This is in reference to an old Sunday Telegraph newspaper article published in July 1972, which featured Rosaleen Norton and my teacher, Edgar Pielke.
I’m holding the skull, lower left in the pic at the bottom of the page:
> That’s a great article Leonora. I love all that sort of old(ish) or
> should I say ‘older’ stuff. :-) Both the visual aspects and the
> thoughts of the participants. Helps me to get some perspective on the
> current popularity of Witchcraft and how it is similar or different to
> back then – as well as at other times in history. I like to look at
> similarities and differences between the past and the present.
Glad you enjoyed it, C****
I also like to look at the similarities and differences between what we did then, and what’s happening now. Naturally, I find it easier to know the reality of what was going on then because I was part of it, and can now talk about it from the point of view of someone who lived through those times, and who has seen the changes as they took place.
The differences in Practice between then and now aren’t really so great, except that the influx of “new-age thinking” and certain aspects of academic input have not only added to, but in some cases subtracted from what we were aiming for in my practice, and within the practices of other groups within the Craft then, and now.
It’s not so much the sexual aspect, as the open-minded freedom of thought which, in my opinion, is still being pushed into the background by, as you so clearly state in your other post “fear over “Muslim extremists”, and other panic-centered public distractions. This, imo, is an attempt to make the whole community at large, including “Witches and their ilk – with sex thrown in or not – probably.. pretty harmless.”
Which is more or less my point here. Other distractions, deliberately spun and placed within the community in general, are colouring and overlaying what I see as the crux of the Craft for many ‘newer’ Students, and sometimes their Teachers, and are taking attention away from the Knowledge and Understanding that we, as Practitioners of the Craft, need to be much more in touch with our Real humanity so that we might openly Know Ourselves to our true extent. No matter what the rest of society thinks of us or our Practice.
This is how we thought and learned when I was studying with Eddy, and it was also the way Roee approached her intense Practice. I can see no reason to diffuse or change that central issue today, other than to distract people from their focus, or perhaps to placate ‘outsiders’ who, for some reason might carry a grudge of some kind against us or might want to be sure we’re ‘towing the party line’ they’ve decided upon.
Having said that, there is nothing new I have seen added to Craft practice academically or otherwise in the past thirty years or so that has over-ridden the need for a Seeker to have an Occult understanding of the Self, including a deep understanding of the “Spiritual/Sexual” aspects of Self, and more particularly in my Practice, the Mind and the way it interacts with its surroundings. This need to – openly – Know Thyself is still central to Craft practice imo, no matter what ‘flavour’ of training is chosen by the Seeker to explore it, or where in history it came from, or what ‘outsiders’ might think of the very idea.
In fact, the reason I decided to publish my Handbook for Metaphysics is not only to introduce what might not yet be Known, by some, of my Inner Circle information, but to bring what I can of this potentially lost focus back into Craft study for today’s Seekers to consider.
Further, the Desire for Love, Peace, and a healthy planet notwithstanding, I think it is an error in judgment to consider Witches and their ilk “pretty harmless”. Even though most of us deliberately choose to avoid thoughtless knee-jerk reactions and narrow-minded thinking, I feel the approach of “Fair Defense within Balance” is still very much active in most Circles.
Love
Leonora
http://www.witchywisdom.com
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May the thrill of living
Permeate your world
(((Feel))) the Rhythm
