Ravens' Call #60 by Terri Baran

Ravens’ Call

THE TASMANIAN PAGAN ALLIANCE, INC. NEWSLETTER SUMMER/AUTUMN 2013

NUMBER 60

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Ravens‘ Call - Summer/Autumn 2013

Contents the Team State Coordinator Jess Steers taspainc@gmail.com

3 4 5 6 8 9 10

Regional Coordinator Mel Dolliver melsteers76@yahoo.com

Secretary Mandhi Allen

Treasurer Terri Baran thegeekwitch@gmail.com

Moot Convenors

Ravens’ Call

Hobart - Allannah Turner Launceston - Mel Ell North-West - Jo Corvinus

Editor - Mel Dolliver Proof-reader - Heather Jensen Graphic Designer - Terri Baran Printer - Mandhi Allen

Postal Address PO Box 1127 Launceston TAS 7250 Disclaimer: The views contained within the Ravens’ Call newsletter are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editor or members of the Tasmanian Pagan Alliance, Inc. Likewise, the advertisements are placed in good faith and do not signify endorsement by the editor or members of the Tasmanian Pagan Alliance, Inc.

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Editorial Eye of Newt Beltane at Jan‘s The Feast of Lugh Pagan Podcasts Burning of the Wicker Man The Debt Christianity owes to Paganism A breathing exercise with Tim Luna Journey Moots Silver Broomstick Awards Familiar Friends Pagan Parenting My Introduction to Mithraism A High Magic Exorcism What‘s On Pagan Friendly Business TPA Friendly Businesses State Coordinators Report More TPA Friendly Businesses Samhain Invite Membership Invitation

The Pagan Alliance Ethic    

Love & Kinship with nature. Reverence for the life force & its ever-renewing cycles of life & death. Each individual is responsible for discovering & developing his/her own true nature in harmony with the greater world, & takes full responsibility for his/her actions. Acceptance of the many-faceted nature of Divinity: Acceptance that divinity exists in many forms, & can be worshipped/respected as male, female, androgynous, or in a form beyond human definition.

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Welcome to the fabulous 60th anniversary issue of the Tas Pagan Alliance newsletter!!

Mel Dolliver - Editor

community. One goal down and one to go – not bad and its only February!!

In celebration of 15 years of local spirituality this special edition of The Ravens‘ Call is brought to you by all the sensational pagan men in our community – I have nagged and hounded, rereminded and been pleasantly surprised by all the contributions stacking up in my inbox during the last month, it is a pleasure to gift you with such fantastic diversity… From Mithraism to organic cheese, the origins of Lughnasadh to raising chickens for the table – whatever your interest we have it covered this issue.

So be brave and share your experiences with us – from rites of passage or a walk with your dog, write a review on a moot or event – tell us about an awesome book or warn us away from a tragic read. One of the most special things about this pagan newsletter is the direct link between author and reader, we aren‘t a glossy untouchable magazine – we are here to support your business and to inform about events in your area, to discuss local news and we invite you to contribute and participate - The Ravens‘ Call is written by Tasmanian pagans for Tasmanian pagans – and I think that rocks!!

While I wax enthusiastic about the current edition I‘ve also been recently reviewing the content of The Ravens‘ Call throughout the past year – reading back over the articles and reports of my dogeared hardcopies, greeting each minor grammar or spelling error with fondness and comparing photocopy quality of varying contrast, I realised Blessings of the harvest, how heavily I relied on just a handful of regular writers to fill my themed headings and provide feature articles. Due date for submissions: 13th April melsteers76@yahoo.com.au Yet the Pagan Alliance in Tassie is growing in both numbers and activities each year, our moots and events are attracting consistent interest and it is About the Artist wonderful to see a mixed crowd with an almost Front cover: Peter Seekings even ratio of men to women…

Peter was kind enough to provide our front cover image for this Edition. Peter has been an artist for many years, and you can see some of his work featured in our 2013 Tasmanian Pagan Alliance calendar. Peter is also the owner of the Richmond Mazes, where you can see more of his artwork, and also his beautiful calligraphy. Thank you Peter for contributing to our Issue 60!

So my two goals for 2013 were to offer an almost wholly ‗man-made‘ Ravens‘ Call showcasing our fab pagan blokes – in the wild hope of further articles and artwork for future newsletters, and also to publish articles from members who have yet to share their thoughts or are new to our 3

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Cheese with Ed from Cygnet Greetings, Ed here!

mixed with four tablespoons of boiled water cooled. Mix in for 30 seconds and leave overnight. Day 2 Strain the curd into a cheesecloth and colander over a bucket or bowl to let the whey run out. Cover up and leave overnight. Day 3 Put into cheese moulds lined with cheesecloth of your choice and leave overnight again. Day 4 Take out of moulds dry off on kitchen paper and lightly salt and wrap in cling wrap. Put in fridge. Eat when desired. Blessings Ed

Most people know me by my goats cheese in the pagan scene. I have been making the goats cheese for about 15 years now. Here is my recipe for a fresh Chèvre.

ED’S RECIPE

P.S. Say hello if you are visiting Cygnet, the market is the 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month.

Equipment needed :  A milking goat!  A large pan  1 1/2 ltr milk per cheese (300gm)  Small amount of veg rennet and starter culture from Cheeselinks.com.au  colander  cheesecloth  ladle

Don't forget Samhain on your Tas Pagan Alliance calendar at our place 27 & 28th April!

Day 1 Warm the milk to approximately 68c and cool to 21c. Add a pinch of starter culture a tablespoon of rennet

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Beltane at Jans

Green man masks, mead, dancing the Maypole and feasting with great company made for a fantastic Beltane at Janâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s beautiful bush property. Thanks for having us Jan!

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The

of Lughnasadh

With the Festival of Lughnasadh and the harvest season rapidly coming upon us Mel asked if I would write an article on the subject for this edition of Raven‘s Call, accordingly I have submitted a brief outline of Lugh taken from traditional sources. There are of course, many stories relating to Lugh, but I have limited this article to only those fragments relevant to Lughnasadh itself.

Irish tradition records the invasion of Ireland by a race of people called the Fir Bolg on the 1st August (people who historically could well have been the Belgae), they were subsequently defeated in a great battle by the Tuatha De Danann (tribes of Dana) and their leader killed. Taillte, the dead leader‘s widow, was later to marry a chief of the Tuatha and cultivated vast plains of Ireland and planted them with clover and prepared them for agriculture. Taillte was then to die from exhaustion after this effort, her foster son who was Lugh, obeyed her dying request and established the Funeral games (Óenach Tailten), appropriately a Harvest Festival, in her honour. This is why the Lughnasadh celebrations in Tailltin (now Teltown, county Meath) the place of her death, are named after her - the Tailltean Games. Traditionally this feast that started in 3370 BC, went for 15 days before and after Lunasadh, and it was said that as long as Lughnasadh continues to be celebrated there will be ‗corn and milk in every house‘. Incidentally, Lunasa (Irish) or Lunasdal (Scottish) is the Gaelic word for the month of August.

Lugh Lugh was son of Cian of the Tuatha de Danaan, and of Ethlinn, the daughter of Balor, King of the Formorians. The Tuatha de Danaan (Tribes of Dana) were the Fey folk of Ireland, supernatural descendants of Dana or Danu. While the Formorians were ancient semi-divine inhabitants of Ireland that arrived by sea and represented the forces of chaos, wild nature and often malevolence. Lugh, a chieftain God, was pictured as being young and handsome and associated with the Raven. His chief weapon was the Javelin, but he also used the sling to great effect, thus having the ability to wound from a distance. In Ireland the Milky Way was called Lúgh‘s Chain, indicating the significance of his sling in traditional folklore. Lugh also holds the Gaelic title Samildanach (possessor of many skills and crafts), The Cath Tánaiste Maige Tuired records that once when Nuada Silver Hand, King of the Tuatha de Danaan, held a great feast at Teamhair (Tara), Lugh was prevented from attending by their gatekeeper:

However, there is another important element to the story of Lughnasadh. At the time of Lúgh‘s acceptance into Tara, the Tuatha de Danann were suffering under the Lordship of the Fomorians through their leader, Bres. Bres, like Lugh, had a Fomorian father and a Tuathan mother, but exhibited strong Fomorian traits, he forced the Tuatha to work as slaves and pay excessive tributes to the Fomorians. His greed and the withholding of the harvests of the Land from the Tuatha De Danann, finally drove them to revolt. This led to the battle of Mag Tuired in which the Fomorian champion Balor slew Nuada demoralising the Tuathan warriors, at that critical moment Lugh met Balor on the field of battle where Balor attempted to strike Lugh down by gazing upon him with his single deadly enchanted eye. But Lugh, agile and with great skill, cast a sling-stone into the eye, so that the poison from it fell upon the Fomorian fighters handing victory to the Tuatha. As a result of this victory Lugh became King and was then to rule over Ireland for forty years.

“Gatekeeper - What skill have you, for no one is admitted to Tara unless he have some skill? Lugh - I am a Carpenter. Gatekeeper – We do not need you, for we have a Carpenter. Lugh – I am a Smith Gatekeeper – But the Tuatha have a Smith Lugh – I am also a Harper, a Poet, a Historian, Champion, Hero and Sorcerer”. The Tuatha had amongst them specialists with all of these skills, but no one who combined them all, so Nuada instructed that Lugh be admitted where he occupied the Sage‘s seat in the Halls of Tara.

Immediately after the battle, the Tuatha de Danaan decided to kill Bres. But he begged for his life, offering great gifts in return. Firstly, he offers to make the cattle of the Tuatha de Danaan be always in milk. But the lawyer Maeltne Morbrethach replies that Bres has no power to make this so. Bres then promised that should he be spared he would reveal the secrets of the agricultural cycle. Thus the Fomorian blight on the land was

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exchanged for Fomorian fertility by Lúgh's victory. So although Lughnasadh was inaugurated in honour of Lúgh‘s foster mothe r, another important reason behind the celebration is the victory of Lugh, and the release of the harvest for use by the people. In the tale above, we see the contrast between the reigns of Lugh and Bres. While Bres brings hardship and famine to the people, the victory of Lug h brings forth a time of good harvests and abundance, which is the reason why this festival most often carries Lúgh‘s name. The celebration of Lúghnasadh is generally centred on the high place of ancient times. Most auspicious were high hills that had a source of water near their top -- because they are able to join the Above and the Below, the realm of the gods of culture (Tuatha) and the watery Underworld (the Fomorian realm). On the Isle of Man the inhabitants would climb to the top of Snaefell for their celebrations. The first fruits of cultivated crops, as well as wild crops (usually bilberries), were brought to the site to be blessed and to be shared by the community. In the Scottish Highland tradition, the gift of special cakes known as the Lunastain bannock would favour the recipient with good luck, blessing, and protection. It was also a time for musicians to show off their skills, and craftsmen to display thei r wares in honour of the God of Crafts. Another feature of Lunasadh Festivals were the 'Tailltean‘ marriages, an informal marriage that often l asted for only 'a year and a day' or until the next Lughnasadh. At that time, the couple could decide to continue the arrangement if it pleased them or simply walk away from one another, thus bringing the Tailltean marriage to a formal close. I would just close with a brief reference to some of the more popular contemporary interpretations of Lugh. Despite many very confident and seemingly authoritive pronouncements that one reads on the Net or in some Modern Pagan texts, that Lugh was a Sun God, th ere is no basis for this claim in Gaelic text or traditions. This would appear to be an idea that gained prominence in the late Victorian era, it is also worth noting on this point, that Lugh has no association with either of the two great Celtic Solar festivals, Beltane or the Mid-Summer Solstice. The Romans viewed Lugh (or Luga in Gaul) as being associated with Mercury, which probably has some merit, though this is still an idea that is contested in many quarters. Lugh is also commonly associated in many modern texts with Llew Llaw Gyffes, the husband of Blodeuwedd, who appears in the Fourth Branch of the Welsh Mabinogi. Like Lugh he is a God of many arts - harpers, healing, poets, smiths and sorcerers. He is also celebrated on the 1st August. However, to my mind the pantheon and the stories associated w ith Llew bear little resemblance to those of Lugh, so I am yet to be convinced. I wish you all a happy Lunasadh, Beannachd leibh, Iain MacPharlain

Symbol

by Brett Shea 7

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Pagan Podcasts ...with Kynan By now you all probably know what podcasts are (if you don‘t know it‘s an audio file made available on the internet for downloading). The good thing about podcasts is once you‘ve downloaded them they are a resource for later use. Nowadays I usually listen to podcasts when I‘m driving. The best tool to use for searching for podcasts would be iTunes, but once you know the direct URL to the podcast I find it‘s best just to download a copy onto the computer and not through iTunes, mainly because every time you reformat the computer you have to re-download all the podcasts, which I find annoying. And when you do find a decent podcast you like it is easiest to back it up this way. These are the main podcasts I listened to when I started listening about 5 years ago.

Deo‘s Shadow was another Canadian Podcast hosted by Deo, who was a neo-pagan and approached it from an intellectual, philosophical point of view.

The Crooked Path was probably one of my favourites, presented by Peter Paddon, a pommy bloke living in America. It has since stopped, he got to about 110 episodes, but he‘s put a few more out after, but I‘m not sure what‘s going on, it‘s a bit hard to follow. The Crooked Path was based on traditional witchcraft: Robert Cochrance, Clan of Tubal Cain style. I liked Peter‘s information on herbs and his meditative exercises like tapping the bone, which is a good meditation on ancestor connections.

Of course I listened to the Australian ones first, but they were short and sweet. The Catnip Brew, with Fortuna and Fluffy, had only 9 episodes. GeekWitch by Tahleah Moonwater, (our very own Terri), had 10 episodes and Aussie Pagan Talk had 18. Stay tuned for the next instalment from the pod-osphere. Pagan Podcasts with Kynan is our brand new column! Keep an eye out for future podcast information and reviews in upcoming issues of the Ravens’ Call.

The Wigglian Way is produced by two Canadians – Sparrow and Mojo. This is a Wiccan podcast, and Mojo is all about promoting Pagan music. It‘s a rather humorous podcast, with lots of stoner humour I can relate to. Some may call it just dribble. The Wigglian Way is still an active podcast, with 113 episodes thus far.

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Burning of the Wicker Man at River & Willow’s

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The debt Christianity owes to Paganism by Peter Seekings To start with, we really have to go a long way back to the time of the Babylonian Empire. They had a fatalistic view of life which was born out of the study of astrology. This study of the stars which was so strong we still read about it in the daily newspaper. The other concept was that of a duel system of religion that is good and bad so there was always a ‗devil‘ around the corner waiting to take our soul to hell. This idea influenced the Jewish peoples and therefore also Ch ri st i an i ty w ith alarming effect.

Mithraism, a military inspired religion but not Jesus who told us to love one another. Strangely enough Mithras was not the top god of the religion that gave us its name. That place was reserved for Kronos – Time – the creator and destroyer of all things. Contributing to his renown were the Cross Keys of Heaven. When a person, which only applied to men, entered the religion, he was baptised with water and the solar cross burnt into his forehead. Thankfully only a cross of ash is placed onto the forehead of Christians.

Next we must skip along the time line to ancient Rome to the first century CE. Many new cults were finding a new home in this cosmopolitan city. The two we are interested in are Christianity and Mithraism. Both had come from the Middle East and ended up in contest for state recognition. As we all know Christianity won the contest, but in many ways lost because to achieve this end took on board a great deal of the aspects of Mithraism.

When Mithras finally completed his mission of putting humanity on the right path he collected his disciples together and had a ‗last supper‘ with bread marked with a cross and wine. He then descended to heaven in a chariot where he looked down upon the faithful and would eventually come again in a day of judgment. This then is the contribution handed down to us from the pagan world. Unfortunately the message that Jesus came to give humanity – we should love our neighbour as ourselves - was hardly ever adhered to.

Mithras is a Sun God, Jesus is the son of God. Mithras was born in a cave of virgin birth and the first people who came to see him and offer gifts were shepherds. He was born on the 25th of December and his special day was the seventh, Sunday. Christianity had as its main protagonist Paul of Tarsus, a hot bed of Mithraism. Paul tells us to put on the armour of God, a fitting tribute to

COMING SOON If you enjoyed this interesting brief about Mithraism – brace yourself for the following edition of The Ravens’ Call (Autumn/Winter #61) as Peter delves deep into the realm of Mithra...

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A Breathing Exercise

with Tim

I came up with this some time in the mid-to-late 90s. It's a short breathing exercise that's so complicated you can't help but achieve a meditative state once you complete it. Breaths should be taken to the stomach/ diaphragm, not the chest. Written out in full, it goes like this: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19.

Breathe in a bit (count to three while inhaling), hold for a count of three Breathe out a bit (count to three while exhaling), hold for a count of three Breathe in mostly (count to five while inhaling), hold for a count of five Breathe out mostly (count to five while exhaling), hold for a count of five Breathe in fully (count to eight while inhaling), hold for a count of eight Breathe out fully (count to eight while exhaling), hold for a count of eight Breathe in mostly (count to five while inhaling), hold for a count of five Breathe out mostly (count to five while exhaling), hold for a count of five Breathe in fully (count to eight while inhaling), hold for a count of eight Breathe out fully (count to eight while exhaling), hold for a count of eight Breathe in mostly (count to five while inhaling), hold for a count of five Breathe out mostly (count to five while exhaling), hold for a count of five Breathe in fully (count to eight while inhaling), hold for a count of eight Breathe out fully (count to eight while exhaling), hold for a count of eight Breathe in mostly (count to five while inhaling), hold for a count of five Breathe out mostly (count to five while exhaling), hold for a count of five Breathe in a bit (count to three while inhaling), hold for a count of three Breathe out a bit (count to three while exhaling), hold for a count of three Return to regular breathing

Frankly, the description is terrifying and makes it seem more difficult than it is, in which case the picture below may prove enlightening. Starting from the left, make your breath follow the path of the line to the right. When the line goes up, you breathe in. When the line goes down, you breathe out. The height (or depth) of the line indicates how far to breathe in (or out), and the central (starting and ending positions) represent regular breathing. Another way to look at it is the pattern 3, 5, 8, 5, 8, 5, 8, 5, 3. Or, just remember you start with 3, 5, end with 5, 3, and in the middle you've got three 8s separated by 5s. Assuming you've made it this far, you've now spent so much effort concentrating on 3s, 5s and 8s, that your mind should be otherwise utterly empty. Happy meditating! Tim

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We feel powerful tides ebb and flow in our emotions, our bodies, depending on the phases of the moon. We feel her push us and then tighten the pull. The energy of the moon is a personal journey...

Book Review Dance of the Moon by Dan Furst

understand and measure time. It is a fascinating story of the development of the human race in terms of how they interpreted what they saw in the heavens. It takes you on a 9000-year journey through time, starting in the Age of Cancer, when farmers first learned how to work the Earth for food, and finishing in the Age of Aquarius, when the supply of food and water are but one of the environmental emergencies facing life on Earth. Although the content is somewhat scientific, its use of charts, tables and diagrams enhance the text, making it suitable to those of literary and scientific backgrounds alike. This colourful story of the Earth tells us that our first concept of time involved the two great lights – Sun by day and Moon by night. Then, our only timepiece was our body; its calls for attention from our various organs for food, sleep and activity and our heartbeat, which gave us rhythm for music. Later, we started counting the number of Sun rises to a Moon cycle and correlating menstruation and childbirth with cycles of the Moon. Both Sun and Moon were worshipped, as it was recognised that each played a role in the flourishing of crops and the motions of life. They saw that one life-cycle of Earth from leafing in spring, through summer‘s harvest to the cold of winter was close to thirteen cycles of the Moon. A table is given which shows the names and corresponding modern calendar dates of the thirteen-month Celtic Tree Calendar, as well as the feast that was celebrated at this time.

―Dance of the Moon – Celebrating the Cycles of the Earth‖ is a non-fiction paperback of 285 pages, first published by Llewellyn Worldwide in 2009. It is both a fascinating chronology of timekeeping systems and an invaluable reference book for Pagans. I strongly recommend it to all who are searching for their own true nature in harmony with the greater world. The author, Dan Furst, is an internationally-respected astrology writer and an authority on spiritual practices and rituals used around the world. Dan now lives in Peru but can be found on his website: www.hermes3.net. Dance of the Moon is the history of how humans came to

When these Sun and Moon cycles were recorded over a long period, there came the need to include an intercalary month to bring the Moon cycles back in line with the seasons. This was later adjusted to the intercalary day of February 29th. As communities grew in size in the Taurean Age, timekeepers began to take more notice of the Sun and, by using observatories like Stonehenge, were able to measure time in years, providing the observers with a greater concept of history. A resume is given of the understandings of time held by the cultures of the Egyptians, Greeks, Mayans, Chinese, Vedics, Babylonians and many others. Each culture came to recognise the necessity to measure and predict the return of the Sun cycle and, thus, for the New Year to have a beginning

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date. Most civilisations began to make estimates of how long life had existed on Earth and to predict future doom. In about 1900 BCE, the priests of Mesopotamia and the Shang dynasty simultaneously recognised that the Sun, Moon and stars moved in a regular fashion. After much rigorous study, they were able to correlate these movements with events on Earth and, eventually, the art of astrology was split from the science of astronomy as a separate study. This book provides technical details of such astronomical occurrences as the Pole Stars Circle and the Precession of the Equinoxes for those who wish to know the ―why‖. By 200 BCE – the Age of Aries – the sun had taken over from the Moon and was the main instrument for the measure of time. A 12-month calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar. Chapters are dedicated to predictions made with the complex Mayan calendar and to explaining some interesting points about the highly spiritual Muslim calendar and its Holy Days. Of particular interest to modern pagans will be the chapter devoted to the evolution of Wicca, as pioneered by Gerald Gardner in the 1950s. This chapter shows how the Great Festival Calendar is formed by superimposing two holy-day cycles: the four Celtic-Druid mid-season feasts and the four Solar feasts, which results in the eight Sabbats, or rests. Gardner‘s movement accepted male deities but this evolved into a more feminist, goddess-centered ―Revisionist‖ Wiccan Movement by the mid-1960s and this barred all male deities as well as male participation. This chapter also explains the source of the names that Aiden Kelly chose for the eight Sabbats in the Pagan Wheel of the Year. His Sabbats are tabulated to show their zodiacal location and the corresponding Celtic Esbats. The difference between Druidry and Wiccan practice is delineated and the five points of Wiccan Belief are given. In all, this book ―Dance of the Moon‖ is an essential reference work for all who search for a great understanding of all that has been held sacred by peoples all over the world. John Dixon, 6 November 2012

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Tasmanian Pagan Alliance, Inc.

MOOTS Hobart Moot Report - January

Burnie Moot Report - December

At the January moot a planning session took place for 2013 and feedback was sought from attendees on what they‘d like to see occur. 5 new people attended who were all delightful and heavily participated. Questions and discussion were held after the planning session and excellent suggestions were made on recommended reading included below. Recommended Reading The Gate to Women‘s Country - Sherry Tepper Rebel without a Soul http://rebelwithoutasoul.wordpress.com/ Maybe Logic – Robert Anton Wilson Reality Tunnel – Timothy Leary Cosmic Trigger (trilogy) – Robert Anton Wilson -Karl

As is usual, the December Burnie Moot was held in the local RSL venue, and after some catching up with news over dinner we retired to the board room where I gave a talk on the history of Mythology, illustrated by a Power point presentation of some photos of Pagan sites in Scotland and Italy/Sicily taken on my recent trip. I structured the talk by first considering some of the various categories of myth: Creation, Hero, Myths of Eschatology (end times - ultimate destiny of humanity), Etiological Myths - study of causation etc. I then dealt with the Theories of Myth: which are mostly objective and look at Myths from the outside rather than take them at face value, they ask such questions as: Why did people tell stories like these?

Burnie Moot Report - November The dinner and chat time at the Burnie RSL was good as usual on the night of the November moot. After dinner, though, a special treat was in store for us. We were blessed with the company of Bev Chell, a Bowen Therapist from Burnie. The Bowen Technique is a globally recognised healing modality with offices and contacts in about twenty countries of the world. Bev explained that Bowen Therapy is a gentle form of body work in which very subtle moves performed over the muscles and connective tissue send messages deep into the body, retrieving cellular memory of a preferred, relaxed, balanced way of wellbeing. Bev energetically made a round of the table and attended to ailments of the seven moot attendees in turn. She was offered sore shoulders, neck injuries and broken fingers to work on. This was a tall order given the time restraints of the RSL room. Bev did three rounds of the table, leaving the requisite pause between applications of her hands to each body to provide time for the bodies to respond. There were claims of near-instant relief for some ailments and, although my broken finger was not straightened with this short, mild treatment, the rest of my body benefited from Bev‘s relaxed and cheerful manner and in the knowledge that such techniques are enthusiastically available from her clinic in Burnie. Bev left with our blessings for good health and many new customers. -John

What were they really trying to say or do by means of such tales? What can they mean for us? Can they help us understand ancient people? Can they help us understand ourselves? Some of the theories discussed in this context were those loosely categorised as: Euhemeric, Enlightenment, Functionalist and Structuralist. I also spoke at some length on Psychoanalytic theories of Myth, and the use that both Freud and Jung made of myth in developing their schools of thought – establishing some basic concepts that continue to have some influence today. I then dealt briefly with the Romantic Theories which have formed the basis for many of the ideas that underpin contemporary pagan/wiccan movements. A period that produced such significant works as Frazer‘s Golden Bough, The Celtic Twilight by Yeats, and Graves‘ White Goddess, and also influential movements such as the Cambridge Ritualists and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. To close, I talked about the Vedic system of understanding the nature of Deity, and also of some the contemporary debates relating to the question of using myth to justify present-day social agendas and that vexed question of ‗authenticity‘ in the Pagan movement.

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Burnie Moot Report - January

Launceston Moot Report - January

After the holiday season, the attendance at the January moot reached ten pagans – the highest seen for a year or so. As January is the peak season for flowering gardens, attendees were asked to relate stories of how they view their gardens. Most of us told stories of the pleasure derived from our plants and flowers, although, a couple of members with larger properties had this pleasure diminished by the rapid growth of thistle and mugwort at this time of year. There were complaints about possums nipping off azalea flowers and raspberries all ripening at the same time but, overall, it seems gardens provide each of us with a special form of joy and satisfaction, especially with daylight saving time providing longer evenings to partake in the peace of the garden.

On January 29th we had the first moot of the new 2013 year and it was informative and enjoyable as usual. We had a great turn out for the moot of over 20 people and everyone had a good time!

Some native gardens provide a haven for parrots, honeyeaters and wrens. Growers of edible varieties anxiously wait to see the fruits or vegetables of their labour. Others gardens are full of perfume from carnations and roses. Many people have lemon trees and the discussion soon went to recipes for lemon butter and ways to peel kiwi fruit. To me the most amazing garden was Mel‘s, which apparently has dozens of pots, each with a different species of mint plant. When you consider the enormous range of flavours and aromas that could be made from blending these, Mel‘s Sunday Tom Cruise would never have to taste the same two times running. Towards the end of the evening, Jo circulated a beautifully illustrated set of Earth Magic cards from her large collection. Each of us chose a card and many of these cards were seen to carry potent messages for us. -John

Prior to the discussions we did the regular raffle. Prizes were home made jams and smudge sticks (Thank you Brett!) and earrings (Thank you Kristel!) Lisa won the Nectarine jam and earrings! Chris won the Plum jam and Lavender smudge! Lily (and Mum Terri) won Marmalade and Sage smudge! We had a great discussion about different domestic and household traditions that people employ when they are moving house, cleaning, or just generally wanting positive energy in the household. The range of traditions discussed included but was not limited to Smudging indoors and out, Crystal placement and Crystal Grids, Creating intricate and... smelly... witch bottles, rock salt in the corners of rooms, even collecting toenail/hair clippings from family members and burying them! We discussed upcoming events such as the Living Goddess Workshop (February 17th) ran by Zahira and Jo. The exciting Lughnasadh Weekend in Forth - I even got to plug my Tree of Life medallion making workshop! The soon to be arranged Gede Palmer workshops in Hobart being arranged by Jess. Zahira spoke about her belly dance course she is running as well as the upcoming Goddess Conference. Our northern member Kristel spoke about the Aboriginal singer/songwriter Bob Wilson who will be doing a presentation about Aboriginal beliefs and a small musical interlude for our next moot on February 26th. More great presentations and topics to come in the future. If any members are interested in doing a brief presentation, or just have a topic they wish the group to discuss, please contact myself at the moot email. Newcomers are always welcome! There may be a change of Venue for upcoming moots, but February will be at Newstead Hotel - 160 Elphin Road Newstead TAS 7250, February 26th, 7:00PM

Thanks to Jo for speaking in Launceston in October about your inspiring overseas trip!

Please RSVP if possible to the Facebook event page or to northmoots@gmail.com

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Ravensâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; Call - Summer/Autumn 2013

Silver Broomstick Awards 2012

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We gathered together in the North and the South this year to celebrate our members and volunteers! Thank you to all who came along, and a huge thank you to Pagan Cider for their generous gift of Tasmanian Apple Cider for our Southern Picnic. Well done to all our winners, especially Avril for taking the Silver Broomstick Award, and Jeanette for her well deserved Life Membership. Silver Broomstick award for 2012 Maiden, Mother, Crone award Green Man award Wooden Spoon Up and Com’en Young’en

Avril Jan Greg Karl Dee

Lifetime Membership awarded to

Jeanette Gormley

Most Regular Moot Attendee Northwest (Burnie) – John Dixon North (Launceston) – Greg Williams South (Hobart) - Jan Walker

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On Raising Animals for Food I've always been a meat eater. Growing up, eating meat was just part of what we did, and I guess when I was a child I never really thought much about the ramifications of this. Later, I met vegetarians who were so specifically because they either didn't want animals to be mistreated, or didn't want them killed at all for human consumption. In my teens I glibly wrote off my meat eating with the line ―those [farmed] animals wouldn't have even existed if we weren't going to eat them‖. But somewhere along the line I realised that the conditions under which animals are kept for commercial food tend to be somewhere between appalling and horrific. This is part of the reason that my wife Morgan and I decided to keep chickens about ten years ago. We eat eggs (and chickens), but if you've ever done even the most cursory investigation of cage laid eggs, you'll know the hens have no quality of life at all. And roosters in that environment are killed on day one, after having gone to all the trouble of actually getting themselves out of that damn egg. This is just not right. Originally we kept chooks in suburban Melbourne. A suburban back yard has a definite maximum chicken population, and you can't keep roosters, which makes raising a flock for meat problematic, but you can certainly get a good supply of eggs from anywhere between two and half a dozen hens. They'll also help you out in the garden with your weeding, and they produce wonderful rich soil. Hay, compost, weeds, dirt, various kitchen scraps and chook manure is a magic combination. The eggs you get from real, honest, home grown chickens with the ability to roam around a bit and eat green food are astoundingly good. The yolks are bright golden-orange, not that pasty whitish yellow you get from the supermarket. When we moved to Tasmania a few years ago, we brought a couple of hens with us from Melbourne. As we'd moved to a rural area we were also able to get a rooster, which meant that suddenly all our eggs

were fertile. None of our hens had decided to go broody, so we hatched three lots of eggs in an incubator, and ended up with twelve more hens and (incredibly) about twenty roosters. Roosters, when they grow up together, don't tend to fight with each other too much, or at least much less so than if you were to introduce a couple of full grown roosters to each other. However, beyond a certain age, they realise that all those hens look rather attractive. One rooster jumping on a hen is all well and good, but half a dozen at once is pretty bad. So after a certain point we had to segregate the hens and Neo (the father and head rooster) from all the other roosters. Then the question became, what do we do with all these roosters? We couldn't in good conscience give them to people we didn't know were going to treat them right and let them free range. And part of the point of this whole endeavour was to provide us with meat, so one day it came time to kill our first chicken. We spent many hours discussing the ethics of this. One immediately obvious question was, having put ourselves in the position of having to kill an animal ourselves, could we go through with it? And if we couldn't go through with it, what would that mean? Surely the only ethical choice then would be to no longer eat meat. This is not to say that I believe everyone who eats meat needs to kill something in order for their meat eating to be ethical, but rather that if you are a position to kill an animal for food, but can't bring yourself to do it, you might have some soul-searching to do. It's interesting at this point to consider the general attitude of Western civilisation towards death. Most of our society seems to be heavily influenced by the Abrahamic religions, or tends towards secularism. In the former case, you live, you die, you go to heaven (or hell), but it's a one-time opportunity. Once you're gone, you ain't comin' back (with perhaps one or two messianic exceptions). For secular types it's even worse – once you're gone, you're gone. Is it any wonder that people with these perceptions fear death? And how does that fear of death translate to how the death of animals is

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perceived? If our life is our only existence, surely an animal's life is its only existence. How tragic then to take the life of another in service of our own? Thankfully we don't subscribe to any of those Abrahamic religions, nor do we grope in the empty spaces of secularism. As Pagans, we take a panentheistic view of the universe, that is to say that we see – or try to see – the divine in all things, and consider all things to be part of one great whole. If pressed, we would probably say we believe life is a manifestation of the universe trying to understand itself. Consequently life is the most sacred thing. Consuming another living creature, be it plant or animal, does not subtract from the sum of existence. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, merely transmuted. When we eat another living creature, that creature becomes part of us in a very real, immediate sense. From this perspective, killing and eating an animal is morally no different than killing and eating a plant. Given that life is sacred though, we see it as our solemn duty to give our animals (and plants) the best possible life we can, and the quickest, cleanest death. This leads, naturally, right back to that first chicken. The most humane means we could produce of slaughtering a chicken ourselves is a killing cone, that is to say a sheet of aluminium wrapped into a funnel shape, attached to a star picket and hammered into the ground. You catch the chicken and place it head down into the cone. The chicken's head comes out the bottom of the cone. You grasp the head, stretch the neck out, separate the feathers a bit, slit the throat and sever the head. The chicken is dead and bled out within moments, and there's no flapping around or undue torment. Frankly, the first time we did this, the whole experience seemed remarkably more stressful for us than for our dear departed chicken friend. Later, after plucking and gutting, and giving the liver, heart and kidneys to the cats, we had a roast. We wondered if we would feel bad (or possibly even nauseous, or have some other adverse reaction) eating this bird that we had raised and cared for, for six months. One thing struck me quite hard, and that is that I finally understood the saying of grace. My rejection of Abrahamic religion notwithstanding, I was brought up nominally Catholic, at least in my early years, and we were always made to say grace, which never meant a damn thing to me. It was just ―Dear Lord, thank you for the food, Amen‖, and then we ate. It was rote, and meaningless. But on that night, as we sat down, I felt compelled to stop and sit a moment and say grace. Not ―Thank you Lord‖, but simply ―Thank you chicken.‖ And that actually meant something. Oh! And the meat! Not that squishy jelly-like commercial texture. Not pasty white. This meat had colour! and texture! Because this chicken had been ranging free. Later, after the meal, we looked at each other and both felt, unexpectedly, a deep and abiding sense of satisfaction, because out of all the chickens we'd ever eaten, we knew with absolute certainty that this one had had a wonderful life, a quick clean death, and had become a part of us.

Tim

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Hello and thank you for reading my article. I love paganism, and I love parenting so the two ideas sit very well together in my mind. That said, like all things I can only give you my personal slant on what it has been like to raise children in a way that embraces my pagan values and beliefs. Now this idea of pagans raising kids is nothing new. I read a book about the local scout groups, which talked about the history of scouts. Apparently scouts had a meaning in more tribal communities and one story was about a Zulu tribe in which the boys, when they came of age, were painted in white and sent out to fend for themselves. The paint could not be washed off easily and any of the elders who spotted the young men were allowed to chastise and pull pranks on them. The idea was the kids learnt to hide, watch, practice and learn their tracking and survival skills. Now I am not suggesting we should kick our kids out of home at the age of 12 to live on the streets, but even here the practice makes sense to me. As our children get older why not put a few challenges in their way deliberately. Let them struggle and fail in private, let them suffer the wrath of other parents if they do something or make choices that impact on other people. Then when they have learnt and perfected their social (and looking after themselves) skills then they can come and impress us with what they have learnt. Another thing that we western parents can borrow from is games from other countries. Most of these folk games have a sense of nature to the children‘s awareness as they play. My son has a game on his computer called Mancala. It‘s an insanely simple game like angry birds, but in this game you have to move counters around a board, taking your opponents counters away from him while protecting your own. If you look this game up on the web it used to be a piece of wood with hollows dug out of it and the counters were stones. So if your lazy like me, grab an egg carton instead of carving wood, but you can still head out to the park. Get the kids to collect some counters; one can collect gum nuts the other stones. (Remind them to ask the trees and foot paths if they are happy to play with the kids) Then sit down in the ground somewhere and play under a tree or in the sunshine if it‘s a nice day. Kick your shoes of and let the dirt sift between your toes while you play. Is this pagan? Probably not, but it feels a lot more natural to me than clicking a mouse! My kids like the computer, but I believe they also like feeling the stones in their hands and almost always want to bring the stones home with them. So the next thing I think of is how do I impart to them my witchy theme? I like the image of the old English land scape, so I looked to the games that I thought might have come out of England. For inspiration think of the nursery rhymes such as ―Ride a cock horse to Bunbury cross to see an old lady on a white horse, rings on her fingers and bells on her toes‖ I wonder if the Hobby horse and the Hobbit from ‗Lord of the Rings‘ share the same historical derivation both being diminutive forms. I have yet to find a very young child who I cannot tempt with the idea of running around with a stick between their legs and a

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Ravens‘ Call - Summer/Autumn 2013 always wash their hands afterward.

cardboard head stuck to the top. Or a piggy back ride around the lounge room. My daughter had a horse head on a stick from Chicken Feed it was a soft head and if you pinched its ears it made the noise of a horse. (Actually it was a unicorn head) and she would hold it with one hand and in the other she had a parasol. My son got stuck with the card board head and he would run around with his power ranger sword. My daughter would ride out with me to a picnic while my son would joust with me on either side of the fence!

I recently gave a little talk about my love of story in relation to paganism. So it feels appropriate now to talk a little about story in terms of parenting. As a kid I hated poems. The first poem that captured my interest was the man from Snowy River. As I read I could almost feel the horses hooves pounding on the ground beneath me as I flow over fallen logs with my long leather stockman‘s clock trailing along behind me in the wind. Imagine my disappointment when the first poem my kids wanted me to keep re-reading them was ‗Sam I Am‘. But no matter, what first captures your childs‘ imagination is most important. Cuddle up close to them at bed time, or resting outside with your backs against a brick wall and keep going. Stories are a great way to pass on your pagan values. No matter what lesson you want to teach the children there is a story somewhere than can help you. My favourite stories for teaching moral values are Aesop‘s tales.

To this day my daughter still likes riding horses, my son has progressed and would much rather ride a dragon unfortunately. But how do I picture a pagan parent if I close my eyes? My image usually comes from third world or pre industrial countries. I imagine a Negro mother picking cotton in the fields of America, a sheet tied across her chest like a sling and a little baby cocooned inside, cooing gently as the mothers motion rocks the child to comfort as she goes about her work.

Then when they get a little older and you can keep them still for more than 10 minutes, introduce the traditional stories. Regale them with Persephone‘s journey to the underworld and back again, or if you‘re feeling more epic try the journeys of Ulysses and Jason and the Argonauts.

I had the great fortune to be able to take my children to work with me when I was on call. They got to see me setting up the cameras and helping elderly people gently up onto the beds. They met the nuns and got to pat the hospital therapy dog. It‘s not quite the harsh cotton fields but the chance for the children to see and feel close to their parents while they work. Seriously work places need to be much more family friendly than they are currently.

Or get on Google earth and fly to Egypt like Osiris and check out the pyramids, visit Anubis or Baste. Pull out some paper and pencils and draw a few cartouches of your own. Now I was all set to visit the Aztec and strap my kids to a table ready to sacrifice them to the sun gods but apparently you can‘t do this just before bedtime, because there is no sun according to my little boy. Now when discussing parenting and pagan rituals we have to consider that jolly fat man in red who punishes parents by taking their money and putting it into the hands of the consumerist society. Me personally I feel no need to paganize the Christian celebration because frankly Christmas has so much paganism woven through it that it feels more pagan than Christian to me. But if I really wanted to, and at times I do. I pick the middle of our winter, take my kids camping somewhere with lots of trees, light a camp fire when it gets dark and tell them about another old man called Odin with

My vision extends to Australia and aboriginal children; I picture the parents sending the kids down to the beach to dig up some turtle eggs and bringing them back to the camp fire to make pancakes. Ok maybe not pancakes, and while maybe I wouldn‘t ask my kids to eat turtle eggs in case they are endangered, but alternatively a friend of mine has a chook shed and at the back is a hutch which if you open the little letterbox door you can reach in a collect the eggs. The kids don‘t like doing this because the eggs are dirty, but I get them to do it anyway, they can

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the one eye, who I say travels around looking for his lost eye. I tell them how during his travels he has to pay for his lodging and board somehow, and everyone knows old men are good at making wooden toys. Now you might think that kids today with their ipod‘s and WII‘s would not be interested in handmade wooden toys. But here is one a friend of mine made for my son and I can tell you he spent hours tossing this thing into the stream and watching it go over the waterfall. Now we all know kids are not with us all the time. School takes up a big part of their lives and parents are not allowed in that place. My son already tells me to just wait, then he has to go play with his friends. But school often also teaches the kids things and when you get home and chat about their day you can add on to what they have learnt. Now you might have to go to the teachers to find out what they are learning first. Queries on my part to the kids often gets answered with grunts and the firm answer that they learn nothing and do nothing all day. But don‘t be fooled they are being taught something at school. When I was a kid the government agenda was to teach us about how badly we treated the aboriginal community, now the political agendas are more diverse and it is not uncommon for your children to know a lot more about environmentally friendly practices than they let on to you. So be prepared to find your-self being told to buy free range eggs so that the fox‘s don‘t get them! So what are some of the possible pit falls with pagan parenting? For one thing paganism is very hands on and interactive with kids so they bond closely but this also comes with a high responsibility. I do pagan things with my kids and they know the basics about it and love it, but I always tell them that I don‘t want them to choose a faith until they are older, I want them to learn about the other pathways to spirituality as each path has something good to teach the children just in different ways and they might find a path that fits them better. Then there is the innocent tendency for children to just tell everyone everything, and given we live in a predominantly Christian based society this can make them stand out, maybe exposing them to ridicule and bullying. To address this you can disguise your practices as plain every day events, teaching pagan lessons along the way. For example walking near the base of Mt Wellington and pointing out the red robins as they move down the mountain in winter to avoid the frost up the top. Or planting a vegetable garden and then getting the kids to use those vegetables in the kitchen to make yummy snacks. We have a yearly ritual. Every year we watch the black berry bushes beside the creek and when the berries are black we buy a small pot of local honey from the market and pick and dip till we are sick and my kids clothes are stained so bad they have to be soaked for months afterward to clean them up! Finally what about the future for my pagan parenting practices? I suspect when teenage hood starts and my kids start ducking under the window sill when I drive past their friends that anything I do is no longer going to be cool. But while pagan rituals at Yule will not be acceptable until they realise they can drink alcohol at the ritual feast afterward, I believe my pagan values of how to treat people nicely and that this treatment must extend to the animals, plants, and the very ground itself will continue to linger on in them till the very end. I also believe they will carry the memories of what I have done with them into their adult hood as gems they will look back on and be happy whenever they are feeling a little down. Already my son remembers with fondness every time we drive to Huonville, the sleeping dragon that lives under the southern outlet, a story his big sister made up for him years ago. Of course there is a big section on pagan parenting I know nothing about called teenage hood. I personally intend to hide in a bunker for those years and just wait out the storm, so you might have to ask some of the older and wiser crones about that one.

Sabian 22

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By Peter Seekings I first became interested in Mithraism through a chance remark by my Father. He was a man who had been involved in Spiritualism was well as Theosophy. He used to hold informal meetings at our house in Norwich when I was a teenager, I am now 65! Well after one of those meetings he was talking about an ancient Roman religion called Mithraism, the word somehow struck a cord in my consciousness. I had never heard of the term before, but I had to know more. Cycling down to the central library in Norwich I found a volume called ―The Fellow in the Cup‖ and become intrigued. From there I was led to another book called ―Puck of Pook‘s Hill‖ by Rudyard Kipling. This book written for younger people is about two children who by going around in a circle three times saying ‗By oak, ash and thorn‖ conjured Puck – a small version of Pan. He takes them to various places in History, one of them being Hadrian‘s wall across the top end of England. Accompanying this story is a song to Mithras which I learned by heart.

“Mithras the God of the Midnight, here where the great bull dies, looks on thy children in darkness, O take our sacrifice. Many roads thou hath fashioned, all of them lead to light, Mithras also soldier, teach us to die aright.”

On finishing the verse I opened the church doors and a huge power ball hit me in the chest. I staggered back. What was it I thought? But I‘m not going to stop now. I walked into the church and the atmosphere was heavy and almost physical. I got a little worried and suggested we say a little prayer then left. The little girl felt nothing, it was only I that had the experience. Perhaps there was a temple to Mithras built under the church and somehow I had opened a portal, I guess I will never know.

Now the story gets interesting. Just outside Norwich is the old Roman fort of Venta Icenorum which controlled the Iceni tribe after the insurrection of Boudicca in AD 61. The fort fascinated me and I often used to walk of cycle the three miles to get there. The site had previously been excavated and a gold cavalry helmet was found in the stream which becomes the River Yare. No one knows what became of the small community. The fort had to be reduced at one stage and soldiers from Germany were sent there, however nothing else is known. Inside the perimeter of the fort is a small church built of stone and flint probably scavenged from the Roman wall. I never bothered to look inside the church, until I took my wife‘s little sister to see it. I took her to see the fort and asked her if she would like to see inside. Walking up to the church, through the covered turnstile gate and along the gravel path with ancient gravestones on either side, I started to recite to myself the ‗Song to Mithras‘. At the last verse 23

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A HIGH MAGIC EXORCISM I‘d always believed that exorcism was the purview of Hollywood features, or the Roman Catholic Church, that is until I found myself in a circle of salt in a High Magic circle about to assist with the exorcism of my coven‘s High Priestess.

moved down towards the stone floor and met the glazed eyes of a lifeless, naked corpse strewn on the stones. I became aware of a presence behind me and as my view swung, around following the tail and then half the body of something that seemed reptilian. It moved and I withdrew from the vision.

A week earlier, she had caught a ride with me up country, halfway to an appointment she had with a friend of her partner‘s. As I waved to her as her bus pulled out to complete her journey, I had no idea what series of events would unfold upon her return.

As my eyes opened, I knew what the vision meant. I asked Roxanne what had happened. She told me that she had given the ill woman a treatment, laying hands on her and doing some energy healing. For some reason, she had not shielded herself or properly grounded herself as she usually did with such treatments. She described how she had felt something enter her body from that of the ill woman, cursing as she realised what had happened. While the other woman had felt progressively better soon after the treatment, her gratitude was small solace as she felt her temperature rise steadily. As I explained my vision, she nodded, thanked me and asked me to take her back home immediately.

Roxanne, the High Priestess, had agreed to travel to Kamloops in central British Columbia to treat an old friend of her partner Don. This friend had just returned from a trip to Central America where she had been touring ancient Mayan, Aztec and Toltec temple sites. She and her travelling companions had done some ritual within a chamber in a ruined temple structure. During the ritual, she had fainted and when she woke, she had felt fevered and quite ill. Upon returning home, she had contacted Don and they had decided that Roxanne should see what she could do.

We had phoned ahead and Roxanne‘s partner and Ron, a coven elder and high magician, were waiting for us at the couple‘s bookstore, Pagan‘s Book Place. Ron and Don had already prepared the large room at the back of the bookstore for a ritual. I walked down the long hallway to the back room expecting to be able to see Ron and Don‘s preparation, but then to withdraw back to the front of the bookstore to wait with the small group of friends who had gathered there. I was shocked when Don asked me to stay and Ron started to explain the high magic circle and the process he was planning to go through to remove the spirit that had entered Roxanne‘s body. I protested that I couldn‘t be of any help as I was new to the Craft and knew very little about high magic. They assured me that because I was the only

When Roxanne called me to come and pick her up from the bus station, she warned me that she had some strange news. A short time later, we sat across from one another at a restaurant. I asked her what had happened and she asked me to take her hand as she extended it across the table. As I took it, by reflex I recoiled: her hand was impossibly hot. Being familiar with the particular gifts of each of her coven members, she asked me to take her hand and tell me what I saw. I usually used my gift for psychometry with objects. As I resumed my grip on her hand and closed my eyes, a scene unfolded of a dark chamber and the thick scent of blood. My view

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one that had an idea of what the creature looked or felt like, they needed me to participate. I would be safe they explained as long as I didn‘t leave the protection of the magic circle demarcated by the circle of salt laid out on the floor. Reluctantly, I took up my position within the circle. About a metre away, Ron had laid out a triangle also in salt. Within the triangle was a chair where Roxanne took her place. Ron cast the circle, but this one designed to protect those who stood within it. Once the circle surrounded us, Ron began addressing the demon. Roxanne sat quietly in the chair. Other than being somewhat withdrawn, her behaviour since returning from her healing appointment hadn‘t been remarkable in any way, but about a half hour into the ritual, upon Ron‘s repeated demand for the demon‘s name, Roxanne – or the demon – began to respond evasively: questioning why Ron wanted ―their‖ name. I had been asked to contain Roxanne within an energy shield and when Ron gave a signal, I was to draw the demon away from Roxanne and out through the ceiling. I did this through visualising a whirlwind of fire spiralling around her. A chill raced down my spine as in response to one of the many demands from Ron for the demon to leave Roxanne‘s body, I saw a misty image of a reptilian face project a few centimetres from Roxanne‘s face. My familiar is a grey wolf. As a reflex, I took on the wolf to help give me courage as I knew I was experiencing something extraordinary. I don‘t know how much time passed as Ron continued to challenge the demon, demanding it to leave Roxanne‘s body. I sensed the energy reaching a crescendo and focused on my energy field. At the moment that Ron called now, I saw the whirlwind of fire widen and then something within being carried upward, the weight of the contents though caused the energy to wobble and lean towards the front of the building. At that exact moment, we heard a loud crash and the sound of breaking glass. Roxanne slumped forward with her eyes closed. Ron closed down the circle quickly and we ensured that Roxanne was alright, which she claimed to be. I left the backroom and went to the front of the bookstore. All the others who had been waiting there were out on the street. As I exited out the front door I could see that the large plate window of the store next door had shattered outward onto the sidewalk and street. As it was Sunday, there was no one in the store. As the window had shattered at the same moment as we had drawn the demon from Roxanne, it seemed that the window had blown out as the demon exited though it. While I‘ve had a number of experiences that have defied conventional explanation, I truly hope never to have another such as this! Mescal St. John

Next Issue AUTUMN/ WINTER 2013 25

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Autumn Equinox - 2013 - Camping Event Friday 22nd, Saturday 23rd & Sunday 23rd March Come and join us at Myrtle Park, as we relax into a no fuss camping weekend to celebrate the beginning of Autumn, a time of balance as the daylight and night time hours are equal. Myrtle Park sports a pretty bush landscape surrounded by a fresh water river. Showers and toilets are free and in good working order and a kiosk is open during the day. When: Friday 22 - Sunday 24th March Where: Myrtle Park, 25 minutes from Launceston on the A3 to Scottsdale Cost: $6 per family per night Site: Booked under ‗Mel Dolliver‘ Site 8 - sign in and pay at reception Bring: Camping gear, tent, chairs, cooking implements, clothing for all weather. Firewood, or a gold coin donation to contribute Meal to share at the Communal Feast on Saturday night More info: Check out our event Facebook page or email taspainc@gmail.com

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The Australian Goddess Conference October 18 – 20 2013

Come and enjoy a weekend of ceremony, ritual, storytelling, teaching, music, dance, workshops, creative play & festive feasting. The theme for 2013, the eighth annual conference is

The venue for this exciting conference is in a secluded location in the Sydney area. Situated among bushland, it’s the perfect location to complement this year’s Into the Wild theme. Onsite accommodation available. The Australian Goddess Conference is organised by the Goddess Association in Australia (GAIA Inc). This not-for-profit association is dedicated to supporting the growth of the Goddess community in Australia. To find out more about the Australian Goddess Conference and GAIA Inc, visit http://www.goddessassociation.com.au This site will be regularly updated as details become available.

To submit your event, contact Mel on melsteers76@yahoo.com The above events are submitted by our readers and are placed in good faith. They do not necessarily signify endorsement by the editor or members of the Tasmanian Pagan Alliance, Inc.

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A Witches Cauldron Purple House, Cooee, Tasmania Phone: Delaila on 0404 463 559

Firstly, for our members who may not know you or your business, can you please tell us what you do? We are Spiritual Healers, Teachers, readers—So all and many of these are covered—we do offer Hypnosis, Dream Analysis, Character Analysis, Readings, Relaxation Therapy‘s, Past Life and Present Life regressions, Healing and Chakra Attunements, and Balance, massage, natural facials, artificial nails, all services with Mind, Body and Spirit—Spiritual Counselling, Life Coaching.

Ravens‘ Call - Summer/Autumn 2013

Are there any upcoming events, workshops, specials or exciting things happening in your business that you would like to share with our membership? Most of our work is in Closed Circle, we do run Open Circle by invitation and we run practical workshop on the 1st Wednesday of each month that is open to the public. We also run Spiritual Boot Camps open and are one on one. A weekend Retreat—By the Lake—Ideal for those looking for the Soul Self or those already working the craft—A Spiritual Attunement, back to basics. And finally, how do members get in touch with you if they want to know more? Simply call Delaila on 0404 463 559 or catch us on Facebook—Witch in the Purple House. (Please note that no blocked numbers will be responded to). Thank you for answering our questions, and being a Tasmanian Pagan Alliance Friendly Business!

A Witches Cauldron

What inspired you to do this type of work? We don't consider our path as work but rather a service of a Spiritual nature—as we follow this path the inspiration to help those that need our help, leaving a sense of gratification in their development is the inspiration. Do you follow a particular pagan path? What lead you to following this spiritual way?

Purple House, Cooee TAS Spiritual Teachers, Healers, Readers Suburban Retreat of Spiritual Services Introducing the Ultimate Cleansing, Healing, Relaxation Therapies:

The Womb, The Reflection Room, Sweat Box, Hypnosis, Life-Coaching and much more…..

We are eclectic Witches following the path of the Ancient Ones and coming from an extremely religious background we take pride in our path-work that it is varied and wide.

$13.00 credit to members of TPA. Current card holders – on services only Also Available – Spiritual Bootcamp by the Lake

What do you enjoy most about your business?

Delaila 0404 463 559

We enjoy the satisfaction of the service within the healing aspect in one form or another.

ww.taspainc.com

Ravensâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; Call - Summer/Autumn 2013

TPA Friendly Businesses Pagan Marriage Celebrant Jan Walker Weddings, Handfastings, Vow Renewals, Commitments, Namings, Wiccanings Phone: 03 6266 3685 Mobile: 0400 006 828 Email: janwalker@skymesh.com.au www.wix.com/janwalker/janwalkercmc

Kindred Drums Mike & Cheryl Maddock Each drum is made slowly by hand, with a lot of love and attention to detail and each has its own sound and resonance so that it becomes part of its owner.

Phone: Email: Web:

Your home for legendary gifts and collectibles within Tasmania and beyond. If we havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t got it, Ned will try and source it for you!

(03) 6265 9405 cherylandmike@bigpond.com www.wix.com/mikemaddock/ kindred-drums

Open: Tue-Fri 9am to 2pm Saturday 9.30am to 1pm

Creators of quality hand poured candles made from 100% organic beeswax sourced locally right here in the Meander Valley, Tasmania. Custom orders welcome!

Books, Music, Clothes, Oracle Cards, Jewellery, Incense, and a whole heap of other cool stuff!

www.facebook.com/OtherworldCandles Email: OtherworldCandles@live.com.au

32 Emu Bay Road, Deloraine Living Goddess Learn about ancient Goddesses & explore practical ways to incorporate their qualities into your daily life. A different Goddess featured at each monthly workshop. Ph 0418 139 826 / 0437 366 711

Phone: 6362 4242