Some Differences in Priestesses and Witches - Personal Transformations

La Belle Dame sans Merci

I am Renounced. I am no longer a Priestess, though I am still a witch, and possibly still an abbess. It's a disconcerting and enlightening sensation, replete with relief and disappointment. I have been Dedicated for two decades, and had forgotten what it was like not to be constantly connected with Deity. Since becoming Renounciate, however, the change in perception has been so quick and profound that I feel more qualified to speak on the difference in roles, abilities, and experiences of each.

Being a witch and being a priestess are manifestly not the same thing, though many of the current crop of books imply otherwise. A priestess is a conduit of Deity in the world, and can be from any tradition or set of practices, including wizardary. Invoking Deity during a ceremony, feeling Her move you occasionally or hearing Her is a completely different experience from dedicating yourself to a manifestation of the Universe. It is a contract; a Covenant between you and the Deity, where you are both matched and agree to it. You may hear the Call, but your deity must also take you on... Your inner Divine slowly, or sometimes radically, creates a constant communication with the outer Divine, learning from it, hearing it, and aligning yourself with it. You also represent Deity on earth, and channel that into spellwork and ceremony. Eventually, as you practice and feel the Calling, you take on aspects of the Deity, which manifest in your daily life. It greatly increases your abilities, sometimes even giving you new ones, since they are automatically Divinely channelled. As you become more aware of the bigger picture, and your mind is expanded to encompass it, you envision better your place in the Universe, and what you need to do to achieve it. Priestessing therefore touches Destiny, and you are filled with Purpose, and the passion for it. When you are an accomplished priestess, you are always in contact with Deity. Everyone talks to themselves, but priestesses sense the echo that their words, thoughts, feelings, and wishes are heard directly by Deity. In a way, they are always praying.

In our relatively safe Western world, we forget that many of these paths are actually dangerous, so therefore the tests can be as well. Not all Shamans or priests make it through their Initiations and Trials with whole skins or minds intact. It sometimes isn't simply a case of passing a sword over someone's head or anointing. It can involve passages to other worlds, links with other hearts and minds, and can threaten one's very physicality. Because that's what the job can sometimes entail and it can be pretty tough. Especially for priestesses, who are the Deity's representatives, doing Her work in the physical realm.

Priestesses and witches both have Initiations. Like most spiritual or mystical beginnings, they can be extremely similar or even simultaneous, often confused with each other. Both also share the concept of Trials, where major changes in life circumstances or spirituality are marked with an ordeal. In the case of priestesses, however, it isn't merely the inner self or circumstances and how one reacts that denotes the Initiation or Trial and its success or failure: it is the intervention and channelling of Deity itself that, if not creates the circumstance, then at least does the judging. Passing means that entirely new paths, powers, or perceptions open up. Think leveling. Failure in a Trial as a witch can mean that no movement into a particular new life path is possible for a time, perhaps ever. Failure for a priestess can mean much the same. However, it can have graver consequences. It can result in penance, with the promise of further chances to rectify, or punishment, or in the loss of favour from Deity entirely.

The latter such was my case recently. My Goddess has only benevolent aspects, so my Trial was, if you will, subcontracted out to another, less merciful manifestation of Spirit. Or simply not interfered with as another borrowed me for Her own purposes, which works out the same. I was geased with a task last October. Rather like a command function, it is a fundamental set of instructions that overrides any other code, to the exclusion of all other orders. It overwhelmed every part of my mind and body - the strongest Sending I have ever received in my life. Therefore, I never questioned its authenticity or imperative. Though seemingly simple, it was made clear that my entire future depended on its execution. However, since it conflicted with other self-imposed restrictions and needs, the task became more complex and harder to complete. The sacrifices became greater and, though I was willing to pay them, came with fewer results. I burnt everything - my sense of self, my defences, my university work, my ties to my family and home - none were worthy of acceptance. Uncompleted, though still running, for months the geas drove me mad. Ironically, I have never worked so hard at my spirituality in my life. Every single night without fail, for months I lit my candles and concentrated for hours. Spells, prayers, meditation, writing hundreds of pages, fasting, altering my biochemstry to dull the pain and make me functional... I prayed for mercy, and tried everything to break the geas or complete it. Waking or sleeping, it consumed my every moment, and I had no relief for my torment, except for brief periods of joy when a newly Initiated Priest took pity on my plight. For which I remain deeply grateful. Judgement was finally realized in the form of the new priest in the name of his Deity, and I was found wanting. My strength and honour were not enough to overcome the obstacles to the task, particularly my personal demons. Though I was responsible for his Initiation, even his introduction to his new Matron deity, which was part of my task, it was not enough of a boon to switch the judgement in my favour. It took me some time to process that, and all the while the geas continued unabated. Finally, only a few days ago, I realized that the only way to release it, since I wasn't going to be able to complete it, was to cut off the Divine conduit itself.

My Deity was clearly disappointed in my service, and had removed Her protection and dismissed me, though in Her kindness, rather allowed me to resign. So on April 1, without even an auspicious date, since it seemed pointless, I Renounced my Deity. Never having participated in such a ritual before, I had to wing it a bit. I announced my intention to my family to prepare them and took off my pentangle, some version of which hasn't left my neck in over two decades, as a symbol of repudiation of our Covenant. The results were astonishing. The overwhelming pain of the uncompleted geas was gone almost instantly, and the dominant sensation was one of a burden lifted, though not without sorrow, particularly in my proven failure and weakness. So in case I was still in doubt, I was proven correct - the source of the geas was Divine, and though this destiny remains unfulfilled, it no longer matters.

As I return to being a humble witch, my perceptions and abilities have been altering rapidly, as I discover which parts of my life were intertwined with my constant channelling and which are my own inherent gifts and skills. For example, for me that means I retain my precog, which I've had since I was a child, but all the Destiny and grand epicness that I used to manifest on a daily basis is gone. No longer connected to the Divine, I am suddenly cut off from the bigger picture, and cannot touch the filaments of Destiny that weave through life. Sidelined, if you will...

That does beg the question, however: how much of my witch skills were boosted by Divinity?  I can no longer perform some duties, clearly, but others remain as my own, though lessened. Will I be able to help others heal anymore? Can I teach? Will I even want to, as I am bereft of the sense of passion and destiny necessary for such grand schemes? I have known what I was supposed to do since I was 12, with every single skill, task, risk, and relationship in my life, including that with Deity, moving towards that goal, and now, I literally have no future in front of me anymore. Even my cooking is off. Apparently, even that was a prayer, since my Deity is a Healer and Hospitaler. Now I have to re-learn how to do that without channelling, too... My daughter, who has never known me when I wasn't a priestess, says that I'm 'all here' now and that when she speaks, all my attention is fixed on her. She claims that part of me was missing when she used to talk to me, since I was in constant communication with Deity. Which I agree with, since now it seems like my universe has shrunk, and it's only me inside my head. She insists that I even smell differently.

Part of me still retains hope that I can be Redeemed and finish my task, returning to the Divine in humility but triumph. Fulfilling my Destiny by completing my quest and moving on to the next level. However, that requires the relenting of my priest judge, and neither he, nor his matron, are known for their mercy. So it's a false hope. Turns out that he'll make a far better Manifestation of his Deity than I ever did of mine, though, so at the end of this, it's a net gain of Priests, right? I do feel that this withdrawal could eventually change, however. Perhaps, once I learn who I am, by myself, and again increase my natural gifts, in a number of years I might be able to rededicate to Deity - though not necessarily the same one, or Her and another, and maybe reintegrate with Destiny, being useful on a grander scale once more. Or I might not, since I'm not enough of a optimist to believe that She is doing this in the long run for my 'own good'. Maybe I just failed and got fired, because that is what happens sometimes.

Manifesting the Dream: On Religious Orgs, Pagan Abbeys and our Order in particular

Pentagram - Church of Santa María d'Azougue,Betanzos, A Coruña, Galicia, Gallaecia

In previous posts, we have already covered: how to join or create pagan communities; and historic and modern cloistered communities. Next up in our Abbey series; more of the benefits of establishing modern religious organizations and how we envision our Order creating those spaces.

Advantages of our non-denominational (and not just different varieties of Wicca) pagan organization, and religious institutions in general, are many.

Incorporation and Societies

A legally religious corporation or society in Canada has the ability to:

- Own property. i.e. creating and maintaining safe space. Not just renting. Including ministry work such as permanent churches, inner city safe spaces, etc.

- Ordain, a perform legal ceremonies, such as marriage. Currently, the only forms of Paganism that have organized to this degree in Canada are Wiccan. I'm not Wiccan, and like Spiritual Humanism and other forms of Humanism, the evaluation of one's channelling of the divine should NOT be a requirement for clergy. We can all do that. Or not, depending on your personal belief system and your skill level. Heh. All I need to know is, say, can you MC a good wedding or funeral, or counsel well, and does your community support you? That is mostly enough to satisfy the need.

- Support Native Elders and other professional religious who are having difficulty obtaining legal status or are being otherwise hassled by institutions. It's friggin' hard even to do smudges working with prisoners and guards or in hospitals or schools sometimes, for example. Legal docs can help solve some of those problems by lending legitimacy to fellow professional religious that request it.

- Projects get easier to do, like co-ops, or microloan programs, publishing houses, or abbeys. Also encourages full time clergy, such as nuns, monks, and other priests.

Our problem in paganism in particular has always been organization and communication, and everyone has to re-invent the wheel in every new location. A seriously inefficient, as well as illogical, situation. A national supporting body, providing information and other resources, would save oodles of time, money, and effort. There is also the problem of where those who have different influences from many traditions, like Christian witches or Jewitches or eclectics, go to worship and get together, to organize, and to be validated and do work in the world. Pagan Humanism is ideally suited to provide that space. Paganism have always been tolerant of other traditions, as well as pantheist, and can provide an emotionally and spiritually satisfying experience for those who might otherwise not feel welcome in most other communities, without insisting on following any set of traditions or deities, or even, and this is the kicker, any deity at all. It's always better to be MORE inclusive than less, wouldn't you say?

Structure

Our choice, being who we are, is:

- Collective environment, with overseeing bodies to ordinate, provide continuity and support, and solve disputes. Like the entire Green Party of Canada, it's not actually difficult to achieve, especially with modern tech. Groups or individuals can propose projects, expenditures, visions, etc. The entire body can vote on providing funds, support, or other resources. Projects are all volunteer, no assignments. That way everyone brings their entire energy, and they can leave a project or the organization when they wish. A gestalt entity.

- Board of Directors - Emergency and day to day decision making, with ratifications by members where required. And to point directly at someone for holding the bag on certain issues, as it were... Also, required for a non-for-profit corporation in Canada, it turns out...

- Council of Elders - As a body of second thought, for those decisions that need some further consideration, if the Board may have got it wrong, if there is a dispute that the Board can't solve, and for moral and ethical drive.

- Up to three Leaders, largely as Spokepersons. Because you need someone the press can talk to... Movements have a tendency to fizzle out when the Leader(s) leaves or dies, unless they are deified, which is rare. Although it is actually easier to encourage members to join with a created Cult of Personality, and group loyalty is higher, it is far more vulnerable to corruption and ultimately more fragile if the Leader dies, leaves, or is discredited. Though harder to get going and generate group identity, I have no intention of having everything we've all worked for dissipate because we lose the face on the stamp. However, it can be handy to have a face as a known symbol and to rally around, so spokesperson Leaders are still a darn good idea. Used correctly, of course...

Funding

Donations vs. grants vs. fundraising vs. products and services:

Donations are always lovely, but never to be relied upon. We can't ever count on donations or grants. They are the gravy, not the meal. WAYYY too many pagan groups, for example, have hoped that the community will simply 'help them out'. It doesn't happen. The old abbeys used to support themselves by being as self-sufficient as possible, taking students, making products of use to the community, like medicine. It has to be funded with the same eco-capitalism in mind. The ends definitely does not justify the means in this case. Or most cases, really. 

In a University, there are oodles of disciplines working side by side, and each is finding fulfilment and increasing their own knowledge, but they are all working together. Modern abbeys must, as all abbeys have in the past, support themselves. We can produce items that are in keeping with the spiritual pursuits of our members, such as sacred crafts, but we can also consider services such as a publishing company, group home, health food co-op, holistic healing and retreat business, money lending co-op, pagan and women's insurance org., and an arts group. When we can, of course. Methods to support ourselves and our families in Right Lifestyle: with safety, purity, determination, and honour, should be a huge draw. (Hel, I was fired twice in one year for my religious beliefs alone; rather than my safety and ethics code, which were also too high, apparently. Darn integrity...) I also want more pagans or alternative lifestyle folk to be able to count on financial assistance for insurance, mortgages, etc. (without some idiot passing judgement), financial instructions like co-ops, microloan programs, and eventual credit union and insurance mutuals. It only took the women's mircroloan program in India ten years to go from a few hundred dollars to ten million. This isn't India, of course, but that kind of growth is still possible here. Don't let anybody tell you it's gotten better for women in the financial world, either. I've run and started my own businesses, and had a life insurance licence. It has been hell trying to get anyone to deal with me fairly. (And I'm smarter and more attractive than the average bear. Heh.) Apprenticeships will also help attract and train people, if we already got Masters teaching certain skills... We are open to the ideas, passions, and expertise of our members.

Currently, we generate income and promote with:

1) Retail and wholesale herbal and stillroom product business - online and itinerant.
2) Training and apprenticeship
3) Lectures and speaking engagements
4) Food and whole foods co-ops

With capital, those can easily expand into:

1) Microloan programs
2) Physical retail locations
3) Training centres
4) Hospitality ventures
5) Healing and retreats
6) Cloistered communities

The Order is a facilitator for projects and expressions of spirituality. We can back members and non-members, providing space, funding, networking, or guidance.

Membership Criteria

Different levels of involvement will be available for different levels of commitment.

- Cloistered community: nuns, monks, hermits, etc.

- Professional in-the-world members: priestess and priests, Celebrants

- Lay members: beguines, outreach workers
- Volunteers

Different levels of privileges, e.g. voting, and differing resource support for different levels. For the most casual, they must only agree to accept and facilitate everyone's else's path, or be in agreement with our principles and goals, etc. Again, alot like the Greens. Heh. I'm not re-inventing the wheel or anything. I'm lazy. More like a combination of a full church, like Unitarians, plus the broadened focus of a Pagan United Way. For the most devoted, such as nuns, we will offer even more than other Orders of dedicants: room and board for as long as they stay with us, training, sponsorship in formal education and other bonuses for them and their families, and if they chose to leave us, a repayment of their sweat equity and any investment monies with interest, depending on how long they were with us. That way, no one feels they are taking too much of a personal risk, even when dedicating their lives to spiritual pursuits.

- No one can be ousted, except by conviction of criminal act that is in the moral realm. (Parking tickets don't count.) But no one has to work with you either, and if everyone wants to have you transferred 'cause you're acting like a dictator or miss the point of the project or any number of serious personality conflicts, that's final. You can decide where else you want to go or to be solitary, and still supported at your level of commitment. Thus, hermitage can be encouraged, and power plays or groups cliques discorporated.

- One of our goals will be to ordain locals, regardless of their affiliation. Humanist priests are usually called Celebrants. One of the primary questions an applicant for ordination have to prove to us is that you can professionally MC ceremonies. Local signatures and maybe a video would easily show that. Nobody can certify you as a Divine conduit, really. I CAN tell if you can give a satisfying performance for a wedding, though... 

Pagan Humanism solves the issue of the different pagan paths very nicely. This is really a boon for those who are having difficulty finding their place in major religions or philosophies, like Christian witches or atheists, or being recognized by government as legitimate.

Abbey of the Green Flame

Imagine: an actual place where one can dedicate one's life to voluntary simplicity, learning and using one's knowledge for humankind's benefit, providing a retreat to those who are ill and helping those who are ill to achieve full health, practising one's art, all without worrying about how to make one's daily bread... Interest has already been expressed for this kind of co-ordination and professionalism several years ago. I would join one if I could find it. If you can't find it, make it, is my motto... 

My abbey will be a modern one, designed to meet the needs of modern nuns and monks, not a re-creation. Collective structure, wholistic design, green tech... The entire abbey will be pagan humanist, with many diverse beliefs and practices able to be accommodated. Rather like the inclusiveness of Unitarians, but more active and In the World, if you will. Different Paths, like Facilities, will allow everyone to study, perfect, and perform the lifestyle of their Calling. The Path of the Spoon, for example, teaches cookery and food as an act of worship, providing Masters and a place to practice in that space, without requiring dedication to Deity. My own speciality is the stillroom, and I train in the traditional manner...

However, I personally need a Celtic reClaimist subset for those of us of that persuasion, so my own sect will be a female Brigantine order in the style of the original kelles, with a focus on the Flame of Kildare as Her manifestation. Music, bardic arts, poetry, healing, the warrior arts and scholarship will be the main focii.  A full religion, not just a congregation and some ceremonies. A Circle, but much bigger. I'm focusing on women because they usually get the circle concept faster, but men and other genders are free to join, of course.

One of the projects I'm embarking on if I move to Newfoundland is a co-ordination with local universities to complete a scholarly work that translates their research of the local folk trads into a practical Celtic magic manual. In Canada, European pagan heritage and beliefs have up until now only be recently recognized as a rich tradition of 'folklore', but it now has whole University departments dedicated to it. Like their music, some of it remains uncorrupted from the 16th century. My partner comes from the Codroy Valley, which is nearly all Scottish, many of whom came from Cape Breton. They still speak with a Scottish accent. There are also those of French decent, English that is linguistically nearly identical to Shakespeare's, and Irish. All remain relatively uncorrupted, as they left before the Removals, or Potato Famine, or Corn Laws decimated their relative folk cultures. Currently, there are in flux of scholars from the UK and other European countries who come to study the more primitive, more culturally complete music, tales, dance, and other folk traditions in Canada. For the Celtic nations, many of these traditions are accumulated in the halls of academia, but not yet reClaimed by Celtic trad witches of the world. A lifetime's worth of work, and many books, await the dedicated cult leader, I mean, spiritual guide. Heh, heh.


Each of our Founders and Affiliates has their own vision for doing sacred work in the modern world, with more inclusion of diverse spiritualities and encouragement of fulfilling lifestyles. One of our affiliates, The Copper Horse Abbey, for example, focuses on wholistic wellness for animals; horse medicine and natural training in particular. Pagan Humanism is a rich, accommodating environment and we very much welcome other viewpoints, input, energy, and spirit. Make suggestions or join us as a member, volunteer or group affiliate! We are here to support you!

Pagan religious communities in your area: Connecting with and creating them

My continuing series on pagan abbeys has been well received and I have had many inquires about pagan communities in North America, lay and cloistered. For those of you as hungry to be a part of such a dedicated group as I am, but have not yet found the right one, here are a few ways you might be able to connect with something suitable. If there are no structures in place in your area that fit your criteria, and you have the inspiration to create one, I have included some suggestions for that as well.

Identifying

One of the main reasons for dissatisfaction in a group is that most aspirants don't start by identifying their needs correctly. In Western paganism, and especially in North America, there are often so few dedicated pagan groups that one must join whatever is available regardless of any misgivings or wrong fits, simply to partake of a community setting. This is a pity, as it often does not satisfy either the seeker or the other participants. They, or others, soon leave, or there is a long drawn out period where everyone becomes unhappy. Since there are so few options, and as the community is often so close knit, that a withdrawal or rejection from one group often leaves the seeker with even fewer choices for the future.

We can achieve the honing of our expectations without burning our local bridges by clearly identifying what is most important to us before we even attend our first meeting. Most reps aren't willing to answer a long form questionnaire for the pleasure of your presence, of course, but most are agreeable to addressing your most important concerns.  As it is quite an effort for most smaller groups to include new members, knowing what you need ahead of time can save everyone, including you, alot of grief. What exactly does a group require for you to be happy in it? What can you live with, and what is a dealbreaker?

*   Dedicated to your deity, sect, or practice? Atheist? Non-denominational* Supportive or focused on other communities as well - Gender or sex based, LBGT friendly, actively and pro anti-racial, anti-ablist, anti-agist?

*   Level of commitment - Full time, ritual only, class based, coven like? Working in the world or simple meet-ups?

*   Level of spirituality - Full time, full ritual, same tradition, like minded or causal?*   Travel - how far are you willing to go? To move, commute, or pop by?

Be honest with yourself. Your needs are your own and no one can criticize you for your choices. Don't expect others to change their group for you, since they probably won't, but your self-knowledge will make the task of narrowing your selections much simpler.

Locating

Now that you have broken down into a list of what you actually require, locating a group becomes much easier.

An additional avenue to consider is the practice of your spirituality along with your sacred calling, tasks, or interests. Many pagans find inspiration and sacredness in history, traditional skills, crafts, role-play, sexuality, activism, and other practices. There are many other individuals that also share those interests, and those kinds of groups don't need to be sacred for you to feel as though you are fulfilling your spiritual needs. They are often easier to find and connect with, and you will learn from them how to better serve your deity (if you have one) and spirit, by honing and practising the skills that you associate most with the sacred.

Another bonus of connecting with any of these communities, religious or secular, is that you should be able to network with others that share your interests, and have an even better chance of finding a less well known but perfect group for your needs. If you find something sacred, so do others!

I'm going to make the leap here that you already know how to search for a pagan group in your area using Google and other on-line means. Witchvox, for example, lists many local pagan groups. If you still can't see any that fit the needs you've defined, do not despair! There are alot of avenues that many people miss when they are searching. Here are some suggestions of where to start looking for a group that meets your requirements that may not have an online presence or local listing. Feel free to suggest more.

A word about Message boards: Even though scouring Craigslist, Kijiji and social networking are the first places to start, many communities don't have the work hours to keep posting on too many sites. Going down to a physical location, like an occult or new age bookstore, whole foods store or community centre and checking or posting on their notice boards is an increasingly disused option, but one worthy of pursuit. For many groups, it's so much easier to leave up a poster and wait for inquiries than maintain a FB feed. You will always find at least one event or group that you never would have found any other way.

Organized:

Religious, National and International:

Unitarian Universalists

The Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids

International Humanists: Canada, US, UK, Spiritual Humanism  

Maetrum of Cybele

Abbey of the Green Flame

Copper Horse Abbey
OTO

Student groups at Universities and Colleges

Less organized, organic:

Red Tent Movement

Pan Indian movement and Idle No More

Drum circles

shamantic offerings

bardic circles

healing circles
Iron John retreats and The Good Men Project

Cloistered or Segregated secular communities:

alternative healing retreats

Intentional Communities: ecovillages, cohousing communities, residential land trusts, communes, co-ops, housing cooperatives

Secular Communities of Sacred Interests:

Recreationist:

Society of Creative Anachronisms and medieval reCreationists

Steampunk

war reenactors

LARPS

Bellydancing and other traditional folk dancing

sacred circle dance

Yoga

martial arts and other moving meditation, archery

Women's and Men's Healing

Gender Activism

LBGT groups

poly groups

sexuality groups, like BDSM

eco activism

animal activism

political activism

traditional skills - herbology, fibre arts, cookery, leatherworking, blacksmithing

music - medieval, bardic, folk

For example, you've decided that you need a group of like-minded women whose causal support in weekly meetings will help affirm your Goddess-hood. As a disabled person, you aren't able to travel much, so you need a local, accessible  and positive group who will support you. Surprisingly, in most urban environments, that's not hard to come by. It might be very hard to immediately find a coven like that, but there are plenty of women's groups that will fulfil all those requirements, and still let you get your spiritual kick out of it. Joining your local Pride centre for womyn's night, participating in a women's dance circle or even making the commitment to volunteer at a sexual assault centre or Planned Parenthood can give you the group interaction you crave, while also truly giving back to the Goddess reflections on earth. While you are there, you may also find other women who have the same spiritual needs, and would love to get together with you for prayers and tea, or who can introduce you to one, and that is an extra bonus.

If you decide that as a city dweller with a schedule to keep and you need a temple that you can head off to ritual for on a regular basis, that then limits you to more organized groups, rather than the spontaneous organic types. If a like minded organized group will do, UU could be an option. Or perhaps you can get along with heathens, but due to your past history, Christians make you nervous, so the UU option is less viable. Perhaps a Druid grove or Wiccan or OTC temple might be more your speed then, even if you don't share all their beliefs. 

Other spiritual needs can work like that, too. If you want to move to the country and dedicate yourself to a full time cloistered community, for example, and you *don't* want to pretend or convert to Catholicism or Buddhism or Taoism or go Amish, but you don't mind if everyone else isn't doing the same prayers whenever you are, then International Communities or the new Ecovillages springing up are an excellent alternative. Most are secular, but not anti-religious, and are supportive of most lifestyles.

It would be fabulous if we had already available spaces for gay men who want to dedicate themselves full time to a Priapus temple as professional monks, as just one example, but we don't. Yet. So for the moment, we must satisfy our spiritual selves as much as possible, before we can make those kind of dedicated communities a reality.

Creating

Even with honing your sacred skills, you now want to dedicate your life to helping others experience that sacred community space. But there are no groups that fulfil your needs in your area, so you have decided to create one. What to do? Here are some suggestions.

Canadian laws are very different from American and other countries, of course, but there are some guidelines. 

First, get your ducks in a row. Research what needs aren't being satisfied in your area, and how to cover those. Redundancy doesn't help anyone, and the larger the vacuum you are filling, the greater chance you have of attracting participants. Do you need a weekly group meeting at a brick and mortar temple, or event planning group, or non-denominational cross pagan discussion group?

For those interested in becoming full time dedicants in a cloistered community, there are few other substitutes for pagan abbeys, and those communities will definitely need to be established for us. The complexity of creating one is the apex of organizing skill, as well as our significant validation as a major religion, but it is certainly doable, with drive, vision, and a love of detail. To get some idea of how it's accomplished, you don't have to re-invent the wheel. Visit a few real life abbeys, convents or monasteries. (After all, alot of them are directly derived from pagan abbeys in the first place!) Many have weekend or week long visit privileges, or you can just ask to learn from them. There is a Buddhist Abbey in Nova Scotia that I am planning on conferring with or hanging out in. They have been around since the early 1980's. You should select one that's a bit older, too, so they can tell you the problems they have encountered. One in your own state would better, since laws vary so much. Amish or other religious communities can help you see how that works in practice, too.

Then, *do your paperwork*. If your group is even at all organized, like renting a space for a temple, your best bet is creating a corporation or organization that can have a board and be accountable for bills and other legalities. That way no one person is ever on the hook, and no members are so key that it falls apart if they leave. It's one of the main factors that determine if your group makes it after the Founders all move on. If that is the best choice to get done what you need to do, make sure you have everything you need to establish your not for profit or even for profit corporation. If you want charitable status, it's even harder, but you'll figure which one works best for you when you come to it. Get your founders and other personnel lined up. Here's how we did it in Canada.

If you have a regular, physical location that you rent or own, make sure you pick your space with the locals in mind. They are part of your equation, too. If they feel put out or a lack of consultation, they will punish you, and all your people, and all your visitors. You will be interacting with them to get most of your services and equipment, even if it's just parking space. It's not good to piss them off. So arrange team games or picnics or Open Houses for example. If they know you, they will be more likely not to bother or fight you. And maybe even defend what you do.

Once you have your structure in place, with the appropriate advice from other professionals on what they have done, and what went wrong, then it's time to listen to the community you are serving, to discover what they need to satisfy them. Unlike private or even coven worship, a temple, monastic or segregated community is completely reliant on everyone pulling their weight; as in, they WANT to be there. That means, no matter what your vision is, it can't replace the gestalt that your group will create. It's your job to get it together, keep the base going, and make adjustments, but they aren't minions. If you get too controlling, or conversely, not controlling enough and let a few idiots ruin it for everyone, they will all simply leave, and badmouth your operation to boot. So choose carefully to start with. Pick people who share most of what you see, but not exactly, and select the ones you are reasonably sure aren't going to flake on you. You can't push people too hard for this, but you do need to help them stay motivated. Take them with you to investigate other institutions. Make sure they have the hunger for it, like you do.

It will help a great deal if you do *not* think about this as the Goddess calling you to Found a space, as some claim or feel. Believing you are Called to it can put you at a disadvantage because it almost never 'falls into place', and even when it does, everyone assumes it will always continue like that. Or maybe you can only start and maintain this with other Calleds, and if they aren't, then only *you* have authority for the final say. Which is never healthy. If you truly think that, you will inevitably be disappointed when the Goddess doesn't hand you most everything you need, like people and money. Because She probably won't. That is our job, because it is our happiness at stake, not Hers. However, it may help Her, because religious life, especially pagans, can also lead to a call to activism, scholarship on our interconnectedness and the attendant spirituality, and real world effects. By all means, feel the Call, but because of your need, not because She has singled *you* out for this task...

Once you get it going, you will also have to maintain. This is the biggest mistake most make.  Nearly all pagan communities, temples, communes or IC's end in one generation, because no one builds it to continue. You will, for example, encounter at least one split or takeover attempt in the first 5-10 years, and one every two decades or so after that. Anticipate those, and build your group to withstand it, or it will simply dissolve. If you require a physical location for your work, purchase property if you can, instead of leasing, or in a decade, you'll have to move, and that can destroy the community entirely. Bring in a wide variety of skill sets, and make sure your people feel nurtured and heard, or they won't put up with it, and they will think they can do it better, or that another place can do it better. Which is why you may want to include all pagans like we do and not, say, just Wiccans, but that's your choice. Ego, yours and usurpers, will kill your group gestalt, and then everyone loses. You are the MC, the house manager, and the CEO. But you are not the choir, and without them volunteering their lives, you have no community.

Make no mistake about it: this is a lifelong task. If you do not have these skill sets, then you must either learn them, or join an already existing community and lend your strength to growing that one. It will not happen unless you make it happen, and give it all your personal energy and focus, but without exhausting yourself and leaving you vulnerable and the task unfinished. We are at another time of change, and about to re-build and re-learn what our ancestors had. Some remnants are still here, but most aren't. Pick where you are best suited to direct your energy, and then do it. For the rest of your life. It still won't be long enough.

Witch Heritage 101: European Aborignals or When Witch haters joke about anti-Witch films

I think I'll be doing my graduate work in European Aboriginal studies, since apparently, it's rumoured that they don't actually exist, or if they did, they don't now, or aren't continuous after all the Xian fundie persecutions. Thanks for proving how necessary that research is, and for giving me the idea..

This FB status of mine was universally Liked from so many of my friends, of all different heritages and faiths. It was one of my most popular ever. Yet, it was in response to one of my alleged friends who has continually seen fit to post anti-witch hate on my FB page, in a constant attempt to deny our existence, veracity, tradition, or continuation. I remain bemused why it is so important to insist that we either never existed, or were exterminated, or are a "traditional folklore monster", and that modern pagans are somehow using the term for 'shock value.' There are so many issues with this that I can't begin to deconstruct it all at once, but it is vital to defend our right to claim ourselves, and fight the dominant Christian narrative of who we are.

I've gone into some of the pathology on anti-witch bigotry and Blood Libel before, but clearly, there needs to be more said, with movies still being produced that encourage our 'hunting', called an "exciting and informative film about witches" by my totally non-hateful friend. But we're much smarter than the dolts who slurped up the anti-Jewish Nazi propaganda, and no one believes what they see on film, especially if it's about a myth, right? Yeah. Of course not. And my neighbours don't threaten to burn down my house, either, or my otherwise intelligent co-workers quietly whisper the question "Could Blair Witch actually happen?"

I feel a little helpless sometimes. When I have these discussions, I assume that my fellow debater has the basic grasp that they are living in a background radiation of the Christian narrative. When I realize that I have to drop the level to something of a first year University course, or maybe even high school, to have a reasonable exchange, I nearly despair of ever reducing the spectre of oppression and persecution. Hence, the title of this post.  I will be using actual public comments as an example to counter some of the most pervasive, harmful, and just bizarrely weird myths. 

Claims that still pervade the literature make it nearly impossible for us to legitimize ourselves and our heritage. Here are some comments on the latest witch hate movie, from an otherwise intelligent person.

"The film's characterization of witches was true to the original traditional folk tale the Bros Grimm collected and published 200 years ago, and that has clear antecedents stretching back centuries before that. Surely all that folklore, i.e. oral history, can't be wrong? Or is it only wrong if it says bad things about witches, but is right if it says good things? ...The film doesn't say anything about modern-day witches. "there are some good "white witches" whose magic heals rather than harms, and the common (evil) witches really hate them. No sign of this in the original folk tales (unless one is re-branding fairy godmothers), so I think that's a nod to modern ideas of witchcraft (as having good as well as evil elements)." ...I'm a lot more confident in the existence of Jews than of witches, sidhe, unicorns, or dragons."

He claims that witches are a "traditional folklore monster". Whose tradition? Well, not ours, surely. Though we have many magic 'bad guys' in faerie tales, which translates close to "witches" in Irish, they are usually part of the trial of the heroine or hero; the adversarial mentor they must overcome to learn their lesson or win their prize. It's not a quality of witches per se, but those witches in those stories do have that role. "Folklore" usually applies to stories and beliefs of the peasantry, that is, the country folk, where the term 'pagan' comes from in Latin. So not the learned Christians, then, but the propaganda spread by the power elite to the people, and not the pagan people, either, but their own leadable 'flock'. "Monster' is the most obvious smear. It's used for people who are so evil they are no longer human, which makes it easy to exterminate them without mercy, or even trial, in some cases.

Obviously, if a group tells horrific, disgusting or offensive stories about another people, that must be who they are.  No one would make up that stuff up to suppress, oppress, or exterminate them. (First Nations, Gypsies, gays...cough, cough...) I've gone into the (totally non-racist) problem of the perpetuation of the myth of "white" and "black" i.e. 'evil' witches before.  Relegating witches to the category of mythical creatures, usually horrible ones, since he later suggests he could call himself an ogre but that doesn't make him one, isn't a harmless or theoretically amusing trivialization.  It is deliberately associating us with fantasy, so we couldn't really exist, except in our own minds, and even if we did, we are inherently supernaturally evil.  (Hmm... supernaturally evil...Sorry.  My mind wanders... Where were we?)

No, my ancestresses did not live in "candy cottages, worship Satan, conjure demons, eat children, ride brooms through the air, or cast spells to dry up dairy herds, blight crops, spread pox, or otherwise harm the community". Defining witches as only those who fulfil that criteria, and then insisting that I therefore cannot be a witch because I don't do all that is a most circular argument, and again, impossible to comply with. Satan is the Christian Antagonist. You have to believe in the Christian world view to be a Satanist or have any business with Him. Pagans do not, and never have. Besoms are, for most varieties of witches, sacred because of their symbolism, so most of us use them in ritual. We can't fly on them, though, so we must not be real. Another attack is confusing medieval Christian propaganda with modern reClaimist, largely Wiccan mythology to make them seem somehow equatable and equally untrue. Modern witches, the argument goes, have created themselves, and historical witches are fantasy, because they are both story sets. "Medieval Christians told stories of women who served Satan and hid in forests eating children. Modern-day witches tell stories of women who followed pre-Christian traditions and harvested forest herbs for healing. I don't actually believe either set of stories - each served or serve a purpose for the people who told/tell stories of them."  Medieval Christians told stories about their rivals, the witches, in a propaganda extravaganza. Just because those stories are ludicrous doesn't mean the real witches didn't exist. They told nasty stories about the Pope being Satan, too. Does that mean he didn't exist?

The Church adopted pagan traditions when it couldn't destroy them. Many forms of paganism survived under a veneer of Christianity. Many of those were a discrete, independent faith and tradition surviving under those very priests, and would have resulted in accusations of witchcraft if the more orthodox and especially non-local authorities got wind of it.

The word Witch is of middle Germanic origin. Similar traditional beliefs and practices were called by a different names in different languages, but they would be called 'witch' in English, and would be persecuted by the same people in the same way with the same accusations were they discovered. Witches were and are real, regardless of what they were called in that language or area, and some of those caught in the net of persecution were authentic. Many were not, of course, and some were simply heretical, which is quite different. However, the term has been co-opted by the Christians to define us, especially in the English tradition. Healers, seers, midwives, abortionists, and local authorities were often accused of witchcraft by the Church, and yet many of those were in fact authentic pagan practitioners, even with a touch of Christianity for camouflage.

This is still one of my favorite pics. It's an official witch group that made it into the 20th century, from a real institution and with the uniform intact. They weren't playacting or at a costume ball. They were healers, there were 13 of them, and they wore their traditional red robes as well as the hats. Deniers claiming that they can't be witches because they were "Christian holy sisters who attended chapel every day" and the hat shapes were just co-incidence is pushing even the bounds of common sense. WHY did those hats and those robes and that number become associated with the healing tradition, and why does that follow the witch healing tradition so exactly?  Because the tradition existed before they became Christian holy sisters.

It's actually impossible to believe that so many of these 'hunts' went on wherever fundie European Christians went without a shred of real witchcraft traditions to back up their claims. One could only consider it wilful ignorance. Social science backs up the claims of these traditional aboriginal beliefs and practices, known as witches in English, from all over Europe, in a continual line to this time. From Estonia. From Bulgaria. 1 2 From Germany. 1 2 3 

The Sami People: Shamans and Symbols

Map of Europe's tribes at the beginning of the Common Era. Click here to enlarge. 

Every culture has its magic workers, and some are professional or semi-professional, serving their communities, usually with varying degrees of respect and local power. Witch is a real term that was used with pride, and described a very specific group of English professional pagans, usually women. It was therefore the term used when the Christians wanted to usurp the power positions and land the pagans owned. In other areas, they were called by their traditional names, of course, though when translated into English, the term 'witch' is the equivalent. In Ireland, it was often 'faerie' or various forms of Druid. In Italy, it was strega. In German, it was Hexan. All of those terms and professions were attacked by the Christian fundie patriarchy that coveted their land and power. Nearly all of those terms are now being reClaimed by the traditional witches in their homelands, too, by the way...

Of course, each variety of magic worker had different traditions, but most still go by certain general roles and specialities: healers, seers, shamans, and sub-sets of those. Many had a mystical relationship with animals and plants, some could communicate with or visit the Other World, many told fortunes, some were priestesses and priests of the Old Goddesses, Gods, and Spirits of their area. Many were local judges, who carried the authority of common law and officiated at life events- another reason they were tempting targets.

ROMANIA: Stag on New Year’s Day“These traditions come from Neolithic times—
from shamanism — and they have never stopped,” Charles Fréger 
More living European Aboriginal costumes
 and descriptions here.

When the push from the Christians began, many collaborators saw it as an opportunity to remove the balance of power, which was usually more egalitarian in pagan societies, and grab everything they could. So the anti-witch hysteria was blown up as much as possible. Not only was your local professional witch suspect, but anyone who also did a bit of usual pagan magic, or healing or seeing, or hinted of it was now in the line of fire. Most weren't going to believe it at first, and even at the height, most didn't believe it anyway. But like the Communist McCarthy trials, it became political death to defend or even fight the anti-witch craze when they got going. Adding to the fuel was the bizarre torture porn of the sexually deprived monks, who conceived all manner of disgusting intercourse with Satan, and all manner of punishment for these suspected deviants. Of course, that was all part of the attack on traditional cultures. As the saying goes, a people is not gone until "the hearts of its women are on the ground", and the Christian fundie takeover was entirely patriarchal. Since witches in most European aboriginal cultures are primarily women, it was the women who were the primary targets for extermination, humiliation, and disempowerment, whether they were pagan or not. Pretty young girls were accused by local power mongers and disappeared, never making it to trial. Old women who had land were accused, and charged for every part of their own incarceration, like bits of rope to tie the witch with, soldiers to guard her, the food she ate... It was hugely lucrative, and completely transformed the political and social structure of Europe.

Options for survival were limited. Like the Jews who were persecuted in places like medieval Spain and more modern Germany, if one wanted to remain, and not flee (and where would all the magic workers go?), you had to hide in plain sight or hide out of sight. Now, in most of their persecutions, some of the Jews chose to get baptised, even though they kept most of their family traditions intact. In a few generations, they seemed like other Christians, but sometimes the family would recover and reconvert to their traditional heritage when the all-clear was visible, and the danger largely passed. Are they still real Jews? The pagan shrines and priestesses and priests who survived with most of their traditions intact did so by making a deal with Christianity: they got to keep their deities, put Saint on the front of their name, stick a cross on the lot, say your vows to Christ, and you got to keep most of your land, sacred stuff, and culture. The nuns at Kildare did that, for example. Before it was a Bridgetine Christian nunnery, it was a pagan Bridgetine nunnery. Kildare's sacred Flame to Bridget as the Sun aspect didn't go out for over a 1000 years, quite seamlessly with the Christian takeover, too. Many of the Abbeys and monasteries made the same deal. Their holy orders carried on much as usual, but under a new banner. The families experienced the same problem, and usually opted for the same solution. We are always there, however, passing on our knowledge to our children, helping out our neighbours, worshipping in the Old ways and places, even if those places now have crosses on them, and we use Saint in front of their names. During less dangerous times, however, like the Jews and Gypsies, we tend to sneak back out, just to test the waters, because the myths encouraging self-loathing and living under a veneer are always oppressive.

We can see how long it takes for pagan beliefs to be truly usurped, and what happens when fundie Christianity finally takes over. Iceland, for example, was the last place in Europe to officially convert, in about 1000 CE. Yet they still maintained much of their egalitarian society, including their matriarchal naming system, and the oldest continual democracy in the Western world. As spirits of the earth, elves are still very real and negotiated with during any building project. In this recent economic crisis, the largely women leaders let the banks fail, jailed their CEO's and saved the people who were suffering.  That's what even the shadow of European Aboriginal paganism can do. It takes an eon to destroy most of our systems and beliefs and replace it with the unnatural and exploitive patriarchy. The rest of Europe was taken over much earlier, so less of our original systems are left. In some cases, only traces remain, except where the deals were made. Cultural archaeology is useful for uncovering those traces, and many folklorists and fam trad witches are recovering their heritage with these techniques and researches. Are they still witches, even when the rest of the family for generations called themselves Christian, believed they were Christian, and did Christian things in public? Were the Jews who recovered their heritage generations later really Jews? I'm no Rabbi. Maybe I'll ask one, but I certainly can't decide for them, nor can non-witches define who we are, either.

Wiccans, which was never used as a noun for magic workers in any language, are a modern amalgam of a gathering of presumed pagan traditions from around the world, largely from Western Europe. It's very recent, but obviously satisfies, since it's one of the fastest growing religions in North America. Few therefore have a sense of long term history, like the traditionalists, or of future centuries. They usually feel the threat of persecution as an empathy of possibility, as social slights, not an imminent personal danger, like stoning. (It doesn't feel real until one hits you. I can tell you that for a fact.) They are a valid subset of witches, new pagans for a modern age, and rely on the legitimacy of traditionalist beliefs, rituals, and reClaimed and recovered paganism from many areas to form their systems.

I am not a Wiccan. I'm a traditional witch, raised in an family of no faith, which maintained a few Christian rituals when required, like weddings and funerals (which always disgusted, since we totally weren't that. I always loathe hypocrisy, especially to maintain an illusion.) Our obvious connections to the old ways were strongly denied, and I am still ostracised for recognizing and celebrating them, rather than continuing to hide and secretly hate who we are. My sense of deity, beliefs, and abilities were always with me, my skills improved with practice and training, and I now teach a mixture of internal knowledge and external scientific learning, as witches have always done. I have had witch tools since my Initiation when I was 12. My cat-friend familiar was with me for 20 years, but she didn't eat souls or babies. (Go figger!) I am a professional witch operating in the traditional trade of healing. My faith has always been a source of unfailing joy and positive interaction for me. Just wish that would follow with the Haters I meet up with... My primary mentor was raised Eastern Orthodox, but the magic and witch rituals were part and parcel of her family's personal faith, even though it clearly had nothing to do with Christianity in any way, and would get them burnt in more volatile times.They would still call themselves Christian, though my mentor has always been more honest, and changed her name to a proper witch one years ago. She'll be 70 soon... My daughter is proud of her family and who we are. She has her new familiar (she picked the only non-black kitten.  Where did I go wrong?) and just cut her first wand. My son shows no inclination. Makes sense with his personality, though...

We are still here. We will always be here. Just like Aboriginals from around the world, the only way you can truly be rid of us is to exterminate us all. Like all oppressed people, we will hide, sometime for hundreds of years, but we will rise again the moment we can. Women led, women powered, women held, we hold the key to healing the Earth, bringing forth real change and egalitarian democracy, and creating social and environmental justice. I have always stood with my FN sisters, and my sisters all over the globe, since I have always known who I was and where I had come from. Women's magic can save the world, and I will do my part to nurture, illuminate, support, and disseminate it, against the context of the Christian fundie oppressors. We, too, must be Idle No More.

Idealized and romanized Celtic/ UK Aboriginal image, including face shape.

Quotes are from my FB friend's public posts, early March 2013, unless otherwise indicated. I think he should remain nameless...


An abridged version was printed on Witchvox., March 17, 2013.  

Lascivious Lupercalia: Why Valentine's is a Vital Pagan Holy Day for the Modern World

Lupercalia, "day of the wolf”- the Roman fertility festival celebrating the sexual frenzy of the goddess Juno!  Togas, random draws for sex partners, the occasional goatskin splatter from a priest, and oodles of intoxicants.  Oh, you didn't know about the traditional Valentine's Day?  Think it's just a commercial holiday intended to sell chocolates, jewelry and dinners, and make single folks feel like drinking alone? Lupercalia is not only designed for singles, they are one of the feature attractions!

Valentine's is one of my favourite pagan observances, inspiring modern women and men to at least consider how much the imposed cultural system has on their views of their own love relationships and sexuality. So many find the modern practices to be bloodless, dispassionate, superficial, commercial, and vaguely depressing.  I personally find it inspiring that this Holy Day is so powerful that it's made it to the modern era relatively intact, despite the best efforts of Christian priests to defuse and replace its practices. As a sacred and religious celebration of human sexuality and passion, many of the elements and themes have been retained: valentine's cards, red heart shapes, single people going home with partners, married women wanting children, lust, sex, fertility... It does prove how much we in the modern world, just as our ancestors did, need to acknowledge, idolize, ritualize and even worship our own most powerful drives, emotions, and relationships.

The eve and night of February 14th to the next day of the 15th were the Ides of the month of Februa, sacred to Juno Februata or Juno Februa. This day also honored the Roman gods, Lupercus and Faunus, who you may recall as the lusty Faun in current tellings. It was a vital religious observance as children of the Great Wolf, symbolizing the very fecundity of Rome herself, and the unpartnered participants who presented themselves were considered highly religious and praiseworthy, deserving of the blessings of the priests. 'Course, they didn't go home emptyhanded.  After being the focus of some mild flagellation, the single folks would be randomly assigned to each other through a lottery system.  Each pairing resulted in a sacred 'going steady' until the next year, where one thing was encouraged to lead to another. Married women weren't left out, since they were also under Juno's patronage, and at this time of year, they came to celebrate and bless their sexuality with conceptions.

On this day, Lupercalia,.. the Luperci or priests of Lupercus dressed in goatskins for a bloody ceremony. The priests of Lupercus, the wolf god, would sacrifice goats and a dog and then smear themselves with blood. These priests, made red with sacrificial blood, would run around Palatine Hill in a wild frenzy while carving a goatskin thong called a “februa.” Women would sit all around the hill, as the bloody priests would strike them with the goatskin thongs to make them fertile. The young women would then gather in the city and their names were put in boxes. These “love notes” were called “billets.” The men of Rome would draw a billet, and the woman whose name was on it became his sexual lust partner with whom he would fornicate until the next Lupercalia or February 14th.  

Thus, February 14th became a day of unbridled sexual lust. The color “red” was sacred to that day because of the blood and the “heart shape” that is popular to this day. The heart-shape was not a representation of the human heart, which looks nothing like it. This shape represents the human female matrix or opening to the chamber of sacred copulation. 1

While the women presented themselves for random selection and the men chose, one shouldn't make the modern mistake of assuming it was because the women were somehow property.  As a holiday sacred to Juno, with the priests offering the wolf blood as the Wolf Hero's virility, it is the women's fertility that is the focus of the ritual.  They were in fact presenting themselves to Juno to select a man for them for their personal pleasure, not a husband, and the men are volunteering to perform that service.  It was a sacred duty, as well as wild and joyous.

Married women also occasionally presented themselves for Lupericalia, especially if they were having trouble conceiving. Their selected love billet would service them throughout the rest of the year, as an act of piety, along with their husband, with no weird repercussions or jealousy. The holiday was pure consensual sexual licence.

Lupercalia is also built for poly.

For His sacred virility, a Hero is usually required for the Goddess Queen.  For Februa, her divine lover was Lupercus, the "hunter of wolves", who kept the wolves at bay from the shepherds and their flocks, and lent his blood to fertilize the Goddess and her daughters.  

The Greeks called Lupercus by the name of "Pan". The Semites called Pan "Baul," according to the Classical Dictionaries. Baal - mentioned so often in the Bible - was merely another name for Nimrod, "the mighty hunter" (Genesis 10:9) It was a common proverb of ancient time that Nimrod was "the MIGHTY hunter before the Lord." Nimrod was their hero - their strong man - thier VALENTINE! How plain that the original Valentine was Nimrod, the mighty hunter of wolves. Yet another of Nimrod's names was "Sanctuc" or "Santa", meaning Saint. It was a common title of any hero-god. No wonder that the Roman Lupercalia is called "St. Valentine's Day"!

But why do we associate HEARTS on a day in honor of Nimrod - the Baal of the Phoenicians and Semites? The surprising answer is that the pagan Romans acquired the symbol of the heart from the Babylonians. In the Babylonian tongue the word for heart was "bal" .. The heart - bal - was merely a symbol of Nimrod - the Baal! or Lord of the Babylonians!"2

So for centuries in Rome and its dominions and even after its fall as an Empire, the festival happily went along - the Ides of Februa featured red everywhere and heart symbols abounding, with love cards or tickets, complete with the mighty hero-love whose title was Santa.  It was so well known and associated with sex and lust that when 

the Gnostic Catholic Church began to get a foothold in Rome around the 3rd century A.D., they became known as Valentinians. The Catholic Valentinians retained the sexual license of the festival in what they called “angels in a nuptial chamber”, which was also called the “sacrament of copulation.” This was said to be an reenactment of the marriage of “Sophia and the Redeemer.” As the participants of the February 14th ritual began their sexual sacrament, presided over and watched by the priests known as Valentinians, the following literary was spoken: “Let the seed of light descend into thy bridal chamber, receive the bridegroom… open thine arms to embrace him. Behold, grace has descended upon thee.”"3

The Orthodox Church thoroughly disapproved, of course, and as well as exterminating the Gnostics, did their darnest to suppress or ban the festival.

When Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire there was some talk in church circles of discarding this pagan free-for-all. But the Roman citizens wouldn't hear of it! So it was agreed that the holiday would continue as it was, except for the more grossly sensual observances.  It was not until the reign of Pope Gelasius that the holiday became a "Christian" custom. " As far back as 496, Pope Gelasius changed Lupercalia on February 15 to St. Valentine's Day on February 14." (p. 172 of Customs and Holidays Around the World by Lavinia Dobler). 4

The attempt to substitute or water down the more obvious components met with limited success.

As Christianity became prevalent, priests attempted to replace old heathen practices. To Christianize the ancient pagan celebration ...church officials changed the name to St. Valentine's Day. To give the celebration further meaning and eliminate pagan traditions, priests substituted the drawing of Saints names for the names of the girls. On St. Valentine's Day the priest placed saint's names into an urn or box. The young [men] then drew a name from the container. In the following year, the youth was supposed to emulate the life of the saint whose name he had drawn.

By the fourteenth century they reverted back to the use of girl's names. In the sixteenth century they once again tried to have saintly valentines but it was as unsuccessful as the first attempt...

Later, in France, both sexes drew from the valentine box. A book called Travels in England, written in 1698, gives an account of the way it was done:

"On St. Valentine's Eve an equal number of Maids and Bachelors get together, each writes their true or some feigned name upon separate billets, which they roll up and draw by way of lots, the Maids taking the Men's billets, and the Men the Maids'; so that each of the young Men lights upon a Girl that he calls his Valentine, and each of the Girls upon a young Man which she calls hers. By this means each has two Valentines--but the Man sticks faster to the Valentine that is fallen to him than to the Valentine to whom he is fallen. Fortune having thus divided the company into so many couples, the valentines give balls and treats to their mistresses, wear their billets several days upon their bosoms or sleeves, and this little sport ofen ends in Love. This ceremony is practised differently in different Countries, and according to the freedom or severity of Madame Valentine. This is another kind of Valentine, which is the first young Man or Woman chance throws in your way in the street, or elsewhere . . ."5

So despite some of the best efforts of the new priesthood to alter the festival, the original idea of sexual licence and expression, particularly for women, never went away.  The practices still lingered in nearly all the places Rome had taken it, mostly what is now known as the "Western World".

It only stands to reason that countries colonized by peoples from Europe brought the practice with them.  So in North America, we still see the remnants to this day.  Even hidden, suppressed, altered, and derided, we retain many of the most recognisable features of the only ancient festival left in the popular culture that celebrates human sexuality.  However, it still seems to generate fear, particularly in this age where women are reClaiming their sexuality and heritage. So the attempt to secularize and desexualize it goes on today. The commercialization, with it's obvious monetary rewards, the insistence on already created couples, rather than singles finding mates, and the more disturbing marketing to children, appears to be an attempt to finally remove the more worrisome lustful elements still left.

Some will claim that the holiday has adapted itself to our modern needs, and that the encouragement of children in grade school to participate in Valentine's Day by giving out cards is more than just adapting.  In fact, it appears to continue to be mutating every generation.  No longer is the Valentine a secret, given from a child to someone they fancy, as it was in two childhoods ago; it is now a class event, where everyone must bring one for everyone else, so as to ensure "no one gets left out'. It is bizarre, disquieting, and has always been inappropriate for children, expressed even by those completely ignorant of its history.

In a time when women are working to reClaim their sovereignty over their sexuality instead of being objectified, traditional rituals which celebrate joyous lust and sexual licence without bonded partners are needed more than ever. Safely sublimating its lustful nature into permitted 'couple's only' commitment activities, or reducing it by infantalization as a classroom friendship ceremony covered in pink leaves out the most vital and powerful element of the celebration: shameless consensual adult lust.  With all the disempowering of women and inappropriate sexualizing of children, we could use a good ol' fashioned Lupercalia to reClaim our bodies, divine passions, and sacred sense of self.

So this Valentine's Day, consider adding something in the spirit of the ancient practices of Lupercalia to your celebrations.  Why make it just about already paired couples?  Consider getting your friends together and having some joyous grown-up fun. Toga parties, love lotteries for the singles, erotic games for the group...  (An Edmonton version.) Give yourself an opportunity to worship sexual passions in a consensual, safe environment, without the requirement of commitment or permission from anyone but yourself!  Maybe some half-naked hotties playing the priests can occasionally slap one of the crowd with a whip dipped in red food colouring... Oh, wait.  That might be just me..

Some ideas for modern celebrations from a Halifax bathhouse.

My daughter's class is supposed to bring Valentine's cards for everyone, if they bring any at all.  Raising her as a witch, I have told her as much as I think she needs to know at 11 years old.  So she has no interest in bringing cards. As a nod to the current rituals of her class, though, we both decided to send her with enough homemade candy for everyone.  That seems to be a good compromise...