Pagan Culture - Magical Arts

Sacred Geometry

Sacred Geometry
by Janosh
Sounds True, 2007


 

Though it’s become something of a buzzword in today’s alternative spirituality circles, sacred geometry remains one of the least understood of the ancient occult arts. Too many recent presentations of the subject either zoom off into New Age platitudes or end up tangled in a web of exotic speculations about flying saucers, extraterrestrial reptiles, and the like. Both of these can be entertaining at times, granted, but neither one has much to do with the subtle meditative disciplines of traditional sacred geometry.

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Chinese Birthday Book

Chinese Birthday Book
by Ta- kashi Yoshikawa
Weiser, 2007

Most readers and, as far as I know, all authors agree that publishers now and then really need to be spanked. Among the offenses that justify such action putting a bad title on a good book ranks high. Additional swats are earned when the title is not only bad but misleading; when the cover art also leads potential readers to think they are holding a dull book on a familiar subject, rather than an excellent book on a subject most people in the Western world don’t know from Lao Tsu’s ox, it’s definitely time to take the publisher to the woodshed.

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The Mystery of 2012

The Mystery of 2012:
Predictions, Prophecies, and Possibilities
by Gregg Braden
Sounds True, 2007

Ever since a handful of Middle Eastern visionaries started proclaiming that their messiah was going to show up and teach those rotten Babylonians a thing or two, the end of the world has been a hot topic. There’s always a background hum of catastrophic predictions moving through the crawlspaces of our collective imagination, but every so often one becomes the apocalypse du jour.

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Magick Helped Me Escape My Abuser

newWitch Voices


©2012 www.photos.com

Magick Helped Me Escape My Abuser
by Maluna Starcloud

I didn’t realize I was being abused when it was happening. I think that’s how it is for a lot of women, especially teenage girls. We know what abuse is and, in theory, we’d never let a man treat us that way. But in the end, we often lack the ability to admit the truth.

I’d spoken to my mom many times, hearing stories of drunken stepfathers and abuse. I was cocky, because I’d never let a man hit me and get away with it. I knew I’d never let a man use my emotions against me, making his mistakes my fault. I’m a strong, Goddess-worshipping young woman.

Or so I thought.

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A Magician’s Guide to Magical Herbs


Artwork by Holly Golightly for newWitch

bell, book & candle

A Magician’s Guide to Magical Herbs

In this installment, we will focus on one of the most basic and powerful magical tools: herbs.

(DO NOT EAT any of the herbs I am describing below. We are not dealing here with medicinal herbs but magical. The two are quite different — herbs for healing should be ingested only under the advice of a skilled herbalist.)


Herbs of Power

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Witches & Seeresses

Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone
photo by Joe Dunne, © 2003

Witches & Seeresses

Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone on Returning to the Roots of Witchcraft

The magical career of Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone stretches back to the formative years of the Witchcraft revival. Together with her husband Stewart Farrar (who died in February 2000), Janet has authored groundbreaking books on Witchcraft and the Occult since 1971. Gavin Bone joined Janet and Stewart in 1993, and has worked with Janet ever since. The trio have written eleven books on Paganism, the most recent being Progressive Witchcraft (New Page, 2003).

Janet was initiated into Alexandrian Wicca by the tradition's founders, Alex and Maxine Sanders, in 1970. While in the coven she met Stewart Farrar, her future husband and coauthor. The couple started to move away from orthodox Alexandrian Wicca in the mid '70s. When Eight Sabbats for Witches was released in 1981, Janet and Stewart were accused of “giving away the secrets” by some British Traditional Witches.

Their new mode of working (which they term Progressive Witchcraft and which they point out is not a “tradition") differs from British Traditional Wicca in several important ways, including embracing polytheism and placing emphasis on personal connection with deity rather than on ritual.

Janet and Gavin are active members in The Aquarian Tabernacle Church and have links with several covens in North America, Oceania, and the EU. Their current work focuses on Spiritism and Trace Prophesy, and they travel widely, offering workshops on various occult topics. They also teach online through the College of the Sacred Mists.

 

Michael Night Sky What are your thoughts on the origins of the Witch and Witchcraft?

J&G From a historical viewpoint, the witch has been with us from the moment we looked up at the sky and wondered about our place in the universe. All ancient magic was really about survival and communing with the spirits of nature, be it to fend off the “evil” forces which caused disease, or to communicate with and request the assistance of the spirits of animals to help in a successful hunt.

Modern witchcraft — commonly known as Wicca — has become an amalgam of diverse practices, including European shamanism, professional priest/esshood, and Ceremonial Magick. We feel it is time to “get back to our roots” which is what our main work is today.

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