INTRODUCTION TO THE OCCULT
What is the Occult?
Basic
Meaning: Occult = "Hidden"
Practiced in
Secret
Esoteric
tradition existing with Western Religious tradition
Secret teachings
Only for
initiated
Magical tradition
(High magic)
Basic
Theme: "there are hidden
relationships between all elements of the universe
MAGIC(K)
The word
"Magic": Persian
Zoroastrianism:
Magus
Astrologer/Priest
Plural: Magi
Magic and Sorcery
Magic: implies a
sophisticated intellectual system
Sorcery: magic
applied for practical ends
Magic = theory;
sorcery = application (like science and technology)
What is Magic in its most basic form?
TO
THINK CLEARLY: You need cotton, powdered
eggshell, cocoa butter, grated coconut, grated yam, coconut water, a white
cloth. If you feel that you are not
thinking with your accustomed clarity, make a paste with the yam and the grated
coconut. Mix in the rest of the
ingredients and soak up the result with the cotton. Wrap the soggy cotton in the white
cloth. Lie down and put the package on
your forehead. Close your eyes for an
hour. Keep the mixture moist by
sprinkling it with coconut water.
TO
WARD OFF EVIL: You need cooking oil,
five eggs, cinnamon, and a deep white dish.
Fill the dish with cooking oil.
Float the five eggs on the oil.
Sprinkle them liberally with cinnamon.
Insert a cotton wick in the oil and burn the lamp for five days.
TO
KEEP THE POLICE AWAY: Grind sage leaves
into a powder and blow on your door.
TO
OBTAIN A JOB: Rub your hands with corojo oil and honey.
Lick your hands three times and ask for the job.
TO
WIN A WOMAN: You need coral, cinnamon,
crθme de menthe and anise. Powder the
ingredients and mix them with a few drops of the crθme de menthe. When drunk or eaten, the mixture will turn
the most indifferent woman into a passionate lover
TO
DESTROY HAPPINESS IN A HOME: You need
ashes, goat excrement, pig excrement, dog excrement, Chinese pepper, guinea
pepper, and black pepper. Dry the
excrements thoroughly and reduce them to a powder. Mix the powder in equal parts with the ashes
and the peppers. Sift the mixture into a
fine powder. Sprinkle inside the house
you wish to curse.
TO
DRIVE AWAY SICKNESS: Tie a dry corn cob
behind the door with a purple ribbon.
TO
PROTECT AGAINST COLD OR FLU: During the
cold and flu season, take a small jute bag and fill it with a few pieces of
camphor and two or three mint leaves.
Hang the bag from your neck or pin it to your underclothes.
TO
MARRY THE PERSON YOU WANT: Rub your
hands with powdered eggshell before you shake hands with him or her.
Aleister Crowley (1875-1947)
Definition: Magick is the
Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will
Postulate: Any
required Change may be effected by the application of the proper kind and
degree of force in the proper manner through the proper medium to the proper
object
Witchcraft: Is it
Religion or Occult?
Russell: Witchcraft is not the same as the occult,
and many witches take pains to dissociate themselves from the occult.
Etymology
Old
English (not Celtic)
wicca (witcha) = male
sorcerer
wicce (witche) = female sorcerer
from the verb wiccian = "to cast a spell"
NOT from
Old English witan ("to know")
Therefore (Russell): Witchcraft does not mean,
and never has meant, "the craft of the wise
Warlock
Not a male
witch (a male witch is a witch)
Old English: waer (truth) + leogan
(to lie)
Originally a
traitor or oathbreaker
Later equated
with witch and applied to both sexes equally
For modern
witches: one who has broken the "rede":
"an though it harm none, do what thou wilt
WORLDVIEWS
The Magical Worldview
Magical Principles
Principle 1: Cosmos
Principle 2: Sympathetic Magic
Principle 3: Words of Power
Principle 4: Will (Energy)
Modern Occult Revival
More educated and
sophisticated
Perception that science has
failed (Malinowski)
Individualized world-view
Pluralism
Hiddenness
Enchantment
Boundary
maintained between mundane and supramundane
Principle 1: Cosmos
Origin
of Magical Theory: Ancient Mesopotamia
There are hidden
relationships between all elements of the universe
Ancient View of the Universe
3-level Universe
HEAVEN: GODS
EARTH: HUMANS
HELL: DEMONS AND THE DEAD
Alive with spirits
Demonshostile
Evil godshostile
Good godsforgetful
Therefore: Life is precarious
How to survive:
Law of Cosmos
Universe is a whole--ordered;
coherent; all parts interconnected
Hidden connections
World follows this law
Humans follow this law
Gods follow this law
Demons follow this law
Nothing is accidental
Both magic and science have roots here
Science = principle of
uniformity
Magic = law of correspondence
("as above, so below")
Basic Principle of
Correspondences: Universe a Single
Substance, or can be reduced to a single substance, through which everything is
connected
Basis of Alchemy: Philosophers Stone
The Emerald Tablet (Agrippa's Version)
It
is true, without falsehood, and most certain.
What
is below is like that which is above; and what is above is like that which is
below: to accomplish the miracle of the one thing.
As
all things were formed from one, by the thought of one, so all things are born
from this one thing, by choice.
Its
father is the Sun, its mother the Moon, the Wind carries it in its belly, its
nurse is the Earth.
It
is the author of all perfection throughout the world.
The
power is strong when changed into Earth.
Separate
the Earth from the Fire, the subtle from the gross, gently and with care.
Ascend
from Earth to Heaven, and descend again to Earth, to unite the power of higher
and lower things; thus you will obtain the glory of the whole world, and the
shadows will leave you.
This
has more strength than strength itself, for it overcomes all subtle things and
penetrates every solid.
Thus
the world was framed.
Hence
proceed the wonders, which means are here.
Therefore
I am Hermes Trismegistus, having the three parts of
world philosophy.
That
which I had to say of the operation of the Sun is perfected
Agrippa von Nettesheim (1486-1535)
World Soul
Resemblance
Sympathies
Antipathies
Paracelsus (1493-1541)
Nature the highest authority
Nature,
unlike humans, cannot commit errors
Machina
Mundi, "World machine"--divine plan
Human beings have the capacity
to help themselves by working with the qualities God instilled in nature at
creation
Two-fold light
Mortal Stellar Light
Divine Light
Mortal stellar light
Stars and planets inhabited by
Greco-Roman gods
Human beings molded from the
dust of stars
The stars and their
inhabitants are humanity's elder brothers
Therefore: Astrology works
Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815)
Aether = imponderable fluid permeating the universe
Eliphas Levi (1810-1875)
Law of correspondence
Astrology for the soul, not
the body
Soul = "magical mirror of
the universe"
Astral light
Mixture of Paracelsus and Mesmer
Formless and invisible
Permeates whole universe
Capable
of being molded by human will into visible forms--apparitions; ectoplasm
The two major occult divisions have their origin in the Law
of Cosmos
If
a red dog enters the temple, the gods will desert it.
If
a dog is found lying upon the king's throne, the palace will be burned down.
If
a white dog enters the temple, it will stand for a long time.
If
a grey dog enters the temple, it will be deprived of its possessions.
If a yellow dog enters the
king's palace, the palace will be destroyed.
Scott Cunningham, The Art
of Divination: Divination and magic
are not the same thing and anyone who says they are is either ignorant or has
his own axe to grind.
Sorry Scott!
Divination and Magic: A mirror
image
Divination: discerning the
connections
Sorcery (Magic): manipulating
the connections
Principle 2:
Sympathetic Magic
Modern psychology
Like influences like
Agrippas Resemblances
Antipathies
Contagion
Agrippas sympathies
Definition: an object is said to affect an object with
which it has been in contact, even if separated
Personal items
Psychometry
Zoroastrian Persia:
Hair and Nails
The Avesta
1.
Zarathustra [Zoroaster] asked Ahura
Mazda [Ormazd]: O Ahura
Mazda, most beneficent spirit, maker of the material world, thou holy one.
Which is the most deadly deed whereby a man increases the most baleful strength
of the daevas, as he would do by offering them
sacrifice?
2.
Ahura Mazda answered: It is when a man here below,
combing his hair or shaving it off or paring his nails, drops them into a hole
or into a crack.
3.
Then for want of the lawful rites being observed, daevas
are produced on the earth which we call lice, and which eat up the corn in the
cornfield, and the clothes in the wardrobe.
4.
Therefore, O Zarathustra, whenever here below thou shalt comb thy hair or shave it off, or pare thy nails,
thou shalt take them away ten paces from the
faithful, twenty paces from the fire, thirty paces from the water, fifty paces
from the consecrated bundles of baresma [holy twigs].
5. Then thou shalt dig a hole, ten fingers deep if the earth is hard,
twelve fingers deep if it is soft; thou shalt take
thy hair down there and thou shalt say aloud these
fiend-smiting words: Out of his pity Mazda made plants grow.
6. Thereupon thou shalt draw three furrows with a knife of metal around the
hole, or six, or nine, and thou shalt chant the Ahuna Vairya three times, or six,
or nine.
7. For the nails, thou shalt dig a hole, out of the house, as deep as the top
joint of the little finger; thou shalt take the nails
down there and thou shalt say aloud these
fiend-smiting words: The words are heard from the pious in holiness and good
thought.
Santeria Spells
TO
SEDUCE A MAN
You
need seven earthworms, menstrual blood, excrement, hair, and genital hair.
Collect
seven earthworms. Lay them in the sun to
dry. Also collect a little of your
menstrual blood, a pinch of your excrement, hairs from your head, and hair from
your genitals. Lay them on a plate and
let them dry in the sun. When all the
ingredients are thoroughly dry, grind them to a very fine powder. Administer the powder in the mans food and
drink.
Name
Power of a correctly spoken
name gives control
Egypt
Two
spirits and two names
ba-lesser-known
ka-greater-secret
The Egyptian Book of the Dead
Greek Magical Papyri: Names of deities, heroes and magicians: IAO; Jesus
Black Magic tradition: Use names of God to control demons
"Aglon Tetagram Vaycheon Stimulamathon Erohares Retragsammathon Clyoran Icion Esition
Existien Eryona Onera Erasyn Moyn
Meffias Soter Emmanuel Sabaoth Adomai, I call you,
Amen."'
Tetragrammaton
The Name of God
Unpronounced since 2nd
century BCE
Replaced with Adonnai (my Lord, my Lords) or Ha Shem (the Name)
The Lost Word of God
Kabbalah: Tetragrammaton is basis of all creation
Ex. 3:14-15: God said to Moses, "I am who
I am." He said further, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'I am
has sent me to you.'" God also said
to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'The Lord, the God of your
ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent
me to you' :This is my name forever, and
this my title for all generations."
v. 14: ehyeh
(I am)
v. 15 yhwh
(Tetragrammaton = perhaps Yahweh)
kethiv (written): yhwh
+ qere (spoken): adonnay
= Jehovah
Yahweh = some sort of form of
"He is"
Santeria Spells
TO
ATTRACT A LOVER
You
need: red ocher, sulphur,
borax, powdered poplar leaves, three pins, cooking oil.
Write
the loved ones name on a piece of paper four times and pierce the paper with
the pins. Place the paper inside a large
colourful teapot.
Add a pinch of the four powders and the oil. Insert a wick and burn the lamp for nine
days.
TO
TIE A LOVER TO YOU
Write your lovers first
name on a piece of paper. Turn the paper
ninety degrees and write the last name so that it crosses the first name. Place a pair of scissors on top of the piece
of paper.
Egypt:
Image = Person
Statue
(Idol; Image)
Pesel
Amulet (protection)
Talisman (good luck)
Imitative Magic
Ritual: Acting as if . . .
Santeria Spells
TO
ATTRACT MONEY
Dress
in yellow and go to the ocean or to a river.
Walk into the water, while dressed, with a bottle of honey. Rub your whole body with the honey,
especially your head. Let the water wash
it off. Dont swim.
TO
CURSE YOUR ENEMY
You
need a funeral candle and a knife.
At
midnight, light the
candle and call your enemys name. As
you pronounce his name, make small cuts and stabs on the candle. Repeat the procedure for three consecutive
days.
TO
PREVENT PROBLEMS WITH THE LAW
Put
a white rabbit and a white dove together in a comfortable cage. Feed them well every day and sprinkle drops
of holy water and coconut water on their heads.
The day before the court date, free the animals in a field. Tell them that you fed them to give them
their liberty, so they should give you your freedom.
Magical Imagination
Visualization
Documented (claimed to be
another magical revelation) by MacGregor Mathers and Wynn Westcott of the Hermetic Order of the
Golden Dawn (1890s)
Principle 3: Words of
Power
Originally prayer
The trouble with prayer
The God factor
Ancient pagan gods
Forgetful
Agenda
The evolution of prayer into incantation
Illustration: Whats the magic word?
Assurbanipals
library (7th century BCE)
Akkadian
prayers
Miracle stories
Language of incantation
Greco-Roman
magical tradition: Persian or other
barbarous languages; e.g.: Abracadabra
Contemporary Occultism
Hebrew
Enochian
Hebrew
Kabbalah considered Hebrew divine creative language: therefore powerful
Temurah:
Hebrew anagrams: e.g., Agla: atah gibor leolam
adonnai (Thou
art mighty forever, oh Lord)
Gematriya: Hebrew numerology: e.g., Naqzaq = YHWH
Notarikon:
Transposition of letters
Enochian of John Dee
(1527-1608)
Natural Philosopher looking
for a Grand Unified Theory of everything
Alchemist
Court astrologer of Elizabeth
I
Suspected of black magic
Claimed to commune with angels
through medium (scryer) Edward Kelly
Possibly the most gullible man
that ever lived
Taught abandonment of morality
in favour of self-indulgent hedonism
Enochian language
Special language and alphabet
Language of Enoch and others before the flood
and of angels
Genesis
5:21-24: When Enoch had lived
sixty-five years, he became the father of Methuselah. Enoch walked with God
after the birth of Methuselah three hundred years, and had other sons and
daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty-five years.
Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him.
Modern Occultists: degenerate
form of language of Atlantis
Preserved through Hermetic
Order of the Golden Dawn
Enochian Keys
Enochian
magic: not from Dee; magical spells using Enochian language; shows influence of H.P. Lovecraft
Linguistic analysis
Not gibberish or code: it is a
language
Derived from English and Welsh
Alphabet derived from Hebrew,
etc.
In
the form we now have it reveals influence of King James Bible and several 17th
century writers
Principle 4:
Will/Energy
Originally: Life Force
The Force
Sacrifice
Santeria
Spells:
TO
ESCAPE THE LAW
Rub
your head with two quail hens. Bite
their heads off and let the blood drip on your head. Spread their feathers up and down the street.
Sexual Magic
Satanism
Introduction
to The Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor La Vey
Satanism
is a blatantly selfish, brutal philosophy. It is based on the belief that human
beings are inherently selfish, violent creatures
The Nine Satanic Statements
Satan represents indulgence
instead of abstinence!
Satan represents vital
existence, instead of spiritual pipe dreams!
Satan represents undefiled
wisdom, instead of hypocritical self-deceit!
Satan represents kindness to
those who deserve it, instead of love wasted on ingrates!
Satan represents vengeance,
instead of turning the other cheek!
Satan represents
responsibility for the responsible, instead of concern for psychic vampires!
Satan represents man as just
another animal, sometimes better more often worse than those that walk on all
fours, who, because of his divine and intellectual development has become the
most vicious animal of them all!
Satan represents all the
so-called sins, as they lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification!
Satan has been the best friend
that the church has ever had, as he has kept it in business all of these years!
LaVeys Satanic Rituals
Black Mass (corporate)
Lust
Greed
Compassion
Destruction
Healing techniques
Catharsis
Santeria Spells
TO CURSE A PERSON
You need: a candle
from a funeral; coal dust; salt; and seventy pins.
Buy the coal dust and salt at three different
stores. Mix equal quantities in a
plate. Set up the candle so that it
burns upside down on the plate, on top of the mixture. At midnight,
strip yourself nude and light the candle.
As it burns, let out all the hatred you feel toward the person you want
to curse. Stick the pins in the candle
as if it were the flesh of your enemy.
With each pin, shout out that you wish the death and destruction of the
hated person. After the candle has burnt
down, leave the plate at your enemys doorstep
Development into Will
Agrippa: All human thought is magic
Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815)--"animal magnetism"
Eliphas
Levi: Human will = raw power--capable of
anything if properly developed and directed (a force as real as steam or
galvanic current)
Aleister Crowley (1875-1947)
Career
Born 1875; mother calls him
"the beast of revelation"; later calls himself The Beast, 666
1898 joins Hermetic Order of
the Golden Dawn
1900 Adeptus
Minor
1904 Cairo.
Egypt:
revelation of Thelema by spirit Aiwass through wife Rose Kelly
1910 joins Ordo
Templi Orientis
1922 takes over O.T.O
1945-1947: works with Gerald
Gardner
Reputation
Supernatural power
Sex
Drugs
Satanist
Spy for Germany
The Wickedest Man Alive
Influence
System of Magick
"Law of Thelema
(Greek for Will)
New religion of force and fire
Religion of the New Age =
"Aeon of Horus
Gospel for "kingly
men;" "the few and secret who shall rule the many and known;"
"the slaves shall serve
Main Teachings
Crowley
is the prophet of the New Age, the Beast 666 of Revelation
"Every man and woman is a
star": each human soul is a unique entity with the right to develop in its
own way
"Do What Thou Wilt Shall
Be The Whole of The Law"
Will = destiny
Love is the Law; Love under
Will
Crowley's
Magical Theorems (Magick in Theory and
Practice)
I.
Definition: Magick is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in
conformity with Will
II.
Postulate: Any required Change may be effected by the
application of the proper kind and degree of force in the proper manner through
the proper medium to the proper object
III. Theorems:
1. Every intentional act is a Magical Act
2. Every successful act has conformed to the
postulate
3. Every failure proves that one or more
requirements of the postulate have not been fulfilled
4. The first requisite for causing any change
is through qualitative and quantitative understanding of the conditions
5. The second requisite of causing any change
is the practical ability to set in motion the necessary forces
6. "Every man and every woman is a
star"
7. Every man and every woman has a course,
depending partly on the self, and partly on the environment, which is natural
and necessary for each. Anyone who is forced from his own course, either
through not understanding himself, or through external opposition, comes into
conflict with the order of the Universe, and suffers accordingly
8. A man whose conscious will is at odds
with his True Will is wasting his strength. He cannot hope to influence his
environment efficiently
9. A man who is doing his True Will has the
inertia of the Universe to assist him
10. Nature is a continuous phenomenon, though we
do not know in all cases how things are connected
11. Science enables us to take advantage of the
continuity of Nature by the empirical application of certain principles whose
interplay involves different orders of idea connected with each other in a way
beyond our present comprehension
12. Man is ignorant of the nature of his own being and powers. Even
his idea of his limitations is based on his experience of the past, and every
step in his progress extends his empire. There is therefore no reason to assign
theoretical limits to what he may be, or to what he may do
13. Every man is more or less aware that his individuality comprises
several orders of existence, even when he maintains that his subtler principles
are merely symptomatic of the changes in his gross vehicle. A similar order may
be assumed to extend throughout nature
14. Man is capable of being, and using, anything which he perceives,
for everything that he perceives is in a certain sense a part of his being. He
may thus subjugate the whole Universe of which he is conscious to his
individual Will
15. Every force in the Universe is capable of
being transformed into any other kind of force by using suitable means. There
is thus an inexhaustible supply of any particular kind of force that we may
need
16. The application of any given force affects
all the orders of being which exist in the object to which it is applied,
whichever of those orders is directly affected
17. A man may learn to use any force so as to
serve any purpose, by taking advantage of the above theorems
18. He may attract to himself any force of the
Universe by making himself a fit receptacle for it, establishing a connection
with it, and arranging conditions so that its nature compels it to flow toward
him
19. Man's sense of himself as separate from, and opposed to, the
Universe is a bar to his conducting its currents. It insulates him
20. Man can only attract and employ the forces for which he is
really fitted
21. There is no limit to the extent of the relations of any man with
the Universe in essence; for as soon as man makes himself one with any idea the
means of measurement cease to exist. But his power to utilize that force is
limited by his mental power and capacity, and by the circumstances of his human
environment
22. Every individual is essentially sufficient to himself. But he is
unsatisfactory to himself until he has established himself in his right
relation with the Universe
23. Magick is the Science of understanding
oneself and one's conditions. It is the Art of applying that understanding in
action
24. Every man has an indefeasible right to be what he is
25. Every man must do Magick each time
that he acts or even thinks, since a thought is an internal act whose influence
ultimately affects action, though it may not do so at the time
26. Every man has a right, the right of self-preservation, to
fulfill himself to the utmost
27. Every man should make Magick the
keynote of his life. He should learn its laws and live by them
28. Every man has a right to fulfill his own
will without being afraid that it may interfere with that of others; for if he
is in his proper place, it is the fault of others if they interfere with him
The Scientific Worldview
Definition of Science (or rationalistic scholarship Jacob Neusner):
lSystematic
learning that produces normative and public results, based on rational
argument from shared facts
Systematic Learning?
lSystematized thought
lNot usually submitted to tests
of empirical investigation
lHumian
Skepticism (David Hume)
lThe more an alleged phenomenon
differs from ordinary experience the greater the evidence needed to overcome
skepticism
Normative and Public Results?
lScience produces technology
lOccult: workings are hidden
lNormative
Rational Arguments?
lSyllogism (Logic)
lToby is a cat
lCats are Animals
lTherefore: Toby is an animal
lToby is a cat
lCats are animals
lTherefore: Toby is a divine being
lToby is a cat
lCats are divine beings
lTherefore: Toby is a divine being
Philosophical definition of rationality (James Moore and
Hans Penner)
lSs belief is an irrational
belief if and only if S has that belief and realizes (or at least should
realize, given her/his intelligence, information, and experience) that there
are little or no grounds for the truth of the belief but overwhelming grounds
for the falsity of the belief.
lSs belief is a rational
belief if and only if Ss belief is not irrational.
lSs action is an irrational
action if and only if Ss action is based at least in part on Ss irrational
beliefs.
lSs action is a rational
action if and only if Ss action is not irrational.
If not overwhelming grounds for the falsity of the belief =
Rational? or Irrational? or
neither?
The Non Rational
lRational
lGood grounds for the truth of
the belief
lLittle or no grounds for the
falsity of the belief
lIrrational
lLittle or no grounds for the
truth of the belief
lGood or overwhelming grounds
for the falsity of the belief
lNon-Rational
lLittle or no grounds for the
truth of the belief
lLittle or no
grounds for the falsity of the belief
Superstition
lJeffrey B. Russell:
l"superstition is a belief
not founded on any coherent world view"
lBut this is relative
lAnother definition of
rationality:
lJacob Neusner:
l"'Rationality'
refers to what makes self-evidently valid 'sense' to the participants in a
society and a culture
lTherefore: No matter how much
I believe it, to Western society it is not scientific, therefore not logical or
coherent
lScience and rationality are
culture-specific by definition
Shared Facts?
lOccult = "hidden" =
not based on shared facts
lSupernatural/Paranormal
lNatural = shared facts: things
we all know and accept as fact
lSupernatural = things we do
not all know and accept as fact
lTherefore the occult is not a
science
Science Encounters the Occult
Epistemology--How We Know
lExperience and Perception
lLimits of Experience
lPerceptual Limits
Expectation and Suggestion
lExpectation--Placebo Effect
lSuggestion
lThe Curse
lHypnosis
lReligious/Occult Ceremonies
lDivination
lVagueness or Uncertainty--Forer Effect
Cognitive Biases and Heuristics
lTendency to see pattern in
randomness
lTendency to see meaning in
meaninglessness
lSelective Attention
lConstructive Memory
lSelective Memory
lCryptomnesia
lBasis of Magic: Assumption of
a causal connection when there is only a temporal connection
lGambler's Fallacy
Altered States
lIntoxication
lHypnogogic
/ Hypnopompic / REM transition
lNear Death Experiences
lSuggestive States
Authority
lRevered Tradition
lIs this really what the
tradition is about?
lIs it right according to other
criteria?
lExpert Opinion:
lIs she/he qualified?
lIs he/she wrong?
lDoes she/he have an agenda?
Intuition
lUnconscious observation or
something else?
lIs it reliable/controllable?
Faith
lIs it Knowledge?
lHebrews 11:1
lFaith is the
assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
l2 Corinthians 5:7
lFor we walk by faith, not by
sight
Three Kinds of Faith
lFaith #1: Rational
lLegitimate Expectations
lMuch evidence for the belief;
little or no evidence against it
lFaith #2: Irrational
lBlind Faith
lLittle or no evidence for the
belief; much evidence against it
lFaith #3: Non-rational
lFaith Conviction
lLittle or no evidence for the
belief; little or no evidence against it
Science
lDisciplined observation
lControls tightly for variables
lSystematic Removal of Doubt
Tacit Knowing
lMichael Polanyi
and Harry Prosch, Meaning
lWe cannot learn to keep our
balance on a bicycle by trying to follow the explicit rule that, to compensate
for an imbalance, we must force our bicycle into a curve--away from [toward!!!]
the direction of the imbalance--whose radius is proportional to the square of
the bicycle's velocity over the angle of imbalance. Such knowledge is totally
ineffectual unless it is known tacitly, that is, unless it is known subsidiarily--unless it is simple dwelt in.
Metaphysics--What is Real
lIndividual Relativism
lSocial Relativism
lPhilosophical Relativism
lIndividual Solipsism
lCollective Solipsism
lAbsolutism
lPragmatism
Scientific Theory:
Criteria of Adequacy
l*Testability
lAn
hypothesis is scientific only if it is testable, that is, only if it predicts
something other than what it was introduced to explain.
lFruitfulness
lOther things being equal, the
best hypothesis is the one that is the most fruitful, that is, makes the most
novel predictions.
lScope
lOther things
being equal, the best hypothesis is the one that has the greatest scope, that
is, that explains and predicts the most diverse phenomena.
l*Simplicity (Occams Razor)
lOther things being equal, the
best hypothesis is the simplest one, that is, the one that makes the fewest
assumptions.
l*Conservatism
lOther things being equal, the
best hypothesis is the one that is the most conservative, that is, the one that
fits best with established beliefs.
The Rationalists Axiom
lOnce
you have ruled out the impossible, the possible, no matter how improbable, is
the best explanation
The Pros and Cons of Pure Rationalism
Carl Sagan, "The Burden
of Skepticism"
lWhat is skepticism? It's
nothing very esoteric. We encounter it every day. When we buy a used car, if we
are the least bit wise we will exert some residual skeptical powers--whatever
our education has left to us. You could say, "Here's an honest-looking
fellow. I'll just take whatever he offers me." Or you might say,
"Well, I've heard that occasionally there are small deceptions involved in
the sale of a used car, perhaps inadvertent on the part of the
salesperson." and then you do something. You kick the tires, you open the
doors, you look under the hood. (You might go through
the motions even if you don't know what is supposed to be under the hood, or
you might bring a mechanically inclined friend.)
lYou know that some skepticism
is required, and you understand why. It's upsetting that you might have to
disagree with the used-car salesman or ask him questions that he is reluctant
to answer. There is at least a small degree of interpersonal confrontation
involved in the purchase of a used car and nobody claims it is especially
pleasant. But there is a good reason for it--because if you don't exercise some
minimal skepticism, if you have an absolutely untrammeled credulity, there is
probably some price you will have to pay later. Then you'll wish you had made a
small investment of skepticism early.
lFor example, take a
fashionable fad, channeling. It has for its fundamental premise, as does spiritualism, that when we die we don't exactly disappear,
that some part of us continues. That part, we are told, can reenter the bodies
of human and other beings in the future, and so death loses much of its sting
for us personally. What is more, we have an opportunity, if the channeling
contentions are true, to make contact with loved ones
who have died.
lSpeaking personally, I would
be delighted if reincarnation were real. I lost my parents, both of them, in
the past few years, and I would love to have a little conversation with them,
to tell them what the kids are doing, make sure everything is alright wherever
it is they are. That touches something very deep. But at the same time,
precisely for that reason, I know that there are people who will try to take
advantage of the vulnerabilities of the bereaved. The spiritualists and the channelers better have a compelling case. . . .
lOr take UFO's, the contention
that beings in spaceships from other worlds are visiting us all the time. I
find that a thrilling idea. It's at least a break from the ordinary. I've spent
a fair amount of time in my scientific life working on the issue of the search
for extraterrestrial intelligence. Think how much effort I could save if those
guys are coming here.
lBut when we recognize some
emotional vulnerability regarding a claim, that is
exactly where we have to make the firmest efforts at skeptical scrutiny. That
is where we can be had.
lIf you are only skeptical,
then no new ideas make it through to you. You never learn anything new. You
become a crotchety old person convinced that nonsense is ruling the world.
(There is, of course, much data to support you.) But every now and then, maybe
once in a hundred cases, a new idea turns out to be on the mark, valid and
wonderful. If you are too much in the habit of being skeptical about
everything, you are going to miss or resent it, and either way you will be
standing in the way of understanding and progress.
Alan Watts, The Wisdom
of Insecurity
lIf I can only conceive pulse,
I cannot appreciate tone. If I can think of painting only as a way of making
colored photographs without a camera, I can see nothing but ineptitude in a
Chinese landscape. We learn nothing of very much importance when it can be
explained entirely in terms of past experience. If it were possible to
understand all things in terms of what we know already, we could convey the
sense of color to a blind man with nothing but sound, taste, touch, and smell.
Shifting Paradigms:
Thomas Kuhn
Thomas Kuhn, The
Structure of Scientific Revolutions
lNormal Science, the activity
in which most scientists inevitably spend almost all their time, is predicated
on the assumption that the scientific community knows what the world is like.
Much of the success of the enterprise derives from the communitys willingness
to defend that assumption, if necessary at considerable cost. Normal science,
for example, often suppresses fundamental novelties because they are
necessarily subversive of its basic commitments. . . . When . . . the
profession can no longer evade anomalies that subvert the existing tradition of
scientific practice [,] then begin the extraordinary investigations that lead
the profession at last to a new set of commitments, a new basis for the
practice of science. The extraordinary episodes in which that shift of professional
commitments occurs are the ones known . . . as scientific revolutions.
lHistorians
confront growing difficulties in distinguishing the "scientific"
component of past observation and belief from what their predecessors had
readily labeled "error" and "superstition." The more
carefully they study, say, Aristotelian dynamics, phlogistic
chemistry, or caloric thermodynamics, the more certain they feel that those
once current views of nature were, as a whole, neither less scientific nor more
the product of human idiosyncrasy than those current today. If these
out-of-date beliefs are to be called myths, then myths can be produced by the
same sorts of methods and held for the same sorts of reasons that now lead to
scientific knowledge. If, on the other hand, they are to be called science,
then science has included bodies of belief quite incompatible with the ones we
hold today. Given these alternatives, the historian must choose the latter.
Out-of-date theories are not in principle unscientific because they have been
discarded.
Religious Worldview
What is Religion?
§A sense of power beyond the
human
§Apprehended rationally as well
as emotionally
§Appreciated corporately as
well as individually
§Celebrated ritually and
symbolically as well as discursively
§Transmitted as a
tradition in conventionalized forms and formulations
§That offers people
§An interpretation of
experience
§A guide to conduct
§An orientation to meaning and
purpose in the world
Religion Encounters the Occult
Magical emphases
§Power,
§Active Will,
§Self-reliance
Religious Emphases
§Islam: "Submission"
§Buddhism: anatta
"no soul"
§Taoism: wu
wei "non-action"
§Hinduism and Buddhism: Siddhis supernatural powers which can mislead you
from your goal: moksha
§Christianity
Grace and faith vs. self
§Ephesians 2:8
§For by grace you have been
saved through faith; and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God
Power in powerlessness
§2 Corinthians 12:9-10
§But he said to me, "My
grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." So, I
will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ
may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses . . . for whenever I am
weak, then I am strong.
Differs from the Occult
§In most cultures, culturally
accepted institution
§Other validation than
empirical is accepted
§Has a coherent system which
involves links which are, perhaps invisible, but commonly accepted
§Traditional societies
§A single religion makes up the
society
§Often religion = culture
§Clear distinction between
religion and occult
§Modern Western Society
§Pluralism
§Secularism
§Nevertheless all societies
differentiate between occult, religion and science
Ritual: What is
the difference between a religious ritual and a magical ritual?
§An old anthropological
argument
§Magical ritual done to achieve
a goal
§Religious ritual primarily
symbolic and expressive
§Actually very similar
Differences
§Religious = traditionally calendrical
and communal
§Magical = traditionally deal with specific
situations for individuals
§Religious ritual and religion
in general submits to the universe (or God) and requests that the desired
object be granted
§Magical ritual
usually attempts to coerce the universe or spirits into producing the desired
effect
Magical Religion
§Prayer and incantation
§Ritual
§Miracle
§Use of magic for religion
(e.g., Taoism; Tantrism)
§Occult religion
Judeo-X'ian-Islamic view of
origin of magic (and therefore why it is considered evil)
Commandments 1 and 2
§Commandment 1: No other gods:
a question of loyalty, not metaphysics
§Judges 11:24
§ Should you not possess
what your god Chemosh gives you to possess? And
should we not be the ones to possess everything that the Lord our God has
conquered for our benefit?
§ 2 Kings 3:27
§ Then he [the king of Moab]
took his firstborn son who was to succeed him, and offered him as a burnt
offering [to Chemosh] on the wall. And great wrath
came upon Israel,
so they withdrew from him and returned to their own land.
Yahweh is at war with other gods
§Dagen:
1 Samuel 5-6
§Gods of Egypt:
Exodus 7-9
Commandment 2: idol = pesel
= magic
§Magic connected to "other
gods"
§Therefore magic is consorting
with the enemy
Magic and miracle
§Essentially the same stuff
§Miracle more effective
§Most important: good guys do
miracles; bad guys do magic
Spiritual Warfare
§Deuteronomy 18:9-14
§When you enter the land which
the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable
things of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who
§makes his son or his daughter
pass through the fire . . .
§one who uses divination,
§one who practices witchcraft,
(me'onen--"soothsayer")
§or one who interprets omens,
§or a sorcerer,
§or one who casts a spell,
§or a medium,
§or a spiritist,
§or one who calls up the dead.
§For whoever does these things
is detestable to the Lord; and because of these detestable things the Lord your
God will drive them out before you. You shall be blameless before the Lord your
God.
§For those nations which you
shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft (soothsayers) and to
diviners, but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so.
Exodus 22:18
§Thou shalt not suffer a witch (sorceress) to live
Acts 13:6-12
§When they [Barnabas and Saul]
had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos,
they met a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet, named Bar-Jesus. He was
with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus,
an intelligent man, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear the word
of God. But the magician Elymas (for that is the
translation of his name) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul away from
the faith. But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked
intently at him and said, "You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness,
full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight
paths of the Lord? And now listen--the hand of the Lord is against you, and you
will be blind for a while, unable to see the sun." Immediately mist and
darkness came over him, and he went about groping for someone to lead him by
the hand. When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was
astonished at the teaching about the Lord.
Demonization
§In later Jewish
tradition and in X'ianity the old gods became the devil
and his henchmen the demons
§1 Corinthians 10:19-20
§What do I
imply then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is
anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and
not to God.
Demons
§From Plato's daimon in diminutive form: daimonion
§Xenocrates
divided spiritual world into:
§Good = gods
§Evil = demons
X'ian (New Testament)
terms
§Pneuma akatharton (e.g. Mark 1-9)
§"Unclean spirit"
§Cause illness (epilepsy)
§Desire to possess humans and
animals
§Have great supernatural and
spiritual knowledge
§Various kinds
§Pneuma
pythona (Acts 16:16-19)
§"Spirit of a python"
§Python = Delphic oracle
§Therefore: "Spirit of
Divination"
§Deceptive
Theological theories (Not All Xian)
§Fallen angels
§Evil spirits (old gods)
§Spirits of ancient beings
§Spirits of the evil dead
§Elemental Spirits
§Deities
Possession
§Cross cultural phenomenon
§Involuntary
§Voluntary
§Psychological explanations
§Dissociative Identity Disorder
§Multiple
Personality Disorder
§Dissociation
§Power of
Suggestion
§Or???
Ceremonial Magick
and Tarot
Hogwarts 200
(Swami Anand Nisarg)
(with modifications by Litke)
Purpose of Magick
§Self-Transformation
§Mysticism: Union with the divine
§Alchemy
Lead = False Self
Gold = True Self
§Conditionings VS Authenticity
Thelema
Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be the Whole of the Law
Love is the Law; Love Under Will
Every Man and Every Woman is a Star
Will = True Self
Law = Tao; Natural Path
Love = Union (with the Divine;
Universe; Existence; Non-Existence)
Star = Orbit; Rightful Place
Order of Ritual
Steps in Magickal
Self-Transformation
1. Self Inquiry
(divination)
§To discern your true Self from
your false self
§To understand a new way of
thinking about reality and self (and experience that reality)
§Divination: Understanding who and where you are right now
§Conditionings: limiting
§True Self: limitless
Tarot
§Not a fortune telling tool
§Divination: Self Understanding
§Archetypes
§Tool of Magical instruction
§Sufi (Islam)
§Hermetic (Christianity)
§Kabbalistic
(Judaism)
History of Tarot
§Earliest Record: 1327 CE:
Edict of Alphonso XI, King of Leon and Castille (Spain)
§Theory 1:
§Gambling game
§Originated in either Italy
or Spain
§Playing cards: A pared down form of Tarot
§18th and 19th
Century: Became Occult
§The Count of Saint-Germaine
Egypt
Magical cards
Fortune telling
Superstition
§Popularized in 19th
century as occult tool
Popularly: fortune telling
Among occultists: Magical teaching tool
Flashcards for the Occult
Occult Theory
Eliphas Levi
§Originated in Spain
§Christian North
§Muslim South
§Jewish presence throughout
§Muslim Sufis: Cards and Sacred Geometry
§Christian Hemeticists
(Alchemists): Symbolism
§Jewish Kabbalists:
Organization of the Deck
Kabbalah
Tree of Life
§God = Ein
Sof
§Cannot be known apart from
emanations--10 Sefirot
§Speculations on
relations and interconnections of Sefirot
§Four Worlds
Pure
Spirit (energy)
Heart
(intuition)
Mind
(intellect)
Body
(matter)
Tarot and Kabbalah
§4 Worlds = 4 Suits of Minor Arcana
§4 Court Cards of Minor Arcana= Kabbalistic Cross
§10 Number Cards of Minor Arcana = 10 Sefirot
§22 Major Arcana
Cards = 22 Paths between the Sefirot = 22 Letters of
the Hebrew Alphabet
§78 cards in all
Decks and Spreads, etc.
§Visconti
Deck
§Marseilles
Deck
§Hermetic Order of the Golden
Dawn/Golden Dawn Decks
§Thoth
Deck of Aleister Crowley
§These are accurate
The Rider-Waite Deck
§A. E. Waite
§Forgeries and made up stuff
§Mass produced
§Pictorial
Guide to the Tarot
§All inaccurate
§E.g., superstitions
§E.g., reversals
§E.g., Celtic Cross spread
Choosing a Deck
§Virtually all books and modern
decks based on Rider-Waite (and therefore full of bullfeathers)
§Medieval Decks
§Golden Dawn Decks and Golden
Dawn Tarot
§Thoth Deck and Book of Thoth
§Weirdos
§A few by recognized magicians
2. Devotion
§Losing Self in Prayer and
Worship
§Immersion in Divine Force
§Ritual Psychodrama
§Sexual Magic
3. Invocation
§Drawing Down the Moon
(Wicca)
§Invoking Divinities into self
§= Archetypes
§Carl Jung
Animus: Father God; Merlin; Gandalf; Obi-Wan Kenobi
Anima: Goddess; Virgin Mary; Wise Woman
Self: Amazing Child; Jesus; Buddha; Anakim Skywalker; Simba; Frodo
3. Evocation
§Demons
§= Archetypes
§Jung: Shadow
§Satan; Set; Dracula; Darth
Vader
§Summon things about yourself
you consider evil
§Confront and take
responsibility
4. Spiritual Crisis
§A Zen Story:
§Master and pupil were out walking,
when a flock of wild geese flew over. The master asked, "Where are they
flying?" "They have flown away, sir." The master seizing his
pupil's nose and twisting it violently, said, "You say they have flown
away, but all the same, they have been here since the very beginning." The
pupil was suddenly enlightened. Next day, when the master was about to lecture
to the assembly, this pupil stepped up and began to roll up the matting. The
master then came down from his seat and retired from the hall. Later, he sent
for this pupil and asked him to explain himself. The pupil said,
"Yesterday you pulled my nose, and it hurt.""And where were
your thoughts wandering then?" "It doesn't hurt any more.
5. Experience
(Mindfulness)
§What is Hamlet reading?
§Words
§Words
§Words
§Have you ever noticed . . .
§That when you talk about an experience . .
§You are not having it any
more?
§Have you ever noticed . . .
§That when you think about an
experience (i.e., analyze it) . . .
§You are not having it any
more?
§Life cannot be talked or
written about
§To be life it must be
experienced fully
§In every moment
§Wisdom = experiencing life
§THAT is Magic!
The Strange Case of Witchcraft and the Occult
Pagan or not?
Etymology
Old English (not Celtic)
wicca (witcha) = male
sorcerer
wicce
(witche) = female sorcerer
from the verb wiccian = "to cast a spell"
NOT
from Old English witan ("to know")
Therefore (Russell):
Witchcraft does not mean, and never has meant, "the craft of the wise
Perception: The Key
to Understanding
Image
of the Witch
Virtually universal cultural viewpoint: Witch = bad, demonic
Native
and African Traditions
Inherited power
Sorcery: Harming when no just cause
Ancient Mesopotamia
Kaapu
(m.); Kaaptu (f.)
Illegitimate practitioner of
magic (vs. Aipu, "exorcist")
Powerful human figure who
introduces chaos into social order
Demonic figure masquerading as
a person
Greco-Roman Society
Lamia
(Stryx)
Women
performing rites connected to the netherworld; darkness
Illegal: death, banishment or imprisonment
Perception the Opposite of Apparent practice
Popular
Stories: Women
Magical
Papyri: Men
Common Characteristics
Usually
women
Often
elderly
Ride
brooms or sticks, etc.
Assemble
at night
Orgies
Drink
or suck blood, eat children, etc.
Why this Common Image?
Not
Specifically Christian (except for diabolical element)
Syrians
accused the Jews of this sort of thing
Romans
accused Christians of this sort of thing
Occurs
in Paganism
No
Clear Commonality of Culture
Patriarchy
15th to 17th Century Witchhunts
Historical Problems
Numbers: estimates
vary from 100,000 to 9 million. Why?
Confusion
between Heretics, Jews and Witches
Inquisition
given to Dominicans (order of preachers) to convert heretics
Jews
= Arch heretics
Witches
= heretics
Inflated
Numbers
Inquisition
became a self-perpetuating business
What exactly was a Witch?
On
the continent
Linked
with heresy
Ecclesiastical
crime
Burning
The Christian Witch Myth
Withes = aconcerted fifth
column attack against Christian Society by an organized Satanic Cult, dedicated
to destroying European Christian values
Sage Femme/Wise Woman Myth
England
(not Scotland)
Civil
crime
Sorcery
James
I tried to make it ecclesiastical as well, but it remained a civil crime
Hanging
In
Canada: Remained a civil crime until 1951
Salem,
Massachusetts
Puritan
Society: Theocracy
Therefore: Religious Background
Therefore: Civil crime
No
burnings at Salem: Hanging
Ratio
of women to men varies from 60/40 to 85/15 owing to many of the same reasons
Historical Firsts
Orleans,
1022
Dualistic
Sect
Accused
of worshipping the devil, having sex orgies,etc.
Tried
for Heresy
First
burnings
Cathari, 1140s
Dualistic
Sect
Similar
accusations
St.
Dominic and Inquisition installed to deal with them
When
refused to convert, burned
The
Pact with the Devil
Explicit: Literally call up the Devil or demons (Black
Magic Tradition)
Implicit: Tenaciously professing heresy
Waldensians, excommunicated 1184
Early
Protestants
Accused
of Devil Worship (Pact)
Name
eventually became synonymous with witch
First Execution for Witchcraft: The Knights Templar
History of the Knights Templar
Founded
1118 in Jerusalem by crusaders to
protect pilgrims to the holy land
"Knights
of the Temple"--original
founders supposedly camped near the site of Solomon's temple
Officially
recognized as an order by Pope Honorius II, 1128
By
14th century one of the most powerful organizations in the Christian world
Charged
with blasphemy and heresy by King Philip IV ("the fair") of France
(1307)
Protection from secular
jurisdiction
To get Philip out of debt
Avignon pope Clement V abolished
order 1312
1314--Grand Master de Molay
and other Templars burned at the stake for witchcraft
Legend of the Knights Templar
Converts
to Islam, influenced by the Sufis
Adepts
in Kabbalah and Alchemy
Worshipped
devil named Baphomet--included denunciation of
Christ, intercourse with succubi (sensual
female demons), roasting and eating children, etc.
de
Molay's curse on the family of Philip IV to the
thirteenth generation:
Clement
dead within a month
Philip
dead within the year
Philip's
dynasty gone within one generation
Founded
Freemasons
Founded
Rosicrucians
Theories of Witchcraft
Classic Theories
Either
you believe the evidence of the church
Or
you dont
e.g.
Montague Summers
Believed
everything and and believed the pernicious witch-cult
was still around
Malleus Malleficarum
Very popular cheap books
Jules Michelet La Sorciθre (1862)
Believed
the evidence of the Church
A
consequence of the long "age of despair" in medieval Europe
A
communion of revolt against life ruled by the Church
A
turning toward the pagan and the demonic
Joseph Hanson Zauberwahn,
Inquisition und Hexenprozess in Mittelalter (1900)
Did
not Believe the Evidence of the Church
Witchcraft
never existed
Invention
of the inquisition
Accepted
a lot of gross superstition and invented a cult of witchcraft to persecute
Created
a mass delusion
Margaret Alice Murray The Witchcult
in Western Europe (1921); The God of the
Witches (1933)
Believed
the evidence of the Church
Witches
were pagans/heretics
Survival
in Christian Europe of the ancient fertility cult of Dianus
Encyclopedia
Britannica (till about 1968)
Very
influential on modern Wicca
Problems with Murray's
Work
No
such cult of Dianus
Her
methodology has been discredited
Modern Theories
Carlo Ginsburg:
Scythian Shamanism
Actually
Follows Murray
Shamanism
Mircea Eliade: Not a religion proper, but a technique of
ecstasya system of ecstatic and therapeutic methods to obtain contact with
the parallel universe of the spirits and win their support in dealing with the
affairs of a group or individual
Virtually
universal
Traditional
religions
Drug
use is often found
Brought
to Europe by Scythians
Used
Marijuana and Magic Mushrooms
Mistaken
by Christians as diabolical
Really
no evidence
"Witch Party Line" or "Old Religion"
First
title coined by Wiccan researchers into Wiccan origins
Second
title coined by Charles Leland
Note: Most Witches no longer hold to this view
Basic
view: Witchcraft is an ancient religion
that has been preserved in secret:
modern wicca = old religion
Charles Leland: Aradia,
or the Gospel of the Witches (1899):
vecchia religione
Leland
claimed to receive this story from Maria (Or Maddelena),
an Italian witch
Ancient Witch-cult going back to at least
Greco-Roman times
Chief Deity = Diana
Created
before all other beings and contains all things in herself
Divides
self into light and darkness
Retains
darkness for herself
Makes
light into a diabolical figure: Lucifer, her brother and son
Diana
attracted to the light
Changes
into a cat to make love to Lucifer
Daughter = Aradia
Goddess
who is special to witches
Witches
= Diana's patronesses
Found
in most Wiccan manuals
Problems
Based
clearly on Michelet
Does
not derive from pagan beliefs (except for the name Diana), but from Gnosticism,
Catharism and Zoroastrianism (which is, suspiciously,
just what Leland liked to study)
Ancient
cult of Diana has nothing in common with this myth
Leland's
work would have faded into obscurity except that Murray's
work tended to corroborate it (if you change Dianus
to Diana)
Popularized
by Robert Graves, The White Goddess (1948)
Adapted
by Gerald Gardner and later by Starhawk and Zsusanna Budapest
Reigning Academic Theory: Jeffrey B. Russell and Norman Cohn
Basically
follows Hansen
Medieval
Witchcraft did exist but was not an organized religion
Heretics
of every stripe
A
loose combination of folklore, superstition and pagan beliefs which were
artificially designated heresy and used by the church as an excuse for
persecution
Sidky/Litke Variation
(Sidky) Likely were no witches
(Litke) Vulnerable (perhaps Wise) Women and Men
Witch
myth = propaganda of control (fifth column)
Witch
trials =
State
and Church sponsored terrorism aimed at social control
Conclusions
Medieval
Witches were likely not Pagans
They
were likely various kinds of Christians
Modern
Wicca is not the same thing and has no relation to historical witchcraft
History of Modern
Neo-Pagan Witchcraft
A
revival and reconstruction in modern terms of some medieval customs and pagan
ideas into an organized (sort of) religion
Founder
of Wicca: Gerald Gardner
Gardners Claim
Met
a witch named Dorothy Clutterbuck
Initiated
into a coven
Discovered
in this coven a religion going back millennia
Broke
the rules and published the coven's ancient Grimoire
or Book of Shadows containing 161 laws of the Craft
Summarized in Witchcraft
Today
The facts as we know them
His
student Doreen Valiente indicated that she and
Gardner wrote the Grimoire
Gardner
was a student of Aleister Crowley and studied the
ceremonial magic of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Early
copies of the Grimoire: Judeo-Christian Gnostic flavour of Golden Dawn mixed with Crowley
material
Later
copies: Replaced the above with neopagan material
from Leland, Murray, Graves
plus English folklore
Critical
consensus: Gardner invented the
religion
Most
Wiccans agree with this
Sources of Wicca
Source 1: Western
hermetic/high magic tradition (considerably watered down)
Grimoire/Book
of Shadows: from medieval black
magic tradition
Athame: from
Black magic tradition
Comparison
of Gardners Book of Shadows
and Crowleys Book of the Law
Comparison
of Gardners Wiccan
rituals with Crowleys Gnostic mass
Evolution of the Wiccan Rede:
St.
Augustine:
Love with care, then do what thou wilt
Rabelais
Law of Theleme:
Do what thou wilt
Crowleys
Law of Thelema:
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law
Gardners
Rede: An it
harm none, do what thou wilt (cf. Hippocratic oath)
Source 2: Folklore
and surviving pagan customs, especially in England:
Very little in common with the wise woman
tradition (Dianic is closer)
e.g., Drawing Down the Moon
from nefarious conduct of Greco-Roman Lamia
Source 3: Medieval
Witch mythology (invented by the church)
Sabbat (High holiday)
Esbat (Full moon)
Coven ("gathering")
Convent
(French)
Couvent
(Latin)
Conventus
(Greek) Synagogue
Traditional 13 members of a coven
Phases of the moon
NOT
Number
of people that can fit around a 9 foot circle
NOT
Parody
of Christ and the 12 disciples
13th
Disciple
Friday
the 13th
Conclusions of Review
Modern Wicca is a Pagan Religion
It, however, practices magick
Magick is thoroughly Judeao
Christian
Therefore is Wicca pagan or not?
The Gnostic
Temptation
Gnosticism (and Greco Roman Mystery religions)
Object: to secure salvation from being subject
to moral and physical evil, Destiny, and the corruption of the material side of
human nature
Dualism: Spirit = good; Matter =
evil
Paganism
Non-dualistic
Sacredness of the world of nature, including matter
Spirit is good; matter is good too
Salvation not necessary, just harmony with nature
The Wiccan Dilemma
How
to balance two completely incompatible systems
How
to avoid the denigration of nature inherent in Gnosticism with the deification
of nature inherent in paganism
The Solution (so-far)
Water
down the Magick
Replace
Will with energy
Earth
magick
Traditions of Wicca
Alex
Sanders, Janet and Stewart Farrer and the Alexandrian
tradition
Zsusanna Budapest and the Dianic
Tradition
Starhawk and the Reclaiming Tradition
Selina Fox and Native North American tradition
Scott Cunningham and the birth of the
"solitary practitioner"
Religion
Definition
Components (Bruce
Lincoln)
Wicca
Disclaimer
Definition
Components
Discourse
Beliefs
Sacred History
Symbols
Golden Rule
The Prayer
The Creed
(Reclaiming Tradition)
Practice
The Church:
Casting a Circle
The Service: The
Ritual
Ritual
Solitary
Prayer Book:
Book of Shadows
Divination
Community
Coven
Traditions
(denomination)
Institution
Magic:
Definition
Internal and
External Transformation
Comparisons
Spells
Personal Journey
