idea.)
In a later book, Schemes of Satan, Warnke suggests that sex was a
routine part of the rituals:
On more than one occasion, I regret to admit, we participated
in ritual sexual abuse that even involved rape. Most of the
time I was too doped up to perform sexually, but I would watch
these lust rituals with great desire.[43]
Such tales of perversion and criminal activity raise serious
questions. If Mike led in acts of rape and other violent crimes, why
(after his conversion) didn't he turn himself in and aid the police in
apprehending his old satanic friends? If, on the other hand, his rape
and abuse stories are not true, what does this say about the
imagination of their author?
Mike's college crowd completely rejects these stories of violence
and sexual perversion. "Oh, my goodness, no," says Phyliss. "To talk
about sex orgies and all these drug parties. He didn't do them with
Lois and me, that's for sure!"
"I never slept with him," says Lois. "We kissed and hugged, but I
never would have had sex with him because I was a very devout Catholic,
and I wanted to be a virgin till I got married. Thank God I didn't
marry him."
There always seemed to be a story. In college, as in the high school
role-playing with Jeff Nesmith, Warnke refused to drop out of
character. "He played it to the end," says Greg. "He never gave up.
That was the remarkable thing about him. We'd question him about his
stories and he always came up with some half-baked answer. And you
couldn't disprove what he was saying ÄÄthat was the common thread. It
was never anything we were likely to have the real answer for or the
time to check into. So he could say anything he wanted."
Warnke's refusal to admit to his own storytelling made him
2640
untrustworthy in the eyes of some members of the group. "I didn't know
anything about his past, so I didn't know what was true and what
wasn't," says Dawn. "I didn't feel like he was sincere in anything he
did. If the situation required him to be macho, he was macho. If it
required him to be mean, he was mean. He just sort of blended into the
situation and tried to monopolize everyone. There was nothing real
about him."
Mike and Lois Plan Their Marriage
By Christmas of 1965, Mike and Lois were seeing each other on a
daily basis. "It was pretty fast that we said we were going to get
married," says Lois. "Within two or three months of school starting, he
gave me a rose ring with a diamond in it. It cost $60. He had to make
payments on it. I thought he really loved me. And I thought I loved
him, too."
In The Satan Seller, Warnke has gone through his drugs, sex, and |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,225 | promotion to high priest before Christmas of 1965. (Trying to fit the
long list of his claims onto a real calendar is a challenge. See
sidebar, p. 18) Shirley Schrader says Mike had Christmas dinner in
Crestline with the family. "He didn't seem emaciated by drugs to me,"
she says.
College records show Mike Warnke left school after the first term.
"Most of us dropped out after the first semester," recalls Lois. The
group continued to hang out together at Mike's apartment, the
Catalanos', and elsewhere. What about the Mike in The Satan Seller
who flew around the country on satanic business trips to San Francisco
(where he allegedly met Anton LaVey), New York, and Salem,
Massachusetts? "You're a real traveling salesman for Satan, Mike, and
we want you to go to Salem and get more hip with some really serious
organization."[44]
"How could he fly when he didn't have two pennies?" asks Lois, who
adds that Mike never went anywhere, and when he did it was with her.
"If he says he was a Satanist between September of 1965 to June of
1966, he's lying. How could I not know my boyfriend was into Satanism?
I don't remember there ever being a time when we didn't see or talk to
each other every day."
Every day? "Yes," says Lois. "We went to movies together, I went to
the country club with him in the mountains, we went to the beach. We
used to go to Jay's Coffee Shop in San Bernardino. That was the big
thing. He introduced me to hot fudge sundaes. I spent the majority of
that year with him."
Lois says she and Mike used to play pool over on Highland Avenue in
San Bernardino. We read her a story from Warnke's book Hitchhiking on
Hope Street. In it Mike writes that he got into a gunfight with Ray, a
local pimp, at the pool hall:
I was drunk as a skunk when I shot at him with the .44,
because I missed him by a country mile and blew off the corner
of the pool table. . . . The two of us went roaring down the
street, screaming and shooting. . . .
. . . he . . . got off a lucky shot. It hit me in the leg and
2641
knocked me down.[45]
The predictable reaction: "Oh, my goodness. You're kidding. . . ."
Lois dissolves into laughter.
According to The Satan Seller, Mike Warnke's reign as a satanic
high priest ends, apparently sometime in the spring of 1966, when
Warnke crumples under the strain of too much responsibility and too
many drugs. On a "Focus on the Family" radio broadcast, he described
his appearance at this time: "I had white hair. It was about down to my
belt. . . . I had six-inch fingernails; I painted them black."[46] (See
picture, p. 8, taken April 30, 1966.)
Warnke says he was intentionally overdosed with heroin by one of his
live-in love slaves and thrown, naked, on the steps of a local
hospital. After a few weeks of drying out at the hospital, Warnke
escaped by joining the Navy.[47] On the ®Mike Warnke Alive!¯ album, he
describes his hair length the night before boot camp: "It hit me just
below the pockets." He continues:
The night before I went to boot camp I went to this
party. . . . I smoked a bunch of dope and ate a bunch of reds |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,226 | and got crashed out in a corner. . . . But the girl I was with
decided the thing that would really be cute is if she braided
my hair. . . . She put beads with the first bunch, feathers
with the next bunch, a piece of red ribbon about that long
with the last bunch, braided it all together, and hung a
jingle bell on the end of each braid.
Lois says she was the girl who gave Mike his going-away party.
When she heard this story for the first time in 1979, she was furious.
"I couldn't believe it when I heard that!" she says. "I'm the one who
gave him the going-away party! We never touched drugs. He never had
long hair ÄÄhis hair was short, short, short!"
Greg and Dawn, who had just gotten married, offered Lois the use of
their apartment for the party. "I bought a big cake decorated with a
navy boat," Lois remembers. "It said `Ship Ahoy, Mike.' Dawn and I made
food and pop, and we had a bunch of people over. It was just clean fun.
I took him to the bus stop, put him on the bus to go to boot camp,"
Lois says. "We were supposed to get married when he finished."
Mike, Sue, and Campus Crusade
On June 2, 1966, Mike Warnke joined the U.S. Navy. During the time
he was there, he and Lois stayed in touch by letter. According to
Warnke's official story, boot camp is where he meets two Christians who
are such a bold witness for Christ that the ex-Satanist converts to
Christianity.
According to his service records, Mike Warnke graduated from boot
camp August 22, 1966.[48] His fiancee, Lois, and the Schrader family
attended graduation. "I went down with a friend and gave Mike a St.
Christopher medal," says Lois. There was a fifteen-day leave after camp
ended. During this time Lois noticed a change in Mike. "He was
different. He was carrying a Bible. I asked him about it, and he said
he'd found Christ at boot camp. He was real excited about being a
Christian, finding God." Within days Mike told Lois "he'd had this
2642
Christian conversion and he had to go on. That this was it. I didn't
see him anymore after that."
The Satan Seller, once again, tells a different story. There is,
of course, no mention of Lois Eckenrod before or after boot camp.
Instead, when Warnke returns home from boot camp, he begins dating Sue
Studer, a fellow Rim High alumnus who was soon to become his first
wife. "I turned around and was surprised to see Sue Studer, the girl
who had always dated the football heroes. Sue was still as pretty as
ever."[49]
Warnke writes that he then told Sue of his recent conversion to
Christ, and to his delight Sue replied she, too, had become a
Christian. "Sue had worked on the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ at
the Arrowhead Springs Headquarters."[50]
In The Satan Seller, Mike Warnke says that he was chased by Campus
Crusaders attempting to convert him when he was the campus Satanist.
However, Lois and several others do remember Mike Warnke taking some
interest in religion and Campus Crusade before boot camp. "I remember
him starting to get interested in religion," Lois says. "He'd go up the
hill to Campus Crusade's headquarters."
Just how early Mike dabbled with Christianity is unclear, but at
least one witness says she saw him proclaiming faith in Christ in 1965,
a whole year before The Satan Seller says he became a Christian. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,227 | Charlotte Tweeten,[51] a 1964 Rim graduate who attended Valley College,
told Cornerstone, "It was in the fall of 1965. I know that because by
winter I had already left school. Mike Warnke came up to me while I was
sitting there drinking coffee and started proselytizing me. It was the
born-again thing. Mike was doing his religious thing and Sue Studer was
with him."
On September 7, 1966, Mike Warnke reported to Hospital Corps School
in San Diego.[52]
Mike gives us our choice of stories as to why he chose to become a
medic. In The Satan Seller he writes he joined the Hospital Corps
because "I could be of more use to God mending guys than swabbing
decks."[53] On the album Hey, Doc!, he says he joined the Hospital
Corps because of drugs and nurses: "Dope and women . . . for pay . . .
far out!"[54]
In late 1966, Warnke graduated from medic school and, after training
with the marines at Camp Pendleton, went to work at the naval
dispensary in San Diego.[55] Marriage records show Mike and Sue Studer
were married May 13, 1967, in Crestline.[56] Soon after, the couple
moved onto San Diego's Louisiana Street.
While in San Diego, the Warnkes visited Scott Memorial Baptist
Church, pastored by now well-known church leader and author Tim LaHaye
and his wife, Beverly. In The Satan Seller, Warnke offers one version
of what happened when the LaHayes visited the Warnke home. Mike says he
told Tim LaHaye about the Illuminati.
I had already told him I had been to an occult conference.
"There were some weird guys that seemed to be the real backers
of the whole thing. . . . I heard the word Illuminati."[57]
2643
"The conversation really wasn't like he put it in his book," says
Dr. LaHaye.[58] "I brought up the term Illuminati first. I had been
reading a book on the subject, and I tried testing him to see if he
really knew anything about it. He didn't seem to have ever heard the
word before."
"Mike gave us a little of his testimony," says Beverly LaHaye,[59]
who is now the head of Concerned Women for America. "He said a book
about the leaders of the Satan church had disappeared off his shelf
when he became interested in Christianity." Dr. LaHaye sums up, "His
type of personality tells stories for effect, not for accuracy."
Mike in Vietnam
In November of 1967, the Warnkes moved back to Camp Pendleton and
Oceanside. In May of 1969, Warnke was transferred from Pendleton to the
Third Marine Division, Vietnam.[60] Warnke says he spent his time in
Vietnam, like so many who served there, anesthetized from the
experience of war by drugs.[61]
The following is a list of the other things Mike Warnke says
happened to him while in Vietnam:
My faith was weakening fast![62] A buddy of mine was
killedÄÄa mortar shell landed directly on him, disintegrating
him except for his shoes.[63] I was existing from one bottle
to the next.[64] The message [a spy] was carrying was a
detailed description of myself and the skipper, identifying us
as prime targets for the Viet Cong. . . . |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,228 | . . . I shot a spy, went to my tent, cooked dinner, and
ate. And something died inside of me.[65] I was the first to
enter the tent [of marines who had been "fragged"ÄÄkilled by
their own people]. [66]
Anyway, one day we were into this fire fight. . . .
Everybody is shooting at each other. . . .
. . . All of a sudden: zooooom, zonk, and my arm is
pinned to the ground with an arrow! I look over at this other
Marine Corps sergeant, who goes, "Only you, man, only
you!"[67]
One time I went through a village and was handing out
candy bars to little kids. Just standing in the back of my
Jeep. . . .
When I get done, I'm putting the box back and this
twelve-year-old kid goes in his house, comes back out with a
gun, and shoots me.[68]
Add to the list this story from Keith Schrader, Jr.: "Mike told me
that he killed a man in a bar fight in the Philippines."
Despite the impression such a long list may give, records show
Warnke was in Vietnam for only six months.
In The Satan Seller Mike says that he was wounded twice. In his
2644
second book, Hitchhiking on Hope Street, he says he was wounded five
times.[69] Military records obtained by Cornerstone show that Mike
Warnke, hospital corpsman, second class, service number B98 05 49,
received one Purple Heart, and, along with the rest of his unit,
several additional medals. The Third Marine Division he was connected
to was withdrawn from Vietnam in October of 1969 and sent to
Okinawa.[70]
Warnke was sent back to the U.S. in the spring of 1970 and for the
first time was able to see his infant son, Brendon Michael, born
December 2, 1969, while Mike was overseas. In return for reenlisting
for six more years, Mike was enrolled in cardiopulmonary school. The
Warnke family settled in San Diego.
George Wakeling,[71] who worked with young drug addicts, says he was
contacted by Mike around this time. George was the founder of the Drug
Prevention Center, or "the Hotline," a ministry to addicts at the
Melodyland Christian Center in Anaheim. Mike started spending time at
the Hotline, and getting instruction from Hotline speaker Dick Handley.
It was through the Hotline that Mike made his first contacts with
Jesus Movement-era Christianity.
Mike Meets the Jesus Movement
Melodyland was one of the Southern California centers of the
charismatic renewal movement then sweeping the Church. The ex-addicts
and others who ran the Hotline were among the original Jesus People,
part of a new youth counterculture uniquely compatible with the
charismatics. Both preferred informal gatherings and a vital,
experience-oriented faith. The culturally conservative Melodyland crowd
thus understood when the exuberant young hippies suggested "getting
high on Jesus."
Both groups majored on the theme of acceptance. The mainstream |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,229 | church was sadly out of touch with the needs of counterculture youth
and, even more sadly, unwilling by and large to reach out to them. But
Pentecostal denominations such as the Assemblies of God seemed to grasp
what God was doing among children of the sixties. Uncritically, without
attacking the cultural preferences of the young, many charismatics and
Pentecostals shamed their mainstream peers by being (in Paul's words)
all things to all men.
But as with nearly all revivals, there were problems with the newly
revived. The mix of uncritical acceptance plus emphasis on experience
was easily taken too far. It opened the door for various cults among
the Jesus People; it also opened the door for those with fascinating
though unprovable conversion stories.
"A lot of people came to the Hotline and told their drug
testimonies," says Ron Winckler,[72] a leader there. "Mike Warnke came
with the added attraction of the Satanist experience, which was a big
hit with the Full Gospel Businessmen and charismatics. The times were
right for that sort of testimony."
Hotline speaker Dick Handley and friends in Crestline had introduced
Mike Warnke to the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Through Handley, Warnke
met Dave Balsiger, a writer who had done promo work for Melodyland and
now was media director for charismatic evangelist Morris Cerullo.
2645
After starting a youth ministry in San Diego, Cerullo had come in
contact with kids dabbling with the occult and decided to write a book
on the subject. Balsiger was assigned the job. It was during this time
he met Mike Warnke and enlisted his aid. The book was to be called
®Witchcraft Never Looked Better.¯[73] They also created a specially
outfitted trailer, purchased to house "research materials" such as
voodoo oil, graveyard dust, and fortune-telling spray. The vehicle,
dubbed the "Witchmobile," was to be unveiled at an upcoming Morris
Cerullo convention, The Seventh Deeper Life Conference.[74]
Cerullo's vision, Warnke's story, and Balsiger's media talents
combined to make the January 1972 meeting a smash. A twelve-page
tabloid on Cerullo was inserted into the ®San Diego Evening Tribune.¯
Warnke and the Witchmobile were introduced to the media at a press
conference, and at the Saturday night youth rally.[75]
Christianity Today covered the event, noting that Cerullo "bore
down heavily on the theme that satanic forces are loose in the
nation."[76] Mike Warnke, who gave a seminar on the occult, was one of
the newsmen's favorites.
After the January 1972 conference, Warnke and Balsiger parted with
Cerullo and decided to write a book together about Mike's Satanist
experience. We asked Dave Balsiger about evidence for the story told in
the book. Was he concerned about that? "Oh, yes." And what was the
evidence Mike offered for The Satan Seller's fifteen-hundred-member
cult; the all-powerful Illuminati, the intricate rituals complete with
various knives, candles, books, and robes? "Mike took me to some of the
sites." (The reader should recall that Mike's experiences had allegedly
occurred six years before the book was written.) "I saw where there had
been a fire started. And there were some indications of cultic writings
and graffiti."[77]
During the first half of 1972, Warnke had been working hard (with
the help of Morris Cerullo's organization) to get out of the navy so he
could go full-time into the ministry. "I helped him write letters,"
recalls Cerullo staffer Jean Jolly,[78] "and I got hold of
[Congressman] Del Clawson's office. We got him out of the navy." On |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,230 | June 2, Warnke was granted an early discharge on conscientious-objector
basis.[79]
"As soon as he got out, Mike sent a letter to Morris Cerullo's
headquarters and said we were forbidden to use his name or his
material," recalls George Eckeroth,[80] who headed Jolly's department.
"And Balsiger left Cerullo around the same time."
Mike launched his ministry under the banner "Alpha Omega Outreach."
In mid-June, Warnke went to Explo '72 in Dallas, a sort of Campus
Crusade version of Woodstock attended by over eighty thousand.[81]
Guideposts was running a feature on Warnke's story,[82] and his book
was due in the fall.[83]
"The Satan Seller" a Best-seller
Logos International released The Satan Seller in early 1973.[84]
At that moment, Christian publishing was in the midst of an
unparalleled boom with the success of blockbusters like The Late Great
Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey and the Praise books by Merlin Carothers.
2646
While the party lasted, Logos was the life of the party, the industry
leader in both output and income.[85]
Yet, as a former Logos editor has admitted, the boom-time books were
often "too quickly written."[86] That same year, Logos published
Michael, Michael, Why Do You Hate Me?,¯ the purported story of
born-again rabbi Michael Esses. A later expose revealed Esses' bogus
credentials and immorality.[87]
Into this heady atmosphere The Satan Seller was born. The book was
positively reviewed in publications ranging from Moody Monthly to
The Christian Century, with nary a question as to its
credibility.[88] "The only thing I remember about that book is that it
sold better than we thought it would," says Logos founder Dan Malachuk.
Indeed, by April 1973, The Satan Seller was a religious
best-seller.[89]
Other ex-Satanist testimonies followed Warnke's. John Todd's
warnings about the Illuminati and a conspiracy of witches were promoted
in a series of Jack Chick comic books. According to Ron Winckler, Todd
visited the Hotline once with a group of underlings to check out Mike
Warnke. "There was a backstage confrontation," says Ron Winckler."Todd
accused Warnke of stealing his material about the Illuminati."
Another alleged ex-Satanist, Hershel Smith, purchased the
Witchmobile from Morris Cerullo and began his own tour. Smith's
testimony, seen in the 1974 book The Devil and Mr. Smith, coauthored
by Dave Hunt, was an apparent effort to one-up The Satan Seller.[90]
Hershel Smith eventually dropped out of sight. Todd's story was
later discredited. When a book debunking Todd was written, Mike Warnke
wrote the forward. "We as Christians have to be careful of those who
take the name of the Lord in vain," said Warnke. [91] In Ron Winckler's
analysis, "Mike Warnke had the jump on John Todd. He understood the
Full Gospel mind-set better."
Now a published author, Mike Warnke found increasing demand for his
story and told it in coffeehouses and churches beyond the West Coast.In
August of 1973, Warnke spoke at a Christian music festival in
Pennsylvania. The Jesus Movement had spawned its own music, and Warnke
gravitated toward this fraternity of musicians. Tim Archer of the group
The Archers, told the crowd at Jesus '73, "Mike Warnke is the Chaplain |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,231 | of Gospel Rock."[92]
In his travels, Warnke had met Charles Duncombe, an elderly
Pentecostal evangelist. "Brother D," who started in the ministry under
English preacher Smith Wigglesworth, was loved and respected by all who
knew him. In 1974 Mike, Sue, four-year-old Brendon, and newborn
Jesse[93] all moved to Oklahoma near Duncombe's small school, Trinity
Bible College. Mike would attend school while Sue tended children.
Trinity Bible College was a nine-month preparation for ministry,
located in a big country house outside Tulsa, Oklahoma. The thirty
students were mostly new converts, many from a counterculture
background and eager to learn. "Within two weeks of our conversion my
wife and I were in Trinity," says John Witty,[94] who with his wife
Vicki Jo had been a nightclub comedian.
2647
Fellow students Bob and Karen Siegal[95] ran a Jesus People ministry
in southern Illinois and had met Brother D at a Full Gospel
Businessmen's meeting. "We were the token hippies at FGBM," says Karen.
"They'd bring us in there and have us give our testimonies." Student
Bill Fisher, known as "Wild Bill," was a colorful local who later
became Mike Warnke's traveling partner and confidant.
In some ways Mike Warnke was the star pupil, since he was already
doing what everybody else was just learning to do: ministering in
churches around the country. "Here was a guy who was going out on the
weekends and leading hundreds to Jesus," says John Witty. "He was a
hero to us all."
On local gigs, Trinity students would tag along, sometimes even
joining Warnke on stage. "Mike liked to introduce me as a former hippie
or drug addict ÄÄwhich I'd been, but I wasn't proud of," Karen Siegal
says. "Then he started introducing me as a former prostitute, which I'd
never been. I had to ask him to stop."
Another new convert at Trinity, one with a sensational testimony of
her own, was to see her real-life story blended with Mike Warnke's.
"Part of the program at Trinity was tell your testimony," she says. "I
got up and said, `My name's Carolyn Alberty and I'm third-generation
Mafia. My father ran gambling houses, and my mother ran brothels. We
had connections in political circles and the entertainment
business.'"[96]
This story caught Warnke's interest, says Carolyn. "Mike told me he
knew me from some parties I had given in California." He convinced her
he'd been to some, though she didn't remember him. "Then he started
inquiring about my connections and ability to promote."
Carolyn rattled off a list of things Warnke needed to do to further
his ministry. "Mike brought me to his home, introduced me to Sue, and
said, `I really think Carolyn can help us.' " Carolyn assembled his
first real promotional package and called churches to make connections
for speaking engagements. She says she told Mike, "Ease up on the
satanic stuff and concentrate on the funny stories you've started to
tell."[97]
It didn't take long for the relationship to move beyond a
professional level. "Mike started telling me he and Sue had different
ideas about what they wanted out of life, and that he didn't love her
anymore," says Carolyn. "Mike began passing notes to me in class, with
stuff like `Hubba, hubba' written on them." |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,232 | As the year wore on, Karen Siegal realized something was up.
"Carolyn and Mike started getting really hot and heavy," says Karen. "I
confronted them and said, `This is not godly.' They basically told me
it was none of my business." Karen took her concerns to fellow
students, but they suggested she was being judgmental.
Brother D was taken by Warnke's sincerity, says Karen. John Witty
adds that the rest of the class was too naive to realize what was
happening. "Back then, Mike and Carolyn seemed to be just what Jesus
freaks would call `brothers and sisters in the Lord.' I now realize the
relationship had warning signs all over it from the beginning."
2648
Karen Siegal protested one last time. "I'd repeatedly told Mike he
needed to clean up his act with Carolyn," she says. "One time he came
over to our house when nobody else was home. I made the mistake of
confronting him again. All of a sudden, he said, `It's not Carolyn or
Susie I love. It's you.' He grabbed me. It freaked me out and I pushed
him away. I yelled, `Get out of here! I love my husband!' "
Carolyn Alberty admits her relationship with Warnke took the
inevitable turn near the end of the school year. "We'd been assigned to
paraphrase the book of Isaiah. Mike rented a cabin outside Tulsa to do
his work, and he offered to help me with my homework there. I thought
that sounded reasonable, since I was living with the Siegals and had no
privacy."
After they'd worked at the cabin for awhile, Carolyn says, the two
went for a drive, and Warnke stopped at a convenience store. "He asked
what kind of cigarettes I used to smoke, and I said, `Pall Mall Gold.
Why?' He just shut the door and kept on walking. I went, `Uh-oh.' "
Warnke returned to the car, says Carolyn, with "two bottles of Annie
Greensprings wine, two packs of cigarettes, and a package of peanut
butter cookies." That day they began an affair that would lead to
marriage two years later and divorce two years after that. "I guess
from day one I was wrong," says Carolyn.
Meanwhile, recalls John Witty, "Mike's testimony was just starting
to break nationally. He was beginning to get calls from big churches."
Among the churches calling Warnke during this time was the Golden
Heights Christian Center in Brockport, New York.[98] Pastor Don Riling
tried his best to disciple the young Christian musicians and speakers
who came to his church. "I loved Mike Warnke as a son," he says. But
soon problems cropped up. "We had a woman in the church who'd just
become a Christian. She began to hang out with Mike WarnkeÄÄhe seemed
to have an eye for people with weaknesses," Riling says. "Later, she
confessed to me she'd met him a number of times in hotels for sex when
he was in the area."
The Syro-Chaldean Connection
During the Trinity '74-'75 school year began one of the strangest,
and longest-running, chapters of the Mike Warnke story. Elijah Coady,
an independent bishop in an Eastern Orthodox splinter group called the
Syro-Chaldean Church, ordained Warnke a deacon.[99]
Warnke had met Coady on the road, and expressed interest in the
bishop's brand of independent Eastern Orthodoxy. Several Trinity
students remember Bishop Coady's visit to Tulsa. A few were present
when Coady ordained Warnke at a local church. "The bishop wore a
strange hat, like a stack of pancakes," says Bill Fisher, who adds that
Charles Duncombe expressed some concerns about Coady. "Brother D told |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,233 | us to be cool. He'd gotten a real check in the spirit about the guy."
Another ordination was bestowed upon Warnke by Brother Duncombe on
his graduation from Trinity in the spring of 1975. After graduation,
Carolyn says Warnke made promises to her but would not be rushed. "He
told me he was going to divorce Sue, that I should wait and be patient,
that he needed to set up his escape."
2649
Soon afterwards, Warnke did a show at The Happy Church in
Denver,[100] where he met Pastor Wally Hickey and his wife Marilyn.
Mike and Sue Warnke decided to move to Denver with their two children,
and Mike invited Bill Fisher and Carolyn to join him there. The
entourage arrived in Denver in August of 1975, where Mike and Sue
settled.[101] Mike had promised Fisher and Carolyn jobs with Happy
Church, but the jobs didn't materialize. Mike leased a 270-acre
mountain retreat called Joy Ranch in Evergreen, Colorado. "Mike would
go catch the plane in Denver, and I would keep the place together up
there," notes Bill Fisher.[102]
The relationship between Warnke and Happy Church is unclear. Bill
Fisher says Mike was "a kind of evangelist for them," not on the
payroll but working under Marilyn's Life for Laymen organization. An
article in the ®Denver Post¯ in October '75 identifies Warnke as "an
evangelist with Life for Laymen, a Denver-based movement."[103] The
Hickeys refused to talk with us, but their spokesperson said Warnke and
his wife attended the church during the seventies, primarily for
counseling.
According to Carolyn, Warnke now began to push for a divorce from
Sue. The Hickeys tried to reason with him. "Mike told them he and Sue
would try to work it out," says Carolyn. "But he told me he wanted out
of the marriage." Not long after, the relationship was broken between
Mike Warnke and The Happy Church.
In November 1975, Mike was invited to do a show at the Adam's Apple
coffeehouse in Fort Wayne, Indiana.[104] Christian artists Nancy
Honeytree and Phil Keaggy were recording a concert that night. The tape
kept rolling during Warnke's part of the show. A proposed
Keaggy/Honeytree live album didn't materialize, but the Warnke tape
found a buyer in Myrrh Records, a subsidiary of Word, Inc.[105]
Another Christian artist Mike had done concerts with on the road was
Randy Matthews. Randy, along with Wes Yoder, was co-owner of Dharma
Artists Agency, a fledgling Christian management company based in
Matthews' garage in Nashville. After talking with Matthews, Warnke and
Carolyn flew to Nashville, where he signed with the company.[106]
"While Wes was signing Mike, he asked me to work with Dharma," says
Carolyn. "Wes said he'd split my bookings down the middle, fifty-fifty.
Mike said, `I can't beat that. He may get half of me, but I get half of
it back.' So I became a working member of the team."
During this time Brockport, NY, pastor Don Riling[107] continued to
befriend Warnke. He was growing more and more concerned over what was
going on in Mike and Sue's marriage. "On several occasions Mike had
told me and my wifeÄÄcrying and the whole bitÄÄ`Sue doesn't love me.
She's kicked me out,' " Riling says. "Mike kept saying how all he
wanted to be was a family man, to raise his two boys. I told him he'd
have to choose between the road and his family." According to pastor
Riling, Marilyn Hickey then visited the Rilings. "I asked Marilyn,
`Isn't there anything we can do to persuade Sue to go back to Mike?'
Marilyn about fell out of her chair. She said, `What are you talking
about? Sue loves Mike. She wants to save their marriage. Mike is the |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,234 | one who wants to end it.' Then it was my turn to be surprised. All I'd
known about the marriage problems before this was that Mike said Sue
was cheating on him."[108]
2650
Riling flew to Denver in the late summer of 1976 on a desperate
mission to try to save the marriage. On arriving, Riling said he found
Mike had left Sue and the two children and had moved into an apartment
with Carolyn. So Riling met with Sue. "She wanted to get back together
with Mike. Sue said at one time she had dated another man, but she was
plugged into Hickey's church and her attitude was `I just want to be
with my husband.' I think Mike saw it as his chance to dump Sue."
(Carolyn told us that Mike had urged both Sue and herself to go out
with others when he was away on the road. Finally, Carolyn says, Sue
did go out once with her to a dance hall.)
After talking with Sue, Pastor Riling stayed with the Hickeys but
spent most of his time with Mike and Carolyn. Riling got his
information about Carolyn from Warnke: "Mike was out on the road, and
he had supposedly led this gal Carolyn to Jesus. Before then, she had
run these houses of ill repute. Mike told me he had to bring her home
to help rehab her, and she lived right there with Sue."
During the visit, Riling didn't let up. "Every opportunity I could,
I pleaded with Mike to go back to SueÄÄfor the sake of his marriage,
for the sake of his ministry. Mike wouldn't hear anything about leaving
Carolyn." Riling was in a restaurant with Warnke when Mike told him Sue
was being served with divorce papers that very moment. (The summons is
dated August 20, 1976.)[109] His mission a failure, the pastor returned
to New York.
Upon receiving the divorce petition, Sue Warnke called Ron Winckler
and George Wakeling, along with others, and asked for prayer, saying
Mike had run off with another woman.
It was at this point that Dr. Walter Martin, a well-known
counter-cult apologist and founder of Christian Research Institute
(CRI), was asked to speak to Mike about his marriage difficulties. (Dr.
Martin died in 1989.) Gretchen Passantino was Martin's senior research
consultant at the time, in charge of CRI's research staff, [110] and
her duties included overseeing Walter Martin's travel arrangements.
"Dr. Martin had a speaking engagement near Denver and asked me to
book a couple extra days so he could speak with Mike Warnke and his
wife, Sue," says Gretchen. "When he got back, he took me aside. He
said, `I had this real difficult meeting with Mike and Sue Warnke. I
hope what I did was enough.' Realizing that Mike was determined to
leave the marriage, Dr. Martin had prayed and counseled with both of
them, advising Mike he needed to leave the ministry."
Mike & Carolyn in Music City
®Harmony¯ magazine was ®the¯ Christian music magazine in the
mid-seventies, and in September 1976, Mike Warnke was on the
cover.[111] During this era, Mike relocated to what was becoming the
center of the contemporary Christian music business. Jesus music began
to be shaped by the powerful influence of Nashville, country music
capital and home of the Gospel Music Association (GMA). The "music"
part was welcomed in Music City. As for Jesus, insiders there have a
saying: "Nashville has changed more Christians than Christians have
changed Nashville."[112]
Mike and Carolyn pulled into town with a U-Haul trailer. "Mike and I |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,235 | 2651
moved into an apartment together," says Carolyn. "Once we'd moved in,
Mike went and bought cases of whiskey, different wines, and beer." At
the time, of course, Warnke was still married to Sue. Among their
Nashville Christian music friends, the only ones to protest Mike and
Carolyn's living arrangements was a couple they had met on the road,
Mike and Karen Johnson.[113]
Though many of our readers may be unacquainted with Mike Johnson, he
was a Jesus music pioneer, starting his first Christian band in 1968.
According to many Jesus music historians, Johnson never received
recognition equal to the dues he paid and miles he and Karen logged on
the coffeehouse and church basement circuit.
When Mike Warnke came to town with Carolyn, Karen Johnson wanted to
know what was going on. "We said, `Hey, what about Sue?' Mike told us,
`She's running around on me.' I called Sue, and she said that wasn't
true. She said Mike found this other woman and he wanted to marry her.
And the only way you could get a divorce in the Christian community was
to say somebody had been unfaithful."
Out of their concern, the Johnsons orchestrated another meeting with
mutual acquaintance Don Riling. "We thought Mike Warnke was a mess and
wanted him to get help," says Karen. "Don Riling was the only pastor
that Warnke opened up to and submitted to in any form. He was like a
father figure to Mike." Mike Johnson told the Rilings that Warnke had
asked him to be best man in his wedding with Carolyn. "We pushed for a
meeting," says Karen Johnson. "Wes set it up. Don Riling flew to
Nashville."
The meeting was held at the Dharma offices. Riling, Mike Johnson,
Wes Yoder, and Mike and Carolyn were there. "You'd have never guessed
that this was a meeting of Christians," says Riling. "Mike and Carolyn
were swearing the whole time, and they must have gone through a whole
pack of cigarettes." The meeting went on for hours in an effort to get
everything out on the table with Warnke. "He moped around, saying his
life was a mess," says Riling. "I tried to convince him to go back to
Sue and save his ministry."
At one point in the meeting, Carolyn brought up Warnke's continuing
affair with the woman at Riling's church in Brockport. "Mike was still
very involved with her," says Carolyn. Pastor Riling was struck by the
bizarreness of the situation: "I'm sitting there listening to this
woman Warnke was committing adultery with talk about how Mike was
cheating on her."
As the meeting bogged down, Riling took Wes Yoder aside and tried to
make him understand the gravity of the situation. "Wes wouldn't deal
with it," says Riling. "He knew Mike Warnke had a problem, but Wes was
young and inexperienced. Wes said to Mike, `Do whatever you want to.
Stay with this woman. Go back to your wife. It's okay. I'm behind you,
because we have to keep the ministry going.' Mike Johnson was horrified
by this," says Riling.
Carolyn says she also gave Wes advice: "I thought Mike Johnson was
being sanctimonious and Don Riling was a joke. Wes came to me and said,
`What's going on?' I said, `Look, the guy's a joke. He's trying to get
his paws on Mike, but you've got him signed and if you don't keep him
it's your fault.' So it was really us against them."
2652
Wes Yoder says of those days, "I should have run Warnke out of town
when he first showed up with Carolyn. I was stupid. I didn't miss it. I |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,236 | just didn't know what to do about it. I was sinful in allowing him to
use me as a cloak of decency for what he was doing. The Lord doesn't
bless in things like that."[114] Karen Johnson forgives Wes for his
part in the debacle, saying, "Here he was, this young guy trying to be
a part of Christian music, and he's involved with all these crazy
people."
Carolyn says the meeting accomplished nothing. "Nobody I ever met
who was around or who was connected with Mike Warnke in any way ever
had any effect on him." The day after the meeting, Mike Johnson left
Dharma. His path then began to lead downward by degrees. It was also
after this meeting, says Carolyn, that Mike Warnke initiated her in
what he called an Indian ceremony. "We were at a motel, and he said,
`I'll show you how much I love you.' He took a pocket knife and cut his
wrist, and cut mine, and mixed our blood. He said, `Now we are one.' He
gave himself the name Many Horses ÄÄbecause I was part American Indian."
Bill Fisher said, "Mike told me he got the name Many Horses from an
Indian medicine man." Bill Fisher told us, explaining the Indian
identity as one of Warnke's many "mojos": "Mike would personify himself
as various characters at times. Mike had his Indian mojo, or sometimes
he'd be a Scotsman, or Jewish, or a Catholic priest, or Jeremiah
Johnson, or black ÄÄhe wanted to think he had black blood because Andre
Crouch told him he had soul."
The divorce of Mike Warnke from Sue was finalized on December 3,
1976.[115] Mike and Carolyn were married four months later.[116]
Instead of Mike Johnson, Wes Yoder was best man.
Downhill into the Bigtime
In his books and on his records, Mike Warnke goes from Satan to
Christ. In Nashville, the path led from rags to riches. Warnke had no
money or credit when he came to town, says Carolyn. The bang-up
combination of a hit record and the Dharma Agency soon changed
that.[117] And the money started rolling in. "Lots of money," says
Carolyn. "Not all of a sudden. But it wasn't uncommon for us to make
five thousand dollars on the road, spend two to three thousand a day,
buy whatever we wanted, go where we wanted, do whatever we wanted."
The Dharma Agency prospered. During this period, they moved their
offices from Randy Matthews' garage to Music Row, and later to a
penthouse suite in the United Artists Towers. They hired additional
booking agents.[118] Dharma's star rose with the fortunes of something
that was now called contemporary Christian music.
Writes Christian media observer William D. Romanowski, "The industry
scaffolding began to go up as concert halls replaced coffeehouses and
church fellowship halls, as record labels replaced custom recordings,
and as contemporary music radio formats replaced tapes of
preachers. . . .
Christian entrepreneurs were building a Christian entertainment
industry that paralleled its secular counterpart not just in musical
styles and trends, but in marketing techniques, management, concert
production, publicity, and glamorization."[119]
2653
The whole atmosphere surrounding the music changed. "We took our
eyes off what had been very precious and innocent," says industry
veteran, Dan Hickling, "the joy of being a Christian and going around
and singing music for people that would bring them closer to God."[120]
Buddy Huey, Word Records' artists and repertoire man, who had signed |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,237 | Warnke, was part of the big change.[121] "What we were trying to do was
have better distribution to get the Word out. We ended up compromising
lots. When I was with Word, the intent of the company was nothing more
than trying to find those people who had a voice or a platform. And
then all we could go on was what they told us." Including Warnke's
satanic story? "It was just accepted," says Huey. "That's one of the
things you'll find in the industry. You see something that might be
salable, marketable ÄÄthat's what you look at. It saddens me that I was
a part of setting up things in the industry that I wish I had a chance
to undo."
Romanowski writes, "Evangelism was the rhetoric, business became
reality." The manipulation of language, he says, transformed
"money-making into ministry, easing the consciences of those few who
earn healthy incomes off the music."[122]
"You could see a kind of downhill slide," says Larry Black, a
one-time Christian deejay who is now an actor.[123] "To see the
marriages dissolve, to see them slowly begin to justify various vices."
Was this behavior common knowledge in the industry? "Yeah. I think
there was general knowledge. But you're caught in that old trap of not
wanting to criticize a brother."
We asked Buddy Huey if there was any company policy regarding
Christian artists who were exhibiting non-Christian behavior. "No,
there really wasn't," says Buddy Huey. "I didn't personally do cocaine,
for instance, but I was present when others did cocaine. Looking back
at that, I think my silence was worse than them doing the drugs."
Scott Ross, who now works for CBN Television and back then was the
country's foremost Christian disk jockey, recalls how kinky things had
gotten. "There was a lot of immorality, drugs, and booze."
Says Karen Johnson, "Mike [Johnson] tried to stay so straight, for
eight years. Then everything fell apart after we'd been in Nashville
for awhile. Mike looked around and realized that Warnke and his friends
were making lots of money and fooling around on their wives. My husband
thought, `What difference does it make?' He started drinking, smoking
grass. He started hanging around with these Christian music people that
didn't care if you were moral or not."
Says Mike Johnson, "I was one big mess." Adds Karen, "When my Mike
came home from being on the road with Warnke, he'd confessÄÄall in the
name of repentance ÄÄto all this drinking and going to discos.
In the fall of 1978, the future seemed bright for Mike Warnke. His
albums were "the most popular Christian comedy records ever produced
anywhere, with sales reaching to nearly 200,000."[124] Doubleday
Publishing was assembling a book of material from the first three
albums. With dates around the world, 1979 was slated to be his biggest
tour ever. Mike asked Bill Fisher to travel with him.
2654
At home, Carolyn says she and Mike had been fighting, and that
several times he had hit her. Because of this, Carolyn's mother, Peggy
Alberty, had moved to Nashville to be near her daughter.
Enter Rose, Exit Nashville
Warnke was on the road almost constantly. "We figured it out one
time," says Bill Fisher. "We traveled over 280,000 air miles in about
ten months that year, with three days off a month." About halfway
through the whirlwind ten-month tour, Warnke performed in Hazard, |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,238 | Kentucky.[125] It was there, says Rose Hall, that she first met Mike
Warnke.[126]
Carolyn confirms this story. "While Mike and I were still married,
he went to Kentucky to do a show, and that's where he met Rose."
Carolyn says Mike came home very excited about something. "Then he went
down to a jewelry store where we'd established credit and began buying
jewelry for someone else, who I later found out was Rose."
The story of Mike Warnke's romance with Rose Hall is told in her
book, The Great Pretender. Rose never mentions Carolyn or the fact
that Mike was married to Carolyn during his courtship with Rose. She
says she met Warnke in various cities and stayed in the hotel with
himÄÄin separate rooms. "Looking back, it had never occurred to me to
say, `You're a minister, an evangelist; are you married?' It never
entered my mind."[127]
During the time she was traveling around with Warnke, Rose says she
went with him to Nashville. There, she writes, both his road manager
and his agent objected to the relationship.[128] Wes Yoder says, "Rose
came along before Mike and Carolyn were divorced. The whole thing with
Carolyn, I couldn't deal with personally. With Rose I did. But I was
still there. I was so wrong."
Mike Warnke's relationship with the Johnsons went from bad to worse.
As Karen Johnson tells it, "Mike called on the phone and said he wanted
to come over, because he knew I was angry at him over what had happened
to my Mike. I told him no, that I felt he was leading people astray,
and I didn't want him associating with my husband because he was
helping destroy our marriage. But later Warnke came over anyway and
said, `Karen, I don't want you to dislike me. I want us to be friends.'
I said, `Then change what you're doing. You're deceiving people. You're
committing adultery.' He said, `I can't change.' "
After Karen told Warnke to get out, "He came at me like he was going
to kill me." Mike Johnson says of this episode, "I was in pretty good
shape back then, and I was ready to go at it there in the living room."
Warnke left, says Karen, "screaming obscenities at me."
The end for Mike Warnke and wife Carolyn was, as she tells it, the
stuff of melodrama. "We were fighting and he threw me into a wall and
split my head open. He said, `If you go to a local hospital and tell
them what your name is, I'll kill you. I don't have to do it
physically. I can do it from another room or another state.' "
"There was a revolver in the nightstand," Carolyn says. "I took it
out and said, `If you hit me again Mike, I'm gonna kill you, because
I'm tired of your beatings. I just can't take any more.' " Carolyn says
2655
she jumped into her car, started driving, and didn't stop until she
reached Pensacola, Florida.
Tom Carrouthers found Carolyn in a convenience store in Pensacola
that summer night in 1979, dazed and bleeding. "Carolyn said she and
her old man had gotten into it," says Carrouthers.[129] "She had a big
gouge on the top of her head, and a wad of dried blood. I took her to
the hospital. When we got there, she was like a kid and didn't want me
to leave. She stayed with my sister and me for a week or so."
Carolyn gave us a note she received from Mike. "Dear Carolyn," it
reads, "I don't know how we ever got to this place. All I know for sure
is that we are here. . . . I can't blame you for not wanting to be
around me right now. Nor can I condemn your disgust at my rages and |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,239 | tantrums. I'm trying hard to get control. . . . I'll always be there
when you need me. The scar on my wrist will never fade. . . . Peace
to you. Many Horses."
Carrouthers remembers Carolyn talking with Warnke on the phone
during the two weeks she was there; things seemed to be improving. But
when Carolyn finally returned to Nashville from Florida, she was in for
a surprise. "I came home and there was a `For Sale' sign on the house.
All the locks had been changed, and everything in the house was gone.
In just a matter of days, I had no funds, no furniture, nothing," she
says.
Carolyn didn't go back to Dharma. She felt most of the people she
knew in the industry had been siding with Mike, who was telling
everyone the stories about her unfaithfulness. In a bizarre twist,
Carolyn got a job working as an undercover narcotics operative with the
Regional Organized Crime Information Center, a law enforcement
organization in Nashville.
Mike and Carolyn's divorce was final on November 29, 1979.[130] Mike
Johnson says Warnke told him that Carolyn was rubbed out by the mob,
"bludgeoned to death in a ditch." A friend from the Trinity days,
Clarence Benes, heard from Warnke that Carolyn had been killed in a
boating accident.[131] Don Riling says he was told by Warnke that
Carolyn had drowned.
From Carolyn's viewpoint, "Mike is one of the greatest con artists
I've ever known in my life. And coming from my background, that says
quite a bit."
Mike and Karen Johnson divorced two years later, and he is no longer
in Christian music. "Mike Johnson has really reaped what he has sown,"
says ex-wife Karen. "He has no family, no friends, no career, no money,
no life. It makes me angry that Mike Warnke, on the other hand, seems
to be making money, going on with life, and continuing to deceive
people."
Among the friends that took a different path than Warnke at the end
of 1979 was Bill Fisher. "Mike and I parted when he moved to Kentucky
to be with Rose," says Bill. "He was divorced, but that's not grounds
for moving in with someone. Mike said, `We married each other before
the Lord.' I said, `Do it before the state, too.' "
Holy Orthodox Catholic Church in Kentucky
2656
Mike Warnke married Rose Hall in Paintsville, Kentucky, on January
2, 1980.[132] It was his third marriage, her fourth. With the marriage
came several changes: Rose was often onstage and on record with
Mike;[133] Warnke left Dharma Agency and began to book his own
concerts; the public focus shifted from onstage concerts to the
ministry back home.[134] As Mike has said: "When you get right down to
it, I'm just a glorified cheerleader. The real work of our ministry
goes on back there."[135]
The name of the "ministry back there" was Warnke Ministries; its
nonprofit status was listed under "The Holy Orthodox Catholic Church in
Kentucky" (HOCCK). This built on Warnke's previous 1974 ordination in
Tulsa by Bishop Elijah Coady while Warnke was attending Trinity Bible
School. With HOCCK, Mike Warnke joined the ranks of "independent"
Eastern Orthodox churchmen who founded their own autonomous
denominations. During the early eighties, Warnke met James Miller, a
local bishop in the American Orthodox Church. Miller told us he
ordained Warnke a deacon and then a priest in early 1983. He suspended |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,240 | the ordination later when Warnke failed to submit regular reports.
And then Mike Warnke became a bishop. This final ecclesiastical step
occurred when another independent bishop, Richard Morrill, consecrated
Warnke ÄÄan event we have verified by speaking to three other bishops
who say they were told by the late Morrill that he had indeed made Mike
Warnke a bishop.[136]
Bishop Richard Morrill had officiated over Mike and Carolyn's
marriage in Nashville.[137] According to Elijah Coady, Morrill was an
itinerant cleric given to flamboyance and the founding of
organizations, many of which seemed to exist only on paper. In 1981,
Morrill incorporated in Texas under the name "The Holy Orthodox
Catholic Church, Eastern and Apostolic."[138] One year later, Mike and
Rose incorporated as "The Holy Orthodox Catholic Church in Kentuck-
y."[139]
HOCCK's offices were located at first in a converted garage behind
the Warnkes' Versailles home.[140] As time went on, they staffed it
with a series of Christian women whose opinions of the Warnke ministry
were much higher when they joined than when they left. In the summer of
1983, Dorothy Green heard Rose on a Lexington Christian radio station
and invited her to speak to the Danville, Kentucky, Women's Aglow.[141]
Soon afterwards, "Dot" was hired to answer letters and do phone
counseling. Dot's friend, Jan Ross, joined later as Rose's personal
secretary. Roxanne Miller and Phyllis Swearinger eventually worked in
the bookkeeping department.
All four women were nonplussed by Mike's preference for High Church
"chapel" services. Dot remembers an early chapel service with Mike: "He
had incense, and he'd come down the aisle with his robes, swinging it
in this thing."
Roxanne Miller's opinion had less to do with the High Church
trappings than with an event where Mike's ritual got in the way of a
few friends' prayer time. "We used to go down to the park for lunch,"
Roxanne recalls.[142] "Dot, Jan, myself, a few others . . . and we'd
just talk about what God had done in our lives. What He still was
doing. Mike was usually out of town, but one day he just showed up and
said, `I'm gonna do the teaching this week.' So we sang, and then Mike
2657
put on his robes. I thought he was plain ridiculous. It was like
dressing up to be something you're not. It made me feel sad. He wants
to be so much, and he isn't. I can still see him standing there in his
robe, all velvet and dark."
The Ministry and the Money
Another point which perplexed the women was HOCCK's finances.
Roxanne Miller had been hired to get control of the finances and says
that while she was there (1985-1986) HOCCK covered various expenses for
Mike and Rose. "We paid for the car, we paid for the gas, we paid for
the parsonage, we paid for their clothes and their food," she says. Yet
she says her job was a continual battle of the budget. Mike seemed to
have no concept that money made by a nonprofit ministry is different
than personal income. Once, she says, Mike Warnke responded to her
efforts to curb his spending this way: "He told me, `Every bit of the
money is mine. I earned it. If I wasn't out front, there would be no
money.' "
Jan Ross told us, "On several occasions Rose said to me that anybody
who was in the position she and Mike were in deserved to have the best
of everything because of who they were and what they had given up to be |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,241 | where they were. I thought, `What did you give up?' "[143]
Phyllis Swearinger said there were problems making ends meet.[144]
"I'd worked at banks before, so I was used to handling large amounts of
money. But the amount that came in here every week sort of threw me.
And then to find out it just wouldn't go far enough! Once Mike called
me, upset because he needed some trees pruned at his home, and I
wouldn't write a check for it because we didn't have enough money in
the account at the moment. What struck me about this conversation is
Mike told me he felt he deserved to make as large a salary as Jimmy
Swaggart was making."
The Warnkes' home was certainly in line with his high aspirations.
Back in July of 1983 Rose's mother, Blanche Hall, had purchased a huge
mansion (at one time a plantation) near Danville. "Lynnwood Farm" was
leased to HOCCK for several years and later sold to Rose, who with Mike
referred to it as "the parsonage."[145]
Tax returns indicate HOCCK's total revenue for 1984 was over
$900,000. In 1985 HOCCK grossed over $1,000,000, with over $500,000 in
love offerings alone. In 1986, the total went over two million: love
offerings brought in over $1,000,000; product sales (i.e., books and
records) grossed over $180,000; and direct public support totaled over
$450,000. The 1987 total was $2,239,927. Revenue figures for 1988
through 1990 continued at slightly over $2,000,000.[146]
HOCCK tax returns show that the Warnke's personal salaries[147]
steadily rose (see Table 1).
==============================================
Table 1: Warnke's annual income
----------------------------------------------
MIKE ROSE
1984: $ 34,500 $ 11,500
1985: $ 95,617 $ 83,417
1986: $163,632 $155,418
2658
1987: $177,450 $177,450
1988: $183,917 $183,917
1989: $204,383 $204,383
1990: $239,291 $230,291
==============================================
The growth of Warnke Ministries in the mid-eighties paralleled a
sudden explosion of public fears about Satanism. In March of 1985, Mike
Warnke appeared on an ABC "20/20" report called "The Devil
Worshippers," part of a deluge of talk shows and books on contemporary
Satanism. Stories of hideous satanic crimes were often woven together
by self-proclaimed "experts" to demonstrate the existence of a
worldwide satanic conspiracy similar to the Illuminati network outlined
in The Satan Seller.
Each year, goes the theory, thousands of children are being
sacrificed in satanic rituals laced with sex and violence. Alleged
adult survivors of satanic ritual abuse testify to the hidden cult's
existence. The Satan Seller seems tame in comparison. Yet when
evidence for the conspiracy is requested, true believers (including a
few therapists and police officers) often refer skeptics to Warnke and
his book as a final authority.[148]
In the early eighties, when Mike and Rose began to speak about their
Kentucky ministry to audiences on the road, they offered descriptions |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,242 | typically centered around their work helping victims of the occult
ÄÄlike "Jeffy."
"Supposedly, Jeffy was this little boy who had become a vegetable
because of all the satanic abuse he'd had," says Jan Ross. "The story
was used to raise money to `help all the Jeffys of the world, so there
wouldn't be so many Jeffys.' Mike would say, `What if your child was
sent to preschool and this happened? How'd you like this to happen to
your child?' "
The home office would always know when Mike was telling the Jeffy
story, says Dot Green. "People would write on the offering envelopes,
`This is for all the children like Jeffy.' It was amazing how many
envelopes would come back with Jeffy's name on it. Mike always had to
count the money after a concert and call Rose to give her an idea of
what was there," Dot continues. "She'd ask if he'd told the Jeffy
story. If he hadn't, she'd say, `You tell the Jeffy story tomorrow
night.' " Several staffers say the Warnkes' interest in the at-home
ministry never made it home from the road. Says Dot, "I'd try to tell
them about somebody who wrote needing help, and they didn't want to
hear."
Adds Jan Ross, "We didn't get that many calls, maybe four or five
actual calls a day. Some people just wanted attention, but every once
in a while there'd be people with real problems. Mike and Rose just
didn't want to deal with them. They'd go on the road and say, `We're
here to help you,' but when you called they didn't want to deal with
you."
For a while, Dot Green tried to ignore everything at Warnke
Ministries that wasn't connected to her counseling duties. "I loved my
job so much," she says. "I fooled myself into thinking it was my
2659
ministry, since Mike and Rose didn't seem to have any interest in it.
But I started realizing the people I was writing to were sending in
offerings. I always put a pink offering envelope in with each letter. I
began marking my envelopes so I could tell which came back with my
mark. The month I left, my letters brought in over $21,000. At that
point, the Lord let me know I was just as guilty as they were as long
as I stayed."
Jan Ross was in the midst of her own struggle. The staff attended a
series of Warnke shows in Cincinnati. "We did this concert; it was just
a super evening. Then we walked out and went to a bar. The Warnkes were
buying rounds of drinks, dancing. I kept thinking the whole time, I
wonder if anybody's going to come in and recognize them."
Roxanne remembers that trip. "We went to Cincinnati once. It just
grossed me out. They went out and drank and carried on afterwards, Mike
and the road guys. I said, `I just can't handle this.' "
Dot Green and Jan Ross left Warnke Ministries at the end of 1985.
Roxanne Miller was fired in February 1986 (for refusing to give Rose
several signed, blank checks, she says), and Phyllis quit soon after.
"It's not been something we have forgotten easily," says Jan Ross.
"It's scary to think you can get involved with something like that with
a pure heart, to serve God, and then find out it's run on deception,
lies, and thievery."
Warnke Ministries continued to expand. In October of 1986, the
Warnkes purchased property in Burgin, Kentucky, which they then sold to
HOCCK.[149] A newsletter announced that a long-promised "Center" was
about to become a reality. Plans included rehab and medical facilities. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,243 | "Phase I" was the construction of an administration building.[150]
The fund-raising campaign began. "This Center is fast becoming a
reality and will be a reality if ®you¯ make it one," said Mike in a
ministry newsletter. "Your gifts, offerings, and prayers enable Warnke
Ministries to continue its missions."[151]
By April of 1987, Warnke Ministries was able to move to Burgin and
into their beautiful new colonial-style brick office complex.[152]
Dr. John Cooper worked for a short time in this building. In the
late eighties, Warnke Ministries opened a seminar department to teach
police and others the gruesome facts about Satanism and occult crime.
Dr. Cooper, a former college professor and author of twenty-nine books,
was hired in 1989 as director.
Cooper has this to say about the Warnkes' "Center": "They were
raising money for a children's center for refugees from Satanism. Phone
calls would come to my office, people wanting to send kids there. I'd
explain to them that there wasn't any such thing there, only a building
with offices. The only parts of that building not dedicated to getting
Mike speaking engagements or handling receipts were a large room set up
like a Greek Orthodox Church and a library."[153]
Cooper disputes the Warnkes' claim of 50,000 counseling calls and
letters a month.[154] "There isn't any way in the world for that to be
so," he says. "My guess would be, on a daily basis, they might get 6
calls." (Such a figure, if accurate, would translate to 120 calls per
2660
month.) "The only ministry I know of that went on there was one fellow
who worked part-time answering the phone. And he'd usually just give
out other ministry numbers and tell people to call them."
John Cooper spent several months preparing a seminar presentation,
which he premiered in May. Shortly afterwards, he was fired. He later
tried suing the Warnkes, but the case died in court.
A more important court case for Warnke Ministries was the 1991
divorce of Mike and Rose. According to the Warnkes' new book,
®Recovering from Divorce,¯ the serious problems in the marriage date as
far back as November 1984. In the book, Rose notes an "It's over, isn't
it?" talk with Mike that took place in his office in December of
1984.[155]
Some comparison with Rose's previous book is enlightening. Written
in mid- to late 1985, The Great Pretender reveals how Rose caught
Warnke in an "affair" in 1984. "We had a situation this last year when
we felt there was nothing left between us. We weren't communicating,
and Satan provided a woman to fill the gap in Michael's life."[156]
The conversation in the first book goes like this:
He began to tell me there's nothing to this and that I'm
misunderstanding it all.
"Okay, okay," I growled, "I don't want to hear it. If you're
not going to tell the truth, don't say anything. . . . You're
throwing your ministry away, your life, the whole works. I'll
guarantee you, people will not accept this. You're not going
to go through another divorce and people accept it."[157]
Rose says she threatened on Christmas Eve to call the woman, and
Mike responded by moving out. Later, after Warnke had promised to end |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,244 | the relationship, Rose found out he was still calling the woman. Says
Rose, "He hid all the guns. Michael's a big gun collector, and I know
how to shoot. . . . I said, `I'll continue running the ministry, I'll
get myself established ministry-wise, then I don't care what you do.
You're not going to wreck my life. I'll establish myself. You do what
you want."[158]
These incidents go unmentioned in the new book. Instead, Recovering
from Divorce presents a rather psychologized story of a marital
mismatch, doomed from the start. While the Warnkes are evasive on the
exact reasons, they make it clear their marriage was a painful
experience for both of them. Court records say the couple last lived
together in October of 1989.[159]
Despite her earlier warnings in The Great Pretender about how
people would not accept another divorce, Rose Warnke filed for divorce
on September 4, 1991. A property settlement agreement drawn up by
Rose's attorney and signed by both Mike and Rose was filed the same
day.[160]
Blanche Hall had deeded Lynnwood Farm to Rose in April of 1991. In
the divorce property settlement, Rose was also awarded 327 additional
acres surrounding the farm, which the couple purchased in April 1991
for $525,000 (despite the fact that they hadn't lived together there
2661
since October, 1989.)[161] Mike Warnke also agreed to pay half the
mortgage for the new acreage.[162]
Additionally, Rose got a condominium the Warnkes owned in Stewart,
Florida (purchased in May, 1986, for $398,000), and another condominium
the couple owned near Danville (purchased in July, 1989, for
$231,500).[163] Further, Rose got everything in all the houses
mentioned above, plus the Yamaha piano, the 1985 Cadillac, and the
couple's four horses.
Mike also agreed to pay Rose $8,000 per month ($96,000 per year) for
the rest of her life via a wage assignment out of Mike's salary from
HOCCK. Mike agreed to assume responsibility for paying various liens,
pay for the education of Rose's daughters until the year 2001, divide a
$15,000 IRA with Rose, and also split the debt to their accountant.
Rose also got 65 percent of Warnke's ownership of his copyrights for
and royalties from absolutely everything he will make from his books
and recordings. Mike agreed to keep various existing life insurance
policies and take out an additional $2 million life insurance policy on
himself, with Rose as the beneficiary, for the next fifteen years.
Finally, Mike agreed to pay Rose $20,000 to equalize the division of
property.
In the same property settlement, Mike Warnke was awarded whatever
property was located at the condo where he was staying, his motorcycle,
and visiting rights to the horses.
October 2, 1991, the Warnkes' divorce was granted.[164] The local
paper quoted a ministry spokesman who said nothing would change. Rose,
who was identified as the music director and an administrator, would
continue to do separate shows and possibly make joint appearances with
Mike.[165]
When it came time for Mike Warnke to announce his third divorce
officially to the friends of Warnke Ministries, he used a rationale
which he was sure his fellow believers would respect: He did it, he |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,245 | said, for the ministry.
"As many of you know," wrote Warnke, "Rose and I, after seeking the
Lord's guidance, and two years of intensive Christian counseling,
accepted the fact that our marriage was beyond reconciliation, and the
only hope of saving the Ministry we have poured our lives into, was
divorce."[166]
Six weeks after his divorce was finalized, on November 18, 1991,
Mike Warnke married Susan Patton, an old Rim High classmate, and moved
to California.[167]
As of this writing, Mike and Rose are scheduled to appear together
at the Christian Booksellers Association convention in late June, where
they will be promoting their new book, Recovering from Divorce.
According to CBA press material, the Warnkes will be available for
interviews to discuss their "unique perspective on the troublesome
issue of divorce."
Their unique perspective: forgive and forget. In the book, Mike and
2662
his ex-wife share the pain of their relationship and parting; then the
experiences are interpreted by their editor, Lloyd Hildebrand, and
therapist, John Joy. There is much talk of how sad divorce is, and much
assigning of blame to dysfunctional backgrounds and a codependent
relationship. Although they could not be married, Mike and Rose
conclude, they can now be friends.
"Perhaps no one is ready for this book," writes Mike. "Could being
`up front' about our failure cost it all? That's the chance I must
take. Rose feels the same way. We both have come to the place where we
know that the only real choice we have is to go on ®as
ourselves.¯"[168]
For those who would raise objections to what is, indeed, in the
Christian Church a "unique" perspective, Mike Warnke fires a preemptive
blast. "So I messed up. Does that change who Jesus is?"[169] Likewise,
he decries "the Gospel Gestapo" who feel bound to discover and
publicize the failures of those in ministry, "even if the evidence
proves to be true."[170]
After our research was complete, we contacted Mike in early May to
set up an interview with him, to which we had invited some other
Christian leaders (Ron Enroth, Don Riling, and others). Mike declined
our interview and said he would only meet with us at his attorney's
office in Kentucky. We considered this a matter for the Body of Christ,
with no lawyers being necessary, and asked about the possibility of
meeting somewhere convenient for everyone. Mike's response: that we
have no further contact with him except through his attorney. This
ended our communication.
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
2663
This concludes a long and painful survey of the life and ministry of
Mike Warnke. We did not prepare it lightly, but solemnly and with
counsel from many dedicated ministers.
A Biblical Plan of Action
We would be remiss in our duty as Christian journalists if we could
not offer some concrete suggestions and reflections. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,246 | Some of our readers will expect us to have followed the steps of
Matthew 18:15-17, starting with a private confrontation. This passage
gives Christ's instructions on what to do "if your brother sins against
you," and the process stops if the brother repents privately. We have
two remarks on this passage.
First, Mike has already been confronted numerous times over the
years by many concerned Christian friends, acquaintances, and church
leaders. Mike knows what the Bible says about truthfulness, integrity,
and fidelity. He is responsible to put into practice what he already
knows.
Second, this is not a private dispute between Mike Warnke and a
magazine. A public figure is susceptible to public scrutiny and
criticism. Matthew 18 is not violated when public figures are publicly
rebuked. (However, other scriptures are violated if the rebukes being
made are not fair, true, or applicable to the person.)
Mike has sinned against the public for years, and the public is
entitled to know the truth about his claims and actions. The
misinformation about Mike's testimony is still in circulation,
influencing how Christians view contemporary Satanism. For the sake of
the Church and the watching world, it must be corrected. (A more
complete discussion of the biblical grounds for Christian reporting
appears in the article, "Public Trust," on page 5.)
The statements made in this report are factual and verifiable.
Anybody can read Mike's book, study its time line, and see that there
is no way for him to have done the things he claimed in ®The Satan
Seller.¯ Mike's former fiancee, his roommates, relatives, and cohorts
in school emphatically contradict his claims on everything from hair
length to drug use and from out-of-town trips to "love slaves" in his
apartment. Mike's own friends refused to sign an affidavit that his
Satanism testimony was true.
If Mike has any real evidence to disprove what we've offered here,
we're willing to print it. However, the evidence we have uncovered
leads us to the conclusion that Mike doesn't have any. One thing is
certain: the Church should not let the master storyteller get by with
telling just another story: "There really ®was¯ a satanic coven; they
just didn't talk to the right people. . . ."
At this stage, excuses aren't sufficient. Mike needs to provide
either evidence or repentance. It is not enough to make religious
excuses for sin or sophisticated attempts to change the subject: "Those
girls came on to me, and I was at a vulnerable point in my life. . . ."
"The person who said `the Christian Church is the only army to shoot
its own wounded' was totally right. . . ." "It's not up to you to judge
my actions. Last time I read my Bible, Jesus was sitting on the throne,
2664
and He's not about to get off and let you take His place. . . ."
This is sidestepping. It's a move to change the subject and get away
from calling one's actions sin and asking for forgiveness. The issues
are whether Mike has told the truth, whether he is fit for public
ministry, and whether he meets the standards for biblical leadership.
Like it or not, by addressing thousands of people he is assuming a
pastoral role, regardless of what he calls himself.
If Mike were to seek forgiveness and restoration, what could the
Church expect to see as evidence of the genuineness of his repentance?
The following principles should apply to any Christian leader who has
manifestly fallen. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,247 | Repentance. Repentance is fundamental to Christianity. It denotes a
complete turnaround, heading in the opposite direction than previously.
Like "to love," to repent is a verb denoting action. Nobody wants to
see another Jimmy Swaggart crying crocodile tears on camera but
returning to save "the ministry" three months later . . . and returning
to the same sin after that. In Mike Warnke's case, true repentance
would necessitate complete withdrawal from public ministry.
Confession. If Mike is repentant, he should make an open admission of
guilt. On the other hand, Mike Warnke has built a career of telling us
about past and present sins. The Church must not allow him to emerge as
a new authority on fraudulent testimonies.
Restitution. True moral change involves some attempt to undo past
wrongs and to provide some kind of restitution. Perhaps the best kind
of restitution Mike Warnke could perform would be to take ®Satan
Seller¯ and all his other products off the market.
What about the rest of us? Accountability is a public as well as a
personal matter. Christian publishers have an obligation to validate
the books they print, whether nonfiction or historical fiction books.
At the same time, it is ®our¯ responsibility as the book-buying public
to ask for evidence before accepting a story.
After Warnke's testimony began circulating, those few who knew the
truth kept silent: they felt powerless against the immensity of the
story. Where could they turn? Well, the publisher would be a place to
start. We need the active participation of all members of the Body of
Christ in provoking each other to righteousness and, where necessary,
in providing biblical confrontation and counsel.
Sometimes a twisted man can preach a straight gospel. Through the
years, we've known many people who could speak truth while ignoring it
in their personal lives. Scripture testifies that God may bless or
anoint a sermon even while condemning the deeds of the preacher (Num.
23-24, 2 Pet. 2:15, Matt. 23:3).
Yes, the love of God is truly as infinite and wondrous as Mike
Warnke has been telling us for twenty years. God loves Mike Warnke as
he really is ÄÄex-Satanist, war hero, Ph.D.ÄÄor not. His choice now is
no different than it has ever been: losing the whole world or losing
his soul. For no one can know the love of God whose heart is closed to
the truth.
2665
Perhaps he has never stopped feeling like an outsider, and even when
Christianity opened its arms to him, he would not give up his
storytelling. His adolescent flirtation with the occult was exaggerated
into a postadolescent fantasy of having incredible amounts of money,
sex, prestige, and power as a Satanist. He later achieved money, sex,
prestige, and power. Sadly, it was in the name of Christ.
It's not too late for Mike to change, if he wants to. The secular
press may scoff, and those who consider themselves real Satanists may
snicker, but the Jesus of the Bible is still the God of truth. The
Lord, who makes ruined lives whole and restores purity to harlots and
liars, offers each of us forgiveness and acceptance. Not on our terms,
but His.
To Mike, and all others, who have been tempted to sacrifice the
truth for the sake of "the ministry," we can offer no better words than
these of the apostle Paul: |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,248 | Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received
mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the hidden
things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the
word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth
commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight
of God. (2 Cor. 4:1-2)
ENDNOTES
1. Coauthor David Balsiger, in his biographical sketch, says The
Satan Seller has sold only 500,000 copies.
2. So-called satanic panic has led to tragedy in many cases. For
further information, see Jon Trott, "Satanic Panic," Cornerstone 20,
iss. 95 (1991): 9.
3. Mike Warnke marriage licenses. Interview, Fr. Bob Nagler, St.
Francis Cabrini Church, Crestline, CA.
4. Interview, Mildred Warnke Jordan; Al Warnke obituary, Manchester
Times, 17 Oct. 1958.
5. Mildred Warnke Jordan; Larry Nee, Manchester Times, 16 Oct. 1991,
spoke with local undertaker, who referred to his notes on Louise
Cooper.
6. Interview and letter, Shirley Schrader.
7. "Final Rites for A. J. Warnke," Manchester Times, 17 Oct. 1958.
8. Mike Warnke Alive!, Mike Warnke, Myrrh Records, 1976.
9. Interview, Edna Swindell.
10. Interviews, Keith Schrader, Jr.
11. Interview, Tim Smith.
12. Interviews, Jeff Nesmith.
2667
13. Interview, David Goodwin.
14. Interview, Terry Smith Perry.
15. Confirmation certificate (see above).
16. Charles Donovan, San Bernardino Valley College ref. librarian.
17. Warnke, Michael Alfred, USN, #B98 05 49.
18. Mike Warnke, Schemes of Satan (Tulsa, OK: Victory House, 1991),
87.
19. Interviews, Greg Gilbert.
20. Interviews, Dennis Pekus.
21. Interviews, Dawn Andrews.
22. Interview, Dyana Cridelich. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,249 | 23. Mike Warnke, with Dave Balsiger and Les Jones, The Satan Seller,
(Plainfield, N.J.: Logos International, 1972), 18.
24. Interviews, Lois Eckenrod.
25. Satan Seller, 19.
26. Satan Seller, 14.
27. Interview, John Ingro.
28. Interviews, George Eubank.
29. Satan Seller, 19.
30. Interview, Phyllis Catalano.
31. Interview, Mary Catalano.
32. Interview, Tom Bolger.
33. Satan Seller, 19.
34. Satan Seller, 19, 20.
35. Satan Seller, 30.
36. Satan Seller, 33.
37. Satan Seller, 100, 101.
38. In 1981, Logos went bankrupt and sold its titles to Bridge
Publishing, which has since been purchased again. The new owners were
unable to locate any affidavits, signed or otherwise, for The Satan
Seller.
39. Interviews, Bill Lott.
2668
40. Satan Seller, 64, 65.
41. Satan Seller, 29.
42. Satan Seller, 28.
43. Schemes of Satan, 73.
44. Satan Seller, 90, 91.
45. Mike Warnke, Hitchhiking on Hope Street (Garden City, NY:
Doubleday & Company, 1979), 63, 64.
46. "Focus on the Family" broadcast, 16 March 1985.
47. Satan Seller, 112-114, 116, 121.
48. Naval records show Warnke was transferred out of Recruit Training
Command on 22 August 1966. This is also the date he gives on his video
Do You Hear Me? as the day he became a Christian.
49. Satan Seller, 135.
50. Satan Seller, 137. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,250 | 51. Interview, Charlotte Tweeten.
52. Navy Records.
53. Satan Seller, 136.
54. Mike Warnke, Hey, Doc!, 1978, Myrrh Records; Also, Hitchhiking
on Hope Street, 34.
55. Completed Hosp. Corps School 12/22/66; Reported to Field Med.
Serv. School, Camp Pendleton; 1/5/67; Reported to Naval Adcom, San
Diego, 2/7/67.
56. Certificate of Registry of Marriage, San Bernardino co., CA.
57. Satan Seller, 149, 150.
58. Interviews, Tim LaHaye.
59. Interview, Beverly LaHaye.
60. Transferred to Third Marine Division, Vietnam, 5/2/69.
61. Warnke Ministries Newsletter, 1 (1991), 4.
62. Satan Seller, 163.
63. Ibid., 165.
64. Ibid., 166.
65. Ibid.
2669
66. Ibid., 168.
67. Hitchhiking on Hope Street, 42, 43.
68. Ibid., 45.
69. Ibid., 42.
70. "Decorations and Awards: Good Conduct Medal, Combat Action Ribbon,
Vietnam Service Medal, Purple Heart, Republic of Vietnam Campaign
Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Meritorious
Unit Citation; Warnke transferred home 3/1/70.
71. Interview, George Wakeling.
72. Interview, Ron Winckler.
73. Don Musgraves, director of Cerullo's Youth Action Center in San
Diego, interview: "It was during those times that I began to have heavy
contact with people coming out of the occult . . . "; Peter Brown,
"Dropout Heads WitchcraftFight," San Diego Union, 15 January 1972, 1;
"Evangelism Group Fights Witchcraft," San Diego Union, 22 January
1972, p. 5B; Dave Balsiger, "Charismatic Insider's Report," Logos
Journal, May/June 1972, 39, 40.
74. Interview, Morris Cerullo; Balsiger, "Insider's Report;" Christian
Life, March 1972, 12.
75. Dave Balsiger, et al., "It's Happening Now," insert, San Diego |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,251 | Evening Tribune, 17 January 1972. (See Roddy, below: " . . . Cerullo,
surprisingly unassuming in contrast to the image created by his flashy
PR people . . . ") Peter Brown, "Dropout Heads Witchcraft Fight"; John
Dart, "Converted `Priest' Offers Guided Tour of Satanism," Los Angeles
Times, 19 January 1972, Sec. C, Part II, 1; "Evangelism Group Fights
Witchcraft"; Balsiger, "Insider's Report."
76. Lee Roddy, "Morris Cerullo Crusade: A New Anointing?" Christianity
Today, 18 February 1972, 52-53.
77. Interview, Dave Balsiger.
78. Interview, Jean Jolly.
79. Navy Records, date of discharge, 2 June 1972.
80. Interview, George Eckeroth.
81. "YEAR END REPORT and APPEAL FOR ASSISTANCE," Alpha Omega Outreach,
Rev. Mike Warnke, president, January, 1973.
82. Michael Warnke, "When Evil Fights Back," Guideposts, Nov. 1972,
22-26.
83. Dave Balsiger, "Charismatic Insider's Report," Logos Journal,
July-August 1972, 54.
84. Dave Balsiger, "Charismatic Insider's Report," Logos Journal,
Nov-Dec 1972, 56.
2670
85. John P. Ferre, "Searching For the Great Commission: Evangelical
Book Publishing Since the 1970s," in American Evangelicals and the
Mass Media, ed. Quentin J. Schultze (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan,
1990), 99-101.
86. David Hazard, "Decatrends in Christian Publishing," Charisma,
August 1985, 140.
87. Michael Esses, Michael, Michael, Why Do You Hate Me?
(Plainfield, NJ: Logos International, 1973); Betty Esses DeBlase,
Survivor of a Tarnished Ministry (Santa Ana, CA: Truth Publishers,
1983).
88. James Danne, "Demonic Spirits," Christian Century, 4 July 1973,
738; Paul Nevin, "On Selling Your Soul to the Devil," Moody Monthly,
July-August 1973, 52.
89. Dave Balsiger Biographical Sketch.
90. James E. Adams, "Regards Peril of the Occult As Worse Than That of
Drugs," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 29 November 1972; Hershel Smith with
Dave Hunt, The Devil and Mr. Smith (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell
Company, 1974); James H. Brewster, "Rolling Along with the
Witchmobile," Probe the Unknown magazine, March 1973, 22-25;
Interview, Jean Jolly.
91. Darryl E. Hicks and Dr. David A. Lewis, The Todd Phenomenon
(Harrison, AK: New Leaf Press, 1979), foreword by Doug Wead and Mike
Warnke.
92. Don Cusic, "Mike Warnke: Jester in the King's Court,"
Contemporary Christian Music, June-July 1979, 130; Paul Baker,
"Two-Fold Laughter from Mike and Rose," Contemporary Christian Music, |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,252 | December 1982, 14.
93. Jesse Joshua Warnke was born 4/18/74, according to Susan L. Warnke
Response, Civil Action D17252, District Court, Adams County, CO.
94. Interview, John Witty.
95. Interview, Karen Siegal.
96. "Holdup Victim Named as Call Girl's Queen," Long Beach
Press-Telegram, Evening Final, 8 January 1971, identifies Carolyn's
mother as "kingpin of a local prostitution racket . . . " Police call
incident "the latest rounds in a mob war over control of prostitution
in the LB-LA area."
97. Bill Hance, "That One-Liner Religion is Good Enough for Him," The
Nashville Banner, January 13, 1978, 30: "Until four years ago, he was
`just one of those preachers. . . . So, I started lightening my
testimony by telling jokes . . . '"
98. Bill Fisher says he flew with Warnke to Brockport while they were
still in Trinity (Fall '74-Spring '75). Fisher has a photo of himself
and Warnke on stage in Brockport, dated October 1975, and another photo
of himself and Warnke there, dated June 1976.
2671
99. See Dave Medina, "Former Rabbi Named Chaldean Archbishop," Logos
Journal, Nov-Dec 1972, 58.
100. Carol O'Connor, "Ex-Satanist Happier with Christ," The Denver
Post, 20 June 1975, 4BB.
101. Petition For Dissolution of Marriage, D-17252, confirm Warnke
moved to Colorado in August 1975.
102. March 1976 is the date on a photograph of Bill Fisher at Joy
Ranch.
103. Virginia Culver, "Devil-Worshippers Called Possible Cattle
Mutilators," The Denver Post, 5 October, 1975, 31.
104. The back cover of Mike Warnke Alive! notes "Recorded Live at:
Adam's Apple, Fort Wayne, Indiana, November 14, 1975."
105. The story of the recording of the album is told in Cusic, "Jester
in the King's Court," 28; Paul Paino interview.
106. Affidavit with Respect to Financial Affairs, Civil Action
D-17252, Adams County District Court, CO, 8/6/76. Warnke lists his
employer as "Dharma Productions, 807 Redwood Cr, Nashville, TN."
107. Interview, Dan Riling.
108. According to Petition for Dissolution, D-17252, Mike and Sue last
lived together January 1, 1976.
109. Date based on Mike Warnke's statement to Don Riling that Sue was
served while Riling was in Denver. The Affidavit of Service says Sue
Warnke was served Aug. 20, 1976, at 8:42 am.
110. Interviews, Gretchen Passantino. Two other CRI staffers also
contributed information regarding this meeting. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,253 | 111. Cover story by Peggy Hancherick, "Mike Warnke, Jester in the
King's Court," Harmony, vol. 2, no. 3, 8-9. Full-page ad for "Mike
Warnke Alive!", 11.
112. This saying was related to us by Frank Edmonson (aka Paul Baker),
ex-DJ, writer, and popular historian of Jesus Music. Edmonson worked
for Word at the time Warnke was signed, and played a key role in the
signing.
113. Interview, Mike and Karen Johnson.
114. Interview, Wes Yoder.
115. Decree of Dissolution of Marriage, Civil Action D-17252, Adams
County District Court, CO, 12/3/76.
116. Marriage Certificate, Davidson County, Tennessee, 4/25/77.
117. "When Mike Warnke Speaks, the World Listens!", Myrrh records ad
in Contemporary Christian Music (hereafter, abbreviated CCM),
Februrary 1979, 26.
2672
118. See 21-page commemorative section celebrating Dharma Agency's
10th anniversary in the February 1982 issue of CCM.
119. William D. Romanowski, "Contemporary Christian Music: The
Business of the Music Ministry," in American Evangelicals, Quentin
Schultze, ed., above, 152, 155.
120. Interview, Dan Hickling.
121. Interview, Buddy Huey.
122. Romanowski, 144, 151.
123. Interview, Larry Black.
124. "When Mike Warnke Speaks, etc."
125. Itinerary in May 1979, CCM.
126. Rose Hall Warnke with Joan Hake Robie, The Great Pretender
(Lancaster, Pa.: Starburst Publishers, 1985), 73-74.
127. Rose Hall Warnke, The Great Pretender, relates her romance with
Mike, 73-85; quote cited on page 79. Carolyn is never mentioned, nor
that Warnke was married during this time, only the note, "He, too, had
been previously married." Final Decree, Sumner County Court, 11/29/79,
shows Warnke filed for divorce from Carolyn on 8/27/79, summons served
8/30/79. cf. The Great Pretender, 83: "In September of 1979, Michael
said, `I want to marry you.'" CCM itinerary shows Mike Warnke
scheduled to play Sept. 28-29, 1979, in Canada. Rose says she went to
Canada with Mike (p. 83).
128. Rose Hall Warnke, The Great Pretender, 81-82.
129. Interview, Tom Carrouthers.
130. Final Decree, Circuit Court for Sumner County, TN, 11/29/79.
131. Interview, Clarence Benes.
132. Certificate of Marriage, Johnson County, Kentucky, 1/2/80. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,254 | 133. Mike and Rose Warnke, "First-Hand Rose," CCM, April 1981, 50;
"Road Rap," CCM, July 1982, 51; Paul Baker, "Twofold Laughter from
Mike & Rose," CCM, December 1982, 14.
134. Warnke, Great Pretender, on booking, 119, on accounting, 148.
135. Television interview with Mike Warnke, "Believer's Lifestyles,"
Channel 52, Orlando, Florida, 2/2/91, air-date 2/22/91.
136. Interviews, Elijah Coady; Joseph Morse; William Schillereff.
137. Marriage Certificate, Davidson County, Tennessee, 4/25/77.
Marriage "was solemnized by Mar Apriam I."
138. Articles of Incorporation, The Holy Orthodox Catholic Church,
Inc," dated 12/23/81. Pamphlet "This We Believe, Holy Orthodox Catholic
2673
Church, Eastern and Apostolic" is dated 1977, copyright by "His
Beatitude, Mar Apriam I, Patriarch."
139. Articles of Incorporation, 11/19/82, for "The Holy Orthodox
Church in Kentucky, Inc."; Certificate of Assumed Name, 11/4/83, HOCCK
authorized by to do business under name "Mike Warnke & Associates.";
Certificate of Assumed Name, 3/1/88, HOCCK authorized to do business
under name "Warnke Ministries." "HOCCK, Inc. dba" appears on Warnke
Ministries letterhead.
140. Mike Warnke, "The Root of the Problem," CCM, Februrary 2, 1981;
Rose Warnke, "Little Keys Unlock Big Doors," CCM, July 1981, 54; Land
Contract, 7/1/81, for 153 Elm Street, Versailles, between Warnkes and
Virginia Wiglesworth, her husband James, for $180,000.
141. Interviews, Dorothy Green.
142. Interviews, Roxanne Miller.
143. Interviews, Jan Ross.
144. Interviews, Phyllis Swearinger.
145. Deed, Equitable Relocation Management Corporation and Blanche
Hall, 7/29/83, for $235,000. Deed, Blanche Hall and Rose Hall, 3/1/91,
for "the sum of One ($1.00) dollar, cash in hand paid, and the
Grantor's love and affection for her daughter."
146. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, HOCCK, 1984-1990
Forms.
147. Ibid.
148. One well-known example: James G. Friesen, Ph.D., Uncovering the
Mystery of MPD (San Bernardino, Calif.: Here's Life Publishers, 1991),
uses Warnke's book in both text and footnotes to bolster far-reaching
claims concerning a satanic cult conspiracy.
149. Deed, Lelia Mann Brown, et al. and Michael A. Warnke and Rosemary
H. Warnke, 10/28/86, for $20,395.70. Deed, Michael Warnke and Rosemary
Warnke and HOCCK, for "the sum of $1.00 and as a gift, contribution,
and donation."
150. Warnke Ministries Newsletter, 1st Quarter, 1987, 1. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,255 | 151. Ibid.
152. Warnke Ministries Newsletter, 1st Quarter, 1988, p. 2 " . . .
by the time you receive this newsletter, we will be moved into the new
building."
153. Interviews, Dr. John Cooper.
154. Cf. Rose Warnke, Great Pretender, 181, "At ministry
headquarters we get some 50,000 letters and telephone calls each
month."
155. Michael A. Warnke & Rose Hall Warnke, Recovering From Divorce,
2674
(Tulsa: Victory House, Inc.), 22-25.
156. Rose Warnke, Great Pretender, 86.
157. Ibid, 87-88.
158. Ibid, 88-90.
159. Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, 9/4/91.
160. Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, Mercer Circuit Court,
Kentucky (#91-CI-00274), Rose Hall Warnke vs. Michael A. Warnke,
9/4/91; Response, Entry of Appearance, and Waiver by Respondent,
9/4/91; Separation and Property Settlement Agreement, 9/4/91.
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
2675
161. Lynnwood Farm, see above note. Deed, Land Owners, L.P., and
Michael A. Warnke and Rose H. Warnke for new acreage, 4/19/91, for
$525,000.
162. Mortgage, American Fidelity Bank & Trust, Corbin, KY, 9/10/91,
Rose Hall Warnke and Michael A. Warnke for $250,000. Mortgage, State
Bank & Trust Company, Harrodsburg, KY, 9/27/91, Rose Hall Warnke and
Michael A. Warnke, for $31,500.50.
163. Deed, Charles W. Pistole and Michael and Rose Mary Warnke,
5/30/86, for 2001 Salifish Point, Apt. 308, Stuart, FL for $398,000.
Deed, Mary & Clinton Woodard and Michael A. Warnke and Rose H. Warnke,
7/24,89, for Chimney Rock property for $231,500.
164. Final Decree of Dissolution of Marriage, Mercer Circuit Court,
Kentucky (#91-CI-00274), Rose Hall Warnke vs. Michael A. Warnke,
10/2/91.
165. Amy Wolfford, "Official downplays effect of Warnke divorce on
ministry," Danville Advocate-Messenger, 24 Oct. 1991, 1.
166. Undated Warnke Ministries letter (begins "Dear Ministry Family,
It is again the start of a New Year, PRAISE GOD!").
167. License and Certificate of Marriage, Santa Cruz County, CA, 18
Nov. 1991. 43. "Authors Available for Interview," Christian Booksellers
Convention, Dallas, Texas, June 29--July 2, 1992, 15.
168. Warnke & Warnke, ®Recovering From Divorce,¯ 63.
169. Ibid, 164. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,256 | 170. Ibid, 159.
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
2676
The Threefold Goddess
I
To understand the concept of Goddess requires more than the
ability to visualize God as a woman. The Goddess concept is built
around the myth and mystery of the relationship between God and
Goddess, and beneath that, and part of it, Her Threefold Aspect ...
Maiden, Mother and Crone.
One of the oldest recognized Goddess forms is the first Greek
Goddess - Gaia, the Earth Mother; the Universal Womb; Mother of All.
The most ancient Goddesses were most often Earth and Mother Goddesses.
The were worshipped and revered as bearers of life ... fat, healthy,
pregnant and fruitful. As the Goddess concept developed, then came the
Harvest Goddesses, who were also Earth Goddesses. Understand that
this was a time when people did not even understand the basic
mechanics of procreation. Life was very sacred and mystical indeed!
Gradually, myth and mystery developed and revealed themselves,
creating the legend which we honor in the modern Wiccan Craft.
We recognize the Goddess as the mother of all, including her
Mighty Consort, the God. To Her he is Lover and Son, and together
they form the Ultimate, the Omniverse, the Dragon, the Mystery.
Now that is a pretty tough concept all things considered.
Especially in our society as it sounds rather incestuous. From a
mundane perspective, it gets worse as the Wheel of the Year Turns, and
the Oak and Holly Kings battle ... eternal rivals and
sacrificial mates.
In the pages that follow, we will explore the Goddess foundation
concepts and try to reach an understanding of the basis of the
Mystery.
I don't want to get off into all the names of all the Goddesses
in all the mythology in all of history. While that is certainly a
noble endeavor, it is not the objective here. What I do want to do is
look at the Goddess, in whole and in part, and see just who and what
she is.
First and foremost, the Goddess is the symbol of the Cycle of
Everlasting. She is constant, ever present, ever changing, and yet
always the same. She could be compared in that respect to the oceans.
As a part of that, she is that from which we have come, and to
which we will return. She is the Universal Mother, the Cosmic Womb.
While those are largely symbolic images, as opposed to literal ones,
they are important to bear in mind about any aspect of the Goddess.
She never harms, she is Mother.
One of the most difficult throwback mentalities to dispell in a
student is the difference between "dark and light" and "bad and good".
Societally, and often religiously, we are trained to see bad and dark
and evil as being the same. Hence, we are also taught to hate and
fear our own mortality. All too often I see practicing Wiccans, who |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,257 | ought to *know* better, fall back on these concepts when trying to
2677
explain or understand a concept.
The Goddess is dark, she is light, she is birth, she is death,
and she rejoices in all things. With death comes joy, for with death
comes renewal. With life comes joy, for with life comes promise.
With growth comes joy for with growth comes wisdom. Sorrow and fear
are not a part of her, not the way we feel those emotions. She is
incapable of sorrow without joy, she fears nothing, because fear is
not real. It is a creation of the mind.
Whether you see the Goddess as a Warrior Queen, or like the Good
Witch of the North in the Wizard of Oz, she is the Goddess. And she
has many parts and facets which defy comprehension as "One". She
simply IS, and in that, can be whatever you need her to be in order to
establish a relationship with her. But none of that changes what she
IS.
"I greet thee in the many names of the Threefold Goddess and her
Mighty Consort. Athe, malkuth, ve-guburah, ve-gedulah, le-olam, Amen.
Blessed Be."
So here, at the Circle Door, greeted by the High Priest or
Priestess we first see mentioned the Threefold Goddess. Full-sized
covens have three priestesses who take the specific roles of Maiden,
Mother and Crone, the High Priestess being Mother.
The Threefold Goddess however is NOT three entities, she is one.
Her aspects represent Enchantment, Ripeness and Wisdom.
Taking first things first is usually best, so we shall start
with a look at one side of the Maiden.
Quoting "The Myth of the Goddess" as found in Gardenarian Wicca
(Gerald B. Gardner, The Meaning of Witchcraft, Aquarian Press, London,
1959.):
Now Aradia had never loved, but she would solve all the
Mysteries, even the Mystery of Death; and so she journeyed to the
Nether Lands.
The Guardians of the Portals challenged her, "Strip off thy
garments, lay aside thy jewels; for naught may ye bring with ye into
this our land."
So she laid down her garments and her jewels and was bound, as
were all who enter the Realms of Death the Mighty One. Such was her
beauty that Death himself knelt and kissed her feet, saying, "Blessed by
thy feet that have brought thee in these ways. Abide with me, let me
place my cold hand on thy heart." She replied "I love thee not.
Why dost thou cause all things that I love and take delight in to fade
and die?"
"Lady," replied Death, "it is Age and Fate, against which I am
helpless. Age causes all things to wither, but when men die at the
end of time I give them rest and peace, and strength so that they may
return. But thou, thou art lovely. Return not; abide with me."
But she answered, "I love thee not."
2678
Then said Death, "An' thou receive not my hand on thy heart |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,258 | thou must receive Death's scourge."
"It is Fate; better so", she said, and she knelt, and Death
scourged her and she cried "I feel the pangs of love."
And Death said, "Blessed be" and gave her the Fivefold Kiss,
saying "Thus only may ye attain joy and knowledge."
And he taught her all the Mysteries. And they loved and were
one, and he taught her all the Magicks.
For there are three great events in the life of Man: Love,
Death and Resurrection in a new body, and Magick controls them all.
For to fulfill love you must return again at the same time and place
as the loved one, and you must remember and love them again. But to
be reborn you must die, and be ready for a new body; and to die you
must be born; and without love you may not be born. And these be all
the Magicks.
So there in the Gardnerian Myth of the Goddess we have her
Maiden aspect, seeking, searching and opening herself to the
mysteries. But it is well to remember that the Goddess herself is a
mystery, and the primary gift of the Goddess is intuitive Wisdom.
Beltaine (Bealtain) is the only Sabbat where the Goddess is
entirely devoted to the Maiden. Here, she revels in the enchantment,
in the joy of coming into fullness and mating with the God. Here, she
is maiden bride and we can most easily understand that facet of the
Maiden aspect. I should probably note here that some see this
festival as maiden turning into mother, with the maiden being in full at
Candlemas, but I do not agree with that.
Youth, newness, innocence and beauty are fundamental facets of
the Maiden aspect. But beneath those are seeking, and love, and love of
seeking. There is more to understand of the Maiden though.
Enchantment does not end with maidenhood, it is simply the beginning
of the Mystery of Life, for that, above all, is what the Goddess
stands for.
In Circle, in the Balanced Universe, the Maiden takes her place
in the East. In examining this most comfortable quarter, you learn
more about the Maiden Aspect. East (Air) rules the free mind and
intellect. It is the place to seek the ability to learn and to open
spiritually, to open your mind and find answers. It is a masculine
quarter, ruled by intellect, and analytical logic, but she brings to
it an intuition which is required to use these to best advantage.
"The river is flowing, flowing and growing, the river is flowing
back to the sea. Mother carry me, a child I will always be. Mother
carry me, back to the sea."
This Circle chant, sung in joy, sung in sorrow, is a cry to the
Mother Aspect for comfort and warmth, a power chant calling upon the
steady power and fullness of the Mother and a plea for guidance.
While the Earth Mother, and the fully aspected Goddess are placed
North in the Earth quarter, the Mother aspect alone belongs in the
west.
2679
Comfort and love rule here. Emotions, sorrow, joy, tears, these
belong to the ripeness of the Mother. Caring and loving for all her
children, watching in pain and pride as they struggle to gain their
own, knowing full well she could reach out and do it for them, but
being both bound and desirous to let them do it for themselves. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,259 | There is a considerable difference, as you might have interpreted
from the above, between the Earth Mother and the Mother Aspect of the
Goddess. That is why we've started with her quarter, because it
reveals the limitations of the Aspect.
The Mother aspect is ripeness, the ancient bearing of fruit,
child and grain. She represents emotion and sexuality. The Goddess
in that aspect is most of the altar (as discussed in the Great Rite
lesson.) It is interesting to note the practice in numerous ancient
cultures of lovemaking or outright sex magick in cornfields to help
make the corn grow.
The Dark Mother should also be placed here, although culturally, I
have a tendancy to think of the Dark Mother as more in keeping the
Crone Aspect. It is a bit of work to see the Dark Mother in the West,
to separate Dark Mother from Crone, but it is worthwile. If you have
any background with the tarot I would suggest you take it in that
context, it is beyond the scope of this text.
Our exploration of the Goddess and her Aspects brings us now to
the Crone. For me, the Crone is the most fascinating of the Aspects
of the Goddess. Partly I suppose because she is the most mysterious
and paradoxical.
"Blessed Goddess, old and wise, open mine, thy child's, eyes.
Speak to me in whispered tones that I may know the rune of Crones."
With life and growth comes age and wisdom, and the Crone is this
in part. She holds fire and power, which wisely used can be of great
benefit, but hold great danger for the unaware. Hers are the secrets of
death and of life, and the mystery beyond the mystery.
Part of the pleasure in knowing the Crone aspect is that while,
unlike the fully aspected Goddess, she is not also Maiden and Mother,
she does retain the experiences of both those Aspects in order to be
Crone. The Crone, wizened though she is, must still be able to reach
into herself and recall the innocent joys and high passions of the
Maiden and the love and warmth of the Mother. To be Crone and to not
have forgotten, to still be able to experience Maiden and Mother is,
to me, very appealing. More importantly, to be comfortable in that
Aspect, where you have truth and knowledge but have left youth and
physical beauty behind, and to still _feel_ youth and beauty without
being desirous of them is an admirable quality.
Crone is the least paralleled Aspect of the Goddess to our human
society. We discard our old and wise, not understanding their value
as teachers and models, and fearing their appearance as a reminder of
our own mortality.
Knowing Crone is a door we much each open for ourselves for to know
and love her is to cast aside a great many of our cultural and societal
malteachings.
2680
While the individual Aspects of Threefold Goddess are certainly
valid concepts and paths to knowing Goddess, I should caution that most
mythological Goddess figures are composite Goddesses. Earth Mother
Goddess figures are fully aspected Goddess by definition because they
represent the full cycle of the Wheel. Most other Goddess figures can
be classified as having a dominant (or operative) aspect and recessive
(promised, or in some cases past) aspect. Future and past should not be
taken literally, mythological Goddess figures are always whatever they
are eternally, they do not tend to change (ie age). |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,260 | Maiden Goddesses possessing their operative in the Huntress or
Warrior aspects most often have a promise of Crone. Maiden Goddesses
expressing their dominance in beauty and/or love usually have their
recessive aspect as Mother. For example, Athena is a Maiden Goddess
with Crone attributes (the combination produces many Mother-type
qualities, and this results in the Crone aspected Maiden being the
most complete of the Mythological Goddesses, with the exception of
Earth Mother Goddesses.) Aphrodite is of course a Maiden Goddess with
Mother attributes.
Similarly, Dark Mother Goddess figures mostly find their promise in
Crone and Light Mother figures their recessive in Maiden. Crone
recessives work the same way, although sometimes it takes a bit of
close examination to find the "hidden" aspect.
One should note that this is not a formula, rather a tool to
assist in examining and understanding Goddess figures and creating
one's own personal spiritual link with Goddess. It is also a useful
consideration when invoking a specific Goddess with purpose in ritual.
The purpose of this course has been to open avenues of approach
in discovering and developing a relationship with Goddess. For me
personally, I do not "believe" in the reality of mythological Goddess
figures as they were presented, but I do believe they are a valid way to
establish communication with Goddess. I also believe Goddess will
appear in whatever form we are most ready to accept. The real
Goddess, by my belief (and this is personal, not trad) is an entity
beyond my comprehension, perhaps composed of light (could 5000 sci-fi
films be wrong?), most assuredly unlike anything I could ever imagine in
true form. However, I do find mythological Goddess figures highly
useful for ritual, and of some help in my personal relationship with
Goddess. I hope you will too.
Blessed Be
Eileen
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
2681
Being A Witch in Britain Today
by James Pengelly
Written for the Newcastle University Conference; Encounters of
Religion
I am regional co-ordinator for the Pagan Federation (PF) for
Humberside, North Yorkshire and the counties that form the
northeast of England up to the Scottish Borders. The PF was
founded in 1971 by a group of Gardnerian Witches, the object of
it being to counter what was perceived as being popular
misconceptions about Witchcraft.
The main reason for the existence of the PF remains largely
unchanged, as the last few years have seen what can only be
described as an onslaught by various fundamentalist Christian
organisations who have latched on to the unfortunate and sad
matter of child abuse to which they have added the word "Satanic'
as a means by which they can attack and defame the occult in
general, and Witchcraft in particular.
I will return to this matter elsewhere in this lecture, but I
mention it now to illustrate the importance of our
anti-defamation work. In addition, the Pagan Federation acts as
a networking organisation to put people who share views on
religious and spiritual matters in touch with one another, to |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,261 | enable them to get together, discuss and learn, and experience
further.
The third important aspect to our work is to increase awareness
of the spiritual and cultural heritage of this country. Given
that many, if not most, of our customs and traditions have their
roots set deep in our Pagan past and that our countryside is rich
in the physical remains of this we feel that a positive promotion
of this inheritance is vital to a fuller understanding of who we
are.
The topic of this lecture is Being A Witch In Britain Today. Now
I think that when one mentions the word, "Witch" to the average
member of the public, the image that is immediately conjured up
is one of a wizened old hag boiling up an extremely noxious brew
in some bubbling cauldron, probably on a windswept moor
somewhere. This is of course Shakespearian in its perception, but
unfortunately, whatever his intentions were at the time he wrote
Macbeth, William Shakespeare did Witchcraft a considerable
disservice, because this image has stuck. In addition, the public
is very much subject to conditioning laid down in the Middle Ages
by the Church, through historical accounts of Witch trials, which
were heavily biased. Consequently it is hardly surprising that
the image the general public has is of nasty, evil, thoroughly
bad people riding around on broomsticks at dead of night creating
havoc all over the place, poisoning people right left and centre,
doing unspeakable things with goats, not to mention chickens,
frogs, toads, cats, and sundry other animals. All in all not very
nice people!
It is interesting to note that even in this day and age, many
people are still very superstitious when it comes to magic, the
occult, Witchcraft and so on. In addition to the historical
2682
misconceptions about Witches and Witchcraft, I would go as far
as saying that people still have a deeply rooted superstitious
attitude, and that while some may automatically dismiss out of
hand Witches having any sort of magical power, deep down, the
majority of people still harbour deep rooted fears about this
sort of thing being possible.
At a time when mankind has seemingly achieved so much in the
field of science, when there is so little mystery left in life
because everything has been rationalised and explained, and
developed beyond that which our ancestors were able to
comprehend, the fact that people do still harbour superstitions
and worries about Witchcraft and the occult in general does not
altogether surprise me. If one removes the mystery from life, one
has nothing left with which to replace it, and one has to look
to that which one cannot explain. The problem being that man has
for countless generations been frightened by that which he cannot
explain. And this is why we are now living in the scientific age,
because man has purposely set out to explain that of which he is
afraid. The thing being that there is very little left that man
cannot explain. And one of the areas that he cannot explain is,
of course, magic, Witchcraft and the occult.
Let us for a moment, examine the term, "occult". Occult simply
means 'that which is hidden'. The term has been used for
centuries to explain the general workings of the universe. The
creation of fire would have, at some point in time, been regarded
as magic. Why things moved when they were subject to certain
power sources such as steam would have been deemed magic before |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,262 | the principles were understood. Illnesses were originally
considered to be occult based. You could impose an illness on
a neighbour or friend if you had the magical power to do it. But
of course, none of these things were actually magical in any
sense. The magic lay in the fact that a lot of people didn't
understand what was going on. Those who did have an understanding
of what was going on were perceived as having some sort of power.
The biblical phrase, "Thou shalt not suffer a Witch to live", is
in this context quite revealing because in its original format,
the word, "Witch", did not actually translate as Witch, it
translated as "poisoner". And there is no doubt that the original
village Witch would have in her own way been a doctor of sorts,
in that she or he would have understood the uses of various herbs
for good purposes and for bad purposes. And could quite probably
been paid to use that knowledge to achieve the results for which
she was being paid, to either kill or cure. Consequently, the
village Witch, was someone to be feared, and respected.
As the Christian Church took hold, the older Pagan ways were
perceived as something to be got rid of. I do not think this was
particularly a spiritual battle. It was a power battle. It was
simply a matter of one religious-political system wishing to gain
control over another. And as Christianity grew in strength,
largely through fear and oppression, the old ways were presented
as being evil and wicked, and not to be tolerated.
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
2683
This situation remained largely extant until 1951, when the last
laws remaining on the English statute book against Witchcraft
were repealed, and what is now commonly referred to as the
British Revivalist Craft came to light. The fact that it had, in
some form or another, managed to survive over countless
generations was, in itself, quite a surprising thing. But we now
know that what are often referred to as the Hereditary Craft and
the Traditional Craft were to a certain extent passed down from
generation to generation either within specific families or
small, invariably farming, communities. It was this that the late
Dr Gerald Gardener is thought to have discovered, and built up
into what is today known as the Revivalist Craft. His work was
later developed by others such as Alex Sanders who founded the
Alexandrian Craft and, more recently, by Janet and Stewart
Farrar. Their works are very well known, popular, and easily
available, and they have created what is sometimes jokingly
referred to as the Farrarian Craft; a hybrid mixture of
Gardenerian, Alexandrian and their own methods of working.
Being a Witch today in this country is not necessarily a hard
thing, but nor is necessarily an easy thing. There is still a
great deal of superstitious prejudice and nonsense held against
Witches. And this is fermented, and that is the only word I can
think of, to a large extent by certain areas of our national
media, in particular the more lurid tabloid press, and of course
Christian fundamentalist groups, who have over the last few years
started to expand at a rather alarming, and for many
non-Christians, a rather frightening rate. The phenomena of
Christian fundamentalism is something which has largely been
imported to this country from America, where it has been a
populist Christian movement for many, many years. One only has
to look at the news over the last few years concerning some
American fundamentalist leaders to realise that basically, they
are like so many of us human beings, subject to all the little
foibles that human beings are generally subject to, that they are
just as easily led astray as any of us can be. The rising issue |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,263 | of fundamentalism is, as I say, quite a frightening thing because
it seeks to impose a set of standards, a set of behaviour, and
a set of religious beliefs, on everyone, which no-one is
permitted to question. This is one reason why we find so many
people are now turning to Paganism in its broadest sense, and to
Wicca in particular. (Wicca being the commonly used modern term
for Witchcraft.) They turn to us because they are disillusioned
with the level of dogma and the level of imposition they find
within established Christian traditions, be they Church of
England, Roman Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, or some of the more
extreme fundamentalist sects.
People seem now to be dividing into groups. There are those who
are 'the led' and they search for leaders. And when they find a
leader who is prepared to tell them what to do, when to do it,
how to think, how not to think and so on, they latch onto that
and they go on quite happy in their own way because they want to
be told. On the other hand there are an increasing number of
people who are prepared to listen to what others have to say but
then like to go away and make their own minds up about things,
and work things out for themselves. And we are finding more and
more that this is what Paganism in general and Wicca in
2684
particular is providing. It is providing people with the means
by which they can form deeply personal relationships with their
own particular perceptions of deity. They can work with that
perception. They can utilise it within a framework that is,
generally speaking, of a very high moral and ethical standard.
And the idea that Witches are evil, nasty, wicked people who go
around sticking pins in little lumps of wax shaped into the form
of a person containing lumps of fingernail and pieces of hair and
other sundry bodily parts, is being increasingly recognised as
grossly untrue. We have to bear in mind that a lot of the popular
perceptions of the Witch are, as I have already said, largely
determined by historical records. Historical records written by
people in whose interest it was to defame the Witch, and to
register her, or him, as an evil person, but even these are now
being challenged by more and more people.
So, as I've said, being a Witch in this country today is not
always an easy thing. On the one hand, you can meet with extreme
prejudice, on the other hand you can equally meet with extreme
derision. A number of perfectly normal, sane, rational people
that I know of think that the fact that I am a Witch is a huge
joke. I am very used to people asking me "When can I come round
to your house and take all my clothes off?." My usual response
to which is "Any time you like providing I'm not having my tea
at the time, or watching Coronation Street, but believe me pal,
you're on your own." I personally find that this is the best way
to approach this sort of thing. If you can turn the question into
a joke aimed at yourself, people are happy with that and feel
comfortable with that, and will go away thinking that basically
you're a pretty decent sort of person with just some very strange
ideas. If, on the other hand, you become intensely defensive, the
opposite can be true because they will assume that you have
something to hide, something which you don't wish to talk about.
And we all know that faced with that sort of situation the human
mind is capable of conjuring up all sorts of unpleasant images.
So I stand before you today proclaiming myself to be a Witch. I
do not particularly like using the term, but it is a term with
which most people are familiar, so within the context of this
lecture, I am happy to use it. And I stand before you here, not
a wizened old crone, dressed in rags and tatters with a big wart |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,264 | on the end of her nose, but, I hope, a fairly presentable man in
his early middle age, who has a very respectable job. I have a
house, a mortgage, a small daughter, I am like many people of my
generation, separated from my wife, for purely personal reasons.
I am, to all intents and purposes an ordinary person. And yet I
stand before you here, and tell you I am a Witch.
What does this mean for me personally? Basically, like most
Witches, I am a Pagan. I believe in the Old Religion. The
religion that was worldwide before Christianity or Hinduism, or
Islam took a hold on large areas of the world. Once upon a time,
whether people like to admit it or not, the whole world was
Pagan. Paganism then was vastly different from Paganism today.
There are those who go round saying that they are practising
pre-Christian Paganism. I would say, that while they are not
necessarily deluding themselves, they are mis-leading themselves.
What we are practising today is the spirit of ancient Paganism.
We cannot possibly practise ancient Paganism, because if we were
2685
doing so, we would be indulging in such things as blood
sacrifice, and so on and so forth, which forms no part of modern
Pagan tradition.
Witchcraft is a sub-system of broad Paganism. Most Witches regard
it as the mystery aspect of Paganism. The mystery aspect being
that one searches for the spark of the ultimate divine source,
which is inherent in each one of us, in the hope that one can
find it, come to terms with it, and accept it as part of
ourselves.
Most Pagans believe in an ultimate creative source. Christians
call it God. We believe that there exists, somewhere out there
in the wider universe, the source of all creation. We do not
give it a name, we do not give it a form. It is, to our way of
thinking, entirely neutral. It is all things in one thing. It is
all things and it is nothing. It is largely beyond our reach.
Some people aspire to attain union with the ultimate, very, very
few people ever reach it. Consequently, most Pagans will choose
to leave it alone.
It is unreachable. And it is unaware of our existence, because
it is neutral in form. What we do is we aspect it; we split it
into the various components which form it. The ultimate split is
gender, male and female. If the ultimate creative source is all
things, then it must have male and female aspects. So the
ultimate male aspect is 'The God', the ultimate female aspect is
'The Goddess'. Below this one can continue splitting into various
other aspects as one chooses, until one gets down to a level of
elementals, nature spirits, and so on and so forth. The idea
being, that all natural things coming from the ultimate creative
source contain a spark of that creative source, and consequently
all things are inherently sacred. We reject entirely the
Christian concept that man is born sinful, and has to spend the
whole of his life begging forgiveness for sins real and
imaginary. We believe that it is because of this attitude that
mankind does a lot of the things he does. If you bring somebody
up and condition them to believe that they are inherently bad,
they are going to react in that way.
Pagans and Witches believe that man is born inherently sacred,
and it is what he himself does with his life that makes him bad
or good. It is nothing to do with God, the Gods, the Goddesses
or anything else. Consequently, Paganism and Witchcraft are |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,265 | extremely responsible forms of religious practice in that they
teach that we are responsible for what we do and the effect that
it has for those around us, both immediately and out in the wider
world. We believe in what is commonly referred to as 'the ripple
effect'. Drop a stone in a pond, and it will create ripples which
will go on and on until they reach the bank and are forced to
stop. If you regard the universe as a very large ocean, everytime
one of us does something, we create a ripple effect. The ripples,
on a universal scale, may be imperceptible, but they are there
none the less. And if we regard life in that way, we need to
immediately take stock of that which we do and act upon it.
Now obviously it is not possible to take this sort of philosophy
to an extreme, otherwise, one would literally do nothing. If one
flushes the toilet one is potentially adding to sea pollution.
2686
If one turns an electric light on, one is potentially adding to
air pollution. Whatever one does, somewhere along the line is
likely to have a detrimental effect on someone.
The Witch or Pagan will judge what he or she is doing with his
or her life and will try and determine the least harmful way of
living. It requires a great deal of thought, it requires a great
deal of honesty and self analysis and not a small amount of
self-sacrifice. it forces one to look at how one relates to
oneself, and life around us, because we believe that all natural
things on this world are sacred, and therefore to be treated with
respect.
So, what then, is our relationship with our perception of
divinity? As 1 have already mentioned, we personalise aspects of
the ultimate creative source. These personalisations can be drawn
from one or another of the existing Pagan pantheons, such as
Norse, Greek, Roman or Egyptian, or they can be done on a much
more personal level where the individual will somehow personalise
whatever aspect of divinity they wish to work with in that moment
in time. Most Witches have the Great Goddess, and the Horned God.
(The horns, incidentally have absolutely nothing to do with the
concept of the devil having horns. And are usually, in this
country, personified as being deer's antlers being simply symbols
of power and strength.) The Great Goddess is seen as being the
Mother of all things, the Horned God, her consort who is also
frequently linked with the Sun as the All Father.
Below that, we have the Triple Goddess, whose symbol is the Moon,
the Maid, the Mother, and the Crone. And then there are any
number of other personifications largely based on the individual
preference of the person or group, doing whatever it is they're
doing. This may seem to be an immensely complicated system, and
indeed it sometimes takes a great deal of understanding. But you
have to relate it to the natural seasonal cycle, or festivals,
that most Pagans, whatever their traditions, will follow.
The seasonal cycle basically follows the agricultural and solar
cycle of the year. We have eight major festivals.
The first, and possibly the most important, is Samhain, spelled
S-A-M-H-A-I-N, commonly known as Hallowe'en, and is thought to
have been the time when the ancient Celts celebrated the new
year. It was the end of one agricultural year and the beginning
of the next. It was the final onset of Winter. It was, as it is
commonly regarded today, also a festival of the dead. The modern
concept today of ghosts and ghoulies and long-leggedy beasties
and things that go bump in the night, stemmed directly from the
Celtic feast of the dead. This is not some necrophiliac intention |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,266 | of summoning up spirits for evil purposes, it was/is simply a
time when one reflects on the memories of lost loved ones, lost
friends, and hopes to gain some insight into one's own life from
the lessons that we can learn from those who have gone before us.
It is interesting to note that, even in its christianised form,
Halloween, or All Hallows Eve is still a festival of the dead.
The mid-Winter Solstice is, of course, Yule, an Anglo-Saxon word
so old its meaning is now completely forgotten. It has been
suggested that that it could mean 'wheel', and within a Pagan or
2687
a Wiccan context the year is often referred to as "the wheel of
the year", in that it turns on, and on. Yule celebrates the
re-birth of the Sun. It is indeed interesting that Christians
should have taken this festival to mark the birth of Christ, when
what historical evidence we have seems to suggest that Christ was
actually either born in March or September.
From then we move on to Imbolc, christianised as Candlemas, which
represents the first stirring of Spring and the gradual return
of light. We then have the Spring Equinox, which when the earth
comes back fully to life, and has become largely associated with
Easter. Many people today do not realise that Easter is a
moveable feast because the date of Easter is set on the first
Sunday after the first full Moon after the Spring Equinox. And
if that isn't a Pagan concept, I really don't know what is. In
fact, the very name "Easter" comes from the Anglo-Saxon fertility
Goddess "Eostre" and many of the items traditionally associated
with Easter such as eggs and rabbits are directly derived from
Pagan ideas and symbols.
Then follows Beltane, which is interesting in that it is the only
Pagan holiday which does not have a Christian counterpoint. This
is probably because of its overtly sexual nature. It is
interesting that children conceived at Beltane were invariably
born on or around Imbolc, which is lambing time in the sheep
farmers year. Ewe's milk would have been important in the past
to strengthen children for the last part of Winter and to give
them strength to grow through the Spring and Summer.
After Beltane we have of course the Summer Solstice, mid-Summer,
which represents the Sun at its height. Solstices and Equinoxes
all being solar festivals. The union of Sun and Earth to produce
the harvest that is to come. Lugnassadh, commonly referred to as
Lammas, which literally means loaf-mass from the Anglo-Saxon, is
the start of the harvest. It is the time when we prepare to cut
down that which the union of the Sun and the Earth Mother has
provided for us. The Autumn equinox is the harvest festival. A
time to rest and relax after the harvest has been collected. And
then we come back again to Samhain, or Halloween.
So as you can see, we follow a very natural cycle. Rituals and
ceremonies can vary immensely from group to group, or individual
to individual. But each one, whenever it is done, will consist
of some sort of symbolic, what I can only describe as 'drama',
that reflects what we see going on in the world around us, and
how we perceive the Gods and Goddesses of Paganism or Witchcraft
as playing a part in that. There is a lot of talk about the use
of spirit powers and so on and so forth, and many Christians
perceive this as being inherently very, very dangerous.
Spiritualism, as it is commonly perceived, plays very little part
in Wicca. It is not something that we believe should be played
around with. We will invoke on one another the spirit of a |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,267 | particular God or a particular Goddess dependent on what we are
doing at the time. But all we are asking that particular God or
Goddess to do is imbibe us with something of their power,
something of their insight. It is basically an intensely
psychological thing. Because, as we all know, if one stands in
front of a mirror saying "every day and every way, I am getting
2688
better and better", then one is likely to grow in
self-confidence. The concept is pretty much the same.
So, as we can see, Witches are not horrible evil people, but
generally, quite ordinary nice decent people who have chosen to
try and relate more to the natural things around us than some far
distant imperceptible god-form. But what of magic? Witchcraft
is obviously very closely associated with the use of magic. So
what is magic?
Magic was once described as 'the art of causing change in
conformity with will'. Put more basically, this simply means mind
over matter. Causing something to happen simply by the strength
of your own mind. This is perhaps a bit too far fetched for a
great many people to accept, but when one considers the nature
of prayer, one has a concept which is easier to understand. For
most Witches, an act of magic is simply a form of prayer. You
will seek the attention of a particular God or a particular
Goddess, and you will ask her or him to assist you in something
that you want done. Surely, this is no different from anyone
going into a church or synagogue, kneeling down, and saying,
"please God, help me".
It is true that Witches will dress that up in some way and use
items of equipment and paraphernalia which are alien to a church,
mosque, or synagogue. These are primarily nothing more than
psychological props, means by which the individual can focus
their attention on something. Using the appropriate equipment at
the appropriate time aided by appropriate colours and scents are
all means by which one can focus one's mind onto a specific
point. Like anything, our acts of magic do not necessarily always
produce the desired result. But we choose to believe that if it
does not happen, it is because it is not meant to happen, rather
than we are not worthy of it happening.
Many people talk of white and black magic. This is an entirely
Christian concept; we do not accept the terms white or black
magic. Magic is a neutral force which is used by the individual
and it is what the individual does with it that makes it white
or black. But most Witches, in using the powers that they have
available to them will consider the implications of what they are
doing, and will think very seriously about undertaking any act
of magic which could prove detrimental to any-one or anything
which cannot be justified morally and spiritually.
If the Craft has any "laws" as such they apply to the use of
magic in a more obvious way than any-where else, and there are
basically two such "laws".
The first is more of an ethic - "An it harm none-do what thou
will". On the face of it this seems to offer carte-blanche to do
what you want as long as no-one gets hurt but if regarded within
the context of the "ripple effect" mentioned earlier the
relevance and importance of it becomes clearer.
In addition to this, most Wiccans subscribe to what is usually
referred to as the "Law of Threefold Return" which basically |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,268 | means that the result of an act will reflect on the instigator
times three. As you will possibly appreciate, this is worth
2689
serious consideration if what one is undertaking is potentially
or deliberately harmful.
Between the clearly "white" or "black" areas of magic however
lies the "grey" area. This is hard to define as it depends
largely on the conscience of the individual but whatever the
shade, a Witch will never undertake any act of magic without
serious consideration of all the matters and questions
surrounding it.
To go back to the matter of Satanic child-abuse, the suggestion
that there exists some sort of organised conspiracy of Satanic
based child abuse is nonsense. It is a myth created entirely by
so-called Christian extremists whose intention is to ferment a
modern Witchhunt in exactly the same way as the Nazis fermented
action against the Jews. There is no question of that. Whilst I
would not deny that there may be some sick, criminal perverts,
who utilise the cover of the occult in general and Witchcraft in
particular, to abuse children, these people are not Witches, they
are sick and evil perverts who deserve the full weight of the law
to fall upon them.
To specifically identify Wicca with child abuse is criminally
irresponsible as it brands a huge number of totally innocent
people as potential child abusers, and given that it is an
intensely emotive issue, there is a real risk of a lynch mob
mentality being provoked, with all the horror that it implies.
If we are to judge a whole belief system on the strength of the
activities of a few perverts, one could equally point the finger
at the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church, both of
whom have suffered from the publicity of members of their own
clergies being caught for this very crime.
Recently, in this country alone, there have been several
instances of Church of England and Roman Catholic clergy abusing
children, and there is evidence to suggest that it is rife within
the Roman Catholic church in America. I pass no judgement on the
churches for that. This is down to individuals, and again, we
come back to the concept of individual responsibility for one's
own actions.
For a Witch to abuse a child is total anathema. It is contrary
to everything that we hold close to our hearts. Our children are
our future. If we abuse them, we run the risk of turning them
into abusers. Apart from the fact that in abusing them, we abuse
that which is part of the sacred, the ultimate divine source.
Children born in love and unity are sacred and to be treated as
such. There is no evidence, other than in the minds of those that
make the allegations, that so-called Satanic abuse exists.
As to the future, and what we would like; basically all we seek
is the acceptance of society to be what we are, and to practise
what we choose to practise. We do not seek to impose ourselves
on anybody, or anything. We wish more than anything else, to
exist in harmony with members of other religions, who have the
perfect right to believe what they choose to believe. All we ask
is that they afford us that same right. Nobody has the right to
impose their values on any other person, other than in a purely
secular sociological situation where rules and regulations are
2690 |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,269 | necessary to avoid total anarchy.
On the spiritual level, the individual has the right to choose
what form of religion he or she will follow, and how he or she
will perceive his/her own God. When one looks around the world
today, one can see that many of the conflicts going on in places
like Yugoslavia, and Northern Ireland have a religious basis.
They are based on one group of people trying to impose its
religious form on another. This, we feel, is entirely wrong.
Since the onset of Christianity, it has been the fact that one
religion has tried to impose itself on another. Millions of
people have died in modern times for this very reason. And so
much harm, and so much suffering, and so much pain could have
been avoided if mankind only accepted that one person has no
right to impose his religious will on another. We do not ask for
converts. We do not actively seek converts. All we ask is that
we be left alone in peace, to do that which we feel is right. We
would dearly love to work in harmony with members of other
religions, towards a greater good. Surely, although we walk along
different paths, our ultimate aim should be the same - to achieve
a world that can live in peace with itself.
We believe that our way is one way to achieve that. We do not say
that it is the only way, we say that it is one way. Our paths may
not meet, they may certainly not cross, but they run in parallel,
and if we can hold hands across the divides that exist between
us, surely, the world will be a better place. We have a great
deal in common. Each religion professes a love of humanity. Each
religion professes a love of the world that surrounds us, and yet
so few of those religions that profess those beliefs, do very
much about it. We do not say, as I have already said, that ours
is the only way, the one way, the true way. There is no one true
way. The Arabs I think have a saying, and I may have this wrong,
that there are a million ways to God, and it is for each one of
us to find his or her own way. This, we feel, is a fundamental
truth. We believe passionately, that the world could be a better
place if half the people in it stopped trying to impose their
will on the other half. We have no desire to do this. We wish to
move forward with others who may or may not share our beliefs to
a better world.
This paper may be freely copied or re-published providing it is
copied or re-published in its entirety without changes, and
authorship credited to James Pengelly, Pagan Federation.
James Pengelly
The Pagan Federation,
BM Box 7097,
London WCIN 3XX.
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
2691
RITUAL THEORY AND TECHNIQUE
Copyright Colin Low 1990
([email protected])
1. Introduction
2. Magical Consciousness
3. Limitation
4. Essential Steps
5. Maps & Correspondences
6. Conclusion |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,270 | 1. Introduction
These notes attempt to say something useful about magical
ritual. This is difficult, because ritual is invented, and any
sequence of actions can be ritualised and used to symbolise
anything; but then something similar can be said about words and
language, and that doesn't prevent us from trying to communicate,
so I will make the attempt to say something useful about ritual,
and try to steer a path between the Scylla of anthropology and
sweeping generalisations, and the Charybdis of cultish
parochialism. My motivation for writing this is my belief that
while any behaviour can be ritualised, and it is impossible to
state "magical ritual consists of this" or "magical ritual
consists of that", some magical rituals are better than others.
This raises questions of what I mean by "goodness" or "badness",
"effectiveness" or "ineffectiveness" in the context of magical
work, and I intend to duck this with a pragmatic reply. A magical
ritual is "good" if it achieves its intention without undesired
side effects, and it is "bad" if the roof falls on your head.
Underlying this definition is another belief: that magical ritual
taps a raw and potentially dangerous (and certainly amoral)
psychic force which has to be channelled and directed;
traditional forms of magical ritual do that and are not so
arbitrary as they appear to be.
An outline of ceremonial magical ritual (in the basic form
in which it has been handed down in Europe over the centuries) is
that the magician works within a circle and uses consecrated
tools and the magical names of various entities to evoke or
invoke Powers. It seems to work. Or at least it works for some
people some of the time. How *well* does it work? That's a fair
question, and not an easy one to answer, as there is too much ego
at stake in admitting that one's rituals don't always work out.
My rituals don't always work - sometimes nothing appears to
happen, sometimes I get unexpected side effects. The same is true
of those magicians I know personally, and I suspect the same is
true of most people. Even at the mundane level, if you've ever
tried to recreate a "magical moment" in a relationship, you will
know that it is hard to stand in the same river twice - there is
an elusive and wandering spark which all too often just wanders.
In summary, I like to know why some rituals work better than
others, and why some, even when that elusive spark is present, go
sour and call up all the wrong things - these notes contain some
of my conclusions. As I have tried to lift the rug and look
underneath the surface, the approach is abstract in places; I
2692
prefer to be practical rather than theoretical, but if magic is
to be anything other than a superstitious handing-down of mumbo-
jumbo, we need a model of what is happening, a causality of magic
against which it is possible to make value judgements about what
is good and bad in ritual. Traditional models of angels, spirits,
gods and goddesses, ancestral spirits and so on are useful up to
a point, but these are not the end of the story, and in
penetrating beyond these "intermediaries" the magician is forced
to confront the nature of consciousness itself and become
something of a mystic.
The idea that the physical universe is the end product of a
"process of consciousness" is virtually a first principle of
Eastern esoteric philosophy, it is at the root of the Kabbalistic
doctrine of emanation and the sephiroth, and it has been adopted
by many twentieth century magicians as a useful complement to |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,271 | whatever traditional model of magic they were weaned on - once
one has accepted that it is possible to create "thought-forms"
and "artificial elementals" and "telesmic images", it is a small
step to admitting that the gods, goddesses, angels, and spirits
of traditonal magic may have no reality outside of the
consciousness which creates and sustains them. This is what I
believe personally on alternate days of the week. On the
remaining days I am happy to believe in the reality of gods,
goddesses, archangels, elementals, ancestral spirits etc. - in
common with many magicians I sit on the fence in an interesting
way. There is a belief among some magicians that while gods,
goddesses etc may be the creations of consciousness, on a par
with money and the Bill of Rights, such things take on a life of
their own and can be treated as if they were real, so while I
take the view that magic is ultimately the manipulation of
consciousness, you will find me out there calling on the Powers
with as much gusto as anyone else.
2. Magical Consciousness
The principle function of magical ritual is to cause well-defined
changes in consciousness. There are other (non-magical) kinds of
ritual and ceremony - social, superstitious, celebratory etc -
carried out for a variety of reasons, but magical ritual can be
distinguished by its emphasis on causing shifts in consciousness
to states not normally attainable, with a consequence of causing
effects which would be considered impossible or improbable by
most people in this day and age.
The realisation that the content of magical ritual is a
means to an end, the end being the deliberate manipulation of
consciousness, is an watershed in magical technique. Many people,
particularly the non-practicing general public, believe there is
something inherently magical about ritual, that it can be done,
like cooking, from a recipe book; that prayers, names of powers,
fancy candles, crystals, five-pointed stars and the like have an
intrinsic power which works by itself, and it is only necessary
to be initiated into all the details and hey presto! - you can do
it. I believe this is (mostly) wrong. Symbols do have magical
power, but not in the crude sense implied above; magical power
comes from the conjunction of a symbol and a person who can bring
that symbol to life, by directing and limiting their
2693
consciousness through the symbol, in the manner of icing through
an icing gun. Magical power comes from the person (or people),
not from the superficial trappings of ritual. The key to ritual
is the manipulation and shifting of consciousness, and without
that shift it is empty posturing.
So let us concentrate on magical consciousness, and how it
differs from the state of mind in which we normally carry out our
business in the world. Firstly, there isn't a sudden quantum jump
into an unusual state of mind called magical consciousness. All
consciousness is equally magical, and what we call magical
depends entirely on what we consider to be normal and take for
granted. There is a continuum of consciousness spreading away
from the spot where we normally hang our hat, and the potential
for magic depends more on the appropriateness of our state for
what we are trying to achieve than it does on peculiar trance
states. When I want to boil an egg I don't spend three days
fasting and praying to God; I just boil an egg. One of the
characteristics of my "normal" state of consciousness is that I
understand how to boil an egg, but from many alternative states |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,272 | of consciousness it is a magical act of the first order. So what
I call magical consciousness differs from normal consciousness
only in so far as it is a state less appropriate for boiling
eggs, and more appropriate for doing other things.
Secondly, there isn't one simple flavour of magical
consciousness; the space of potential consciousness spreads out
along several different axes, like moving in a space with several
different dimensions, and that means the magician can enter a
large number of distinct states, all of which can be considered
different aspects of magical consciousness.
Lastly, it is normal to shift our consciousness around in
this space during our everyday lives, so there is nothing unusual
in shifting consciousness to another place. This makes magical
consciousness hard to define, because it isn't something so
extraordinary after all. Nevertheless, there is a difference
between walking across the road and walking around the world, and
there are differences between what I call normal and magical
consciousness, even though they are arbitrary markers in a
continuum. There is a difference in magnitude, and there is a
difference in the "magnitude of intent", that is, will. Magic
takes us beyond the normal; it disrupts cosy certainties; it
explores new territory. Like new technology, once it becomes part
of everyday life it stops being "magical" and becomes "normal".
We learn the "magic of normal living" at an early age and forget
the magic of it; normal living affects us in ways which the
magician recognises as magical, but so "normal" that it is
difficult to realise what is going on. From the point of view of
magical consciousness, "normal life" is seen to be a complex
magical balancing act, like a man who keeps a hundred plates
spinning on canes at the same time and is always on the point of
losing one. Magical consciousness is not the extraordinary state:
normal life is. The man on the stage is so busy spinning his
plates he can spend no time doing anything else.
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
2694
A characteristic of magical consciousness which
distinguishes it from normal consciousness is that in most
magical work the magician moves outside the "normally accessible"
region of consciousness. Most "normal people" will resist an
attempt to shift their consciousness outside the circle of
normality, and if too much pressure is applied they panic, throw-
up, become ill, have hysterics, call the police or a priest or a
psychiatrist, or end up permanently traumatised. Sometimes they
experience a blinding but one-sided illumination and become
fanatics for a one-sided point of view. Real, detectable shifts
in consciousness outside the "normal circle" are to be entered
into warily, and the determined ritualist treads a thin line
between success, and physical and psychical illness. A neophyte
in Tibet swears that he or she is prepared to risk madness,
disease and death, and in my personal experience this is not
melodramatic - the risks are real enough. It depends on
temperament and constitution - some people wander all over the
planes of consciousness with impunity, some find it extremely
stressful, and some claim it never did them any harm (when they
are clearly as cracked as the Portland Vase). The grosser forms
of magic are hard to do because body and mind fight any attempt
to move into those regions of consciousness where it is possible
to transcend the "normal" and create new kinds of normality.
The switch into magical consciousness is often accompanied |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,273 | by a feeling of "energy" or "power". Reality becomes a fluid, and
the will is like a wind blowing it this way and that. Far out.
There are several traditional methods for reaching abnormal
states of consciousness: dance, drumming, hallucinogenic and
narcotic substances, fasting and other forms of privation, sex,
meditation, dreaming, and ritual, used singly and in combination.
These notes deal only with ritual. Magical ritual has evolved
organically out of the desire to reach normally inaccessible
regions of consciousness and still continue living sanely in the
world afterwards, and once that is understood, its profundity
from a psychological point of view can be appreciated.
3. Limitation
The concept of limitation is so important in the way magical
ritual has developed that it is worth taking a look at what it
means before going on to look at the basics of ritual.
We are limited beings: our lives are limited to some tens of
years, our bodies are limited in their physical abilities, and
compared to all the different kinds of life on this planet we are
clearly very specialised compared with the potential of what we
could be, if we had the choice of being anything we wanted. Even
as human beings we are limited, in that we are all quite distinct
from oneanother, and guard that individuality and uniqueness as
an inalienable right. We limit ourselves to a few skills because
of the effort and talent required to acquire them, and only in
exceptional cases do we find people who are expert in a large
number of different skills - most people are happy if they are
acknowledged as being an expert in one thing, and it is a fact
that as the sum total of knowledge increases, so people
(particularly those with technical skills) are forced to become
2695
more and more specialised.
This idea of limitation and specialisation has found its way
into magical ritual because of the magical (or mystical)
perception that, although all consciousness in the universe is
One, and that Oneness can be perceived directly, it has become
limited. There is a process of limitation in which the One (God,
if you like) becomes progressively structured and constrained
until it reaches the level of thee and me. The details of this
process (sometimes called "The Fall") lies well outside a set of
notes on ritual technique, and being theosophical, is the sort of
thing people like to have long-winded arguments about, so I am
not going to say much about it. What I *will* say is that
magicians and mystics the world over are relatively unanimous in
insisting that the normal everyday consciousness of most human
beings is a severe *limitation* on the potential of
consciousness, and it is possible, through various disciplines,
to extend consciousness into new regions; this harks back to the
"circle of normality" I mentioned in the previous section. From a
magical point of view the personality, the ego, the continuing
sense of individual "me-ness", is a magical creation with highly
specialised abilities, an artificial elemental or thoughtform
which consumes all our magical power in exchange for the kind of
limitation necessary to survive, and in order to work magic it is
necessary to divert energy away from this obsession with personal
identity and self-importance.
Now, consider the following problem: you have been
imprisoned inside a large inflated plastic bag. You have been |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,274 | given a sledghammer and a scalpel. Which tool will get you out
faster? The answer I am looking for is the scalpel: a way of
getting out of large, inflated, plastic bags is to apply as much
force as possible to as sharp a point as possible. Magicians
agree on this principle - the key to successful ritual work is a
"single-pointed will". A mystic may try to expand consciousness
in all directions simultaneously, to encompass more and more of
the One, to embrace the One, perhaps even to transcend the One,
but this is hard, and most people aren't up to it in practise.
Rather than expand in all directions simultaneously, it is much
easier to *limit* an excursion of consciousness in one direction,
and the more precise and well-defined that limitation to a
specific direction, the easier it is to get out of the bag.
Limitation of consciousness is the trick we use to cope with the
complexity of life in modern society, and as long as we are
forced to live under this yoke we can make a virtue out of a
necessity, and use our carefully cultivated ability to
focus attention on minutiae to burst out of the bag.
What limitation means in practise is that magical ritual is
designed to produce specific and highly *limited* changes in
consciousness, and this is done by using a specific map of
consciousness, and there are symbolic correspondences within the
map which can be used in the construction of a ritual - I discuss
this later. The principle of limitation is a key to understanding
the structure of magical ritual, and a key to successful
practice.
2696
To summarise the last two sections, I would say the
characteristics of a "good" ritual are:
1. Entry into magical consciousness and the release of
"magical energy".
2. A limitation of consciousness to channel that energy in
the correct direction, with minimal "splatter".
Without the energy there is nothing to channel. Without the
limitation, energy splatters in all directions and takes the path
of minimal psychic resistance to earth. A magical ritual is the
calculated shifting and limitation of consciousness.
4. Essential Steps
There is never going to be agreement about what is essential
in a ritual and what is not, any more than there will ever be
agreement about what makes a good novel. That doesn't mean there
is nothing worth discussing. The steps I have enumerated below
are suggestions which were handed down to me, and a lot of
insight (not mine) has gone into them; they conform to a Western
magical tradition which has not changed in its essentials for
thousands of years, and I hand them on to you in the same spirit
as I received them.
These are the steps:
1. Open the Circle
2. Open the Gates
3. Invocation to the Powers
4. Statement of Intention and Sacrifice
5. Main Ritual |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,275 | 6. Dismissal of Powers
7. Close the Gates
8. Close the Circle
4.1 Open the Circle
The Circle is the place where magical work is carried out.
It might literally be circle on the ground, or it could be a
church, or a stone ring, or a temple, or it might be an imagined
circle inscribed in the aethyr, or it could be any spot hallowed
by tradition. In some cases the Circle is created specifically
for one piece of work and then closed, while in other cases (e.g.
a church) the building is consecrated and all the space within
the building is treated as if it is an open circle for long
periods of time. I don't want to deal too much in generalities,
so I will deal with the common case where a circle is created
specifically for one piece of work, for a period of time
typically less than one day.
The Circle is the first important magical limit: it creates
an area within which the magical work takes place. The magician
tries to control everything which takes place within the Circle
(limitation), and so a circle half-a-mile across is impractical.
The Circle marks the boundary between the rest of the world
(going on its way as normal), and a magical space where things
2697
are most definitely not going on as normal (otherwise there
wouldn't be any point in carrying out a ritual in the first
place). There is a dislocation: the region inside the circle is
separated from the rest of space and is free to go its own way.
There are some types of magical work where it may not be sensible
to have a circle (e.g. working with the natural elements in the
world at large) but unless you are working with a Power already
present in the environment in its normal state, it is useful to
work within a circle.
The Circle may be a mark on the ground, or something more
intangible still; my own preference is an imagined line of blue
fire drawn in the air. It is in the nature of consciousness that
anything taken as real and treated as real will eventually be
accepted as Real - and if you want to start a good argument,
state that money doesn't exist and isn't Real. From a ritual
point of view the Circle is a real boundary, and if its
usefulness is to be maintained it should be treated with the same
respect as an electrified fence. Pets, children and casual
onlookers should be kept out of it. Whatever procedures take
place within the Circle should only take place within the Circle
and in no other place, and conversely, your normal life should
not intrude on the Circle unless it is part of your intention
that it should. Basically, if you don't want a circle, don't have
one, but if you do have one, decide what it means and stick to
it. There is a school of thought which believes a circle is a
"container for power", and another which believes a circle "keeps
out the nasties". I subscribe to both and neither of these points
of view. From a symbolic point of view, the Circle marks a new
"circle of normality", a circle different from my usual "circle
of normality", making it possible to keep the two "regions of
consciousness" distinct and separate. The magician leaves
everyday life behind when the Circle is opened, and returns to it
when the Circle is closed, and for the duration adopts a
discipline of thought and deed which is specific to the type of
magical work being undertaken; this procedure is not so different
from that in many kinds of laboratory where people work with |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,276 | hazardous materials. The circle is both a barrier and a
container. This is a kind of psychic sanitation, and in magic
"sanity" and "sanitary" have more in common than spelling.
Opening a Circle usually involves drawing a circle in the
air or on the ground, accompanied by an invocation to guardian
spirits, or the elemental powers of the four quarters, or the
four watchtowers, or the archangels, or whatever. The details
aren't so important as practicing it until you can do it in your
sleep, and you should carry it out with the same attitude as a
soldier on formal guard duty outside a public building. You are
establishing a perimeter under the watchful "eyes" of whatever
guardians you have requested to keep an eye on things, and a
martial attitude and sense of discipline creates the right
psychological mood.
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
2698
4.2 Opening the Gates
The Gates in question are the boundary between normal and
magical consciousness. Just as opening the Circle limits the
ritual in space, so opening the Gates limits the ritual in time.
Not everyone opens the Gates as a separate activity; opening a
Circle can be considered a de-facto opening of Gates, but there
are good reasons for keeping the two activities separate.
Firstly, it is convenient to be able to open a Circle without
going into magical consciousness; despite what I said about not
bringing normal consciousness into the Circle, rules are made to
be broken, and there are times when something unpleasant and
unwanted intrudes on normal consciousness, and a Circle can be
used to keep it out - like pulling blankets over your head at
night. Secondly, opening the Gates as a separate activity means
they can be tailored to the specific type of magical
consciousness you are trying to enter. Thirdly, just as bank
vaults and ICBMs have two keys, so it is prudent to make the
entry into magical consciousness something you are not likely to
do on a whim, and the more distinct steps there are, the more
conscious effort is required. Lastly - and it is an important
point - I open the circle with a martial attitude, and it is
useful to have a breathing space to switch out of that mood and
into the mood needed for the invocation. Opening the Gates
provides an opportunity to make that switch.
4.3 Invocation to the Powers
The invocation to the Powers is often an occasion for some
of the most laboured, leaden, pompous, grandiose and turgid prose
ever written or recited. Tutorial books on magic are full of this
stuff. "Oh glorious moon, wreathed in aetherial light...". You
know the stuff. If you are invoking Saturn during a waxing moon
you might be justified in going on like Brezhnev addressing the
Praesidium of the Soviet Communist Party, but as in every other
aspect of magic, the trick isn't what you do, but how you do it,
and interminable invocations aren't the answer. On a practical
level, reading a lengthy invocation from a sheet of paper in dim
candlelight requires so much conscious effort that it is hard to
"let go", so I like keep things simple and to the point, and
practice until I can do an invocation without having to think
about it too much, and that leaves room for the more important
"consciousness changing" aspect of the invocation.
An invocation is like a ticket for a train, and if you can't |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,277 | find the train there isn't much point in having the ticket.
Opening the Gates gets you to the doorstep of magical
consciousness, but it is the invocation which gets you onto the
train and propels you to the right place, and that isn't
something which "just happens" unless you have a natural aptitude
for the aspect of consciousness you are invoking. However, it
does happen; people tend to begin their magical work with those
areas of consciousness where they feel most at home, so they may
well have some initial success. Violent, evil people do violent
and evil conjurations; loving people invoke love - most people
begin their magical work with "a free ticket" to some altered
state of consciousness, but in general, invoking a specific
aspect of consciousness takes practice and I don't expect
2699
immediate results when I invoke something new. If interminable
tracts of deathless prose work for you, then fine, but I find it
hard to keep a straight face when piety and pomposity combine to
produce the sort of invocations to be found in print. I name no
names.
I can't give a prescription for entering magical
consciousness. Well devised rituals, practised often, have a way
of shifting consciousness which is surprising and unexpected. I
don't know why this happens; it just does. I suspect the peculiar
character of ritual, the way it involves the senses and occupies
mind and body simultaneously, its numinous and exotic symbolism,
the intensity of preparation and execution, involve dormant parts
of the mind, or at least engage the normal parts in an unusual
way. Using ritual to cause shifts in consciousness is not
exceptionally difficult; getting the results you want, and
avoiding unexpected and undesired side-effects is harder. Ritual
is not a rational procedure. The symbolism of magic is intuitive
and bubbles out of a very deep well; the whole process of ritual
effectively bypasses the rational mind, so expecting the outcome
of a ritual to obey the dictates of reason is completely
irrational. The image of a horse is appropriate: anyone can get
on the back of a wild mustang, but reaching the point where horse
and rider go in the same direction at the same time takes
practice. The process of limitation described in these notes
can't influence the natural waywardness of the animal, but at
least it is a method for ensuring that the horse gets a clear
message.
4.4 Statement of Intention and Sacrifice
If magical ritual is not to be regarded as a form of
bizarre entertainment carried out for its own sake, then there
has to be a reason for doing it - healing, divination, personal
development, initiation, and the like. If it is healing, then it
is usually healing for one specific person, and then again, it is
probably not just healing in general, but healing for some
specific complaint, within some period of time. The statement of
intention is the culmination of a process of limitation which
begins when the Circle is opened, and to return to the analogy of
the plastic bag, the statement of intention is like the blade on
the scalpel - the more precise the intention, the more the energy
of the ritual is concentrated to a single point.
The observation that rituals work better if their energy is
focussed by intention is in accord with experience in everyday
life: any change involving other people, no matter how small or
insignificant, tends to meet with opposition. If you want to
change the brand of coffee in the coffee machine, or if you want |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,278 | to rearrange the furniture in the office, someone will object. If
you want to drive a new road through the countryside, local
people object. If you want to raise taxes, everyone objects. The
more people you involve in a change, the more opposition you
encounter, and in magic the same principle holds, because from a
magical point of view the whole fabric of the universe is held in
place by an act of collective intention involving everything from
God downwards. When you perform a ritual you are setting yourself
up against a collective will to keep most things the way they
2700
are, and your ritual will succeed only if certain things are
true:
1. you are a being of awesome will.
2. you have allies. The universe is changing, there is
always a potential for change, and if your intention
coincides with an existing will to bring about that change,
your ritual can act as a catalyst.
3. you limit your intention to minimise opposition; the
analogy is the diamond cutter who exploits natural lines of
cleavage to split a diamond.
Suppose you want to bring peace to the world. This is an
admirable intention, but the average person would have no more
effect (with or without magic) on the peacefulness of the world
than they would if they attempted to smash Mount Everest with a
rubber hammer. Rather than worry about the peacefulness of the
whole world, why not use your ritual to create a better
relationship with your spouse, or your boss, or someone who
really annoys you? And why not work on the specific issues which
are the main source of friction. And try to improve things within
a specified period of time. And do it in a way which respects the
other person's right to continue being a pain in the arse if they
so wish? This is the idea behind focussing or limiting an
intention. Having said all this, there are a lot of people in the
world who would appreciate some peace, and perhaps your grand
intention to bring peace might catch a wave and help a few, so
don't let me put you off, but as a general principle it is
sensible to avoid unnecessary opposition by making the intention
as precise as possible. Think about sources of opposition, and
about ways of circumventing that opposition - there may be a
simple way which avoids making waves, and that is when magic
works best. Minimising opposition also reduces the amount of
backlash you can expect - quite often the simplest path to earth
for any intention is through the magician, and if there is a lot
of opposition that is what happens. [The very act of invoking
power creates a resonance and a natural channel through the
magician.]
I try to analyse the possible outcomes and consequences of
my intentions. There is a popular view that "if it harms none, do
what you will". I can think of many worse moral principles, and
it is better than most, but it is still naive. It pretends that
it is theoretically possible to live without treading on another
person's toes, it leaves me to make unilateral decisions about
what is or is not harmful to others, and it is so wildly
unrealistic, even in the context of everyday life, that it only
seems to make sense if I intend to live in seclusion in a
wilderness living off naturally occuring nuts and berries (having
asked the squirrels for permission). If it is used as a moral
principle in magic, then it draws an artificial distinction |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,279 | between magical work and the "push me, push you/if it moves,
shoot it, if it doesn't, cut it down" style of contemporary life.
It completely emasculates free-will. I prefer to believe that
just about anything I do is going to have an impact on someone or
something, and there are no cute moral guidelines; there are
2701
actions and there are outcomes. The aim is not to live according
to guidelines, but to understand as fully as possible the
consequences of the things we do, and to decide, in the light of
our understanding (which has hopefully kept pace with our power),
whether we are prepared to live with the outcomes.
And so to sacrifice. There is a problem here. The problem arises
from the perception that in magic you don't get something for
nothing, and if you want to bring about change through magic you
have to pay for it in some way. So far so good. The question is:
what can you give in return? There is a widespread belief that
you can sacrifice a living creature, and while most magicians
(self included) abhor the idea, the perpetuation of this idea is
still being used as a stick to beat the magical and pagan
community about the head. The issue is further complicated by the
fact that if one looks at surviving shamanistic practices
worldwide, or looks at the origins of most religions, ritual
animal sacrifice is endemic. That doesn't make it right, and I
have an unshakeable prejudice that it isn't an acceptable thing
to do, but I am only too aware of my hypocrisy when I order a
chicken curry, so I'm not going to stand on a soapbox and rant on
about it.
What I prefer to do is to examine what the notion of
sacrifice means. What can one legitimately sacrifice? You can't
legitimately sacrifice anything which is not yours to give, and
so the answer to the question "what can I sacrifice" lies in the
answer to the question "what am I, and what have I got to give?".
You certainly aren't any other living being, and if you don't
make the mistake of identifying yourself with your possessions
you will see that the only sacrifice you can make is yourself,
because that is all you have to give. Every ritual intention
requires that you sacrifice some part of yourself, and if you
don't make the sacrifice willingly then either the ritual will
fail, or the price will be exacted anyway. I don't have a
rational justification for this statement, and it certainly isn't
based on "karma" or a paranoid feeling that accountants are
everywhere; the belief was handed on to me as part of my magical
training, and having observed the way in which "magical energy"
is utilised to carry out intentions, it makes sense. Each person
has a certain amount of what I will call "life energy" at their
disposal - some people call it "personal power", and you can
sacrifice some of that energy to power the ritual. Sacrifice does
not mean turning the knife on yourself (and there are plenty of
people who do that). What it means in ordinary down-to-earth
terms is that you promise to do something in return for your
intention, and you link the sacrifice to the intention in such a
way that the sacrifice focuses energy along the direction of your
intention. For example, my cat was ill and hadn't eaten for three
weeks, so, as a last resort, fearing she was about to die of
starvation, I carried out a ritual to restore her appetite, and
as a sacrifice I ate nothing for 24 hours. I used my (real)
hunger to drive the intention, and she began eating the following
day. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,280 | Any personal sacrifice which hurts enough engages a deep
impulse to make the hurt go away, and the magician can use that
impulse to bring about magical change by linking the removal of
2702
the pain to the accomplishment of the intention. And I don't mean
magical masochism. We are (subject to all caveats on
generalisations) creatures of habit who find comfort and security
by living our lives in a particular way, and a change to that
habit and routine causes some discomfort and an opposing desire
to return to the original state: that desire can be used. Just as
a ritual intends to change the world in some way, so a sacrifice
forces us to change ourselves in some way, and that liberates
magical energy. If you want to heal someone, don't just do a
ritual and leave it at that; become involved in caring for them
in some way, and that *active* caring can act as a channel for
whatever power you have invoked. If you want to use magic to help
someone out of a mess, provide them with active, material help as
well; conversely, if you can't be bothered to provide material
help, your ritual will be infected with that same inertia and
apathy - true will, will out, and in many cases our true will is
to flatter the ego and do nothing substantive. I speak from
experience.
From a magical perspective each one of us is a magical being
with a vast potential of power, but that is denied to us by an
innate, fanatical, and unbelievably deep-rooted desire to keep
the world in a regular orbit serving our own needs. Self-
sacrifice disturbs this equilibrium and lets out some of that
energy, and that is why egoless devotion and self-sacrifice has a
reputation for working miracles.
4.5 The Main Ritual
After invoking the Powers and having stated the intention
and sacrifice, there would seem to be nothing more to do, but
most people like to prolong the contact with the Powers and carry
out some kind of symbolic ritual for a period of time varying
from minutes to days. Ritual as I have described it so far may
seem like a cut-and-dried exercise, but it isn't; it is more of
an art than a science, and once the Circle and Gates are opened,
and the Powers are "in attendance", whatever science there is in
ritual gives way to art. Magicians operate in a world where
ordinary things have complex symbolic meanings or
correspondences, and they use a selection of consecrated
implements or "power objects" in their work. The magician can use
this palette of symbols within a ritual to paint of picture which
signifies an intention in a non-verbal, non-rational way, and it
is this ability to communicate an intention through every sense
of the body, through every level of the mind, which gives ritual
its power. I can't say any more about this because it is personal
and unique to every magician, and each one develops a style which
works best for them.
4.6 Dismissal of Powers
Once the ritual is complete the Powers are thanked and
dismissed. This begins the withdrawal of consciousness back to
its pre-ritual state.
4.7 Close Gates/Close Circle
The final steps are closing the Gates (thus sealing off the |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,281 | 2703
altered state of consciousness) and closing the Circle (thus
returning to the everyday world). The Circle should not be closed
if there is any suspicion that the withdrawal from the altered
state has not been completed fully. I like to carry out a sanity
check between closing the Gates and closing the Circle. It
sometimes happens that although the magician goes through the
steps of closing down, the attention is not engaged, and the
magician remains in the altered state. This is not a good idea.
The energy of that state will continue to manifest in every
intention in everyday life, and all sorts of unplanned things
will start to happen. A related problem is that every magician
will find sooner or later an altered state which compensates for
some of their perceived inadequacies (in the way that many people
like to get drunk at parties), and they will not want to let go
of it because it makes them feel good, so they come out of the
ritual in an altered state without realising they have failed to
close down correctly. This is called obsession, and it is one of
the interesting difficulties of magical work.
Closing down correctly is important if you don't want to end
up like a badly cracked pot. If you don't feel happy that the
Powers have been completely dismissed and the Gates closed
correctly, go back and repeat the steps again.
5. Maps & Correspondences
If consciousness is imagined as a space we can move around in,
then it is a space of several dimensions. An indespensible tool
for any magician is a method for describing this space and its
dimensions, a method to specify the "the coordinates of
consciousness", like giving a map reference. The magician uses
such a descriptive method to say "this is where I want to get
to", and you can imagine a ritual as a vehicle which transports
him or her to the destination and back again.
A descriptive method of this type is one of the most obvious
and characteristic features of a particular magical technique,
because states of consciousness are usually described using a
dense mesh of symbolism and metaphor, and if a magical tradition
has been around for any length of time it becomes identified by
the details of this symbolism. Given the tendency for maps to be
confused with territory, there is a tendency for symbolism to
take on a life of its own and become completely detached from
authentic magical technique. People confuse magical symbolism
with magic; its use as a coordinate system is lost, vast tomes of
drivel are written, and every manner of absurdity follows.
I am a Kabbalist by training and use a map of consciousness
called "The Tree of Life". This map has been coloured in using a
thousand years of symbolism, and the result is called "the
Correspondences", and it is a system which allows me to navigate
around the dimensions of consciousness with some precision. There
are many other maps, some well worn by history, some not, and my
choice is a matter of personal preference. It works for me
because of the kind of person I am, but it is only a map and I
wouldn't pretend that there was anything intrinsically special
about it.
2704
Many magicians operate within a religious framework. The
Christian Mass is a magical ritual par excellence, and there are |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,282 | several other magical rituals associated with Christianity. Some
magicians work within a pantheon - Graeco-Roman, Egyptian,
Scandinavian, Aztec or whatever. Some (e.g. Crowley) invent their
own religion. A characteristic of all these systems is that they
provide a complex mesh of symbol and metaphor, a map for the
magician to work within. For any pantheon it is usually
straightforward (with some bending, stretching and hitting with
a hammer) to identify a personification for the following aspects
of consciousness:
heaviness, old-age, stagnation, limitation, inertia
creativity, inspiration, vision, leadership
violence, force, destructiveness
harmony, integrity, balance, wholeness
love, hate, passion, sensual beauty, aesthetics, emotional
power, nurture
reason, abstraction, communication, conceptualisation, logic
imagination, instinct, the unconscious
practicality, pragmatism, stolidity, materialism
And once we have gods and goddesses (or saints) to personify
these qualities, a weave of metaphors and associations elaborates
the picture; the Moon is instinct, fire is both destructive and
energetic, death is a sythe, air and mercury are "the same", and
so on. The meaning of a symbol is personal - white means "death"
to some and "purity" to others. What matters is that the magician
should have a clear map, and with it the ability to invoke
different aspects of consciousness by using the symbolism of
gods, goddesses, archangels, demons or whatever. It does not
matter whether the magician believes in the literal reality of
the territory or not, as long as he or she treats the map with
respect and does not muddy the water by dabbling with too many
different maps. There are two principal ways in which maps become
muddled, and as the main theme of these notes is the precise use
of limitation in conjuction with magical consciousness, I think
it is worth mentioning what I see as potential pitfalls. The
first pitfall is mixing systems; the second is working with other
people.
There is a tendency nowadays to muddle different systems of
correspondences together, to add Egyptian gods to a Kabbalistic
ritual, to say that Tanith is really the same as Artemis, or that
Cybele and Astarte and Demeter are "just" different names for the
Mother Goddess, to find parallels between Thor and Mars, between
Kali and Hecate, between the Virgin Mary and Isis, until, like
different colours of paint mixed together, everything ends up in
shades of muddy brown. This unifying force is everywhere as
people find universal themes and try to make links between groups
and systems.
2705
It is (in my opinion) a bad idea to mix systems together in
a spirit of ecumenical fervour. Correspondences are like
intentions: the sharper and more clearly defined they are, the
better they work. Despite a few similarities, the Virgin Mary is
nothing like Isis, and Demeter has very little in common with
Astarte. Syncretism usually takes place slowly over the |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,283 | centuries, so that for most people there is no distinction
between the classical Greek and Roman pantheons and Mercury is a
synonym for Hermes, but to do it in real-time in your own head is
a recipe for muddle-headedness.
Symbols can be diffused when people work together in a
group. It is a mistake to believe that "power" is raised in
direct proportion to the number of people taking part in a
ritual. Unless people have been trained together and have similar
"maps", then the ritual will have a different effect on each
person, and although more power may be raised, it will be
unfocussed and will probably earth itself through unexpected
channels. When people begin working together there will be a
period of time when their work together will probably be less
effective than any one of them working alone, but after a time
their "maps" begin to converge and things start to improve
dramatically. There is nothing magical about this - it is a
phenomenon of teams of people in general. I don't like "spectator
rituals" for this reason; you are either in it or your are out,
and if you are out, you are out the door.
Does it matter what map, what system of correspendences a
person uses? Is there a "best" set? This is an impossible
question to answer. What can be said is that working within any
magical framework incurs a cost. The more effective a magical
system is at limiting, engaging and mobilising the creative power
of consciousness, the more effective it is at ensnaring
consciousness within its own assumptions and limitations. If a
person works within a belief system where the ultimate nature of
God is pure, unbounded love, joy and bliss, then that closes off
other possibilities.
Without sitting in judgement of any set of beliefs, I would
say that the best belief system and the best system of
correspondences is one which allows consciousness to roam over
the greatest range of possibilities, and permits it the free-will
to choose its own limitations. And that is a belief in itself.
6. Conclusion
The gist of these notes is that ritual is a technique for
focussing magical power through the deliberate use of limitation.
Limitation comes from the belief system of the magician, and the
set of correspondences used to create symbolism within the
ritual. Further limitation comes from the structure of the ritual
itself, and ultimately from the statement of intention. With
practise these elements add up to a single-mindedness which can
shift consciousness out of its normal orbit.
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
2706
Shamanism (Internet)
Overview-Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Summary: This FAQ contains a general overview on shamanism.
It should be read by anyone interested in understanding the what
is meant by shamanism and what differentiates shamanism form
other forms of ecstatic experience
Keywords: shaman, anthropology, ethnography, consciousness, spirit,
oobe
Organization: La Casa del Paese Lontano
Date: Wed, 9 Mar 1994 02:37:55 GMT |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,284 | Lines: 227
Archive-name: shamanism/overview
Last-modified: 8 March 1994
Version: 1.1
NOTE: The following general overview of shamanism is not intended to
be the last word or the definitive work on this subject. Rather it is,
as its title implies, intended to provide the participant or reader with
a set of guidelines that will familiarize them with the general use of
the terms shamanism, shaman and shamanic in the trends, study and
practice of historic, traditional and contemporary shamanic experience.
The word 'shaman comes to English from the Tungus language via Russian.
Among the Tungus of Siberia it is both a noun and a verb. While the
Tungus have no word for shamanism, it has come into usage by anthropolo-
gists, historians of religion and others in contemporary society to
designate the experience and the practices of the shaman. Its usage has
grown to include similar experiences and practices in cultures outside
of the original Siberian cultures from which the term shaman originated.
Thus shamanism is not the name of a religion or group of religions.
Particular attention should be paid to the use of qualifying words
such as "may" or "usually". They indicate examples or tendencies and
are not, in any way, intended to represent rigid standards
Please send comments to [email protected] (Dean Edwards).
Shamanism-General Overview-Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
(c November, 1993 by Dean Edwards)
This FAQ shall be posted monthly and is maintained by Dean Edwards
([email protected]). It is intended for the private non-commercial use
of Usenet users. It may not be sold without the permission of the
author.
Table of Contents:
1. Terms used in this FAQ
2. What is shamanism?
3. What is Shamanic Ecstasy?
4. Becoming a shaman
5. The role of trauma in the development of a shaman
6. The relationship between shamanic traditions and culture
7. The role of Shamanic Ecstasy
8. The origin of the term "shamanism"
9. Roles of the shaman
10. Reasons for this FAQ
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
2707
1. Why were the terms used in this FAQ selected and do they have special
meanings. There is an extensive literature about shamanism that has been
compiled since the late Eighteenth Century. Like any field of study and
religious practice, shamanism has developed a specialized vocabulary.
Please note that some of the words used in the material that follows are
drawn from scholars who have a solid background in shamanic studies and
may have meanings that are specific and less general than is often the
case in popular usage. Consulting a good dictionary should clear up any
points of confusion.
2. What is Shamanism?
Shamanism is classified by anthropologists as an archaic
magico-religious phenomenon in which the shaman is the great master
of ecstasy. Shamanism itself, was defined by the late Mircea Eliade
as a technique of ecstasy. A shaman may exhibit a particular magical
specialty (such as control over fire, wind or magical flight). When a |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,285 | specialization is present the most common is as a healer. The
distinguishing characteristic of shamanism is its focus on an
ecstatic trance state in which the soul of the shaman is believed to
leave the body and ascend to the sky (heavens) or descend into the
earth (underworld). The shaman makes use of spirit helpers, which
he or she communicates with, all the while retaining control over
his or her own consciousness. (Examples of possession occur, but
are the exception, rather than the rule.) It is also important to
note that while most shamans in traditional societies are men,
either women or men may and have become shamans.
3. What is Shamanic Ecstasy and how does it compare with other
forms of ecstasy?
From the Greek 'ekstasis', ecstasy literally means to be placed
outside, or to be placed.This is a state of exaltation in which a
person stands outside of or transcends his or herself. Ecstasy may
range from the seizure of the body by a spirit or the seizure of a
person by the divine, from the magical transformation or flight of
consciousness to psychiatric remedies of distress.
Three types of Ecstasy are specified in the literature on the subject:
1. Shamanic Ecstasy
2. Prophetic Ecstasy
3. Mystical Ecstasy
Shamanic ecstasy is provoked by the ascension of the soul of the
shaman into the heavens or its descent into the underworld. These
states of ecstatic exaltation are usually achieved after great and
strenuous training and initiation, often under distressing
circumstances. The resulting contact by the shaman with the
higher or lower regions and their inhabitants, and also with
nature spirits enables him or her to accomplish such tasks as
accompanying the soul of a deceased into its proper place in the
next world, affect the well-being of the sick and to convey the
story of their inner travels upon their return to the mundane
awareness.
The utterances of the shaman are in contrast with those of prophetic
and mystical ecstasy. The prophet literally speaks for God, while the
mystic reports an overwhelming divine presence. In mysticism, the
direct knowledge or experience of the divine ultimate reality, which is
2708
perceptible in two ways, emotional and intuitive. While these three
varieties of ecstatic experience are useful for the purposes of
analysis and discussion, it is not unusual for more than one form of
ecstasy to be present in an individual's experience.
However, it can be argued that, generally speaking, there are three
perceptive levels of ecstasy.
1) The physiological response, in which the mind becomes absorbed in
and focused on a dominant idea, the attention is withdrawn and the
nervous system itself is in part cut off from physical sensory input.
The body exhibits reflex inertia, involuntary nervous responses, frenzy.
2) Emotional perception of ecstasy refers to overwhelming feelings of
awe, anxiety, joy, sadness, fear, astonishment, passion, etc.
3) Intuitive perception communicates a direct experience and
understanding of the transpersonal experience of expanded states of
awareness or consciousness.
While the physiological response is always present, the emotional
response may or may not be significant when intuition is the principal
means of ecstatic perception. Some have argued that beyond the intuitive |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,286 | state there is a fourth condition in which the holistic perception
exceeds mental and emotional limitations and understanding.
The ecstatic experience of the shaman goes beyond a feeling or percep-
tion of the sacred, the demonic or of natural spirits. It involves the
shaman directly and actively in transcendent realities or lower realms
of being.
4. How does one become a shaman?
Some have wondered if the experience of shamanic ecstasy or flight
makes a person a shaman. Generally speaking, most would say no.
A shaman is more than someone with an experience. First, he or she
is a trained initiate. Usually years of trenculturalization and
under a mentor precede becoming a functioning shaman. Second, a
shaman is not just an initiate who has received inner and outer
training, but is a master of shamanic journeying and techniques
(shamanic ecstasy). This is not a casual acquaintance with such
abilities, there is some degree of mastery of them. Finally, a
shaman is a link or bridge between this world and the next. This
is a sacred trust and a service to the community. Sometimes a
community that a shaman serves in is rather small. In other
instances it may be an entire nation. A lot of that depends on
social and cultural factors.
One becomes a shaman by one of three methods:
a) Hereditary transmission;
b) Spontaneous selection or "call" or "election";
c) personal choice and quest. (This latter method is less frequent
and traditionally such a shaman is considered less powerful than one
selected by one of the two preceding methods.) The shaman is not
recognized as legitimate without having undergone two types of
training:
1) Ecstatic (dreams, trances, etc.)
2) Traditional ("shamanic techniques, names and functions of
spirits,mythology and genealogy of the clan, secret language, etc.) The
two-fold course of instruction, given by the spirits and the old master
shamans is equivalent to an initiation." (Mircea Eliade, The Encyclo-
2709
pedia of Religion, v. 13 , p. 202; Mcmillian, N.Y., 1987.) It is also
possible for the entire process to take place in the dream state or in
ecstaticexperience. Thus, there is more to becoming a shaman than a
single experience. It requires training, perseverance and service.
5. What is the role of personal trauma or crisis in the selection or
development of a shaman?
A common experience of the call to shamanism is a psychic or spiritual
crisis, which often accompanies a physical or even a medical crisis, and
is cured by the shaman him or herself. This is a common occurrence for
all three types of shamanic candidates described above. The shaman is
often marked by eccentric behavior such as periods of melancholy,
solitude, visions, singing in his or her sleep, etc. The inability of
the traditional remedies to cure the condition of the shamanic candidate
and the eventual self cure by the new shaman is a significant episode in
development of the shaman. The underlying significant aspect of this
experience, when it is present,is the ability of the shaman to manage
and resolve periods of distress.
6. Does the presence of an active shamanic tradition necessarily mean
that the society itself should be deemed "shamanic"?
No, not at all. The presence of shamanism in a nation or a community
does not mean that shamanism is central to the spiritual or religious
life of the community or region. Shamanism often exists alongside and |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,287 | even in cooperation with the religious or healing practices of the
community.
7. What is meant by shamanic ecstasy and what role does it actually play
in shamanism?
The ecstatic technique of shamanism does not involve itself in the broad
range of ecstasy reported in the history of religion. It is specifically
focused on the transpersonal movement of the consciousness of the
shaman into higher or lower realms of consciousness and existence.
Another aspect of shamanism is that compared to other spiritual
traditions, it is a path that the individual walks alone. While much of
the focus of shamanic studies has been on the shamanic complexes of
north and central Asia, shamanism is a universal phenomenon, not
confined to any particular region or culture.
8. What is the origin of the word "shaman"?
Shaman comes from the language of the Tungus of North-Central Asia. It
came into use in English via Russian.
9. What are the usual roles of a shaman?
In contemporary, historical or traditional shamanic practice the shaman
may at times fill the role of priest, magician, metaphysician or healer.
Personal experience is the prime determinant of the status of a shaman.
Knowledge of other realms of being and consciousness and the cosmology
of those regions is the basis of the shamanic perspective and power.
With this knowledge, the shaman is able to serve as a bridge between the
mundane and the higher and lower states The shaman lives at the edge of
reality as most people would recognize it and most commonly at the edge
of society itself. Few indeed have the stamina to adventure into these
realms and endure the outer hardships and personal crises that have been
reported by or observed of many shamans.
10. Why was this FAQ written?
This FAQ was originally written to support a new Usenet
2710
newsgroup, 'soc.religion.shamanism'. The purpose of this
newsgroup is to provide a forum for discussion and exchange of ideas,
views and information about historic,traditional, tribal and
contemporary shamanism. This FAQ is intended to provide a useful general
overview of what 'shamanism' actually means and what it is in practice.
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
2711
SPRING EQUINOX RITUAL
By Marian Starwatcher
Clothing : The priestess who will invoke Athena (1) can wear any robe
that feels right to her, but she will carry the sword. The priestess
invoking Demeter (2) should wear a green robe, but cover it with her
cloak to begin with. The priestess invoking Kore (3) should wear a
spring robe, covered with a dark cloak.
Before the ritual, place a large number of candles about the temple.
Leave them unlit. One tiny candle should be placed on the altar. The
matches should be put where they can be got at easily!
Burn Black Forest Incense ... a fair amount of it. Keep the door of
your temple CLOSED.
Have ready some lavender oil to burn later in the ritual.
Have the participants each bring a candle. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,288 | When the participants enter, have them stand in the centre of the
temple. It will be dark. Shut the door.
Priestess 1 goes to the east quarter, 2 to the south, 3 to the west.
Call the quarters theatrically.
All : Kore is in the underworld.
Priestess 1 : Blow, gentle breezes from the depths of the earth,
Bring us to her in safety.
All : Kore is in the underworld.
Priestess 2 : Come, tiny flame, shine in the depths of the earth,
Guide us to her in safety.
All : Kore is in the underworld.
Priestess 3 : Come, still dark waters in the depths of the earth,
Bring us to her in safety.
All : Kore is in the underworld.
Cold stone under our feet in the depths of the earth,
Bring us to her in safety.
P2 silently raises the circle. The participants seat themselves.
P3 : It is dark. So dark.
P2 : It is cold. So cold.
P1 : Where is the Grain Mother?
P3 : Where is Demeter?
P2 : She has turned her face from the earth.
2712
P1 : How can this be?
All : Mother Demeter, speak to us!
Mother Demeter, speak to us!
Mother Demeter, speak to us!
P2 : invokes Demeter.
Demeter : My daughter, where is my daughter?
Where is she for whom I made the sun shine?
Where is she for whom I made the grain grow?
Kore, Kore, Kore!
P1 invokes Athena.
Athena : She has gone below, Mother Demeter.
All : Kore is in the underworld.
Kore is in the underworld.
Kore is in the underworld.
Demeter : Then I will cover my face
And let the earth die. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,289 | Kore, Kore, Kore!
Athena : Mother, the people of the earth need you.
We are cold.
We are hungry.
We must have light.
Demeter : Kore, Kore, Kore!
Demeter turns her back.
Athena turns to the participants.
Athena : Then we must go below to her
And beseech her to return.
The earth must not die.
Athena moves to the altar and lights the tiny candle.
P3 : Our steps falter.
All : It is dark, dark.
P3 : Our sight falters.
All : It is dark, dark.
P3 : Our hearts falter.
All : It is dark, dark.
Athena : Courage, for I am with you.
Even in the darkness I am with you.
2713
Even in the coldness I am with you.
And see - we approach Kore on her throne!
Athena directs the participants' attention to the west.
All : Kore, speak to us!
Kore, speak to us!
Kore, speak to us!
P3 invokes Kore/Persephone.
Kore : I have gone below.
Why do you now come to me?
Athena : Kore, why are you here
In the dark and the cold?
Kore : Don't you know that all people
Even gods
Must go into the dark
And look within?
Athena : Kore, your Mother weeps for you.
Will you come home to us?
Kore : Don't you know that all children
Even gods |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,290 | Must leave their Mothers
And grow into adulthood?
Athena : Kore, the earth is dying.
Will you come home to us?
Kore : The earth must not die.
I will beseech my mother
To bring life to the earth again.
Kore picks up the tiny candle and 'leads' the participants out.
Kore : We walk through the darkness of the underworld.
Our steps are sure.
We do not fear the darkness of the underworld,
For it is also the darkness within ourselves.
We wind our way through the caverns.
And now we feel the breath of the wind on our faces.
We emerge from the underworld to the earth.
The wind is cold.
The earth is dark.
Athena : Mother Demeter, we have returned.
Demeter : Kore, Kore, Kore!
Kore : Mother, I am here.
Demeter : Kore, you have returned!
Stay with me and run in the fields as you did before.
2714
Play in the gardens of the earth as you did before.
Kore : Mother, I cannot stay.
Demeter : Then I will cover my face and grieve,
And the earth will die.
Athena : The earth must not die.
Kore : I will stay with you
For half of the year.
But I must go below
For the other half.
Mother, look at me.
Demeter turns.
Demeter : But what is this?
Kore, you have changed.
Kore : I went below to change, Mother.
To grow.
Call me now Persephone,
For I have been to the underworld.
I have been within.
I must return to grow
And to help others grow.
Your world is the grain, Mother.
My world is the hearts of all people
Even gods. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,291 | Athena : It is just, Mother Demeter.
She must return below,
But for now she will stay with you.
Demeter : My daughter, you have grown wise.
I accept what you must do.
I will grieve when you go from me,
And the earth will become cold and dark.
But when you return,
The earth will live again.
See!
Athena, Demeter and Kore light all the candles. Persephone throws off
her cloak to reveal a spring robe. Demeter throws off her cloak to
reveal a green robe.
Athena : Persephone has returned!
The light has returned!
The warmth has returned!
Let us praise Mother Demeter
For she has brought the earth to life again.
Let us praise Persephone
For she has returned from the underworld
And will be there to guide us
2715
When we must go within.
All Chant : She has returned
The earth lives again!
We feel the warmth returning
The sun shines again!
We see the grain growing
The garden grows again!
Persephone, Demeter
Persephone, Demeter
Persephone, Demeter
The earth lives again!
Repeat, then repeat last line to build cone of power until Demeter
judges the cone ready. Send out the power to bring life to the earth
again.
Farewell the Goddesses.
All sit down, forming a sitting circle.
P1 : Long, long ago, there was no winter.
Summer ruled the Earth as Mother Demeter
Watched lovingly over her daughter Kore.
P2 : All people knew her and loved her
As the Grain Mother.
There was no hunger
And no one was ever cold.
P1 : Kore ran in the fields of the earth
Safe under her mother's loving eye.
And for a long, long time
She knew no other world.
P3 : But all things change, and so did Kore. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,292 | She felt something within her,
An urge to know more,
To grow.
P2 : And so she approached the cave
That led to the Underworld.
She descended into the darkness.
Her steps were faltering,
For she could not see,
And she was afraid.
Yet she knew she must go on.
P1 : When she came to the Underworld,
Kore found a mirror.
She looked within, and saw herself.
Yet not the child she knew,
She saw a young woman
Who looked at her with knowledge in her eyes.
P3 : Then she looked again,
And saw an old woman,
With a lined face and silver hair,
2716
Who looked at her with knowledge in her eyes.
P1 : And the old woman said,
"Kore, you must change.
All things must change.
You must look within
And know yourself truly,
And grow."
P2 : So Kore looked within,
And embraced the old woman
And the young woman.
And she was filled with knowledge.
And the knowledge changed her.
P1 : On the earth, Demeter searched for Kore.
She looked under every rock,
She dived into every sea,
She spoke to the flame,
She rode on the winds.
At last Athena came to her and said,
"Your daughter has gone into the Underworld."
P3 : Demeter wailed, and wept for Kore.
She put aside her green robes
And veiled herself in mourning.
And the earth grew dark with her grief,
And the earth grew barren with her grief,
And the people cried out in fear.
All the gods and people begged Demeter
But she would not cease her weeping.
P2 : At last Athena went to the cave,
And descended to the Underworld.
And there she spoke with Kore,
And begged her to return.
P1 : Kore was reluctant to go,
But love of her mother |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,293 | And love of the earth
Persuaded her to return.
And so she went with Athena
Back to the earth.
P2 : Demeter was overjoyed to see her daughter.
They embraced, and kissed.
P3 : But then Kore told her mother
How she had changed.
And she said,
"I must return,
For I have been within.
I am Queen of the Underworld."
P1 : Demeter begged her daughter to stay.
Kore, relenting, agreed;
2717
P2 : That six months of every year
She would stay with her mother.
And the earth would be fruitful.
And six months of every year
She would return to the Underworld,
And the earth would be barren
Until she returned.
P1 : And this is why we have winter.
For Demeter veils her face
When Kore, called Persephone,
Returns to the Underworld each year.
P3 : And the mystery is this :
That the Underworld is within you,
And you must descend to it
If you are to grow.
You must look into the mirror
And see yourself as you truly are.
P1 : But now is the time to rejoice!
Persephone is returned,
The earth is becoming warm again,
And the grain is growing again.
P2 : Let us share Demeter's joy
In her daughter's return.
Let us feast on her bounty.
Share cakes and water/cider. Those who feel moved to may speak of their
feelings in the darkness, and experiences of their own in the Under-
world.
P3 opens the circle.
All : Persephone has returned!
P3 : Blow, winds of the East,
Bring warmth to our bodies again.
All : Persephone has returned! |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,294 | P3 : Shine, sun in the North,
Bring warmth to our hearts again.
All : Persephone has returned!
P3 : Come, waters of the Western sea,
Bring warmth to our souls again.
All : Persephone has returned!
P3 : Grow, all plants of the Earth,
Bring warmth to our spirits again.
The circle is open, but ever unbroken.
2718
Merry meet,
And merry part,
And merry meet again.
Blessed be.
All : Blessed be.
P3 : This rite is ended.
Note: The directions are all Southrn Hemisphere ... heh.
B*B* Marian*
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
2719
Modern Female Rite Of Passage
Lady Shyra, 1994
Note: East - Air; South - Fire, West - Water, North - Earth
EARLY PREPERATIONS
Candles for the ritual will be made that day. Celebrant will make two
white candles. Candles will be herbal and scented, and enscribed
appropriately. Celebrant and mother will also bring something that
symbolically (to them) symbolizes the rite of passage.
Ritual baths will be taken prior to ceremony, with Celebrant's bath
being drawn for her. Salt, herbs and scents appropriate to the occasion
will be added to the bath, and it will be blessed prior to use. Mother
will help Celebrant to the bath, where she will light a candle and
incense, give words of love and comfort and instruction to the Celeb-
rant, and then withdraw to assist in Circle Preparation.
CIRCLE PREPARATION
Circle area will be cleansed and Circle constructed and consecrated in
the usual manner. Altar will sit just West of Center of Circle to
symbolize both the emotional aspects of the ritual, as well as the
death/ rebirth aspects.
Added to altar arrangement will be the Celebrant's two white candles.
Also on the altar will be a mirror sitting behind and between the two
white candles. Symbolic gifts will be placed beside the altar -- the
mother's to the North symbolizing steadfastness, grounding, caution,
and wisdom of the elder. The Celebrant's will be to the South of the
altar, symboling the fire, passion and impetuosity of youth. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,295 | INVOCATIONS
Guardian of the East
Hail to thee, Ancient ones of Air!
Blow soft around us this night
That the restrictions and pains of childhood
Will be but memories in the mind of the adult.
Guardian of the South
Hail to thee, Ancient ones of Fire!
Lend to us this night your passion and strength
Envelope us in your warmth,
That the fires of youth may be tempered within thee.
Guardian of the West
Hail to thee, Ancient ones of Water!
Wash over us with thy loving embrace
That the sorrows of days long past
Can give way to new understanding.
Guardians of the North
Hail to thee, Ancient ones of Earth!
Stand firm with us in our purpose this night,
That from the youth shall grow the adult
Full of purpose and wisdom.
2720
Invocation to the Lady
Blessed Lady of a Thousand Names,
You who art Maiden, Mother and Crone.
Grant that this night the bindings of childhood will be broken
And the bond between mother and daughter be strengthened.
For the two, as so reflected throughout all creation,
Are but images of thee in thy divine Trinity.
Blessed Be.
In honor of thee do I pour this toast, and drink this wine.
Invocation to the Lord
Great Lord, Ancient one of the fields and Consort to our Lady,
We ask that thou wouldst give
a measure of your love and protection
to she who will soon join the battles of this life.
Fill her with the knowledge of thee as sancutary
And grant that peace may follow her always.
In honor of thee do I pour this toast, and drink this wine.
Chalice is then passed to each of the coveners to share in the toast.
Drawing Down the Moon
Priestess/Mother stands facing the moon with hands upraised and palms
turned upwards, cupwise. Drinking in the Lady's essence, she says,
Come to me and fill me with thy light
Enter me, shine in me your fullness
That I may use your power for my good,
And for the good of All.
When appropriate, she blesses all within the Circle, and the rite that
is about to be performed. Then, nodding to the Father of the Celebrant, |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,296 | says:
Bring forth your daughter,
that she might, this night,
cross the threshold of adulthood.
Father brings the Celebrant to the Eastern Gate.
Mthr: Is this the daughter I bore so many years before?
Nay, it cannot be, for she was but a child when last I held her.
Dtr: Mother, I am your child. Now grown and ready to throw away
the things of childhood. Years it has been since my moonflow
began and I became a woman. Now it is time that this is recog
nized.
Mthr: Very well, lead the child into the center of the Circle. There to
have her sit in silence.
Father leads Celebrant to the center of the Circle, while mother
re-closes the Circle. She then joins her daughter in the Circle's
center, saying:
2721
Mthr: You sit now in the Center of the Circle; that which is known
as the Cauldron of Hecate; the point of transformation; the
mother's womb, where beginnings end and endings re-begin.
I have heard your words, and weep for them; Tears of both joy
and sorrow.
It was my body that cried out in pain and joy as you were born.
It was my mind that went in circles to provide for us.
It was my heart that broke when that which you wanted I could
not give you.
But always did you have my love... and always shall you carry
that love with you.
Behold in me the Three-Fold Goddess
She who is One in Three - Maid, Mother, and Crone
One in Three, as she is in you and all women,
And as you and they are in her.
Look upon her and know her,
That you, too, may be whole.
So I ask thee truly, art thou ready to face the woman within thee?
To see within thee the light and dark, and fear no more the dark?
To accept that which you are, and strive for that which you can
become?
To leave behind the things of childhood,
But to continue to love and nurture the child which lives in
all adults?
{Celebrant has answered accordingly to each of the questions, at which
time the Mother now exhorts the Celebrant to stand and face the altar.}
Mthr: Daughter, I ask you now to look deep within the mirror. See
yourself reflected there. Look into your eyes and know
yourself. Repeat after me:"I come to commune with my Soul."
Dtr: I come to commune with my Soul.
Mthr: Look into the reflection of your eyes, and name one thing about
yourself that you love. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,297 | {Celebrant and Mother will continue this, alternating between what
the Celebrant thinks is both good and bad within her... }
After the last question, the Mother then says:
Mthr: Daughter, within thee is both light and dark. Know always your
shadow side. If something is there which offends thee horrible,
give it up. For others to love you as an adult, you must love
yourself first. And loving yourself means giving up any self-
hatred you've carried over from young years. Now is the time
to cut these things from thy life. They are the bonds of
childhood which have held you limited. Free yourself from them,
and know that thy spirit flies free.
Now look again into the mirror. Look at yourself with love.
See the Goddess shining within thee. She is strong; no man
has dominion over her. She knows herself and loves herself.
She will give herself to those who are worthy of her affections,
2722
and turn from those who try to debase her. Let the Goddess
within thee shine through thee, that the nobility and strength
of woman is clear for all to see.
Now, come with me.
Mother embraces daughter and leads her to each of the four quarters.
After each challenge, the Celebrant must answer as she sees fit, and
asks the Guardian's Blessing. The Covener at each gate will then bless
the Celebrant, and offer a gift for adulthood, such as strength,
courage, etc... or a physical gift pertinent to the rite and Gate.
Covener at Eastern Gate:
Hold! I am the wild wind and fury of the storm!
That which buffets thee without shelter.
How will you survive?
Covener at Southern Gate
Hold! I am fire and passion
That which will consume thee with lust.
How will you survive?
Covener at Western Gate
Hold! I am floods and weeping and gnashing of teeth.
I am lonliness and frustration.
How will thee survive?
Covener at Northern Gate
Hold! I am chaos and turmoil
Plans gone wrong and dreams that die.
How will thee survive?
Mother faces daughter (Priestess mode ON here)...
I am the Lady, thy Mother...
I shall be with thee no matter how far thou shalt roam.
And when lonliness besets thee,
Thou needs only gaze upon the moon,
To see my face and my love reflected there to you.
Father approaches daugher and turns her to face him...
I am he who is father to thee now.
I shall stand behind and beside thee always.
And when lonliness besets thee, |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,298 | Thou needs only to step out into sunlight
To feel my warmth and love within thee.
Mother takes daughter by hand and returns to the altar. Daughter picks
up her gift of childhood and presents it to the mother, saying ...
This I do give you as a symbol of childhood now behind me.
Hold it and cherish it as you remember me.
Mother picks up her gift of adulthood and presents it the Celebrant,
saying...
This I do give you as a symbol of your adulthood,
2723
and my recognition of it.
Hold it and cherish it as you remember me.
Draw a pentegram above the celebrant, with an affirmation at each of the
five points:
Point one: In the name of Inanna, Queen of Heaven
Point two: In the name of Athena, warrior Goddess, but also of Peace
Point three: In the name of Astarte, warrior Goddess, and protector of
young females
Point four: In the name of Diana, she of the bow and arrow, Goddess
of Light
Point five: Do I bless thee, and call thee "Woman".
May their strenth and independence, their love and virtue, be thine all
the days of thy life.
I recognize the child no more, but she the child who lives in all of us.
Mother stands with a space between her and her daughter and presents
the new adult to the coven.
Feasting (and in our case, a birthday celebration) follow.
Quarter Guardians are thanked, and blessings are asked of the
Lord and Lady upon the group, as well as the Celebrant.
Blessed Be * Lady Shyra *
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
2724
MUHAMMAD
From a Baha'i book by 'Abdu'l-Baha:
Americans and Europeans have heard a number of stories about
the Prophet which they have thought to be true, although the
narrators were either ignorant or antagonistic: most of them were
clergy; others were ignorant Muslims who repeated unfounded
traditions about Muhammad which they ignorantly believed to be
to His praise.
Thus some benighted Muslims made His polygamy the pivot of |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,299 | their praises and held it to be a wonder, regarding it as a
miracle; and European historians, for the most part, rely on the
tales of these ignorant people.
For example, a foolish man said to a clergyman that the true
proof of greatness is bravery and the shedding of blood, and that
in one day on the field of battle a follower of Muhammad had cut
off the heads of one hundred men! This misled the clergyman to
infer that killing is considered the way to prove one's faith to
Muhammad, while this is merely imaginary. The military expeditions
of Muhammad, on the contrary, were always defensive actions: a
proof of this is that during thirteen years, in Mecca, He and His
followers endured the most violent persecutions. At this period
they were the target for the arrows of hatred: some of His
companions were killed and their property confiscated; others fled
to foreign lands. Muhammad Himself, after the most extreme
persecutions by the Qurayshites, who finally resolved to kill Him,
fled to Medina in the middle of the night. Yet even then His
enemies did not cease their persecutions, but pursued Him to
Medina, and His disciples even to Abyssinia.
These Arab tribes were in the lowest depths of savagery and
barbarism, and in comparison with them the savages of Africa and
wild Indians of America were as advanced as a Plato. The savages
of America do not bury their children alive as these Arabs did
their daughters, glorying in it as being an honorable thing to do.
[The Banu-Tamim, one of the most barbarous Arab tribes, practiced
this odious custom.] Thus many of the men would threaten their
wives, saying, "If a daughter is born to you, I will kill you."
Even down to the present time the Arabs dread having daughters.
Further, a man was permitted to take a thousand women, and most
husbands had more than ten wives in their household. When these
tribes made war, the one which was victorious would take the women
and children of the vanquished tribe captive and treat them as
slaves.
When a man who had ten wives died, the sons of these women
rushed at each other's mothers; and if one of the sons threw his
mantle over the head of his father's wife and cried out, "This
woman is my lawful property," at once the unfortunate woman became
his prisoner and slave. he could do whatever he wished with her.
He could kill her, imprison her in a well, or beat, curse and
torture her until death released her. According to the Arab habits
and customs, he was her master. It is evident that malignity,
jealousy, hatred and enmity must have existed between the wives and
children of a household, and it is, therefore, needless to enlarge
2725
upon the subject. Again, consider what was the condition and life
of these oppressed women! Moreover, the means by which these Arab
tribes lived consisted in pillage and robbery, so that they were
perpetually engaged in fighting and war, killing one another,
plundering and devastating each other's property, and capturing
women and children, whom they would sell to strangers. How often
it happened that the daughters and sons of a prince, who spent
their day in comfort and luxury, found themselves, when night fell,
reduced to shame, poverty and captivity. Yesterday they were
princes, today they are captives; yesterday they were great ladies,
today they are slaves.
Muhammad received the Divine Revelation among these tribes,
and after enduring thirteen years of persecution from them, He
fled. [To Medina.] But this people did not cease to oppress; they
united to exterminate Him and all His followers. It was under such |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,300 | circumstances that Muhammad was forced to take up arms. This is
the truth: we are not bigoted and do not wish to defend Him, but
we are just, and we say what is just. Look at it with justice.
If Christ Himself had been placed in such circumstances among such
tyrannical and barbarous tribes, and if for thirteen years He with
His disciples had endured all these trials with patience,
culminating in flight from His native land -- if in spite of this
these lawless tribes continued to pursue Him, to slaughter the men,
to pillage their property, and to capture their women and children
-- what would have been Christ's conduct with regard to them? If
this oppression had fallen only upon Himself, He would have
forgiven them, and such an act of forgiveness would have been most
praiseworthy; but if He had seen that these cruel and bloodthirsty
murderers wished to kill, to pillage and to injure all these
oppressed ones, and to take captive the women and children, it is
certain that He would have protected them and would have resisted
the tyrants. What objection, then, can be taken to Muhammad's
action? Is it this, that He did not, with His followers, and their
women and children, submit to these savage tribes? To free these
tribes from their bloodthirstiness was the greatest kindness, and
to coerce and restrain them was a true mercy. They were like a man
holding in his hand a cup of poison, which, when about to drink,
a friend breaks and thus saves him. If Christ had been placed in
similar circumstances, it is certain that with a conquering power
He would have delivered the men, women and children from the claws
of these bloodthirsty wolves.
Muhammad never fought against the Christians; on the contrary,
He treated them kindly and gave them perfect freedom. A community
of Christian people lived at Najran and were under His care and
protection. Muhammad said, "if anyone infringes their rights, I
Myself will be his enemy, and in the presence of God I will bring
a charge against him." In the edicts which He promulgated it is
clearly stated that the lives, properties and honor of the
Christians and Jews are under the protection of God; and that if
a Muhammadan married a Christian woman, the husband must not
prevent her from going to church, nor oblige her to veil herself;
and that if she died, he must place her remains in the care of the
Christian clergy. Should the Christians desire to build a church,
Islam ought to help them. In case of war between Islam and her
enemies, the Christians should be exempted from the obligation of
fighting, unless they desired of their own free will to do so in
2726
defense of Islam, because they were under its protection. But as
a compensation for this immunity, they should pay yearly a small
sum of money. In short, there are seven detailed edicts on these
subjects, some copies of which are still extant at Jerusalem. This
is an established fact and not dependent on my affirmation. The
edict of the second Caliph [Of 'Umar] still exists in the custody
of the orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, and of this there is no
doubt. [Cf. Jurji Zaydan's _Umayyads and Abbasids_, trans. D. S.
Margoliouth.]
Nevertheless, after a certain time, and through the
transgression of both the Muhammadans and the Christians, hatred
and enmity arose between them. Beyond this fact, all the
narrations of the Muslims, Christians and others are simply
fabrications, which have their origin in fanaticism, or ignorance,
or emanate from intense hostility.
For example, the Muslims say that Muhammad cleft the moon, and
that it fell on the mountain of Mecca: they think that the moon is
a small body which Muhammad divided into two parts and threw one |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,301 | part on this mountain, and the other part on another mountain.
Such stories are pure fanaticism. Also the traditions which
the clergy quote, and the incidents with which they find fault, are
all exaggerated, if not entirely without foundation.
Briefly, Muhammad appeared in the desert of Hijaz in the
Arabian Peninsula, which was a desolate, sterile wilderness, sandy
and uninhabited. Some parts, like Mecca and Medina, are extremely
hot; the people are nomads with the manners and customs of the
dwellers in the desert, and are entirely destitute of education and
science. Muhammad Himself was illiterate, and the Qur'an was
originally written upon the bladebones of sheep, or on palm leaves.
These details indicate the condition of the people to whom Muhammad
was sent. The first question which He put to them was, "Why do you
not accept the Pentateuch and the Gospel, and why do you not
believe in Christ and in Moses?" This saying presented
difficulties to them and they argued, "Our forefathers did not
believe in the Pentateuch and the Gospel; tell us, why was this?"
He answered, "They were misled; you ought to reject those who do
not believe in the Pentateuch and the Gospel, even though they are
your fathers and your ancestors."
In such a country, and amidst such barbarous tribes, an
illiterate Man produced a book in which, in a perfect and eloquent
style, He explained the divine attributes and perfections, the
prophethood of the Messengers of God, the divine laws, and some
scientific facts.
Thus, you know that before the observations of modern times -
- that is to say, during the first centuries and down to the
fifteenth century of the Christian era -- all the mathematicians
of the world agreed that the earth was the center of the universe,
and that the sun moved. The famous astronomer who was the
protagonist of the new theory discovered the movement of the earth
and the immobility of the sun. [Copernicus.] Until his time all
the astronomers and philosophers of the world followed the
Ptolemaic system, and whoever said anything against it was
2727
considered ignorant. Though Pythagoras, and Plato during the
latter part of his life, adopted the theory that the annual
movement of the sun around the zodiac does not proceed from the
sun, but rather from the movement of the earth around the sun, this
theory had been entirely forgotten, and the Ptolemaic system was
accepted by all the mathematicians. But there are some verses
revealed in the Qur'an contrary to the theory of the Ptolemaic
system. One of them is "The sun moves in a fixed place," which
shows the fixity of the sun, and its movement around an axis.
[Qur'an 36:37] Again, in another verse, "and each star moves in
its own heaven." [Qur'an 36:38] Thus is explained the movement of
the sun, of the moon, of the earth, and of other bodies. When the
Qur'an appeared, all the mathematicians ridiculed these statements
and attributed the theory to ignorance. Even the doctors of Islam,
when they saw that these verses were contrary to the accepted
Ptolemaic system, were obliged to explain them away.
It was not until after the fifteenth century of the Christian
era, nearly nine hundred years after Muhammad, that a famous
astronomer made new observations and important discoveries by the
aid of the telescope, which he had invented. [Galileo] The
rotation of the earth, the fixity of the sun, and also its movement
around an axis, were discovered. It became evident that the verses
of the Qur'an agreed with existing facts, and that the Ptolemaic |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,302 | system was imaginary.
In short, many Oriental peoples have been reared for thirteen
centuries under the shadow of the religion of Muhammad. During the
Middle Ages, while Europe was in the lowest depths of barbarism,
the Arab peoples were superior to the other nations of the earth
in learning, in the arts, mathematics, civilization, government and
other sciences. The Enlightener and Educator of these Arab tribes,
and the Founder of the civilization and perfections of humanity
among these different races, was an illiterate Man, Muhammad. Was
this illustrious Man a thorough Educator or not? A just judgment
is necessary.
'Abdu'l-Baha
_Some Answered Questions_, pages 18-24
(c) 1930, 1954, 1964, 1981
by the National Spiritual Assembly
of the Baha'is of the United States
All Rights Reserved
For electronic reproduction only! Do not reproduce in any other
way without permission from the National Spiritual Assembly of the
Baha'is of the United States. Copies intended for electronic
reproduction such as within files available for download on
Bulletin Board Systems must contain the copyright information and
this paragraph and must not be altered in any way.
File name: SAQ-018.TXT
* Origin: Camphor Fountain* (510)547-5741 *Oakland,California
(93:5050/9)
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
2728
On the Sovereignty of Muhammad,
from the Writings of Baha'u'llah
Behold how the sovereignty of Muhammad, the
Messenger of God, is today apparent and manifest
amongst the people. You are well aware of what befell
His Faith in the early days of His Dispensation.
What woeful sufferings did the hand of the infidel
and erring, the divines of that age and their associates,
inflict upon that spiritual Essence, that most pure
and holy Being! How abundant the thorns and briars
which they have strewn over His path! It is evident
that that wretched generation, in their wicked and
satanic fancy, regarded every injury to that immortal
Being as a means to the attainment of an abiding
felicity; inasmuch as the recognized divines of that
age, such as Abdu'llah-i-Ubayy, Abu'Amir, the hermit,
Ka'b-ibn-i-Ashraf, and Nadr-ibn-i-Harith, all
treated Him as an impostor, and pronounced Him a
lunatic and a calumniator. Such sore accusations they
brought against Him that in recounting them God
forbiddeth the ink to flow, Our pen to move, or the
page to bear them. These malicious imputations provoked
the people to arise and torment Him. And how |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,303 | fierce that torment, if the divines of the age be its
chief instigators, if they denounce Him to their followers,
cast Him out from their midst, and declare
Him a miscreant! Hath not the same befallen this
Servant, and been witnessed by all?
For this reason did Muhammad cry out: "No
Prophet of God hath suffered such harm as I have
suffered." And in the Qur'an are recorded all the
calumnies and reproaches uttered against Him, as
well as all the afflictions which He suffered. Refer ye
thereunto, that haply ye may be informed of that
which hath befallen His Revelation. So grievous was
His plight, that for a time all ceased to hold intercourse
with Him and His companions. Whoever associated
with Him fell a victim to the relentless
cruelty of His enemies....
Consider, how great is the change today! Behold,
how many are the Sovereigns who bow the knee before
His name! How numerous the nations and kingdoms
who have sought the shelter of His shadow,
who bear allegiance to His Faith, and pride themselves
therein! From the pulpit-top there ascendeth
today the words of praise which, in utter lowliness,
glorify His blessed name; and from the heights of
minarets there resoundeth the call that summoneth
the concourse of His people to adore Him. Even those
Kings of the earth who have refused to embrace His
Faith and to put off the garment of unbelief, none-the-less
confess and acknowledge the greatness and
overpowering majesty of that Day Star of loving-kindness.
Such is His earthly sovereignty, the evidences
2729
of which thou dost on every side behold. This
sovereignty must needs be revealed and established
either in the lifetime of every Manifestation of God
or after His ascension unto His true habitation in the
realms above....
It is evident that the changes brought about in
every Dispensation constitute the dark clouds
that intervene between the eye of man's understanding
and the Divine Luminary which shineth
forth from the day spring of the Divine Essence.
Consider how men for generations have
been blindly imitating their fathers, and have
been trained according to such ways and manners
as have been laid down by the dictates of
their Faith. Were these men, therefore, to discover
suddenly that a Man, Who hath been living in their
midst, Who, with respect to every human limitation
hath been their equal, had risen to abolish every established
principle imposed by their Faith--principles by
which for centuries they have been disciplined, and
every opposer and denier of which they have come to
regard as infidel, profligate and wicked,--they would
of a certainty be veiled and hindered from acknowledging
His truth. Such things are as "clouds" that
veil the eyes of those whose inner being hath not
tasted the Salsabil of detachment, nor drunk from
the Kawthar of the knowledge of God. Such men,
when acquainted with those circumstances, become |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,304 | so veiled that, without the least question, they pronounce
the Manifestation of God as infidel, and sentence
Him to death. You must have heard of such
things taking place all down the ages, and are now
observing them in these days.
It behoveth us, therefore, to make the utmost endeavor,
that, by God's invisible assistance, these dark
veils, these clouds of Heaven-sent trials, may not hinder
us from beholding the beauty of His shining
Countenance, and that we may recognize Him only
by His own Self.
_Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah_, pages 24-27
--- Renegade v12-25 Exp
* Origin: Camphor Fountain* (510)547-5741 *Oakland,California
(93:5050/9)
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
2730
New Age Ministry
By: Steve Kalinowski
The New Age concept, in an overview, is basically a shifting of
perspectives, or a changing paradigm, with focus and emphasis on
individual personal spirituality and its effect/consequences on
society. Since that in itself is such an individually eclectic
approach to philosophy, it is difficult to pin down a definition
that will be accepted by a concensus. Thus, there are many
different working definitions of New Age, I'm sure you've heard a
few different ones yourself. Some are valid to a certain extent;
while others are truly misguided.. it depends on the depth of
understanding and credibility of who you ask..
The mechanism that determines the New Age, in a strictly
time-line oriented sense.., comes from Astrology.
Astrologers have long tracked a cycle called "The Procession of
the Equinoxes." Each year the beginning of Spring is noted as
the `point of Equinox,' the moment that the azimuth of the Sun
goes from south to north declination-- or is crossing at zero
degrees declination, when the day and night are equal in length.
(aequinoctium =<= ~aequus,~ equal + ~nox,~ night)
If the measurement of celestial longitude of the Equinox is
marked against the backdrop of the zodiac; it will be noticed
that the markings creep slowly backwards from year to year at a
random rate, (the present rate is at about 6 seconds of celestial
arc per year, or one full degree in seventy-five years...) not
very fast, but enough so that in every 2,250 years or so (approx)
depending of the average rate, the marking of the Equinox point
actually changes zodiac signs. Astrologers call the duration
within one particular zodiac sign an `Age.' We have been in the Age
of Pisces for a little over 2,000 years; and the transition into
the Age of Aquarius is starting, hence expressions like `the Dawn
of Aquarius.'
A noteworthy historical point about the changing of Ages;
although there are always periods of overlap, with no real line
of demarcation, each Age has a distinctive flavor or tone of
philosophy, and images of common useage that mirror the images |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,305 | connected to the sign naming the Age. From a religious
perspective, Christianity has come to be the flag-bearer of the
Piscean Age, complete with all Piscean attitudes and
characteristics... Judiasm was the flag-bearer of the Aries Age,
as was Hinduism the flag-bearer of the Taurus Age.
Interestingly, the Bhraman's Sacred Cow (Taurus image) became the
Golden Calf that was cast down by the Judiac nomads and shepherds
(Aries image) to promote the One-God concept (also an Aries
image). Likewise, the Sacrificial Lamb (Aries image) was offered
and became the Kyrstos/Christ/Savior (Piscean image) to promote
the Universal-God concept.. the imagery of the `Fisherman of Men'
is also strongly Piscean.
So, it is expected that the Aquarian Age will also have its own
tone and flavor in this regard... perhaps the image of the
Aquarian Water-bearer will empty his Urn that contains all the
fish that were caught by the Fisherman of Pisces.
2731
The attitude of Aquarius is `individuality in a harmonious
society of like-minded individuals.... or else, anarchy,
rebellion and revolution to obtain acceptance of individuality'
...ie., Ecumenism and apostacy gives way to tolerance, respect,
even protection of spiritual diversity. A motto might be:
`Spiritual Brotherhood; by Concensus of Conscious Awareness, or
Enlightened Anarchy, take your pick.' A view of Diety in the
Aquarian Age might be `A Multifarious Multi-dimensional
Manifestation of the One' -- no longer cultural, no longer
personified, but integrated into all of humanity at once... ie.,
finally taking the Christ off of the Cross (the image of actually
sacrificing the sacrifice) and placing him in the very essence of
all beings.
For the record, I am an ordained minister of the International
Metaphysical Ministry... which is to say-- a New Age Minister!
As is the case of any ministry, my prime focus is to increase the
awareness of the Diety's [whatever name you may choose] Presence
in mankind. The metaphysical approach in this quest actually
compliments other religious teaching systems by supplementing
them with the premise that each of us is directly connected to
the God/dess-Source , and can
become consciously aware of that connection through meditation.
This approach encourages one to personally experience
God/dess-Source, rather than merely accept God/dess-Source on the
testimony of someone else.
In the course of my studies, I have traveled on many roads. Along
the way, I considered well that each one was to be but a link in
the chain, never placed total commitment to any one link, but
only in the strength of the full length of chain. As the chain
grows longer with each new link acquired, it approaches a binding
of the Universe. Religion... in a prayer, a spell, a divination,
or invocation... regardless of the name used, religion defined is
to bind oneself, or to be bound, to a way of life.
First, to define metaphysical science. We have incorporated many
varied topics into this general heading, including, but not
limited to meditation, yoga, esp, astral projection, psychic
perception, runes, channeling, astrology, tarot, I-ching, Jungian
psychology, aura-psionic manipulation, alchemy, feng shui,
creative visualization, high magick, and comparative religions.
The metaphysical practitioner uses at least one of these art
forms, most likely many more than one, in their work. A minister |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,306 | in metaphysical science is studied in _most_ of these art forms,
not to any expertise level, but to a qualifying level to be more
than just conversant -- informed and able to understand each form
and teach the general concepts and principles to others.
The minister, once qualified, then, is able to pursue their own
particular study in whatever field they choose for a speciality
-- my speciality is astrology and psionics . This is not unlike the medical
profession, in that
all of the basic skills are learned during the general degree;
and then a speciality skill is pursued for the final practice.
The common thread in all metaphysical science practices is that
we value every human being as being fully connected to, or a
manifestation of the Universal/Divine/God/dess-Source; that each
2732
practitioner is experiencing that connection in their life-work,
and is encouraging others to experience their own connection in
their life, thus leading to developing their own life-work goals..
The organization of the International Metaphysical Ministry is an
academic organization, not designed to create a new religion, but
to provide an acedemic `clearing house' for information and
professional contacts for all those in the diverse fields of
study under the metaphysical umbrella. The organization provides
accrediting credentials for academic work, and continuing
education in yearly convention seminars.
In personal practice, the ordained minister is charged to provide
_only_one_precept/tenet_ to the client/student -- ie., the
connection to the God/dess-Source is found within each living
entity, therefore each person is capable of becoming conscious of
that connection, and living in accordance with that connection.
The implication is that each person has a Divine purpose, as well
as an individual purpose. Most times these two purposes seem to
be in conflict. Metaphysical ministry contends that they are
meant to coincide, to exist together in harmony, to complement
each other; and from that view attempts to resolve any apparent
conflict of dualistic purpose through education, meditation, and
prayer treatments.
Education is as straight forward as it sounds. The practitioner
has their personal area of expertise, as well as the general
working knowledge of most `spiritual paths,' and teaches that to
all those who seek. The more studied the practitioner, the more
areas of `spiritual path' they are able to work with to educate
their students. Here, the minister acts as a spiritual guide
until the client/student is able to access the `inner guidance'
that enables them to take over for themselves.
Meditation is the backbone of the philosophy, all other
metaphysical art forms are in some way connected to this. The
practitioner personally meditates to daily renew, validate and
experience their own connection to the God/dess-Source; and
teaches client/students to do the same through a series of
methods for exercising meditation skills. This is the ritual
level of the ministry.
Prayer treatment is the basic healing tool of the ministry of
metaphysical science. A prayer treatment is a conscious focus and
release of psychic energy (psionics) from the minister to the
client/student for the purpose of healing the spiritual self.
Once healing begins on the psychic level, healing on all other
levels soon follows. This is the conjure/magick level of the |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,307 | ministry.
In my personal practice, the use of astrology to create
personalized prayer treatments combined with psionics (aura
visualization and field energy administration) is my specialty
and the subject of my masters thesis. This technique is now being
studied by all other ministers in the organization who are
interested in astrology and psionics. I intend to further develop
the technique in the doctorate work.
2733
LightWorking:
The term ~LightWork~ is meant to imply the `Nurturing and
mid-Wifery of the dawning Aquarius Age' -- working to bring it to
full Light. I use the term LightWorking to describe the personal
commitment of an individual to the opening of the world to the
concepts of the New Age... not all LightWorkers are metaphysical
ministers, on the contrary. There are LightWorker representatives
in all walks of life, all areas of human endeavor, and they focus
the concepts of the New Age through their own particular
perspective.
Notice that so many novel, movie and television writers, even the
commercial ads, are working with New Age themes, as are musicians
and artists of all kinds. Science scholars and philosophers, too,
have their representatives. Much of the work on `Quantum Physics'
is developed through the New Age perspectives, as is the growing
acceptance of alternative health care methods in the general
community. The underlying essence of such concepts as `Political
Correctness,' of the environmental `Green,' `EcoSafe,' and
`EarthWatch' movements, are all still other examples of New Age
focus areas. In fact, the mass networking of human thought (this
electronic media) is a very fine example of the Aquarian New Age.
New understandings in psychology and sociology, concepts of ESP
and intuitive creativity, of channeling and automatic writing, of
spirit guides, all have taken old existing concepts and
restructured them within the framework of the New Age views. All
these areas of new thought have LightWorker representatives
working right along side of traditionalists, and diligently
participating in guiding the progress and development of their
fields toward the New Age view..
Well Neal, guess that should be a short summary ... aren't
you glad you asked?
Be Well... And so it is! Rev Steve @)>--`-,--`---
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
2734
The Temple of Set, Is it Satanic?
By: Lilith Aquino
I can't answer this in 25 words or less, so bear with me! If you
consider Satanism to be anti-Christian Devil worship, the answer is no.
The Temple of Set practices a completely non-Christianized, positive
"high Satanism". To understand what we mean by this, a bit of history of
the Temple is needed:
While the TOS as an organization was formally incorporated and recog-
nized by both state and federal governments in 1975 CE, its magical and |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,308 | philosophical roots are prehistoric, originating in mankind's first
apprehension that there is "something different" about the human race -
a sense of SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS - that places humanity apart from all
other known forms of life. Ancient religions - of which those of Egypt
are generally acknowledged the eldest - either exalted or feared this
self-consciousness. Those which exalted it took the position that the
human psyche is capable of opposition to and domination
of the forces of nature.
The psyche-worshipping, reasoning religions - or schools of initiatory
philosophy - attained levels of abstract knowledge that made them
mysterious to the masses. In a few socities, such as Egypt and Greece,
such groups were respected and admired. More often, however, their
exclusive elitism and "supernatural" activities made them objects of
resentment and persecution.
While all philosophical schools embraced the psychecentric consciousness
to some degree, there were a very few which made it avowedly and
explicitly the focus of their attention. The divine personifications
("gods") of such schools have come down to us as symbols of what most
Western religions, worshippers of non-consciousness, consider the
supreme "evil": the Prince of Darkness in his many forms. Of these the
most ancient is Set, whose Priesthood can be traced to predynastic
times.
Originally a circumpolar/stellar deity portrayed as a cyclical counter-
part to the Solar Horus, Set was later recast as an evil principle by
the cults of Osiris and Isis. When the Hebrews emigrated from Egypt
during the XIX Dynasty, they took with them a caricature of Set: "Satan"
(from the hieroglyphic _Set-Hen_, one of the god's formal titles).
Originally a sort of "prosecuting angel for YHVH", the Hebrew Satan was
changed by Christianity into a personification of everything God was not
- and since God was "good", Satan was necessarily "bad". Alluring or
mysterious deities from religions competing with early Christianity -
such as the hellenic/Roman Mysteries and Persian Mithraic faith - were
also "bad". Non-Christian gods generally were redefined as Christian
"demons" and given a place in the Christian Hell (another name stolen
and perverted from Norse mythology). Christian propaganda nonwithstan-
ding, the present day "Satan" is wholly their invention.
Which brings us to the present time: The Satanic religion proposes to
raise the individual to personal godhood, free from enslavement to any
other "God" (or gods). However this is a question not just of power, but
also of ethics, morality, and psychological maturity. The parameters of
philosophy and metaphysics extend far beyond the conceptual and symbolic
limits of the Judaic/Chrisitian tradition. The Temple of Set explores
the "human equation" and the metaphysical and psychological roots of the
great Satanic/psyche-centered philosophies of history. The appeal of
2735
occultism is much the same as that of conventional religion: Logical
positivism and scientific materialism, though they have made great
strides towards explaining the "how" of existence, have failed entirely
to explain the why.
Conventional religions, with their colorful mythologies analyzed in
terms of
the underlying philosophical principles, represent simply the primitive
longing of man to feel "at one" with the Universal harmony he perceives
about him. The Black Magician rejects both the desirability of union
with the Universe and any self-deceptive actions designed to create such
an illusion. He/she has considered the existence of the individual
psyche - the "core you" of your conscious intelligence - and has taken
satisfaction from its existence as something unlike anything else. The |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,309 | Black Magician desires this psyche to live, to experience, to continue.
He/she does not wish to die - or to lose consciousness and identity in
a larger, Universal consciousness (assuming that such exists). He/she
wants to BE. This decision in favor of individual existence is the first
premise of the Temple of Set.
The second premise of the Temple is that the psychecentric consciousness
can evolve towards its own divinity through deliberate exercise of the
intelligence and Will, a process of BECOMING or COMING INTO BEING
(XEPER), whose roots may be found in the dialectic method expounded by
Plato and the conscious exaltation of the Will proposed by Nietzsche.
The "worship" of Set is thus the "worship" of individualism. In the
Church of Satan this was taken to mean indulgence in all (legal) desires
of the body and ego. Since many such desires are impulsive and destruc-
tive, the COS found itself in an awkward position, which accelerated its
eventual crisis and demise in 1975. The Temple of Set determined to
preserve the principle of individualism, but to add to it the evolution-
ary "higher self" aspirations of Aleister Crowley's pre-OTO philosophy
of Thelema. Glorification of the ego is not enough; it is the COMPLETE
psyche, the entire Self or soul, which must be recognized, appreciated,
and actualized. Dogma, - to include fixed ideology in any form - is
repugnant to Setians. We strive rather towards an atmosphere of "best
possible premises", which are always subject to constructive, intel-
ligent examination and criticism. Foolish, pretentious, or destructive
egotism under the guise of exploration is neither respected nor endured.
Regretfully there still exist some individuals whose idea of "Satanism"
is largely a simple-minded synthesis of Christian propaganda and
Hollywood horror movies. The Temple of Set enjoys the colorful legacy of
the Black Arts, and we use many forms of historical Satanic imagery for
our artistic stimulation and pleasure. But we have not found that any
interest or activity which an enlightened, mature intellect would regard
as undignified, sadistic, criminal, or depraved is desirable, much less
essential to our work. The Temple of Set is an evolutinary product of
human experience. Such experience includes the magical and philosophical
work of many occult individuals which have preceded us. In examining the
secret and suppressed corners of history for valuable and useful
material, the Temple insists upon ehtical presentation and use of such
discoveries. All Setians are expected to display a high measure of
maturity and common sense in this area. We reject absolutely wanton
cruelty and harm to others, and are particularly adamant about this with
regard to animals.
2736
The Temple of Set evaluates conventional religions as erroneous in
principle, and feels no need to concern itself with their activities
unless they intrude upon our affairs.
Any further questions or comments are welcome.
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
2737
Descent Into Confusion
by Robert Hughes
One of the celebrated "mysteries" of revivalist Wicca is the
'ritual play' known as the Legend of the Descent of the
Goddess. In my Gardnerian Book of Shadows, dating from the
sixties, the Legend is to be enacted separately at "a meeting
for preparation for Third Degree". Only third degree witches
may attend this meeting with the initiate who is to take
second degree. |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,310 | The Legend is enacted in front of the initiate by four of the
third degree witches. Two take the role of Narrator and
Guardian of the Portal (of the underworld), while the High
Priest and High Priestess or Maiden take the roles of God and
Goddess. The term Guardian of the Portal may have been
borrowed from the rituals of the Golden Dawn.
In this enactment, the ruler of the underworld and Lord of
Death is the Horned One. The Legend begins with the statement:
'...Our Lady, the Goddess, would solve all mysteries - even
the mystery of death. And so she journeyed to the Netherworld
where the Guardian of the Portal challenged her.' The Guardian
orders her to strip off her garments and jewels and she is
bound with cords and brought into the presence of the Lord of
Death.
The God is so overcome by her beauty that he falls and kisses
her feet and begs her to stay with him in the underworld. The
Goddess replies that she does not love him, and she asks why
he causes all the things she loves and delights in to fade and
die.
The God replies that the cause is 'age and fate' and he says
he is helpless to stop it, although he can give the dead 'rest
and peace and strength, so that they may return.' A second
time he asks the Goddess to stay with him. When she again says
she does not love him, Death replies she must suffer a
scourging at his hands.
Following this scourging, and the five fold kiss, the Goddess
says: 'I know the pain of love'. It is then that the God
'taught her all the mysteries'. He also gives her a special
necklace which is 'a symbol of the Circle of Rebirth'. In
return, our Lady teaches him the 'sacred mystery of the
cauldron'. The Legend ends with an affirmation of the reality
of reincarnation among the Hidden Children of the Goddess and
'the mystery of magick which is placed between the worlds'.
The initiate is then invited to ask questions about the
meaning of the Legend.
Even anyone with only a slight knowledge of understanding of
mythology will recognise the contradictions and confusions
which exist within the structure and symbolism of the Legend.
The first point of controversy is when, where, and by whom,
this ritual originated. Some (unconfirmed) sources claim it is
of 19th century origin. It is said to be a product of the
famous "Cambridge" coven of academics who revived the
2738
classical Mysteries in the early 1800s. More reliable evidence
exists to prove that Gerald Gardner sent a draft of the Legend
to Aleister Crowley for correction in the 1940s.
Kelly (Crafting the Art of Magic, Llewellyn, 1991) claims that
the Legend does not appear in the pre-1949 second degree
initiation in the famous (infamous?) Ye Bok of Ye Art Magical
and says: "The content of this document probably dates to 1953
or earlier..." (p.128). Gardner quotes from the Legend in his
book, Witchcraft Today as if he had received it from the New
Forest coven. In fact he describes it as 'the central part of
one of their rituals. It is a sort of primitive
spiritualism.'. He goes on to compare its importance in the
Craft to the Christian myth of the crucifixion and
resurrection. (1970, pp 44-46). Gardner goes on to say the |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,311 | Legend 'upon which its members base their action is the
central idea of the cult.' He compares it with the story of
Istar (sic) descending into hell and the myth of the Hindu god
Siva (Shiva) as Lord of Death and destruction. Gardner then
says he believes the Legend may be of Celtic origin. To
support this fanciful statement, he says that: 'In Celtic
legends the Lords of the Underworld did prepare you for death
and many living people are said to have entered their regions,
formed alliances with them, and returned safely, but it needed
great courage; only a hero or a demi-god dared to risk it.'
(p.46). One presumes that here Gardner is making an allusion
to the realm of Faerie and the widespread folk belief that
faeries were the spirits of the dead.
This is classic Gardner at his most confusing and, perhaps,
deliberately misleading and mischievous. The version of the
Legend as presented by Gardner is both patriarchal and
mythologically inaccurate. It seems to be based on a hybrid
combination of the Greek myth of Demeter and Persephone, and
the Middle Eastern myth of Inanna-Ishtar. Gardner does not
mention the Demeter-Persephone myth in his speculations,
instead sidetracking the reader into the realms of Celtic
myth, although he does devote a chapter of his book to the
Greek Mysteries - basically as a means of justifying the
practice of scourging.
In the Middle Eastern myth, Inanna is the Goddess of the Moon
and Venus. She was probably, 'one of the three great goddesses
of the Bronze Age' (Baring & Cashford, 1991). Inanna was known
by the title Queen of Heaven and Earth and her myth is an
archetypal form of the eternal story of the mourning
widow/mother goddess and the saviour god, who is her
son/lover, dies, descends to the underworld and is reborn.
This myth is found in most Mediterranean cultures and in
northern Europe, and it formed the 'pagan' basis for the new
religion of Christianity.
The Demeter-Persephone myth is a post-patriarchal variant on
this ancient legend with the daughter (Persephone) being
kidnapped and held prisoner by Pluto, the Lord of Death and
the ruler of Hades. In recent years some feminist
mythographers have re-written this classic story and produced
alternative versions without any patriarchal overtones (see
2739
Spretnak, 1978).
Gardner was correct to refer to visits to the underworld by
heroes and demi-gods (sic). However, in the majority of the
extant legends and myths, such as the descent of Arthur to
Annwn to capture the Cauldron of the Goddess, and Baldur's
ritual death and descent into the realm of Hel, it is a male
mortal or god who is involved in the descent and is "reborn".
It is the Goddess, in her 'dark aspect, who rules over the
realm of the dead, controls the power of fate and grants the
hero/god the supreme initiation of transformation and rebirth.
In the Gardnerian Legend of the Descent we are led to believe
that the Goddess, who is represented in The Charge as an
all-powerful deity offering her worshippers 'upon death, peace
unutterable, rest and the ecstasy of the Goddess', and is
described by Gardner himself as 'the Great Mother, the giver
of life' (1970, p.45), visits the underworld knowing nothing
about the mysteries of life and death. She allegedly knows
nothing about the natural process that makes 'all the things |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,312 | that I love, and take delight in, fade and die' until she is
taught these mysteries by the God. In fact in response to her
question the God replies 'tis age and fate'. Significantly
these are both concepts associated with the Dark Goddess of
the Underworld, who has no role in Gardner's version of the
Craft.
It is not difficult to see the Legend of the Descent of the
Goddess in terms of 'a theologising of the scourging' (Kelly,
1991), which was such an important aspect of the rituals in
Gardner's time. Taking this argument a step forward, as Kelly
does (1991, pp 28-29), it could appear that the content of the
Legend was based on Gardner's sexual fantasies and his
personal concept of the Goddess. He imagined the Goddess as 'a
sweet, lovely woman', while in the more traditional branches
of the Craft she is a darker deity ruling fate, death and the
underworld as well as sexuality. This alternative archetypal
image of the witch goddess has largely been ignored by
revivalist Wicca. It will continue to do so while Gardner's
confused and mythologically incorrect Legend of the Descent of
the Goddess remains the 'central idea' of the modern Craft.
References and further reading:
Witchcraft Today G B Gardner (Arrow paperback edition 1970)
The Witches' Way J & S Farrar (Robert Hale 1984)
Crafting the Art of Magic: Book I
A Kelly (Llewellyn 1991)
Lost Goddesses of Early Greece
C Spretnak (Moon Books 1978)
The Myth of the Goddess
Baring & Cashford (Penguin 1991)
The Mysteries of Eleusis
G D'Alviella (Aquarian Press 1981)
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
2740
The Derivation of the word Witch
by Doreen Valiente
Strangely enough, the derivation of the word witch is a subject on which
scarcely any two authorities can be found to agree. The most frequent
explanation is that it is akin to the word wise, and that witchcraft
therefore means The Craft of the Wise.
It is widely believed that Gerald Gardner originated this derivation.
However, this is incorrect, as it appears in Hugh Ross Williamson's
book, The Arrow and the Sword, first published in 1947, before any of
Gerald Gardner's books on witchcraft. But is this the right derivation?
Not according to Professor Jeffrey Russell, who gives an appendix on
this subject in his book A History of Witchcraft (Thames & Hudson,
London, 1980). Professor Russell rejects any connection with the Old
English word witan, meaning to know, as he also does with the Old
English wican, to bend. In his opinion, the real origin comes from the
Indo-European word weik, which has a general connection with religion
and magic. From this very ancient root-word came in turn, among other
things, a word wikk, meaning magic and sorcery, and this eventually
produced the Old English wicca, a male witch, wicce, a female witch,
and the verb wiccian, to bewitch or work witchcraft.
It will be seen from the above that "Wicca" does not mean "witchcraft"
and never did, in spite of its widespread modern use. So how did this
usage originate? In his biography, Gerald Gardner: Witch, it describes |
Wicca | The-Complete-Uncut-Book-of-Shadows | 2,313 | his initiation in "Old Dorothy's" house, and says, 'It was half way
through when the word Wica was first mentioned: "and I then knew that
that which I had thought burnt out hundreds of years ago still sur-
vived."' It will be seen that at this time Gerald didn't even know how
to spell the word. Its correct spelling is as above. Nor, unfortunately,
does this account state in what context the word was used. It might have
been that Old Dorothy's coven was simply proclaiming Gerald a male
witch, in which case this would have been an accurate use of the word.
So where did Gerald get the idea that "Wicca" meant witchcraft? I would
like to advance a theory of my own. I must emphasise that this is just
a theory, and I may be wrong. But I believe that this idea originated
from his reading of a book which I know that he possessed, namely
An Encyclopaedia of Occultism by Lewis Spence. This very valuable work
of reference first appeared in 1920, according to the mention of it
in the bibliography at the end of Gerald's book, Witchcraft Today.
It has recently been re-issued by Bracken Books under the title of
The Encyclopaedia of the Occult. The entry referring to witchcraft
begins: "Witchcraft: (from Saxon Wicca, a contraction of witega, a
prophet or sorcerer)." This could have been read and misunderstood
to mean that "Wicca" meant witchcraft, and this misconception has
been carried on through the ranks of modern witches ever since.
It has to be said, of course, that the word Wicca has its uses to
define the present-day revival, especially in the USA, where a number
of associations using this word have gained legal recognition as
religious bodies. Personally, however, I prefer the term The
Old Religion, which is the English equivalent of the Italian term
used by the followers of Aradia, namely La Vecchia Religione.
(See Charles Godfrey Leland's book, Aradia: or the Gospel of the
Witches, first published in 1899.)
2741
(Incidentally, there is a legend in witchcraft circles to the effect
that the reason why the original edition of this book is so rare is
that old Gerald bought up all the copies he could find and destroyed
them. Whether there is any truth in this or not, I cannot say.)
In spite of Professor Russell's opinion, as quoted above, there is an
older derivation of the word witch that may perhaps be worthy of
consideration. This may be found in A Concise Etymological Dictionary
of the English Language by the Rev. Walter W Skeat (Clarendon Press,
Oxford, 1901). This book discusses the above-mentioned derivations
from wicca, wicce, etc., and then in turn connects these old words
with the Norwegian vikja, which means firstly 'to turn aside' and
secondly 'to conjure away'. Thus, speculates the Rev. Skeat, the word
witch possibly meant 'averter'.
He also mentions that the Anglo-Saxon word witega, a prophet or seer,
comes from the Anglo-Saxon witan, to observe, which he says is 'cognate
with witan, to know.'. We have seen that Lewis Spence regarded witega as
the origin of wicca. So who is right? In spite of all claims, it seems
to me that it remains a matter of opinion. One thing we do know is that
the word came to Britain with the Saxons, who at the time of their
arrival on these shores were pagans. I believe that to them, the word
witch (or whichever of its forerunners they used), did not necessarily
have any derogatory meaning. A witch was a seer, a knower, an averter of
evil. The word only took on a negative meaning with the coming of
Christianity, which taught that all the gods of the heathen were devils.
So anyone who clung o the old ways and the Old Religion was a devil
worshipper. And annually, around Halloween, we still see the same old
charges being made in the same old spirit of bigotry. Isn't it sad that
these good folk haven't learnt anything since the Dark Ages?
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.