Topic: The Magickal Web

Before every dangerous mission in Iraq, Captain Richard A. Briggs Jr. stood on the hatch of his vehicle, drew a pentacle in the sky with his finger and recited the Wiccan Warrior Prayer for protection.

It is with great sadness that the staff and executives of the Carrier Sekani Tribal Council say good-bye to their former Tribal Chief, Harry Pierre.

Patti Smith climbed down from the Carnegie Hall stage and stomped her feet in the aisles to rouse the audience, urging them to raise their fists and sing along with her anthem "People Have the Power."

Wanna hear something really bizarre? Just the other day, my mother tells me she recently walked on the streets of a town that was once buried beneath Kentucky's very own Lake Cumberland. Since the dam is currently undergoing some much-needed maintenance, the lake has been lowered considerably in order to get things done. In the process, they have unknowingly unearthed a "drowned town" that hasn't seen the light of day in many, many years. A mere twenty-four hours later, Brian Yuzna's 2005 effort Beneath Still Waters, a film about a town buried beneath a man-made lake, arrives on my doorstep. Bizarre? You said it, pal.

Sympathetic Magick is used in all Earth based Religions like Wicca, Voodoo, and Native America, as did all ancient cultures. It is one of the few things that truly did come down to us from The Stone Age. Many people are probably the most aquainted with it through Folklore, Faerytales, and Hollywood Films.

This may come as a surprise to many of you, especially those of us who paid good money to come to this memorial service. Robert Anton Wilson is not dead. As any Discordian can tell you, Bob's death can be viewed as true in some sense, false in some sense, meaningless in some sense, true and false in some sense, true and meaningless in some sense, false and meaningless in some sense, and true and false and meaningless in some sense.

Monumental paintings adorn every wall of Hyman Bloom's house in Nashua, New Hampshire—a fluorescent rabbi at the main entrance, a dark nude of an old woman just off the kitchen. It's been 65 years since Bloom made his momentous leap onto the American art scene. He was 28 when the Museum of Modern Art selected him as one of 18 new artists to be featured in the exhibit "Americans 1942." Critics applauded his work, struck as much by his vibrant use of color as his subjects: aging rabbis, an exotic bride, a chandelier from his childhood synagogue. Equally impressed were Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock, both in their 30s and yet to embark on the work that would make them famous. De Kooning would later tell Bernard Chaet that he and Pollock considered Bloom the first Abstract Expressionist in America. But while Bloom's paintings soon hung alongside theirs at the 1950 Venice Biennale, few people today have heard of him.

Most of us have a favorite color. Maybe you're drawn to sky blue because it makes your eyes stand out or you find forest green particularly comforting. Whatever the case, your preferred hue can reveal a lot about what makes you tick. And the same holds true for the people you date-you'd probably have a different impression of a date if he or she said, "My favorite color is yellow," versus "My favorite color is black." That's because color speaks a powerful, silent language. And I can help you understand it. I'm a success coach and best-selling author of Simple Spells for Love and other books, and I've studied color theory. So, look up your favorite color below - and your date's best-loved shade - and get some colorful insights that will benefit your romantic life.

Among the distinguishing features of the Faery tradition is the use of a Faery Power which characterizes the lineage. It is an ecstatic, rather than a fertility, tradition. Strong emphasis is placed on sensual experience and awareness, including sexual mysticism, which is not limited to heterosexual expression. In this, as in the general spirit of spiritual exploration, there is more risk-taking encouraged than in other Wiccan traditions which may have specific laws limiting behavior, and there is a certain amorality historically associated with the Tradition. We see ourselves, when enchanted, as "fey"--not black, not white, outside social definitions, on the road to Faeryland, either mad or poetical. We are aware that much of reality is unseen, or at least has uncertain boundaries. As in all the Craft, there is a deep respect for the wisdom of Nature, a love of beauty, and an appreciation of bardic and mantic creativity. The Gods are not just constructs or psychological forces from the collective unconscious. The Gods are real, with a system of morality different from our own, and we have a responsibility to them. The Faery Tradition, in common with initiatory lineages of the Craft which practice possession, is a mystery tradition of power, mystery, danger, ecstacy, and direct communication with divinity. This is in contrast to traditions which practice psychodrama or psychotherapy through ritual. The negative side of this style of working is that we have a lot of initiates who did not return unscathed from between the worlds. The tradition is not for everybody, and it is not amenable to mass attendance, like many Pagan paths.

Approximately a year ago, I looked into the Golden Dawn. I like the structure and the knowledge, but I have one main stumbling block... How do you reconcile pagan beliefs with the Golden Dawn system? I mean absolutely no disrespect to the Judeo-Christian background. I am formerly from that background, it just no longer suited me and the thoughts/beliefs that I have held the majority of my life. It just seems that so much of the system (take this with a grain of salt because my GD knowledge is VERY limited) is very Judeo-Christian and seemingly leans more toward the Patriarchal end of things. I realize that there is validity in all forms of religion and spirituality. Everyone has to choose the path that they are most comfortable with. As I said before...I really like the GD systematic approach and the study required, but all the Judeo-Christian symbolism and adorations to the "Lord" of the Universe are major stumbling blocks for me with my pagan belief system. Any suggestions from those with pagan beliefs, or do I just need to 'move on' because this system may not be compatible with pagan thought? Or maybe my thinking on the GD is way off base and I do not understand since I am too new to have a clue? "