CultWatch Response

Vol. I, Issue 1

Samhain, 1988


  WHY CULTWATCH RESPONSE?

It seems like anyone can get away  with saying anything these days, so long
as they hate  something enough. We at CultWatch  Response have seen article
after article  hating paganism and witchcraft,  with no facts and  not even
very good fantasies, merely because pagans  are a convenient group to hate.
Many of  these articles were directed  straight at police, others  were for
various fundamentalist groups.
   Why? Because hate  is an offspring of fear, and  people always fear what
they  do not  know --  and they  do not  usually know  much about paganism.
Further, their  hatred drives pagans into  hiding, for fear of  a return of
the Burning Times of the Inquisition.
   It  is the  primary goal  of CultWatch  Response to  supply at least one
reasonable, well-thought-out,  and FULLY RESEARCHED  article per issue,  in
order  to  promote  understanding,  because  we  do  not  believe  that the
followers of a God of Love should  spend so much time hating something that
they know nothing about. This first  issue includes an excellent article on
Samhain  (Halloween) by  Rowan Moonstone,  and a  set of  "the laws  of the
Craft"  that show  how much  different we  pagans are  than most Christians
believe us to be.

  WE ARE NOT SATANISTS!

Basically, Satan did  not reach Europe until the  coming of Christianity in
the 3rd  to 5th Centuries C.E.  Paganism is a wide  group of religions that
existed in Europe prior to the Christianization of Europe; the fact that it
was an extremely  viable religion caused the Church to  decide it needed to
be  eliminated,  and  so  one  major  deity  was  singled  out as being the
equivalent of Satan and the persecutions went  forth. This is not an act of
God, but rather one of very greedy  men who were pursuing temporal power in
the guise of ecclesiastical power.
   There ARE Satanists in the world. Most of them are harmless, and most of
them do NOT  consider themselves pagans. As pagans,  we abhor criminal acts
such as murder,  child abuse, and the torturing  or slaughtering of animals
(not including feedlots, of course, although many of us are vegetarians and
others have  worked for more humane  treatment of animals AT  feedlots). We
regard people  who do these  types of things  as sick. Prosecute  them, get
them help, do  something to stop "ritual crime". Most  of us are willing to
do our part to  help find and prosecute these people, and  it is evident to
most police officers around the country  that ritual crime does not involve
pagans. It is usually found in gangs  of children, led by other children or
by sick adults.

  WHAT DOES "GOD" MEAN TO WITCHES?

Nearly all Witches and pagans in  America believe in one God. However, that
God is usually felt to be totally beyond our understanding, and can only be
understood by humans by looking at "parts" of God that we CAN understand.
   The first division is obvious; Masculine and Feminine. We call these God
and Goddess, and sometimes attach names from our heritage or from mythology
to these aspects.  (Indeed, most pagans prefer the Mother  aspect of God to
that of the Father, and use the term Goddess for the highest understandable
form of God.)
   We  also look  at what  the  highest  attributes of  ourselves are,  and
sometimes separate  these into masculine and  feminine (Hunter Aspect might
be Herne for the masculine or Diana  for the feminine). While we call these
aspects and attributes "gods", most of us never lose sight of the fact that
they are merely small parts of the one God. (C.G. Jung called these aspects
"archetypes", and  his theories have blazed  new territory in understanding
what it means  to be human.) We also consider  everybody (not just witches)
to be a part of God. Our God is not merely everywhere, but even everyTHING.
A common greeting  in one branch of  paganism is "Thou art  God". This does
not mean that  we believe that every person  is a god, but rather  that all
things are  a part of God.
   We  even have  our trinities.   The Triple  Goddess consists  of Maiden,
Mother, and Crone  aspects; the Triple God might  consist of Lover, Hunter,
and  Grandfather. Each  group or  individual might  use different names for
these individual aspects of God.

  WITCHRAFT IS NOT AN ORGANIZED RELIGION.

Each individual  is trained in the  "Tradition" he or she  finds access to,
and upon completion of training is usually initiated into that "Tradition".
Once that process  is complete, it is expected of  each person to think for
and  be responsible  for themselves.  There are  no mind  control games, no
brainwashing techniques, no death threats, and, in most cases, no authority
figures. There is usually a couple named High Priest and High Priestess for
a ritual, but in MOST groups, this function is rotated among the members of
the group.
   American paganism  has its roots  mainly in English  and Welsh forms  of
paganism, but  we seem to have  picked up extra material  from a variety of
sources (including American Indians), as well as pruning some of the things
we found to  be unnecessary and adding new material  as it strikes us. Some
American traditions  sprang from the imaginations  of people from seemingly
nowhere, and other follow the "Old Ways" fairly strictly.

  WE ARE NOT AFTER YOUR CHILDREN...

It is against our religion to  proseletize (recruit). We do have bookstores
open to the  public, and we may be involved  in open religious debates, but
our gods do not need your souls.

  BUT PAGANS ARE DANGEROUS, AREN'T THEY?

No. We believe  different things than most Christians,  but the differences
are not great enough to cause the misunderstandings that exist. In fact, we
are not very  much different from the Unitarian  Universalist Church or the
Society of Friends (Quakers). We believe  in going where our own conscience
takes us, and each Tradition teaches ethics at a level not usually found in
Christian denominations.

We hope that you enjoy CultWatch Response. Please let us know how you feel;
you may wish to fill out and return the questionnaire in this issue. Please
also   read  the   Editorial  Policy   listed  elsewhere   in  this  issue.
Subscriptions are  free to police departments  and organizations; this will
make for  limited free distribution  in some areas.  Others are welcome  to
write for  the current subscription price  or to make arrangements  to help
with distribution.

  Gerald Bliss, Editor and Co-Founder
  CultWatch Response

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                         The Origins of Halloween
                            by Rowan Moonstone

In recent years,  there have been a number of  pamphlets put out by various
Christian organizations  dealing with the  origins of modern  day Halloween
customs. Being  a Witch myself,  and a student  of the ancient  Celts, from
whom we get this holiday, I  have found these pamphlets woefully inaccurate
and  poorly researched.  In an  effort to  correct some  of this  erroneous
information, I have spent several  months researching the religious life of
the  ancient Celtic  peoples and  the survivals  of that  religious life in
modern  day  times.  Listed  below  are  some  of  the  most commonly asked
questions concerning  the origins and  customs of Halloween.  Following the
questions  is a  lengthy bibliography  where the  curious reader  can go to
learn more about this holiday than space in this small pamphlet permits.

 1. Where does Halloween come from?

    Our  modern celebration  of Halloween  is a  descendant of  the ancient
    Celtic  fire festival  called "Samhain".  The word  is pronounced "sow-
    in", with "sow" rhyming with cow.

 2. What does "Samhain" mean?

    The  Irish  English  dictionary  published  by  the Irish Texts Society
    defines the word as follows: "Samhain, All Hallowtide, the feast of the
    dead in Pagan and Christian times, signalizing the close of harvest and
    the  initiation of  the winter  season, lasting  till May, during which
    troops  (esp.  the  Fiann)  were  quartered.  Faeries  were imagined as
    particularly active at this season. From  it the half year is reckoned.
    also  called Feile  Moingfinne (Snow  Goddess).(1) The  Scottish Gaelic
    Dictionary defines  it as "Hallowtide.  The Feast of  All Souls. Sam  +
    Fuin = end of summer."(2) Contrary to the information published by many
    organizations,  there  is  no  archaeological  or  literary evidence to
    indicate that  Samhain was a  deity. The Celtic  Gods of the  dead were
    Gwynn ap Nudd  for the British, and Arawn for  the Welsh. The Irish did
    not have a "lord of death" as such.

 3. Why was the end of summer of significance to the Celts?

    The Celts were a pastoral people  as opposed to an agricultural people.
    The end of summer was significant to  them because it meant the time of
    year when  the structure of  their lives changed  radically. The cattle
    were brought down from the summer  pastures in the hills and the people
    were  gathered  into   the  houses  for  the  long   winter  nights  of
    story-telling and handicrafts.

 4. What does it have to do with a festival of the dead?

    The  Celts believed  that when  people  died,  they went  to a  land of
    eternal youth  and happiness called Tir  nan Og. They did  not have the
    concept of heaven and hell that the Christian church later brought into
    the  land. The  dead were  sometimes believed  to be  dwelling with the
    Fairy Folk,  who lived in the  numerous mounds or sidhe  (pron. "shee")
    that  dotted the  Irish and  Scottish countryside.  Samhain was the new
    year to the Celts. In the Celtic belief system, turning points, such as
    the time between one day and the next, the meeting of sea and shore, or
    the turning of one year into the  next were seen as magickal times. The
    turning of  the year was the  most potent of these  times. This was the
    time when  the "veil between the  worlds" was at its  thinnest, and the
    living could communicate with their beloved dead in Tir nan Og.

 5.  What about  the aspects  of "evil"  that we  associate with  the night
     today?

    The Celts  did not have demons  and devils in their  belief system. The
    fairies, however, were often considered hostile and dangerous to humans
    because  they were  seen as  being resentful  of men  taking over their
    lands. On this  night, they would sometimes trick  humans into becoming
    lost in  the fairy mounds, where  they would be trapped  forever. After
    the coming of  the Christians to the Celtic lands,  certain of the folk
    saw the fairies as those angels who had sided neither with God nor with
    Lucifer in  their dispute, and thus,  were condemned to walk  the earth
    until  judgment day.(3)  In addition  to the  fairies, many humans were
    abroad  on  this  night,  causing  mischief.  since this night belonged
    neither  to one  year or  the other,  Celtic folk  believed that  chaos
    reigned  and  the  people  would  engage  in  "horseplay  and practical
    jokes".(4) This served  also as a final outlet  for high spirits before
    the gloom of winter set in.

 6. What about "trick or treat"?

    During the  course of these hijinks,  many of the people  would imitate
    the fairies and  go from house to house begging  for treats. Failure to
    supply the treats would usually result in practical jokes being visited
    on the owner of the house. Since the fairies were abroad on this night,
    an offering of  food or milk was frequently left  for them on the steps
    of the  house, so the homeowner  could gain the blessings  of the "good
    folk" for the coming year. Many  of the households would also leave out
    a "dumb supper" for the spirits  of the departed.(5) The folks who were
    abroad  in the  night imitating   the fairies  would some-  times carry
    turnips carved  to represent faces.  This is the  origin of our  modern
    Jack-o-lantern.

 7. Was this also a religious festival?

    Yes. Celtic  religion was very closely  tied to the Earth.  Their great
    legends are concerned with momentous happenings which took place around
    the time of Samhain. Many of the great battles and legends of kings and
    heroes center on this night. Many  of the legends concern the promotion
    of fertility of  the earth and the insurance of  the continuance of the
    lives of the people through the dark winter season.

 8. How was the religious festival observed?

    Unfortunately, we know very little about that. W.G. Wood-Martin, in his
    book,  "Traces  of  the  Elder  Faiths  of  Ireland"  states, "There is
    comparitively  little   trace  of  the  religion   of  the  Druids  now
    discoverable  ,  save  in  the  folklore  of  the  peasantry,  and  the
    references  relative to  it that  occur in  ancient and authentic Irish
    manuscripts  are,  as  far  as   present  appearances  go,  meager  and
    insufficient  to  support  anything  like   a  sound  theory  for  full
    development of the ancient religion."(6) The Druids were the priests of
    the Celtic  peoples. They passed  on their teachings  by oral tradition
    instead of committing  them to writing, so when  they perished, most of
    their religious teachings were lost. We  DO know that this festival was
    characterized as one  of the four great "Fire  Festivals" of the Celts.
    Legends tell  us that on  this night, all  the hearth fires  in Ireland
    were extinguished, and then re-lit from  the central fire of the Druids
    at  Tlachtga, 12  miles from  the  royal  hill of  Tara. This  fire was
    kindled from  "need fire" which had  been generated by the  friction of
    rubbing  two sticks  together as  opposed to  more conventional methods
    common in those days.(7) The  extinguishing of the fires symbolized the
    "dark half" of the year, and the re-kindling from the Druidic fires was
    symbolic of the returning life hoped for, and brought about through the
    ministrations of the priesthood.

 9. What about sacrifices?

    Animals were certainly  killed at this time of year.  This was the time
    to  "cull" from  the herds  those animals  which were  not desired  for
    breeding  purposes for  the next  year. Most  certainly, some  of these
    would  have  been  done  in  a  ritualistic  manner  for the use of the
    priesthood.

10. Were humans sacrificed?

    Scholars are sharply divided on this account, with about half believing
    that it took  place and half doubting its  veracity. Caesar and Tacitus
    certainly tell  tales of the  human sacrifices of  the Celts, but  Nora
    Chadwick points  out in her  book "The Celts"  that "it is  not without
    interest that the Romans themselves  had abolished human sacrifices not
    long before Caesar's time, and references to the practice among various
    barbarian peoples  have certain overtones  of self-righteousness. There
    is   little   direct   archaeological   evidence   relevant  to  Celtic
    sacrifice."(8) Indeed,  there is little  reference to this  practice in
    Celtic literature either. The only  surviving story echoes the story of
    the Minotaur in Greek legend. The Fomorians, a race of evil giants said
    to  inhabit portions  of Ireland  before the  coming of  the Tuatha  de
    Danaan, or "people of the Goddess  Danu", demanded the sacrifice of 2/3
    of the corn, milk, and first born  chil- dren of the Fir Bolg, or human
    inhabitants of Ireland. The De Danaan ended this practice in the second
    battle of Moy Tura, which incidentally took place on Samhain.

11. What other practices were associated with this season?

    Folk tradition  tells us of  many divination practices  associated with
    Samhain. Among the most common  were divinations dealing with marriage,
    weather, and the coming fortunes for the year. These were performed via
    such  methods as  ducking for   apples and  apple peeling.  Ducking for
    apples was  a marriage divination.  The first person  to bite an  apple
    would be  the first to  marry in the  coming year. Apple  peeling was a
    divination to see how long your  life would be. The longer the umbroken
    apple peel,  the longer your life  was destined to be.(9)  In Scotland,
    people would  place stones in the  ashes of the hearth  before retiring
    for the night.  Anyone whose stone had been  disturbed during the night
    was said to be destined to die during the coming year.

12. How did these ancient Celtic practices come to America?

    When  the potato  crop in  Ireland failed,  many of  the Irish  people,
    modern day  descendents of the  Celts, immigrated to  America, bringing
    with them  their folk practices, which  are the remnants of  the Celtic
    festival observances.

13. We in America view this as  a harvest festival. Did the Celts also view
    it as such?

    Yes. The Celts had 3 harvests: Aug 1, or Lammas, was the first harvest,
    when  the first  fruits were  offered to  the Gods  in thanks. The Fall
    Equinox was  the "true harvest".  This was when  the bulk of  the crops
    would  be  brought  in.  Samhain  was  the  final  harvest of the year.
    Anything  left  on  the  vines  or  in  the  fields after this date was
    considered  blasted by  the fairies,  or "pu'ka",  and unfit  for human
    consumption.

14. Does anyone today celebrate Samhain as a religious observance?

    Yes.  many followers  of various  pagan religions,  such as  Druids and
    Wiccans, observe  this day as a  religious festival. They view  it as a
    memorial day for their dead friends, similar to the national holiday of
    Memorial Day in  May. It is still a night  to practice various forms of
    divination concerning future  events. Also, it is considered  a time to
    wrap  up  old  projects,  take  stock  of  ones  life, and initiate new
    projects for the  coming year. As the winter  season is approaching, it
    is a good time to do studying on research projects and also a good time
    to begin hand  work such as sewing, leather  working, woodworking, etc.
    for Yule gifts later in the year.

15. Does this involve human or animal sacrifice?

    Absolutely  NOT!  Hollywood  to  the  contrary,  blood sacrifice is not
    practiced by  modern day followers of  Wicca or Druidism. There  may be
    some  people who  THINK they  are practicing  Wicca by performing blood
    sacrifices, but this is NOT  condoned by reputable practitioners of the
    modern day NeoPagan religions.

-----
  FOOTNOTES:

  (1) Rev. Patrick Dineen, "An Irish English Dictionary" (Dublin, 1927), p.
          937
  (2) Malcolm MacLennan, "A Pronouncing  and Etymological Dictionary of the
          Gaelic Language" (Aberdeen, 1979), p. 279
  (3)  W.G.  Wood-Martin,"Traces  of  the  Elder  Faiths  of Ireland" (Port
          Washington, 1902), p. 5.
  (4) Kevin Danaher,"The Year in Ireland", (Cork,1972), p. 214
  (5) Alwyn & Brinley Rees,"Celtic Heritage" (New York,1961), p. 90
  (6) Wood-Martin, p. 249
  (7) Rees & Rees, p. 90
  (8) Nora Chadwick, "The Celts" (Harmondsworth,1982), p. 151
  (9)  Madeleine Pelner  Cosman,  "Medieval  Holidays and  Festivals," (New
          York, 1981), p. 81

-----
  BIBLIOGRAPHY:

  Bord, Janet & Colin, "The Secret Country", London: Paladin Books, 1978
  Chadwick, Nora, "The Celts", Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1982
  Coglan, Ronan, "A Dictionary of Irish Myth and Legend", Dublin, 1979
  Cosman, Madeleine  Pelner, "Medieval Holidays  and Festivals", New  York:
          Charles Scribner's Sons, 1981
  Danaher, Kevin, "The Year in Ireland", Cork: The Mercier Press, 1972
  Dineen, Rev.  Patrick S.,M.A, "An Irish  English Dictionary", Dublin: The
          Irish Texts Society, 1927
  MacCana,  Proinsias, "Celtic  Mythology", London:  The Hamlyn  Publishing
          Group Limited, 1970
  MacLennan,  Malcolm, "A  Pronouncing and  Etymological Dictionary  of the
          Gaelic Language", Aberdeen: Acair  and Aberdeen University Press,
          1979
  MacNeill,   Maire',  "The   Festival  of   Lughnasa",  Dublin:  Comhairle
          Bhealoideas Eireann,1982
  Powell, T.G.E., "The Celts", New York: Thanes & Hudson,1980
  Rees, Alwyn and Brinley, "Celtic  Heritage, Ancient Traditions in Ireland
          and Wales", New York: Thanes & Hudson, 1961
  Sharkey, John, "Celtic Mysteries", New York: Thanes and Hudson, 1975
  Spence, Lewis,  "British Fairy Origins",  Wellingborough: Aquarian Press,
          1946
  Squire,  Charles, "Celtic  Myth &  Legend, Poetry  & Romance",  New York:
          Newcastle Publishing Co, Inc. 1975
  Toulson, Shirley, "The Winter Solstice",  London: Jill Norman & Hobhouse,
          Ltd, 1981
  Wood-Martin, W.G., "Traces  of the Elder Faiths of Ireland,  Vols I & II,
          Port Washington: Kennikat Press, 1902
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  ALTERNATIVE CRAFT LAWS

  Introduction:

    1.  These  laws  are  guides  and  aides  to  a better understanding of
    ourselves and the Craft.
    2. The Craft is made of the interaction of people and divinity.
    3. This interaction must be in perfect love and perfect trust.
    4.  The  foundation  of  perfect  love  and  perfect  trust is found in
    balance.
    5. Balance is achieved through understanding  of the cycles of life and
    death.

  Organization:

    6. A coven  is a group of two  or more people who have  joined together
    for the purpose of interacting with one another and divinity.
    7. There shall  be no limit to the  number of members a coven  has, but
    balance  becomes more  difficult to  achieve as  the number  of members
    increases.
    8. The final arbitrator of the membership of a coven is the membership.

  Authority:

    9.  The  authority  of  a  coven  comes  from  the  interaction  of its
    membership with one another and divinity.
    10. Authority must be balanced by the total membership of the coven.
    11.  Imbalance of  authority will  corrupt individuals  and destroy the
    effectiveness of the coven.
    12. Balance is achieved through  taking responsibility for your actions
    and the actions of the coven.
    13. Because each  member of a coven is responsible  for self and coven,
    the only authority the coven can exercize is authoritative authority.
    14. No one can assume the leadership of a coven without the approval of
    the membership.
    15. The membership is the final authority of a coven.
    16. A coven which is in balance has little need of perpetual leadership
    from one person or couple.
    17.  Each full  member of  a coven  must facilitate  some aspect of the
    coven.
    18.  If only  a small  percentage of  a coven's  membership is actively
    responsible and  facilitating within the coven,  there is little chance
    of  balance.  (NOTE:  A  coven  may  choose  to  maintain  a hierarchy,
    priesthood,  system of  initiation grades  or other  similar devices to
    encourage individual development. These trappings often cause imbalance
    in a coven through the  combination of unnecessary authoritarianism and
    the relinquishing of personal responsibility.)
    19. A  coven has need of  only two ranks: Probationer,  a member who is
    still in training,  and Initiate, a member whose  training is complete.
    (NOTE: This should not be construed as having ended studies, but rather
    as having begun them by virtue of having gained basic information.)

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  EDITORIAL POLICIES

Each issue of  CultWatch Response is published by  CultWatch Response, Inc.
(a  non-profit  Corporation  organized  under  the  laws  of  the  State of
Colorado), under  a Public Domain  Copyright, which entitles  any person or
group  of  persons  to  reproduce,  in  any  form  whatsoever, any material
contained therein, so long as  articles are not condensed, abbreviated, nor
excerpted  in any  fashion and  credit  is  given the  original author.  In
addition to these  provisions, we encourage groups to  republish each issue
for the purpose  of distribution to police and  community organizations and
the media,  but would ask  that you coordinate  with us before  doing so to
prevent over-saturation of  an area. We welcome articles,  reviews, etc. We
reserve  the right  to correct  obvious mistakes  in spelling,  syntax, and
grammar, and  to edit where  necessary to fit  available space; any  edited
material will be  returned for the author's approval  prior to publication.
We do  ask that you not  UNFAIRLY promote any race,  cultural group, either
sex,  or  any  magickal  group  or  tradition  above another. Articles with
careful research  and a positive emphasis  will be considered ahead  of all
others. We would prefer that you use your real name if you feel comfortable
doing  so, but  this preference  will never  be a  major factor in deciding
whether or not to publish your article. The above policies have been agreed
to by the current staff of CultWatch Response, although much of the wording
was borrowed from Rocky Mountain Pagan  Journal. We are not affiliated with
either the  Rocky Mountain Pagan  Journal nor its  parent corporation, High
Plains Arts and Sciences, but we  are grateful for whatever groundwork they
have provided  us in the  fields of Public  Domain Copyright and  editorial
policies.

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