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C A U L D R O N A N D C A N D L E #56 -- February 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: [01] Editorial Notes * Annual Cauldron Donation Drive * Cauldron and Candle Submissions Needed, As Always [02] Cauldron Challenge: February [03] Cauldron News * Message Board Software Upgraded January 6th * New Folder: New to Pagan Religions? * New Folder: Teen Refuge * Cauldron Wiki * Member Poetry moved to the Cauldron Wiki [04] Cauldron Discussions [05] Reviews [05-1] Pocket Guide to Celtic Spirituality [05-2] Pocket Guide to Crystals and Gemstones [05-3] Taliesin [05-4] Witchcraft and the Mystery Tradition [05-5] The Complete Guide to Psychic Development [05-6] Celebrating the Seasons of Life: Beltane to Mabon [05-7] Sacred Sexuality in Ancient Egypt [05-8] If You Want to Be a Witch [06] Articles: [06-1] On Eclecticism, Syncretism, Multiple-Path, and other Combinatorics [06-2] Pa-Kua Feng Shui Basics [06-3] Grieving Spell [06-4] February -- The Month of Purification [06-5] Lord Bag of Rice [07] Columns [07-1] Kitchen Witchin [07-2] Humor: 20 Ways To Not Get Invited Back To A Circle [08] Pagan Webcrafting [08-1] Is Your Website Too Hard? [08-2] Diabolical Design [08-3] How to Create Columns with Div's [08-4] Cheap Web Hosting Report: February 2005 [09] Support The Cauldron by Volunteering to Help [10] Newsletter Information (Including How To Subscribe/Unsubscribe) +++March Issue Submission Deadline: February 23, 2005+++ Guidelines: http://www.ecauldron.com/cnc/submissions.php [01] ========= ========= EDITORIAL NOTES ========= by Randall Sapphire ========= ===== ===== Annual Cauldron Donation Drive ===== Our annual web hosting bill for ecauldron.com (the main web site with our articles, reviews, newsletters, etc.) is due this month, so it is time for our annual Cauldron Donation Drive. Our February donation drive last year had the needed money in less than a week. While we do not expect a repeat of that, if those of our members who can afford to contribute $5, $10, $20 or more in the next couple of weeks would do so, we'd probably have all the money needed. Since our last donation drive, we have received enough additional donations to cover about 25% of this year's bill -- so we are already 25% of the way toward our goal. Don't worry, if we don't get enough donations, the main web site will not disappear. Lyric and I will scrap up the money needed, so there's no "if you don't donate the web site will disappear" nonsense some other sites have been known to do. We just appreciate all the help we can get as we are rolling in money any more than you are and a large bill in one month can really work havoc. Donations can be accepted via PayPal or the Amazon Honor System. Paypal is slightly better as they take a slightly smaller fee out of what is donated. If you want to be personally credited and thanked for your donation, be sure to use PayPal. (Amazon donations are anonymous so we can't email you our thanks). You'll find a large white box near the top of The Cauldron's main web page with donation links or you can use these: Donate via PayPal http://www.ecauldron.com/donatepaypal.php Donate via Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/paypage/P3903JRFVQVDN You can check on the progress of our donation drive in this thread: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncboard.php?m=3867.1 ===== ===== Cauldron and Candle Submissions Needed, As Always ===== As I said last month, submissions really dropped off in December. Unfortunately, they did not improve much in January. If you have an idea for an article, now would be a great time to write it up. I'd like to thank Darkhawk for the great article on eclecticism we are publishing this month. We even make it easy for you to submit items with a couple of handy forms on our web site: Handy Article Submission Form: http://www.ecauldron.com/persontestart.php Book Review Submission Form: http://www.ecauldron.com/persontestbr.php ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 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. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ [02] ========= ========= CAULDRON CHALLENGE: FEBRUARY ========= by Star ========= It's time to announce the next Challenge. I got the idea for this one from my calendar, which says that the week of Valentine's Day is "Random Acts of Kindness" week. I thought, why limit it to one week? Random acts of kindness are always good! So your Challenge for February is to perform random acts of kindness. Keep an eye out for those little (or not so little) things you can do to help make the world a better place for someone. Do them. :) Then come back here and tell us what kinds of things you're doing! Perhaps you'll inspire someone else to do something similar. http://www.ecauldron.net/cncboard.php?m=3732.1 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ LOOKING FOR A PAGAN FRIENDLY WEB HOST? We use DreamHost because it is affordable and reliable, but mainly because its terms of service allow web sites with anything legal: our web site will not be pulled because we review a few books on sex magick or an erotic tarot deck. It's a great host for Pagan web sites. http://www.dreamhost.com/rewards.cgi?27905/shared/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ [03] ========= ========= CAULDRON NEWS ========= by The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum Staff ========= ===== ===== Message Board Software Upgraded January 6th ===== Since we moved from DelphiForums last April, our message board software has a slightly modified version of Beehive Forums 0.4. A new version of Beehive Forums was released in December. Since its release we have been modifying it for our needs and testing those modifications. This afternoon, Bob upgraded our message board to this new (and slightly modified) version of Beehive Forums software (version 0.5). This new version has many new features -- and allows attachments to work correctly on our server. The most obvious change is the menu bar. The old Preferences and Profile items have bee replaced with a single "My Controls" item that will take you to a framed set of sub-menus where you can set options and modify your profile. Like in the current version, we have modified the menu bar to add a few items of our own, but even these look better. Another noticeable new feature is graphic emoticons for messages Our modifications added our menu items (Chat, Rules, and Extras) and disabled a few of the items added in the official Beehive 0.5. For example, we removed the server-side spelling checker because it was implemented via a MySQL database and would overload the database on a busy forum like ours (causing the board to slow to a crawl when it was very busy). As free client- side spelling checkers are available for IE, Opera, and FireFox on most platforms, this feature should not be missed by many members. There is one known minor problem with the new software, Beehive Forums 0.5 corrected a very large scale problem with storing single and double quotes in the database which means that material posted with the 0.4 version we have been using may be subject to slightly erroneous display (e.g. \' displayed where a ' should be). There are probably a number of other minor problems that have not been discovered yet, but in general the upgraded message board software seems to be working nicely. ===== ===== New Folder: New to Pagan Religions? ===== We have a new folder on our message board: New to Pagan Religions? Our message board often has discussions and debate on the various Pagan religions at a fairly advanced level and members tend to assume in these discussions that those participating are at least fairly knowledgeable in the basics. This can be fairly intimidating for those who do just starting out and do not yet have that basic knowledge or who realize after reading this message board for a few days or weeks than much of what they have learned from some of the "101" books they have read simply may be incorrect. The New to Pagan Religions folder will to provide a place where people asking questions are assumed to be beginners (instead of assumed to be knowledgeable). This folder has special rules in additional to our normal rules. They can be viewed via the link below: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncboard.php?m=3812.1 ===== ===== New Folder: Teen Refuge ===== We have another new folder on our message board: Teen Refuge. Teens -- and teen Pagans in particular -- often have a lot of issues to discuss that are different from those of adults. The Teen Refuge folder a place for The Cauldron's teen members to discuss teen issues with their peers -- and with some positive input from those of our adult members who still remember what it is like to be a teen. Teens certainly are not required to confine themselves to this folder, but it is provided as a spot that is definitely friendly to teen issues. While we usually do not have moderators assigned to particular folders, Teen Refuge is an exception. Sine is our Teen Refuge folder moderator. This folder has special rules in additional to our normal rules, these special rules can be found via the link below: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncboard.php?m=3821.1 ===== ===== Cauldron Wiki ===== Another new feature has been added to the menu of The Cauldron's web site and the top menu bar of our message board -- a wiki. A wiki is a set of user editable web pages (edited via a much more simple set of markup than HTML code). Cauldron Wiki is set up so that message board guests and those viewing our web site cannot modify its pages, but members of our message board (in good standing) who are logged in to our message board can edit it. There is not a lot there now, but it is a place for members to publish their articles on Paganism, poetry, etc. We have set up a very minimal set of pages to show what can be done (see the Member Poetry section). For more info on Wikis, see this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki Note that all normal rules from the message board and chat apply to Cauldron Wiki and that vandalizing the Wiki is a bannable offense. ===== ===== Member Poetry Moved to the Cauldron Wiki ===== Our Member Poetry section has been moved to The Cauldron Wiki so we could standardize on one system for member-entered material on The Cauldron's web site. Since moving to the Wiki, we've had another member some of her poetry to the web site. Here is a direct link to the new Member Poetry section of our web site. http://www.ecauldron.net/cms/cwiki.php?page=Member+Poetry ===== ===== Doxy's Bazaar Moves from eBay to The Cauldron ===== As most of you may know, the forum hosts have a small "store" where they sell -- at "bargain" prices -- extra used copies of Pagan books (with the occasional divination deck and non-Pagan item thrown in) from our their collections and from items they find on rare occasions at used books and garage sales. This store has been on eBay. It moved to The Cauldron's web site because eBay is raising their store fees (by 60%) to the point where the hosts just can't afford to keep it there -- especially as they operate it more as a service to Cauldron members and the Pagan community instead of a way to get rich. It's not quite as easy to order now (you email the hosts for a quote with shipping instead of push buttons on eBay that sends them an email), but the service on their end is still the same. There are over 40 books in Doxy's Bazaar now. Check out our new home at: http://www.ecauldron.com/doxysbazaar.php ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CAULDRON AND CANDLE WEB SITE The Cauldron and Candle has its own web site where we store our back issues for easy reading. http://www.ecauldron.com/cnc/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ [04] ========= ========= CAULDRON DISCUSSIONS ========= Recent Discussion Topics on our Message Board ========= In an average month, over 150 new discussion topics are started on The Cauldron's message board. Here are a few of the more interesting discussions from the last month. 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. === === On Tacking On "With Harm To None" === So I set off on my Wiccan path years ago armed with all of Silver Ravenwolf's books. As anyone who's read her work knows, she's big on ending spells, "With harm to none, so mote it be." I'm wondering, what is you all's opinion on the effectiveness of this "clause," for lack of a better word? I'd rather not someone drop dead because of a money spell, for instance. Do you think this will do the trick? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncboard.php?m=3799.1 === === When to Use Magic? === There's been a lot of spell requests and discussions about the hows of magic, recently ... So, let's get into the whys. Why do you use magic, and when? Is it a regular part of your daily life, something you use for emergencies... what? Are there any situations in which magic is either useless or downright dangerous? What do you do and why? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncboard.php?m=3766.1 === === Gender Roles and Your Religion === Does your religion have anything to say about gender roles? Are there certain things that women "should" do or are considered better suited to, and other things that are reserved for men for the same reasons? Is there a specific directive that requires men and women to be treated equally and tasks/duties assigned regardless of physical gender? Or is there not really anything about this subject in your religion's teachings? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncboard.php?m=3715.1 === === A Synod or Council to Define Official Wiccan Beliefs? === Almost every major religion on the planet in their early stage underwent a stage where multiple literatures about them existed. Christianity for example when it grew increasingly popular had so many different books testifying the life of Jesus (up to twelve in all if I heard correctly, do not ask me for sources on this, but I do know that recently the Gospel of Thomas surfaced). Buddhism in the first twelve years upon Buddha's death had so many variants that some sounded no different from Jainism. Wicca is currently at the same stage. Of the NeoPagans we are the most successful. Of the NeoPagans we are also the first to have crossed the cultural divide. In the process we had an original Wicca somewhere that grew, exploded outwards and suddenly we have so many different variants it becomes scary and has become known as Neo-Wicca by some? Do you think that eventually as Wiccans the moment we can organise ourselves will form something equivalent to the Synod of Carthage or the First Council will occur? Finally for once a definition, a compilation of acceptable Wiccan materials and in the process a definition of what makes a Wiccan? Because it is now becoming obvious as Wicca moves out from the religion of just a hundred people to probably a million worldwide if not more there will be increasing call ( and ability ) to form physical organisation for us to gather, to study. In the process there will be a definite move to define Wicca and what are Wicca text. Do you think that eventually we will have something like the Synod of Carthage or the First Council? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncboard.php?m=3699.1 === === Paganism and Men === I just wonder how many people here think that in some cases modern day Paganism unfairly denigrates men. If we look beyond the facts that male dominated institutes are responsible for most of the worlds wars and environmental destruction isn't there a sense that "mainstream" Paganism blames all men for these actions. At the same time I think there is a need for a stronger masculine pagan spirituality. This doesn't necessarily equate with violence but it does represent inner strength and confidence. With this in mind what are various peoples relationships with male deities like ? Do they seem as strong as the Goddesses or Goddess or do they seem like an aside at times? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncboard.php?m=3693.1 === === Questions on the Foundations of Wicca === Over the last few days I have read in a lot of places that the Gardnerian tradition is fairly new and I had read in another post that there aren't many "Wiccan Grandmothers" because it is so new. This concerns me. I had gathered the conclusion (which may be totally wrong) that the pagan/Wiccan path was an ancient one predating Christianity and that Christianity sought to wipe out the Pagans/Wiccans with their New Religion. From an observationist perspective, what is the difference then between Gardner and the Mormon guy Joesph Smith? Aren't they both then just altering perceptions to fit their own needs? And what about before Gardner, what were the pagans/Wiccans doing then? Were they all dead? (That is not meant to sound sarcastic - it's an honest question.) Honestly I haven't read much about Gardner because my first impression of him was that he manipulated an "old religion" to suit his needs. That may be incorrect assumption and I would be happy to learn more. * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncboard.php?m=3651.1 === === Truth and Evangelism === Follow me into a thought experiment. Imagine, if you will, that the Wiccan view of the universe IS the right one. It IS the "One True Way." (I pick Wicca because it has a fairly well-defined theology, which will make discussion of my question somewhat easier, at least to start off.) There is a God, and a Goddess, and that's that. They are distinct and separate, and do not appear with 8 zillion other faces. (IOW, you can't weasel out of my question by saying Yahweh is an aspect of the God or Brigid an aspect of the Goddess - that's not what I'm really after here.) The universe, the afterlife, everything, function exactly as described by Wiccan theology (you may pick your own particulars - what I'm after is the part where it's TRUE). Now Wicca is not an evangelizing religion (I know it's a more Christian-specific word but I can't spell proselytizing reliably, so forgive me that one), as I understand after my years here. It doesn't actively seek converts; it is not MEANT to be for everyone but only for a few called to Wicca and to the priesthood of Wicca. So what I don't get - and what, after my 6ish years of association with Pagans, puzzles me the most about many Pagan religions - is WHY there's no evangelism. Christians, Muslims - they have a pretty clear view of their goals in the world. They each believe they possess the Truth, and because it's the Truth, they want to share that with everyone and have everyone become thus enlightened by the Truth. (And I think we can all agree in the abstract that this is a Good Thing, that we'd rather know the truth and be fed lies; that truth is objectively a better thing to know and believe than untruth, whether that comes to science or politics or religion.) Judaism- qua-Judaism is traditionally only open to tribal members (and certain converts), but Judaism also has a "plan" for the Gentiles to follow Yahweh (as Noahides) and a desire to have the world recognize Yahweh as God. Hinduism is less evangelistic than Christianity and Islam, but also has a particular view of Truth that they believe all people should know. So if Wiccans held the One True Way, knew how the universe functioned, and the Gods worked, and so forth - why would they not share this Truth with all people? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncboard.php?m=3588.1 === === Chaos Magick and "Pretending" to Believe === I've only recently been introduced to Chaos Magic, so I may be misunderstanding (and please correct me if I am) but its my understanding that a Chaote is free to use any system which they want/feel will be beneficial in fulfilling their magical goals. One basically acts as if they were a believer for the period of time of the magical work. One doesn't have to believe in the system and the system doesn't even have to be based in "reality" to work for the user. What are your thoughts on how god(s)/goddess(es) might feel about someone "pretending" to ascribe to their worship for the short term to perform magic? For those with a close report with your gods/goddess(es), have you ever asked them about such a topic? For those Chaotes out there, is my general understanding correct and what are your thoughts? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncboard.php?m=3513.1 === === What's Wrong With Cunningham? === After three years of being a generic Pagan and avoiding Wicca because of its popularity, I finally decided to stop reading Wiccan books for background info and start reading them as a serious would-be practitioner. I read Cunningham's Wicca: A Guide near the beginning of my path, but I started rereading it recently with new eyes. I was surprised to find I agreed with a lot of the beliefs and practices he called Wicca (and the list Sine posted in another thread). At the risk of sounding cliche, it's like coming home again. However, I'm not new to the Pagan community, and I'm aware that some people have issues with Cunningham and don't recommend him. The self-dedication/self-initiation argument is a point on which I disagree with Cunningham; initiation requires separation from the community, a change, and a return to the community, a sequence impossible to perform alone. You can dedicate yourself, sure, but not initiate. Also, you can't reveal the Mysteries to yourself. Other than this, what problems do people have with Cunningham? What does he have all wrong? On a related note, if I'm really interested in Wicca, should I bide my time with books until I can study with a coven, or is it possible to be a Witch alone? Is it "heresy" to say I'm studying Wicca but not particularly interested in the priesthood aspects or learning the Mysteries? In conversation should I qualify myself (say, as "neo-Wicca") or just expect flamewars and accusations of fluffdom when/if I bring it up? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncboard.php?m=3475.1 === === Is It Wrong To Be Eclectic? === Earlier today I was talking to a new friend of mine at school and she brought up the topic of religion. She was pretty interested in my being pagan. I tried to explain to her how I am an "eclectic witch" and I kind of pick and choose which concepts make sense to me from many of the denominations of paganism/wicca. She couldn't seem to understand how I can do that and she said I am "wrong" to think I can pick different things from separate religions to believe in. Is she right? Should I just pick one denomination and stick to it? In which case which denomination is right for me? I guess I'm kind of afraid that the god and goddess might get angry that I 'mix'? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncboard.php?m=3413.1 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DONATE TO HELP SUPPORT THE CAULDRON'S WEB SITE If you like The Cauldron and have a few extra dollars, please donate via the Amazon Honor System or PayPal and help us pay the web site bills. Donate via PayPal http://www.ecauldron.com/donatepaypal.php Donate via Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/paypage/P3903JRFVQVDN ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ [05] =============== ============ BOOK AND DECK 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 [05-1] ========= ========= REVIEW: POCKET GUIDE TO CELTIC SPIRITUALITY ========= Reviewed by Mike Gleason ========= Pocket Guide to Celtic Spirituality Author: Sirona Knight Trade Paperback, 110 pages Publisher: Ten Speed Press Publication date: 1998 ISBN: 0895949075 US Retail Price: $6.95 Amazon Link: http://www.ecauldron.com/cncbook.php?asin=0895949075 Ms. Knight has written books on a variety of topics ranging from biographies of modern- day Witches to Celtic Druidism and Faery Magick; as such she brings wide experience to the topic of Celtic Spirituality. She is a practicing member of the Celtic Gwddonic Druid Tradition and a Third Degree Craftmaster. This book contains an overview of Celtic folklore and mythology, the spiritual teachings of the Celtic peoples; it explains the yearly observances, the rituals and ceremonies and divination tools and practices. Some of her assertions may be regarded with suspicion by many readers (e.g., the ability of Druids to assume the form of various animals), but depending on how such assertions are viewed, there might be truth within them. Her perception of the meaning of "dark" patterns within life strike me as wrong. She appears to be saying that negative is also destructive and life destroying, and therefore should be avoided at all costs. However, without a balance of positive and negative, light and dark, etc., chaos results. Her assertion that the Celts used the Tarot as a divination system seems unlikely since the Celtic culture, as such, was pretty well extinct by the time of the appearance of the Tarot. Individual Celtic families may have held on to their heritage until that time, but the wholesale use of the Tarot by the Celts seems unlikely. More than other books in this series, this particular book appears to be less about the reality of the topic, and more about how modern individuals perceive it to have been. I have enjoyed other books by Ms. Knight, but I was moderately disappointed with this one. This review is available on our web site at http://www.ecauldron.com/mg/bkpgtcs.php [05-2] ========= ========= REVIEW: POCKET GUIDE TO CRYSTALS AND GEMSTONES ========= Reviewed by Mike Gleason ========= Pocket Guide to Crystals and Gemstones Author: Sirona Knight Trade Paperback, 95 pages Publisher: Ten Speed Press Publication date: 1998 ISBN: 0895949474 US Retail Price: $6.95 Amazon Link: http://www.ecauldron.com/cncbook.php?asin=0895949474 Sirona Knight has written numerous books on a variety of topics. I do not know what her experiences with gemstones and crystals have been but her overview, presented in this book, is certainly of value. The first chapter gives background on the similarities and differences between crystals and gemstones. It is concise and goes into an appropriate amount of detail to cover the topic without overwhelming the reader with too much detail. The following chapters cover how to choose crystals and gemstones, how to care for them, traditional and contemporary uses, and rituals and ceremonies associated with them. The final chapter is devoted to the healing and spiritual properties associated with about 50 crystals and gemstones. While it is by no means exhaustive, it covers most of the easily available crystals and stones. She clearly illustrates the various layouts for healing, meditation, and chakra working with simple drawings. She differentiates between scrying and crystal gazing (which she explains as imprinting a crystal with "particular sensual or energetic purposes"). I've never heard crystal gazing described that way, so I was a bit nonplussed at seeing that. I'm still not sure if I agree with that distinction or not. For someone with no exposure to the subject, this book would be a good starting point. Even for someone with moderate experience (such as myself) she offers some insights and inspirations. This review is available on our web site at http://www.ecauldron.com/mg/bkpgtcag.php [05-3] ========= ========= REVIEW: TALIESIN ========= Reviewed by Mike Gleason ========= Taliesin: The Last Celtic Shaman Author: John and Caitlin Matthews Second Edition Trade Paperback, 376 pages Publisher: Inner Traditions Publication date: 2002 ISBN: 0892818697 US Retail Price: $16.95 Amazon Link: http://www.ecauldron.com/cncbook.php?asin=0892818697 John Matthews is a long-time student of the Celts (thirty years) and is acknowledged internationally as an authority on Grail and Arthurian legends. He currently resides in England and teaches throughout Europe and America. Mr. Matthews has written more than 40 books on Arthurian and Celtic themes, while Caitlin Matthews has authored nearly as many. Between the two of them, the amount of scholarship on Celtic themes is most impressive. This is a second edition, and benefits from the increased research and scholarship which a decade has provided. It is not the final word on the subject of Taliesin, nor is it the most scholarly. It is a welcome addition to the field in that it provides an easily understandable overview of a subject which is too little spoken about by any but those who have proclaimed themselves experts. The Matthews accomplishments in this field speak for themselves. The subtitle of this work may be a little misleading, since there have, obviously, been other shamans since Taliesin's time. Perhaps "The Last Great Celtic Shaman or "The Greatest Celtic Shaman" might have worked as well (or better). I knew very little about the work of this Celtic bard and shaman besides generalities. I had never read more than extracts of his work, so I wasn't sure what I was letting myself in for when I requested this volume. This book consists of new translations of his poetry, as well as commentaries by the author. The Select Bibliography consists of over 300 entrees and is most impressive all by itself. The author provides translations of Taliesin's poetry, both those made by him and by others. He freely acknowledges that there is no way to determine, accurately, the original form and content of these poems through the intervening centuries. What he offers are his interpretations of what these poems most likely conveyed at the time of their origin. He also takes the time and effort to provide background on the Celtic life and customs, as we understand them. He does not insist that his translations are better or more accurate. In fact, he uses the work of others to present different interpretations. Throughout the book he makes assumptions which vary from those which have become "traditional" or accepted, but he takes pains to point these out as his own assumptions and how they differ from the more accepted ones. The last 50 pages or so of this book consists of translations of the major mythological poems attributed to Taliesin, along with commentaries upon them. Most of these translations (there are a total of 27 poems translated, with excerpts from 3 more) are new translations by the authors. I'm not a Welsh scholar, so I can't comment on the accuracy of these authors' translations. Speaking as someone with minimal familiarity with the subject to begin with, I found the book engaging and easy to understand. It was clearly written and obviously aimed at the non-specialist. Mr. Matthews clearly knows his subject matter, yet still retains the ability to speak to, rather than down to, someone without his wide background. Those who specialize in this field may not find it as valuable as I did, but for the individual who is beginning his or her Celtic studies, I feel it would be a valuable addition to their library. This review is available on our web site at http://www.ecauldron.com/mg/bkttlcs.php [05-4] ========= ========= REVIEW: WITCHCRAFT AND THE MYSTERY TRADITION ========= Reviewed by Mike Gleason ========= Witchcraft and the Mystery Tradition Author: Raven Grimassi Trade Paperback, 288 pages Publisher: Llewellyn Publication date: 2004 ISBN: 0738705969 US Retail Price: $14.95 Amazon Link: http://www.ecauldron.com/cncbook.php?asin=0738705969 Whatever your feelings about Raven Grimassi's writing on Italian Witchcraft, there is no doubt that he is a prolific author on the subjects of Witchcraft and Wicca in general. He has written numerous books and has been involved in the public aspects of the Craft for many years. Before I had even started to read this book I noticed an editing glitch. The title on the cover does not match the copyright notice and inner title (Witchcraft: A Mystery Tradition on the cover vs. Witchcraft and the Mystery Tradition on the inside). Obviously, this is a problem with the publisher and is not Raven's fault. This book is designed for multiple readings. It is written on many levels and every time you read, you will find something new and different. Raven appears to subscribe to the philosophy expressed years ago by the Pagan magazine Earth Religion News: "Guard the Mysteries - Reveal Them Daily." He believes that a person will learn what they are ready for. If someone isn't ready for certain information, they won't recognize it. Throughout the book the author repeats themes, although in each case it is rephrased. In this he follows the dictum of "Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you've told them." This type of repetition is amongst the most durable methods of teaching, since it insures that important information is conveyed and retained. This book is, most definitely, not a "how-to" book. It explores meanings, symbolism, and background of thoughts, but never mentions the mechanics of the worship. You won't find invocations, directions for casting circles or making amulets, or correspondence charts here. It is a book which is valuab le at every level of experience. And will become more valuable with each reading. The novice will benefit from the overview it provides, while the more experienced reader will find connections they may have missed. Pick it up for another reading after a year or so, and you are liable to find yourself asking "How did I miss that the last time I read this book?" I take exception with some of Raven's positions. For instance, he says (in the Preface): "There are many solitary witches who may not have the means of finding an experienced teacher or of being initiated." While I can accept the latter part of that statement (they may not have the means of being initiated), with the explosion of Craft teachers and resources on the Internet and in big cities, I find it hard to believe that one can't find a teacher. I did it over 30 years ago without access to the Internet or big cities. It may not be easy to find a teacher, but the search can be a learning experience in itself. The final chapter serves as a recap of all that has gone before, in broad outline. It helps to "set" the information and to make it more permanently a part of your memories. However, as I said earlier, this is a book designed to be read more than once. Don't just read it and stick it on a shelf. You will find plenty of stimuli contained here. Raven Grimassi has produced a book which moves well beyond the "Wicca 101" books which are so common today. Whether you are a Seeker just starting your search, or an Initiate with decades of experience, you will find valuable thoughts and insights between these covers. Do yourself a favor - Buy (and read!) this book. This review is available on our web site at http://www.ecauldron.com/mg/bkwatmt.php [05-5] ========= ========= REVIEW: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT ========= Reviewed by Mike Gleason ========= The Complete Guide to Psychic Development: 100 Ways to Tap into Your Psychic Potential Author: Cassandra Eason Trade Paperback, 338 pages Publisher: Crossing Press Publication date: 2003 ISBN: 1580911501 US Retail Price: $14.95 Amazon Link: http://www.ecauldron.com/cncbook.php?asin=1580911501 Ms. Eason makes the statement in her introduction (page 7): "Blindly following the rules of others as I used to do, no matter how expert those established rituals may seem, stifles personal creativity.", and "Leave the pages of this and any other book as soon as possible and follow your natural instincts." This is the sort of advice which cannot be given too often, especially in such highly personalized pursuits as psychic development. Ms. Eason is a prolific author, and has produced books on a wide variety of topics, ranging from divination to general psychic development to children's books. Over half this book is dedicated to various forms of divination, before branching into out-of-body experiences, magic, magical alphabets, ghosts, etc. It is obvious that the author has a lot of experience in the field of divination. Her understanding of other occult fields is also extensive. Unfortunately, her description of creating a dream catcher is woefully inadequate. There is a technique for the creation of this item, which she is obviously unfamiliar with. Part of the construction technique includes the individuality of the pattern which is created, yet she mentions the use of old badminton rackets, old fruit bags (with a net pattern), etc. Her approach to magic is similarly simplistic but, in this case, represents a valid approach to folk magic (as opposed to Ceremonial or Wiccan). She continues to stress the need to use your feelings and intuition, and not to rely on the words of others. Folk magic works based on personal need or desire. She gives the reader some ideas to get started with, and then leaves you to your own devices. Throughout the book, her approach to accomplishing things remains very common-sense and down-to-earth. She goes out of her way to avoid making things mystical. She doesn't shy away from mystical experiences; she simply couches them in day-to-day terms and references. She doesn't espouse any particular style of training. Nor does she over-emphasize the possibility of negative results. Once you move beyond the sections on divination (about the first half of the book), you will find a wide variety of topics covered. In her usual style, each of the chapters can stand alone, so you can pick and choose what you want to learn in whatever order appeals to you. Once again, in my opinion, the recommended reading list is a little thin. The book is divided into 29 chapters (in eight sections), but the Further Reading list only includes 42 titles. Given the range of topics, I would have expected a list of at least twice this length. On top of that, seven of the books (one out of every six) are by this author, which seems to be a disproportionately high percentage to me. Because of the way I was trained, I have a problem with her suggestions for absent healing. I was always taught to obtain permission from the person being worked for (with a couple of specific, restricted, exceptions) and I thus fins her suggestion of healing people you hear about on radio or television, or see in the newspaper, without getting their specific permission, not to be appropriate. As I say, this is a result of the way I was trained. Others may not find this a problem. It is up to the individual to decide what is appropriate. This review is available on our web site at http://www.ecauldron.com/mg/bktcgtpd.php [05-6] ========= ========= REVIEW: CELEBRATING THE SEASONS OF LIFE: ========= BELTANE TO MABON ========= Reviewed by Mike Gleason ========= Celebrating the Seasons of Life: Beltane to Mabon: Lore, Rituals, Activities, And Symbols Author: Ashleen O'Gaea Trade Paperback, 256 pages Publisher: New Page Books Publication date: 2005 ISBN: 1564147320 US Retail Price: $14.99 Amazon Link: http://www.ecauldron.com/cncbook.php?asin=1564147320 Once again, Ms. O'Gaea takes on four Sabbats in one volume. This time it is the light half of the year being given the once over. The Preface and Introduction to this volume are nearly identical, both in tone and length, with that of the earlier book. She has written several other books and has been active in the Pagan community for more than a decade and has helped to found her own tradition of Wicca. She has published books on raising (and teaching) Pagan children, as well as the previous volume in this series. I've always enjoyed Ashleen' s style of writing. It reminds me days and evenings spent sharing cups of tea with a friend and sharing ideas - no pressure, no right or wrong way of doing things, just a pleasant chat between friends. If you are one of those people who want to be told how it was and how it should be, you probably won 't enjoy this book By dividing the year into two parts, as did our ancient Celtic ancestors, she accomplishes several different things: giving herself space to discuss each Sabbat and she can make it easier to compare rituals, symbolism, and activities among the Sabbats. Doing it this way also makes it more convenient for the reader - at nearly 200 pages each book is a convenient size. The arrangement of this volume is identical with that of the first volume. Dedicating 40 to 50 pages to each Sabbat - its lore, rituals, activities and symbols, allows for an adequate development of a feeling for the Sabbat while still leaving a thirst for more. It is that thirst which impels the personal development of Witches and Wiccans. Too little information frustrates and too much stifles individual creativity. Ashleen seems to have found a happy medium in this book. While there are no startling revelations, it is not a lot of rehashing of other authors. What you have here is Ashleen's personal take on the topic. Whether you agree with her or not, you have to respect her desire to share her own experiences and knowledge, as well as her ability to convey that knowledge clearly. The rituals contained in this book, like the preceding volume's contents, are usable by groups or solitaries, amongst other Pagans or with groups which include non-Pagans, by adults and with mixed-age groups. The only requirement for its use, in my opinion, is a desire to enjoy the Sabbats. I would recommend that you get both volumes of this series at the same time, if you can. It will make it easier to compare the notes and rituals for each of the Sabbats and allow you to see how they balance each other across the Wheel of the Year. She wants to plant ideas in your mind and allow them to grow within you. I think she does this very well. Her suggested activities for each Sabbat are fun (and that is, after all, an important connection to the gods) and easy to do. They can involve all ages. This is not the final word on Sabbats. As Ashleen says in the conclusion "By this time next year, you and I both will be able to say more about the Sabbats, and how we celebrate them, than we can right now." It is, however, a good start. If the second book is as good as this, and I have no reason to doubt that, they will form a good basis for learning about the relationships among the Sabbats. She includes suggestions for casting an indoor circle and suggestions for conveying age-appropriate information to children about the Sabbats, as well as a short list of correspondences in the appendices. All of these, as she reminds us, are simply suggestions, and need to be viewed through our own experiences. She also includes some delicious recipes which are not terribly complicated. And, unlike many of the recipes you may encounter elsewhere, you don't need to worry about your cholesterol levels with these recipes. Ashleen and her family are health-conscious with becoming obnoxious about it. She makes sure to explain the procedures for making the various crafts she suggests, going so far as to include photos when they will make it easier to understand. Those crafts she suggests can add to the enjoyment of the Sabbats. Once again, she has written a thoroughly enjoyable book which gives enough information to make it interesting. It leaves enough unsaid to inspire further research, but provides enough answers to be satisfying. This review is available on our web site at http://www.ecauldron.com/mg/bkctsolbtm.php [05-7] ========= ========= REVIEW: SACRED SEXUALITY IN ANCIENT EGYPT ========= Reviewed by Mike Gleason ========= Sacred Sexuality in Ancient Egypt Author: Ruth Schumann Antelme and Stephane Rossini Trade Paperback, 240 pages Publisher: Inner Traditions Publication date: 1999 ISBN: 0892818638 US Retail Price: $24.95 Amazon Link: http://www.ecauldron.com/cncbook.php?asin=0892818638 In all honesty, I had not planned to review this book until I was challenged by a reader of my reviews to tackle it. Egyptology is not one of my strong suits, and I'm not particularly interested in reading about sexuality, which made this book a challenge for me. The author, Ruth Schumann Antelme, is an Egyptologist, a former professor at the Ecole de Louvre, and an emeritus researcher of the CNRS in France (National Center for Scientific Research), and the illustrator, Stephane Rossini, has illustrated other books on the subject of Egyptology. Some of the illustrations have been "restored", based on other samples. Some of the images contained within this volume (there are over 150 black-and-white illustrations and 20 color plates) are the ones familiar to the reader on the subject of Egyptian religion. The majority of them, however, are definitely not of the G-rated variety. For those who are used to thinking of the life of Egypt in the sanitized form we learned about in school, there are shocks in store. As should be obvious to anyone who stops to think about it, a region such as Egypt (which is obviously dependent upon a fertility religion because of the climate) must have included images of fertility and procreation among its religious artwork. The notes refer to some extremely specialized publications which will be unfamiliar to most readers (as they are to me). This, however, only serves to expand the field of exploration for those interested in continuing their education on this topic. Where uncertainty exists in regard to the meaning of a given drawing, carving, or other illustration, the author is not hesitant about admitting that uncertainty. Where uncertainty exists about the actual content or form of a given illustration, she points it out. The appendices include an extremely simplified chronology of ancient Egypt from the Early Dynastic Period (circa 300 B.C.) to the Byzantine domination (circa 400 A.D.); a list of the deities mentioned in the current work; Egyptian place names; some hieroglyphic examples; and a glossary. I am glad that this book was suggested to me. I wouldn't have ordered it on my own, but it was a pleasure to read. I probably won't be reading a lot more on the subject, but that is simply because of my many more pressing interests (although if I take some time off from reviewing, I may change my mind). This review is available on our web site at http://www.ecauldron.com/mg/bkssiae.php [05-8] ========= ========= REVIEW: IF YOU WANT TO BE A WITCH ========= Reviewed by Mike Gleason ========= Author: Edain McCoy Trade Paperback, 188 pages Publisher: Llewellyn Publication date: 2004 ISBN: 0738705144 US Retail Price: $9.95 Amazon Link: http://www.ecauldron.com/cncbook.php?asin=0738705144 If you are a fan of Edain McCoy, I am afraid we will have to agree to disagree. Works of her which I have read previously have not particularly impressed me. If you feel that everything she writes is worthless, on the other hand, we will also have to agree to disagree. Her scholarship may be brought into question (and has been by others more qualified in the field), but anyone who has been involved in the Wiccan/Witch/Pagan community for 20+ years has experiences and personal insights to share which can benefit the larger community. I don't always agree with her conclusions, but so long as she is clear that they are her conclusions, I must accept them as valid, just as I would expect her to accept my conclusions as being a valid expression of my own beliefs. This book is, admittedly, a "Wicca 101" book, aimed at those who are not yet members of the religion. Therefore, it needs to be judged by that standard. In some ways, that is a harsher standard than would be applied to a book for a more experienced reader. It is incumbent upon Ms. McCoy to be very clear about differentiating between fact and opinion, and this is not always the case. It is also necessary, in my opinion, to work extra hard to present the best possible image of the membership of the religion, and that shows in small ways. I have come to accept spelling errors in everyday situations, but a professional writer should know the difference between "their" and "there" or "rights" and "rites." Ms. McCoy fails in this. To her credit, she acknowledges some of her shortcomings. It is rare to see an "authority figure" admit that they were in error, but it is a sign of the growing maturity of the community as a whole. If you are one of those who is tired of beginner books, you will want to give this book a pass. It is designed to help individuals decide if Wicca is for them. It succeeds in provoking thought. She offers ideas and options, not dogma. Since she makes it clear that this is eclectic Wicca being discussed, there is no right or wrong. One thing I really appreciate is her giving pronunciation guides to words not likely to be encountered in the "outside" world. It is a nice acknowledgement of the fact that things aren't always pronounced as they are spelled. Some of the authors she recommends will grate on people's nerves (e.g., Silver RavenWolf, Laurie Cabot), while others have been recommended by many others (e.g., Raymond Buckland, Scott Cunningham, Stewart and Janet Farrar). Of course, as she reminds the reader, there are many books to read and decisions to be made on a personal level. This review is available on our web site at http://www.ecauldron.com/mg/bkiywtbaw.php ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SHOP ONLINE AT THE CAULDRON MALL Shop Amazon, Catalog City, Abebooks, and other stores at The Cauldron Shopping Mall. Every purchase from our one of our mall links helps support The Cauldron and this newsletter. http://www.ecauldron.com/mall.php ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ [06] =============== ============ ARTICLES ========= [06-1] ========= ========= On Eclecticism, Syncretism, Multiple-Path, and other ========= Combinatorics ========= by Darkhawk ========= The subject of eclecticism is one of those powderkegs in the pagan community, with tremendous potential for degenerating into a messy flamewar as various people express their dearly held positions on it. Eclecticism in various forms (especially syncretism) has an extensive history.  While religions were often specific to nations, localities, tribes, families, or other groups, those groups would rub up against other people and, over time, adopt some of the parts of those other groups' religions that they found appealing or useful.  Conquest would often lead to forms of assimilative syncretisation in which the local gods were either equated with the conquerors' gods in some way or declared related to them (often as wives or children).  Suppressed religions often reappeared in modified forms that adopted some aspects of the acceptable religions in the area.  Places in which multiple religions lived together sometimes developed creolised religious practices. There have also always been opponents of eclecticism.  Some have been trying to preserve their culture in the face of assimilation (which can lead, eventually, to dissolution).  Others have had what they felt was a handle on truth and were unwilling to tolerate it being contaminated from other sources.  Some have resented their conquerors' attempts at taking the things that are precious to them and turning them into public commodities. Historically speaking, eclecticism is generally a fairly organic process, caused by the growths and flows of cultures, including their dominance over each other.  The exceptions tend to be theophanic in origin: someone (or a group of someones) encounters a new vision of the divine and attempts to build (or inspires the building of) something in response to it; if the vision is compelling and/or the structure effectual, these develop into new religions.  (Examples of this are Siddhartha Gautama, Jesus, and Gerald Gardner.) Given that various forms of eclecticism are, historically, quite common, and are in fact critical to the development of some of the most popular forms of neopaganism, why in particular are so many people so irritated at the concept?  Eclecticism is very, very easy to do badly or in a manner that comes across as disrespectful or offensive; it is extremely difficult to do well. These are common difficulties that I have seen come up with eclectic practices; these are not laws of nature, but rather common mistakes that eclectics make or issues that are specific to eclecticism.  It is not going to be a completely exhaustive list; however, I think that someone who can, with self-judgement in good faith, respond to all of these is entirely likely to be fully capable of responsible, intelligent eclecticism. * Magpie Syndrome -- a tendency to acquire the shiniest, most appealing objects in the vicinity and pile them up into a heap rather than assembling them into a coherent whole or exploring the full depths and potentialities of the pieces already acquired.  Often comes with a tendency to respond to difficulties by acquiring new shiny objects rather than seeing if any of the ones already acquired will help with the problem. * Avoidance -- a complete religious system will include portions that are work.  Those will not always be the same parts for all the practitioners of the religion in question, but there will always be something that demands growth and development, something that is uncomfortable to deal with, or something that is, simply, just hard to do.  Eclecticism poorly implemented can enable someone to very neatly avoid any sort of boundary- pushing by only choosing to use parts of other systems that are comfortable to them. * Shallowness -- just because one has chosen to use a piece of a system does not mean that one will actually get all that's there out of it.  Some aspects of some religions are weighted with particular meanings or resonances for the practitioners thereof. These will require some effort to learn about and apply to their fullest depth; simply utilizing them does not guarantee that level of knowledge. * Appropriation -- taking what's not yours to keep.  This is an especially common issue with indigenous religions of whatever region; people claiming parts of their traditions for their own can easily come across as offending interlopers.  This is especially the case when the outsider doesn't know the full details of what they're taking; they can, very easily, make themselves look incredibly foolish to someone who is more aware of their cultural context. These things often have very specific importance and very specific meaning; rather than being generally available, they are much like family heirlooms. * Dilution -- related to appropriation.  There are religions that have very specific things that are part of their definition -- certain beliefs or certain practices that are considered essential to be a member of that religion.  Traditional Wicca is one of these; many of the reconstructions have similar precepts.  The fewer of these things a person does, the less secure they are in claiming to be a member of that religion; eventually the drift is far enough that it would be a matter of politeness to come up with a different name. The reconstructions in particular are extremely touchy about influence from the modern-origin neopaganisms, as there are so many more people whose practice derives from Gardner than in any of the reconstructions; getting Wiccan ritual practices confounded with recon practices will get, at best, a cranky mumble. * Rewriting history -- while poor scholarship is one of the plagues in the pagan community, actual historical revisionism is strongly associated with eclectic tendencies, for two reasons.  First of all, it is much easier to get infected with the pagan equivalent of kid-dying-of-cancer-wants-postcards e- mail forwards when one is working on one's own and specifically looking for what to believe. Counterfactualities like 'the universal ancient mother goddess cult' or 'nine million women and cats burned at the stake' drift around largely unchallenged and, indeed, unchallengeable; for every website that has good information there are hundreds with the bad, generally in blinky text. The second popular form of revisionism is the Unsubstantiated Personal Gnosis, in which gods who were envisioned in particular forms and were known for particular acts and preferences emerge transformed in a blazing glare of, "Oh, She told me She was never like that, that's just human error." (See also that warm and snuggly goddess figure, Kali. Just airbrush out the skulls.)  Having personal experiences of the divine that run counter to all of the lore and knowledge of how those gods have interacted with humanity in the past is more likely to be a case of "Sorry, wrong number" than complete personality transformation. * Unreconciled issues -- ideas come with baggage.  Various systems have particular axioms, presumptions, and outcomes in their native format; pieces of those systems will also have a greater or lesser share of those basic worldview issues. Very few of those systems fit together naturally; while some may indeed show signs of being compatible with comparatively little effort, the "comparatively" is a critical portion of the phrase.  There will always be choices to make, of what parts to assimilate and which to discard, of which axioms to use, which to reinterpret in a way they were not used in the original, which to throw away.  Putting together things that appear to work on a superficial level and not doing any of the work at the deeper levels will produce a result that does not go any further than the surface; those choices have to be made consciously for a good synthesis. * Self-Centredness -- it's worth being aware of the criteria one's using to make the choices in a system.  While the questions of "What is the best system" and "What do I like best" or "What do I find most aesthetically pleasing" are not entirely disjoint -- aesthetics are important to the value of a system -- getting the emphasis right can be tricky.  This is especially important if the system constructed is going to involve other entities, who will almost certainly have a different set of pleasures and aesthetic preferences. * Personal limitation -- nobody's infinite.  It is exceedingly difficult for one person to imagine all the possible stresses and failings that might reveal flaws in a religious system, even those that they need to have addressed for their own personal spiritual needs. A community of co-religionists can provide the support and assistance one might need to address those problems -- further, an established religion has a decent chance of already having these bugs worked out from people who had the same problem before, or at least a similar enough one that some of the work can be copied over. (I tend to think that this problem is liable to be worse for pure eclectics who are working from the ground up; for syncretic eclectics such as myself, there is at least some level of community for each of the structures I'm working in. There may be nobody doing what I'm doing right now, but there are other people working within the systems that I'm studying, not to mention that there are other people who're seeing some of the same problems and working on solving them in their own way.  This does come with the price of extra need to work at reconciling and resolving worldview differences, though, and the worry that those communities with concerns about appropriation and dilution will close themselves.) * Clarity of thought -- purely individual religion may not have all of its tenets and thought patterns clearly articulated. I know that I not only think more clearly when I can lay out where I'm coming from but often find bugs in what I'm doing by doing so. If there is no religious community, there is no intrinsic need to go through this process, so muddy thinking may be perpetrated and thus mean that spiritual development gets stalled.  Now, this can be done with communities of sympathetic people who don't share the specifics in the discussion, but that makes it less likely that the sounding board will know all the basics that are underlying the process and be able to make intuitive leaps and/or actively contribute to the development process with new insights. * Transmissibility and generalization -- my definition of "religion" includes the possibility that it might be shared with others. It is possible for an eclectic vision to be so tuned to the personal that it has nothing to offer the universal, or is encoded in such individual language that it can't be understood beyond the particular individual. Pure subjectivity can also be intellectually dishonest; somewhere things interact with the observable world, and have to meet that challenge. * Ritual meaning is hard -- well, it is. It's possible to take actions invested with meaning (or actual religious actions and ritual pieces) and synthesis them into something new that can then start accruing its own meaning; this is the easy way. Developing a new structure that can hold its weight requires some pretty keen insight into the way the human mind works.  It is, to say the least, heavy lifting.  Further, many people have noticed that ritual actions are more powerful when they are shared -- by other people in the ritual space, by other people around the world, by other people over the course of history; trying to build a new ritual that partakes of that energy is effectively impossible.  Adapting extant rituals is easier, but if they differ too far from their original place they will lose that resonance and not be notably different from completely original creations. Now, as I said, all of these things can be overcome -- with skill, with vision, with the assistance of a community (whether of other people who are trying to do the same thing, or the partially aligned and sympathetic, or even just a crew of helpful debuggers), with sheer bloodymindedness. This is where new religions and new insights are born, in the people who are doing this sort of work. And it's possible to be responsibly eclectic without going to the full lengths I've listed here -- even ranging to a secularly eclectic spirituality.  Not everyone is interested in developing an actual religion, something that can be shared with others, for example. Responsible development does, in my opinion, require acknowledgement of these issues; further, it requires an awareness that the result will probably be purely personal in many ways, as an eclectic spirituality is not necessarily built to the same standards of robustness as a religion that has at least the potential of being adopted by a number of people. Now that I've thoroughly called into question the practice of eclecticism by highlighting the many ways it can go wrong, I'd like to spend some time on the sorts of reasons that people take eclectic courses through religion.  These are ones that I have seen. * Religious Multiplicity -- some people have a calling to practice more than one religion.  Any religion will have a range of beliefs and practices; a person practicing more than one will have to find the space in the range of each religion that has an overlap. Some of these systems will lead to a new religion developing from the space intersecting between the originals.  (I do not find the belief that a person can only have one religion any more sensical than the belief that a person can have only one god; this informs my eclecticism significantly.  While it is not common in the West, this is a well-known attitude in parts of Asia.) * Layers and Overlays -- there are religions that can be viewed as a particular outlook on the world, and thus can be practiced as a modification to another system or as independent structures of their own.  The most well-known and mainstream of these is Buddhism; while there are many Buddhists, there are also a number of people who have adopted some portion of Buddhist philosophy and attitudes towards the world.  Among pagans, both Discordianism and Satanism can be treated as interpretational overlays. * Fostering -- sometimes a god to which a person is dedicated will make it clear that their follower should enter, temporarily, into the service of other gods, for reasons of personal development, skill acquisition, or the sort of arcane reasons that gods have that they don't actually tell mere mortals about.  (All of the people I know who have had this happen have been primarily in service to Celtic deities.  The Celts practiced fostering, and often sent their children to grow up in other households, thereby creating inter-familial bonds.) * Cross-Training -- similar to fostering.  Sometimes a practice common in one religion has value or connection to a practice in another one; practitioners of each might spend some time training with the followers of the other in order to broaden or deepen their skills with people who have different areas of expertise. * Designated for Assignment -- similar to fostering and cross- training.  A god -- usually an established patron, someone who the person in question considers to have some authority -- tells their worshipper to go somewhere else to study or work, while maintaining their extant practice.  (In my case, I was told that in order to honor Set properly, I needed tools that Egyptian reconstructionism could not provide me that would enable me to overcome certain difficulties.  He told me where I could acquire those tools, and left me to decide whether or not I would do it.) * Patching a Gap -- this is especially common among the reconstructions.  There are places that the available knowledge does not address; even things that were known to exist are not always well-recorded.  Someone who is interested in having those lost practices in their reconstruction will not be able to do so from a historical basis; they have to extrapolate, interpret, and possibly acquire from elsewhere the required pieces.  For example, people who wish to incorporate trancing- type interactions into their reconstructions have turned to both the work of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies and the possessionary African Diaspora religions for the training they needed. * Flaw Correction -- any religious system will have places where it falls down for someone.  A person may find a system almost entirely satisfactory, but have issues with certain points of theology or feel a need to supplement the material with other things that are out there.  This quest may eventually lead them to conversion to a new religion that does not have that flaw; it may also, however, lead to the adoption of some portion of another system that is both consistent with the original religion and resolves whatever was the source of the difficulty. * Ancestry -- many, many people have in their heritage people from a number of different regions, and thus, potentially, a number of different ethnic religions.  While it is not required to follow the gods of one's ancestors, or even a subset thereof, some people feel a need to acknowledge some portion of their heritage in their religious practice.  This may be an outgrowth of those religions that practice some form of ancestor worship, a result of encounters with the gods or spirits who associated with those ancestors, or simply a matter of personal preference. * Ecumenicalism -- as many recons will complain, it can be very difficult to maintain a clear sense of what a religion is all about in a community containing a huge variety of other ideas. This can be a problem, if one is trying to work with a specific system; on the other hand, it can be viewed as the natural result of what happens if one takes a huge number of worldviews that were normally separated by thousands of miles and put them in the same small area. Eventually, bits and pieces of each will rub off and redistribute and new forms will appear. * Task-focused worship -- some people have a strong affiliation to a particular role or task in the world.  These folks may wind up dealing with the gods who are associated with that particular role, regardless of their cultural background, and wind up incorporating acknowledgements of all of Them into the system that they practice. * Pure Synthesis -- some people are unsatisfied with the existing religious systems or feel a calling to construct something all their own.  They may not have found anything out there that works for them, or feel a need to build something of their own. More power to 'em, that's a wicked lot of hard work they're setting themselves up for. * I don't know, man, I didn't do it -- sometimes a motley assortment of gods shows up in someone's life and makes it clear that They don't intend to go away.  At this point, the poor pagan is left to figure out how the heck they're supposed to deal with this confounding pile of miscellanea. Being responsibly eclectic -- whether for one of these reasons, a combination of them, or for some entirely different reason -- is a lot of work.  If someone has established commitments and obligations to gods, other people, or religious organizations those may have to be renegotiated.  (When I decided to take Set's advice, I checked with the other gods to whom I have specifically pledged to see if any of Them had problems with it; one assigned me a minor practice restriction to be sure that I was certain to maintain my allegiance to Her.)  The work required to do a good job of it can be immense -- ranging from the spiritual equivalent of doing a skin graft through to organ transplants (and getting all those tubes hooked up right) to the work of the notorious Dr. Frankenstein. If that is the way you're feeling a need to go, I can only hope that the rewards you find are commensurate with the work it will require to get there. [06-2] ========= ========= PA-KUA FENG SHUI BASICS ========= by Steven M. Ng ========= ===== ===== Feng Shui Basics ===== Feng Shui (literally "Wind and Water" in Chinese), is all about balance and harmony between us and our environment. Just like the Yin and Yang energies, Feng Shui is about balance. Where there is light, there will always be darkness; where there is fire, there will always be water; and so forth. Feng Shui teaches that every individual interacts differently to their environment. Sometimes, a particular environment - such as a house or office - is so suited to you that you find that everything in your life is great. However, if you have troubled relationships or financial woes, it is quite likely that there is some discord or imbalance between yourself and your environment, manifesting in your daily life. By subtly modifying your environment, you will be able to restore this balance, and consequently improve your life. Modifying your environment can be as simple as changing the angle or position of your work desk, or by buying Feng Shui items such as mandarin ducks and placing them in proper locations in your home or office. There are many systems of authentic classical Feng Shui. This article describes the Xuan Kong (pronounced "Shu-en Kong") system. Xuan Kong (literally "Mysterious Void" in Chinese) is a complete system which includes complicated formulae to calculate optimal positioning and composition of an environment. ===== ===== Eight Mansion (Pa-Kua) School of Feng Shui ===== There are a few sub-schools within the Xuan Kong system, including the popular Flying Stars school. The descriptions in this article are based on the Eight Mansion school, also known as the Pa-Kua school. In the Pa-Kua technique, the compass is divided into eight directions, each of which is depicted by a trigram. Each of these directions have different significance. For example, one of the Pa-Kua directions is the personal or relationship direction, which will be of the most interest to someone with troubled relationships. Furthermore, the significance of each direction differs for each individual. To find out how each Pa-Kua direction affects you personally, you will need to calculate your Kua Number. You can do this by using the Kua Calculator at: http://www.mandarin-ducks.com/dragongate.html The calculator will provide you with your Kua Number, and more importantly, what each Pa-Kua direction means to you. In short, four of those directions will be positive and favorable to you, while the other four will have negative connotations for you. The eight Pa-Kua directions can be briefly summarized as follows: Sheng Chi (Life Generating) - This Pa-Kua direction is your prosperity and wealth direction. You would focus on this direction if you are interested in financial strength. Tien Yi (Heavenly Doctor) - This direction is your health direction. You would focus on this direction if you are interested in health and physical matters. Nien Yin (Relationships) - This direction is your relationships direction. You would focus on this direction if you have troubled relationships and would like to improve your love life and/or your marriage. Fu Wei (Stability) - This direction is your stability and knowledge direction. You would focus on this direction if you want to achieve tranquility and knowledge. Ho Hai (Mishaps) - The first negative Pa-Kua direction is your accident or misfortune direction. You would focus on this direction if you want to reduce unforeseen accidents or loss. Wu Gwei (Five Ghosts) - This direction is your financial loss direction. You would focus on this direction to prevent theft and other financial woes. Liu Sha (Six Killings) - This direction is your "evil" direction. You would focus on this direction to ward off malevolence against you. Chueh Ming (Total Loss) - This direction is your loss and death direction. You would focus on this direction to reduce physical loss and death around you. For more information on the Nien Yin (Love and Relationship) corner, you can read: http://www.mandarin-ducks.com/love.html ===== ===== About the Author ===== Steven maintains the Mandarin Duck Feng Shui website at http://www.mandarin-ducks.com. It provides information on how mandarin ducks are able to help improve relationships using Feng Shui principles. [06-3] ========= ========= GRIEVING SPELL ========= by Melissa (W0lfsangel) ========= Recently a friends mother passed away.  Her family was in major grief and could not understand that she was now in a better place and pain free (she was 94). I understand the grieving process quite well, for many different reasons.  However, there was nothing I could do to help her and her family, so I turned to the spirits to help me help them.  I created a grieving spell to help eliminate most of their pain. It was a great success and I would like to share it with others, as I have not found anything similar in any of my books or on the web, so here it is....if you wish to post this for others to use that would be great! Items needed: 2 white candles 1 blue candle sage and burning bowl (raw sage) Procedure: Light one white  candle and purify your working area. Light the blue candle and ask for healing, Light the other white candle to send the energy. In the bowl light the sage and feather it towards the candles. Say: May you find the light of the sun's rays To guide you through the days. May you find the light of the Moon full bright To protect you though the night. May you find the comfort of your minds eye To remember the goodness of the souls flight. May you find the courage to see the goodness in the soul that flee's. Continue to feather the sage to the candles and concentrate on those who are grieving. When you feel you energy has reached the intended, snuff out the sage and the candles in reverse order. Repeat for 3 days. This spell helped the family in miraculous ways.  They had no idea I was doing this, but they reported to me (the days after I completed the ritual) that particularly at night they felt a warm 'blanket' over them.  They were sure is was the person who passed coming to them to let them know she was  in a better place. So, if you wish to share this with others, please be my guest! [06-4] ========= ========= FEBRUARY -- THE MONTH OF PURIFICATION ========= (Chapter II of The Stories of the Months and Days ========= by Reginald C. Couzens [1923]) ========= This month did not always hold its present position, but was originally the last month in the year. The name is taken from a Latin word, februare, meaning "to make pure". In the Palatine Hill, another of the seven hills of Rome, was a cave dug in the rock, and in it stood an image of the god Lupercus covered with a goat's skin. Lupercus was the God of Fertility or springing into life, and on the 15th of February a great festival was held in his honour. Sacrifices of goats and dogs were made; then the priests cut up the skins of the goats, twisted the pieces into thongs, and ran through the city striking all who came in their way. As in the very earliest times it was the shepherds who held this festival, it is thought that this running about with thongs meant the purifying of the land. The idea of the whole festival seems to have been one of purifying, of a new life, so the name chosen for the month in which it was held was one formed from a word meaning "to make pure". There are some who think that Lupercus was the same as Pan, the God of the Shepherds. Pan was said to have been a son of Mercury, but he was not like the other gods; his body was covered with goat's hair, and his feet and ears were also like those of a goat. He was very fond of music and dancing, and spent most of his time in the forests playing with the wood nymphs--beautiful girls who lived among the trees. One day he saw a wood nymph, named Syrinx, with whom he fell in love, but she was frightened and ran away from him, and when Pan pursued her she prayed to the gods for help. She was at once changed into a clump of reeds, and Pan, in his disappointment, broke off seven pieces of the reed, bound them together, and so made an instrument of music, which was called the Syrinx after the beautiful wood nymph. The invention of the Syrinx by Pan has been wonderfully described by Elizabeth Barrett Browning in a poem which begins: "What was he doing, the great god Pan, Down in the reeds by the river? Spreading ruin and scattering ban, Splashing and paddling with hoofs of a goat And breaking the golden lilies afloat With the dragon-fly on the river." This story of Pan and Syrinx reminds us that the Greeks and the Romans imagined the mountains, the valleys, the woods, and the rivers to be peopled with lesser gods and goddesses, whose task of caring for the trees, the flowers, and the grass was appointed them by Jupiter. The woodland gods were known as Satyrs, and like their leader, Pan, were half man and half goat. Another famous satyr was Silenus, who was put in charge of Bacchus, one of Jupiter's sons, and the God of Wine. Silenus taught Bacchus, and accompanied him on his travels on the earth. The God of Wine rode in a chariot drawn by wild beasts, Silenus following him on an ass, and with them a merry company of nymphs and satyrs crowned with ivy leaves, who danced and sang and made music in praise of Bacchus. "And as I sat, over the light blue hills There came a noise of revellers; the rills Into the wide stream came of purple hue-- ‘T was Bacchus and his crew! The earnest trumpet spake, and silver thrills From kissing cymbals made a merry din-- 'T was Bacchus and his kin! Within his car, aloft, young Bacchus stood Trifling his ivy-dart, in dancing mood, With sidelong laughing." KEATS--Endymion. Many stories are told of the wood nymphs, as the Goddesses of the Woods were called. One of the most famous is that of the nymph Echo, who fell deeply in love with the beautiful Narcissus, whom she met hunting in the forest. Narcissus, however, took but little notice of her, and Echo's love soon turned to hatred and anger. She prayed to Venus, the Goddess of Love, that Narcissus might be punished for his hard-heartedness, and then sorrowfully hiding herself among the mountains, pined away until only her voice remained, and in lonely places the voice of Echo still answers those who call. Meanwhile Venus sought an opportunity for punishing Narcissus by making him suffer in the same way as Echo had done. One day Narcissus, hot and thirsty with hunting, came to a shaded pool, and, as he stooped to drink, saw in the clear water the face, as he thought, of a water nymph. So beautiful was she that Narcissus was filled with love for her, and eagerly stretched out his arms; but no sooner did his hands touch the water than she vanished. He drew back in surprise and waited anxiously till the ruffled water became smooth, when again he saw the beautiful nymph. He spoke to her, and her lips answered him, though he heard no sound; he slowly put out his hands towards her, and her hands came to meet his. Sure now of her love, he tried a second time to clasp her in his arms, but, as before, she vanished. Again and again he strove to seize the nymph, but, each time she escaped his grasp. Amazed, Narcissus sank down by the pool and gazed upon that lovely face, which seemed to mock him, and yet held him there. Apollo and his chariot sank into the Western sea, but the Goddess of the Moon shone on the water and showed the nymph still answering his words and holding out her arms to him. The days passed, and Narcissus, unable to tear himself away, grew pale and weak, watching the face, which also grew pale with despairing love. Thus was Echo avenged, for Narcissus slowly starved himself to death through love for his own image! The gods, however, took pity on him and changed his body into a cluster of flowers, which have ever since borne his name. We have associated Pan, the God of the Shepherds, with this month, and his name is found in a very familiar word in our language. He took a great delight in frightening travellers by creeping up behind them in the dark, and the fear with which he filled them was called "Panic". It is interesting to note that just as the Romans held a ceremony of purification during the month of February, so the Christian Church holds the feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary on the second day of the month. The feast is called by Roman Catholics, Candlemas, because it is the custom to have a procession in which candles are carried, and it is on this occasion that the candles to be used in the church during the year are consecrated. The weather at Candlemas is said to show what the weather will be like during the year, and an old proverb says: "If Candlemas is fair and clear, There'll be twa winters in the year". The Old English name for February was Sprout-Kale, since the cabbage begins to sprout at this time of the year. It was later changed to Solmonath -- sun month -- because it is the time when the sun rises higher in the sky and begins to drive away the chill of winter with its glowing rays. [06-5] ========= ========= LORD BAG OF RICE ========= (from Japanese Fairy Tales) ========= by Teresa Peirce Williston [1911]) ========= A SOLDIER in Japan was once about to cross a bridge near a lake when he saw a huge snake coiled on the bridge so that no one could pass. Now, do you think that this soldier turned and ran away, as many others had that day? No, indeed! He knew that a bridge was not the place for a snake, so he walked up and stamped on its head. As he stepped on him, the snake was gone. Only a dwarf stood before him, who at once began bowing his head to the ground with respect. "Now, at last I have found some one who is not a coward!'' cried the dwarf. "Here I have been waiting for days to find a man who was brave enough to help me, but none dared cross the bridge. Everyone turned and ran at the sight of me. But you are strong- hearted. Will you do me a great kindness and save many lives?" The soldier answered: "I am a soldier of the Emperor, and I am here to save life and right wrong. Tell me your trouble and I will see what can be done to help it." "There is a terrible centipede," said the dwarf, "and he lives in the woods on the mountain. Every day he comes down to the shore to drink. He dips his thousand poisonous feet into the beautiful water, turning it all foul and dirty. It kills all the fishes in the lake, too. I am the king of the lake, and I am trying to find some way to save my fishes." "I do not know that I can help you," said the soldier, ''but I will gladly go with you and try. " The dwarf took him to his home in the bottom of the lake. It was a beautiful house, all made of coral and pearl. His servants, the crabs and sunfishes, brought them rice, fruit, and tea, served on tiny green leaves. The tea looked like water and the rice looked like seafoam, but they tasted all right, so what matter? Just as they were in the middle of their feast they heard a mighty roaring and rumbling. It sounded as though a mountain were being torn up. ''There he is!" he cried. "That is the noise of his thousand feet as they crunch on the stones of the mountain side. We must hurry or he will get to the water and poison it again. " They hurried to the edge of the lake and saw the centipede already very near. He looked. like an army marching with colored lanterns, for each one of his thousand legs glowed with many beautiful shades of crimson and green and gold. The soldier drew his great bow and let an arrow fly at the monster's head. He never missed his aim, and the arrow struck the ugly head of the centipede, but bounced away. A second arrow flew, but that, too, bounced away. He had but one arrow left and the monster was almost at the water's edge. Suddenly he remembered that when he was a boy his grandfather had told him that if you wet the head of an arrow in your mouth it will kill any monster. It took just a second to wet the head of his last precious arrow and send it whizzing at the centipede. It struck him on the forehead and he fell over dead. Suddenly the soldier found himself back in his own house, which was now changed into a castle. Before him were five gifts, on each of which he read, ''With the loving thanks of the Dwarf." The first of these gifts was a huge bronze bell, on the outside of which was told in pictures the story of the centipede. The second was a sword which would always give its owner the victory. The third was a suit of armor so strong that no swords or arrows could go through it. The last two were the most wonderful of all. One was a roll of silk of any color he wished, and the more he used of the silk the more the roll grew. The other was a bag of rice which never grew less, although he used all he wished for his friends and himself. This last gift seemed so wonderful to the people that they called him Lord Bag of Rice from that day. [07] =============== ============ COLUMNS ========= [07-1] ========= ========= KITCHEN WITCHIN ========= by our readers ========= === === Honey Almond Cheesecake === Submitted by Chavi === You will need a 9" springform pan. Crust: 1 3/4 cup finely crushed graham crackers 1/4 cup finely chopped almonds (I like toasted, but not required) 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 cup butter, melted Cake: 3 eggs 3 8oz packages of cream cheese 1 lg can 14oz sweetened evaporated milk. NOT condensed. 1 tablespoon honey 1/2 teaspoon almond extract Topping: 3/4 cup whipping cream 2 tablespoons honey 3/4 cup to 1 cup slivered toasted almonds Procedure: Heat oven to 375 First part crust: Simply combine nuts, crumbs butter in bowl till blended. press against the bottom of the spring form pan set aside. Second part Cake: In large mixing bowl break up cream cheese into chunks. Slowly add evaporated milk, beating on low until "fluffy". Add extract and eggs and continue to beat until fluffy. Finally add honey, blend. Pour into pan. Bake at 375 for 50-60 minutes. Last part topping: After removing finished cheesecake allow to cool either in the pan or on a wire rack. I so recomend in the pan. In small sauce pan combine slivered almond and honey on low to med low heat. You just want to candy coat the almond. Slowly stir in cream this should come to a light syrupy consistency. Spoon over, or drizzle onto your cheesecake, cover with plastic wrap and chill 4 hours to overnight. Enjoy! Comments: You can have a just as lovely cheesecake without doing either the topping or the same crust. I have several time gotten the pre- made and just scattered some almonds on the bottom for this dessert. [07-2] ========= ========= HUMOR: 20 WAYS TO NOT GET INVITED BACK TO A WICCAN CIRCLE ========= Author Unknown ========= 1. Take the ritual sword from the alter and make sounds like Darth Vader..."Luke, I am your father!"...and start making light saber noises. 2. Start skat-singing when chanting. 3. Take the ritual athame from the alter and start cleaning your nails with it. 4. When taking a sip of the ritual wine, act like a wine snob and comment on it. 5. When doing the spiral dance, make a conga line. 6. Call down the Goddess with "Get your ass down here, Big Momma!". 7. Call down the God with "Our father,who art in heaven..." 8. When chanting the names of the Goddess, randomly include Pokemon names. 9. When being smudged, complain about second-hand smoke. 10. In a drumming circle, laugh insanely and start drumming the beat to "Wipe Out". 11. When in a skyclad circle, randomly point and laugh. 12. When the ritual wine goblet is passed to you, chug it and ask for more. 13. Invoke Satan. 14. Take out a bible and start evangelizing. 15. Light up a cigar. 16. Bring a cute furry creature and offer it as a blood sacrifice. 17. Talk a lot about casting spells for revenge against people who have offended you. 18. At a handfasting say "Thank God! Maybe now i'll get some grandchildren!" 19. When in circle, answer your cell phone. 20. Respond to "So Mote it Be!" with "Amen!" [08] =============== ============ PAGAN WEBCRAFTING ========= Many Pagans have or would like to have a Pagan oriented web site. Unfortunately, many of the thousands of Pagan web sites are poorly designed and/or very hard to read. (Hint: A black background makes even white text hard to read, but a black background with a dark text is almost impossible to read.) This section of Cauldron and Candle is devoted to articles about web sites and web design. Some are written specifically for Pagans, but most will be more general and anyone interested in putting up a web site may find them useful. Please note that each article is written from the author's point of view and goals, and therefore even completely opposite advice can be sound -- in different situations, of course. These articles should not be taken as "law" but rather as things to think about and consider while you are creating and maintaining your web site. Some articles have a "business" slant, but the information they contain really applies to all types of web sites. For more information and articles on web crafting, see the Pagan Webcrafting section of The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum's web site. http://www.ecauldron.com/web/index.php [08-1] ========= ========= Is Your Web Site Too Hard? ========= by Roger C. Parker ========= Is your website too hard? Take the "Easy Test" to see if your website is as visitor friendly as it should be! Websites often fail to produce the desired results. This can be because visitors find them too hard to understand or navigate. Here are some potential usability problems to avoid. 1. Hard to find Is your website easy to locate? Do you promote it everywhere, (i.e. business cards, invoices, envelopes, etc.) and is your site search engine friendly? Do you promote the benefits of visiting? Is your site address easy to remember and easy to type? Does your url contain easily misspelled words? Is it complicated by repeated letters, i.e. "theentity?" Are there numbers, which can cause confusion, i.e., "1shopping" or "oneshopping?" 2. Hard to engage Do you make it easy for visitors to understand why they should read on? You have only a few seconds to persuade visitors to begin reading your message. Unless your home page immediately provides an obvious "why buy from us?" benefit, visitors are likely to leave -- wasting the time and money you spent attracting them to your site. Home pages should begin with headline that immediately communicates you are familiar with your visitor’s problems and can help them achieve their goals. Time-consuming animations, vapid "welcoming" statements, and "brag and boast" claims, usually turn visitors away. 3. Hard to decide Do you make it easy for visitors to decide what to read next? The best web sites have a clear and immediately identifiable focus and sequence. Many home pages, however, offer so many navigation options that visitors are paralyzed and choose to leave. Studies have shown that, if you offer grocery store visitors an opportunity to sample 6 jams, 30% of customers will eventually buy one. But, if you offer 16 samples, response drops to 3%! 4. Hard to return Do you make it easy for visitors to register for your e-mail newsletter, so you can invite them to return? Unless you obtain your visitor’s e-mail address and permission to contact them in the future, you'll probably never see them again! Many web sites offer visitors an opportunity to sign-up for their e-mail newsletter, however, only a few offer a meaningful incentive to sign-up. Without an incentive, without showing or describing the benefits of registering, why should visitors sign up? Most e-mail in-boxes are already filled with unread newsletters! 5. Hard to read Is your message easy to read? Easy reading is more critical onscreen than in print. Problems that might be overlooked on paper are critical online. * Long lines of text are difficult to read and make it easy for visitors to lose their place at the end of each line. Limit line length to 2/3’ds the width of the screen. * Keep sentences and paragraphs short, and add extra space between paragraphs. * Frequent subheads break body copy into short, bite-sized chunks. Each subhead "advertises" the following text and provides an additional point for visitors to begin reading your message. 6. Hard to print Do you make it easy for visitors to print important articles and descriptions? Links to "printer friendly pages," correct line-and page breaks -- add perceived value to your message and make it easier to share and read your message offline. You don't need to offer a printer-friendly link of every page, just key articles or important products or upcoming events. 7. Hard to share Do you make it easy for visitors to pass-along important articles to others? An "E-mail this to a friend or co-worker" link can expose your message to others who may join your opt-in e-mail list. 8. Hard to contact you Do you make it easy for visitors to contact you? Do you include full contact information on every page, i.e. phone, fax, e-mail, and postal address? Avoid a single "contact us" link that only loads the visitor’s e-mail program. Give visitors multiple chances to call, fax, or mail a letter! ===== ===== About the Author ===== Roger C. Parker knows the secrets to promoting your business one page at a time. Find out the simple way to keep in constant touch with your customers, while saving you time and money. Visit http:/www.OnePageNewsletters.com/ for your three free reports. [08-2] ========= ========= Diabolical Design ========= Copyright (c) 2004 John Calder ========= You can find guides and tips on good web site design everywhere. In 1998, Vincent Flanders co-authored a book with a unique twist. It was called "Web Pages That Suck", and Mr. Flanders followed that with a similar co-authored book in 2002. In that spirit, we'd like to offer you our top five tips on diabolical design - how to create web pages that look like h-, well, you know. 1. Use javascript and Flash. Lots and lots of it. Make sure you ignore the fact that my browser isn't 100% compatible. If you can, try to crash my browser. It's not always 100% compatible, and I really like the color in that little Windows error box anyway. 2. I like a lot of gratuitous graphics too. Include lots of large files that take a while to download, especially over dialup. A long while. It would be an especially nice touch if you can have some heavy zig-zag and grid backgrounds, something that blends in with your text for that nice, unified look. And whatever you do, don't forget the little animated GIF files! They're cute, and especially distracting, so I'd like a lot of those too, please, all around your page. 3. If I do manage to get to one of your pages, please be certain that you've fixed the font sizes with CSS. Make them, oh, about 8 or 9 pixels high, bolded. That should do it - well, except use lots of different colors and font styles, just to prove to me you can. While you're in the CSS file anyway, try to get rid of some of that extra white space by adjusting the line height (the space between lines of text) so that it's only 1/2 it's normal space. There's no use in my having to scroll down the page - make sure it's all above the fold, OK? 4. Wait a minute - I forgot about the links. Can you use your CSS skills to turn off the underlines in your links, plus make them the same color as the rest of your text? They stand out too much if you don't do that. But, when I hover my mouse over them, I want you to give me a further display of some cool CSS tricks by making the link text turn to italic and get a LOT bigger. Enough to make the other text on the page move around a bit. I've never seen anything like that before. 5. Now to some good stuff - your colors. Be daring here. Forget about the old dark-on-light and light-on-dark basics. Try something like black text on a dark green background. Or maybe purple on red? Either way, just be different. And I don't see any reason to stick with complementary or contrasting colors. Nah, give the old color wheel a spin & see what turns up. Pick 'em and use 'em in 1-2-3 order, it won't matter. If you're using tables, it's nice to change the background color of every single cell. That will prove to me the level of tireless effort you've put into your site just for me. Bonus tip: If you will put menus and other navigation elements in different places on each page, and not be clear on where a click will take me, that will make me look over each page more thoroughly, and I will want to click on all those links, just because I want to know where they lead. Really I will. By the way, we hope you know that these tips were all in good fun, and very sarcastic. If you didn't know that, please buy Mr. Flanders' book, or any good book on design. Your visitors' eyes will thank you! ===== ===== About the Author ===== John Calder is the owner/editor of The Ezine Dot Net. Subscribe today and get real information you can use to help build your online business today! http://www.TheEzine.Net RSS feeds are available. [08-3] ========= ========= How to Create Columns with Div's ========= by Shruti Gupta ========= When we at Ecommerce Partners (http://www.ecommercepartners.net) started using div’s rather than table for web page layout, the most daunting experience for me was how to create columns using div’s. So, here is the solution for all those website developers who are struggling to use div’s for web page layout. The div tag can be defined as the division in a web page. It is a block level element. This implies that the default behavior of div’s is to stack up one above the other. This serves the purpose of using div’s for a simple web page layout where all the elements stack one above the other. When we have a columnar web page layout (which happens to be the most common layout for majority of the websites), we need to know how to use div’s to create two or more columns in a web page. The following method will cause div’s to stack up side by side rather than one above the other. Let’s say that we have two div’s: Now, in the stylesheet declare the following rules. #div1 { float:left; width:50%;} #div2 { margin-left:50%; width:50%;} The result will be two columnar div’s. You may use this method to create as many columns as needed on the web page. Now, if you need these two columnar div’s to expand vertically equal to each other you can use the following method. First create a background image that if tiled vertically will look like two columns. For reference, please visit http://www.ecpgroup.net. Here, background image (http://www.ecpgroup.net/images/content_bg.gif) has been used in the container div that holds the body and the footer of the web page. This background image must be 1 pixel high and as wide as the container that contains all the elements of your web page. In the html document: Declare the following rules in the stylesheet: #container { background: url(the_Url_Of_The_Background_Image.gif) repeat-y 0% 0%; } #div1 { float:left; width:50%; } #div2 { margin-left:50%; width:50%; } The result will be the appearance of two columnar div’s expanding vertically equal to each other. So, although we cannot extend a div vertically equal to another div, we can make it appear so. This is exactly the method used at http://www.ecpgroup.net. ===== ===== About the Author ===== Shruti Gupta works for ECommerce Partners.net (http://www.ecommercepartners.net) - a website design company in New York. We pride ourselves in developing search engine friendly and standard compliant websites. Email: info@ecommercepartners.net [08-4] ========= ========= Cheap Web Hosting Report: February 2005 ========= by Gridspace ========= With thousands of web hosts to choose from, it can be hard to find cheap web hosting with the quality and dependability you want. Many web hosts now advertise extremely low prices and promise more features than anyone could ever want. Unfortunately, many cheap web hosting offers turn out to be too good to be true. Either the service is poor or the fine print in the terms of service make many of the features effectively useless. Low cost web hosting with excellent service, reliability and features does exist -- if you are willing to spend many hours researching offers and user experiences. Many offer to help you select cheap web hosting by listing 10, 20 or even more cheap web hosting companies with offers they consider good. However, that's still a lot of cheap web hosting companies and plans to research. We are more selective in our Cheap Web Hosting Report. We check out the sites and the user comments and list what we believe are the current top five general purpose cheap web hosting plans. We also list several additional plans that provide special features (such as "root" access or a Windows server with ASP and an Access database). This means less work for you. ===== ===== Top Five General Purpose Cheap Web Hosts for February 2005 ===== These are the top five general purpose cheap web hosts selected for January 2005. All of the following hosting plans include a web control panel, a cgi-bin directory, php4, perl, and at least 1 mysql database. Many offer a number of additional features. The prices listed are the monthly price based on the shortest prepayment period offered (1m = one month, 3m = three months, 6m = six months) and for annual pre-payment (1y = annual rate). The setup fees we list are for the shortest prepayment period offered and for the annual pre-payment plan. === === #1 Dreamhost === Price: 1m: $9.95 2y: $7.95 Setup: 1m: $24.95 2y: Free Bandwidth: 40 GB (February Sale: 120 GB) Disk Space: 800 MB (February Sale 2400 MB) Mailboxes: 600 Comments: Dreamhost has long been -- and still is -- listed as the best affordable web host for unusual content (as they will host just about anything legal) in the Special Needs Hosting section of this report. Improvements in their plans in 2004 have made them very competitive in terms of bandwidth, web space, and features offered for the price, so they have moved onto and then rapidly up our "Top Five" list. New and improved features are announced in the Dreamhost newsletter almost every month. Their tech support is the best I've seen in the low cost hosting industry. If you are looking for low cost, high quality web hosting with truly excellent tech support and very friendly people, check out Dreamhost. Note: The bandwidth and web space listed are for Dreamhost's New Year's Sale and are therefore triple the normal 40 GB bandwidth and 800 megs web space. Sign up during January or February 2005 and get the tripled bandwidth and web space for as long as you have the account. (The Cheap Web Hosting Report hosts with Dreamhost.) More Information: http://www.ecauldron.com/zdreamhost.php === === #2 midPhase === Price: 3m: $11.95 1y: $7.95 Setup: 3m: Free 1y: Free Bandwidth: unlimited Disk Space: 1500 MB Mailboxes: unlimited Comments: midPhase is a young hosting company (launched in late 2002). They offer a strong hosting package with many features at a reasonable, although not super-low, price. It has grown quickly -- and, thus far, without a lot of complaints from their customers over service. If they can continue to provide good service, expect them to rise on our list in the future. At the end of August, they switched to unmetered bandwidth for most sites (60 gig limit for download sites and image galleries). While unmetered bandwidth sometimes causes hosting companies problems, midPhase says that they have been planning this switch for months and do not expect any problems. More Information: http://www.ecauldron.com/zmidphase.php === === #3 iPowerWeb === Price: 3m: $9.95 1y: $7.95 Setup: 3m: $30.00 1y: Free Bandwidth: 40 GB Disk Space: 1000 MB Mailboxes: 500 Comments: iPowerWeb is only a few years old, but it already hosts over 200,000 web sites, has won numerous awards for its service, and has successfully managed rapid growth with only a few visible customer service hiccups. The company and its offerings are not perfect, but they provide featureful, reliable, low cost web hosting -- and do so very well from the point-of-view of the average customer. More Information: http://www.ecauldron.com/zipowerweb.php === === #4 Lunarpages === Price: 3m: $9.95 1y: $7.95 Setup: 3m: $30.00 1y: Free Bandwidth: 40 GB Disk Space: 1000 MB Mailboxes: Unlimited Comments: Lunarpages has over 5 years experience in shared web hosting and hosts over 50,000 web pages. While they have not pushed for the huge growth of some of the other low cost web hosting companies, Lunarpages customers seem generally very happy with their service and appear to this reviewer to be more loyal to their hosting company than the customers of other hosting companies. This speaks well for Lunarpages. More Information: http://www.ecauldron.com/zlunarpages.php === === #5 PowWeb === Price: 3m: $7.77 1y: $7.77 Setup: 3m: $20.00 1y: Free Bandwidth: 5 GB /day Disk Space: 1000 MB Mailboxes: 650 Comments: PowWeb has been in the low cost web hosting business since 1999. They are best known for their one-size fits all web hosting plan. They have recently raised their bandwidth limits from 45 gigs a month to a whopping 5 gigs a day (but you get an email warning at 4 gigs in a day according to their policy). We have seen a few more customer complaints over performance and customer service recently, which has caused this web host to drop a bit in our rating, but they are still a good choice for many. More Information: http://www.ecauldron.com/zpowweb.php ===== ===== Special Needs Cheap Web Hosting ===== If you have special hosting needs, one of the following cheap web hosting solutions may meet those needs better than one of the above plans. While the following companies generally do not offer as much bandwidth and disk space as the Top Five Cheap Web Hosts listed above, they provide more than enough of both for most sites and their special features, if you need them, will more than make up the difference. === === Fewer Content Restrictions === Dreamhost Price: 1m: $9.95 2y: $7.95 Setup: 1m: $24.95 2y: Free Bandwidth: 40 GB (February Sale: 120 GB) Disk Space: 800 MB (February Sale: 2400 MB) Mailboxes: 600 Comments: In an effort to avoid arguments and complaints, most web hosting companies are fairly restrictive on questionable content -- to the point that some will terminate a site for displaying a picture of a classical (but bare breasted) statue from ancient Greece. Dreamhost not only has an excellent, cheap web hosting package but is far more liberal than most web hosts on acceptable site content. Basically, if your content is legal in the US, Dreamhost will probably have no problems hosting it. Note: The bandwidth and web space listed are for Dreamhost's New Year's Sale and are therefore triple the normal 40 GB bandwidth and 800 megs web space. Sign up during January or February 2005 and get the tripled bandwidth and web space for as long as you have the account. (The Cheap Web Hosting Report hosts with Dreamhost.) More Information: http://www.ecauldron.com/zdreamhost.php === === Windows Hosting === Easy CGI Price: 1m: $9.95 1y: $7.96 Setup: 1m: Free 1y: Free Bandwidth: 50 GB Disk Space: 3000 MB Mailboxes: 50 Comments: Easy CGI provides Windows 2000 servers instead of the standard Unix servers. Their accounts come with ASP and one Access Database. They are one of the most affordable and most popular Windows hosting providers. Customer service reports are spotty, however. Most people report excellent service but minority report major problems. More Information: http://www.ecauldron.com/zeasycgi.php === === Virtual Dedicated Server Hosting (Root Access) === Jumpline Price: 1y: $9.95 Setup: 1y: Free Bandwidth: 5 GB Disk Space: 500 MB Mailboxes: 75 Comments: Jumpline uses special technology to provide each account with its own virtual server. You have your own Apache web server, your own email servers, your own database server, etc. and you have root access to the virtual machine running them. These types of accounts can be more stable and provide better control, but are best used by Unix experts who understand the ins and outs of running servers. More Information: http://www.ecauldron.com/zjumpline.php === === Dedicated Server Hosting === ServerPronto Price: 1m: $29.95 Setup: $149.00 Bandwidth: 200 GB Disk Space: 40 GB Mailboxes: unlimited A dedicated server gives your site its own physical computer as a server. The upside is that you have full root access so you can install whatever software you want on it and have very few restrictions on scripts (even if they hog CPU time). The downside is that you have to maintain the system yourself. ServerPronto has some of the most affordable dedicated server prices we have seen, although there are many options that can increase the monthly price or the setup fee. Windows and Windows 2003 dedicated servers are also available at higher prices. In mid- September, ServerPronto started a special offer of $80 off the above listed setup fees on several plans. The length of this offer is unknown, but it was still going at the end of October, so check their website for more information. More Information: http://www.ecauldron.com/zserverpronto.php === Notes The information in this report was checked for accuracy on January 31, 2005. Web hosting companies, however, can change their pricing and plans at any time so the information may no longer be accurate when you read this report. Gridspace is not responsible for errors nor for what use you may make of this information. Looking for even more hosting options or more information on web hosting? See the Cheap Web Hosting Report web site at http://www.cheapwebhostingreport.com/ [09] ========= ========= 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/persontestart.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/persontestbr.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/amazon.php ===== ===== 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.) [10] ========= ========= 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) 2004 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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