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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. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CAULDRON AND CANDLE WEB SITE The Cauldron and Candle now has its own web site where we store our back issues for easy reading. http://www.ecauldron.com/cnc/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ [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! |
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