[Cauldron and Candle Illo]

Cauldron and Candle
Issue #11 -- May 2001

A Publication of The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum
website: http://www.ecauldron.com/
mailing list/board: http://www.ecauldron.com/fregmb.php

With a little help from The Witches' Thicket
website: http://www.cros.net/soraya/
message board: http://forums.delphiforums.com/thicket/start


Return to Cauldron and Candle Archive

C A U L D R O N   A N D   C A N D L E  #11 -- May 2001

           A Publication of The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum
                website: http://www.ecauldron.com/
     mailing list/board: http://www.ecauldron.com/fregmb.php
             newsletter: http://www.ecauldron.com/cnc/

           With a little help from The Witches' Thicket
               website: http://www.cros.net/soraya/
      message board: http://forums.delphiforums.com/thicket/start

In this Issue:

[01] Editorial: Lone Wolves
[02] Poem: The Tears I Cry
[03] Review: A Witch's Book of Dreams
[04] Review: Wild Girls
[05] Review: Witchcraft: A Tradition Renewed
[06] Review: My Life with the Spirits
[07] Magick: Unwanted Lover Spell
[08] Magick: Chill Out Binding Spell
[09] Lessons in Magickal Herbal Use (Part 2)
[10] Humor: Circle Etiquette
[11] Software: eCleaner
[12] New Articles on The Cauldron's Site
[13] New Web Poll
[14] Support The Cauldron When You Buy at Amazon.com
[15] Cauldron and Thicket Chats
[16] Newsletter and Forum Info
              (Including How To Subscribe/Unsubscribe)

   +++ Submission Deadline for next issue: May 15, 2001 +++
   Guidelines: http://www.ecauldron.com/cnc/submissions.php


[01]
=========
========= EDITORIAL: LONE WOLVES
========= by Athenaprime
=========

    [Athenaprime wrote this some time ago. It has been
    on our web site for months. Some recent discussions
    on The Cauldron and some of the other mailing lists
    I read convinced me that this message needs to be
    presented again.--RSS]

The majority of us who consider ourselves Pagans left
Christianity to strike out and define a faith of our own.  We
left the Christian flock to form a wolf pack of sorts, and many
of us coalesced into the pack known as Wicca.  There are various
pack branches, and some branches feel that other branches don't
really belong to the pack, but small quibbles aside, the
differences are academic.

And then there are those of us who have gone a little further --
the lone wolves who don't consider ourselves Wiccan due to deeper
differences in philosophy.  Some, like the Asatruar, have formed
their own pack and hunt other territory. Others may minimize
their differences to remain with the Wiccan pack, albeit on the
fringes.  And then there are the rest of us.

We are the lost ones.  Maybe not exactly lost, but definitely not
traveling with the pack.  Wicca 101 books may have gotten us
started in the forest, but we've grown to the point where the
Wicca books help us less and less.  Maybe we don't identify with
the strongly Celtic influence so prevalent in many Wiccan
traditions. Maybe we can't identify with Gerald Gardner any more
than we can with Jerry Falwell.  Or maybe our personal codes and
the way we live our lives just doesn't fit in within accepted
parameters of Wicca.

I was re-reading "To Light a Sacred Flame" by Silver Ravenwolf
the other day and noticed that one of the reasons I have such
mixed feelings on the book is because its usefulness to me is
quite a bit less than some of her other stuff.  Her tradition is
Wiccan.  I'm not Wiccan.  This means that much of the information
she gives from a Wiccan perspective is pretty much useless.

In some of the recent Cauldron message threads, there has also
been some discussion on Magick.  I've been guilty of the same
thing that a lot of people have done -- lumped magick in with
Wicca.  Even though I should know better, I still mentally lumped
magick in with Wicca until an acquaintance of mine shared her
experience of overcoming a guilt complex for her love of those
Catholic candles found in the Mexican food aisles of grocery
stores all around the US.

My own knee-jerk, former Catholic self's reaction was, "they
can't do that, they're Catholic and it won't work!"

Then I asked myself why not.  An embarrassed sputter was all I
could come up with.  For shame!  Magick isn't limited to Wicca,
or even the larger umbrella of Paganism.  I spent a good day and
a half cleaning wolf-doo off my boots for that one. Big oops.

The point of this short essay is this -- don't be guilty of the
same things our ancestors were guilty of.  Just as
turn-of-the-century archaeologists put a decidedly Christian
slant on their studies of pre-Christian cultures, the Pagan
community is in danger of putting a Wiccan slant on something
that is larger than Wicca. Tread carefully in the forest, and
mind the lone wolves that are hunting alongside the pack.


       ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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        where we store our back issues for easy reading.

                 http://www.ecauldron.com/cnc/
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[02]
=========
========= THE TEARS I CRY
========= A Poem by Elspeth Sapphire
=========

Thank you for the comfort
Thank you for the hugs
You seek to protect and help
But you don't understand ....

Not all the pain I feel is mine.

I walk the shadows
I walk the untaken roads
Embrace gladly the knowledge
Waiting there for me ....

Embrace the pain that has to be.

I feel for myself,
I feel for others too.
That can be a greater pain.
But knowledge carries a price.

Sometimes pain leads to gain.

So worry not about me,
So fear not as I 'walk'
My choice to explore the Paths
And gather the harvest there.

The tears I cry aren't always for me.


       ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
                     SEND A PAGAN POSTCARD

       You can send a Pagan Postcard from the menu of any
       of our web pages at http://www.ecauldron.com/. If
       you haven't tried our postcard site, give it a
       try. It has quite a few nice features.
       ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


[03]
=========
========= REVIEW: A WITCH'S BOOK OF DREAMS
========= Reviewed by Randall Sapphire
=========

A Witch's Book of Dreams:
   Understanding the Power of Dreams & Symbols
Author: Karri Allrich
Trade Paperback, 240 pages
Publisher: Llewellyn
Publication date: April 2001
ISBN: 1567180140
US Retail Price: $12.95
Amazon Link:
  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567180140/thecauldron

There are a large number of books on dream interpretation on the
market. They range from reprints of classic dream dictionaries
from the 1800s with often quaint interpretations of symbols that
seldom appear in modern dreams to modern books based on
psychology. Karri Allrich's A Witch's Book of Dreams, with its
emphasis on Jungian archetypes, is clearly in the latter camp.

This book is divided into two major portions. The first half of
the book discusses dreams, archetypes, symbols, nightmares, and
how a witch might work with them, both in interpretation and
magick. The second half is the author's personal dream dictionary
as a starting place for one to develop one's own. Like most dream
interpretation books based more on psychology than occult
tradition, A Witch's Book of Dreams admits that meaning of dream
symbols is highly personal.

What sets this book apart from most dream interpretation books on
the market is its definite slant toward Wicca. This book was
written from a Wiccan point of view and will probably be more
interesting to Wiccans than to non-Wiccans. Despite its Jungian
basis, A Witch's Book of Dreams is light reading. It's not truly
fluffy, but other than the Wiccan slant there is not much here
that cannot be found, often in more detail, in other introductory
books on dream interpretation.

If you don't have a book on dream interpretation and are a Wiccan
looking for an easy-to-read introduction based on Jungian
archetypes, this book is worth a look. Otherwise, you might want
to pass in favor of a heftier, more detailed volume on dreams.


           This review is available on our web site at
               http://www.ecauldron.com/bkawbod.php


[04]
=========
========= REVIEW: WILD GIRLS
========= Reviewed by Randall Sapphire
=========

Wild Girls: The Path of the Young Goddess
Author: Patricia Monaghan
Trade Paperback, 215 pages
Publisher: Llewellyn
Publication date: April 2001
ISBN: 1567184421
US Retail Price: $14.95
Amazon Link:
  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567184421/thecauldron

Reading the back cover of Patricia Monaghan's Wild Girls gave me
the impression that this was a book on a Wiccan tradition that
only dealt with maiden Goddesses. This impression was completely
wrong, but I did not fully realize this until I read the last
chapter of the book. Until then I thought I was reading an
extremely fluffy book on Wicca.

Wild Girls: The Path of the Young Goddess is not about a Wiccan
tradition, instead it is really a Goddess-oriented program for a
small group of young teen women to explore their beliefs and
experiences as women. It is apparently intended as sort of a year
long coming-of-age program for female Pagan teens. Once I finally
realized what this book actually was, my opinion of it changed
from "a waste of valuable trees" to "a very interesting idea."

Except for the last chapter, each chapter of this book uses a
Goddess myth from somewhere in the world to introduce the
chapter's theme. Most of the Goddesses used are minor and from
pantheons I'm not very familiar with, so I cannot comment on the
accuracy of the myths. Since these stories are being used as
tools for teaching life lessons instead of as a basis for
worshipping the deities in question, accuracy is obviously of
less importance. Each chapter then covers an aspect of Wicca or
the occult, and a series of questions and activities to help
young women explore their beliefs, feelings, and place in the
world.

The final chapter explains, far too briefly, how this material
could be used by a group of young women. This program could
easily be adapted for a young woman's group in a larger Pagan
organization.

This book is somewhat hard to judge. It is an excellent idea, but
it has a number of problems. First among these, a chapter seems
to be missing. The program is obviously intended to last a year,
with a chapter being used each month. The introduction even talks
about there being a chapter for each of the twelve months and a
thirteenth chapter explaining how to create a Wild Girls circle.
Unfortunately, there are only 12 chapters in the book. I'm not
really sure what happened here, but there are only 11 chapters of
myth and monthly activities given for a program that is supposed
to last a year. Another problem is that some of the material
given in the chapters is very sketchy and there are few -- if any
-- pointers in each chapter to other books and materials that
might fill in the holes or provide more info on the chapter's
topics for those who might want to go further. Finally, there
really isn't much guidance on how to use the material in the
final chapter.

Because of these problems, especially the apparently missing
chapter problem, I can't really recommend Wild Girls to the
average Pagan. However, if one is looking for a coming-of-age
program for young women in a Goddess-oriented Pagan group, this
book might be an excellent starting point to base a program on.
Your group would probably still need to do some work expanding on
the material and on organization, but it would be a base to work
from.

           This review is available on our web site at
                http://www.ecauldron.com/bkwg.php


[05]
=========
========= REVIEW: WITCHCRAFT: A TRADITION RENEWED
========= Reviewed by Undine
=========

Witchcraft: A Tradition Renewed
Author: Doreen Valiente and Evan Jones
Trade Paperback, 200 pages
Publisher: Phoenix
Publication date: August 1989
ISBN: 0919345611
US Retail Price: Out of Print
Amazon Link:
  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0919345611/thecauldron

Witchcraft: A Tradition Renewed really bugs the heck out of me.
On the cover, it states "Doreen Valiente and Evan Jones" as the
authors. I bought the damn thing on the strength of Doreen's name
there. Then I get home and find out she wrote a 3 page foreword
about how she thought Evan Jones was the next best thing after
peanut butter, and that's the end of her involvement! Let me
quote a few pieces here for your enjoyment.

In talking about doing a healing work with the coven involved:

  From that moment [when the power flows out of the Circle]
  on, everyone in the circle knows that the rite has worked,
  that the Goddess has granted the plea. All that is then
  left is the feeling of being drained of energy, tired,
  empty and worn out. For weeks after this sort of working,
  there is the feeling that something has been taken away
  from the group. Most people feel closed down and out of
  contact.
      --- page 44

Every time I read the above, I start giggling again. I mean like,
"Hello? You get drained for weeks because you did a healing?" The
only thing I wondered when I read the above was, "What did you do
wrong to feel that badly afterwards?" Oh... and since when did we
have to ask the Lady's permission to do a healing? But that's
another story....

Then there's this little gem:

  Before setting out the rituals for the Great Sabbats in
  detail, it seems necessary to explain the structure of the
  coven and how it works. The full coven membership should
  be fixed at thirteen people. Where possible, the
  congregation should consist of six men and six women. The
  thirteenth person should be female, and she will stand
  apart from the rest of the coven. She is known as "the
  Lady."

  Under her direction will be four officers, known as North,
  South, East and West. North and South are always female.
  North should be the older of the two and the colour of her
  robe should be black. South, being the younger, should
  wear brightly coloured clothing in the circle. East and
  West are always male, and while East wears bright robes,
  West tends to wear darker clothing and his cloak is always
  hooded.
      --- page 71

Evan even tells us that their initiation oath requires one to
"...swear to renounce all other faiths and callings; to devote
yourself to the ideals, aims and worship of the Mother, to hold
true to the faith and these your chosen comrades..." (page 80). I
couldn't faithfully join any group following this kind of
nonsense. I would never renounce all other faiths and callings --
my Lady's callings rate much much higher than some coven's, I'll
tell you. And I worship not the Mother, but the Crone. ::shrug::

On page 111, we learn that their wine blessings only "take" about
twice in a lifetime, and they're thankful for that... while they
do give an explanation of why they would be happy that their
blessings are failures, I'm not entirely certain it really makes
much sense to me. The entire book is rife with this kind of
stuff. It's just plain silly, if you ask me.

I had read the book about 8 or 9 years ago, and I was Wiccan
then. I decided last week that I really ought to re-read it,
since my views have changed in the past couple of years. I find
that re-reading books I haven't read since my Wiccan days offers
me much food for thought. Well, I was wrong on this one... its
scholarship is not simply shoddy, it's non-existent. It makes
assumptions that not even Gardner would have made. There are
gaping holes in the literature and liturgy. It's just plain dumb
if you ask me.

           This review is available on our web site at
               http://www.ecauldron.com/bkwatr.php


[06]
=========
========= REVIEW: MY LIFE WITH THE SPIRITS
========= Reviewed by Gunkee
=========

My Life with the Spirits: The Adventures of a Modern Magician
Author: Lon Milo DuQuette
Trade Paperback, 208 pages
Publisher: Samuel Weiser
Publication date: September 1999
ISBN: 1578631203
US Retail Price: $14.95
Amazon Link:
  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1578631203/thecauldron

I must leap to my feet and wave a copy of My Life with the
Spirits: The Adventures of a Modern Magician about, yelling at
the top of my lungs for every pagan to read this book!! It may
not be particularly well-known yet, but I reckon this book will
have a big impact at some stage in the future.

The book's author, Lon Milo DuQuette, is a highly esteemed
ceremonial magician and a Thelemite, but that shouldn't deter
anyone not of those persuasions from enjoying this wonderfully
candid and occasionally very funny autobiographical account of
his lifelong spiritual odyssey.

Starting with the story of Lon as a choir boy in a small-town
fundamentalist Christian church, the tale moves through an
obsession with yoga and meditation, experiments with LSD, and
encounters with a miraculous pranic healer who lives in a barn
with hundreds of cats, until eventually Lon is introduced to the
magickal system of the OTO.

The accounts of subsequent magickal operations are refreshingly
honest, realistic, and sometimes hysterically funny. From the
valuable lessons learned after accidentally rubbing cinnamon oil
in one's eyes in the middle of a ritual to the evocation of a
demon who seems to specialize in returning stolen VW Kombi vans,
every anecdote DuQuette recounts will fascinate, entertain or
inspire you.

This book practically reads itself - you won't be able to put it
down. Go out and find it! My Life with the Spirits by Lon Milo
DuQuette.

           This review is available on our web site at
              http://www.ecauldron.com/bkmylife.php

       ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
                         UPCOMING REVIEWS

       Reviews of the following are planned for our next
       few issues: TIME FOR MAGICK (Simms), CELTIC MAGIC
       (Conway) and NORSE MAGIC (Conway). Watch The
       Cauldron's web site if you can't wait as they will
       be appearing there as they are written.
       ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


[07]
=========
========= MAGICK: UNWANTED LOVER SPELL
========= Author Unknown
=========

Timing:

Perform on a Saturday, during the Waning Moon, and when the winds
blow strong.

Supplies:

* small square of paper
* pen with black ink
* white candle
* large ashtray

Procedure:

Take a small square of paper and write on it the name of the
annoying would-be lover. Use black ink for this. Then light a
white candle and burn the piece of paper in its flame while
thinking of the person running away from you. Catch the ashes in
something (burning the paper over an ashtray is a good idea) and
carry them out to your back porch or backyard. There you must
place the ashes on the upturned palm of your right hand and hold
it up saying:

  Winds of the North, South, East and West,
  Carry these affections to where they'll be best.
  Let his/her heart be open and free,
  And let his/her mind be away from me.

Then blow on the ashes so that they scatter to the winds.


[08]
=========
========= MAGICK: CHILL OUT BINDING SPELL
========= Author Unknown
=========

Supplies:

* Small jar with cap
* twine or string - preferably red
* one fava bean to represent the Lord (or draw a phallus on
  paper)
* rose petals to represent the Lady
* frankincense and myrrh (powdered), rosemary, and any other
  herb that "feels right" to you. (i.e. rue, wormwood, etc.
  for bindings or exorcisms)
* olive oil or salad oil
* banishing scented oil
* a  couple of colored markers or pens
* paper
* enough water to fill the jar three-fourths full.

Procedure:

Erect your circle of protection.

Take your  bottle and place it on the altar.  Take the piece of
paper and draw a "gingerbread type" doll and write the name of
the person  or situation you are binding on it. Talk to the paper
doll and tell it all of the things that it has done to disappoint
and hurt you.  Anoint it with the banishing oil, drawing a
Pentagram on it with the oil.  Now, place a fava bean, drawing of
a phallus, or amber in the jar along with the rose petals and
other herbs. As you place each item in the jar state, state with
feeling:

  I bind you from harming me or anyone else
  with this (person's name here).

Take the doll or dolls in hand and the string.  Fold the
doll/dolls into a square, and begin wrapping the doll in the
string.  With each wrapping, state:

  Once around, securely bound,
  now's the time for cooling down.

When you are through, securely knot the string a minimum of 3
times. While you are chanting this, see the person securely tied
with sturdy ropes, and gagged.  You might even draw a gag around
the figures.)  Now place the doll in the jar and pour about a
teaspoon of oil over the doll.  As you are dribbling it over the
doll, state:

  I place sacred oil all around you,
  about you and below you,
  to make your path slippery
  while you violate the Rede
  and Law of Three.

Now fill the jar 3/4 's full of water, place it in the freezer of
your refrigerator, and repeat:


  Time to chill out, chill out, chill out.
  Bound around and about.
  I place around you (person's name)
  the crystal sphere of the Mother's Orb,
  mirrored on the inside so that you
  will have to see yourself as you are
  at every moment until you surrender and
  change your behavior towards yourself and
  those around you into a more positive
  behavior pattern.

  I ask the Lady to empower this spell and
  insure it's working, only if it is in the
  highest and best good of all concerned.
  As I will it, so mote it be!


Close the freezer and leave that puppy there until you are
satisfied that the person will not hurt anyone else. This person
is contained from hurting you and anyone else, and is "chilling
out".  Do not worry about them any longer. Write out how you felt
about this person/situation before now, including what they did
to you, and how you feel right now.  This will allow you to get
the worst of the anger, disillusion, disappointment out of your
system so that you won't become ill from the feelings.   Smudge
your house afterwards, and draw a Pentagram on each window and
door in your house, including your computer monitor (if you have
one) and all mirrors, stating:

  I ward thee to keep harm at bay.
  As I will it, so mote it be.


[09]
=========
========= LESSONS IN MAGICKAL HERBAL USE (PART 2)
========= by Leillan
=========

Note: Some herbs used for magick are toxic and not intended to be
eaten, breathed in incense, or otherwise consumed. If you also
work with herbs for cooking or healing, be sure to keep your
magickal herbs separate and use a different set of tools to work
with them. You wouldn't use the same funnel to pour cooking oil
that you used to pour kerosene, after all.

Lesson Three: The Less Common Herbs

Ok, this is going to be done a little differently. I am going to
give you a few of the most powerful herbs I know. Pay attention
here.

Lets start with something that dates back to at least the Druids.

Mistletoe.  Mistletoe grows on huge Oak trees. Use Mistletoe for
Protection, Love, Fertility, and Health. We all know the spell
used at Yule (Christmas):  kissing under a sprig of mistletoe.
But did you know to burn the mistletoe you kissed under?  This
prevents the love shared under it from leaving. Mistletoe helps
to love bond married couples and bring single people their one
true love. A shared kiss under the mistletoe is like a shared
wish in a wishing well. However, the berries are poison, so use
caution. Although the stem has been used in healing, I would
still be careful of children and pets around this plant.

Dragons Blood.  Dragons Blood is aligned with fire. As such, it
carries the same strengths as fire. A pinch of Dragons blood
added to other incense will increase the potency. Dragons blood
increases the power of any herb it is used with. It will also
increase a person'sstrength and power. It is not, however, to be
used lightly in the magickal setting. I have added a pinch of
Dragons blood to the inside tube of my wand to increase the
potency of any spells in which I use the wand.

Just a hint here... Dragons blood, when finely powdered, puffs up
when you pour it. This wouldn't be a problem, except that it also
sticks to everything in comes into contact with.

Mandrake.  Mandrake was  traditionally gathered from under the
gallows tree. It has been called the Witches Mannequin, the man
herb, the gallows herb, and woman drake. In Celtic times people
would look under the nearest tree used for hangings, seeking this
root that looked so much like the figure of a person. It was, and
still is, used for protection, fertility, money, love, health,
and strength. Mandrake was also used as a poppet. Money,
especially silver coins, placed beside a mandrake root is said to
double. A mandrake root placed on the mantle is said to protect
the home. Mandrake is also poisonous; so again, use caution
around pets and children.

Holly.  Although Holly is a bush and not poisonous, it is steeped
in folklore. Holly grown on the right side of your front door
(facing the house) is said to prevent evil and negativity from
coming in. In men, it promotes good luck since it is masculine in
nature. (Ivy works the same for women). It is strong enough that
it has been used (infused or distilled) and sprinkled on a new
born babe to protect it.

Lesson Four: Enchanting Herbs

I have saved this section for last on purpose. I wanted you to
get a feel for what was offered before we talked about
enchantment.

Enchanting is basically just simple spell casting. In enchanting
an herb, you empower that herb with a specific purpose. I know it
sounds easy, but remember you are working with things from the
earth. The power is there, all you have to learn is how to bring
it out. If you are a timing person, time this to the moon, the
day of the week, the hour of the day, the time of season,
whatever you need do. Remember to visualize as you enchant. Make
the purpose as clear as you possibly can, and bring the words
straight from your heart and the power from deep within you.

This final lesson of the series will done in ritual format. I
will describe the work area, the herbs, and the purpose. Your
final test will be to design your own ritual, amulet, bag,
incense, or whatever else which to enchant. But you should only
use the herbs listed in the previous lessons. You don't have to
actually perform the work. I just want to know what you'd do and
how you'd do it. The following is my example to you.

I am making an amulet for a dear friend who needs strength and
will to make it through a difficult period. This friend has full
knowledge of my art and has asked for help. I have thought about
it and decided the way in which I can help most.

On my altar, I have placed two black candles. I use black because
it's my personal favorite color for certain types of work.
Between the candles,  I have my mortar and pestle; in front of
them,  I have my athame. My wooden bowl is to the right and
filled with sand and a charcoal block. I'll be using  sandalwood
incense, as I need strength and power right now, as well. To my
left I have placed jars containing Dragons blood, sage, sea salt,
rose petals, and a piece of walnut (did I fail to mention that
walnut strengthens the heart?). The only other item on my altar
is my pentagram, which is a personal cue I'm using to assist me
in visualization,  and a small locket into which the blend will
be placed. A red candle stands off to one side, ready for use if
I need it.

I light the black candles and concentrate on seeing this friend
happy and her problems solved. I pick up the sea salt and measure
out a little with the tip of my athame. As I pour it into the
mortar, I say "Salt purifies and cleanses. Your purpose this
night is to purify the herbs I use here, and make them pure in
intent."  While saying this, I visualize the salt purifying the
herbs.

Next, I pick up a rose petal and crumble it into the salt,
saying: "I charge thee with the task of bringing intuition to
______. She finds herself in a situation where your power is
desperately needed."  I then mix the salt and rose together with
my athame.

I measure out a portion of sage with my athame and drop it into
the blend, saying, "I charge you and bid you to lend wisdom of
decision to ________. She needs this wisdom to overcome what has
been wrought."  Stir the sage into the mixture.

Next, I pick up the piece of walnut and say, "I empower thee to
lend strength of heart in this difficult time. Through your
strength, may her heart be lightened and her will be
strengthened." I then measure out a tiny amount of powdered
Dragons blood, saying, "Within thee is the power to intensify
each herb I've used. You will be the power of change."

Mixing all together I say, "Within each separate herb lies the
power to reach the end; each has its own purpose. May purposes
united make true the end, for blended together, the whole is met.
For a year and a day, may you be charged to lend thy power where
it is needed. An' it harm none, Thy will be done. So Mote it Be!

I pick up the mixture, bit by bit on the tip of my athame, and
place enough in the locket to fill it. I then light the red
candle and say, "Red is color of power and strength" while
dropping a little wax on the herbs inside the locket to seal and
bind the blend together. I then close the locket, hold it in both
hands, and concentrate on the person and the purpose with a light
and loving heart. When I feel the enchantment is done,  I give
thanks to the Goddess, put out the candles, and ground the
leftover herb and incense. I clean my tools and wrap the newly
made amulet in a cloth until I can give it to my friend.


   [This is the second part of a two-part article. The first
   part is available on The Cauldron's web site and was
   published in the April 2001 issue of Cauldron and Candle.]


[10]
=========
========= HUMOR: CIRCLE ETIQUETTE
========= Author Unknown
=========

 1) Never summon Anything you can't banish.

 2) Never put asafoetida on the rocks in the sweat lodge.

 3) Do not attempt to walk more than 10 paces while wearing all
of your ritual jewelry, dream bags and crystals at the same time.

 4) When proposing to initiate someone, do not mention the Great
Rite, leer, and say, "Hey, your trad or mine?"

 5) Never laugh at someone who is skyclad. They can see you, too.

 6) Never, ever set the Witch on fire.

 7) Looking at nifty pictures is not a valid path to mastering
the ancient grimoires. Please read thoroughly and carefully from
beginning to end so that your madness and gibberings will at
least make some sense.

 8) A good grasp of ritual and ritual techniques are essential!
In the event of a random impaling, or other accidental death
amongst the participants, (see next rule) a quick thinker can
improvise to ensure successful completion of the Rite. Make them
another sacrifice, Demons like those.

 9) Watch where you wave the sharp pointy items.

10) Avoid walking through disembodied spirits.

11) Carry an all purpose translators dictionary in case the
ritual leader begins talking in some strange and unknown
language.

12) Avoid joining your life force to anything with glowing red
eyes.

13) If asked to sign a contract or pact and you are experiencing
doubts or reservations, sign your neighbors name. Malevolent
entities rarely ask for photo ID.

14) Blood is thicker than water. Soak ritual garments an extra
30-45 minutes.

15) While drunken weaving may be mistaken for ecstatic dancing,
slurring the names of Deities is generally considered bad form.


[11]
=========
========= FREE SOFTWARE: ECLEANER
========= by Randall Sapphire
=========

Have you ever wanted to save a joke you received in email and
wished you had an easy way to clean up the 5 or 6 levels of
quotes they often have after being forwarded a couple of dozen
times? Ever saved an HTML file wand wished you could quickly
remove all the HTML codes so you could easily read it without
firing up your browser.

eCleaner is a small Windows program that allows you to paste text
into it and clean it up at the push of a button.  eCleaner will:

* Remove those annoying `>' symbols
* Word wrap fragmented sentences
* Remove HTML code
* Remove email headers

It will either perform all of these cleanups at once or you can
perform them selectively.  It automatically copies the result to
the clipboard so you can paste the cleaned up material into
another application. I use this program almost every day and it
works quite well.  The only complaint I have is that it sometimes
doesn't do a complete job of rewrapping fragmented sentences.

You will find this free Windows program at:

   http://members.tripod.com/schin26/index.htm




[12]
=========
========= Cauldron Info
========= NEW ARTICLES ON THE CAULDRON'S SITE
=========

The following new areas have been added to The Cauldron's web
site since our last issue.

 * Humor: The Wiccan Redact

   http://www.ecauldron.com/humor47.php

 * Mediation on Sacrifice

   http://www.ecauldron.com/opedsacrifice.php

The following book and tarot reviews (some included in this
newsletter) are new to the web site:

 * Wild Girls

   http://www.ecauldron.com/bkwg.php

 * A Witch's Book of Dreams

   http://www.ecauldron.com/bkawbod.php

 * Witchcraft: A Tradition Renewed

   http://www.ecauldron.com/bkwatr.php


[13]
=========
========= Cauldron Info
========= NEW WEB POLL
=========

Our new polls are working nicely and without all the problems we
had when they were hosted offsite. You'll find them on their own
web page at:

   http://www.ecauldron.com/pollindex.php

Our newest poll, opened May 1, asks:

 * What religion is your spouse, mate, or significant other?

   Possible answers include:

   + Similar Pagan
   + Different Pagan
   + Pagan-friendly Monotheist
   + Pagan-unfriendly Monotheist
   + Eastern/Other
   + Non-religious
   + Single/Not Applicable


Make your opinion known, take this poll today. You will find it
at:

   http://www.ecauldron.com/cldpoll20.php


[14]
=========
========= Cauldron Info
========= SUPPORT THE CAULDRON WHEN YOU BUY BOOKS AT AMAZON.COM
=========

If you wish to purchase books or other items at Amazon.com, you
can help fund The Cauldron's web site by using this link to
access Amazon.com when you make your purchases:

    http://www.ecauldron.com/fradambooks.php

Just use this link to go to Amazon.com via our web site and
almost every purchase you make that visit will earn The Cauldron
a small amount to help pay for our web page -- at no extra charge
to you. You can also use the Amazon link on the menu of every
Cauldron web page and not have to remember this long link.

Unlike the Amazon link listed in some prior issues of this
newsletter, you can simply visit this site and save the link in
your bookmark list. If you then use this bookmarked link every
time you wish to visit Amazon.com, any purchases you make while
there will help fund The Cauldron's web site.


[15]
=========
========= Cauldron and Thicket Info
========= CAULDRON AND THICKET CHATS
=========

+++
+++ CAULDRON IRC CHATS: SUSPENDED
+++

Cauldron Co-Host Randall Sapphire has been hosting a one hour
general chat almost every Tuesday evening from 10pm to 11pm
Central (Daylight) Time in The Cauldron's channel (#thecauldron)
on the PaganPaths IRC server. These chats are being suspended for
a couple of months, both to allow Randall to cope with tax season
-- he is a computer consultant with a number of CPA clients --
and to give him a "chat vacation."  Randall hopes to resume his
regular chats sometime in May.

+++
+++ THICKET DELPHI CHATS
+++

The Thicket hosts several chats each week in their Delphi
(Java-based) chat area. You have to be a member of Delphi and The
Thicket to participate. You will find the chats by pointing your
browser to The Thicket's Start Page at:

    http://forums.delphiforums.com/thicket/start

Chats are normally being held on the following days and times
(all times are Central Time):

 * Monday at 11:30pm

 * Wednesday at 12:00 noon

 * Friday at 11:30pm

Please check on The Thicket's message board for changes to this
schedule.

If "Central Time" doesn't mean anything to you, there's an online
time converter at http://sandbox.xerox.com/stewart/tzconvert.cgi
might help. I think Central Time is listed as something like "US
- Central" in the drop down box.


[16]
=========
========= NEWSLETTER AND FORUM INFO
========= (Including how to subscribe and unsubscribe)
=========

Cauldron and Candle is a free publication of The Cauldron: A
Pagan Forum with assistance from our sister form, The Witches'
Thicket. The Cauldron and The Thicket aim to publish this
newsletter twice a month and often actually succeed in doing so.

Copyrights on individual items in this newsletter are retained by
their author, please contact the editors if you need to contact
an author for permission to reprint an article and the editors
will do their best to put you in touch with him or her. No one
involved in producing this newsletter has any money to speak of
so suing us if you don't like something we do is a waste of time
and money.

++++
++++ HOW TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE
++++

You are receiving a copy of this newsletter because you signed up
to receive it. You can subscribe or unsubscribe to this
newsletter:

http://cauldronnews.listbot.com/

++++
++++ NEWSLETTER WEB SITE AND BACK ISSUE ARCHIVE
++++

The Cauldron and Candle web site contains information on this
newsletter and an archive of back issues.

http://www.ecauldron.com/cnc/

++++
++++ CONTRIBUTE TO CAULDRON AND CANDLE
++++

Cauldron and Candle is always looking for articles, reviews, and
announcements of interest to the Neo-Pagan community. Submissions
will normally be considered for both the newsletter and our web
site.  For more information, please see our submission guidelines
at:

http://www.ecauldron.com/cnc/submissions.php


++++
++++ PLEASE INVITE YOUR FRIENDS TO SUBSCRIBE
++++

If you have Pagan friends who you believe would be interested in
Cauldron and Candle please invite them to subscribe. You can
either drop them a note yourself or -- better yet -- send them
one of The Cauldron's email postcards with the information.

You are also welcome to forward a copies of this newsletter to
interested friends and associates provided you forward the entire
newsletter.

++++
++++ LINK TO THE CAULDRON: A PAGAN FORUM
++++

If you like The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum please invite your
friends to visit. If you have a web page, we'd really appreciate
it if you put a link to The Cauldron's web site on your web
pages. If you'd like some graphic buttons to use to link to our
web site, check the following URL:

http://www.ecauldron.com/linktous.php

Thanks in advance.

++++
++++ SUGGESTIONS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME
++++

Don't forget that your suggestions for the forum are always
welcome, either posted on the message board or via email to
Elspeth Sapphire (elspeth.sapphire@worldnet.att.net) or Randall
Sapphire (rssapphire@ecauldron.com). Typos are, as usual,
courtesy of the Goddess Eris.

Merry Meet, Merry Part, Merry Meet again!
Return to Cauldron and Candle Archive


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