"Witchcraft is a journey into the depths of one's mind and spirit...... Starrfire" Site Last Updated April 28, 2003 "Rise up, Witches, throw off your masks And cease crying guilt for ancient crimes; Earth and all her children need us, For ALL face now the Burning Times." L. A. Hussey Controversial Subjects I have pondered on many subjects and such that I see in our modern day practices and to be honest I am quite confused by some of the practices. I posed some controversial issues to My Yahoo Group in order to help pose issues and possibly shed some light on the truth verses the haze. This section is not meant to be offensive yet it is meant to help others possibly gain a deeper understanding of certain areas within The Craft. Below you will find my actual posts that were given to the group. The Rede a Closer Look Blessings, I see the that the subject of "The Rede" is coming up especially within the post relating to Prayer in the schools. Since this is a discussion group let's touch a bit on some controversy; shall we. The Rede is a great "rule" to go by; it basically follows the verse we have all heard "do unto others". Yet today, the Rede has been very much used to create a feeling that people can not defend themselves, eat meat, speak their mind, practice certain spells or have anger. I am sorry I do not think The Rede was ever intended in this manner. I feel the need to be very honest here; if any of you know me you must know my "truthful, blunt" charm...lol I have a controversial chapter in my book that talks about The Rede and Magick; in specific what is the guideline for harm. I see harm as involving an innocent persons physical or mental well being (the key word being innocent). Now before everyone jumps me let me explain. The Rede is basically telling people to act in a responsible manner not doing simply because we can. With power comes responsibility. Yet there are times when you must act. I will give you a simplistic example both in the physical aspect as well the magickal aspect. Physical Harm: If you were out driving your car and you saw someone standing in the road pointing a gun at a child. What would you do? Well I know what I would do, probably run the gun handling person down. Would this be wrong? I think not because I know without a doubt that the child is innocent at the hand of the irresponsible adult. I would react if placed in this type of a situation. In this scenario I may have caused harm yet it was used to protect a child who is not capable of protecting themselves. Do I think Karma is going to "come after me" - Goddess no. If my family were in danger of physical or mental (spell) harm I would protect their well being without ever questioning my actions. That is my role as a responsible adult and parent. I do not agree with certain concepts pertaining to the ever growing norm of "love and light". There are situations that can arise where I find all of this to be a bit absurd. If you are a follower of this concept and that is what makes you happy then so be it. Yet being human and having the protective mother side as I do I find that if I was faced with certain situations that would cause pain to my family or friends I would absolutely stop it without ever questioning my actions. Magickal: Well this is basically the same as above. Sometimes in our magickal life we run into bad situations and irresponsible practitioners. People who do simply because they can. I have been faced with problems involving the ever so stupid and popular "Witch War". When faced with type of situation sometimes the act has already been done so we are left to fix the situation. Any time we reverse someone else's "nasty gram spell" we are inflicting harm upon that person especially if they threw a real ugly one on you. I believe we (reversing their spell) are the karma in that situation. This I believe strongly. These types of situations are not discussed often because of the controversy. I believe the Rede is a nice rule but it is not meant that we are to be left as defenseless dogs in a world filled with both good and bad people. So harm can be viewed from different aspects entirely. I see harm as involving an innocent person's mental or physical condition. I also view harm as allowing a situation or event to occur without stopping it. If we render ourselves powerless to act in the place of an innocent person what good are we. I believe being a witch comes with a responsibility as well of being a protector of the innocent. I have met people who take the Rede above and beyond the realm of reasonable and that is why I am bringing this subject into light. I make no excuses for my beliefs and I am human. If my family or friends were harmed by a careless spell toting Witch, Wiccan, VooDoo practitioner etc. I would handle the situation without question. I hope this didn't offend anyone too badly. Just food for thought can't wait to hear from you all. Please don't slam me too hard.....lol I'm just being honest here..... Blessings to you and your family... Blessed Be-Starrfire A follow-up Post on The Above (The Rede) I agree. I am just quite frankly a bit tired of it being thrown completely out of context. I mean we instinctually know right from wrong. If I hit someone I know I am going to hurt them; thus I don't just do it for the heck of it.... It's common sense!! I have been slammed in the past for my views on The Rede. I have never made any bones about how I felt regarding doing what must be done in certain circumstances. I have more so than not - watched people shout "Oh No" you can't do that because it goes against the Rede. I mean these people honestly believe I should just lay down and let someone walk all over me because I might harm them by standing up and taking action. I mean it is pardon the term just getting a bit too stupid. I just think the whole harm thing has been blown so far out of proportion. I have honestly heard people saying things like send that child murderer "white light and love".... I'm just sitting there speechless like ..Ah excuse me.... This type of stuff just gets under my skin... I mean don't get me wrong; I know we're human and we all screw up at times. Yet I just think people forget that we are part of nature and nature is beautiful yet it can be vengeful as well. Last time I checked our religion wasn't Christian where we believed in the score keeper in the sky waiting for us to do something wrong terrified that we are going to go to Karma Hell if we practice The Craft. Sorry a little venting there..... I'll just shut up now before I say too much.... Sometimes silence is better - lol.... I am really sorry if this offends anyone. I am a bit passionate about some things. If I offended anyone please accept my apologies. Blessings Friend- Starrfire Coming out of The Broom Closet - Point of View not too much controversy Blessings Shawnee, Good topic.... I came out of The Broom Closet many years ago and have been happy ever since!!! I appeared on an ABC Special last year at the opening of the latest Harry Potter Movie. I was very concerned when I agreed to do this because even though many know me through my web site, I was still very concerned about the impact it would have allowing "everyone" to see me...poof hi I'm a Witch!!! on TV. Anyway, I did the interview and made positive that I was dressed nicely (not like some freaking weirdo billboard)I was happy and spoke intelligently. I tossed all of the what ifs to the wind. I felt like if I did not do it who would they get? One of those fruit cakes that they dredge up quite often- the self-professed Witch type.... The Goddess spoke to me and told me that I needed to be heard in the public. I did the interview and had a blast!! When I returned home I was expecting a cross to be burning on my lawn and my email box to be full of hate mail. I WAS WRONG!!! I received hundreds of emails; from both Pagans and Christians - nice emails. People were shocked that they saw a blonde haired, blue eyed - normal person who called them self a witch. People were honestly thrown back as if "they had no idea" we were "normal". I believe coming out in this manner was a very positive move. I believe a lot of the stereotyping that goes along with being a Witch is because there are so many people out there that dress like a "walking corpse" and spout out "I'm a Witch". It really does not help us out any. I believe that through our actions and appearances people can grow to understand us. I do not view Witchcraft as being a Walking Billboard; that is all attention getting methods and looking like something in particular has nothing to do with it. I wear a pentacle and I also have a tattoo of a pentacle on my left shoulder. During the summertime when I wear summer tops & swim suits I get looks of anger at times but more so than not I meet people who feel that I am "a safe place" for discussion. I suppose I have always felt that if someone does not like me because of my religion then they probably are not someone I would want to associate with anyway. I am a happy person and I believe my spiritual happiness shines from the inside out. I have a chapter in my book titled "Flying out of The Broom Closet". It talks about what to expect and such with advice. I never allowed my father to know what I was; not because I was ashamed yet because he was a Christian and I knew it would hurt him. I simply did not want him to worry about me going to "hell" everyday. I believe in silence of our beliefs if it will really effect or hurt someone who cares about us. Otherwise, I just use my judgment with people I do not know. Sorry it was so long.... Blessings to you and your family. BB-Starrfire Satanists (My original Post) How do you feel about Satanist groups? I believe that many of them are quite misunderstood in the public eye just as we as Witches have been for so many centuries. Looking forward to your comments... Blessed Be- Starrfire A follow-up form another member- Re: Satanists Starrfire said that some Satanists don't worship the Christian Devil. If that's true, then where did they get their name from? Why don't those who don't worship Satan create their own religion? It's been done before. My Follow-up to the above: Blessings, To be honest with you; I think they accepted what they were called because they were anti-Christian. The name is only a name. I kind of applaud them for not really caring what someone thought about them. I suppose they think that if a person cares to know about them; they will ask or research it. Blessings to you. Blessed Be, Starrfire Another follow-up to the above - Satanism Blessings- I have a chapter in my book on Witchcraft & Satanism. I researched about the subject and spoke to Satanists. To my surprise most of them don't even acknowledge a belief in Satan as in The Christian Concept. When I spoke with a Satanist about hell he stated that they do not believe in the existence of hell, that hell is a creation and belief of mainstream religions (sound familiar).... I also found that they consider sacrifice a cowardly act and furthermore stated that this type of activity is not accepting of their beliefs. Let's be honest here; how many web sites and books have we seen that profess to have a now "Christian" conformed from witchcraft speaking of our beliefs supporting the facts that we sacrifice animals and people. Do we? No, and yet this is what has been said of us for ages. I just think they have gotten a bad wrap just like Witchcraft..... I found them to be quite intelligent people and very nice as well. That is my opinion. Looking forward to more input.... BB- Starrfire The Modern Movement - Magickal Tools and Beliefs I am so glad that you brought this into the discussion. Bravo!! I am not a Wiccan and have never professed as such. I am just a Witch plain and simple. I agree with the concept. Goddess you are going to get me off on one of my long thingys...lol Witchcraft is about NATURE!!! All of this modern stuff has in my opinion gotten so far off the beaten track that I really don't know what to call it anymore. Everything is about what tradition you belong to, or how many do dads you have on your altar or who initiated you... Blah, Blah, Blah.... None of that stuff has anything to do with it. It is about working with and understanding the infamous amount of power and energy within our universe and it is about being close to The Great Ones. It isn't glamorous as such... I dig in the yard, plant herbs, feed the birds and step outside each night when the moon is shining and appreciate the beauty that has been given to me. That is what it is about. I am not big on long drawn out ritual or elaborations. I don't need a particular stone or a certain oil to do spell work. I can do it with myself and nothing more if need be. I believe we live in a "formalized" society - people need structure and formalities; yet I am just not one of those people. I like using certain things when doing spell work ie: music, candles & incense. It helps me get to where I need to be but it is not necessary. This I think is being forgotten. Too many "pretty things" are considered a requirement and that is just not what its about. Nature supplies us with everything we need and I think people should get back to the basics. Below is from a chapter within my book I believe it relates: "The dark is simply the dark and the light is simply the light. Magick is Magick; the effects of the magick depend upon the person working the spell and not the side of light or dark that they choose to use. There are positive and negatives within both the light and dark planes of existence. I believe the dark side is still a victim of the persecution times. I believe the modern day society and many of the modern day Pagan practices are not helping to bring the truth into the eyes of people. Instead they are making it appear that the dark is evil; in which it is not. We must remember where the concept of evil came from and I can assure you it was not from our ancient Pagan ancestors. Many modern day teachings are attempting to sugar coat the beliefs into some fluffed up concept with no real focus upon the actual ancient beliefs of our Pagan ancestors. Instead they are attempting to cast forth many made up concepts which quite often have no emphasis on the balanced truth that resides within the true realm of The Great Gods and Goddesses." another area- "Harmful magick does not come from the side we use; it comes from the person casting the spell. I could use the light side of magick to create harm just as quickly as I could the dark. That is the truth." another part- "My calling is to bring understanding into a world that is filled with non-understanding people. We can not allow the beliefs of our ancient ancestors to be rebuilt and twisted into something they were never intended to be. If you choose to only focus upon what it is you want to see then that is a personal decision. I have found much wisdom within allowing myself to be open and understanding of all areas within The Craft. I know that my soul carries the traces of what was ancient into a world of modern day. Witchcraft is within the Witch and the beauty of the belief is within understanding of walking between and into the different realms that encompass our existence. " Geez I'll stop now - I believe you get my point....lol Blessings and thank you for your post.... BB - Star Follow-up to the above Goddess as if I haven't already said enough...lol I remembered on my new site I did a blurb about My Views on Modern Practices the info is below: I have many mixed feelings about some of the practices today that proclaim to be Witchcraft yet bear no real resemblance to the ancient craft. I know at times I step on people's toes when writing yet I am infamous for being straight forward. I have met modern day Witches that I really enjoy being around; they are down to earth and very intelligent. I have also met Witches that have totally left me way out in left field; standing there thinking "what planet did they come from?". No offense but I believe today there is way to much emphasis on props and not enough emphasis on the actual "earth based" beliefs. When speaking of props I am speaking of all of this "must have" stuff. People so often tend to forget that "nature" gives us everything we need. The power is not within the tools it is within the "Witch". Another area is the constant strain on who initiated who. People seem to forget that The Great Ones make you who you are and not The High Priestess or Priest. Just because someone took a year and a day training does not mean they are a Witch. This is not meant to be offensive but no person makes a Witch; that is the plain and simple truth. When people make a big deal about "who" initiated them; it really turns me off. Do you think in ancient times that the initiates walked around going "guess who initiated me!" No; they didn't because they understood where their power came from. It seems that in today's era that too much emphasis is placed on what tradition you belong to, it is almost as if you must belong to be a Witch. This has nothing to do with Witchcraft; I do not follow any tradition and I can assure you that I am very much a Witch. Witchcraft is not about being a popularity contest or a who's who. It is about the art of The Craft. I think we should get back to basics. Blessed Be- Starr Another Follow-up to above relating to Wicca & Witchcraft Blessings- I have done a lot of research on Wicca - so I will share with you my findings and then you can draw your own opinions on the differences. My personal view is the two are very different; yet some Witches may use the word Wiccan to avoid negative connotations. I have always referred to myself as a Witch never a Wiccan. Some facts relating to how Wicca came into play are below and what Wicca is verses Witchcraft beliefs. Mind you as I stated before you may be a Witch and just choose the other wording; yet the practices of true Wicca are not the "surviving" links to Witchcraft. Wicca in all honesty is traces of many things to include: Aleister Crowley, Ceremonial Magick from The OTO, The Golden Dawn and Masonry. Much of the ritual material came from The Order of The Golden Dawn. None of these organizations are WItchcraft. I could go on for a long time about this subject. A really good site that is full of factual information relating to the differences is below: http://www.spelwerx.com/wvtw.html The beliefs of a Witch are different I can say this for fact because I am a Witch. I have noted so many differences through study, belief practices, acquaintances and the Pagan community as a whole. Believe me my practices do not closely resemble what I have encountered in The Wiccan Community. No offense meant...just my personal experiences have proven the vast differences. Please check the site above out it really is a great article with a lot of information. Blessings to you and yours. Blessed Be - Star Return Home © Copyright 2001-2003 The Witches Way all rights reserved