Mab of Dream

http://fsinfo.cs.uni-sb.de/~lynx/lyrics/index.php?artist=R.E.M&title=leave

Nothing could bring me closer.
Nothing could bring me near.
Where is the road I follow?
believing, leave.

It's under, under, under my feet.
The scene spread out there before me.
Better I go where the land touches sea.
There is my trust in what I believe.

That's what keeps me,
That's what keeps me,
That's what keeps me down,
to leave it, believe it,
leave it all behind.

Shifting the dream
nothing could bring me further from my old friend time
shifting the dream
charging the scene
I know where i marked the signs
Suffer the dreams of a world gone mad
I like it like that and I know it

I know it well, ugly and sweet
A temperament who said believe in his dream.

That's what keeps me,
That's what keeps me,
That's what keeps me down,
I set it on there lightly
I sent it off in an airplane
that never left the ground.

That's what keeps me,
That's what keeps me,
That's what keeps me down,
to leave it, believe it,
leave it all behind.

Lift me, lift me,
I attain my dream.
I lost myself, I lost them.
heartache calling me.
I lost my self in sorrow
I lost myself in pain.
I lost myself in gravity,
Memory, leave, leave.

That's what keeps me,
That's what keeps me,
That's what keeps me down,
to leave it, believe it,
leave it all behind.

That's what keeps me,
That's what keeps me,
That's what keeps me down,
to leave it, believe it,
leave it all behind.

Midnight hands, my eyes are still
I walk into the scene
Shoot myself in a different place
leavin', leave.

Leave, leave.
Leavin', leavin'

*blatantly nicked from BS Kate's blog*

You're A Prayer for Owen Meany!

by John Irving

Despite humble and perhaps literally small beginnings, you inspire
faith in almost everyone you know. You are an agent of higher powers, and you manifest
this fact in mysterious and loud ways. A sense of destiny pervades your every waking
moment, and you prepare with great detail for destiny fulfilled. When you speak, IT
SOUNDS LIKE THIS!


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Thursday 26th - Finish reading Tanya Luhrmann's thesis.

Friday 27th - Go to FT Kate's and re-learn how to relax.

Sat 28th - Go and pick Cabochon up, then pick Ian up, go to a Pagan fair in Edgbaston. Drop Cabochon off, pick Jim up, take Jim and Ian to FT Kate's house; play there overnight.

Sun 29th - Drive down to Hay-on-Wye with FT Kate, Ian and Jim.

Mon 1st - Try and get some of the notes made from Tanya Luhrmann's thesis, plus the religious approaches notes, written up; up-date the WG web-site with Ebony's weekly discussion.

Tues 2nd - Meet Dr Cunningham to discuss my dissertation; go to the Wolverhampton Moot.

Wed 3rd and Thurs 4th - try and work on the dissertation.

Fri 5th - Leave the Graduate School Office for the final time (unless I'm back after the year's secondment).

yours
Mab
xxxxx

Discovered that I'd forgotten about the Pg Society meet up last night. *cringe* I would have been in the library when they were all waiting for me in the Varsity.

I quite simply forgot.

yours
Mab
xxxxx

The absolute trouble with trying to work that little bit longer, to make up time, is that you have to contend with a) Forcing yourself out of a warm bed into a room like an ice-box, whilst dead on your feet because you're exhausted; and b) the Stafford Road. The upshot is that I get to work way past 9, which means that I'm working over anyway to make that up, so the only place I can make up the 2 and a half hours I owe them is to cut my dinner hour in half.

Ok, that's the way it has to be.

I'm also working bloody hard to ensure that my work is completely up-to-date - the regular duties aren't too bad, as they are up-to-date anyway, but the occasional ones... I want to leave my job in the knowledge that they have a level playing field to train my replacement on.

Left work at half 5, having pulled only about half an hour in, and went over to the library. Tanya Luhrmann's thesis has arrived, but it's restricted access and it's on film, so I had to borrow paper and pen for notes and then sit in there reading it.

I left the library at about 8, and drove home canting with Cabochon about the weekend. Arrived home to find my computer had no less than four Trojans in it, which my virus checkers (both AVG and Cleaner) had found. Whoever was in there had disabled Black Ice. I sorted those and with a clean computer, sat and ate my tea while sorting through e-mails.

I responded to Selena Fox and Raymond Buckland; e-mailed my supervisor, Mike Cunningham, and that was that MA wise. Other than that, I concentrated on the e-mails in my inbox, rather than groups. It was a case of having to - Yahoo is having a lover's tiff with Freeserve, so I only had 9 Witchgrove e-mails all night... considering that more like 109 had been posted...

Fell into bed exhausted at about 10 to 2am.

yours
Mab
xxxxx

http://www.lyrics007.com/R.E.M.%20Lyrics/Country%20Feedback%20Lyrics.html#

This flower is scorched
This film is on
On a maddening loop
These clothes
These clothes don't fit us right
I'm to blame
It's all the same
It's all the same

You come to me with a bone in your hand
You come to me with your hair curled tight
You come to me with positions
You come to me with excuses
Ducked out in a row
You wear me out
You wear me out

We've been through fake-a-breakdown
Self hurt
Plastics, collections
Self help, self pain,
EST, psychics, fuck all
I was central
I had control
I lost my head
I need this
I need this
A paper weight, junk garage
Winter rain, a honey pot
Crazy, all the lovers have been tagged
A hotline, a wanted add
It's crazy what you could've had
It's crazy what you could've had
It's crazy what you could've had
I need
I need this
It's crazy what you could've had
It's crazy what you could've had
I need
I need this
It's crazy what you could've had
It's crazy what you could've had
I need
I, I need this
It's crazy what you could've had
I need this
It's crazy what you could've had
It's crazy what you could've had
I need this
I, I need this
It's crazy what you could've had
It's crazy what you could've had

Around half 8 in the morning, I had a South African lady with a cup of tea in my face. Time to get up then. :-D

We sat at Lady Othilia's kitchen table making a list of where Lenny would like to go, with us then working out a plan of action; before scutting off up Stourbridge to find 'Harvest Moon' the New Age shop there. I picked up 'Pentacle' magazine, and that's about the entire of my MA work for that day! LOL

After stopping for something to eat, we drove through so much traffic to try and find St Jude's Church, Wolverhampton. Actually, I thought I knew precisely where it was, but I realized my mistake two seconds after parking outside St Luke's. Ok... So I drove us to St Phillip's, then St Bart's... none of those then. Neither LO or I could think of where St Jude's is, and I've tried my parents since - they haven't a clue either...

*drum roll*

It's the other side of Whitmore Reans, practically in Tettenhall:
St Jude's Church, Wolverhampton We'll know for next time...

From there, we drove across to Birchills and found a street where Lenny's gran had lived; before going to the Leather Museum. I really enjoyed that! Plus Lenny got to stitch some leather, just as her Mum and Gran had done before her.

We had to nip back to Bilston to let LO's children in the house after school, then it was back to Walsall to put Lenny on a train and wave her off. *wipes a little tear away*

I was only a couple of hours at Lady Othilia's then, before home and a billion e-mails. I was more on Operation Delete and Flag than anything, so they could be dealt with tomorrow; though I did up-date the Witchgrove web-site, with a blog for the Updates (page 1), Jeninia's weekly discussion (page 4) and some book reviews by Mike Gleason. The former took AGES, because I had to work out which tag controlled which action, so I could change it to our colour scheme. I'm buggered if I can get the stars on the background...

I was in bed by half 11, but with my nose in 'The Amber Spyglass' until well past midnight.

yours
Mab
xxxxx

Lenny was over here and I only had five hours flexi leave that I could take; however my boss is brilliant! She said that I could take them whenever, with a moment's notice. Then when I arrived with a cunning plan involving coming in for 2 and a half hours on Tuesday, then going again, she asked me if I thought I could make those hours up before I left work next week. Yes, if I work that bit harder. So she gave me the day off.

Monday, I worked my tits off right up until half 5, then scutted off to Bilston to meet Lady Othilia and Lenny. The former was feeling quite ill, so I took Lenny out alone to the Olde Leathern Bottel, in Wednesbury.



It was fantastic! Just walked in the door and there's Dave Ogden sitting there - the whole reason why Lenny had wanted to try that pub particularly was on the off-chance that Dave would be in there. As for me and him, it was like 2 years hadn't happened, he looked up and said,
"And here's our resident witch; how you doing, Jo?"

Then several hours fled as we played catch-up. Lenny enjoyed herself too, as the Olde Leathern Bottel is famous in Black Country geneaology circles. She was one of the ones having a cyber party (with all of the others in other countries), during the last Black Country meet up.

Lady Othilia was feeling a bit better when she came to pick us up. After a few cuppas and fags, Lenny went off to bed, while LO and I had a chat. We basically sorted out the entire period between the collapse of FCC and now and cemented our friendship again.

We crawled to bed at half 5 in the morning, but all was well with the world.

yours
Mab
xxxxx

Jonathan has lent me a book about writing up my dissertation, bless him!

Some tips:

1, Set deadlines - so you don't procrastinate too much and end up rushing at the end
2, Write regularly - as this forestalls the difficulty of starting again after a long break
3, Create a rhythm of Work - it's impossible to write effectively if you don't keep the momentum going
4, Write up a Session as Soon as it's Ready - so it and your ideas are fresh in your mind
5, Stop at a Point Where it is Easy to Resume Writing - so you build up momentum at first and tackle more difficult paragraphs then, rather than try to enter at a difficult paragraph
6, Leave Space for Revisions - write only one paragraph per sheet of A4 and only write on one side of A4...
Note from me: No, sod off, Indonesian rainforests
7, Publicize your Plans - You will need support from your family and friends, and their understanding in not inviting you to the pub or inciting you to watch television. 'The writers' problem is the inverse of the reformed drunkard's. The latter must never touch a drop; the former must always do his stint.' His?!

yours
Mab
xxxxx

Have I upset you, you haven't been in contact and you're ignoring me?

Mab - No, I've probably been sidetracked, busy, or I haven't even spotted your e-mail yet. If you've upset me, you'll know about it via the nasty confrontation I'll have with you.

I'm working full-time; I'm researching and writing an MA dissertation; I am working on the web-sites of 'Witchgrove', 'Live How You Listen', 'Pagan Headstone Campaign', 'Charles Arnold' and shortly, 'Lenny's Crafts', as well as contributing articles to 'Friends of the Heroes'; I am an Amnesty International Urgent Cases activist (roughly 3-5 letters per week); I am a moderator of several groups, including genealogical groups where I'm transcribing data; I have been working hard on the Pagan Headstone Campaign; teaching Tarot in two on-line classes; and still trying to keep in contact with my off-line friends. I also receive, on average, several hundred e-mails a day.

At the end of January, I was in Wales for four days; right now, I'm largely in Bilston for three days; and next weekend, I'll be in Brum, Brierley Hill and Wales for two days. I won't have e-mail access during these times.

Is it me who you were talking about, when you blogged that you were being made to feel guilty?

Mab - Have you confronted me about not paying attention to your project or otherwise tried to get me to drop what I was doing right now to look at your project? If so, yes. If not, no.

However, none of this is meant to make you feel bad. You can't possibly know all of the demands on my time and energy, and you naturally do feel that something that you are passionate about deserves attention. In that I do fully support you. :-D

Are you cracking up?

Mab - LOL Absolutely not. In fact, right now, in this time and place, I'm feeling on top of the World. Everything is going right and the future looks really beautiful. I'm attempting to keep it this way. ;-)

Are you resigning your MA? Are you using your MA as a weapon to make people feel guilty, in case they are the person who makes you resign?

Mab - I don't know. I swing between yes and no on that one, and my feelings change on the subject on an hourly basis.

As for the second question - if you think that for one minute, then you don't know me, you aren't a friend of mine and I quite frankly don't give a monkey's toss if your selfish, little ego is being bruised. Sorry, but I've lost all patience with that kind of paranoia meant to manipulate me into dropping everything to deal with your project.

I'm really sorry to bother you, but it was just one question and then I'll leave you be...

Mab - Oh! Cariad! {{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}} If you are still having trouble attracting my attention, may I suggest:

1, Wiccan/psychic phenomena/Paganism/demons in the fridge - Try Witchgrove and ask on there.

2, Problems with my subscription to your group - Try the owners e-mail address at the foot of the home-page. I'm never the only owner/mod on any group, so someone else will be able to help you out there.

3, You're a friend of mine trying to work out if I'm dead - Phone me!! :-D Try the mobile though. Alternatively, phone any of the Kates, Ian, Jim, Cerr, Georgia, Anna, Laura or e-mail Witchgrove. They tend to know distinctly.

I hope this clears everything up!

*grin*

yours
Mab
xxxxxx

I did mention that I am completely up and down with my views on completing this MA, didn't I?

The Stafford Road, at rush-hour, is a good place to think. So I produced this plan of how my dissertation COULD look, while in that traffic jam:

Introduction

Chapter one: Approaches to the Study of Religion for the Historian of Wicca

Chapter two: Esoteric v Exoteric, the Secrecy Oath and Co-Operation.

Chapter three: Examining Sources: What is Available to the Historian of Wicca and How Useful are They?

Chapter four: Groundwork - What Potentially Useful Sources are Missing?

Chapter five: A Methodology for the Historian Researching Wicca

Conclusion and Appendices

It was quite an amazing experience sitting in Lady Othilia's house with Lenny and Lady Kenco, as well as myself and Lady Othilia. We didn't touch upon the FFC, but I know it was in my mind.

At one point, I was being told off for not replying immediately to e-mails (in my defence, I was in Wales at the time and nowhere near a computer) and that led into a general 'you are always too busy to pay attention to me' (in stereo) rant from both Lady Othilia and Lenny. I felt myself becoming defensive and silent, then remembered that I had my Witchgrove vest-top on underneath my clothes. I'd put it on that morning for that very moment, when I'd feel guilty, defensive and simply wrong. I pictured Jeninia's triple moon and focussed on the Grove, where I feel none of those things. The conversation was interrupted, then resumed. Lenny said, 'Where were we? Oh! Yes! We were attacking Jo!' (She was very drunk by this point. *grin*) With the full weight of Witchgrove-induced confidence, I cut in with, 'Yes! But I still stand by my views on Tabasco Sauce.' (That incident was the final nail in the coffin of the FFC.)

Lady Othilia very quickly steered the conversation onto neutral territory at that point. Afterwards, when it was Lady Othilia and I alone, we sat down with a cuppa and a fag and had a more sensible conversation about it all. I think she understands more about what's going on and that it's my MA at threat from me.

There was another moment mid-way through when Lenny and I were alone. She became quite emotional and repeated back to me the first e-mailed conversation that we ever had. I was her first Pagan contact and now she's a Reiki Master, teaching herblore and aiming at achieving accreditation status for her pupils. She creates amazing crafts and sells them for her living, and, in short, she is an established witch in her own right. She thanked me emotionally for those early steps onto this path and for giving her the push to run with her dreams.

I think the position now is: Lady Othilia is keen for me to complete my MA, but also to stay in touch more. We really need to cant in more private circumstances to see where we are, methinks. Lenny probably won't remember any of last night, on account of having been introduced to Frosty Jack, when I don't think she's even encountered cider before, let alone bloody Frosty Jack! *tries not to smirk* We did tell her that that's her initation over, and she now a fully-fledged repatriated Black Country wench. ;-)

This is a weird place to be in, because half of the old Following Clouds Coven are about to meet up.

In the old days, we'd often muse on what it would be like to sit around Kate's kitchen table, in Bilston, just chatting; this was a reality for me, but for some of the Coven, it involved getting a plane from Africa or America.

Lenny's on her way now. And it'll be four out of the seven of us sitting around that table - a past dream come true. :-D

I wonder how it will be. Following Clouds sunk under the rubble of Sept 11th; and I was the second to leave. We've all grown a year or so older, into different people - at least I have. The Johnny who would have sat at that table before was crippled with paranoia and had no confidence. The Johnny who's going to meet them has the confidence to do so, I am a High Priestess in every sense of the word, and I am me, in the knowledge of me. Will I slip back or stand my own? Will either of those be on the cards? I don't know.

But I'm excited nontheless. :-D

yours
Mab
xxxxx

Our Karen is 30 on the 23rd, so we had a family party at her house last night. I'm suffering now (hangover), but I had a really great time. It's nice when all the family get together.

I did go from hard of hearing to practically deaf the second I walked in the house, but the more drunk folk got, the louder they became, so I was able to hear more as the night went on. One funny moment was when a lad was slagging off the Welsh, and I responded IN Welsh. He was just trying to get out of it, when our Paula walked into the middle of it and caught the tail end,

"Don't you knock the Welsh here!" She said, hands on hips, breasts in war mode. Then launched into a torrent of Welsh herself.

The poor lad had his hands up and is now under the impression that our entire family are fluent in Welsh. Paula and I had a brief 'conversation' in Welsh as well. The fact that it was simply nonsensical Welsh words strung together is neither here nor there, when our audience had no Welsh at all.

I really had a good laugh there and enjoyed myself so much!

Then came back and sent a load of drunken e-mails to the Grove. Some of them even make sense!

yours
Mab
xxxxx

Posted by: Mab / 10:54 am 0 comments

After all that earlier, the irresistable Georgia very gently and subtly spent an hour and a half sorting my head out. The result is that I've just written another 850 words. How the sweet proverbial she managed to get me into this mental zone from that mental zone, I'll never know, but I hope to be Georgia when I grow up.

This still has things to be altered and added, and it should still be considered that the 'end' here is actually about a quarter of the way through the dissertation.

yours
Mab
xxxxx

PS Thank you Dr Chryssides and Charles Arnold for your suggestions and discussions with me on this so far.

---

What Challenges Face the Historian in an Academic Study of Wicca?

Professor Ronald Hutton identified two major problems facing the historian in a study of Wicca, firstly, the origin of the religion, and secondly, were all pagan groups evolved from the same source? Before either of these questions can begin to be researched and debated, two other challenges to the Wiccan historian need to be addressed. Firstly, an adequate methodology, which can be formulized for the study of Wicca, needs to be agreed upon, in order that others may reproduce and critically examine the conclusions; and secondly, the overwhelming reliance upon primary evidence, as few academics have produced secondary sources to date.

It would appear that no scholar has previously formulated a methodology for, nor even debated approaches to, the study of Wicca. This fact is rendered unremarkable once applied to the wider context of studying religion. In 1959, Edwin R Goodenaugh, during his speech at the inaugural meeting of the American Society for the Study of Religion, stated that ‘we would do well to ask small questions until we have established a methodology we could all approve and use’. However, there is still no consensus in the academic world concerning the study of religion as a whole. Ursula King, in 1995, in her essay, Historical and Phenomenological Approaches, was still able to write,

‘The search for clearer concepts, definitions, and methods is still going on.’

It is against this wider context that a specific methodology for the study of Wiccan history will be discussed.

One difficulty inherent in conducting a scholarly study of Wicca is that it crosses the academic spectrum, therefore the researcher must understand various disciplines. It is a subject which, for those being studied, impacts upon every aspect of their lives. Wiccans view the world itself in a certain way, according to a personal understanding of their religion. This will have implications sociologically, psychologically and politically; it will inform not only how they live their lives, but also how they approach their employment or studies. Also, in Britain, witchcraft (and, by association, Wicca) was illegal until 1951 and has been subject to negative social pressures since, therefore a knowledge about law, criminology and the social effects of decriminalization could arguably be useful.

It should be noted that this is a difficulty faced in the study of any religion. Waardenburg, in his Classical Approaches to the Study of Religion, wrote that ‘the study of religion is less one particular discipline than a field of studies with a strongly interdisciplinary character’. He further warned that methodology varies according to discipline and therefore he doubted that any single theory could account for the multiplicity of approaches. In contemplating this in the context of a broader scope of religious research, King concluded that,

‘… an exaggerated insistence on more rigorous methodological requirements can result in an unproductive intellectual aridity and a lack of creative originality, if not to say insight, in interpreting religious phenomena.’

The question therefore must be raised whether a standardized methodology can be theoretically developed for a historian of Wicca, which, in itself, is an extremely narrow perspective to place upon the subject. To concentrate on one academic discipline alone may produce a snapshot perspective akin to judging the beliefs and practices of all Wiccans based on those of a single practitioner.

GL Simons, in his preface to The Witchcraft World (1974), stated that previous books about witchcraft had had a narrow outlook, as their writers wrote within their own discipline, while ‘various disciplines… indicate their relevance to an adequate study of witchcraft.’ Social historian, Ronald Hutton, expressed the same sentiments twenty-five years later, when he wrote:

‘(Witchcraft does not fit into) a religious model which scholars trained in traditional history, theology, sociology, and anthropology find easy to understand; which is why, although pagan witchcraft has had a prominent public profile in Britain for half a century, it has been much less studied than other religious movements which have appeared or arrived more recently.’

This challenge results in a situation where it is difficult to find texts of a suitable standard upon which to base one’s own research and where there are few academics who could critically review such a work afterwards.

There is a consideration for those researching a new religious movement, like Wicca, in that the scholar needs to be assured that their own academic credibility will not be harmed by this study. There are questions to ask of themselves, their peers and those with a vested interest in their reputation, ie their employers or publishers. Is this movement a ‘real’ religion deserving of scrutiny? Can it be studied objectively and is there access to enough, quality information about it? Academics may bring their own non-religious criteria into the research, for example, only affording a movement the status of being a ‘real’ religion if it has been academically studied before.

The academics who are willing to undertake a scholarly study of Wicca tend to be pagans, if not Wiccans, themselves. Prof Ronald Hutton (University of Bristol), Dr Vivianne Crowley (King’s College, London), Dr Jo Pearson (Cardiff University) and Dr Owen Davies (University of Hertfordshire) are all Pagans and all have produced studies of Wicca, paganism and/or witchcraft. Similiarly, those writing on the subject in a non-academic capacity are generally practicing Pagans, with the exception of those writing from the perspective of a religious doctrine which condemns witchcraft. This creates a natural ‘for or against’ polarity within the sources themselves. There are no obvious texts written by those with a prior perspective of relative objectivity, in the sense that their own spiritual or political ideology presupposes a judgment upon Wicca particularly, other than as simply another faith. Therefore, the current debate amongst theologists, about whether a religion is better researched by those within or without it, is relevant to the study of Wicca.

This situation also poses a challenge for the historian in that there are little or no secondary sources about Wicca from an ‘outsider’ perspective. This is akin to the studies done on the Baha’i religion which, though numerous, have almost all been written by Baha’i scholars. This could lead to the assumption, by those outside of the religion, that its scholars are adherring to subjective policy or tenets from within it, or, in some cases, might be ‘brainwashed’ and therefore unable to effectively enquire about issues concerning their own religious system.

The study of a religion for the historian is arguably more difficult than for those of other disciplines. The historian is not concerned with matters of theology or philosophy, but simply in how that religion came to be and its evolution to the state of that religion today. This point was made by King, about the theory and study of religion,

‘The historical… approach (is)… generally understood to be non-normative, that is to say, to describe and examine facts, whether historically or systematically, without judging them from a particular theological or philosophical standpoint.’

In short, it may be neither possible or desirable to be objective in the study of religion, yet this is precisely the expectation placed upon the historian; though the conclusions arising from these facts may be developed from a particular perspective, for example Marxism or Feminism.

However, as Robert Crawford warned, in What is Religion?, historians can easily miss the significance of any writing on the subject of the religion under scrutiny, as such writings are the subjective responses of believers. Historians tend to dismiss this subjectivity, seeing the work as part of ‘a progressive understanding by humanity’, rather than the understanding of one individual or sect; which is a standpoint which led Ursula King to ponder if objectivity misses the value of the facts. Both Jean Holm, in The Study of Religions, and Crawford suggest that a religion is best studied either by a practitioner of it or by extensive consultation with a wide selection of practitioners. Crawford warned that, for the non-believers, ‘judgment of value often occur’, which could lead to the academic missing the subjective reactions of the same source on believers. Holm wrote,

‘If we want to understand a religion we have to ask what a particular belief or practice, story or event, means to a believer, not what it means to us, and what better way is there to supplement our study of literature than by getting to know adherents of the religion?’

Clive Erricker was emphatic on the point that ‘the study of religion cannot be a purely objective enquiry but must take account of the researcher’s involvement in the subject itself.’

If, as would appear to be the case, the historian would benefit from a subjective understanding of the beliefs and practices of Wicca, in order to research its history, then should this subjectivity be confined to a single Tradition within Wicca? Just as questions might be asked about the perspective of a Protestant commenting upon the history of Catholicism, then similarly an Alexandrian debating Gardnerianism might lack the required insight, despite the shared roots of the two Traditions.

Vivianne Crowley identified five major Wiccan Traditions: Gardnerian (based on the teachings of Gerald Gardner); Alexandrian (based on the teachings of Alexander and Maxine Sanders); hereditary covens (Pagan traditions passed down through generations of a particular family); Traditional Witchcraft (based on the teachings of Robert Cochrane); and Dianic Wicca (feminist and singular amongst the British Traditions in that it originated in America). Arguably, if the requirement for better academic enquiry is for the historian to be Wiccan, then the same arguments would require the historian to confine their enquiry to sources within their own Tradition and conclusions based only upon that Tradition.

The greatest challenge to that restriction, at this point in time, would lie in the sources available; and would exclude utterly the other influences upon the sources and practitioners of the Tradition, throughout its growth, by other practicing Wiccans. Each Tradition has not grown in isolation to the others. They each have shared roots (though this is debated by the hereditary covens and adherents of Traditional Witchcraft), which are, at the earliest, only sixty years old. Therefore the respective schisms between these Traditions must be relatively recent and between people from a similar cultural background, and so would not generate an insurmountable lack of empathy. Furthermore, the shared common ground is greater than the differences once these schisms are scrutinized, for example, between Alexandrian and Gardnerian Wicca, as Crowley commented upon,

‘The two traditions use more or less the same ritual material and Alexandrian Wicca can be seen as a Gardnerian offshoot. The differences are more in the ritual style and outlook than anything else. Loosely speaking, the Gardnerians could be described as more ‘Low Church’ and the Alexandrians more ‘High Church’ and Alexandrian witches tend to be more interested in ritual magic than in folk Paganism.’

Nevertheless, Crowley felt it necessary to state that her own perspective was ‘a unification of the Gardnerian and Alexandrian traditions’, and that her work was confined to enquiries within these traditions.

Contrary to these considerations, Tanya Luhrmann, whilst researching Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft, explicitly stated that she consciously chose to ‘view phenomena as an academic and not as a witch’; though, as has already been shown, religious scholars have argued that that would be an impossible position to take. This is a factor which Wiccan High Priest and author, Charles Arnold, suggested is of lesser importance in the research of Wicca,

‘Such a position may be nearly impossible in religions where there are many generations of accrued culture and history into which the researcher is born. It must be noted that such a depth of culture is lacking in Wicca and the experience of acculturation is far shallower as well as being an adult conscious absorption in Wiccans.’

It may be concluded that, though a subjective understanding of a Wiccan Tradition might be beneficial to its academic study, it is not essential; nor is it necessary for an adherent of one Tradition to be considered without subjective insight into the beliefs and practices of another Wiccan Tradition, at this stage in the evolution of the religion as a whole.

Holm highlighted the fact that individual practitioners of a certain religion may not be representative of the whole, and also that how a religion is perceived may differ greatly in respect of the country and culture within which it is practiced. She used the example that Christianity may appear to be the same on paper, but is generally approached in very different ways in the West Indies and Britain; while also making the point that cross-cultural material and legends might mean different things to different Traditions, for example, how the Torah is treated by Judaism and Christianity respectively. King raised a similar point in regard to the phenomenological approach to studying religion, which she stated had identical challenges to that of the historical approach,

‘The methodological presuppositions of phenomenology imply several philosophical assumptions regarding the essence of religion and the nature of religious experience, too easily assumed to be the same in all people and places… No phenomenologist can ever deal with all phenomena and the particular ones chosen for investigation are often dealt with in isolation from the wider context necessary for their explanation.’

An important point might be made that if a phenomenologist approach, which is so similar to an historian’s approach, cannot be objective, can any? It might not be possible to develop a methodology which bypasses the limitations of the historical/phenomenological approach.

Dr George Chryssides challenged the view that such subjectivity is necessary at all, as it is not the purpose of the scholar to ‘adjudicate on questions of truth’ but ‘ascertain what (the) beliefs and practices actually (are)’. However, he was concerned with understanding the phenomena of a particular religion, rather than its historiography, though, as King noted, the two approaches face similar challenges. Chryssides criticized the existing approaches to studying new religious movements, which he identified as: i) the ‘Two Columns Approach’, which compares the doctrines of the new religion with those of an established religion, in order to prove the superiority of the latter; ii) the ‘Odd Points Approach’, which presents an assortment of tenets, beliefs or practices, without attempting to ascertain value or to connect them together, as if they provided a serious account or encapsulated the essence of the religion; iii) the ‘Lop-sided Approach’, which elevated sudden aspects of the religion, whilst ignoring others; and iv) the ‘Ex-member Approach’, which assumes ‘that their ex-members are the best custodians of knowledge regarding’ the religion in question, regardless of the length of time that they spent within it, or how great was their access to estorical information. Chryssides concluded his article by arguing that the challenges inherent in adopting the phenomenological approach, to studying new religious movements, are no different to those inherent in studying established religious movements.
Within the context of the present study, it may be debatable whether the Wicca of Britain, the United States of America, Canada and Australia may be considered the same. Though sharing common roots, each country has evolved its own hierarchy of Wiccan writers and ‘celebrities’, which would inform the national Wiccan practices.

How comparable these may be is subject to further research. The national schisms would face the same conditions as those already discussed in the context of the differences between Traditions, both in the relative recent history of the split and the fact that each is based upon the same primary sources. Therefore, in regard to ritual and belief, the Wicca of different countries should be expected to correspond as well as, say, the Wicca of different covens within the same Tradition, with any major differences explained simply as the influence of the personalities involved on a local level.

However, in the broader context of culture, the concerns of the practitioners may vary greatly in order to reflect the wider concerns of the population within their own country. An example would be that issues of secrecy may feature highly in the life-styles of those Wiccans practicing in countries subject to Sharia Law, whilst being of far greater consideration to British Wiccans practicing in a country where legislation has protected their religious rights. It should also be noted that Wicca has grown (and may have been conceived) within the age of mass communication. Literature crosses borders easily, as do practitioners and speakers. With the advent of the internet, mailing groups and chatrooms ensure that Wiccan ideologies are debated globally, with adherents influencing each other, regardless of national, or even Traditional, concerns. Without an international census of Wiccan concerns, it is impossible to judge how differently practitioners approach their belief systems and integrate them into their lives according to their national context.

Beyond questions of nationality, or adherence to a particular Order or Tradition, there is also the individual’s level of participation, ie the difference between the fanatic and those who simply consider themselves a practitioner of that religion. Dr Chryssides provided the analogy of a car’s driver and a mechanic examining the car. The driver knows how to drive it and applies the mental energy simply to do so, but is ignorant about the workings of the engine or how this car is mechanically operationing; however, the mechanic knows all of these things. Adherents of new religious movements have generally converted to the movement, rather than being raised within it, simply because of the fact of its newness; therefore they are usually ‘mechanics’ rather than ‘drivers’.

Another concern raised by Holm is that subtle changes can happen within religions, which might not be obvious to the outsider. An example within Wicca concerns the initiation ritual, as described by Arnold,

‘There are… seemingly small but, in fact, glaring differences between American and British Gardnerian Wicca. These changes came out of a fear, real or imagined, that there was a serious danger of sexual impropriety via initiatory practices in the US. As there was no such fear in Britain, such changes in the initiation were never made.’

This fact would not be obvious based on the literature on Wicca. Holm’s concern could also constitute an obstacle for academics treating the works of Gerald Gardner as the best source for all Wiccan beliefs, on the sole basis that these books were the first written, without consulting post-Gardnerian texts to ensure that points have neither been altered or updated.

An historian embarking upon a study of British Wicca will be presented with a wealth of primary sources and very few secondary sources of an academic standard. There is a sizable bibliography of studies undertaken in America, where scholars have researched and debated the subject since the early 1970s. However, until it can be asscertained what differences are engendered by national identity, American studies cannot be presumed to apply to the Wicca found elsewhere. Therefore, the first consideration in the source selection depends upon the nation under scrutiny.

A non-Wiccan studying Wicca must first understand the different Traditions and the major writers within those Traditions, before making their selection; which is a daunting prospect given the sheer volume of literature available on the subject. On the other hand a Wiccan researching Wicca may compromise impartiality in the source selection process. This may manifest in three ways:

Firstly, the exclusion of any sources which undermine the credibility of Wicca or its practitioners. For example, Simons raises some interesting points about methodology; however, the tone of his writing is antagonistic towards Wiccans throughout, overtly stating his contemptuous bias in his introduction and concluding his work with the statement that modern witches are ‘primitive’. A Wiccan attempting to create an intellectual piece of research may opt to exclude a source which blatantly questions this intellect.

Secondly, but interlinked with the first point, the exclusion of any sources which undermine the credibility of all the other sources and therefore the research itself. For example, Laurie Cabot provided an insight into the psychology and practice of Wicca, which might render the debate over the origins of the religion irrelevant. However, she did this in a book entitled Love Magic: The Way to Love Through Rituals, Spells and the Magical Life. This is obviously not an academic text, it is written for and marketed towards the young or vulnerable in society, and the very title would probably not recommend the source to non-Wiccan academics other than as primary evidence. From a Wiccan perspective, the author is well-known within the community, wherein she is generally not welcomed as a representative source; also, there is a large school of thought which would deem ‘love magic’ as contrary to Wiccan practice. Nevertheless, its exclusion would deprive a research into Wiccan origins of an alternative point of view.

Thirdly, as already discussed, Wicca is a generic term encapsulating many orders and traditions. While these traditions could be categorized into Gardnerian, Alexandrian, Traditional, Hereditary, Dianic and Other, within even these groupings, there are hundreds of greater and lesser traditions reflecting different beliefs. A direct analogy would be Christianity as a generic term encapsulating Catholicism, Protestantism, Eastern Orthodoxy and others. While the challenges inherent in research, for example, into Lutherian traditions conducted by a Catholic, might be understood, precisely the same challenges affect, for example, an adherent of Traditional Witchcraft studying Gardnerian Wicca. Further complicating this issue is the fact that animosity has existed in the past between some of the older traditions, and, in some cases, still does.

Wicca is a new religion, particularly in comparison with religions such as Judaism, Christianity or Islam, and the sources are written in modern European languages. This fact can lead the unwary researcher into assuming that all Wiccan literature can be read with perfect understanding, while adopting a modern perspective. It has already been argued that the recent nature of schisms within the Craft does not render lack of subjectivity for those in other Traditions; however, it has been found to be an obstacle for modern readers, in understanding the impact of literature, from the early days of Wiccan writing, on their contemporary readership. For example, Philip Heselton, in Wiccan Roots described the difficulty in summarizing a philosophy, which, he argued, informed Gardner in the revival of Wicca.

‘… popular awareness of esoteric matters has changed markedly in the 60 years or more since most of the pamphlets were written. Much of what one might call the esoteric teachings of the Order are now so much part of general thinking, certainly among the pagan and New Age communities of which I am familiar, that one finds it difficult to formulate in modern language what is being said let alone realise the impact which such teachings had on a variety of interested individuals.’

This could also serve as an example of how an important theological point, which may have influenced the course of Wicca’s development, might be missed as the objective historian concentrates on fact alone.

The difficulty of imparting meaning is better illustrated by the presence of the secrecy oath in Wiccan initiations.

Ian and I have had some great ideas for the fanzine; so it's quite close to becoming real. *happy dance*

yours
Mab
xxxxx

Ok, Georgia has run in with some solutions:

1, Walk away from the MA as a break, not forever, until I'm inspired again.

2, The job is giving people the choices. By not helping, I'm saying that 'this is your single, only way', but by helping, I'm saying, 'these are your options.'

3, People can't get their heads around how hard an MA is, or how much time is involved, because I make it look so easy. I present points which are already fully formed and which give no hint of the sheer volume of work behind each one.

4, If folk are trying to make me feel guilty, ask them, 'What is more important, my MA or your project?' Allow them only a choice, without letting them qualify it, or else the details will be manipulative.

She's good, isn't she?

yours
Mab
xxxxx

I lay in bed this morning thinking about the MA and decided that I was definitely going with it. I then thought about some of the things that I've considered and some of the books to dive into. I got out of bed quite into the idea of doing it.

Then found that the computer was in use - Mum doing her planning for Playgroup. She said she'd be half an hour, so I chilled instead. After half an hour, I was still a bit up for doing my MA, but it was starting to feel like a duty, rather than proper excitement. I sat at the computer and Mum came in and asked me to just look something up for her. I did and found it, while my e-mails were loading.

Charles Arnold has been through my dissertation so far and come up with some great ideas. I was about to go into my original and run with them or see how they fit against my ideas; then Mum asked me to look something else up for her.

20 mins later, and I was ready to check again, but she needed the phone line to make a quick call. While that was going on, I made the cardinal mistake of just checking the Witchgrove e-mails while I was waiting; and got into that then. I don't want to do MA research now. My mind isn't in it. I've learned with all of this that you need to be mentally there, with no interuptions, or else it stops becoming exciting and starts becoming something which erodes your spirit.

I gave it one last go. I came out of Witchgrove and went to make myself some dinner; thinking through the MA ideas to try and rekindle the spark that was there first thing this morning. Before I even started, my 'phone rang. Could I do a friend a favour?

Yes - because I want to; yes, because right now my spirit is saying 'Fuck the MA, I don't want anything to do with it'; and yes, because three times last week I was made to feel guilty (not by this person) by three different people for concentrating on job, Grove and MA, instead of something they would rather my attention was on.

But then I'm pulled in the opposite direction - my inbox right now reads like a Who's Who of Wiccan writers and pioneers globally. People who are in the Pagan encyclopaedias, so are recognized primary sources of information. If I reply to them, I'm working on my MA. If I don't, then I'm not. Is it worth working on it when it's dragging down so hard on my spirit? I promised myself before I even took this up again that the second it became a duty or the second I was reaching burn out, I would resign my MA.

How many times this week have I took it that little bit further beyond that point? I can't do this surrounded by people who aren't going to give me the space and emotional support. That's a simple fact. It's not their fault and it's not my fault, it just is. But if that's the case, what right have I got to work for P4P and therefore try to persuade people in precisely my situation to subject themselves to what I can't personally do? That's simple cruelty.

yours
Mab
xxxxx

and I've got:

'New Movements in Religious Education' edited by Ninian Smart and Donald Horder

'The Growth of Religious Diversity Traditions' edited by Gerald Parsons

'Beyond Phenomenology: Rethinking the Study of Religion' by Gavin Flood

'New Religious Movements' by Eileen Barker

and

'The Insider/Outsider Problem in the Study of Religion: A Reader' edited by Russell T McCutcheon

that's enough MA work for one day.

yours
Mab
xxxxx

In fact all of these are useful:

http://www.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/diskus/diskus_idx.html#57

Useful link:

DISKUS Vol. 6 (2000)
http://www.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/diskus

DEMARCATING THE FIELD: PAGANISM, WICCA AND WITCHCRAFT

Jo Pearson
Research Lecturer, Department of Religious Studies,
Faculty of Arts,
The Open University, UK

http://www.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/diskus/pearson.html

I've e-mailed Dr Pearson, from the Cardiff University.

Not only have Prof Hutton and Dr Chryssides told me that she would be a useful person to speak to about my dissertation, but I've now read her web-page.

I concur.

yours
Mab
xxxxx

... is made easier with this.

yours
Mab
xxxxx

New Model Army

THESE WORDS
(Sullivan) 1992

Through the years of decay we walk like tigers in cages
With each passing turn the smaller and smaller the circles
Every weapon and word legitimate now as protection
But these things should never be spoken
These things should never be spoken

I stand undefeated alone in the ring just pacing
The sweat and the blood dried on my hands all wasted
I'm shouting "come back and fight for I am the king"
But the lights are all out and the people are gone
We always burned brightest when no one was watching
Now I kiss the lines on your beautiful face
But these things should never be spoken
These things should never be spoken

And sometimes your hunger for life seems like desperation
And when I read about the world these days all I can feel is hatred
The fortune teller is closing her doors
She looked into the crystal and saw nothing at all
They're waiting round here for something to happen
They won't really want it when it rolls out to greet them
But these things should never be spoken
These things should never be spoken

Published by Attack Attack Music/Warner Chappell Music Ltd

Woke up this morning remembering enough of the conversation with George to actually make some notes about it, which was a great relief.

Yesterday my brain was fried completely - it's intellectually knackered, as opposed to physically or emotionally knackered, and coming out in weird ways. I burst into tears at the people leaving WG over the flaming, which is highly unusual for both me and the Grove, and blamed it on my attention being on my research. That's when I realized, for the millionth time, that I can't do WG and my MA simultaneously, but I'm not daft enough to make irreversible decisions on that in this state of mind.

Cerr and I canted; me feeling like the git from Hell, because she was trying to have this conversation while on a massive high. She's just found out the gender of her baby - a boy! Which has raised another round of congratulations in the Grove and led to one emotionally exhilarated, but knackered List-Mum.

I was trying to downplay what was happening my end, but she was having none of it. Still, it's all been put off until we can arrange a Mod meeting, which meant that she could go back to enjoying the moment without afretting on me making a decision as she doesn't want me to make. LOL (Plus it gives her time to work out her arguments. ;-) I know her game, oh yes... *grin*)

Me - I'm just going with the flow now. Anyone trying to make me feel guilty over not paying enough attention to their particular project, from now on, will automatically be added to my 'fuck off and die' list, until I can get myself a bit more chilled. I know that one evening on FT Kate's settee would do wonders, but it's getting one evening where her diary and my diary are simultaneously free.

As for the rest, it's been whittled down to WG and my research (except for Sunday/Mon/Tues with the Following Clouds people, and the weekend after meeting Cabochon, then FT Kate, Ian and Jim for playing. I need that.), planning for 'Live How you Listen', and an evening out with the PG Society.

My priorities:
First consideration is not getting to utter burn out.
Second is WG.
Third is MA.

The rest fall in afterwards.

Well, I actually met with Dr George Chryssides and had an hour long chat about what I'd written so far.

Now all I have to do is remember everything that was said and write it up. :-D

yours
Mab
xxxxx
- with a fried brain and burn out

GREATNESS!

Spank Bush!

yours
Mab
xxxxx

Draig Athar (aka Amy Rawson) asked me last week if I was ok with my fizzhog ending up on a gaming card. I told her that that was fine. Today I've actually seen it:

Periphery Cards - this is a pdf file, so you'll need Adobe to download it. Available from Rainy Day Paperback, in New York.

I think I'll have some seriously good credibility with my nephews over this one!

yours
Mab
xxxxx

I'm starting my new job a week earlier than expected, on March 8th. I spoke to one of my new colleagues on the 'phone and it sounds like it's going to be great there. :-D

But strangeness after that call. Something just hit me and carried on hitting me - you know how 'they' say that when you are at the point of death, your life flashes before you? It was akin to that, but focussing only on achievements and times when I'd really shone. I saw myself flying high and I saw all of the hard work paying off, all of the moments of brilliance practically blinding me.

It was a bizarre feeling and I still don't know how to react to it. It feels like crisis, but it isn't. It feels a little like madness, but nothing so dramatic. Since then (about five hours ago), I've felt like I need a good long chat with someone who won't judge me (though who could judge me anymore than I could?), who'll let me chainsmoke, drink cups of tea and just cry my eyes up. But those are the reactions to tragedy, and that's not where I am. I am seeing myself, brutally and honestly, and my position in life right now, but only the good things. It's with the same brutality that you normally see your bad side or painful memories, but at the other extreme.

Also, nothing settles. You know how, in depression, your mind might flit all over the place, but it's fundamentally tearing some wound of the soul to shreds? This isn't like that, but the absolute opposite. Memories present themselves and part of me smiles, nods and says, 'Well done, cariad,' while the rest of me spins out, reeling from it.

I think I know what that is - only recently, I felt that finally I had reached the Judgement card, in the tarot journey of my life. I could look at myself, at the good and the bad, with equal grace that I judge the good and bad in others. In short, I had accepted what I am; and I was known to myself, at this stage, right now, right here, as I am, I know myself.

So, this is the World. A strange and beautiful thing. There's nothing here that I can't cope with; there's nothing that I don't already have the natural defences to see through, to accept, to enjoy, to know, to survive, to love and to live. What can't I touch, which doesn't turn to gold? And what mental armoury have I got for that? None, as yet, but I'm only just here and there's a lot to learn. It'll come. Then another Journey will begin.

I always imagined that the World state was simply a moment of glory at the end. I wasn't prepared for this. I didn't know that the World card is a learning curve all on its own. Now I know why the Fool sits on the hill and watches the world spinning round and round and round.

I wrote this, with Beethoven's 'Moonlit Sonata' going over in my head:

Can I breathe now?

Exhale.

Do I exhale now?

Exhale.

There... I exhale the breath that I've been holding

For decades; with my life unfolding

Into a stream of steady successes -

And I'm not too sure how to express this,

But I think I've begun

to fly too close to the sun.

Afterwards, I meant to go to the library and to study. There's several more shelves of religious academia to pillage. Though I made it to the library, I didn't study - not like that. I wandered ('I promise to go wandering...') and I covered every floor. I can't remember thinking much. I wasn't going over things and it felt like I floated. There are four floors to the University library and I meandered through them all, just looking.

On the fourth floor, I leaned over the balcony, at the great glass wall, and looked out over Wolverhampton. High enough up to see a fair chunk of the city, with the lights and the rush hour, and the darkness. I could only see one star, and it burnt so brightly that only staring at it for a long time convinced me that it wasn't an aeroplane. Venus? The north star? It was a proper pentagram looking star, whatever it was.

On the third floor, I found some music books and, still with 'Moonlight Sonata' in my head, I looked at the Beethoven books. I don't mean that I read them, I mean that I looked at them on the shelves. Beethoven is very close to Barrett, isn't it? 'B' and all that. With a slight shock, I suddenly saw Syd looking at me. They have three copies of 'Lost in the Woods' in there, which probably means that some class studies him. I wish I knew which one.

But there I was, staring at Syd and 'Moonlight Sonata' changed into:

'Isn't it good to be lost in the woods?

Isn't it bad, so quiet there?

In the woods...'

On the third repetition, it was as if I switched myself back on. I found myself fully aware of where I was and who I was and that it was a bit stupid to even think of studying. According to my clock on my phone, I had wandered around in that utter daze for nearly two hours.

And I was gagging for a fag.

I'm not sure what to make of all of that, just that Syd came and got me out of it again! (Thanks Syd and Ludwig for having surnames both beginning with 'B' and thank you Brianne for putting Beethoven into my mind in the first place).

I guess I'll find out as I explore my new state of mind, in the days/months/years to come. The great and powerful adventure goes on.

yours
Mab
xxxxx

*candle lit*

Andrew DuVall has just died of a brain tumour. I'm not sure precisely how old he was, but my guess is 28 - I knew his elder brother, Adrian, better.

May the Lady guard and guide you in your passage.

yours
Mab
xxxxx

Don't get too excited. *smirk*

Dr George Chryssides challenged the view that such subjectivity is necessary at all, as it is not the purpose of the scholar to ‘adjudicate on questions of truth’ but ‘ascertain what (the) beliefs and practices actually (are)’. However, he was concerned with understanding the phenomena of a particular religion, rather than its historiography, though, as King noted, the two approaches face similar challenges. *insert Chryssides arguments*

---

However, I did tat around with the order slightly, so the essay so far flows a bit better.

yours
Mab
xxxxx

It is a case though, that as much as I'm enjoying the voyage of discovery with this MA, I can't physically crowbar the time necessary to do it into my life.

The two biggies are Witchgrove and the Pagan Headstone Campaign (the latter of which has suffered big-time since I'm using the time I used to apply to that to do MA research instead).

It's a struggle anyway to do both and the rest of my life. I'm worried that it'll come down to an eventual choice between Witchgrove and my MA, and WG won that one last time it came to it.

We'll see where the Path leads me.

yours
Mab
xxxxx

George has sent me a copy of the article which he produced for the 'Journal of Beliefs and Values', with the above title. It's a very interesting piece, arguing for the phenomenological approach to studying new religions, mainly on the basis that what's good enough for studying old religions is good enough to study new religions. He then rips into the usual approaches taken to study NRMs.

The really funny thing was that I was reading the article outside the building, leaning up the wall with a fag on. Someone nearly walked into me, so I moved my fag out of the way and didn't look up, completely absorbed in the article. Then a flash of colour caught my eye and I looked up. Yes, it had been George who'd nearly walked into me. (He still doesn't know what I look like...)

I carried on reading the article. I've got a meeting with him on Thursday, so I can discuss my thoughts on the subject then.

yours
Mab
xxxxx

... but I have ordered Tanya Luhrmann's thesis on ritual magic in the present day, which was one of the first (the first?) academic study of Wicca in Britain (as opposed to witchcraft or Paganism per se).

And arranged that meeting with George Chryssides; and I've been in e-mail contact with a lot of the people I'll actually be writing about.

yours
Mab
xxxxx

... it's like chatting to yourself in your own little world. It's fairly unlikely that anyone is actually reading it, unless I specifically tell someone there's something there they could do with reading, so I can just waffle on.

I keep sitting here thinking, 'Oh! What can I write in my blog?' I could tell myself that I've got a story up in this week's Friends of the Heroes (pseudonym Matilda Mother there) and I've had several there before (Matti's Archives).

I could mention that my inbox is fairly empty, which makes a massive change. I could tell myself that I have a new job, doing something which feels worthwhile, and a starting date of March 15th. That means I'm into the countdown.

Oh well, enough waffling, back to read 'The Amber Spyglass' by Philip Pulman, which is bloody fantastic. :-D

yours
Mab
xxxxx

Witchgrove, George Chryssides and Mike Cunningham (the latter is my academic supervisor) have all seen the below draft now. It's the first 3000 words and tapers off at the end ready for either another 2000 words or another 18,000, depending on whether this is my project or my dissertation:

Professor Ronald Hutton identified two major problems facing the historian in a
study of Wicca, firstly, the origin of the religion, and secondly, were all
pagan groups evolved from the same source?[1] Before either of these questions
can begin to be researched and debated, two other challenges to the Wiccan
historian need to be addressed. Firstly, an adequate methodology, which can be
formulized for the study of Wicca, needs to be agreed upon, in order that others
may reproduce and critically examine the conclusions; and secondly, the
overwhelming reliance upon primary evidence, as few academics have produced
secondary sources to date.



It would appear that no scholar has previously formulated a methodology for, nor
even debated approaches to, the study of Wicca. This fact is rendered
unremarkable once applied to the wider context of studying religion. In 1959,
Edwin R Goodenaugh, during his speech at the inaugual meeting fo the American
Society for the Study of Religion, stated that 'we would do well to ask small
questions until we have established a methodology we could all approve and use'.
However, there is still no consensus in the academic world concerning the study
of religion as a whole.[2] Ursula King, in 1995, in her essay, Historical and
Phenomenological Approaches, was still able to write,



'The search for clearer concepts, definitions, and methods is still
going on.'[3]



It is against this wider context that a specific methodology for the study of
Wiccan history will be discussed.



One difficulty inherent in conducting a scholarly study of witchcraft is that it
crosses the academic spectrum, therefore the researcher must understand various
disiplines. It is a subject which, for those being studied, impacts upon every
aspect of their lives. Wiccans view the world itself in a certain way,
according to a personal understanding of their religion. This will have
implications sociologically, psychologically and politically; it will inform not
only how they live their lives, but also how they approach their employment or
studies. Also, witchcraft, in any form, was illegal until 1951 and has been
subject to negative social pressures since, therefore a knowledge about law,
criminology and the social effects of decriminalization could arguably be
useful.



It should be noted that this is a difficulty faced in the study of any religion.
Waardenburg, in his Classical Approaches to the Study of Religion, wrote that
'the study of religion is less one particular discipline than a field of studies
with a strongly interdisciplinary character'.[4] He further warned that
methodology varies according to discipline and therefore he doubted that any
single theory could account for the multiplicity of approaches.[5] In
contemplating this in the context of a broader scope of religious research, King
concluded that,



'. an exaggerated insistence on more rigorous methodological
requirements can result in an unproductive intellectual aridity and a lack of
creative originality, if not to say insight, in interpreting religious
phenomena.'[6]



The question therefore must be raised whether a standard methodology can be
theoretically developed for a historian of Wicca, which, in itself, is an
extremely narrow prospective to place upon the subject. To concentrate on one
academic discipline alone may produce a snapshot perspective akin to judging the
beliefs and practices of all Wiccans based on those of a single practitioner.



GL Simons, in his preface to The Witchcraft World, highlighted this problem,
stating that previous books about witchcraft had had a narrow outlook, as their
writers wrote within their own disipline, while 'various disciplines. indicate
their relevance to an adequate study of witchcraft.'[7] Social historian,
Ronald Hutton, expressed the same sentiments, when he wrote:



'(Witchcraft does not fit into) a religious model which scholars
trained in traditional history, theology, sociology, and anthropology find easy
to understand; which is why, although pagan witchcraft has had a prominent
public profile in Britain for half a century, it has been much less studied than
other religious movements which have appeared or arrived more recently.'[8]



This challenge results in a situation where it is difficult to find texts of a
suitable standard upon which to base one's own research and where there are few
academics who could critically review such a work afterwards.



The academics who are willing to undertake a scholarly study of Wicca tend to be
pagans, if not Wiccans, themselves. Prof Ronald Hutton (University of
Bristol), Dr Vivianne Crowley (King's College, London) and Dr Owen Davies
(University of Hertfordshire) are all Pagans and all have produced studies of
witchcraft.[9] Similiarly, those writing on the subject in a non-academic
capacity are generally practicing Pagans, with the exception of those writing
from the perspective of a religious doctrine which condemns witchcraft. This
creates a natural 'for or against' polarity within the sources themselves. There
are no obvious texts written by those with a prior perspective of relative
objectivity, in the sense that their own spiritual or political ideology
presupposes a judgement upon Wicca particularly, other than as simply another
faith. Therefore, the current debate amongst theologists, about whether a
religion is better researched by those within or without it, is relevant to the
study of Wicca.



The study of a religion for the historian is perhaps more difficult than for
those of other disciplines. The historian is not concerned with matters of
theology or philosophy, but simply in how that religion came to be and its
evolution to the state of that religion today. This point was made by King,
about the theory and study of religion,



'The historical. approach (is). generally understood to be
non-normative, that is to say, to describe and examine facts, whether
historically or systematically, without judging them from a particular
theological or philosophical standpoint.'[10]



In short, the historian is expected to be objective about the facts, though the
conclusions arising from these facts may be developed from a particular
perspective, for example Marxism or Feminism.



However, as Robert Crawford warned, in What is Religion?, historians can easily
miss the significance of any writing on the subject of the religion under
scrutiny, as such writings are the subjective responses of believers.
Historians tend to dismiss this subjectivity, seeing the work as part of 'a
progressive understanding by humanity', rather than the understanding of one
individual or sect;[11] which is a standpoint which led Ursula King to ponder if
objectivity misses the value of the facts.[12] Both Jean Holm, in The Study of
Religions, and Crawford suggest that a religion is best studied either by a
practitioner of it or by extensive consultation with a wide selection of
practitioners. Crawford warned that, for the non-believers, 'judgement of value
often occur', which could lead to the academic missing the subjective reactions
of the same source on believers.[13] Holm wrote,



'If we want to understand a religion we have to ask what a
particular belief or practice, story or event, means to a believer, not what it
means to us, and what better way is there to supplement our study of literature
than by getting to know adherents of the religion?'[14]



Clive Erricker was emphatic on the point that 'the study of religion cannot be a
purely objective enquiry but must take account of the researcher's involvement
in the subject itself.'[15]



If, as seems to be the case, the historian would benefit from a subjective
understanding of the beliefs and practices of Wicca, in order to adequately
research its history, then should this subjectivity be confined to a single
Tradition within Wicca? Just as questions might be asked about the
perspective of a Protestant commenting upon the history of Catholicism, then
similarly an Alexandrian debating Gardnerianism might lack the required insight,
despite their shared roots.



Vivianne Crowley identified five major Wiccan Traditions: Gardnerian (based on
the teachings of Gerald Gardner); Alexandrian (based on the teachings of
Alexander and Maxine Sanders); hereditary covens (Pagan traditions passed down
through generations of a particular family); Traditional Witchcraft (based on
the teachings of Robert Cochrane); and Dianic Wicca (feminist and singular
amongst the British Traditions in that it originated in America).[16] Arguably,
if the requirement for better academic enquiry is for the historian to be
Wiccan, then the same arguments would require the historian to confine their
enquiry to sources within their own Tradition and conclusions based only upon
that Tradition.



The greatest challenge to that restriction, at this point in time, would lie in
the sources available; and would exclude utterly the other influences upon the
sources and practitioners of the Tradition, throughout its growth, by other
practicing Wiccans. Each Tradition has not grown in isolation to the others.
They each have shared roots (though this is debated by the hereditary covens and
adherents of Traditional Witchcraft) and shared primary sources, which are, at
the earliest, only sixty years old. Therefore the respective schisms between
these Traditions must be relatively recent and between people from a similar
cultural background, and so would not generate an insurmountable lack of
empathy. Furthermore, the shared common ground is greater than the differences
once these schisms are scrutinized, for example, between Alexandrian and
Gardnerian Wicca, as Crowley commented upon,



'The two traditions use more or less the same ritual material and
Alexandrian Wicca can be seen as a Gardnerian offshoot. The differences are
more in the ritual style and outlook than anything else. Loosely speaking, the
Gardnerians could be described as more 'Low Church' and the Alexandrians more
'High Church' and Alexandrian witches tend to be more interested in ritual magic
than in folk Paganism.'[17]



Nevertheless, Crowley felt it necessary to state that her own perspective was 'a
unification of the Gardnerian and Alexandrian traditions', and that her work was
confined to enquiries within these traditions.[18]



Contrary to these considerations, Tanya Luhrmann, whilst researching Persuasions
of the Witch's Craft, explicitly stated that she consciously chose to 'view
phenomena as an academic and not as a witch';[19] though, as has already been
shown, religious scholars have argued that that would be an impossible position
to take. It may be concluded that, though a subjective understanding of a
Wiccan Tradition would be beneficial to its academic study, it is not necessary
for an adherent of one Tradition to be considered without subjective insight
into the beliefs and practices of another Wiccan Tradition, at this stage in the
evolution of the religion as a whole.



Holm highlighted the fact that individual practitioners of a certain religion
may not be representative of the whole,[20] and also that how a religion is
perceived may differ greatly in respect of the country and culture within which
it is practiced. She used the example that Christianity may appear to be the
same on paper, but is generally approached in very different ways in the West
Indies and Britain;[21] while also making the point that cross-cultural
material and legends might mean different things to different Traditions, for
example, how the Torah/Old Testament is treated by Judaism and Christianity
respectively.[22] King raised a similar point in regard to the phenomenological
approach to studying religion, which she stated had identical challenges to that
of the historical approach,



'The methodological presuppositions of phenomenology imply several
philosophical assumptions regarding the essence of religion and the nature of
relgious experience, too easily assumed to be the same in all people and places.
No phenomenologist can ever deal with all phenomena and the particular ones
chosen for investigation are often dealt with in isolation from the wider
context necessary for their explanation.'[23]



Within the context of the present study, it may be debatable whether the Wicca
of Britain, the United States of America, Canada and Australia[24] may be
considered the same. Though sharing common roots, each country has evolved its
own hierarchy of Wiccan writers and 'celebrities', which would inform the
national Wiccan practices.



How comparable these may be is subject to further research. The national
schisms would face the same conditions as those already discussed in the context
of the differences between Traditions, both in the relative recent history of
the split and the fact that each is based upon the same primary sources.
Therefore, in regard to ritual and belief, the Wicca of different countries
should be expected to correspond as well as, say, the Wicca of different covens
within the same Tradition, with any major differences explained simply as the
influence of the personalities involved on a local level.



However, in the broader context of culture, the concerns of the practitioners
may vary greatly in order to reflect the wider concerns of the population within
their own country. An example would be that issues of secrecy may factor highly
in the life-styles of those Wiccans practicing in countries subject to Sharia
Law, whilst being of far greater consideration to British Wiccans practicing in
a country where legislation has protected their religious rights. It should
also be noted that Wicca has grown (and may have been conceived) within the age
of mass communication. Literature crosses borders easily, as do practitioners
and speakers. With the advent of the internet, mailing groups and chatrooms
ensure that Wiccan ideologies are debated globally, with adherents influencing
each other, regardless of national, or even Traditional, concerns. Without an
international census of Wiccan concerns, it is impossible to judge how
differently practitioners approach their belief systems and integrate them into
their lives according to their national context.



Another concern raised by Holm is that subtle changes can happen within
religions, which might not be obvious to the outsider. For example, between
1962-1965, Pope John XXIII issued an edict wherein Catholics had to have a
positive attitude towards other Christian and non-Christian religions.
Non-Catholics might have missed this fact and therefore continue to treat
pre-1960s Catholic writings, which lambasted other religions, as indicative of
post-1960s Catholicism.[25] This too could constitute an obstacle for academics
treating the works of Gerald Gardner as the best source for all Wiccan beliefs,
on the sole basis that these books were the first written, without consulting
post-Gardnerian texts to ensure that points have neither been altered or
updated.



An historian embarking upon a study of British Wicca will be presented with a
wealth of primary sources and very few secondary sources of an academic
standard. There is a sizable bibliography of studies undertaken in America,
where scholars have researched and debated the subject since the early
1970s.[26] However, until it can be asscertained what differences are
engendered by national identity, American studies cannot be presumed to apply to
the Wicca found elsewhere. Therefore, the first consideration in the source
selection depends upon the nation under scrutiny.



A non-Wiccan studying Wicca must first understand the different Traditions and
the major writers within those Traditions, before making their selection; which
is a daunting prospect given the sheer volume of literature available on the
subject. On the other hand a Wiccan researching Wicca may compromise
impartiality in the source selection process. This may manifest in three ways:




Firstly, the exclusion of any sources which undermine the credibility of Wicca
or its practitioners. For example, Simons raises some interesting points about
methodology; however, the tone of his writing is antagonistic towards Wiccans
throughout, overtly stating his contemptive bias in his introduction[27] and
concluding his work with the statement that modern witches are 'primitive'.[28]
A Wiccan attempting to create an intellectual piece of research may opt to
exclude a source which blatantly questions this intellect.



Secondly, but interlinked with the first point, the exclusion of any sources
which undermine the credibility of all the other sources and therefore the
research itself. For example, Laurie Cabot provided an insight into the
psychology and practice of Wicca, which might render the debate over the origins
of the religion irrelevant.[29] However, she did this in a book entitled Love
Magic: The Way to Love Through Rituals, Spells and the Magical Life.[30] This
is obviously not an academic text, it is written for and marketed towards the
young or vunerable in society, and the very title would probably not recommend
the source to non-Wiccan academics. From a Wiccan perspective, the author is
well-known within the community, wherein she is generally not welcomed as a
representative source; also, there is a large school of thought which would
deem 'love magic' as contrary to religious practice. Nevertheless, its
exclusion would deprive a research into Wiccan origins of an alternative point
of view.



Thirdly, as already discussed, Wicca is a generic term encapsulating many
traditions. While these traditions could be categorized into Gardnerian,
Alexandrian, Traditional, Hereditary, Dianic and Other, within even these
groupings, there are hundreds of greater and lesser traditions reflecting
different beliefs. A direct analogy would be Christianity as a generic term
encapsulating Catholicism, Protestantism, Evangelism and others. While the
challenges inherent in research, for example, into Lutherian traditions
conducted by a Catholic, might be understood, precisely the same challenges
affect, for example, an adherent of Traditional Witchcraft studying Gardnerian
Wicca. Further complicating this issue is the fact that animosity has existed in
the past between some of the older traditions, and, in some cases, still does.




Wicca is a new religion, particularly in comparison with religions such as Islam
or Judaism. This fact can lead the unwary researcher into assuming that all
Wiccan literature can be read with perfect understanding, while adopting a
modern perspective. It has already been argued that the recent nature of
schisms within the Craft does not render lack of subjectivity for those in other
Traditions; however, it has been found to be an obstacle for modern readers, in
understanding the impact of literature, from the early days of Wiccan writing,
on their contemporary readership. For example, Philip Heselton, in Wiccan Roots
described the difficulty in summarizing a philosophy, which, he argued, informed
Gardner in the revival of Wicca.



'. popular awareness of esoteric matters has changed markedly in
the 60 years or more since most of the pamphlets were written. Much of what one
might call the esoteric teachings of the Order are now so much part of general
thinking, certainly among the pagan and New Age communities of which I am
familiar, that one finds it difficult to formulate in modern language what is
being said let alone realise the impact which such teachings had on a variety of
interested individuals.'[31]



This could also serve as an example of how an important theological point, which
may have influenced the course of Wicca's development, might be missed as the
objective historian concentrates on fact alone.



The difficulty of imparting meaning is better illustrated by the presense of the
secrecy oath in Wiccan initiations.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] Ronald Hutton, 'The Triumph of the Moon', pg 287.

[2] U King, 'Historical and Phenomenological Approaches', pgs 46-47

[3] Ibid, pg 54

[4] U King, 'Historical and Phenomenological Approaches', pg 55

[5] Ibid, pg 55

[6] Ibid, pg 157

[7] GL Simons, 'The Witchcraft World', pg 7

[8] Ronald Hutton, 'The Triumph of the Moon', pg 416.

[9] I am also a Wiccan, initiated into the Alexandrian Tradition.

[10] U King, 'Historical and Phenomenological Approaches' pg 54

[11] R Crawford, 'What is Religion' pg 10

[12] U King, 'Historical and Phenomenological Approaches' pg 53

[13] R Crawford, 'What is Religion' pg 10

[14] J Holm, 'The Study of Religions' pg 39

[15] C Erricker, 'Phenomenological Approaches' pg 75

[16] V Crowley, 'Wicca: The Old Religion in the New Age' pgs 20-21

[17] V Crowley, 'Wicca: The Old Religion in the New Age' pg 20

[18] Ibid pg 20

[19] R Hutton, 'Triumph of the Moon' pg 375

[20] J Holm, 'The Study of Religions' pg 40

[21] Ibid, pg 72

[22] J Holm, 'The Study of Religions' pgs 64-66

[23] U King, 'Historical and Phenomenological Approaches' pg 53

[24] These nations have the greatest Wiccan presense, though Wicca is found in
countries throughout the world.

[25] J Holm, 'The Study of Religions' pgs 73-74

[26] R Hutton, 'Triumph of the Moon' pg 374

[27] GL Simons, 'The Witchcraft World', pg 10-11

[28] GL Simons, 'The Witchcraft World', pg 219

[29] By emphasizing the fact that Wicca is an intensely personal Mystery
Religion, wherein the practitioners create their own 'rules', it would follow
that the religion is re-invented constantly by each individual practitioner.
This would suggest that Gardner could not have invented it, but neither did he
not invent it. It is a theological philosophy which might be explored
elsewhere.

[30] Laurie Cabot, with Tom Cowan, 'Love Magic', pg xiii

[31] Philip Heselton, 'Wiccan Roots' pg 59

I've arranged a meeting with George Chryssides, an academic with about a billion publications and books, in the field of religious studies.

He's also well known for his work with new religions, so I won't have to explain what Wicca is before we even start.

:-D

yours
Mab
xxxxx

How much fun is THIS! Thanks Bookshop Kate for putting me onto it!

That picture, btw, was created by Amy Rawson, whose art can be found here

yours
Mab
xxxxx

I try to do html in here.

Like links to Witchgrove

Or a picture of me as the Morrighan:



Experimenting away.

yours
Mab
xxxxx

Today I was a good girl. I dusted off my notes and sat and wrote about 2000 words to add to the 1000 that I wrote about 100 years ago. The grand tally is a whooping 3036 words. :-D

This is for the methodology project, or, as it's called on the essay 'What challenges face the historian of Wicca?'

I even know what I'm going to write next, which is a bonus. Whether I've nearly finished or not depends upon whether this is my project (5,000 words) or my dissertation (20,000), however, I think it's the former.

I think that the other one, which is trying to determine the roots of modern Wicca, is likely to be the dissertation, as I have far more information and lots more ideas for it. Also, I've had one person offer to put me in touch with the Wiccan pioneers in America; another put me in touch with a knowledgable academic in Canada; and yet another put me in touch with the pioneer in Australia. Not bad, eh?

In between, I've finished reading 'The Subtle Knife' and was stunned at the end of the penultimate chapter when a bad thing happened. (I won't spoil it for those who haven't read it) I've also watched quite a bit of the 'Two Towers' DVD documentary.

But more excitingly, I got to cant with Colette, Brianne, Cerr, Georgia and nearly Corey, off Witchgrove, in the chat-room for an hour and half, before Yahoo fell out with me.

*happy dance*

yours
Mab
xxxxx

This is my new blog thingie to prove I'm doing some research.

*looks around*

Bit posh, innit?

yours
Mab
xxxx