Topic: The Magickal Web

MEDFORD, OR—Despite evidence that the planets are aligned in his favor, local pagan Jeff Birch, 27, said Monday that he would "rather have a peaceful weekend at home" than attend his family's Vernal Equinox celebration on March 21.

One of the most misunderstood areas of magick is the connection between the conscious and subconscious mind during ritual casting. Now this is one of those subjects where I could easily get up on a soap box and go on for a couple hours however I will try to spare any reader such a horrible fate by simply getting to the point as quickly as possible. Please feel free to ask me any questions or challenge my point of view.

There are three main strands I intend to examine: one, Gardner’s claim of traditional initiation, and its subsequent development; two, magical traditions to which Gardner would have had access; and three, literary sources.

The panic may strike in the shelter of a Starbucks, when a customer realizes that a quote from evangelical superstar Rick "The Purpose Driven Life" Warren is printed on some of the coffee cups.

When my youngest stepdaughter was ten, she was warned by her mother not to be too open, in school, about the fact that she comes from a Wiccan family. About ten minutes later she came running in, waving a dollar bill, and pointing at the words, “In God We Trust”.

With the lights turned down low, Fox Valley Pagan Unity Council member Penny Goody led a group of people seated in a large circle through a guided meditation filled with imagery of nature. Some of the participants were sitting up and some of them were lying on their backs, but they all had their eyes closed as they listened intently to Goody’s words. When the meditation concluded, hand drummers provided music for the participants to dance to as the ceremony closed.

The president of the leading Southern Baptist seminary has incurred sharp attacks from both the left and right by suggesting that a biological basis for homosexuality may be proven, and that prenatal treatment to reverse gay orientation would be biblically justified.

It was a dimly lit room surrounded by plumes of incense smoke swirling into the air accompanied by soothing flute music and the drips of water from a small fountain.

This is how Woody Hochswender reasons that you may be a Buddhist and not even know it: "We all believe in the oneness of the world. We all believe there's spiritual truth inside us, an indwelling kernel. We all seek the happiness of others as a gateway to our own, right?"

Before I post these, I do not agree with the title of this list of generalized principles. I would prefer to call it the Thirteen Principles of the Witch because I find that even those who do not subscribe to the Wiccan path can more or less find agreement in the Principles set out below.