Flavors of Witchcraft - Christopher Penczak.pdf

f,rlrroRs oF WrtcHcRaFT directions. Although many branches

lhe anrchcraft uee is branching our in differenr :n:s.an,iinterweavewitheachother'therearedifferencesbefweenthemoderntradimurs'lbucouldfillabookdescribingthesedifferences.Thepurposeofthischapteris :lrr:.Erouanideaofthedifferentpathswithinmodernwitchcraft'Mostteachers solid an eclectic, personal tradition with a rga:: il a specific tradition' I encourage "llr"u:i,arion.

f-a.enlfirstgotinvolvedinwitchcraft'mymotherandltookclassestogether.We by familv slant, but neither of us were Celtic e;r:.ed rr-itchcraft with a healy Celtic lm:e;:e.\{ymotherisltalianandlamofltalian/Polish/Lithuaniandescent,Findingto

because we were not initially exposed rrer.::al 0n Italian witchcraft was a reveladon

r-::act.itwasfairlyunheardofinthepagancommunicyatthetime'Wedidn'treof my blool I still have a stfong celtic slant regardless

[1o\\- it existed. Though of her olr-n never before, inspired by the practices rr-, =other has taken to her craft as folk rnagand grandparents' acts of Italian i:mr:iors and her memories of her parents'

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GovttvtoN GRoUND let us look at the fundamental simBefore we learn the differences befween traditions, may not be held by every indiilarities. witchcraft is a personal path, and these beliefs pagan community' vidual, but they are commonly accepted by the mainstream people pagan onginally meant "of the land" or "country dweller," referring to rural grew and took conrrol of Europe, pagan became

and their beliefs. As chdsdanir,v and to some it was equated identified with any of the non-Judeo-Christian religions,

the word heathen tvth with heretic, an enemy of fie church's rmth. some equate "one vfio lives on heaths." church officials wanted to reheretic of sovoge,but it means ones, so much so that pagan holidays place pagan beliefr and pracdces s-fth christian

As the word witch is rewere adopted into the christian calendar to get converts. larger gfoup of beliefs with many difclaimed, so is the wordlngan Now it refers to a a Christian analogy to explain ferent tradirions and practices. Althoug! I dislike using from a traditional background' paganism, I've found it usefirl ior new snrdents coming larger pagan is to Wiccan as Christian is to Catholic" meaning Pagan and Christian are and witches are pagans' but gfoups with smaller traditions within them. All wiccans

notallpagansarewitches.Manyidentifithemselvesaspagan'butmaynotidentify heading of witchcraft are with a specific tradition, such as witchcraft- And within the a few witches who feel witches or wicseveral other smaller divisions. I've spoken to stricrly pagan folk I know would not cans are the clergy of the pagan people, but most meaning with that definition. Technically, we are neo-witches and neopagans, "nerr/," but few people use this term outside of academic writing'

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divine force is apparent Diviniry is inherent in all things, material and spiritual. The the physical, earthly realm' in all life and form. Spiritual does not mean divorced from all creation' All life' all nature is The Earth is actually one of the most divine forms in a living being, the source of the divine manifest, and most pagans honor the Earth as

iife.Inourmythology,theBarthisviewedasMother,orevenGrandmother,the be seen as a symbol of life and insource of all life on Earth. The Earth Goddess can for communication in her own tefconnection, of a sentient consciousness availabie

Earth being alive, and not a liferight. Science is slowly catching up to the idea of the ..Gaia Hlpothesis,, in the biologistJames Lovelock first proposed the

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after the Greek goddess Gaia, stating that all life, including humaniry is a complex biosphere organism. Others have extrapolated that hypothesis into a

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o rvitches, there is no doubt that the Earth is alive.

-::e diviniry or life force, present in all things expresses itself in several different r* i','s :n witchcraft. Most common in this faith is the expression of the divine not only God, the -:---ugh the Earth, but also through the Goddess, the great mother, and the i -a:her. Through the actions of this polariry, Goddess and God, life is created. \ the Goddess is manifested through the Earth, she is also inherent in the Moon, .:,- changing cycles matching the twenty-eight-day menstruation period. The concept -: : Triple Goddess-Maiden, Mother, and Crone-seen in the waxing, Full, and wan:,: \loon, is rooted deeply in the pagan consciousness. Her three identities could also

:,. :he Moon, Earth, and Underworld Goddess. The tiple Goddess is seen as the giver jte, susrainer and destroyer, all in one. The mythologies of old contain the Triple -Sun, ocean, rivers, -:,ddess image. Different cultures alternately see the Goddess in the ..... and spiraling galaxies.

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The God is manifested through various faces, including the Sky Father, encom::-