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ALTERNATIVES TO SPIRITUAL BATHS FOR PERSONAL CLEANSINGS Many people know of the spiritual baths that are used for cleansing and other things. The purpose of me writing this is because people get caught up in believing that only spiritual baths can be used. I'm sure we all have experienced times when we simply cannot take a spiritual bath. So here are some alternatives one can use.
1.) Rubbing a white candle
Rub a white candle down your body and then light it and let it burn itself out naturally. It will absorb any negativity and it will disipate as the candle burns.
2.) Brusihing with a feather whisk or hand-held broom
Use a feather whisk or small hand-held broom to brush your body downward. This will remove the negativity. Some prefer a whisk made from black hen feathers, but any feather whisk or duster will do. In fact, some people use horse-hair whisks.
3.) Smoking with incense
Smoke yourself with incense or even smudge yourself
4.) Spray yourself with a cleansing spray
Wisdom sells the air freshners which some people use to spray on themselves. (Don't spray it in your face!) You can also fix up your own mixture and use in a pump spray bottle.
5.) Saltwater bath
If you don't have time to brew up herbs for a spiritual bath, just take a saltwater bath instead. It will cleanse you just as good as herbs will.
6.) Cleansing the head (Ori)
This was taught to me by an Ifa priestess
For a quick cleansing choose the following;
A.) Pour some holy water or florida water in your hands, quickly bring your hands up to your hairline and move them over and down the back of your head and then move each hand down the shoulders. If you want you can continue down the arms.
B.) Keep a cleansing pot near your front door. The pot will contain spring water, holy water, efun or cascarilla, and your spit. When you return home each day, wet your hands in the mixture and rub it over your head as described above.
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My Secret Hoodoo: The Twisted Musings Of A Modern Conjure Worker
The Demoniacal: Blogging The Demons, Monsters, & Mysterious Creatures That Reportedly Haunt Our World
Credit: http://wizard-notes.blogspot.com
Faerieworlds Festival - Eugene, Oregon - July 21st - 22nd
Faerie Magazine
Other Faerie Festivals in the U.S.
World of Froud
See you there.
Brian Froud and the Witches' Ball
I've been a fan of Brian Froud's work since the late 70's, when I picked up a copy of All the Giants Are Dead? at A Change of Hobbit The 2001 Witches' Ball was one of our best balls ever. Despite the awful events only a month before, over 600 people came, many of them non-Pagans who wanted to support our charity work. (1) Full Circle paid thousands of dollars to rent a 3 level ballroom, and vendor space at the Scottish Rite Center. After 9/11 we thought no one would come, and we'd loose our shirts and disappoint our good friends at the animal shelter. Instead, we got all our money back, raised over 2,500 for the Silicon Valley Humane Society and gave out the Gaia's Guardian Award to a wonderful woman. It remains my favorite of all our Witches' Ball, in part because of the theme and Brian's kindness, and in part because so many good people came out in a time of great fear and deep sorrow to support a life affirming, charity event.
My thanks to our attendees, and all those talented, hardworking folks who made the Witches Balls possible.
Sia
(1) Our Witches Ball took 8 months to plan & execute. We had 15 Vendors in our Vendor room, Tribal Belly dancers as entertainment, gorgeous decorations that turned a dull space into a Faerie Wood, a professional photographer (who took keepsake photos of our guests in costume, and printed them right on the spot) a fabulous Dj, full Operations & Security Teams,
Theater Techs (all donating their time and expertise) and a small but mighty circle of dedicated (unpaid) Senior Staff who led our group of generous, responsible volunteers.Sia@FullCircle
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A photo of artwork done by Sulamith Wulfing
As I went out walking this fall afternoon,
I heard a wisper wispering.
I heard a wisper wispering,
Upon this fine fall day...
As I went out walking this fall afternoon,
I heard a laugh a'laughing.
I heard a laugh a'laughing,
Upon this fine fall day...
I heard this wisper and I wondered,
I heard this laugh and then I knew.
The time is getting near my friends,
The time that I hold dear my friends,
The veil is getting thin my friends,
And strange things will pass through.
~"The Veil Is Getting Thin" by Wolfdancer
It has just dawned on me that I still haven't done a comprehensive post on the lore of my favourite holiday, Samhain. I have already done some on holidays such as Bealtaine and Lughnasadh, so I suppose this is a good excuse to do a blog post. ;)
Snap Apple Night" by Daniel Maclise, 1833
Samhain is generally accepted to translate from old Irish to mean "end of summer" or "summer's end". At one time there were only two seasons observed in Ireland, Summer and Winter, or the Light and Dark halves of the year. Bealtaine heralded the beginning of Summer/Light half and Samhain the beginning of Winter/Dark half. {You can read more about the origins of the name and the Celtic year here.}
The Dark half was ruled by forces associated with Unseen, Otherworld, and Death. It was a time for divination, honouring ancestral spirits {and of course the Gods}, and the final harvest. It was also the start of a new year.
Besides also being Hallowe'en, there is Nos Galan Gaeaf in Wales, Hop-tu-Naa in the Isle of Man, Allantide in Cornwall, D'ia de los Muertos in Mexico, and All Saints Day for Catholics.
"La ronde des Farfadets de Les Farfadets" by David Ryckaert III, 1600's
Because it was thought that the dead roamed freely on this side around Samhain, some folks would leave meals prepared for their deceased loved ones. I have already talked about this a bit in other posts such as here and here.
But it wasn't only loved ones afoot! There were also other Otherworldy folk that one might run into who weren't as benign. According to "Land, Sea ">Traditional Irish Jack-O'-Lantern
An iconic symbol of this holiday is of course the Jack-O'-Lantern. You can hear about it's supposed beginnings here, in a video I posted last year. Carving veggies into lanterns is a tradition that has quite a long history in Ireland and Scotland, but it wasn't made into a Hallowe'en tradition until the practice was taken up in America in the late 19th century. And while most folks make theirs out of pumpkins, veggie lanterns over the pond were usually turnips or swedes. You can learn how to carve a traditional turnip Jack-O'-Lantern here. Another popular activity associated with this time of year is dressing up in costumes. As previously mentioned, folks would sometimes disguise themselves as a protective measure against malignant spirits. In his book "Hallowe'en", Nicholas Rogers remarks how in both Scotland and Ireland, there is a fairly strong tradition of guising at this time of year. Anywhere from an Irish traveller turning their coat inside out to avoid being nabbed by Faeries {"The Year in Ireland" by Kevin Danaher} to young Scottish men blackening their faces or wearing masks going out and about to cause mischief or entertain other folks in exchange for money, food, and drink. This is something you see at other times of year, especially around Yule/Christmas with Mummers. I suppose this was the beginnings off our modern trick or treating." 1920's Hallowe'en card There are folks who feel that now is the best time for divination, making charms, and other magical practices. Many of these practices traditionally involve food {especially fruit and nuts}.If you are wanting to leave a message for those who have passed, Robin Artisson suggests the following on the Tracks in the Witchwood blog: Split an apple in two, and write a letter to that dead one you wish to communicate with on a small round of parchment, using Saturnian ink mingled with a dab of blood- then put it between the apple-halves and spear the halves "back into whole" with long, sharpened thin stakes of some Saturnian wood. Bury these messages in a ground that also has graves dug in it- or bury them under the roots of the Elder, the Apple, the Thorn, the Yew, or the Cypress. Thus, the deed is done. And this isn't just a Hallows letter-writing; do it year-round, if you will."Bobbing for apples, while seemingly just a game was also used as a form of divination. Over at the Tairis website it says that while "dookin' for aipples in "Scotland there was a penny added to the water and the finder would have luck in the coming year and that the apple caught was often used in other divination.The website also talks about other forms of divination involving food as well, including nuts:
{in Ireland} "Two hazel nuts, walnuts, chestnuts or grains of wheat were taken and named after the two potential lovers, and were then placed in the ashes or on the grate to see how they would behave. Spitting and jumping showed the couple were not meant to be together, whereas nuts or grains that burned happily together indicated an altogether happier fate."
And that both in Ireland and Scotland people would put various charms in food such as pies or potato-based dishes. A way for a girl in Lewis to bring her chosen lover to her was to use a dumb cake:"Girls were each apportioned a small piece of dough, mixed with any but spring water. They kneaded it with their left thumbs, in silence. Before midnight they pricked initials on them with a new pin, and put them by the fire to bake. The girls withdrew to the farther end of the room, still in silence. At midnight each lover was expected to enter and lay his hand on the cake marked with his initials." {"The Book of Hallowe'en" by Ruth Edna Kelley}
In various places a young woman could find out who her future husband was by looking in a mirror on Hallowe'en, where she was supposed to see him.
If you are looking to erect an altar or shrine, some items you might want to consider putting on it besides that nifty turnip Jack-o'-Lantern I hope that you all are going to make { ;) } are photos or belongings of deceased loved ones; representation of animals such as owls, deer, crows, ravens, hounds, and horses; food and plants such as apples, pumpkins, pomegranates, nuts, dried roses, dried leaves, poppies; also items to place offerings on {i.e. bowl, cup, incense burner} are of course suitable.Here are a few luverly photos from other people for inspiration:
by Sinjy and Sadie by Annie in Beziers
by Crimthann Fid-Nemed by kightp
by Raul D
by Katie Cowden
by autumndragyn
by FreeCat
by Great Beyond
by Carlitos
by LoopZilla
by Avia Venefica
Also, here are a few previously posted videos that might be of interest in regards to altars, as well as other things for Samhain/Hallowe'en.
Necromancy:
Plants for the Dying & Deceased:
Sl'ainte!
Laurel
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Image courtesy of Witchvox
Recently I wrote about my experience with what could be called religious discrimination. This post was first published on WitchVox.com and I've had lots of people emailing me with their experiences. One fellow Pagan told me a rather shocking tale of his experiences in NYC and asked me to publish it to make other Wiccans and Pagans aware and so this is his story.
"Hi Louisa! Wonderful to get a response from a Witchvox user. I hope all is well with you.
Since I have found out about the situation at the Waterford Connecticut mall [ED: Pete is referring to the fact that a Christian minister took over the shopping mall and removed all Wiccan pendants that were on sale These pendants are now being sold there again Pete has since told me] I have appointed myself unofficial "Investigator of Religious Intolerance" (sort of) I regularly go to Barnes ">.
I have spoken to several wiccans about discrimination against members of the craft and unfortunately it seems to be increasing. I have had wiccans tell me that they are fearful to wear their pentagram in public, afraid that some crazy person will target them. Several people have told me that individuals have approached them and made hateful comments and in one case a young woman was spat upon. I didn't want believe this was happening at first, so I decided I would look into this.
.
I began to "lecture" about wicca in Barnes and Nobles to any who would listen to me. I would talk about the principles and values of wicca. If anyone asked me about what books were good I would give them a "talk" about how wicca is an awesome religion. Well, let me tell you, I have had many bizarre and frightening incidents occur to me since I began this. One day, I was speaking to an older gentleman in his 60s who seemed to be appreciating my Goddess-centered spin on history when he suddenly stopped talking and stared at me strangely. He said "If we find out you know anything specific we will kill you." I was stunned, I wanted to say: "Who's we?" Instead I said "You have a good night Sir." I thought that he was just an isolated case of a lunatic, so I waited a month and went back. I was not there fifteen minutes when a group of people approached me and crowded around me too closely.
They were asking me: What books do you recommend?' and "What practises do you do?" Their manner was threatening. I realized what they were doing and I began to turn it around on them. I asked one of them, a woman in her twenties, "What do YOU do?" and "Why not share with me some of YOUR practises?" They looked at me with silent contempt and left. This type of incident happened a number of times. It did not stop me however. I needed to know who is harassing wiccans. Since those incidents, I have been followed by these same people around the city. These are just a small sample of what I have encountered. Some of the events are too frightening and it would be inappropriate to relate.
In one instance, I met a young woman whom I had spoken to a few times before that was interested in wicca. She has a pure heart and is a good person. I began to talk to her about wiccan spellcrafting. There were some old guys in the New Age section browsing and one younger guy that I know to be well, evil. I had spoken to this guy before and I know that he is completely amoral. He hates witches. He thinks that witches are in his words "stupid." He interrupted our conversation and asked her why she would ever want to be wiccan. She asked him what he meant. He said to her that she should study something with more "strength". She asked "Like what?" He deliberately tried to be vague and wouldn't answer. She tried to talk to me but he kept on interrupting. I got the impression that he was deliberately trying to interfere. The young woman got agitated and left. He looked at me with a pleased expression.
.
I spoke to a magician friend of mine about all this and he said that you have to be careful because there are christian and other types of occult groups here in NYC that are "going after" wiccans and other magical folk. I asked him what he meant and he told me that several of his longtime friends have had to move out of NYC because of the harassment. I know that he is telling me the truth. I can only hope that this is a temporary development and that these are just foolish people doing stupid things.
I also dearly hope that this isn't the beginning of a fascist culture! I'll keep trying to protect those of the craft. Please remember, Witches heal, protect and serve. Please feel free to post this in your blog and on witchvox. The people of the craft should know. Blessed Be Pete."
Thanks for sharing that with us Pete. This is a very shocking story but at least by spreading awareness we may be able to improve the situation.
If anyone has any stories (good or bad!) that they would like to share please do so!
Blessed Be!
StormJewel
POSTS
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"
REVERSAL light charcoal for incense-E; water-S; wood-W) and cast circle .
* Perform incense offering ritual.
* Inscribe marks to distinguish 13 portions of the candle.
* Light prepared ritual reversal candle.
* Recite entire 91st Psalm .
* Recite blessing - "Beruchah shem kevod malchutah le-olam va'ed. Amen." (, ) "So mote it be".
* Let candle burn out over 13 days, 1 portion per day .
* Save any wax remnants and scatter in a wooded area.
Repeat ritual for 3 consecutive months, each time with the reversal candle prepared on the dark moon and the ritual performed on the full moon surrounding midnight.
Footnote:
calling quarters and circlecasting procedure (basic, may be adapted)
In Hoodoo, the 37th psalm is recited. Given my intimate connection to Psalm 91, I will recite this Psalm instead.
use candle snuffer or pinch between fingers to extinguish, do not blow out candle
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I don't normally need my next year's diary as early as August, but not-to-be-missed events for 2014 already being advertised - including the Day for Patricia Crowther in April and The Magical Faerie Festival in May. So I bucked the trend and got one to mark these important dates in.
Each year I like to get a different diary. In the past I've had the Astro Diary and the Earth Pathways Diary - now I've gone for the My Angel Diary 2014.
My Angel Diary is published by Hay House and has mini-features about angels in it written by Jenny Smedley, who is the author of An Angel by Your Side - Finding an angel in your hour of need. The features cover things like why to believe in angels, stories about how angels have helped people in times of trouble and a guided visualisation to meet an angel bearing gifts. It is all very heart-warming, pretty and girly with text printed in purple and a sparkly gold cover. Sometimes one needs to let one's inner child do the shopping. As the diary says, the easiest way to see angels can be through the eyes of one's inner child.
On a more practical level, the small book is a really convenient size to fit in a handbag - more compact than The Earth Pathways, for example. It has plenty of space under the dates write appointments and, as well as angel lessons and words of wisdom, shows the moon phases and pagan Wheel of the Year festivals.
Publisher Hay House says: "With guidance on the many ways that you can develop a stronger connection to the world around you and communicate with your angels, this inspirational companion will help you realise the strong presence that angels can have in your life, and allow you to work with them in 2014 for a brighter future. Each of the 12 months concentrates on a different planetary body in our solar system, giving the reader a focus, based on the characteristics of each planet. There are also angel-inspired words, messages and symbols, and amazing true angel stories."
The My Angel Diary 2014 is also a very reasonable price. It has an RRP of lb7.99, but can be picked up even cheaper by shopping around.
Links and previous
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"December, the twelfth and final month of the current Gregorian calendar and the first month Winter, derives its name from decem", the Latin word meaning "ten," as December was the tenth month of the old Roman calendar.
This page serves as a jumping off point for December holy days, spells, magicks, lore, rituals, superstitions and more.
GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE MONTH OF DECEMBER:
* December Magick
* December Moon Names
ASTROLOGY AND BIRTH SIGNS FOR DECEMBER:"(note: some of the dates will overlap with November and January)"
* Sign of the Narcissus (Nov 22 to Dec 21)
* Sign of the Carnation (Dec 22 to Jan 21)
* Sun in Sagittarius (Nov 23 to Dec 21)
* Sun in Capricorn (Dec 22 to Jan 19)
CELTIC AND NORDIC TREE ASTROLOGY AND SIGNS FOR DECEMBER:"(note: some of the dates will overlap with November and January)"
* Ash Tree (Nov 22 to Dec 01)
* Elder (Nov 25 - Dec 23)
* Hornbeam Tree (Dec 02 to Dec 11)
* Fig Tree (Dec 12 to Dec 21)
* Yew (day before the winter solstice)
* Fir (day of the winter solstice)
* Mistletoe (day after the winter solstice)
* Beech (Dec 22)
* Apple (Dec 23 to Jan 1)
* Birch (Dec 24 - Jan 21)
HOLIDAYS, FEAST DAYS AND HOLY DAYS IN DECEMBER:
* 1: The festival of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea. Poseidon is also the god of rebirth.
* 4: Bona Dea
* 5: Faunalia
* 9;: The festival of Ops, the Roman goddess of harvest.
* 11: The Septimontium
* 11: Agonalia
* 13: New Moon (this date will vary from year to year)
* 13: The Sementivae, the second festival of Tellus, the Roman earth goddess.
* 15: The second festival of Consus, the Roman god of good council
* 17: Beginning of Saturnalia - festival of Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture. The most popular Roman festival, for on this day the roles of master and slave were reverted.
* 18: Eponalia
* 20: Mother Night
* 21: Winter Solstice or Yule
* 21: Litha (Southern Hemisphere)
* 21: The Juvenalia
* 21: Divalia - Angeronalia, festival of Angerona, the Roman goddess of secrecy.
* 22: Sun enters Capricorn
* 22: Sign of the Beech Tree
* 23: The Larentalia (Larentinalia), festival of Acca Larentia the Roman goddess who gave the early Romans their land.
* 25: Christmas Day
* 25: The birthday of Mithra, the Persian god of light and wisdom.
* 25: Festival of the Invincible Sun God
* 25: Feast of Frau Holle, Germanic goddess
* 26: Boxing Day
* 26: St Stephen's Day
* 27: Mother Night
* 27: Blessing of the Wine
* 28: Full moon - Big Winter Moon
* 28: Dyzymas Day
* 29: Feast of Fools
* 30: Bringing In The Boar
* 31: New Years Eve
* 31: St Sylvester's Day
* 31: Festival of Hogmanay
SPELLS AND MAGICKS FOR DECEMBER:
* Chasing Trolls
* Christmas Ornament Protection Spell
* Divination Pudding
* First Footing
* Grapes at Midnight
* Holly For Luck
* New Year's Eve
* Rebirth
* Romany New Year's Eve Love Divination
* Russian Bath House Oracle
* Unfinished Business
THE STORIES AND LORE OF DECEMBER:
* Giving The Gift
* Hogmanay Trollolay
* Holly Tree Lore
* King Wren
* Lucky Devil
* Saturnalia Practices and Rituals
* Song of the Holly Fairy
* Stonehaven Fireball Ceremony
* St Sylvester's Day Lore
* The Story of Frau Holle
* The Septimontium
YULE AND THE WINTER SOLSTICE:
* About The Winter Solstice
* A Christmas Blessing
* A Christmas Salutation
* A Pagan Christmas Tree
* A Wassail Ceremony
* A Winter Solstice Story for Children
* Celebrating the Winter Solstice
* Christmas Spell for Clairvoyance
* Christmas Spell
* Decorating For Christmas
* Greeting Cards
* Herbs and Plants of Yule
* Hymn to the Sun
* Invoking the Holly King
* Midwinter Celebrations - A History
* Raven Power for the Winter Solstice
* Ritual for Yule
* Solstice Story
* Some Correspondences for Yule
* Something To Think About
* Spell for the Christmas Lunar Eclipse
* The Birthday of the Unconquered Sun
* The Yule Log
* The Yule Story
* Twas the Night Before Yule
* Twelfth Night Wassail Celebration
* Ves Heill - Be Healthy
* Winter Solstice
* Winter Solstice Song For Yule
* Yule - A Celebration of Light and Warmth
* Yule Fire and Ice Reflection Ritual
* Yule Holiday Svaijko
* Yuletide Greetings
* Yule Traditions and Symbols
THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS
* When Do The Twelve Days of Christmas Really Begin?
* The Twelve Days of Christmas
* The Twelve Days of Yule
RECIPES FOR FOOD, INCENSE, POTPOURRI, AND MORE:
* A Wassail Ceremony
* Anise Cookies for Yule
* Figgy Pudding
* Incense for Yule
* Swedish Yule Bread
* Traditional Eggnog
* Wassail Recipe for Yule
* Wassail for Kids
* Winter Solstice Potpourri
* Yule Eggnog Bread
* Yule Log
* Yuletide Incense
* Yuletide Potpourri
* Yule Oil
FOR ANYTHING NEWLY POSTED ON THIS SUBJECT AND NOT ON THIS LIST SEE: December Spells and Rituals
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"Jesus, King of Edessa" is the fascinating new book in Ralph Ellis's "King Jesus Trilogy". It talks of all the Bible Kings missing from the historical register or conversely all the real Kings not mentioned in the Gospels; like one or the other never existed.
"We're looking in the wrong era for 'Jesus' i.e. AD 30-33, christianity came from the (Rome friendly) Church of Saul," asserts Ellis, citing a historical character Josephus Flavius from the AD 60s as a likely culprit for the origin of the christian story.
For I was blind, and now I see?
Ellis comes across as a Jordan Maxwell-type character where names/events are reworked and reclaimed to serve his theological re-purpose and additionally his re-assessment of 'recorded christian history' is sounding an awful lot like Roland Emmerich's ANONYMOUS story of the origins of the 'real' William Shakespeare featured here on Free Planet back in October 2011 i.e. Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford.
"As we can see, the gospels were not wrong in what they recorded. In fact, the revised history of this region demonstrates that they are almost entirely correct - it is simply our perception of these events that is wrong. In reality, all of the gospel events happened in the turbulent AD 60s, and not during the comparative tranquil of the AD 30s. More importantly, Jesus was not a pauper-carpenter he was a king, for that is what the titles 'christ' and 'messiah' mean: they refer to an anointed king of Israel, which is why this great leader was called the King of the Jews. In reality, Jesus was an Edessan prince who was taking advantage of turmoil within the Roman Empire, to advance his claim to rule the world." [source EDFU]
In Ellis's re-imagining of the Bible as Egyptian diary, 'Jesus' was the "King of God" crucified along with two others following the Jewish Revolt of AD 60. Jesus being the only one of the three to have survived. According to Ellis, his 'Jesus' or the Edessan King Iesous 'did a deal' with Roman Emperor to be, Vespasian. Ellis suggests that Jesus was exiled to 'the furthest part of the Roman Empire' i.e. a first-century Guantanamo Bay, set in England; specifically, Chester. Then he sits the exiled 'Jesus' or 'King Iesous' around an Astrological 'round table' i.e. a processional map of the sky you find in Judaic temples, and relates this exiled 'king' to King Arthur while displacing him by 500 years to this first century... it's a corkingly mischievous historical revamp.
Will Emmerich film Jesus, King of Edessa? It's ludicrous and insane enough a reworking of 'common knowledge' i.e. propaganda, to work.
ADDITIONAL ELLIS-ISMS: there's a Stairway to Heaven mentioned in this interview with Ellis from 2011, refering to the Great Pyramid. Is this the same 'stairway to heaven' i.e. an internal construction stairway, that French Egyptologist Jean Pierre Oudin formalised and proved helped build the Great Pyramid of Khufu, from the smooth limestone outside, in?
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* "I'm moving some content over from an old site. This is a summary of the influences of freemasonry in Wicca. Though this is primarily drawn from the contents of Ronald Huttons Triumph of the Moon, it also has a few other sources, such as the Farrars. As I wasn't so good at citations back in the day, full sources are hard to backtrack but Hutton covers the bulk of it.Perhaps also Heselton? It was a long, LONG time ago!"
* "As Gerald Gardner was a freemason from 1905 to 1908, the freemasonic material in Wicca is really unsurprising, but its nice to know what came from where... "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law "
Freemasonry is loosely connected to the medieval stone Masons guilds in terms of having initiations and trade secrets, but freemasonry has its roots in late 16th Century Scotland and has become the worlds premier secret society. Based loosely on the stone masons structure, freemasonry admits all men regardless of status and focuses more on the mythologies and lore of the masons than any physical work.As opposed to a purely practical structure, the focus of the freemasons is on fraternal unity. Masonic lodges are comprised of men from all walks of life, political and religious backgrounds who can come and meet as fellow brothers in love and trust. So are the masons religious? Freemasons pledge a belief in a God force (quaintly called "The Architect"- and we also see another subtle level of the Matrix trilogy in this reference), but did not impose or profess the form the god force took. As such it protected itself from claims of atheism. It kept its structure of fraternal trust by banning two subjects in its lodges- politics and religion, the two great dividers.Skip ahead to the early 20th Century to the man who is now considered the grandfather of Wicca, Gerald B. Gardner.Old Gerald was among many other things a freemason and a co-mason (lodges admitting both men and women). As such in synthesising Wicca he drew heavily from his own experience. One can easily argue the ulterior, that these elements were in Wicca and he inherited them, which I will do later in this piece.So on what points does Wicca correspond closely to Scottish Freemasonry?~ Both Freemasons and Wiccans refer to their tradition as "the Craft"~ Neither religion or politics are discussed in a Masonic lodge- this is a potential origin of the Wiccan "perfect love and perfect trust" environment.~ Candidates are prepared for initiation in a similar fashion in Wicca as the Scottish Masonic rites, and the first three degrees in Masonry have definite similarities in structure.~ A long declaration in a Masonic lodge is called a "Charge", conveying its pseudo-history and some of its theological points to the new initiate. There is the obvious correlation with the decrying of "The Charge Of The Goddess", which does much the same~ The five fold kiss in British Traditional Wicca is similar to the five points of contact when Masonic brothers greet each other with a hug.~ The masons also had correspondences for the four directions.~ The masons call their implements their working tools, as does the Wiccan.~ These working tools are presented to the new initiate in both freemasonry and Wicca.~ Wiccans close when they say, "Merry Meet, Merry Part, and Merry Meet Again!" and freemasons say "Happy to Meet, Sorry To Part, Happy to Meet Again!"These many points of intersection in Wicca exist to some extent in other neo-pagan religions because many draw from Wicca for their sources" WICCA DERIVED FROM SCOTTISH MASONRY?
Gardner was a mason, so the question is are all of these influences from him or if you are a person who believes in Wiccas older roots, is Wicca derived from freemasonry? I could argue the latter and I will give you some points to consider.The rites developed steadily, and were adopted into England (where they were restructured and the number of initiations greatly increased) and spread around the world. Freemasons were everywhere, the ultimate secret society bound by oaths regarding the masons secrets (these being the meaning of the masons working tools ect.)Bearing in mind the ritual similarities in Wicca i bring two other points.1) The Book Of Shadows makes reference to the pyre and the burning of Witches. People arguing totally modern origins point to this as a forgerers error, yet Witches were burned on the continent "and" in Scotland.2) In a passage in the Book Of Shadows (published in J ">This provides a clear view of the Masonic element in Wicca (which I've only scratched) and an argument for Wicca's partial origins in Scottish Freemasonry. It's a stretch, but its fun to speculate" his work "Triumph Of The Moon", Pr. Ronald Hutton tackles some of the above points with much greater detail and background. For anyone who's interest is aroused, this information can be found in Chapter 4, "Finding A Structure".
"Love is the law, love under will "
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MOURNERS' KADDISH FOR ALL WHO SUFFER IN TIME OF WAR ">"YIT'GADAL V'YIT'KADASH SHMEI RABBAH:" MAY YOUR GREAT NAME, THROUGH OUR OWN EXPANDING AWARENESS AND OUR FULLER ACTION, LIFT YOU AND US TO BECOME STILL HIGHER AND MORE HOLY.
FOR YOUR GREAT NAME WEAVES TOGETHER ALL THE NAMES OF ALL THE BEINGS IN THE UNIVERSE, AMONG THEM OUR OWN NAMES, AND AMONG THEM THOSE WHO HAVE TOUCHED OUR LIVES DEEPLY THOUGH WE CAN NO LONGER TOUCH THEM - (CONG: AMEIN)
- THROUGHOUT THE WORLD THAT YOU HAVE OFFERED US, A WORLD OF MAJESTIC PEACEFUL ORDER THAT GIVES LIFE THROUGH TIME AND THROUGH ETERNITY - AND LET'S SAY, AMEIN
SO MAY THE GREAT NAME BE BLESSED, THROUGH EVERY MYSTERY AND MASTERY OF EVERY UNIVERSE.
MAY YOUR NAME BE BLESSED AND CELEBRATED, ITS BEAUTY HONORED AND RAISED HIGH, MAY IT BE LIFTED AND CARRIED, MAY ITS RADIANCE BE PRAISED IN ALL ITS HOLINESS - BLESSED BE!
"EVEN THOUGH WE CANNOT GIVE YOU ENOUGH BLESSING, ENOUGH SONG, ENOUGH PRAISE, ENOUGH CONSOLATION TO MATCH WHAT WE WISH TO LAY BEFORE YOU -"
"AND THOUGH WE KNOW THAT TODAY THERE IS NO WAY TO CONSOLE YOU WHEN AMONG US SOME WHO BEAR YOUR IMAGE IN OUR BEING ARE KILLING OTHERS WHO BEAR YOUR IMAGE IN OUR BEING - "
STILL WE YEARN THAT FROM THE UNITY OF YOUR GREAT NAME WILL COME TO FLOW A GREAT AND JOYFUL HARMONY AND LIFE FOR ALL OF US. (CONG: AMEIN)
YOU WHO MAKE HARMONY IN THE ULTIMATE REACHES OF THE UNIVERSE, TEACH US TO MAKE HARMONY WITHIN OUR SELVES, AMONG OURSELVES - AND SHALOM, SALAAM, PEACE FOR ALL THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM - THOSE FROM THE FAMILY OF ABRAHAM & SARAH THROUGH ISAAC AND THOSE FROM THE FAMILY OF ABRAHAM ">"OSEH SHALOM BI'M'ROMAV, HU YA'ASEH SHALOM ALEINU V'AL KOL YISRAEL V'AL KOL YISHMAEL V'AL KOL YOSHVEI TEVEL - V'IMRU: AMEIN. "
"[This interpretive English translation and broadening of the traditional Jewish prayer of mourning was written by Rabbi Arthur Waskow of The Shalom Center. Feel free to use it and to share it with others in these sorrowful times. See other prayers, essays, and reinterpretations of Torah at www.theshalomcenter.org]"
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ARTS Wyman Kirk, who is with Northeastern State University's (NSU) Language Program; Courtney Lewis, a Cherokee graduate student studying anthropology; Julie Reed, of the University of North Carolina; and Sonia Genslar, author of "The Revenant", which is a young adult novel set in the 1890s at the Cherokee Female Seminary. Read full story from indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com
COURT PRESERVES INDIAN HEALTH CARE LAW
WASHINGTON - The permanent reauthorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act is safe for now. That's according to a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit handed down on August 12, which found that some parts of the overall Obama administration healthcare plan are unconstitutional-but not the Indian health law.
The permanent reauthorization of the IHCIA was signed into law in 2010 as part of the larger healthcare reform bill pushed by the Obama administration. Given the controversies involved with some parts of that legislation, especially the so-called "individual mandate" to require Americans to buy health insurance, some Indian advocates felt it would have been safer to have IHCIA pass as a standalone bill. Read full story from indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com
NEWS:
WOMAN ADMITS ROLE IN TODDLER'S 'EXORCISM' DEATH
A Fort Wayne woman Monday morning admitted she took part in an "exorcism" act that led to a toddler's death.
Natasha N. Hawkins, 31, pleaded guilty to a Class A felony battery charge in the death of 2-year-old Jezaih King. In June, a jury found Jezaih's mother, Latisha Lawson, guilty of murder. Read full story from journalgazette.net
ONTARIO CITY MYSTIFIED BY WHOLE LOTTA SHAKIN' UNDERGROUND
WINDSOR - For months, residents of south and west Windsor have been wondering and worrying about vibrations of unknown origin.
And now, those mysterious rumblings under the city have found a new believer - the city's Ward 10 Coun. Al Maghnieh, who says it's time to start taking the phenomenon seriously.
"It's very present and real," he said.
Maghnieh added that those who think the phenomenon is a joke or that its proponents are "crazy" need to grasp the implications in terms of health and the environment. Read full story from montrealgazette.com
MEDIA:
"PRIMETIME NIGHTLINE: BEYOND BELIEF" SPECIAL, "PSYCHIC POWER," AIRING ON WEDNESDAY, AUG. 17 AT 10 P.M./9C ON ABC.
SPIRIT OF ALBION MOVIE PRODUCTION DIARY - DAY SIX
BLOGSPOT:
* IO9 - When did magic become elitist?
* GHOST THEORY - Mexican Media Promotes "Real Life Fairy"
* PAGANDAD - Feminine Archetypes - Crone
* THE WILD HUNT - Pagan Community Notes: Vivianne Crowley, Odroerir Journal, Sacred Harvest Festival, and more!
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FREY'S YOUTH"as portrayed in Saxo Grammaticus' History of the Danes, compiled here by Siegfried Goodfellow from Oliver Elton's translation, with some original translations at significant joints between segments to tidy up the seams. All of this is straight from the lore." PART I"Frey's Birth" Njord's woman bore a son, Frey, known as the Generous, who became from his very cradle and earliest childhood such a darling of all, that he was not suffered even to step or stand on the ground, but was continually cherished in people's laps and kissed.
Thus he was not assigned to one upbringer only, but was in a manner everybody's fosterling."Frey elected King of the Elves" Frey, aged seven, was elected as king by the unanimous decision of the Elves. But they held an assembly first, and judged that the minority of the king should be taken in charge by guardians, lest the sovereignty should pass away owing to the boyishness of the ruler.
For one and all paid such respect to the name of Njord, that the royalty was bestowed on his son despite his tender years. He showed himself so generous that he doubled the ancient pay of the warriors: a fashion of bounty which then was novel. For he did not, as despots do, expose himself to the vulgar allurements of vice, but strove to covet ardently whatsoever he saw was nearest honour; to make his wealth public property ; to surpass all other men in bounty, to forestall them all in offices of kindness; and, hardest of all, to conquer envy by virtue.
By this means the youth soon won such favour with all, that he not only equalled in renown the honours of his forefathers, but surpassed the most ancient records of kings."Frey's Guardianship Under the Sons of Ivaldi" Volund, also, and Egil and eight other men of mark were not only entrusted with the guardianship of the king, but also granted authority to administer the realm under him.
These men were rich in strength and courage, and endowed with ample gifts of mind as well as of body . Thus the state of the Elves was governed with the aid of regents until the time when the king should be a man."Frey Given Over to the Giants" But when he was in his twelfth year, Volund and Egil disowned his sway, and tried to rebel openly.
As a result , the yield of crops was ruined by most inclement weather, and a mighty dearth of corn befell. Victuals began to be scarce, and the commons were distressed with famine. Whether it was that the soil had too little rain, or that it was too hard baked, the crops were slack, and the fields gave but little produce; so that the land lacked victual, and was worn with a weary famine.
The stock of food began to fail, and no help was left to stave off hunger. Then, at the proposal of Egil and of Volund, it was provided by a decree of the people that the old men and the tiny children should be slain; that all who were too young to bear arms should be taken out of the land, and only the strong should be vouchsafed their own country; that none but able-bodied soldiers and husbandmen should continue to abide under their own roofs and in the houses of their fathers.
When Egil and Volund brought news of this to their mother Gambaruk, she saw that the authors of this infamous decree had found safety in crime. Condemning the decision of the assembly, she said that it was wrong to relieve distress by murder of kindred, and declared that a plan both more honourable and more desirable for the good of their souls and bodies would be, to preserve respect towards their parents and children, and choose by lot men who should quit the country.
And if the lot fell on old men and weak, then the stronger should offer to go into exile in their place, and should of their own free will undertake to bear the burden of it for the feeble. But those men who had the heart to save their lives by crime and impiety, and to prosecute their parents and their children by so abominable a decree, did not deserve life; for they would be doing a work of cruelty and not of love.
Finally, all those whose own lives were dearer to them than the love of their parents or their children, deserved but ill of their country.These words were reported to the assembly, and assented to by the vote of the majority . So the fortunes of all were staked upon the lot and those upon whom it fell were doomed to be banished.
Thus those who had been loth to obey necessity of their own accord had now to accept the award of chance. So they sailed first to Bleking, and then, sailing past Moring, they came to anchor at Gothland. In the end they landed at Rugen, and, abandoning their ships, began to march overland. They crossed and wasted a great portion of the world.
Thus his guardians, called up in the draft, deserted with the army into exile ; therefore, the brothers Westmar and Kolo were sent for to minister to the raising of the king. The wife of Koll was Gotwar, one of Gullveig's aliases, who used to paralyse the most eloquent and fluent men by her glib and extraordinary insolence; for she was potent in wrangling, and full of resource in all kinds of disputation.
Words were her weapons; and she not only trusted in questions, but was armed with stubborn answers. No man could subdue this woman, who could not fight, but who found darts in her tongue instead. Some she would argue down with a flood of impudent words, while others she seemed to entangle in the meshes of her quibbles, and strangle in the noose of her sophistries; so nimble a wit had the woman.
Moreover, she was very strong, either in making or cancelling a bargain, and the sting of her tongue was the secret of her power in both. She was clever both at making and at breaking leagues; thus she had two sides to her tongue, and used it for either purpose."The Torpor of the Land and the Crimes of the Giants" Westmar had twelve sons, three of whom had the same name - Grep in common.
These three men were conceived at once and delivered at one birth, and their common name declared their simultaneous origin. They were exceedingly skillful swordsmen and boxers. The sons of Westmar and Koll, being ungrown in years and bold in spirit, let their courage become recklessness and devoted their guilt-stained minds to foul and degraded orgies.
Their behaviour was so outrageous and uncontrollable that they ravished other men's brides and daughters, and seemed to have outlawed chastity and banished it to the stews . Nay, they defiled the couches of matrons, and did not even refrain from the bed of virgins. A man's own chamber was no safety to him: there was scarce a spot in the land but bore traces of their lust.
Husbands were vexed with fear, and wives with insult to their persons: and to these wrongs folk bowed. No ties were respected, and forced embraces became a common thing. Love was prostituted, all reverence for marriage ties died out, and lust was greedily run after . And the reason of all this was a torpor and stasis that took over men's bodies, for people stopped working the land, and their bodies befriended those vices which flow out in all directions from such stupor [10].
Meanwhile, the land of the Elves, where the tillers laboured less and less, and all traces of the furrows were covered with overgrowth, began to bristle with dense, horrifying stands of deformed trees [11], as its pleasant, native earth had its grassy crops stripped away. What were once acres fertile in grain were now seen to be dotted with stakes resembling trees, and where of old the tillers turned the earth up deep and scattered the huge clods, there sprang up dark woodlands covering the fields.
Had not these lands remained untilled and desolate with long overgrowth, the tenacious roots of trees could never have shared the soil of one and the same land with the furrows made by the plough. Thus the present generation was amazed to behold that it exchanged a soil which could once produce grain for one only fit to grow pinecones, and the plough-handle and the cornstalks for a landscape studded with gallows-like trees.
This idleness brought wantonness among Frey's courtiers, and stagnation begot lewdness, which they displayed in the most abominable crimes. For they would draw some men up in the air on ropes, and torment them, pushing their bodies as they hung, like a ball that is tossed; or they would put a kid's hide under the feet of others as they walked, and, by stealthily pulling a rope, trip their unwary steps on the slippery skill in their path; others they would strip of their clothes, and lash with sundry tortures of stripes; others they fastened to pegs, as with a noose, and punished with mock-hanging.
They scorched off the beard and hair with tapers; of others they burned the hair of the groin with a brand. Only those maidens might marry whose chastity they had first deflowered. Strangers they battered with bones; others they compelled to drunkenness with immoderate draughts, and made them burst.
No man might give his daughter to wife unless he had first bought their favour and goodwill. None might contract any marriage without first purchasing their consent with a bribe. Moreover, they extended their abominable and abandoned lust not only to virgins, but to the multitude of matrons indiscriminately.
Thus a twofold madness incited this mixture of wantonness and frenzy [12]. Guests and strangers were proffered not shelter but revilings [13]. All these maddening mockeries did this insolent and wanton crew devise, and thus under a boy-king freedom fostered licence. For nothing prolongs reckless sin like the procrastination of punishment and vengeance.
This unbridled impudence of the soldiers ended by making the king detested, not only by foreigners, but even by his own people, for the Elves resented such an arrogant and cruel rule. Inward resentment vexed the hearts of Elves, secretly indeed, but all the more bitterly.
"Grimnismal" 5 : "'Alfheim Frey / g'afu 'i 'ardaga / t'ivar at tannf'ei", "The Gods gave Frey, in days of yore, Alfheim as a tooth-gift.
"
Note that already, even prior to the Mill, Frey is linked with a kind of communism, making his treasury open to all.
"Volundarkvida", prose introduction : "V"olundr var hagastr madr, sv'a at menn viti, 'i fornum s"ogum", "Volund was the most artistic/skillful of men that men knew in the old sagas.
"
Volund is called "v'isi alfa", a "leader of the elves", as well as "alfa lj'odi", "prince of the elvish people".
This folk theme of bad weather and loss of fertility due to strife amongst the fairy-folk appears again and again in European literature, and is accurately reflected in Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" : "But with thy brawls thou hast disturb'd our sport.
/ Therefore the winds, piping to us in vain, / As in revenge, have suck'd up from the sea / Contagious fogs; which falling in the land / Have every pelting river made so proud / That they have overborne their continents: / The ox hath therefore stretch'd his yoke in vain, / The ploughman lost his sweat, and the green corn / Hath rotted ere his youth attain'd a beard; / The fold stands empty in the drowned field, / And crows are fatted with the murrion flock; / The nine men's morris is fill'd up with mud, / And the quaint mazes in the wanton green / For lack of tread are undistinguishable: / The human mortals want their winter here; / No night is now with hymn or carol blest: / Therefore the moon, the governess of floods, / Pale in her anger, washes all the air, / That rheumatic diseases do abound: / And thorough this distemperature we see / The seasons alter: hoary-headed frosts / Far in the fresh lap of the crimson rose, / And on old Hiems' thin and icy crown / An odorous chaplet of sweet summer buds / Is, as in mockery, set: the spring, the summer, / The childing autumn, angry winter, change / Their wonted liveries, and the mazed world, / By their increase, now knows not which is which: / And this same progeny of evils comes / From our debate, from our dissension".
The power of this woman in the law-assembly is noteworthy ; Paulus Diaconus says of Gambara that she was a "mulier quantum inter suos et ingenio acris et consiliis provida; de cuius in rebus dubiis prudentia non minimum confidebant", "woman of such sagacious nature that her counsel was prophetic ; of whom in critical matters, her wisdom was relied on in a way anything but minor.
" In "Germania" 8, Tacitus says of women," inesse quin etiam sanctum aliquid et providum putant: nec aut consilia earum aspernantur, aut responsa negligunt. Vidimus sub divo Vespasiano Veledam diu apud plerosque numinis loco habitam. They believe them to have a divine and prophetic nature : nor do they decline their counsel, nor disregard their replies.
We saw in the open air, in the days of Vespasian, Veleda, regarded by most as of divine rank." Tacitus also speaks of a people far to the East of Sweden who are "femina dominatur", "ruled by a woman", and who share with some of the Swedes the custom of "Matrem deum venerantur", "worshipping the Mother of the Gods".
Indeed, both Paulus Diaconus as well as the "Origo Gentis Langobardorum" invoke a tradition whereby Gambara appealed to Frigg, Odin's wife, the Mother of the Gods. Adam of Bremen independently avers in his "Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum" that "Postea longis terrarum spatiis regnant Sueones, Beyond the boundless regions of land over which the Swedes rule," lies a "terram feminarum, land of women".
One of the "scholia" states that "Anundum navigio in terram pervenit feminarum", "Anund arrived by ship in the land of women" ; Anund or Onund, as evidenced in "Volundarkvida", is another name for Volund.
This is a giant name, demonstrating that Westmar and Kolo were giants.
Note the dark carnivalesque misrule with which the giants here overturn everything Frey is known for : "Freyr mey hann ne gretir / ne mannz kono, / oc leysir or haptom hvern" ("Lokasenna "37), "Frey maidens/virgins nor men's wives causes he to weep, and loosens every bond.
"
The coincidence between the waning of love and the waning of the land's fertility is noteworthy. The forcing of love - which is not love at all - will not force the land to be fertile, another lesson.
[10] There is a fascinating connection here between healthy sexuality and working the land, as if they mutually reinforced each other.
Indeed, working the land is literally a labour of love, and thus reinforces love. But love is also needed for the land to blossom. Failing to be in rhythm and tending with the earth produces unnatural lusts - which let us note are solely defined as those which are coercive. Working the land has a regulative effect on people, putting them in touch with the seasons, which lend a sense of proportion through their rhythms.
In this one passage, we get a furtive inview into an often hidden Indo-European philosophy connecting love and the land. (Indeed, such a sense goes well beyond the Indo-European peoples and is inclusive of many archaic peoples.) The torpor is also due to the fact that this terrible weather and loss of crops happens, according to Saxo, during a time when Snow was considered king - in other words, when Winter ruled over all, and the seasons ceased to turn and change.
Shivering and shuddering in the freezing weather, the lack of the active life, and particularly of tending the land, stirs up cold, sadistic impulses. Consent and celebration, on the other hand, are natural attributes of love.
[11] As the giants move in and impose their cruel, cold behavior on the landscape, the fruiting fields of the elves begin to resemble more and more the barren Iron Woods - picture here the horrific, dark trees of the maleficent forest in Disney's "Snow White".
This is not to say that Alfheim did not have its share of lush, alpine woodlands, but the picture painted here is of bent, dead trees spreading pallor and darkness ; there is as much resemblance between these deformed remnants of trees and the former groves and orchards as there is between the giants' mass rapes and genuine, heartfelt love.
[12] Saxo is obviously educing a second source here, a variation on the house-of-horrors theme above. Notice the cognate similarity on some levels with the riotous behavior of Penelope's suitors in the Odyssey.
[13] According to Tacitus, to refuse hospitality was a "nefas", a violation of divine law.
Indeed, "Havamal", Odin's words to men, begins with the codes of hospitality. We are getting a very clear picture of the brute behavior of the giants, who lack all virtues and manners of civilized beinsg living in organized communities : they fail to respect matrimony, virginity or hospitality, and they take joy in the sufferings and torture of others.
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An interesting article from www.wnponline.org about Islam in Europe. This follows this post about unemployment statistics. For more interesting stories like this click here to follow this blog.
Eurabia: A Voice Cries Out in Defense of Europe's Heritage
With birthrates among traditional Europeans in decline while population growth in Europe's Muslim communities soar, one European voice asks whether Europe wants to preserve its cultural and religious identity.
by Paul Kieffer
Members of Western democratic parliaments are known to voice concerns on issues beyond their own national borders. Topics like human rights, poverty, AIDS in the developing world and other issues sometimes echo from the halls of Congress, the British Parliament, Germany's Bundestag and elsewhere.
Perhaps the most memorable example of a member of parliament (MP) speaking out on a perceived danger abroad was British MP Winston Churchill during the 1930s. On numerous occasions Churchill warned his country of the danger it faced from the ascent of German dictator Adolf Hitler. Accused of "scaremongering," Churchill did not relent. When British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned as a hero from his 1938 meeting in Munich with Hitler, proclaiming "peace in our time," Churchill predicted a future "day of reckoning."
The rest of the story is history.
For the last six years a Western European politician has made it his mission in life to warn his own countrymen-and anyone else in Europe who will listen-about a threat staring Europe in the face within its own continental borders. The threat he perceives is the demise of Europe's traditional cultural and religious identity as a result of the gradual Islamization of Europe.
Who is he? He is Geert Wilders, a member of the Dutch parliament and a vocal opponent of "Eurabia."
WHO IS GEERT WILDERS?
Some readers of World News and Prophecy may not recognize Geert Wilders' name. After all, the Netherlands is not one of the world's larger countries and most people-even in Europe-do not follow the Dutch domestic political scene closely. Wilders is 47 years old and was born in the city of Venlo on the Dutch-German border. He was raised a Roman Catholic but left the church upon reaching adulthood. Despite leaving the Catholic Church, Wilders supports what he calls "Judeo-Christian values."
After completing his education, Wilders traveled to the Middle East, where he lived in Israel for a time and also visited some of the neighboring Arab countries. The impressions he took home from those visits have shaped his personal assessment of Islam, which he says is similar to the viewpoint of none other than Winston Churchill. Churchill, as a young man, served as a soldier and war correspondent in the late 1890s in British India (in what is today Pakistan) and the Sudan.
Churchill summed up his perception of Islam's effects on its adherents: "The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist...Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities-but the influence of the religion paralyzes the social development of those who follow it."
And Churchill concluded: "No stronger retrograde force exists in the world" (The River War, 1899).
At the beginning of his political career, Wilders worked as a speechwriter for the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). He moved to Utrecht in 1996 and was elected to the city council and in 2002 to the lower house of the Dutch parliament.
Wilders had problems with his party's position on admitting Turkey as a member of the European Union, leading him to form his own party in 2004, now called the Party for Freedom (PVV). EU membership for Turkey would eventually mean more Muslims living elsewhere in Europe, although Wilders already sees Europe's cultural and religious heritage threatened by the current Muslim population of Europe. Wilders points out that 100 years ago there were fewer than 100 Muslims living in the Netherlands, compared to nearly 1 million today out of a total population of some 16 million.
Wilders pulls no punches about his desire to see limits placed on the influence of Islam in the Netherlands and Europe. He is against the use of any language but Dutch in mosques located in the Netherlands. He also opposes the construction of new mosques in his country.
Speaking in the Dutch parliament, he once said that the Koran should be banned in the Netherlands, adding that if Islam's holy book were to be stripped of passages proclaiming violence, it would be reduced to the size of a comic book.
With this opinion, Wilders is on the same page as Pope Benedict XVI. In a speech given in Regensburg in September 2006, Benedict quoted a medieval Christian emperor who equated Islam with violence: "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."
Accused of being a racist, Wilders counters by saying that he does not hate Muslims. Instead, he just hates Islam. On his own blog, Wilders summarizes that viewpoint: "The purpose of Islam is the total submission of oneself and others to the unknowable Allah, whom we must serve through total obedience to Muhammad as leader of the Islamic state (suras 3:31, 4:80, 24:62, 48:10, 57:28). And history has taught us that Muhammad was not at all a prophet of love and compassion, but a mass murderer, a tyrant and a pedophile. Muslims could not have a more deplorable role model."
GROWING POPULARITY AND POWER
Geert Wilders is typically characterized by the mainstream media as being a right-wing populist, an anti-Islam agitator or xenophobic. And yet twice in annual public opinion surveys he was rated the second-most-popular politician in the Netherlands. In order to remain independent, his PVV refuses to accept a government subsidy available during election campaigns (all other Dutch parties accept the government subsidy).
In June's parliamentary elections, Geert Wilders' party, the PVV, won 24 of the 150 seats in the lower house, a remarkable increase over its previous result of nine seats in 2006. Wilders has agreed to support a minority coalition government formed by two other conservative parties, which will give him considerable leverage in the new government.
Wilders has had to pay a price for his stance on Islam, however. He has received numerous death threats and has been constantly accompanied by six bodyguards since a letter threatening his death was found in the apartment of the Islamic fanatic who assassinated Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh in broad daylight on a street in Amsterdam in November 2004. His bodyguards "stand outside the door when I go to the bathroom," he once said.
Wilders never sleeps two nights in a row in the same location. Because of these security restrictions, he is able to see his wife only once every two weeks. Wilders has described his life as "essentially living in a prison."
MUSLIM POPULATION GROWTH IN EUROPE
Wilders sees the increasing Muslim population in Europe as one of the most serious threats to the preservation of Europe's traditional cultural and religious heritage. It comes as no surprise that he opposes continued immigration from Islamic countries and Turkey's bid for full EU membership, which would eventually open Europe's gates to unrestricted Turkish immigration.
Muslims currently account for about 5 percent of the European Union's population. If Turkey's bid for EU membership is successful, on the day Turkey becomes a member the percentage of Muslims living in the EU will increase to 20 percent. But current population numbers are only part of the story. Turkey would also soon be the EU's largest country. Based on current population trends, Turkey will surpass Germany's 82 million inhabitants by the year 2020 and may have as many as 100 million people by the year 2050.
However, even if Turkey does not become a full member of the European Union, the percentage of Muslims living in Europe will double within 15 years. Europe's Islamic community is experiencing a population explosion. At the same time, the traditional non-Muslim population of Europe will decline by an estimated 3.5 percent. Europe's traditional non-Islamic population is slowly but surely dying out.
Germany's birthrate is a prime example of the population decline among Europe's traditional nationalities. Statistically each woman in Germany currently has 1.36 live births during her childbearing years, far below the 2.1 average considered necessary to maintain a country's population. Given current trends, the research by the private Institute for Population and Development in Berlin indicates that the number of children born in Germany will drop 50 percent by the year 2050.
The declining birthrate is most acute in the former East Germany, where the average birthrate since the unification of Germany in 1990 is 0.77 live births. Reiner Klingholz, the director of the private Berlin Institute for Population and Development, summarized the situation with some humor: "With the Vatican as the exception, that's the lowest birthrate anywhere in the world."
If this situation continues unhindered, it is only a matter of time before the Islamic community in Europe becomes a sizable minority and even a majority of Europe's total population. In 2005, for example, there were more children of Islamic parentage born in France than people of a traditional French background.
Although not directly
For example, since 1980 the population segment that identifies itself as Christian in Belgium declined by 20 percent; in the Netherlands, by 18 percent; and in France, by 16 percent. Today's Europe is also the only continent witnessing a decline in the number of Catholics. The annual number of infant baptisms in the Philippines is now more than the combined annual total for France, Italy, Poland and Spain.
If the present trends continue, Europe will slowly become what Geert Wilders calls "Eurabia"-a continent whose traditional heritage becomes drowned out by a fast-growing Muslim community-now a minority, but possibly a majority of Europe's population in the future.
EUROPE'S RELIGIOUS FUTURE
Bible prophecy shows that Europe's traditional religious heritage will wield considerable influence in the future, but in a way not imagined by Dutch MP Geert Wilders. The book of Revelation contains a prophecy about 10 kings who collectively form a "beast" that Jesus Christ will conquer and destroy upon His return to the earth.
We read about them in Revelation 17:12-14: "The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast... These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them" (emphasis added).
Those 10 horns are part of a "beast" described in verse 3 as having "seven heads and ten horns," with the 10 horns-the final 10 kings who will fight against Christ-apparently representing one of the seven heads. Each of the seven heads is a "mountain"-biblical symbolism for a kingdom or empire-with its king (verses 9-10). Verse 10 clarifies that the heads appear in chronological sequence, and the final "head," or king (verse 10), will appear as the 10 kings symbolized by 10 horns (verse 12).
This sequence of rulers is dominated by a religious system called "Babylon the Great" that emanates from "the great harlot [city] who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication" (Revelation 17:1-2). The true Church of God is pictured in the Bible as a chaste bride waiting to be married to Christ. The harlot of Revelation 17 is a deceptive religious system masquerading as a true system of worship.
As the modern heir of ancient Babylon's mystery religion, the city of Rome is described as "drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus" (Revelation 17:6). It is a historical fact that Rome, more than any other city, under the influence of a great religious system, has orchestrated the persecution and martyrdom of "those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus" (Revelation 14:12). Even early church writers recognized the connection between Babylon and Rome by interpreting Peter's use of the word "Babylon" in 1 Peter 5:13 to mean the city of Rome.
Pictured as a harlot sitting astride the "beast" of which she is the cultural and spiritual center, this infamous city has exerted a vast influence over the earth's "peoples, multitudes, nations and languages" (Revelation 17:15, New International Version). For a while she has enjoyed the status and fame of being the city that "reigns over the kings of the earth" (verse 18).
In other words, it appears that the composite "beast" of Revelation 17 is the so-called Holy Roman Empire-the resurrected Roman Empire dominated by the modern descendant of the ancient Babylonian mystery religion. The final resurrection of that empire will not be influenced by Islam, but by the same religious system that has dominated it since A.D. 554.
Geert Wilders and Europe's future
While no one can predict what course Geert Wilders' political future may take, it is interesting that his position on Muslim population growth in Europe is consistent with Bible prophecy. Islam has never been the religion of the Holy Roman Empire, nor will it be in the future. Since the "great harlot" of Revelation 17 is pictured as continually being the dominant influence on the "beast" system, the Islamic minority in Europe apparently will not grow to such an extent that it will prevent the traditional religious system of the Holy Roman Empire from exerting its influence in the end-time "beast" power.
With the fast-growing Islamic minority in Europe, what are the implications for Europe's future vis-`a-vis the Islamic community and Islamic immigration? There would appear to be several possibilities-all of which could be listed as action points for Geert Wilders' Party for Freedom. They include the following:
o Immigration from non-EU, Islamic countries may be restricted at some point in the future.
o Residency for some-perhaps a majority-of non-EU Islamic people living in Europe may be revoked at some point in the future.
In the current liberal atmosphere in Europe, restricting immigration for people of the Islamic faith, or even deporting some of those who are already here, seems unlikely. However, the violent reaction in the Netherlands to the murder in broad daylight of Dutch movie producer Theo van Gogh by a Moroccan in November 2004 shows what can happen in a tense confrontation. Any restrictions placed on immigration from Islamic countries would certainly strain relations between the European Union and the Islamic world.
Meanwhile, Geert Wilders continues his efforts to preserve Europe's heritage from Islamic influence. In July Wilders announced an international "freedom alliance" to spread his anti-Islam message across the West.
He told the Associated Press in an interview that he will launch the international movement later this year, initially in five countries: the United States, Canada, Britain, France and Germany. This "is not just a Dutch problem...it is a problem for the entire free West," he said. Wilders has been invited to speak in Berlin on Oct. 2, 2010, to launch his movement in Germany. It is the first invitation he has received to speak in Germany since he founded his Party for Freedom, and Wilders plans to give his presentation in German.
With his effort to defend Europe's traditional heritage against growing Islamic influence, Geert Wilders is a man to watch. He would be surprised to learn what kind of resurgence of traditional religious fervor lies in Europe's future.
Despite the current demographic trends in Europe, Bible prophecy indicates that the dominant religious influence on the final resurrection of the Roman Empire will not be Islam. Instead, it will be the same one that has existed for centuries in previous revivals of the Holy Roman Empire-that of "Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth" (Revelation 17:5).
With the Muslim population explosion in Europe, the final configuration of that last resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire may occur sooner than some people think, while Europeans of a traditional heritage are still the obvious majority in Europe. WNP
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