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C A U L D R O N A N D C A N D L E #65 -- December 2005 A Publication of The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum website: http://www.ecauldron.com/ message board: http://www.ecauldron.net/ newsletter: http://www.ecauldron.com/cnc/ shopping: http://www.ecauldron.com/mall.php http://www.ecauldron.com/doxysbazaar.php In this Issue: [00] Editorial Notes [01] Cauldron News [02] Cauldron Events [03] Cauldron Discussions [04] Cauldron Reviews [05.1] Feature Article: Increasing Psychic Abilities [05.2] Feature Article: God of the Month Club Mailing List [06] Interesting Web Sites [07] Support The Cauldron [08] Newsletter Information (Including How To Subscribe/Unsubscribe) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++ Please support our sponsor +++ PAGAN-FRIENDLY WEB HOSTING http://www.ecauldron.com/web/zdreamhost.php Dreamhost offers high-quality, low cost web hosting with a dedication to free speech. 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Read why we use Dreamhost for The Cauldron's web site: http://www.ecauldron.com/web/whydreamhost.php Visit Dreamhost for Affordable, Pagan-Friendly Hosting http://www.ecauldron.com/web/zdreamhost.php +++ Please support our sponsor +++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ [00] ========= ========= EDITORIAL NOTES ========= Welcome to the December issue of Cauldron and Candle. You are receiving this issue because you subscribed. To learn how to unsubscribe, see the last section of this newsletter. The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum opened to the public on December 13, 1997. We start our ninth year of service to our members and the Pagan community on December 13, 2005. I'd like to thank all our members and staff, both past and present, for making The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum the wonderful community that it has become. Randall Sapphire Editor and Publisher, Cauldron and Candle Co-Host, The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum [01] ========= ========= CAULDRON NEWS ========= by The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum Staff ========= ===== ===== LORELEY MOVES TO CAULDRON COUNCIL ===== Loreley has moved from our message board staff to Cauldron Council as her Masters degree program is taken a lot of her free time. ===== ===== FLASHCHAT REPLACES JAVA CHAT ===== The Cauldron is experimenting with a new Chat program to replace our slightly buggy on some systems Java Chat program. Our new chat uses Flash, which is installed by default with many browsers. It also has more features such as multiple chat rooms, private chat rooms, etc. It has most of the useful features of IRC without the security holes. The purchase of this program was made possible by donations to The Cauldron. ===== ===== MEMBER ART ON ZAZZLE ===== Koi discovered a great site that allows members to sell prints of their artwork, greeting cards, various types and colors of shirts with art or phrases, and even custome postage stamps and receive a 10% royalty. Better yet, if you purchase these items through The Cauldron's Member Art on Zazzle page, The Cauldron gets a (smaller) cut as well. Zazzle is something like a second generation Cafepress. It's much easier to use and with many more features. For example, you can provide a design for a shirt and Zazzle allows its customers to place the design on any of the available shirt types -- you don't have to create a separate product for each possible type of shirt. You can even allow items to be customized by the buyer if you wish. We hope many of the more artistic membersof our message board will set up on Zazzle and tell us about it, We'll add a link to your area on Zazzle on our Member Art on Zazzle page. There is a direct link to Zazzle there as well in case you are interested in putting some of your art on Zazzle. * http://www.ecauldron.com/cmzazzle.php ===== ===== 12 DAYS OF HOLIDAY COOKING ===== Since we've got a lot of people who celebrate the holiday season with food, I thought having a 12 Days of Holiday Cooking might be a nice change. This will start on Monday, November 28 and run for a few weeks. I'll bump this post the week before we start. I have 12 categories, and I'll post a category every two days and our members can post in with recipes and ideas for their favorites for that food category. If there isn't a category planned for something, feel free to post it in the miscellaneous category on the last day. If you miss posting in one of the categories, feel free to hop back into it. The categories will be: Drinks (no real limit on what this is) Appetizers/Snacks Sweets (cookies, pies, cakes, desserts) Salads Soups Relishes/Accoutrements Vegetables Stuffing/Dressing/Breads Poultry Meat/Fish Eggs/Cheese Miscellaneous For more information: * http://www.ecauldron.net/cncboard.php?m=7961.1 [02] ========= ========= CAULDRON EVENTS ========= by The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum Staff ========= ===== ===== DECEMBER CAULDRON CHALLENGE ===== This month's Challenge is an eco-challenge! Specifically, I challenge you to find a way to reduce the amount of trash you throw out every week. (For the purposes of the Challenge, I'm only talking about actual trash that goes to the garbage dump here--not stuff that gets recycled, composted, given away, etc.) This should be a particularly challenging Challenge, with the holiday season in full swing. That also makes this the perfect month for it, though, as hopefully it will make the most difference now. I encourage everyone to set a goal and see if you can stick to it by the end of the month. Some suggestions to get you started: * Use cloth napkins instead of paper. * Try not to use paper plates or disposable tableware. * Use dishtowels or something similar instead of paper towels. * Buy products without excess packaging. * Buy products with recyclable packaging. * Join a group like Freecycle. * When making those emergency grocery runs, don't get a bag if you're only buying one item. * Get reusable bags made of canvas, string net, mesh, heavy-duty plastic, etc. to take with you when grocery shopping. (Some stores will even give you a credit on your bill for this, usually around 5 cents per bag.) * Check with your local recycling center to make sure that you're recycling everything you can. * If your family (if applicable) will cooperate, try to use reuse items used to pack lunches. (Sometimes this means reusing a baggie that just had a slice of bread in it and is still clean; sometimes it means using Tupperware and such.) * Start a compost pile. How much do you currently throw away each week? How much are you going to try to reduce it by this month? Do you have any tips to share, especially for dealing with holiday-specific garbage like wrapping paper and bows? (Thank you to Sperran for inspiring this one!) http://www.ecauldron.net/cncboard.php?m=8115.1 [03] ========= ========= CAULDRON DISCUSSIONS ========= Recent Discussion Topics on our Message Board ========= In an average month, over 200 new discussion topics are started on The Cauldron's message board. Here are a few of the more interesting recent discussions. It's not too late to join in. Thanks to Bloglet, you can now receive an email every night on days we post new site news items to the main page of The Cauldron's web site. These emails contain a link to the new item and the first couple of lines of the news text. You can sign up for Bloglet's free news delivery via the form at the end of the site "News and Updates" section of The Cauldron's main web page. ===== ===== Herne and Cernunnos - Same God? ===== I've been given cause to wonder recently when I've heard Herne and Cernunnos mentioned as if the names are interchangeable because to me they're not really. If anyone were to ask me who my main patron God is I'd say Herne. Now I know that he's a bit of a debatable deity as the first mention of him is in Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor but my experience of him is as an extremely primal God, possibly even pre-Homo sapiens. Cernunnos isn't so hard to track down as he was known by the Romans and seems to have been the horned fertility/forest God of the continental European Celts, with possible Welsh involvement. However, he doesn't seem to quite fit my Horned God; close but not quite there. I think it's the Latin influence, perhaps Cernunnos has more of Pan about him but Herne has more than a touch of Odin. So, are there any other Herne worshipers out there who feel this distinction? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncboard.php?m=8177.1 ===== ===== I'm Throwing Gender Out Of My Dualities ===== For probably years I've had a huge problem with almost every magical system I've bumped into. It's a gender problem. In almost every magical book I've read, with the exception on one of Cunningham's books on herbs (he replaces "Male and Female" with "Hot and Cold"). The trait of being female is always associated with the moon, and list of traits reads like this: (This is from Wicca: A Year and a Day by Timothy Roderick) Moon Contracting Dark Yin Passive ... Being male is associated with the sun: Sun Expanding Light Yang Active ... This has always upset and then puzzled me in equal measure. The upset comes from having a Christian upbringing and being brow- beaten with the idea that women are basically passive. Finding what appears to be the same idea in every religion I have seen was upsetting. Why upsetting? Because it's puzzling to me. The puzzlement is that one of the reasons I left Christianity (other than it not making sense to me), was that associating a physical sex with personality traits never made sense to me at all--it just wasn't realistic when I looked at myself and my friends. Whenever I would voice this question in Christianity, I would get the "read your bible" answer. When I started asking about the divine polarity in Wicca I'd get something like this: "Yes, but the Lord and the Lady are part of the same energy. We each have pieces of the God and Goddess within us" I feel this skips neatly around the question--why is the sun associated with being male in the first place? Why is the moon female? But as I was reading this rather fluffy exercise in a Wicca: A Year and a Day book it struck me that if I just remove the Male and Female genders from the list of traits for the moon and sun-- it starts making a lot more sense! The sun *is* fiery, full of light, associated with being active. The moon is in my mind as being dark, dreaming, and cool. Gender has nothing to do with it! Has anyone had an experience like this? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncboard.php?m=8159.1 ===== ===== Karma? Hell? Punishment? ===== Christianity includes punishment by God or eternity in Hell if you screw up, and from what I've read of karma, it too promises payback. My knowledge of world religions is minimal, so I don't know if other systems have similar ideas. But, is it necessary to use fear? What about positive reinforcement? Is there so little evidence of reward that only fear seems most effective? Are there any religions you know of that don't use fear in some form? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncboard.php?m=8157.1 ===== ===== Spells With Unexpected Results ===== Have you (or someone you know of) ever cast a spell that had completely unexpected results? For example, this could be that your desire was met in an unexpected way, or a methodology glitch caused a totally goofy happening, or something else. * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncboard.php?m=8074.1 ===== ===== Degree Systems ===== Since this is currently in the forefront of my mind (I very happily received my second degree in the tradition I work in last night.), I thought it might make an interesting thread. What do you guys think about degree systems? Do you have questions about why they're used or meaningful to some people? Do you wonder why anyone bothers? Feel free to use this thread to ask questions - a couple of other people who work in them have offered to help answer, too. Bear in mind that many people working in multi-degree systems will have stuff they've agreed not to share about some specifics. But it's our jobs, in those cases, to not say the stuff we've agreed not to share, not yours to avoid asking about it. Just be aware there may be a bit of "Sorry, can't go into details about that..." going on in answer to some kinds of questions. * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncboard.php?m=8064.1 ===== ===== What Makes a Religion Real? ===== When I talk to those not very familiar with non-mainstream religions, I sometimes am told that these religions aren't "real" because they don't have church buildings or because they don't have multi-million dollar charities organized in their name or because they don't have a holy book or because they don't have enough believers, etc. Do you think any such things are necessary for a religion to be "real"? Regardless of your answer to the previous question, do you think such things are needed for the general public to see a religion as real? What are the requirements for a "real religion"? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncboard.php?m=8047.1 [04] ========= ========= CAULDRON REVIEWS ========= Most of The Cauldron's book reviews are now written by Mike Gleason. If you would like to contact Mike with comments about his reviews (or about books you would like to have reviewed), you can email Mike at: gleason.mike@ecauldron.GETRIDOFME.com ===== ===== BOOK: SPIRITS OF THE EARTH ===== Reviewed by Tara ===== Spirits of the Earth Author: Jaq. D. Hawkins Publisher: Capall Bann ISBN: 1861630026 Very surprisingly a ritual magican of 40 years recommended this to me. I was a little dubious due to both the publisher and the author but decided to give it a go despite my reservations. Having met the author earlier this year I was under the impression they were firmly ensconced into the chaos magic paradigm. Actually it was a very enjoyable experience. The book is very earth based, not surpisingly considering it's name. It starts with thier interpretation of the nature of earth from thier perspective, it is a mis-mash of science and eclectism but does make sense. Agree with her or not you can see where the author is coming from. The author then goes on to discuss the types of spirit you can interact with and how to see/percieve them. This however does seem to be a direct lift out of Katharine Briggs dictionary of faeries, and it wasn't a shock to see that edition listed in the bibliography. This book actually covers a lot, how to integrate these spirits both in (as the author calls it) natural magic and ritual magic as well as daily life, looking at correspondances and thier meanings etc. without having to revert to difficult to read tomes such as 777. She also gives examples of the kind of spells that could be used with earth elementals. One of the later chapers which is of personal interest to me is the discussion of constructing thought form elementals, this was not glamourised at all and was given with appropriate warnings, the author gives a lot of inforamtion regarding how when and why, most unusual. All in all a very good book although the author has teased a little as they have deliberately stated that some concepts (which the discerning reader will think about) are to be covered in later books. Maybe not a bad thing if you are looking on this series of books as a building of experience rather than a one shot affair. ===== ===== BOOK: EXPLORE FAIRY TRADITIONS ===== Reviewed by Tara ===== Explore Fairy Traditions Author: Jeremy Harte Publisher: Heart of Albion Press ISBN: 1872883613 I picked this book up with a little trepidation yesterday afternoon, you see I do believe in Genius Locii or spirits of a place and do have a firm belief that many fairy stories and folk tales and mythology about the Fae may well be the stories of such creatures. What attracted me was the decidedly not fluffy blurb on the back cover: Quote: Like their human counterparts, the secret people could kill aswell as heal. They knew marriage, seduction, rape and divorce;" The book is separated into 2 parts. The first discusses such issues as the reality of fairy's, what type of fairy's exist, where they come from and where the stories of them originated. This section is a narrative of the authors research and is heavily littered with references, everything from J.R.R Tolkein to Reginald Scot. This section is in many ways the historical and etymological bit. Th author wrote this section well and it was easy to read, but to be honest I found it a little frustrating that I waded my way through nearly 50 pages of this "Introduction" for the author to not actually answer in any detail (even from a personal theory point of view) any of the questions posed in this section. The second part is concerned with different type of fairy and thier roles in human society, such as fairies and marriage, fairies and work, fairies and the home (although these are nearly all example from celtic literature). This was fascinating, the author really did seem to focus on the nasty rather than the good, nearly all the examples given were decidedly on the grim side, even the lighter ones were hardly "happily ever after" type tales; so I suspect for the more gentle audience this may not be thier type of book. Take the following "happily ever after" tale purportedly from the shetlands circa 1820, it describes how you might be rid of a changling child and reclaim your own. The child is dunked in a bath of hot sea water turned 3 times sunwise, three times back in the opposite direction, wrapped in a wet blanket, then passed over flames then put to bed in the same blanket. Meanwhile an effigy of the child is burned. Hardly pretty fairy stuff eh! I really enjoyed this section of the book with one caveat, the author whilst apparently a researcher of folklore and archeology has obviously chosen tales of a particular genre so as to prove his point which he comes back to section after section; which is to explain all these stories away as cautionary tales, meant to make child do as thier mother say, wife to do as thier fathers and husbands say and husbands to generally not beat thier wives too hard. All possible inklings of actual (dare I say it) magic in the tale are firmly and neatly dealt with and thrown out. Maybe he is right, but there is a part of me that is sad that centuries of lore can be reduced to nothing but a diatribe of socio-economical parables from an age gone by. Ahh well I suppose that is the romantic in me, don't let me put you off reading this book it is an interesting read and the author has packed in a huge amount of detail for what is a very slim volume. [05.1] ========= ========= FEATURE ARTICLE: ========= INCREASING PSYCHIC ABILITIES THROUGH MEDITATION ========= by Jeffry R. Palmer ========= We all have psychic abilities. For many people this ability is dormant or asleep. It's a bit like the person who sits at a piano for the first time and discovers that they have a natural talent for music. The ability was always present it just takes the right circumstances for the talent to become apparent. Most of us have times in our lives when we notice something at work that can be considered psychic. Usually this psychic ability is in the form of intuition, hunches or gut responses that seem to defy reason or logic. These uncanny hunches and sudden insights can sometimes leave us feeling bewildered, but the truth is that they are a perfectly natural ability. And like any other talent, psychic abilities can be trained and perfected. There are any number of tools and methods available to the psychic any or all of which may help to increase or focus intuitive skills. Most psychics use some form of meditation to enter a frame of mind that heightens intuitive awareness. Some read palms or tea leaves, tarot cards or rune stones or use a crystal ball; some may involve intricate rituals. Regardless of the tools used to assist a psychic reading they each serve to aid the psychic in entering a form of focused meditation which greatly enhances the natural intuitive sense. Focused meditation provides the frame of mind that is most receptive to intuitive information. Meditation quiets the mind, filters out the noise and chatter of the conscious. This filtering of conscious noise allows the sub-conscious mind to voice its thoughts, as well as enable the mind to tune in to the environment. Some have called this a heightened state of awareness or altered consciousness. The attention is drawn inward with a kind of detached awareness. Developing your ability to enter into this heightened state of mind plays the important role in increasing your intuitive senses. If you're unfamiliar with the practice of meditation then the following exercise should help to gain a better understanding of the methods used. This exercise focuses on breathing and visualization. Controlled breathing provides an area of immediate connection with the mind and body and also increases the supply of oxygen to the brain. Begin by finding a comfortable place to perform your meditation. This can be any place of your choosing, provided that you find it comfortable and relaxing. It is not required for you to sit, though you may, if you choose. Many people find it difficult to sit still for any length of time. Standing or even walking slowly is perfectly acceptable for the sake of this exercise. Focus your attention on your breathing. Notice the air as it enters your body. Try to breathe in through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Take slow, deep breaths. Inhale slowly through your nose and hold the breath in for nine seconds, then exhale slowly for another nine seconds, count out the seconds steadily, not rushed and not sluggish, try to find a pace that feels comfortable, just remember to relax your breathing. Inhale for nine seconds, exhale for nine seconds, and repeat this process nine times. With every breath, imagine that you are inhaling precious life giving air and exhaling any unwanted energies. After you have repeated this cycle nine times you can begin your visualization. Try to maintain the rhythm of your breathing without counting it out in your head. At this point you may notice random thoughts popping into your head, simply dismiss them as they enter your mind, let them slip away easily. Imagine that you are walking across a dry and sandy landscape. The temperature is comfortable, the air is easy to breath and you feel at ease. As you walk along you notice a shape on the horizon. As you near the shape you see that it is a stone building, a round, stone building with a single door. You are facing the door and now you see that this door is slightly open and a light is coming from inside. Now, you are standing at the door and decide to push the door open. You open the door and enter the stone building. Inside you see a round room with a table in the centre. The room is well lit, warm and comfortable. You approach the table and notice a small wooden box, paper and a pen. You form a question in your mind that you would like answered, an issue that you would like resolved, it does not take you any time to form this question. You write this question on the paper before you and place the paper in the box. You see the box has a lid and you close it. After a moment you open the box, you see that the question is no longer written there, instead an answer has appeared. You take the answer with you as you leave the building and return to your present space. You may see immediate results with this exercise or it may take several attempts before the answers found within the box make any sense to you. Over time this visualization becomes much easier to enter into and you may be tempted to treat this exercise as some sort of oracle. This is not the true intention. Instead what we are trying to accomplish is entering into the receptive mode of meditation that was spoken of earlier. The easier it is to enter into this state the more likely it is that you will become tuned into receiving intuitive information. === === About the Author === Jeffry R. Palmer Ph.D. - Metaphysician, Thought Energy Consultant and Syndicated Columnist, Is the author of "Judo for the Soul - The Art of Psychic Self Defense", as well as several articles and papers relating to metaphysics, spirituality and paranormal phenomena. Further information about Mr. Palmer, his books and articles can be found at: http://the-psychic-detective.com/ [05.2] ========= ========= FEATURE ARTICLE: ========= THE GOD F THE MONTH CLUB MAILING LIST ========= by Sannion ========= The God of the Month Club (henceforth known as GMC) is a group set up to further knowledge and devotion to the Gods. We accomplish this through a three-pronged system: study of a particular God's cult, myths, associations, and history; contemplation, both of the God's essential nature and of its relevance in the individual's life; and acts of worship and devotion. Each month participants will chose a new deity through divination and begin the process all over again. This community has been established to share our discoveries, help with any questions that may arise or resources that may be needed, and to provide fellowship for those interested in exploring this novel blending of Reconstructionism and UPG. One thing that I wanted to make clear is that there will be no "official" deity chosen for the group to explore each month. Each of us will be undertaking this journey seperately - we are simply here to share our experiences and insights with others, to share resources, poetry, essays, music, or beautiful pictures that we find or compose on our own, and to benefit from those who may have already had experiences with the deities in question. Roughly, how the GMC works is this: each month, you'll perform a rite of divination to determine which deity you are to explore through study, reflection, and devotion over the next month. You, of course, will be choosing which deities to include in the pool of potential divinities, but you will not be choosing the God of the Month. (The exception to this can be the God you start off with: Hera made it clear that I needed to gain a better understanding of her, so I chose her to start off with without using divination. Everyone after that, however, will be determined through divination.) That is left up to the Gods themselves, and your Agathos Daimon. Therefore, we could have 20 different Gods being discussed each month - or a bulk of us may find ourselves exploring the same deity. That's what makes it so interesting - we are devoting ourselves to a deity not of our choosing, and in some instances, a deity we might never have considered before. This will make for some very intriguing patterns I imagine. There is also a livejournal community set up for this which can be found at: http://www.livejournal.com/community/godothemonth/ Yahoo Mailing List: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/godofthemonthclub/ === === About the Author === Sannion is a Hellenic Polytheist who has graced this newsletter with an editorial or two in the past. You can find more of his writings on his web site, Sannion's Sanctuary, at http://winterscapes.com/sannion/ or in his new book, A Temple of Words: Essays Culled from Five Years of "Sannion's Sanctuary" which is available from http://www.cafepress.com/sannion [06] ========= ========= INTERESTING WEB SITES ========= Pagan and Non-Pagan ========= ASATRU-U Asatru-U develops and publishes Asatru (Germanic Heathen) courses for different kinds of students; for different levels of rigor and abstraction; and for directed and independent study. We operate loosely under the umbrella of the Reeves Hall of the Frigga's Web Association. Our discussion archives and drafts are on Yahoo! Groups. http://asatru-u.org/ AMERICAN FOLKLORE This folklore site contains retellings of American folktales, Native American myths and legends, tall tales, weather folklore and ghost stories from each and every one of the 50 United States. You can read about all sorts of famous characters like Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, Daniel Boone, and many more. So grab a cup of coffee, pull up a comfy chair, and stay awhile. http://www.americanfolklore.net/ CARD GAMES WEB SITE This site brings you rules and information about card and tile games from all parts of the world. There are rules for hundreds of card games, common and uncommon. http://www.pagat.com/ CLIPBOARD RECORDER Clipboard Recorder is a free tool used to record what you have copied/cut to the Windows clipboard. You can paste the same item by selecting from the list of records without repeating copying/cutting the same item from its original place. It provides multiple clipboards, works seamlessly with Microsoft Office and other applications, supports a variety of formats (including RTF text, HTML, CSV, Bitmap, Meta file and Embedded Object), provides four easy ways to access the records: popup list, floating list, menu and the main window). http://www.lw-works.com/ [07] ========= ========= Cauldron Info ========= SUPPORT THE CAULDRON BY VOLUNTEERING TO HELP ========= The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum was founded in December 1997 to provide a friendly but serious discussion area for Pagans on the Internet. We've grown a bit over the years. We now have an active message area, a large web site with around 700 pages of information (including over 300 book and divination deck reviews), and a monthly email newsletter. To continue to provide and expand these services, The Cauldron needs lots of volunteer help from our members and supporters. Here are some of the things members and supporters can do to help The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum thrive: ===== ===== Actively Participate In Our Message Board ===== While our new message board welcomes readers, we encourage members to actively participate by posting their comments and views in our discussions. One of the easiest ways to help The Cauldron is to actively participate in our message board. The staff especially appreciates members who start new topics for discussion based on their own questions, opinions, or interests. http://www.ecauldron.net/ ===== ===== Articles! Essays! Tutorials! ===== We are in constant need of original, well-written and accurate articles, essays, tutorials, and other written items for both our web site and for our Cauldron and Candle newsletter. There's no real limit on length for web site articles. Here are a few areas in which we always need articles: * information on the beliefs and theology of the various Pagan religions, especially non-Wiccan religions * information on holidays and festivals of the various Pagan religions, especially non-Wiccan religions * recipes for oils, incenses, and food for the various Pagan holidays * magick, spells, and ritual information * herbal information * positive articles on dealing with other faiths * information on historical pagan cultures * editorial/opinion pieces Non-Wiccan material is stressed not because we don't want Wiccan material but because good non-Wiccan material has been hard to find. We have a web form you can use to submit an article for consideration: http://www.ecauldron.com/bnbarticleform.php ===== ===== Book Reviews ===== While The Cauldron receives some review copies from a couple of Pagan publishers, there are many books that can only be reviewed on our web site if a member has a copy and writes a good, objective review. The Cauldron is interested in reviews on the more academic books used by reconstructionist Pagan religions as well as on the books one finds on the Pagan/New Age shelf in the bookstore. We have a web form you can use to submit a book review for consideration: http://www.ecauldron.com/bnbbkreviewform.php ===== ===== Graphic Assistance ===== The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum is purposely a low graphics site as we value page download speed over flashy graphics. However, we are always willing to talk with artists who have ideas for well-designed small graphics (small in both physical dimensions and file size) that might enhance a specific article or page. ===== ===== Invite Your Friends ===== If you have friends or acquaintances who you believe would find The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum useful, please tell them about our site. If you are active in our message board and have friends who might enjoy them or have information to contribute, please invite them. ===== ===== Link To The Cauldron ===== If you have a web site where linking to The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum would be appropriate, simply providing a link to this web site is a big help. Our Link to this Site page explains how you can do this if you need help or want some simple graphic buttons to use: http://www.ecauldron.com/linktous.php ===== ===== Donations ===== As The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum uses as many free services as possible, our need for money to operate our site is currently lower than our need for the many items we list above. However, if you have a few dollars to spare, we would be honored to have your help in paying for our web site. You can donate by using either PayPal or the Amazon Honor System links below (we get about 85% of what you donate). Donate via PayPal http://www.ecauldron.com/donatepaypal.php Donate via Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/paypage/P3903JRFVQVDN ===== ===== Amazon Purchases ===== The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum also receives a small percentage (usually 5%) from most items purchased from Amazon.com when you go to Amazon.com from one of the links to Amazon on our web site. If you purchase a lot of books, CDs, and other items from Amazon.com as many members do, going to Amazon.com through one of our links when you are going to make a purchase there is a painless way to help fund this web site. http://www.ecauldron.com/zamazon.php If you are a regular user of the US version of Amazon, you can help The Cauldron by replacing the URL of your ebay bookmark in your browser with the above link so that TC gets credit every time you visit Amazon.com. To do this in Internet Explorer or Firefox, find Amazon in your bookmark list. RIGHT click on it and select Properties from the popup menu which will appear. A dialog box describing your bookmark will appear. You'll see the standard Amazon url -- probably http://www.amazon.com/ -- in an edit box (labeled "Location" in FireFox and "URL" in IE). Erase that url completely and replace with one listed above, then click on OK. If you use Amazon UK, you can use this address http://www.ecauldron.com/zamazonuk.php If you use Amazon Canada, you can use this addess: http://www.ecauldron.com/zamazonca.php ===== ===== Ebay Purchases ===== Are you an Ebay user? Ebay has a new program that pays affiliates a small percent of the winning bid if the winning bidder enters ebay from an affiliate link (some like how our Amazon.com affiliate program works). So if you visit the US version ebay via the following link, the Cauldron will get credit for your bids: http://www.ecauldron.com/zebay.php If you are a regular user of the US version of ebay, you can help The Cauldron by replacing the URL of your ebay bookmark in your browser with the above link so that TC gets credit every time you visit ebay. To do this in Internet Explorer or Firefox, find ebay in your bookmark list. RIGHT click on it and select Properties from the popup menu which will appear. A dialog box describing your bookmark will appear. You'll see the standard ebay url -- probably http://www.ebay.com/ -- in an edit box (labeled "Location" in FireFox and "URL" in IE). Erase that url completely and replace with one listed above, then click on OK. ===== ===== Have Questions or Suggestions? ===== If you have specific questions, proposals or other ideas we haven't mentioned here, please email them to rssapphire00@ecauldron.GETRIDOFEME.com. (Unfortunately, Randall has to answer general "Tell me more?" type questions with a request for a more specific question. He's not trying to be rude, he just can't think of anything general and useful to say that isn't said here.) [08] ========= ========= NEWSLETTER INFORMATION ========= (Including how to subscribe and unsubscribe) ========= Cauldron and Candle is a free publication of The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum. The Cauldron intends to publish this newsletter once a month and often actually succeeds in doing so. We tried to publish it twice a month for a while, but real life interfered too often. This issue of Cauldron and Candle as a whole is copyright (c) 2005 by The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum. 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. The opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of newsletter, The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum, or its staff. Publication of an article in this newsletter is not an endorsement of the authors position or any products and companies mentioned therein. 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 OR CHANGE EMAIL ADDRESS ===== You are receiving a copy of this newsletter because you signed up to receive it. You can subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter via your web browser at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cauldronandcandle/join Or you can unsubscribe via email by sending a blank message to cauldronandcandle-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Be sure to send this message from the email account actually subscribed to the newsletter. If you have trouble unsubscribing by email, please use the web browser method mentioned above. If you need to change your subscription to a new email address, unsubscribe your old email address and subscribe your new email address. Note that you have to make these changes yourself. Yahoo Groups does not allow the list owner to make them for you. ===== ===== 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/ ===== ===== 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. ===== ===== SUGGESTIONS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME ===== Don't forget that your suggestions for this newsletter are always welcome, either posted on the message board or via email to LyricFox (lyricfox@ecauldron.GETRIDOFME.com) or Randall Sapphire (rssapphire00@ecauldron.GETRIDOFME.com). Typos are, as usual, courtesy of the Goddess Eris.

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