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Posted by on in Paths Blogs

A friend of mine asked ChatGPT who I am, and got a pretty cool response. It's posted below. ChatGPT is called an "AI" but it's actually a machine learning program, not a true artificial intelligence. A friend asked it what it knew about me.

The Machine's Response

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs

 Stewart Farrar - Wikipedia

A Tale of Stewart Farrar

 

Forget those other claimants (Alex and Simon come to mind): in the mid- to late nineties, the real King of the Witches was Stewart Farrar.

(FAHRer, he pronounced it, with the first A as in arrow. His namesake ancestor was a farrier, he used to say: a blacksmith who specializes in shoeing horses.)

A novelist and Fleet Street journalist by trade, he become, late in life, an occult celebrity whose books nourished the worldwide burgeoning interest in modern witchery. Along with his wife Janet and brother-husband Gavin—that I have never heard so much as even one arch comment about this arrangement makes me proud of my sometimes-snarky community—he toured the pagan communities of the English-speaking world, and never once failed to charm.

As per this story.

 

Stewart and the Cigar

 

In the middle of the ritual, Janet fainted.

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I don't feel right talking about things in this blog that aren't, at least vaguely, Pagan-related. So you haven't heard much yet about my editorial debut, an anthology of fantasy westerns called Gunsmoke & Dragonfire. But I'm very excited to announce that Diana Paxson will be contributing a story!

Diana is known in our community as a leader in Norse Paganism and Goddess Spirituality. She is known outside of our community as the New York Times bestselling author of the Chronicles of Westria, and the co-author of The Mists of Avalon series. As if she weren't cool enough, she's also one of the founders of the Society for Creative Anachronism.

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Ahimsa Grove: The October 2nd World Farmed Animal Day Fast Against Slaughter

When I first heard about the annual fast against slaughter, which is a campaign hosted by FARM (Farmed Animal Rights Movement), I didn’t do it. Let’s face it, a day without food is usually a pretty big deal. It may sound doable right up until the witching hour, but then resolve can crumble away.

The fast occurs on October 2nd, partly because this is Gandhi’s birthday. The messaging on the campaign website is as follows:

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Posted by on in Studies Blogs
BNPs, PPPs, & Leadership

Ever since I’ve been on a Pagan path I’ve heard of BNPs.  The acronym was told to me to indicated Big Name Pagans.   Over time, as more people found their way to one Pagan path or another, or began to create their own paths more specific to their particular worldviews, the term BNP took on a negative connotation.  I started to hear it explained as Big-Nosed Pagans.

Most of those referred to as BNPs had published a book or several and were known for that.  Of course, when I was coming up, there were few books, and those there were tended to be elementary.  They lacked depth, refinement, and nuance.  Today, thankfully, creative Pagans have explored Paganisms in much greater depth.  They’ve done academic and historical research, as well as incorporating anecdotal evidence for their theories – good ol’ UPGs.  Practitioners of reconstructed traditions of many kinds have explored the traditions they’re reviving, and thereby have advanced this learning tremendously.  As well, walkers on more personal Pagan paths, including “hard polytheists,” have contributed to our growing body of resources.

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  • John Halstead
    John Halstead says #
    Thank you Macha! I'm honored by your mention. (And I love new acronyms.)

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

Kerr CuhulainKerr Cuhulain is an influential Canadian Pagan author. The first openly-Pagan cop in North America, Kerr’s work with the Vancouver Police Department, and his regular column at Witchvox, “Witch Hunts,” along with his book, “The Law Enforcement’s Guide to Wicca,” probably did more to help eliminate the systematic persecution of Pagans from the Satanic Panic than any other source. Recently retired from his involvement with the law enforcement to the Sunshine Coast, Kerr has retreated into a quiet life of writing and contemplation. I caught up with Kerr when discussing Vancouver Pagan Pride Day:

Question: Thanks for agreeing to do this interview! Tell us a little about yourself. Who is the man behind the story?

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs
Unchurched

Though my people are Methodists on one side and Baptists on the other, I was not raised in either church. I got formal religious training from a parochial Lutheran elementary school and my own intellectual curiosity. Friends and neighbors invited me to visit their churches with them and I sometimes did--giving me an interesting smattering of all kinds of ceremonies and observances.  My grandmother sang in the choir of a small Methodist church and I sometimes went to church with her and my grandfather. I sat in the second row between him and a former mayor of our little town and I was very well-behaved. Of course.

I have never been christened or baptized because I grew up "unchurched," as we say in the South. One of the best parts of that sort of upbringing is that I don't carry around a load of anger or fear or resentment for my treatment at the hands of a monolithic institution like The Church. And I got to make macaroni picture frames in vacation bible school and I was a sure winner at the Sword Drill.

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Byron Ballard
    Byron Ballard says #
    Obviously so.
  • David Polllard
    David Polllard says #
    There are some Pagan traditions which come closer to the social aspects of churches, like the Aquarian Tabernacle Church, or if yo

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