ravens' call #60

Ravens’ Call THE TASMANIAN PAGAN ALLIANCE, INC. NEWSLETTER

S U M M E R / A U T U M N 2 0 1 3 N U M B E R 6 0

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ww.taspainc.com Ravens‘ Call - Summer/Autumn 2013

The Pagan Alliance Ethic Love & Kinship with nature.

Reverence for the life force & its ever-renewing cycles of life & death.

Each individual is responsible for discovering & developing his/her own true nature in harmony with the greater world, & takes full responsibility for his/her actions.

Acceptance of the many-faceted nature of Divinity: Acceptance that divinity exists in many forms, & can be worshipped/respected as male, female, androgynous, or

in a form beyond human definition.

3 Editorial

4 Eye of Newt

5 Beltane at Jan‘s

6 The Feast of Lugh

8 Pagan Podcasts

9 Burning of the Wicker Man

10 The Debt Christianity owes to Paganism

11 A breathing exercise with Tim

12 Luna Journey

14 Moots

16 Silver Broomstick Awards

18 Familiar Friends

20 Pagan Parenting

23 My Introduction to Mithraism

24 A High Magic Exorcism

26 What‘s On

28 Pagan Friendly Business

29 TPA Friendly Businesses

30 State Coordinators Report

31 More TPA Friendly Businesses

32 Samhain Invite

33 Membership Invitation

Contents the Team

Postal Address PO Box 1127

Launceston TAS 7250

Hobart - Allannah Turner Launceston - Mel Ell

North-West - Jo Corvinus

Jess Steers [email protected]

State Coordinator

Mel Dolliver [email protected]

Regional Coordinator

Mandhi Allen

Secretary

Terri Baran [email protected]

Treasurer

Moot Convenors Editor - Mel Dolliver

Proof-reader - Heather Jensen Graphic Designer - Terri Baran

Printer - Mandhi Allen

Ravens’ Call

Disclaimer: The views contained within the Ravens’ Call newsletter are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor or members of the Tasmanian Pagan Alliance, Inc. Likewise, the advertisements are placed in good faith and do not signify endorsement by the editor or members of the Tasmanian Pagan Alliance, Inc.

© Copyright 2013 Tasmanian Pagan Alliance, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Mel Dolliver - Editor

Welcome to the fabulous 60th anniversary issue of

the Tas Pagan Alliance newsletter!!

In celebration of 15 years of local spirituality this

special edition of The Ravens‘ Call is brought to

you by all the sensational pagan men in our

community – I have nagged and hounded, re-

reminded and been pleasantly surprised by all the

contributions stacking up in my inbox during the last

month, it is a pleasure to gift you with such fantastic

diversity…

From Mithraism to organic cheese, the origins of

Lughnasadh to raising chickens for the table –

whatever your interest we have it covered this

issue.

While I wax enthusiastic about the current edition

I‘ve also been recently reviewing the content of The

Ravens‘ Call throughout the past year – reading

back over the articles and reports of my dog-

eared hardcopies, greeting each minor grammar

or spelling error with fondness and comparing

photocopy quality of varying contrast, I realised

how heavily I relied on just a handful of regular

writers to fill my themed headings and provide

feature articles.

Yet the Pagan Alliance in Tassie is growing in both

numbers and activities each year, our moots and

events are attracting consistent interest and it is

wonderful to see a mixed crowd with an almost

even ratio of men to women…

So my two goals for 2013 were to offer an almost

wholly ‗man-made‘ Ravens‘ Call showcasing our

fab pagan blokes – in the wild hope of further

articles and artwork for future newsletters, and

also to publish articles from members who have yet

to share their thoughts or are new to our

community.

One goal down and one to go – not bad and its

only February!!

So be brave and share your experiences with us –

from rites of passage or a walk with your dog,

write a review on a moot or event – tell us about

an awesome book or warn us away from a tragic

read.

One of the most special things about this pagan

newsletter is the direct link between author and

reader, we aren‘t a glossy untouchable magazine

– we are here to support your business and to

inform about events in your area, to discuss local

news and we invite you to contribute and

participate - The Ravens‘ Call is written by

Tasmanian pagans for Tasmanian pagans – and I

think that rocks!!

Blessings of the harvest,

Due date for submissions: 13th April

[email protected]

About the Artist

Front cover: Peter Seekings

Peter was kind enough to provide our front cover image

for this Edition. Peter has been an artist for many years,

and you can see some of his work featured in our 2013

Tasmanian Pagan Alliance calendar. Peter is also the

owner of the Richmond Mazes, where you can see more

of his artwork, and also his beautiful calligraphy. Thank

you Peter for contributing to our Issue 60!

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Cheese with Ed from Cygnet

Greetings, Ed here! Most people know me by my goats cheese in the pagan scene. I have been making the goats cheese for about 15 years now. Here is my recipe for a fresh Chèvre.

ED’S RECIPE Equipment needed :

A milking goat!

A large pan

1 1/2 ltr milk per cheese (300gm)

Small amount of veg rennet and starter culture from Cheeselinks.com.au

colander

cheesecloth

ladle Day 1 Warm the milk to approximately 68c and cool to 21c. Add a pinch of starter culture a tablespoon of rennet

mixed with four tablespoons of boiled water cooled. Mix in for 30 seconds and leave overnight. Day 2 Strain the curd into a cheesecloth and colander over a bucket or bowl to let the whey run out. Cover up and leave overnight. Day 3 Put into cheese moulds lined with cheesecloth of your choice and leave overnight again. Day 4 Take out of moulds dry off on kitchen paper and lightly salt and wrap in cling wrap. Put in fridge. Eat when desired. Blessings Ed P.S. Say hello if you are visiting C y g n e t , t h e market is the 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month.

Don't forget Samhain on your

Tas Pagan Alliance calendar at our place 27 &

28th April!

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Beltane at Jans

Green man masks,

mead, dancing the

Maypole and feasting

with great company

made for a fantastic

Beltane at Jan’s

beautiful bush

property. Thanks for

having us Jan!

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With the Festival of Lughnasadh and the harvest season

rapidly coming upon us Mel asked if I would write an article

on the subject for this edition of Raven‘s Call, accordingly I

have submitted a brief outline of Lugh taken from traditional

sources. There are of course, many stories relating to Lugh, but

I have limited this article to only those fragments relevant to

Lughnasadh itself.

Lugh

Lugh was son of Cian of the Tuatha de Danaan, and of Ethlinn,

the daughter of Balor, King of the Formorians. The Tuatha de

Danaan (Tribes of Dana) were the Fey folk of Ireland,

supernatural descendants of Dana or Danu. While the

Formorians were ancient semi-divine inhabitants of Ireland that

arrived by sea and represented

the forces of chaos, wild nature

and often malevolence. Lugh, a

chieftain God, was pictured as

being young and handsome and

associated with the Raven. His

chief weapon was the Javelin,

but he also used the sling to

great effect, thus having the

ability to wound from a distance.

In Ireland the Milky Way was

called Lúgh‘s Chain, indicating the

significance of his sling in

traditional folklore. Lugh also

holds the Gaelic title Samildanach

(possessor of many skills and

crafts), The Cath Tánaiste Maige

Tuired records that once when Nuada Silver Hand, King of the

Tuatha de Danaan, held a great feast at Teamhair (Tara),

Lugh was prevented from attending by their gatekeeper:

“Gatekeeper - What skill have you, for no one is admitted to

Tara unless he have some skill?

Lugh - I am a Carpenter.

Gatekeeper – We do not need you, for we have a

Carpenter.

Lugh – I am a Smith

Gatekeeper – But the Tuatha have a Smith

Lugh – I am also a Harper, a Poet, a Historian, Champion,

Hero and Sorcerer”.

The Tuatha had amongst them specialists with all of these skills,

but no one who combined them all, so Nuada instructed that

Lugh be admitted where he occupied the Sage‘s seat in the

Halls of Tara.

Lughnasadh

Irish tradition records the invasion of Ireland by a race of people

called the Fir Bolg on the 1st August (people who historically

could well have been the Belgae), they were subsequently

defeated in a great battle by the Tuatha De Danann (tribes of

Dana) and their leader killed. Taillte, the dead leader‘s widow,

was later to marry a chief of the Tuatha and cultivated vast

plains of Ireland and planted them with clover and prepared

them for agriculture. Taillte was then to die from exhaustion

after this effort, her foster son who was Lugh, obeyed her dying

request and established the Funeral games (Óenach Tailten),

appropriately a Harvest Festival, in her honour. This is why the

Lughnasadh celebrations in Tailltin (now Teltown, county Meath)

the place of her death, are named after her - the Tailltean

Games. Traditionally this feast that started in 3370 BC, went

for 15 days before and after

Lunasadh, and it was said that as

long as Lughnasadh continues to

be celebrated there will be ‗corn

and milk in every house‘.

Incidentally, Lunasa (Irish) or

Lunasdal (Scottish) is the Gaelic

word for the month of August.

However, there is another

important element to the story of

Lughnasadh. At the time of Lúgh‘s

acceptance into Tara, the Tuatha

de Danann were suffering under

the Lordship of the Fomorians

through their leader, Bres. Bres,

like Lugh, had a Fomorian father

and a Tuathan mother, but exhibited strong Fomorian traits, he

forced the Tuatha to work as slaves and pay excessive tributes

to the Fomorians. His greed and the withholding of the harvests

of the Land from the Tuatha De Danann, finally drove them to

revolt. This led to the battle of Mag Tuired in which the Fomorian

champion Balor slew Nuada demoralising the Tuathan warriors,

at that critical moment Lugh met Balor on the field of battle

where Balor attempted to strike Lugh down by gazing upon him

with his single deadly enchanted eye. But Lugh, agile and with

great skill, cast a sling-stone into the eye, so that the poison from

it fell upon the Fomorian fighters handing victory to the Tuatha.

As a result of this victory Lugh became King and was then to rule

over Ireland for forty years.

Immediately after the battle, the Tuatha de Danaan decided to

kill Bres. But he begged for his life, offering great gifts in return.

Firstly, he offers to make the cattle of the Tuatha de Danaan be

always in milk. But the lawyer Maeltne Morbrethach replies that

Bres has no power to make this so. Bres then promised that

should he be spared he would reveal the secrets of the

agricultural cycle. Thus the Fomorian blight on the land was

The of

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exchanged for Fomorian fertility by Lúgh's victory. So although Lughnasadh was inaugurated in honour of Lúgh‘s foster mothe r, another

important reason behind the celebration is the victory of Lugh, and the release of the harvest for use by the people. In the tale above, we

see the contrast between the reigns of Lugh and Bres. While Bres brings hardship and famine to the people, the victory of Lugh brings

forth a time of good harvests and abundance, which is the reason why this festival most often carries Lúgh‘s name.

The celebration of Lúghnasadh is generally centred on the high place of ancient times. Most auspicious were high hills that had a source

of water near their top -- because they are able to join the Above and the Below, the realm of the gods of culture (Tuatha) and the

watery Underworld (the Fomorian realm). On the Isle of Man the inhabitants would climb to the top of Snaefell for their celebrations.

The first fruits of cultivated crops, as well as wild crops (usually bilberries), were brought to the site to be blessed and to be shared by

the community. In the Scottish Highland tradition, the gift of special cakes known as the Lunastain bannock would favour the recipient with

good luck, blessing, and protection. It was also a time for musicians to show off their skills, and craftsmen to display thei r wares in honour

of the God of Crafts. Another feature of Lunasadh Festivals were the 'Tailltean‘ marriages, an informal marriage that often lasted for

only 'a year and a day' or until the next Lughnasadh. At that time, the couple could decide to continue the arrangement if it pleased them

or simply walk away from one another, thus bringing the Tailltean marriage to a formal close.

I would just close with a brief reference to some of the more popular contemporary interpretations of Lugh. Despite many very confident

and seemingly authoritive pronouncements that one reads on the Net or in some Modern Pagan texts, that Lugh was a Sun God, there is

no basis for this claim in Gaelic text or traditions. This would appear to be an idea that gained prominence in the late Victorian era, it is

also worth noting on this point, that Lugh has no association with either of the two great Celtic Solar festivals, Beltane or the Mid-Summer

Solstice. The Romans viewed Lugh (or Luga in Gaul) as being associated with Mercury, which probably has some merit, though this is still

an idea that is contested in many quarters. Lugh is also commonly associated in many modern texts with Llew Llaw Gyffes, the husband

of Blodeuwedd, who appears in the Fourth Branch of the Welsh Mabinogi. Like Lugh he is a God of many arts - harpers, healing, poets,

smiths and sorcerers. He is also celebrated on the 1st August. However, to my mind the pantheon and the stories associated with Llew

bear little resemblance to those of Lugh, so I am yet to be convinced. I wish you all a happy Lunasadh,

Beannachd leibh,

Iain MacPharlain

Symbol by Brett SheaSymbol by Brett Shea

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By now you all probably know what podcasts are (if you don‘t know it‘s an audio file made available on the internet for downloading). The good thing about podcasts is once you‘ve downloaded them they are a resource for later use. Nowadays I usually listen to podcasts when I‘m

driving. The best tool to use for searching for podcasts would be iTunes, but once you know the direct URL to the podcast I find it‘s best just to download a copy onto the computer and not through iTunes, mainly because every time you reformat the computer you have to re-download all the podcasts, which I find annoying. And when you do find a decent podcast you like it is easiest to back it up this way. These are the main podcasts I listened to when I started listening about 5 years ago.

The Crooked Path was probably one of my favourites, presented by Peter Paddon, a pommy bloke living in America. It has since stopped, he got to about 110 episodes, but he‘s put a few more out after, but I‘m not

sure what‘s going on, it‘s a bit hard to follow. The Crooked Path was based on traditional witchcraft: Robert Cochrance, Clan of Tubal Cain style. I liked Peter‘s information on herbs and his meditative exercises like tapping the bone, which is a good meditation on ancestor connections.

The Wigglian Way is produced by two Canadians – Sparrow and Mojo. This is a Wiccan podcast, and Mojo is all about promoting Pagan music. It‘s a rather humorous podcast, with lots of stoner humour I can relate to. Some may call it just dribble. The Wigglian Way is still an active podcast, with 113 episodes thus far.

Deo‘s Shadow was another Canadian Podcast hosted by Deo, who was a neo-pagan and approached it from an intellectual, philosophical point of view.

Of course I listened to the Australian ones first, but they were short and sweet. The Catnip Brew, with Fortuna and Fluffy, had only 9 episodes. GeekWitch by Tahleah Moonwater, (our very own Terri), had 10 episodes and Aussie Pagan Talk had 18.

Stay tuned for the next

instalment from the pod-o-sphere.

Pagan

Podcasts ...with Kynan

Pagan Podcasts with Kynan

is our brand new column!

Keep an eye out for future

podcast information and

reviews in upcoming issues of

the Ravens’ Call.

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Burning of the Wicker Man at River & Willow’s

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To start with, we really have to go a long way back

to the time of the Babylonian Empire. They had a

fatalistic view of life which was born out of the

study of astrology. This study of the stars which was

so strong we still read about it in the daily

newspaper. The other concept was that of a duel

system of religion that is good and bad so there

was always a ‗devil‘ around the corner waiting to

take our soul to hell.

This idea influenced

the Jewish peoples

and therefore also

Chr i s t ian i ty wi th

alarming effect.

Next we must skip

along the time line to

ancient Rome to the

first century CE. Many

new cults were finding

a new home in this

cosmopolitan city. The

two we are interested

in are Christianity and

Mithraism. Both had

come from the Middle

East and ended up in

contest for state

recognition. As we all

know Christianity won

the contest, but in

many ways lost

because to achieve this end took on board a great

deal of the aspects of Mithraism.

Mithras is a Sun God, Jesus is the son of God.

Mithras was born in a cave of virgin birth and the

first people who came to see him and offer gifts

were shepherds. He was born on the 25th of

December and his special day was the seventh,

Sunday. Christianity had as its main protagonist

Paul of Tarsus, a hot bed of Mithraism. Paul tells us

to put on the armour of God, a fitting tribute to

Mithraism, a military inspired religion but not Jesus

who told us to love one another.

Strangely enough Mithras was not the top god of

the religion that gave us its name. That place was

reserved for Kronos – Time – the creator and

destroyer of all things. Contributing to his renown

were the Cross Keys of Heaven.

When a person, which

only applied to men,

entered the religion, he

was baptised with water

and the solar cross burnt

into his forehead.

Thankfully only a cross

of ash is placed onto the

forehead of Christians.

When Mithras finally

completed his mission of

putting humanity on the

right path he collected

his disciples together

and had a ‗last supper‘

with bread marked with

a cross and wine. He

then descended to

heaven in a chariot

where he looked down

upon the faithful and

would eventually come

again in a day of judgment. This then is the

contribution handed down to us from the pagan

world. Unfortunately the message that Jesus came to

give humanity – we should love our neighbour as

ourselves - was hardly ever adhered to.

COMING SOON

If you enjoyed this interesting brief about Mithraism –

brace yourself for the following edition of The

Ravens’ Call (Autumn/Winter #61) as Peter delves

deep into the realm of Mithra...

by Peter Seekings

The debt Christianity owes to Paganism

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I came up with this some time in the mid-to-late 90s. It's a short breathing exercise that's so complicated you can't help but achieve a meditative state once you complete it. Breaths should be taken to the stomach/diaphragm, not the chest. Written out in full, it goes like this:

1. Breathe in a bit (count to three while inhaling), hold for a count of three

2. Breathe out a bit (count to three while exhaling), hold for a count of three

3. Breathe in mostly (count to five while inhaling), hold for a count of five

4. Breathe out mostly (count to five while exhaling), hold for a count of five

5. Breathe in fully (count to eight while inhaling), hold for a count of eight

6. Breathe out fully (count to eight while exhaling), hold for a count of eight











17. Breathe in a bit (count to three while inhaling), hold for a count of three

18. Breathe out a bit (count to three while exhaling), hold for a count of three

19. Return to regular breathing

Frankly, the description is terrifying and makes it seem more difficult than it is, in which case the picture below may prove enlightening. Starting from the left, make your breath follow the path of the line to the right. When the line goes up, you breathe in. When the line goes down, you breathe out. The height (or depth) of the line indicates how far to breathe in (or out), and the central (starting and ending positions) represent regular breathing. Another way to look at it is the pattern 3, 5, 8, 5, 8, 5, 8, 5, 3. Or, just remember you start with 3, 5, end with 5, 3, and in the middle you've got three 8s separated by 5s. Assuming you've made it this far, you've now spent so much effort concentrating on 3s, 5s and 8s, that your mind should be otherwise utterly empty. Happy meditating! Tim

with Tim

A Breathing ExerciseA Breathing ExerciseA Breathing Exercise

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We feel powerful tides ebb and flow

in our emotions, our bodies,

depending on the phases of the

moon. We feel her push us and

then tighten the pull. The energy of

the moon is a personal journey...

Book Review - Dance of the Moon by Dan Furst

―Dance of the Moon – Celebrating the Cycles of the Earth‖ is a non-fiction paperback of 285 pages, first published by Llewellyn Worldwide in 2009. It is both a fascinating chronology of timekeeping systems and an invaluable reference book for Pagans. I strongly recommend it to all who are searching for their own true nature in harmony with the greater world. The author, Dan Furst, is an internationally-respected astrology writer and an authority on spiritual practices and rituals used around the world. Dan now lives in Peru but can be found on his website: www.hermes3.net. Dance of the Moon is the history of how humans came to

understand and measure time. It is a fascinating story of the development of the human race in terms of how they interpreted what they saw in the heavens. It takes you on a 9000-year journey through time, starting in the Age of Cancer, when farmers first learned how to work the Earth for food, and finishing in the Age of Aquarius, when the supply of food and water are but one of the environmental emergencies facing life on Earth. Although the content is somewhat scientific, its use of charts, tables and diagrams enhance the text, making it suitable to those of literary and scientific backgrounds alike. This colourful story of the Earth tells us that our first concept of time involved the two great lights – Sun by day and Moon by night. Then, our only timepiece was our body; its calls for attention from our various organs for food, sleep and activity and our heartbeat, which gave us rhythm for music. Later, we started counting the number of Sun rises to a Moon cycle and correlating menstruation and childbirth with cycles of the Moon. Both Sun and Moon were worshipped, as it was recognised that each played a role in the flourishing of crops and the motions of life. They saw that one life-cycle of Earth from leafing in spring, through summer‘s harvest to the cold of winter was close to thirteen cycles of the Moon. A table is given which shows the names and corresponding modern calendar dates of the thirteen-month Celtic Tree Calendar, as well as the feast that was celebrated at this time. When these Sun and Moon cycles were recorded over a long period, there came the need to include an intercalary month to bring the Moon cycles back in line with the seasons. This was later adjusted to the intercalary day of February 29th. As communities grew in size in the Taurean Age, timekeepers began to take more notice of the Sun and, by using observatories like Stonehenge, were able to measure time in years, providing the observers with a greater concept of history. A resume is given of the understandings of time held by the cultures of the Egyptians, Greeks, Mayans, Chinese, Vedics, Babylonians and many others. Each culture came to recognise the necessity to measure and predict the return of the Sun cycle and, thus, for the New Year to have a beginning

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date. Most civilisations began to make estimates of how long life had existed on Earth and to predict future doom. In about 1900 BCE, the priests of Mesopotamia and the Shang dynasty simultaneously recognised that the Sun, Moon and stars moved in a regular fashion. After much rigorous study, they were able to correlate these movements with events on Earth and, eventually, the art of astrology was split from the science of astronomy as a separate study. This book provides technical details of such astronomical occurrences as the Pole Stars Circle and the Precession of the Equinoxes for those who wish to know the ―why‖. By 200 BCE – the Age of Aries – the sun had taken over from the Moon and was the main instrument for the measure of time. A 12-month calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar. Chapters are dedicated to predictions made with the complex Mayan calendar and to explaining some interesting points about the highly spiritual Muslim calendar and its Holy Days. Of particular interest to modern pagans will be the chapter devoted to the evolution of Wicca, as pioneered by Gerald Gardner in the 1950s. This chapter shows how the Great Festival Calendar is formed by superimposing two holy-day cycles: the four Celtic-Druid mid-season feasts and the four Solar feasts, which results in the eight Sabbats, or rests. Gardner‘s

movement accepted male deities but this evolved into a more feminist, goddess-centered ―Revisionist‖ Wiccan Movement by the mid-1960s and this barred all male deities as well as male participation. This chapter also explains the source of the names that Aiden Kelly chose for the eight Sabbats in the Pagan Wheel of the Year. His Sabbats are tabulated to show their zodiacal location and the corresponding Celtic Esbats. The difference between Druidry and Wiccan practice is delineated and the five points of Wiccan Belief are given. In all, this book ―Dance of the Moon‖ is an essential reference work for all who search for a great understanding of all that has been held sacred by peoples all over the world. John Dixon, 6 November 2012

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Tasmanian Pagan Alliance, Inc.

MOOTS Hobart Moot Report - January

At the January moot a planning session took place for

2013 and feedback was sought from attendees on

what they‘d like to see occur. 5 new people attended

who were al l del ightful and heavily

participated. Questions and discussion were held

after the planning session and excellent suggestions

were made on recommended reading included below.

Recommended Reading

The Gate to Women‘s Country - Sherry Tepper

Rebel without a Soul -

http://rebelwithoutasoul.wordpress.com/

Maybe Logic – Robert Anton Wilson

Reality Tunnel – Timothy Leary

Cosmic Trigger (trilogy) – Robert Anton Wilson

-Karl

Burnie Moot Report - November

The dinner and chat time at the Burnie RSL was good

as usual on the night of the November moot. After

dinner, though, a special treat was in store for us. We

were blessed with the company of Bev Chell, a Bowen

Therapist from Burnie. The Bowen Technique is a

globally recognised healing modality with offices and

contacts in about twenty countries of the world. Bev

explained that Bowen Therapy is a gentle form of

body work in which very subtle moves performed over

the muscles and connective tissue send messages deep

into the body, retrieving cellular memory of a

preferred, relaxed, balanced way of wellbeing.

Bev energetically made a round of the table and

attended to ailments of the seven moot attendees in

turn. She was offered sore shoulders, neck injuries and

broken fingers to work on. This was a tall order given

the time restraints of the RSL room. Bev did three

rounds of the table, leaving the requisite pause

between applications of her hands to each body to

provide time for the bodies to respond. There were

claims of near-instant relief for some ailments and,

although my broken finger was not straightened with

this short, mild treatment, the rest of my body

benefited from Bev‘s relaxed and cheerful manner

and in the knowledge that such techniques are

enthusiastically available from her clinic in Burnie.

Bev left with our blessings for good health and many

new customers.

-John

Burnie Moot Report - December

As is usual, the December Burnie Moot was held in the

local RSL venue, and after some catching up with news

over dinner we retired to the board room where I gave

a talk on the history of Mythology, illustrated by a

Power point presentation of some photos of Pagan sites

in Scotland and Italy/Sicily taken on my recent trip.

I structured the talk by first considering some of the

various categories of myth: Creation, Hero, Myths of

Eschatology (end times - ultimate destiny of humanity),

Etiological Myths - study of causation etc. I then dealt

with the Theories of Myth: which are mostly objective

and look at Myths from the outside rather than take

them at face value, they ask such questions as:

Why did people tell stories like these?

What were they really trying to say or do by means of

such tales?

What can they mean for us?

Can they help us understand ancient people?

Can they help us understand ourselves?

Some of the theories discussed in this context were those

loosely categorised as: Euhemeric, Enlightenment,

Functionalist and Structuralist. I also spoke at some

length on Psychoanalytic theories of Myth, and the use

that both Freud and Jung made of myth in developing

their schools of thought – establishing some basic

concepts that continue to have some influence today.

I then dealt briefly with the Romantic Theories which

have formed the basis for many of the ideas that

underpin contemporary pagan/wiccan movements. A

period that produced such significant works as Frazer‘s

Golden Bough, The Celtic Twilight by Yeats, and

Graves‘ White Goddess, and also influential movements

such as the Cambridge Ritualists and the Hermetic

Order of the Golden Dawn.

To close, I talked about the Vedic system of

understanding the nature of Deity, and also of some the

contemporary debates relating to the question of using

myth to justify present-day social agendas and that

vexed question of ‗authenticity‘ in the Pagan movement.

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Burnie Moot Report - January

After the holiday season, the attendance at the

January moot reached ten pagans – the highest seen

for a year or so. As January is the peak season for

flowering gardens, attendees were asked to relate

stories of how they view their gardens. Most of us told

stories of the pleasure derived from our plants and

flowers, although, a couple of members with larger

properties had this pleasure diminished by the rapid

growth of thistle and mugwort at this time of year.

There were complaints about possums nipping off

azalea flowers and raspberries all ripening at the

same time but, overall, it seems gardens provide each

of us with a special form of joy and satisfaction,

especially with daylight saving time providing longer

evenings to partake in the peace of the garden.

Some native gardens provide a haven for parrots,

honeyeaters and wrens. Growers of edible varieties

anxiously wait to see the fruits or vegetables of their

labour. Others gardens are full of perfume from

carnations and roses. Many people have lemon trees

and the discussion soon went to recipes for lemon

butter and ways to peel kiwi fruit. To me the most

amazing garden was Mel‘s, which apparently has

dozens of pots, each with a different species of mint

plant. When you consider the enormous range of

flavours and aromas that could be made from

blending these, Mel‘s Sunday Tom Cruise would never

have to taste the same two times running.

Towards the end of the evening, Jo circulated a

beautifully illustrated set of Earth Magic cards from

her large collection. Each of us chose a card and

many of these cards were seen to carry potent

messages for us.

-John

Launceston Moot Report - January

On January 29th we had the first moot of the new

2013 year and it was informative and enjoyable as

usual.

We had a great turn out for the moot of over 20

people and everyone had a good time!

Prior to the discussions we did the regular raffle.

Prizes were home made jams and smudge sticks (Thank

you Brett!) and earrings (Thank you Kristel!)

Lisa won the Nectarine jam and earrings!

Chris won the Plum jam and Lavender smudge!

Lily (and Mum Terri) won Marmalade and Sage

smudge!

We had a great discussion about different domestic

and household traditions that people employ when they

are moving house, cleaning, or just generally wanting

positive energy in the household.

The range of traditions discussed included but was not

l imi ted to Smudging indoors and out ,

Crystal placement and Crystal Grids, Creating intricate

and... smelly... witch bottles, rock salt in the corners of

rooms, even collecting toenail/hair clippings from family

members and burying them!

We discussed upcoming events such as the Living

Goddess Workshop (February 17th) ran by Zahira and

Jo.

The exciting Lughnasadh Weekend in Forth - I even got

to plug my Tree of Life medallion making workshop!

The soon to be arranged Gede Palmer workshops in

Hobart being arranged by Jess.

Zahira spoke about her belly dance course she is

running as well as the upcoming Goddess Conference.

Our northern member Kristel spoke about the Aboriginal

singer/songwriter Bob Wilson who will be doing a

presentation about Aboriginal beliefs and a small

musical interlude for our next moot on February 26th.

More great presentations and topics to come in the

future.

If any members are interested in doing a brief

presentation, or just have a topic they wish the group to

discuss, please contact myself at the moot email.

Newcomers are always welcome!

There may be a change of Venue for upcoming moots,

but February will be at Newstead Hotel - 160 Elphin

Road Newstead TAS 7250, February 26th, 7:00PM

Please RSVP if possible to the Facebook event page or

to [email protected] Thanks to Jo for speaking in Launceston in October

about your inspiring overseas trip!

16


Silver Broomstick

Awards 2012

17


We gathered together in the North and the South this year to

celebrate our members and volunteers! Thank you to all who

came along, and a huge thank you to Pagan Cider for their

generous gift of Tasmanian Apple Cider for our Southern Picnic.

Well done to all our winners, especially Avril for taking the Silver

Broomstick Award, and Jeanette for her well deserved Life

Membership.

Silver Broomstick award for 2012 Avril

Maiden, Mother, Crone award Jan

Green Man award Greg

Wooden Spoon Karl

Up and Com’en Young’en Dee

Lifetime Membership awarded to Jeanette Gormley

Most Regular Moot Attendee

Northwest (Burnie) – John Dixon

North (Launceston) – Greg Williams

South (Hobart) - Jan Walker

18


I've always been a meat eater. Growing up, eating

meat was just part of what we did, and I guess when I

was a child I never really thought much about the

ramifications of this. Later, I met vegetarians who

were so specifically because they either didn't want

animals to be mistreated, or didn't want them killed at

all for human consumption. In my teens I glibly wrote

off my meat eating with the line ―those [farmed]

animals wouldn't have even existed if we weren't

going to eat them‖. But somewhere along the line I

realised that the conditions under which animals are

kept for commercial food tend to be somewhere

between appalling and horrific.

This is part of the reason that my wife Morgan and I

decided to keep chickens about ten years ago. We

eat eggs (and chickens), but if you've ever done even

the most cursory investigation of cage laid eggs, you'll

know the hens have no quality of life at all. And

roosters in that environment are killed on day one,

after having gone to all the trouble of actually

getting themselves out of that damn egg. This is just

not right.

Originally we kept chooks in suburban Melbourne. A

suburban back yard has a definite maximum chicken

population, and you can't keep roosters, which makes

raising a flock for meat problematic, but you can

certainly get a good supply of eggs from anywhere

between two and half a dozen hens. They'll also help

you out in the garden with your weeding, and they

produce wonderful rich soil. Hay, compost, weeds,

dirt, various kitchen scraps and chook manure is a

magic combination.

The eggs you get from real, honest, home grown

chickens with the ability to roam around a bit and eat

green food are astoundingly good. The yolks are

bright golden-orange, not that pasty whitish yellow

you get from the supermarket.

When we moved to Tasmania a few years ago, we

brought a couple of hens with us from Melbourne. As

we'd moved to a rural area we were also able to get

a rooster, which meant that suddenly all our eggs

were fertile. None of our hens had decided to go

broody, so we hatched three lots of eggs in an

incubator, and ended up with twelve more hens and

(incredibly) about twenty roosters.

Roosters, when they grow up together, don't tend to

fight with each other too much, or at least much less so

than if you were to introduce a couple of full grown

roosters to each other. However, beyond a certain age,

they realise that all those hens look rather attractive.

One rooster jumping on a hen is all well and good, but

half a dozen at once is pretty bad. So after a certain

point we had to segregate the hens and Neo (the father

and head rooster) from all the other roosters.

Then the question became, what do we do with all these

roosters? We couldn't in good conscience give them to

people we didn't know were going to treat them right

and let them free range. And part of the point of this

whole endeavour was to provide us with meat, so one

day it came time to kill our first chicken.

We spent many hours discussing the ethics of this. One

immediately obvious question was, having put ourselves

in the position of having to kill an animal ourselves,

could we go through with it? And if we couldn't go

through with it, what would that mean? Surely the only

ethical choice then would be to no longer eat meat. This

is not to say that I believe everyone who eats meat

needs to kill something in order for their meat eating to

be ethical, but rather that if you are a position to kill an

animal for food, but can't bring yourself to do it, you

might have some soul-searching to do.

It's interesting at this point to consider the general

attitude of Western civilisation towards death. Most of

our society seems to be heavily influenced by the

Abrahamic religions, or tends towards secularism. In the

former case, you live, you die, you go to heaven (or

hell), but it's a one-time opportunity. Once you're gone,

you ain't comin' back (with perhaps one or two messianic

exceptions). For secular types it's even worse – once

you're gone, you're gone. Is it any wonder that people

with these perceptions fear death? And how does that

fear of death translate to how the death of animals is

On

Raising Animals

for Food

19


perceived? If our life is our only existence, surely an animal's life is its only existence. How tragic then to take the life

of another in service of our own?

Thankfully we don't subscribe to any of those Abrahamic religions, nor do we grope in the empty spaces of secularism.

As Pagans, we take a panentheistic view of the universe, that is to say that we see – or try to see – the divine in all

things, and consider all things to be part of one great whole. If pressed, we would probably say we believe life is a

manifestation of the universe trying to understand itself. Consequently life is the most sacred thing. Consuming another

living creature, be it plant or animal, does not subtract from the sum of existence. Energy cannot be created or

destroyed, merely transmuted. When we eat another living creature, that creature becomes part of us in a very real,

immediate sense. From this perspective, killing and eating an animal is morally no different than killing and eating a

plant.

Given that life is sacred though, we see it as our

solemn duty to give our animals (and plants) the

best possible life we can, and the quickest,

cleanest death.

This leads, naturally, right back to that first

chicken. The most humane means we could

produce of slaughtering a chicken ourselves is a

killing cone, that is to say a sheet of aluminium

wrapped into a funnel shape, attached to a star

picket and hammered into the ground. You catch

the chicken and place it head down into the cone.

The chicken's head comes out the bottom of the

cone. You grasp the head, stretch the neck out,

separate the feathers a bit, slit the throat and

sever the head. The chicken is dead and bled out

within moments, and there's no flapping around or

undue torment. Frankly, the first time we did this,

the whole experience seemed remarkably more

stressful for us than for our dear departed chicken

friend.

Later, after plucking and gutting, and giving the

liver, heart and kidneys to the cats, we had a

roast. We wondered if we would feel bad (or

possibly even nauseous, or have some other

adverse reaction) eating this bird that we had

raised and cared for, for six months.

One thing struck me quite hard, and that is that I

finally understood the saying of grace. My

rejection of Abrahamic religion notwithstanding, I was brought up nominally Catholic, at least in my early years, and

we were always made to say grace, which never meant a damn thing to me. It was just ―Dear Lord, thank you for the

food, Amen‖, and then we ate. It was rote, and meaningless. But on that night, as we sat down, I felt compelled to stop

and sit a moment and say grace.

Not ―Thank you Lord‖, but simply ―Thank you chicken.‖ And that actually meant something.

Oh! And the meat! Not that squishy jelly-like commercial texture. Not pasty white. This meat had colour! and texture!

Because this chicken had been ranging free.

Later, after the meal, we looked at each other and both felt, unexpectedly, a deep and abiding sense of satisfaction,

because out of all the chickens we'd ever eaten, we knew with absolute certainty that this one had had a wonderful

life, a quick clean death, and had become a part of us. Tim

20


Hello and thank you for reading my article.

I love paganism, and I love parenting so the two ideas sit very well together in my mind. That said, like all things I can

only give you my personal slant on what it has been like to raise children in a way that embraces my pagan values

and beliefs.

Now this idea of pagans raising kids is nothing new. I read a book about the local scout groups, which talked about

the history of scouts. Apparently scouts had a meaning in more tribal communities and one story was about a Zulu tribe

in which the boys, when they came of age, were painted in white and sent out to fend for themselves. The paint could

not be washed off easily and any of the elders who spotted the young men were allowed to chastise and pull pranks

on them. The idea was the kids learnt to hide, watch, practice and learn their tracking and survival skills.

Now I am not suggesting we should kick our kids out of home at the age of 12 to live on the streets, but even here the

practice makes sense to me. As our children get older why not put a few challenges in their way deliberately. Let them

struggle and fail in private, let them suffer the wrath of other parents if they do something or make choices that impact

on other people. Then when they have learnt and perfected their social (and looking after themselves) skills then they

can come and impress us with what they have learnt.

Another thing that we western parents can borrow from is games from other countries. Most of these folk games have

a sense of nature to the children‘s awareness as they play. My son has a game on his computer called Mancala. It‘s an

insanely simple game like angry birds, but in this game you have to move counters around a board, taking your

opponents counters away from him while protecting your own.

If you look this game up on the web it used to be a piece of wood

with hollows dug out of it and the counters were stones. So if your

lazy like me, grab an egg carton instead of carving wood, but you

can still head out to the park. Get the kids to collect some counters;

one can collect gum nuts the other stones. (Remind them to ask the

trees and foot paths if they are happy to play with the kids)

Then sit down in the ground somewhere and play under a tree or in

the sunshine if it‘s a nice day. Kick your shoes of and let the dirt sift

between your toes while you play. Is this pagan? Probably not, but

it feels a lot more natural to me than clicking a mouse! My kids like

the computer, but I believe they also like feeling the stones in their

hands and almost always want to bring the stones home with them.

So the next thing I think of is how do I impart to them my witchy

theme? I like the image of the old English land scape, so I looked to

the games that I thought might have come out of England. For

inspiration think of the nursery rhymes such as ―Ride a cock horse to

Bunbury cross to see an old lady on a white horse, rings on her

fingers and bells on her toes‖ I wonder if the Hobby horse and the

Hobbit from ‗Lord of the Rings‘ share the same historical derivation

both being diminutive forms.

I have yet to find a very young child who I cannot tempt with the

idea of running around with a stick between their legs and a

21


cardboard head stuck

to the top. Or a piggy

back ride around the

lounge room. My

daughter had a horse

head on a stick from

Chicken Feed it was a

soft head and if you

pinched its ears it

made the noise of a horse. (Actually it was a unicorn

head) and she would hold it with one hand and in the

other she had a parasol. My son got stuck with the card

board head and he would run around with his power

ranger sword. My daughter would ride out with me to a

picnic while my son would joust with me on either side of

the fence!

To this day my daughter still likes riding horses, my son

has progressed and would much rather ride a dragon

unfortunately.

But how do I picture a pagan parent if I close my eyes?

My image usually comes from third world or pre

industrial countries. I imagine a Negro mother picking

cotton in the fields of America, a sheet tied across her

chest like a sling and a little baby cocooned inside,

cooing gently as the mothers motion rocks the child to

comfort as she goes about her work.

I had the great fortune to be able to take my children

to work with me when I was on call. They got to see me

setting up the cameras and helping elderly people

gently up onto the beds. They met the nuns and got to

pat the hospital therapy dog. It‘s not quite the harsh

cotton fields but the chance for the children to see and

feel close to their parents while

they work. Seriously work places

need to be much more family

friendly than they are currently.

My vision extends to Australia

and aboriginal children; I picture

the parents sending the kids

down to the beach to dig up

some turtle eggs and bringing

them back to the camp fire to

make pancakes. Ok maybe not

pancakes, and while maybe I

wouldn‘t ask my kids to eat turtle eggs in case they are

endangered, but alternatively a friend of mine has a

chook shed and at the back is a hutch which if you open

the little letterbox door you can reach in a collect the

eggs. The kids don‘t like doing this because the eggs

are dirty, but I get them to do it anyway, they can

always wash their hands afterward.

I recently gave a little talk about my love of story in

relation to paganism. So it feels appropriate now to

talk a little about story in terms of parenting.

As a kid I hated poems. The first poem that captured

my interest was the man from Snowy River. As I read I

could almost feel the horses hooves pounding on the

ground beneath me as I flow over fallen logs with my

long leather stockman‘s clock trailing along behind me

in the wind. Imagine my disappointment when the first

poem my kids wanted me to keep re-reading them was

‗Sam I Am‘.

But no matter, what first captures your childs‘

imagination is most important. Cuddle up close to them

at bed time, or resting outside with your backs against

a brick wall and keep going. Stories are a great way

to pass on your pagan values. No matter what lesson

you want to teach the children there is a story

somewhere than can help you. My favourite stories for

teaching moral values are Aesop‘s tales.

Then when they get a little older and you can keep

them still for more than 10 minutes, introduce the

traditional stories. Regale them with Persephone‘s

journey to the underworld and back again, or if you‘re

feeling more epic try the journeys of Ulysses and Jason

and the Argonauts.

Or get on Google earth and fly to Egypt like Osiris

and check out the pyramids, visit Anubis or Baste. Pull

out some paper and pencils and draw a few cartouches

of your own. Now I was all set to visit the Aztec and

strap my kids to a table ready to sacrifice them to the

sun gods but apparently you can‘t

do this just before bedtime,

because there is no sun according

to my little boy.

Now when discussing parenting

and pagan rituals we have to

consider that jolly fat man in red

who punishes parents by taking

their money and putting it into the

hands of the consumerist society.

Me personally I feel no need to

paganize the Christian celebration

because frankly Christmas has so much paganism woven

through it that it feels more pagan than Christian to me.

But if I really wanted to, and at times I do. I pick the

middle of our winter, take my kids camping somewhere

with lots of trees, light a camp fire when it gets dark

and tell them about another old man called Odin with

22


the one eye, who I say travels around looking for his lost eye.

I tell them how during his travels he has to pay for his lodging and board somehow, and everyone knows old men are

good at making wooden toys. Now you might think that kids today with their ipod‘s and WII‘s would not be interested

in handmade wooden toys. But here is one a friend of mine made for my son and I can tell you he spent hours tossing

this thing into the stream and watching it go over the waterfall.

Now we all know kids are not with us all the time. School takes up a big part of their lives and parents are not

allowed in that place. My son already tells me to just wait, then he has to go play with his friends.

But school often also teaches the kids things and when you get home and chat about their day you can add on to what

they have learnt. Now you might have to go to the teachers to find out what they are learning first. Queries on my

part to the kids often gets answered with grunts and the firm answer that they learn nothing and do nothing all day.

But don‘t be fooled they are being taught something at school.

When I was a kid the government agenda was to teach us about how badly we treated the aboriginal community,

now the political agendas are more diverse and it is not uncommon for your children to know a lot more about

environmentally friendly practices than they let on to you. So be prepared to find your-self being told to buy free

range eggs so that the fox‘s don‘t get them!

So what are some of the possible pit falls with pagan parenting? For one thing paganism is very hands on and

interactive with kids so they bond closely but this also comes with a high responsibility. I do pagan things with my kids

and they know the basics about it and love it, but I always tell them that I don‘t want them to choose a faith until they

are older, I want them to learn about the other pathways to spirituality as each path has something good to teach the

children just in different ways and they might find a path that fits them better.

Then there is the innocent tendency for children to just tell everyone everything, and given we live in a predominantly

Christian based society this can make them stand out, maybe exposing them to ridicule and bullying. To address this

you can disguise your practices as plain every day events, teaching pagan lessons along the way. For example

walking near the base of Mt Wellington and pointing out the red robins as they move down the mountain in winter to

avoid the frost up the top. Or planting a vegetable garden and then getting the kids to use those vegetables in the

kitchen to make yummy snacks.

We have a yearly ritual. Every year we watch the black berry bushes beside the creek and when the berries are

black we buy a small pot of local honey from the market and pick and dip till we are sick and my kids clothes are

stained so bad they have to be soaked for months afterward to clean them up!

Finally what about the future for my pagan parenting practices? I suspect when teenage hood starts and my kids start

ducking under the window sill when I drive past their friends that anything I do is no longer going to be cool. But while

pagan rituals at Yule will not be acceptable until they realise they can drink alcohol at the ritual feast afterward, I

believe my pagan values of how to treat people nicely and that this

treatment must extend to the animals, plants, and the very ground

itself will continue to linger on in them till the very end.

I also believe they will carry the memories of what I have done with

them into their adult hood as gems they will look back on and be

happy whenever they are feeling a little down. Already my son

remembers with fondness every time we drive to Huonville, the

sleeping dragon that lives under the southern outlet, a story his big

sister made up for him years ago.

Of course there is a big section on pagan parenting I know nothing

about called teenage hood. I personally intend to hide in a bunker for

those years and just wait out the storm, so you might have to ask some

of the older and wiser crones about that one.

Sabian

23


I first became interested in Mithraism through a

chance remark by my Father. He was a man who

had been involved in Spiritualism was well as

Theosophy. He used to hold informal meetings at

our house in Norwich when I was a teenager, I am

now 65! Well after one of those meetings he was

talking about an ancient Roman religion called

Mithraism, the word somehow struck a cord in my

consciousness. I had never heard of the term before,

but I had to know more. Cycling down to the central

library in Norwich I found a volume called ―The

Fellow in the Cup‖ and become intrigued. From

there I was led to another book called ―Puck of

Pook‘s Hill‖ by Rudyard Kipling. This book written

for younger people is about two children who by

going around in a circle three times saying ‗By oak,

ash and thorn‖ conjured Puck – a small version of

Pan. He takes them to various places in History, one

of them being Hadrian‘s wall across the top end of

England. Accompanying this story is a song to

Mithras which I learned by heart.

Now the story gets interesting. Just outside Norwich

is the old Roman fort of Venta Icenorum which

controlled the Iceni tribe after the insurrection of

Boudicca in AD 61. The fort fascinated me and I

often used to walk of cycle the three miles to get

there. The site had previously been excavated and

a gold cavalry helmet was found in the stream

which becomes the River Yare. No one knows what

became of the small community. The fort had to be

reduced at one stage and soldiers from Germany

were sent there, however nothing else is known.

Inside the perimeter of the fort is a small church built

of stone and flint probably scavenged from the

Roman wall. I never bothered to look inside the

church, until I took my wife‘s little sister to see it. I

took her to see the fort and asked her if she would

like to see inside. Walking up to the church, through

the covered turnstile gate and along the gravel

path with ancient gravestones on either side, I

started to recite to myself the ‗Song to Mithras‘.

At the last verse -

“Mithras the God of the Midnight,

here where the great bull dies,

looks on thy children in darkness,

O take our sacrifice.

Many roads thou hath fashioned,

all of them lead to light,

Mithras also soldier,

teach us to die aright.”

On finishing the verse I opened the church doors and

a huge power ball hit me in the chest. I staggered

back. What was it I thought? But I‘m not going to

stop now. I walked into the church and the

atmosphere was heavy and almost physical. I got a

little worried and suggested we say a little prayer

then left. The little girl felt nothing, it was only I that

had the experience. Perhaps there was a temple to

Mithras built under the church and somehow I had

opened a portal, I guess I will never know.

By Peter Seekings

24


: I‘d always believed that exorcism was the purview

of Hollywood features, or the Roman Catholic

Church, that is until I found myself in a circle of salt

in a High Magic circle about to assist with the

exorcism of my coven‘s High Priestess.

A week earlier, she had caught a ride with me up

country, halfway to an appointment she had with a

friend of her partner‘s. As I waved to her as her bus

pulled out to complete her journey, I had no idea

what series of events would unfold upon her return.

Roxanne, the High Priestess, had agreed to travel to

Kamloops in central British Columbia to treat an old

friend of her partner Don. This friend had just

returned from a trip to Central America where she

had been touring ancient Mayan, Aztec and Toltec

temple sites. She and her travelling companions had

done some ritual within a chamber in a ruined

temple structure. During the ritual, she had fainted

and when she woke, she had felt fevered and quite

ill. Upon returning home, she had contacted Don and

they had decided that Roxanne should see what she

could do.

When Roxanne called me to come and pick her up

from the bus station, she warned me that she had

some strange news. A short time later, we sat across

from one another at a restaurant. I asked her what

had happened and she asked me to take her hand

as she extended it across the table. As I took it, by

reflex I recoiled: her hand

was impossibly hot. Being

familiar with the particular

gifts of each of her coven

members, she asked me to

take her hand and tell me

what I saw. I usually used my

gift for psychometry with

objects. As I resumed my grip

on her hand and closed my

eyes, a scene unfolded of a

dark chamber and the thick

scent of blood. My view

moved down towards the stone floor and met the

glazed eyes of a lifeless, naked corpse strewn on

the stones. I became aware of a presence behind

me and as my view swung, around following the tail

and then half the body of something that seemed

reptilian. It moved and I withdrew from the vision.

As my eyes opened, I knew what the vision meant. I

asked Roxanne what had happened. She told me

that she had given the ill woman a treatment, laying

hands on her and doing some energy healing. For

some reason, she had not shielded herself or

properly grounded herself as she usually did with

such treatments. She described how she had felt

something enter her body from that of the ill woman,

cursing as she realised what had happened. While

the other woman had felt progressively better soon

after the treatment, her gratitude was small solace

as she felt her temperature rise steadily. As I

explained my vision, she nodded, thanked me and

asked me to take her back home immediately.

We had phoned ahead and Roxanne‘s partner and

Ron, a coven elder and high magician, were waiting

for us at the couple‘s bookstore, Pagan‘s Book Place.

Ron and Don had already prepared the large room

at the back of the bookstore for a ritual. I walked

down the long hallway to the back room expecting

to be able to see Ron and Don‘s preparation, but

then to withdraw back to the front of the bookstore

to wait with the small group of

friends who had gathered

there. I was shocked when Don

asked me to stay and Ron

started to explain the high

magic circle and the process he

was planning to go through to

remove the spirit that had

entered Roxanne‘s body. I

protested that I couldn‘t be of

any help as I was new to the

Craft and knew very little

about high magic. They assured

me that because I was the only

A HIGH MAGIC EXORCISM

25


Next Issue

AUTUMN/

WINTER

2013

one that had an idea of what the creature looked or felt

like, they needed me to participate. I would be safe they

explained as long as I didn‘t leave the protection of the

magic circle demarcated by the circle of salt laid out on the

floor.

Reluctantly, I took up my position within the circle. About a

metre away, Ron had laid out a triangle also in salt. Within

the triangle was a chair where Roxanne took her place.

Ron cast the circle, but this one designed to protect those

who stood within it. Once the circle surrounded us, Ron began

addressing the demon. Roxanne sat quietly in the chair.

Other than being somewhat withdrawn, her behaviour since returning from her healing appointment hadn‘t

been remarkable in any way, but about a half hour into the ritual, upon Ron‘s repeated demand for the

demon‘s name, Roxanne – or the demon – began to respond evasively: questioning why Ron wanted ―their‖

name.

I had been asked to contain Roxanne within an energy shield and when Ron gave a signal, I was to draw the

demon away from Roxanne and out through the ceiling. I did this through

visualising a whirlwind of fire spiralling around her.

A chill raced down my spine as in response to one of the many demands

from Ron for the demon to leave Roxanne‘s body, I saw a misty image of a

reptilian face project a few centimetres from Roxanne‘s face. My familiar is

a grey wolf. As a reflex, I took on the wolf to help give me courage as I

knew I was experiencing something extraordinary.

I don‘t know how much time passed as Ron continued to challenge the

demon, demanding it to leave Roxanne‘s body. I sensed the energy

reaching a crescendo and focused on my energy field. At the moment that Ron called now, I saw the

whirlwind of fire widen and then something within being carried upward, the weight of the contents though

caused the energy to wobble and lean towards the front of the building. At that exact moment, we heard a

loud crash and the sound of breaking glass. Roxanne slumped forward with her eyes closed.

Ron closed down the circle quickly and we ensured that Roxanne was alright, which she claimed to be. I left

the backroom and went to the front of the bookstore. All the others who had been waiting there were out on

the street. As I exited out the front door I could see that the large plate window of the store next door had

shattered outward onto the sidewalk and street. As it was Sunday, there was no one in the store. As the

window had shattered at the same moment as we had drawn the demon from Roxanne, it seemed that the

window had blown out as the demon exited though it.

While I‘ve had a number of experiences that have defied conventional

explanation, I truly hope never to have another such as this!

Mescal St. John

26


Autumn Equinox - 2013 - Camping Event

Friday 22nd, Saturday 23rd & Sunday 23rd March

Come and join us at Myrtle Park, as we relax into a no fuss camping

weekend to celebrate the beginning of Autumn, a time of balance as

the daylight and night time hours are equal.

Myrtle Park sports a pretty bush landscape surrounded by a fresh

water river. Showers and toilets are free and in good working order

and a kiosk is open during the day.

When: Friday 22 - Sunday 24th March

Where: Myrtle Park, 25 minutes from

Launceston on the A3 to Scottsdale

Cost: $6 per family per night

Site: Booked under ‗Mel Dolliver‘

Site 8 - sign in and pay at reception

Bring: Camping gear, tent, chairs, cooking

implements, clothing for all weather.

Firewood, or a gold coin donation to

contribute

Meal to share at the Communal Feast

on Saturday night

More info: Check out our event Facebook page

or email [email protected]

27


To submit your event, contact Mel on [email protected]

The above events are submitted by our readers and are placed in good faith. They do not necessarily signify endorsement

by the editor or members of the Tasmanian Pagan Alliance, Inc.

The Australian Goddess Conference October 18 – 20 2013

Come and enjoy a weekend of ceremony, ritual, storytelling, teaching, music, dance, workshops, creative play & festive feasting. The theme for 2013, the eighth annual conference is

The venue for this exciting conference is in a secluded location in the Sydney area. Situated among bushland, it’s the perfect location to complement this year’s Into the Wild theme. Onsite

accommodation available.

The Australian Goddess Conference is organised by the Goddess Association in Australia (GAIA Inc). This not-for-profit association is dedicated to supporting the growth of the Goddess

community in Australia.

To find out more about the Australian Goddess Conference and GAIA Inc, visit

http://www.goddessassociation.com.au

This site will be regularly updated as details become available.

http://www.goddessassociation.com.au/

28


A Witches Cauldron

Purple House, Cooee, Tasmania

Phone: Delaila on 0404 463 559

Firstly, for our members who may not know you or

your business, can you please tell us what you do?

We are Spiritual Healers, Teachers, readers—So all

and many of these are covered—we do offer

Hypnosis, Dream Analysis, Character Analysis,

Readings, Relaxation Therapy‘s, Past Life and Present

Life regressions, Healing and Chakra Attunements,

and Balance, massage, natural facials, artificial nails,

all services with Mind, Body and Spirit—Spiritual

Counselling, Life Coaching.

What inspired you to do this type of work?

We don't consider our path as work but rather a

service of a Spiritual nature—as we follow this path

the inspiration to help those that need our help,

leaving a sense of gratification in their development is

the inspiration.

Do you follow a particular pagan path? What lead

you to following this spiritual way?

We are eclectic Witches following the path of the

Ancient Ones and coming from an extremely religious

background we take pride in our path-work that it is

varied and wide.

What do you enjoy most about your business?

We enjoy the satisfaction of the service within the

healing aspect in one form or another.

Are there any upcoming events, workshops, specials

or exciting things happening in your business that

you would like to share with our membership?

Most of our work is in Closed Circle, we do run Open

Circle by invitation and we run practical workshop on

the 1st Wednesday of each month that is open to the

public.

We also run Spiritual Boot Camps open and are one on

one. A weekend Retreat—By the Lake—Ideal for those

looking for the Soul Self or those already working the

craft—A Spiritual Attunement, back to basics.

And finally, how do members get in touch with you if

they want to know more?

Simply call Delaila on 0404 463 559 or catch us on

Facebook—Witch in the Purple House. (Please note that

no blocked numbers will be responded to).

Thank you for answering our questions, and being a

Tasmanian Pagan Alliance Friendly Business!

A Witches Cauldron

Purple House, Cooee TAS

Spiritual Teachers, Healers, Readers

Suburban Retreat of Spiritual Services

Introducing the Ultimate Cleansing, Healing, Relaxation Therapies:

The Womb, The Reflection Room, Sweat Box,

Hypnosis, Life-Coaching and much more…..

$13.00 credit to members of TPA. Current card holders

– on services only

Also Available – Spiritual Bootcamp by the Lake

Delaila 0404 463 559

29


TPA Friendly Businesses Jan Walker

Pagan Marriage Celebrant

Email: [email protected] www.wix.com/janwalker/janwalkercmc

Weddings, Handfastings, Vow Renewals, Commitments,

Namings, Wiccanings

Phone: 03 6266 3685

Mobile: 0400 006 828

Each drum is made slowly by

hand, with a lot of love and

attention to detail and each has

its own sound and resonance so

that it becomes part of its owner.

Kindred Drums Mike & Cheryl Maddock

Phone: (03) 6265 9405

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.wix.com/mikemaddock/

kindred-drums

Your home for legendary gifts

and collectibles within

Tasmania and beyond. If we

haven’t got it, Ned will try

and source it for you!

Open: Tue-Fri 9am to 2pm

Saturday 9.30am to 1pm

Creators of quality hand poured candles made from 100% organic

beeswax sourced locally right here in the Meander Valley,

Tasmania. Custom orders welcome!

www.facebook.com/OtherworldCandles

Email: [email protected]

Books, Music,

Clothes, Oracle Cards,

Jewellery, Incense,

and a whole heap of

other cool stuff!

32 Emu Bay Road, Deloraine Phone: 6362 4242

Living Goddess Learn about ancient Goddesses & explore practical ways to incorporate their qualities into your daily life. A different Goddess featured at each monthly workshop. Ph 0418 139 826 / 0437 366 711

More

on page

31!

30


STATE COORDINATOR’S REPORTSTATE COORDINATOR’S REPORT I have just travelled back from celebrating Lughnasadh in the North West coast with a great bunch of

members. Although it‘s always sad to head toward the end of summer, Lammas time is still one of my

favourite festivals! Once again I‘m so grateful to spend it amongst such an amazing and talented group of

lovely pagans.

It‘s also a chance to take a deep breath and reflect on what the Tas Pagan Alliance has been up to over

the busy summer time! The calendar has been a great success, with many copies being distributed amongst

local businesses. We still have quite a few copies left, however, so if you know of somewhere that might be

interested in some, please let me know.

With such a great response, we will definitely be doing the calendar again this year. After doing the

figures and discussing options, the committee has agreed that the calendar can be our sole source of funding

for public liability, however to achieve this, we need help! I’m seeking a helper with the calendar, to assist

with contacting businesses to see if they want to advertise, and also stock copies, of the calendar. It‘ll need

to be someone with a bit of spare time during business hours, access to phone and email, and someone who

can commit to the task over October, November and December. Without a helper who can fill this role, I

don‘t see us being able to successfully run the calendar again, which will result in a smaller batch, pre-order

only, and perhaps a higher cost because of this. So please get in touch if you think you can help!

Have you had a chance to check out the new

website? We‘re adding to it regularly, and it‘s

worth a look, especially in the members area!

There‘s heaps of new information on there,

including info on our life members, our own

traditions, and more. We‘re just about to start

expanding the ―past events‖ section, to include

photos, workshop notes, chants used, and even

a copy of the ritual! So if you have anything

hidden away in your photo album or pictures

on your computer, please send them in! These

will be in the members area only so not

available to the public.

Finally, I just want to say a huge thank you to

all our pagan men who have contributed to this

amazing Issue 60! And well done to Mel, and

all our past editors, who have kept the Ravens‘

Call going for so long. It‘s definitely something

to be proud of!

Autumn blessings,

You guys don’t drive me to drink, but if you did I’d choose Pagan Cider!

31


TPA Friendly Businesses continued (from page 29)

Do you have a business or know of one that would like to come on board as

part of our Tasmanian Pagan Alliance ―Pagan Friendly Businesses‖?

Contact us to find out what‘s involved: [email protected]

32


Samhain at Ed & Jeanette’s

Ed & Jeanette have kindly opened their doors to us again to celebrate

Samhain. Please join us in a night of pumpkin carving, ritual, feasting and

drinking at Ed & Jeanette’s beautiful cottage South of Hobart.

When: 27th & 28th April

Time: Saturday afternoon onwards

Bring: Ritual outfit (including sturdy shoes) and drinking up, a dish to

share for the evening feast, camping gear or bedding including

mattress (plenty of floor space), pumpkin to carve.

To RSVP, directions or more information: email Jeanette:

[email protected]

ravens' call #60

Documents

tasmanian pagan alliance

pagan parenting

pagan podcasts

tas pagan alliance newsletter

pagan friendly business

sensational pagan men

mel dolliver editor

state coordinator mel