Traditional Apprenticeships: Training in the modern Pagan Abbey

Kylemore Abbey in Ireland

My recent activities[i] have unexpectedly netted alot of inquiries from those wishing to study under me. Explaining different levels of involvement so frequently has helped refine the details better in my own mind, which is the major reward for the teacher, isn't it? In this case, we are specifically referring to the training in healing and other technology, often associated with women, primarily from the European Aboriginal traditions[ii], that is taught at our pagan Abbeys[iii]. However, traditional apprenticeships have many common elements, including the relationship between teacher and student, which we will also explore.

Lessons or sessions and apprenticeships are two different streams. For the first, they are in-depth teaching opportunities to learn the intricacies of stillroom work for a more hobby use, perhaps as an introduction, or for personal healing. I do them usually for groups, with a full lecture and demo[iv], and in my home on an individual basis. They require alot of prep and materials on my part, so I often have to charge for them. Depending on materials and tech, as well as what kind of detailed help the student requires, fees can range from $25-100/hour: the higher level being full health consultations. 'Course, I also trade for doing dishes, for example, since my dishwasher broke down... This is also traditional, since most people don’t have chickens to trade anymore...

Apprenticeship on the other hand is for those who believe this might be their Calling. It involves a far more intense and thorough program, with the expectation that apprentices repay their teaching in sweat equity rather than cash, and often continuing on to practice professionally. It is longer, too, and harder, usually involving an eventual restructuring of one's life to take on this goal.[v]

I take applicants for both methods, and people can switch streams whenever they like, if they are able to. I don't take on apprentices who are healing themselves of a severe condition, for example. There is far too much going on in someone's life when they are healing to add the intensity of a full time apprenticeship, too. They stay Students until they are more fully recovered.

With both methods, the dropout rate is still pretty high. Similar to the attrition rate for mental health programs, if applicants give up, it's almost always in the first six weeks. Most people are not prepared for the revelations that occur when immersed into traditional healing, and what that means for themselves, their lives, their families, and how they fit in the world, or the world fits around them. It's a profound shift, and many people are simply not equipped to deal with it at that time. It's my job to help them with that, of course, but it's still too big a leap for many. 

It is especially intense for those who seek the apprenticeship stream. 

I take on very few apprentices. Since I also require the spiritual component, potential apprentices are accepted in similar ways to novitiates in other paths.[vi] Sometimes, they simply need to apply, and I am satisfied that they are ready to dedicate themselves and meet the challenge. Occationally, I allow them to commit to the apprenticeship stream only after a trial period, especially if they seem adamant on the surface but some underlying issues are holding them back or making progress difficult. In certain cases, an Initiation or personal trial is required, for those who require a more visceral acknowledgement of the contract and to prove they won't fail out when the hard work begins.

No matter how they arrive to the path, however, all apprentices are chosen for their dedication not just to healing others, but to their own personal growth, character, and empowerment. No one can heal anyone else, of course. Only patients heal themselves, no matter what you cut out of them or dose them with. Someone who feels they are done with suffering will die no matter how successful the treatment is, and others will rise from their deathbeds with remarkable courage if they have the will.[vii] The healing arts are to facilitate that recovery as much as possible. So I dislike the term Healer, since healing is entirely done by the patient (except laying on of hands, which I have yet to have proven to me), but since I can't really come up with a better term, it will have to suffice. 

Because of this, however, one of the best methods to increase chances in patient outcome, in traditional or conventional healing, is having a fully actualized Healer. This is self-evident, but not included at all in conventional training, though very much a part of traditional healing in many parts of the world.[viii] [ix] Someone who has actively worked to eradicate their flaws, like racial or sexist prejudices, is a better patient advocate, for example, and can hear the vulnerable in a more meaningful way.[x]  A healer who has cultivated humility will be more available to assist in vital procedures or discussions that other professionals might find beneath their dignity. A healer who practices Detached Compassion[xi] will be strong and kind to those who invoke great pity in others, and the “Wounded Healer” such as a shaman can devote far more energy and time to palliative care than those who are struggling with their own mortality. Modern conventional healers are trained largely as technicians, under the Body is a Machine model, which is totally different from nearly all forms of traditional healing, and while they have achieved certain miracles, it is a very new form of medicine. Like any youth, it seeks to make it own way without listening to its Elders, and only with maturity can we hope to integrate successful traditional wisdom with current practices.

Let's pick just one example to illustrate. PTSD[xii], often induced in the Western world by childhood or adult sexual or physical abuse, is a far more common condition than it should be. In those drawn to paganism, which is my worldview, there is a much higher incidence of seekers who have been wounded in this way – closer to 85%. As many grew up in other traditions, this often represents a failure of their previous systems to satisfactorily contextualize their experiences. So it is with distressing frequency that I encounter this deeply rooted issue in my students and apprentices. For those who have not yet dealt with this in their lives, it can be a terrible blind spot that can influence how they treat others coming to them for help. Unable to deal with the darkness in themselves, they often miss the same symptoms in others, or the reason for them. As their Mistress, it is part of my duty to guide them come to terms with their pain in whatever manner they best respond to: from medicine and therapy to intense spiritual journeys.

So, when I take on apprentices, I train them as traditional professional pagan healing nonnes. (I currently don't train men as apprentices, for various reasons.[xiii]) This means not only studying for months or years to learn the traditional tech, but they also dedicate themselves to spiritual self-improvement. They examine their own lives for fatal flaws and empower themselves. Because of this, there is far less to cloud their judgements in their examinations of others, and they are more able to give of themselves with sincerity and reverence, and not simply as a drain on their resources. To that end, we emphasize knowledge, honour, duty, integrity, courage, discipline, deep personal self-examination in all the dark places, and ultimately, vows, if the dedicant choses to make this her life's work.

For method and technique, we have to adapt to the modern era we live in, but there is a plethora of material to build upon from the past [xiv] [xv] [xvi], as well as some current best practices. We use whatever resources are necessary, including other acknowledged professionals and accredited institutions. For example, our nuns learn how to 'read' a client, such as body clues, intuiting and micro-expressions[xvii], to better understand a client's actual issues, especially those they might not be willing to divulge, and investigate many other possibilities that most healers never know to look for. They also learn how to make the remedies themselves, like salves, decoctions, alcohols, poultices, candies, and healing foods, as well as put forward recommendations and train clients in their use. Some finish university degrees in our specialities, such as counselling and folklore. We also teach how to work within the laws and health requirements of each country, partner up with other members of the healing team, and not step on the toes of conventional med, the pharmaceutical industry, and food and drug administrations, which have a tendency to bite.

However, one of the most important reasons for me for the rigorous selection process and the choice of taking only a few apprentices is the personal trial they represent. By agreeing to be someone's Mistress, or mentor, or sifu, or yogini[xviii], you commit to a lifelong relationship. You must not only train them in your particular art, but also move them along in their spiritual and personal journey. As you help them discover themselves, you volunteer to be their Dark Mirror, which requires a great deal of trust and honesty on both sides. As the training continues, it becomes impossible not to have a close and ultimately vulnerable relationship. I still sit down with my first Mistress, who is now nearly 70, and we discuss everything from our sex lives to our fears, our dreams, and our successes. We give each other insights in as open and often blunt way as we can, because no one else knows us better, and almost no one is prepared to be as honest and genuinely helpful. To this day, it still helps both of us in our lives and continually assists us to become more developed and whole persons.

Fantasy novels are full of students who have betrayed their masters' trust and try to destroy them. However, the reality is not far from that myth. In this kind of intimate relationship, as such tend to become, the wrong selection of student can be a devastating blow. Whether it's your business secrets or proprietary formulations, or your personal life lessons that you have imparted as examples for training, an apprentice that proves him or herself unworthy of carrying such secrets can make a huge mess of your life or career. Like most close relationships, really... I have some experience in this kind of heartbreak, and it guides my reluctance, my selection and my occasional trials or character proofs for applicants. Sadly…

Student or apprentice, I take my role as a sacred trust, and do my very best to give that person what I feel they most need: whether it be simple healing knowledge, physical health, spiritual self-examination, business and social training, or character building and empowerment. Even if the healing must be done when they aren't aware of it, which is much harder… It can take a great personal toll, but the rewards of watching other people’s lives unfold beautifully are worth it, and can bring so much joy. I am always honoured to be asked to serve my clients and students, and with hard work, personal sacrifice and dedication, to train others go out into the world committed to serve, heal, and fight for justice.

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[i] http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2013/10/30/for-some-wiccans-halloween-is-a-real-witch/

[ii] http://gifts-of-nature.blogspot.com/2013/03/witch-heritage-101-european-aborignals.html

[iii] http://gifts-of-nature.blogspot.ca/2013/07/pagan-abbeys-practical-heritage-for.html

[iv] https://www.facebook.com/GiftsofNature

[v] http://gifts-of-nature.blogspot.ca/2011/01/my-transformation-guest-blog-from-my.html

[vi] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novitiate

[vii] http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/05/health/positive-thinking-deepak-chopra/

[viii] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamanism

[ix] http://www.tibetanlanguage.org/bookstore/Tibetan_Medicine.html

[x] http://gifts-of-nature.blogspot.ca/2013/10/starved-for-content.html

[xi] http://wisdomquarterly.blogspot.ca/2012/11/detachment-and-compassion-in-buddhism.html

[xii] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posttraumatic_stress_disorder

[xiii] http://bestpractices.diversityinc.com/platform/1934/docs/mentoring12.pdf

[xiv] http://www.amazon.com/Hildegard-von-Bingens-Physica-Translation/dp/0892816619

[xv] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_cream

[xvi]  "More than anything else, however, Brigid is renowned for her hospitality. The poor and the infirm come in their multitudes. She makes provision for the sick, tending to them with her knowledge of contemporary medicine. Kildare becomes a place of holy pilgrimage for all, from the prominent and powerful to the lowly and forgotten."

 http://www.allsaintsbrookline.org/celtic_saints/brigid.html

[xvii] http://www.paulekman.com/micro-expressions/

[xviii] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru-shishya_tradition

Starved for content...

In case anyone was wondering what I've been up to, (what's she DOING?!), I am currently finishing up my Counselling Women and undergrad degree. It's been a long time coming. Like many women, I wasn't able to finish or further my studies when I was younger, so I'm finally rectifying that sad situation later in life. I never stopped my research, and I have some fabulous developments that I will be publishing later, and was in fact able to teach much of it in less academic settings. But that only goes so far, and to take my work to the next level, it's necessary to have the paperwork and degrees to back it up.

So, much of my current writing and research has gone into essays and such. For your edification, this is one of the short pieces I presented to my Issues in Women's Health prof. Mostly, the mechanics were not to her liking, rather than the content. I hope I have corrected enough of those mistakes for her to see my true brilliance shine through... Heh.

Statement 1:

Based on and using examples from your required readings, critically discuss notions of autonomy as they relate to women’s health care. Include some discussion of the conflicts that arise from ideal and actual conditions defining patient autonomy.

Patient autonomy has not always been of primary concern in conventional health care, but is now seen to play a vital role in outcomes and quality of care. Sherwin (1998) gives a comprehensive four point definition used to determine ideal autonomy in health care. The patient 1) must be sufficiently competent, 2) makes a reasonable choice from available options, 3) has adequate information and understanding of the choices, and 4) is free of coercion (p. 26).[1] However, these definitions are problematic in practice when examined in the context of classist or sexist institutional constructs.

For the first condition, competency is often defined by the dominant power group. Language and cultural barriers for example are often considered reason enough to question a patient’s competency or understanding when considering their care.  Rationality in particular is considered the usual yardstick of competency, especially, as Genevieve Lloyd (1984) shows, that that the agent demonstrate objectivity and emotional distance. However, since those traits are “constructed in opposition [to those] stereotypically assigned to women..[they] are often seen as simply incapable of rationality” (as cited by Sherman, p. 26)  Competency, therefore, is often already defined as outside a woman’s capabilities, and autonomy becomes an impossibility.

The ideal for condition two, or reasonable selection of offered choices, appears straightforward enough. However, “the set of available options is constructed in ways that may already seriously limit the patient’s autonomy by prematurely excluding option the patient might have preferred.” (Sherwin, p.26) From dominant viewpoints to researchers to funding to primary care providers, pre-selection reducing women’s preferences occur at every significant point in the shaping process of offering health care options.

The third condition of patient autonomy, that of adequate information to understand the choices, ties in with the choices available.  In “the information that has been deemed worthy of study…and, significantly, what questions are neglected; systemic bias unquestionably influences these polices.” (Sherman, p. 27). Patients most often do not have the expertise to question providers to gain the information they need, and providers often do not have the perspective as a member of that group or experience treating those members, and in many cases, the time available, to be able to volunteer the information relevant to the patient’s situation.

The fourth condition, in such a dominant patriarchal culture, is the most obviously problematic. Oppression permeates almost every aspect of a woman’s choice and agency. No matter how liberated a woman has worked to become, “[i]t’s hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head.” (Sally Kempton, Esquire, 1970)  Every choice, therefore, can be subconsciously influenced by the culture around her, and those decisions reinforced. Standards of beauty, self-worth related to fertility, and negative views of aging for example can all influence treatment choices, including the desirability and presentations of those treatments and the risks involved.

For women especially, the challenges of navigating and expressing autonomy in a system where they are overtly and subtly coerced, with stereotyped beliefs that reinforce their lack of competency, and with choices designed by those who do not consider women’s preferences, makes accessing health care a frustrating and often dangerous journey.

Statement 2:

Based on and using examples from your required readings, critically discuss how gender expectations affect both paid and unpaid providers of health care. Include some analysis of ways in which the needs of women health care providers can be met.

Gender expectations are a vital and primary consideration in the delivery and quality of care of patients, and the working conditions of health care delivery. How could it not be? “Approximately 80% of paid health care workers in Canada are women… Women make up the overwhelming majority of hospital workers…Women are also the overwhelming majority of health care workers employed in nursing homes, residential facilities or private homes”, according to Armstrong et al. (2009b)[2] As for  unpaid workers providing health care, usually to older relatives, Letvak, S. (March 2001) reminds us that “72% of caregivers are women."[3].

Not only do these disproportionate demands on time create stress for the women caregivers, for those who have made a career out of it, the inherent sexism of their expected roles can create further difficulties. As Letvak suggests from G J Clifford, “the predominance of women in such professions as social work and nursing has led to their identification with that other domain of female exclusivity, the housewife.”[4]  Letvak also quotes from P E B Valentine, that nursing in particular, “being identified with a docile female role…has led to a ghettoization of the career field. Ghettoization segregates people by race, ethnicity, lifestyle, or socioeconomic status and reinforces negative stereotypes“[5] which has made it progress against the gender expectations of the so-called nurturing professions nearly impossible, even today.

Mothers who are paid or unpaid caregivers are in the worst straits. As Letvak reports from Faludi, “70% of women with young children also participate in the labor force. Women still shoulder 70% of all household duties”[6]  Women’s unpaid care hours re excluded from paid labour and other duties, however, as “Sixty percent of women caregivers work 35 or more hours per week outside of the home in addition to caring for an older adult family member”[7] as Letvak enumerates from Jenkins.  Why are women disproportionately burdened with the health care needs of patients in our culture, yet also expected to perform all their other duties as well? It is considered acceptable in a sexist social context, because “[t]he very image of nursing maintains the stereotype of nurturing, self-sacrificing females who will always meet the needs of others.”

Clearly, this is detrimental to women, and the families and patients they care for, and comprises the health of all concerned.  But what is to be done?  As Lessard et al. suggests, by fully engaging the women involved in paid and unpaid care in the policy process[8] as part of the solution, some remedies automatically present themselves.  Recognizing and valuing women’s caregiving services could reduce frustration and result in more appropriate services and programs, including possible subsidies or other support for unpaid caregivers.[9]  Letvak suggests other support suggestions for paid caregivers, such as flexible working hours, job sharing, part-time work with benefits, and other innovations on hours worked, including more flexible time off for those with kids in school or whose families become ill.[10]

As the fashion for neocon privatization of public services shows no signs of slowing down in health care, it appears that women will be forced to take on even more of the burden than they have in the past. The time for improvement is now, increasing the quality level of care, staff, and saving the system money. Without considered improvements in the conventional health delivery system, patient care and professional nursing and its quality will continue to decrease, homecare will necessarily increase, the burden shifting more to families and their women, reducing the health of all concerned, and therefore, our collective health.  With a rapidly ageing population, it is of vital importance.

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[1] Sherwin, S. (!998). A relational approach to autonomy in health care. In S. Sherwin (Coord.), The politics of women’s health, Exploring agency and autonomy (pp.19-47) Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

[2] Armstrong et al (2009b). Hidden health care work and women. Canadian Women’s Health Network

[3] Letvak, S. (March 2001). Nurses as working women. AORN Journal, 73(3), 675–682.

[4] G J Clifford, "Women's liberation and women's professions reconsidering the past, present and future," in Women and Higher Education in American History: Essays from the Mount Holyoke College Sesquicentennial Symposia, ed J Faragher, F Howe (New York: W W Norton and Co, 1988) 165-182.

[5] P E B Valentine, "Nursing: A ghettoized profession relegated to women's sphere," International Journal of Nursing Studies 33 no 1 (1996) 98-106.

[6] Faludi, Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women.

[7] C L Jenkins, "Women, work and caregiving: How do these roles affect women's wellbeing?" Journal of Women and Aging 9 no 3 (1997) 27-45.

[8] Lessard, D., Barylak, L., Cote, D., Martin, J., Lavoie, J., & Berube, L. (2001, Winter). Caregivers and support services: Becoming empowered. Centres of Excellence for Women’s Health Research Bulletin, 1(2), 12–14.

[9] Ibid.

[10] Letvak., S, (March, 2001)

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...