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C A U L D R O N A N D C A N D L E #81 -- February 2007 A Publication of The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum website: http://www.ecauldron.com/ message board: http://www.ecauldron.net/mb/ newsletter: http://www.ecauldron.com/cnc/ shopping: http://www.ecauldron.com/mall.php http://www.ecauldron.com/doxysbazaar.php In this Issue: [00] Editorial Notes: [01] Cauldron News * ANNUAL FEBRUARY DONATION DRIVE INFO FOR 2006 * CHANGING MESSAGE BOARD SOFTWARE TO SMF * New Cauldron Council Member: ASAHEL [02] Interesting Recent Cauldron Discussions * "Found" Objects and the Divine * Pagans Who Practice High Magick? * Solitary vs. Group * You Can't Be Pagan Because... * Has the Fluffy Bunny Inquisition Gone Too Far? * Embarrassed about Religion? * Muggles??? * Technology and Your Faith? * Magic -- Why? * Hey! Someone Pay Attention to Me! [03] Articles * How to Keep Your Coven from Being Destroyed: Part I * Chakra Locations and Actions: Part One * Chakra Locations and Actions: Part Two [04] Flamekeeping: Deserving? [05] Software Gadgets: The Column * StationRipper -- Record mp3s from Internet Radio * Spyware Blaster -- Block Spyware From Installing * FireBug -- Firefox Extension for Web Designers [06] Grimoire: Spell To Protect Good Health [07] Recipe: Beef Barley Stew [08] Support The Cauldron [09] Newsletter Information (Including How To Subscribe/Unsubscribe) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++ Please support our sponsor +++ LOOKING FOR PAGAN SUPPLIES? Visit The Cauldron's Pagan Supply Store (An Affiliate of Pagan Shopping Online) http://www.ecauldron.com/esesf.php +++ Please support our sponsor +++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ [00] ========= ========= EDITORIAL NOTES ========= Welcome to the February 2007 issue of Cauldron and Candle. You are receiving this issue because you subscribed. To learn how to unsubscribe, see the last section of this newsletter. This issue finds The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum in about to under go a major transition. (Yes, this does seem to be a February thing as it happens most years.) We have finally decided to give up on the Beehive Forums software that runs our forum. We have to run an ancient version as none of the newer versions work correctly for us. Worse, none of the newer versions add the admin features we really need. Therefore, the hosts and staff have decided to bite the bullet and move to Simple Machines Forum software. An SMF forum uses the more familiar "drill down" format that most message boards on the Internet use, but has a key feature that we've only found in Beehive before: it permanently tracks unread messages -- even across logins and logouts and will let you jump to the next unread message in a thread. This will be a major transition for our message board as we have used the DelphiForums/Beehive board format since the beginning. This will mean revised rules, faqs and more over the next few months. See the Cauldron News section for more information on our planned move to SMF. If all goes according to plan, the actual move to an SMF board will happen this month. February is also our Annual Donation Drive month. We have a special section on that later on in this issue as well. We don't need a lot of money, but keeping TC on the Internet does cost money so once a year we ask your help to pay the bills. If you are able to contribute money, we appreciate every dollar you donate. If you can't, don't sweat it. We also have the usual articles, message board discussions from January, etc. We hope you enjoy them. Randall Sapphire Editor and Publisher, Cauldron and Candle Co-Host, The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum [01] ========= ========= CAULDRON NEWS ========= by The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum Staff ========= ===== ===== ANNUAL FEBRUARY DONATION DRIVE INFO FOR 2007 ===== === === General Information === It's February and 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. This year, we are hoping to raise some extra money for expansion (as we have grown a lot in the last year) If those of our members who can afford to contribute $5, $10, $20 or more in the next few weeks would do so, we'd probably have all the money needed. The Hosts are donating $50 toward the fund, so they are not just asking for others to help out while they sit back and plan a trip to Greece on the money donated. Don't worry, if we don't get enough donations, the main web site will not disappear. The Hosts will scrape up the money needed somehow, 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 the Hosts are not rolling in money any more than you are and a large bill in one month would really work havoc. We would really like to see more money donated than we need to pay the hosting bill this year as with our growth, we really need to do some expanding and Bob would like to expand the connection the server he has on message board on uses, but needs some extra cash to do so. Once the ecauldron.com server bill is paid, we will channel donation money to Bob for the message board server connection. Donations can be accepted via PayPal or the Amazon Honor System (or even by money order). Paypal is slightly better than Amazon 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 and mention your message board login name in the Comments box (if one appears). (Amazon donations are anonymous so we can't email you our thanks). Note that donations to TC are not tax-deductible in the US and probably aren't elsewhere either. === === HOW TO DONATE === 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 Honor System http://www.amazon.com/paypage/P3903JRFVQVDN Donate Via Money Order (No personal checks, please) Email donations2007@ecauldron.com for a mailing address (Note this email address will not work after March) === === DONOR "BONUSES" -- INDIVIDUAL DONORS === We have a few bonuses for individual donors (at least, for those who do not donate anonymously). All Donors The hosts have a selection of used Pagan books (many are review copies and are very close to "new"). Two donors will be selected at random and given their choice of one book from the available books. These books will be sent book rate (in the US, surface mail overseas). Any person who donates (provided they do not donate anonymously) has a chance to win. No minimum donation is required. Contributor Level Donation (US$25.00 or more) 1. Message Board User Name listed as a Contributor for 2007 on our Sponsors page. 2. Contributor extras on our new SMF message board. This will include a special title telling everyone you are a Contributor (unless do not want one) and access to a few special board features Sponsor Level Donation (US$50.00 or more) 1. Message Board User Name listed as a Sponsor for 2007 on our Sponsors page. 2. Sponsor extras on our new SMF message board. This will include a special title telling everyone you are a Sponsor (unless do not want one) and access to a few special board features. ===== ===== CHANGING MESSAGE BOARD SOFTWARE TO SMF ===== This is a "heads up" notice that the hosts and staff of The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum that we are planning a major switch in forum software for our message board. This means we will be opening a new message board using completely different message board software and turning our current message board into a second archive board. Unfortunately we cannot move messages from our old Beehive boards into the new SMF. Beehive boards are just too "different from standard." === === Background === As most of you know, The Cauldron started out on DelphiForums (back when it was still Delphi.com) in 1997. We finally left DelphiForums for good about three years ago when Bob kindly offered us space and bandwidth on his server. We used Beehive software because it was very close to DelphiForums board format (which is very different from average). We started out with Beehive 0.4x. 0.5 came out shortly thereafter and we immediately upgraded. Beehive 0.5 lacks many useful admin features (and some of those it does have are broken and don't work). Beehive 0.6 came out about 18 months ago and we switched to it. It fixed most of the bugs in 0.5, but did not really add much new in the needed admin features list. 0.6 quickly proved to have a fatal flaw. It was EXTREMELY slow. It would take 15 to 25 seconds to load a page. Unfortunately, there was no way to roll back to 0.5, so we turned our original Beehive board into our read-only "archive board" and opened a new board using the old 0.5 version of Beehive. Back to almost no working admin features, but at least the board was fast enough to be usable. Late last year, Beehive 0.7 (quickly followed by 0.71 with bug fixes) followed. We tried ran a test version of a beta of 0.72 (which actually worked with multiple forums) of it here. It had only a few more features than 0.6 but it was optimized and therefore fast enough to be usable. Unfortunately, the upgrade procedure simply did not work for us so there was no way to upgrade our boards to 0.7x. Unfortunately, TC has gotten too big and too active (some months, like January 2007, have almost 10,000 messages posted) to survive on the barely functional and limited admin functions that Beehive 0.5 offers. === === Other Board Software Options === The hosts have never been a fan of drill down boards (the standard type of board on the net (boards ran by vbulletin, invision, phpbb, smf, etc. software), mainly because these boards did not permanently track your last unread message as "Delphi- format" boards do). There are now a few drill-down boards that permanently track each user's last read message in a thread and will take you directly to the next unread message in that thread if you ask it to do so. The current version of Simple Machines Forum (SMF) does this fairly well. The current version of Burning Board (the software Bob and Mike use for Asatru Lore) does it with a few caveats. After testing both boards for a while, Cauldron staff and selected member testers were decided to go with SMF. While a few members will probably cheer this software as they really prefer the more standard board software way of doing a forum, many members will probably be upset as they dislike the standard type of board as much as the Hosts do. Unfortunately, it has come to the point where we have no choice. Beehive shows no signs that it will provide the tools we need in a functional package anytime in the foreseeable future and without much better administration and organizational tools, the hosts doubt this board will last more than another 6 months before they decide to just shut it down as unmanageable. The Hosts have always disliked drill down boards, so you know that things are desperate if they are saying we really need to switch. === === SMF 1.1 Standard Feature List === Here is a list of the standard features of an SMF message board. Some of these features will be turned off here and more features will be added through modifications. One very nice thing about SMF, especially compared to Beehive Forums, is that it is well supported with great help information explaining how to use the board and a large community of designers, board hosts, and users to help people over rough spots and produce modifications that expand the features available. General * Uses PHP and MySQL. * Comprehensive template system. * Advanced permission and user management. * Supports multiple languages at once. * Open and well-documented source code. * Tracking of new and old unread topics, not just from your last visit. * Designed for optimal performance and scalability. * Multi-media output. (XHTML, XML, RSS, WAP) * Multi-language support from a large community. * Package manager that automatically installs or uninstalls mods (also known as hacks.) * Search: - Search the entire forum, a category/board or within a topic. - Search within your personal messages. Security * All actions seamlessly require a session based authorization code. * Administrative actions require the user's password (and do not rely solely on cookies.) * Major actions are time and IP locked, preventing 'hammering'. * The number of login attempts from a certain IP can be limited and time locked. Forum Settings * Ability to display page creation time and query count per page. * Put a board into maintenance mode, allowing only admins to login. * Word censoring, either full word or partial. * Ability to break up long words. Boards and Categories * Group boards into collapsible categories. * Set categories as non-collapsible. * Reorder boards within categories, or reorder categories. * Create child boards under other boards. (sub boards) * Assign moderators to boards. * Allow certain membergroups to access a board, including guests only. * Configure permissions for each membergroup on the board level. * Ability to indicate new posts to child boards but nothing new in parent. Member Registration * Require registration before forum entrance. * Require a user to agree to terms before they register. * Disable member registration completely (allowing only moderators to register people). * Require email authentication by sending an authentication link. * Require a moderator to approve registration. * Register new members from the admin center. Member Navigation and Authentication * Several security checks during navigation. * Password reminder option, by email with confirmation. (doesn't automatically reset your password.) * Both cookie and session based authentication (works without cookies.) * Cookies can be set local to a path, global to all subdomains, or normally. * Adjustable expiration time for authentication cookies. Member Tracking and Tracing * Sortable and searchable public memberlist (accessible by a permission.) * Powerful sortable and searchable admin memberlist. * Show all (error) messages and IPs made by a member. (track user) * Show all (error) messages from an IP address or range. (track IP) * See who's doing what (accessible by permission.) Statistics * Several board statistics (accessible by permission.) * Tracking of member's online time in seconds. * Tracking of topics, messages, new members, and hits per day. * Individual member statistics accessible from their profile. News and Announcements * Ability to create announcement boards (members receive a notification of topics automatically.) * Member option to disable receiving announcements. * Email or private message your members by membergroup. * Show a news ticker or news fader. Communication * Ability to choose sendmail or SMTP (with or without authentication.) * Ability to send a topic to a friend. * Ability to view a "printer friendly" version of topics. Membergroups * Create membergroups to group members on permissions, access rights, and/or appearance. * Assign several membergroups to a single member, with one membergroup as the primary group. * Define membergroups that are auto-assigned based on the amount of posts a user has. * Determine the maximum number of personal messages a membergroup is allowed to have by group. * Assign graphical symbol(s) to a membergroup - by primary group. * Determine which membergroups are allowed to access a board. Banning * Ban members based on their username, email address, IP address or hostname. * Support of wildcards for email address, IP address, and hostname. * Include a ban reason (viewable for the banned user). * Include a ban note (only viewable by the admins). * Chose between full ban, 'no post' ban, or registration ban. * Include an expiration time for bans. External integration * Integrate parts of forum software into existing website using SSI or PHP. - Recent topics or posts. - Recent news posts in a board. - Recent polls. - Several forum statistics. - List of users online. - The menu bar. - News. - Search. - Login/logout. - Today's events/birthdays/holidays. * Export forum data using XML/RSS - Latest members. - News. - Recent posts. Wireless access * Support for WAP, WAP2 and I-mode protocols. * Browse through boards/topics/messages with reduced page size. * Ability to login and logout (not with WAP 1.) * Ability to see new topics/boards with new replies. * Ability to jump to first unread reply. * Ability to post new messages (not with WAP 1.) Theming and Templating * Ability to allow or disallow your users to select their own theme. * Ability to reset all of your members to a certain theme. * Ability to install a new theme via your administration center. * Default templates are XHTML 1.0 Transitional and CSS 2.0 compliant. * Admin can add smileys and smiley sets. * Members can choose which smiley set they wish to use (or none.) * Themes can be installed by way of the "latest and greatest themes" panel. * SSI can have and show layers and the like from the template system. Posting Features * Spell Check. * Quick Reply - Members can disable it or collapse it. - Can be used with "Quote". - Also contains "Spell Check". * Vast number of "bulletin board codes" to use (including rtl, acronym, and others.) * Optional editing grace period before a post is shown as modified. * 'Insert Quote' feature on posting screen to quickly quote previous replies. Polls * Can be added or removed to existing topics. * Ability to set expiration date. * Ability to hide results till expiration of poll. * Ability to hide results until after people have voted. * Ability to determine how many votes a user may cast. * Polls can have up to 256 options. Attachments * Allowed on a per member group or board basis. * The filename can be encrypted to increase the security (so you can upload .php files, etc.) * Optional restriction on what filetypes may be uploaded. * Ability to restrict such that only registered members can view them (disables hotlinking, mostly.) * Images can be embedded into posts. Calendar Support * Shows Birthdays, Events and Holidays. * Display calendar information on board index. * Link an existing topic to the calendar. * Allow only certain members/groups post events. * Event poster can edit event. * Events can span multiple days. Moderation Tools * Ability to lock and unlock a topic. - Topics which are locked by an administrator can not unlocked by anyone else. * Ability to allow members to use moderation on just topics they posted. * "Report to moderator" link. * Delete or modify posts. * Ability to Merge/Split topics. * Move or delete topics. * Sticky or unsticky topics. * Recycle bin/board for all deleted topics and posts. * Moderation log which shows moderation activity and disallows log removal outside of 1 day. * AJAX editing: - Edit a post without page reloads. - Double click to edit topic subjects on message index. User Profiles and User Options * Ability to hide your email address from the public. * Select their favorite theme among the activated forum themes. * Select their smiley set from the ones available. * Email notification - New topics per board. - Single topics. - Private messages. * Login with 'invisible' mode. * Options to hide other members' avatars and signatures. * Ability to download and resize uploaded avatars. * Personal text, avatar, signature, and all the niceties of forums can be used and are kept up to date in all your posts. User Resources * Icons for topics you've posted to. * Show new replies to your posts. * Collapsible 'Additional Options' on post screen. * Ability to view most recent messages. * List all topics that have new replies since your last visit. * See who is browsing the same boards or topics as you. * Topics that span multiple pages have the page numbers listed as well as an "all" link. === === Find Out More === You can find out more about SMF and see a huge SMF board in action at the Simple Machines Forum website at: http://www.simplemachines.org/ You can find out more about what The Cauldron is planning and the progress of our move to SMF on our current message board: http://www.ecauldron.net/mb/ ===== ===== NEW CAULDRON COUNCIL MEMBER: ASAHEL ===== We'd like to welcome Mike (ASAHEL) to Cauldron Council (our "reserve" staff). Mike is a long time member of The Cauldron and an Admin on our sister forum, Asatru Lore. Mike works with the American Red Cross and is often posting from countries that most of us would not want to visit, let alone spend months in working on humanitarian efforts -- places like Afghanistan, Korea, and Iraq. We are happy to have him join TC staff. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++ Please support our sponsor +++ PAGAN-FRIENDLY WEB HOSTING http://www.ecauldron.com/web/zdreamhost.php Dreamhost offers high-quality, low cost web hosting with a dedication to free speech. Pagan sites are welcome! Read why we use Dreamhost for The Cauldron's web site: http://www.ecauldron.com/web/whydreamhost.php Starter Plan Features * 180 gigabytes web space * 1800 gigabytes/month bandwidth * 3000 email boxes (POP3/IMAP) * 75 ftp/shell accounts * host unlimited domains/subdomains * php4, php5, cgi, fastcgi, ssi * zend optimizer, ruby on rails * unlimited MySQL databases * announcement lists * discussion (aka mailing) lists * Jabber server * Crontab and Shell access * Web-based Control Panel * One-Click installs of the Wordpress blog & PhpBB forum * 1 free domain name * helpful tech support * and much more! All for $9.95 a month with a $49.95 setup fee. Pay for a year in advance and there is no setup fee. Pay two years in advance and the price drops to $7.95 a month. (And there is a 97 day money back guarantee!) Visit Dreamhost for Affordable, Pagan-Friendly Hosting http://www.ecauldron.com/web/zdreamhost.php +++ Please support our sponsor +++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ [02] ========= ========= INTERESTING RECENT CAULDRON DISCUSSIONS ========= Recent Discussion Topics on our Message Board ========= In an average month, over 200 new discussion topics are started on The Cauldron's message board. Here are a few of the more interesting recent discussions. It's not too late to join in. Thanks to Feedburner, 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 Feedburner's free news delivery via the form at the end of the site "News and Updates" section of The Cauldron's main web page. ===== ===== "Found" Objects and the Divine ===== Have you ever felt as if an object has "found you" through some kind of-divine twist of fate? I'm not saying the Gods made sure a vase was at some place at some time to ensure that you and only you could find it; more like you happen to be at the right place at the right time to receive something that is useful/helpful to you in a religious or magical way? Maybe it was a walk in the woods or a visit to an antique shop? Where were you when you came across your find? How have you used the object since you're found it? Did you feel any kind of cleansing or dedication ritual was necessary for the object? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncmain.php?m=2525.1 ===== ===== Pagans Who Practice High Magick? ===== I have studied the practice of High Magick in various forms but never could get past the armchair stage because of the use of "Names of God" and Archangels. I have heard Pagans who do High Magick tell me that it isn't the same as the Christian God, but to me, calling on YHVH is just that. How is this reconciled? Only thing I can figure is that they must see the various forms and names of God as archetypes or something. Even the LBRP, the most basic of rituals is using part of the Lord's Prayer. So what gives? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncmain.php?m=2509.1 ===== ===== Solitary vs. Group ===== A couple of recent threads have got me thinking about why I prefer to be solitary. In the ADF thread, I was asking for people's opinions about ADF, which led Fiamma to graciously invite me to visit her grove. I haven't done it yet, and I'm not sure why. Whenever I think about it, I feel...not *scared*, exactly...more like trepidatious or apprehensive. I thought at first that it might have something to do with not wanting to be accused of fluffy-bunniness or something like that. Or worry that the ADF folks are too fluffy for me. But the thread on fluffy bunnies gave me the opportunity to think that through, and that's not it. So, then I thought maybe it's because I don't label myself in a way that seems to me to fit with what I know about druidism. But, on reflection, and on reading the thread about Celtic Recon + Wicca, I don't think that's it either. I probably would fit pretty well into a druid grove, as far as beliefs go. I've finally come to the notion that I'm afraid that worshiping with a group of people will be just like going to church was for me. I felt nothing. And what's more, it didn't look to me like anyone else felt anything, either. To me, it looked like everyone was just going through the motions. So, I think I'm afraid that I'll be with a group of people like that. Sort of that I don't trust them to be sincere. Why is that scary to me? I have no idea. But I think that's why I prefer to be alone. I don't talk to anyone about my beliefs (other than you guys, and I'm not sure I want to.) I was wondering what others felt about this. Many people say they value the community. What, exactly, is it that you value, and why? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncmain.php?m=2501.1 ===== ===== You Can't Be Pagan Because... ===== In honor of our militant spammer over on the main board who came back and bitched that we couldn't be pagan because we criticize others, I decided it was time to find out all the reasons why our members have been told they just CAN'T be Pagan. So first off the bat, no being Pagan if you criticize others. What's your favorite? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncsocial.php?m=1981.1 ===== ===== Has the Fluffy Bunny Inquisition Gone Too Far? ===== I think it was 2001 when I first read about fluffy bunnies. It was from a website that clearly defined what some people in the Pagan community felt was a dumbing down of Wicca, Paganism, and Witchcraft. It chided Llewellyn publications for their lack of research, creating history out of whole cloth, New Age concepts introduced into Paganism, ecclecticism, certain fictional movies, teenagers, and attacked certain authors with such vigor that it seemed to be a personal vindetta for some of these critics. I thought that many of the points made were very well put and held a lot of water. I still do. It got to the point, however, when EVERYONE started calling SOMEONE a fluffy bunny, and the attacks became vicious, slanderous, spiteful... It is very likely that if you were a Pagan anytime between 2001-2006 you have been called a fluffy or have called someone fluffy. I've come to feel that it was a necessary stage of the Pagan community's development... to weed out the flakes, if you will. I still feel that it is necessary to be critical of paths that are made up, changed, or eccleticized. But is everyone who is accused really deserving of such hatefulness? I've met REAL fluffies. I've known a college student who lied about her status as a witch (Queen of THE Witches Council) and informed me in the same breath that she had an intimate relationship with her "Whitelighter" (y'know, like Piper from Charmed). I've read an online book of "dark magick" that I just couldn't get my head around because I was being told to visualized BLACK light (and not the kind that makes things glow). I've listened to (and rolled my eyes at) someone who was nothing more than a gothy-punk chick with a pentacle call a HPs of her own (well thought out) tradition and coven a fluffy bunny. I've watched paths spring up and die. I've scoffed at the idea of the ancient Irish potato goddess, 9 million women and cats being burned at the stake, and griped about books that are complete crap. But this crystal toting, granola eating, ecclectic, Neo-Wiccan (thanks and you're welcome) with a side of Crowley, Shamanism, and Chaos experimentation is getting fed up with it. Jumping on a bandwagon of fluffy hating seems to me no better than someone becoming a witch because they think it's "kewl". Thoughts? Criticisms? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncmain.php?m=2475.1 ===== ===== Embarrassed about Religion? ===== A few days ago an incident occured that startled me and I'd like to know if anyone else has had a similar experience or thoughts on the matter. I was at Wal-mart picking up some altar cloth fabric for an Imbolc altar redecoration and I found a couple beautiful pieces that I wanted to get. I went up to the cloth cutting station. There was another woman there, a cheeful, polite, middle aged woman, and she was getting some fabric cut as well. She started talking to me, very nicely, and was obviously a chat-to-strangers sort of a woman. She asked me what I was making. I froze for a second and then said, "curtains." She smiled broadly and said, "I thought that was what you were making. It's beautiful fabric!" I said, "I know, when I saw it I knew I had to have it." And we chatted on. Why did I say curtains? I don't know the woman, would never meet her again, didn't care what she thought of me, but instead of saying, "I'm getting some fabric to decorate my altar; I'm pagan," I said, "curtains," a blatant lie (I was getting half- yard cuts of wildly different fabrics). I'm not ashamed of my religious beliefs. Sometimes I am scared of peoples' reactions, since they haven't always been pleasant. I don't offer information, ever, but if someone asks an honest question, I give an honest answer. Why "curtains"? It's been bothering me ever since. I have to wonder, if I had told the truth, would the woman have continued chatting with me about her sewing, her kids, and more? Or would the conversation uncomfortably stuttered to an end? If I'm not ashamed of my religion and she seemed nice (not likely to be verbally abusive or even rude about it) why did I say it? Have others here hidden their religion or had an experience like that? What do you think? I doubt I'm alone in this and I'd like to know what others think. * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncmain.php?m=2428.1 ===== ===== Muggles??? ===== My whole life I lived in the Northern half of the US , mostly Massachusetts however recently I moved to Florida and as I am sure you know it's pretty much summer or spring here year round. While preparing for Samhain this past season it occurred to me that in Florida our Harvest season is the complete opposite of what is celebrated in paganism particularly Celtic (which is the path I am more than likely heading towards). So I was wondering if any of you have come across this issue and if so how do you deal with it? The time of year to celebrate a Harvest it the time of year to begin planting our seeds, this tends to make it hard to honor something that you are not practicing. Anyone? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncmain.php?m=2457.1 ===== ===== Technology and Your Faith? ===== Just wondering how you guys feel about growing technologies, cellphones, computers and how it affects or possibly conflicts with any of your beliefs. Personally I dislike the dependency we've developed over computers, etc. and this being on an internet site has its educational benefits. Any input? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncmain.php?m=2383.1 ===== ===== Magic -- Why? ===== This isn't a thread on the sorts of operative magic that are normally discussed here. Rather, I'm hoping to discuss WHY people seem to find a belief in magic a necessity in the modern era. Any of us who has been to a chain bookstore in the last couple of years and looked at the shelves that are devoted to books concerned with the "occult" cannot help but have noticed the large number of books that were obviously targeted at "ordinary" readers, especially books offering spells to fix all sorts of problems in people's lives, from relationship problems to job difficulties. (I am attempting here to draw a distinction between books written specifically about magical religions like Wicca on the one hand, and more general books that simply read like a cookbook full of spell recipes which do not have any specific spiritual or religious connotation, but simply focus on showing people how to work a spell, and it is this latter group to which I am referring.) Given that the the conventional wisdom says that all of this is naught but the rankest form of superstition in this modern Age of Science, one has to wonder why there continues to be a general interest in this sort of thing amongst the general public. (I infer the existence of a generalized interest in magic by the fact that publishers are obviously selling enough of these types of books to keep printing them, which would NOT be happening if they weren't being bought by SOMEONE.) In an abstract of a paper which he delivered at a conference in 2002, Ronald Hutton noted that much of the focus of historical pagan religious activity was directed toward propitiating a nature that often seemed menacing or hostile and which was totally incapable of being influenced by merely mortal efforts. Is it possible that the function of magic within the human worldview/psyche is to provide us with the perception that we are able to influence events that would otherwise be totally outside our control? * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncmain.php?m=2359.1 ===== ===== Hey! Someone Pay Attention to Me! ===== There are a couple of recent threads talking about "thwaps," which set me wondering, what about a "thwap" from the other direction (that is, a person trying to make themselves known to a deity)? Can it work that way? How would it work, for example do you think a "pay attention to me" ritual be effective, or ignored, or even insulting? My thought was that someone crying for divine help in an extreme situation could be pretty close to a reverse thwap; there's a purpose there, and a lot of emotion. But I don't personally have any experience with this, so I'm curious to hear what people think. * Read (or join in) this discussion: http://www.ecauldron.net/cncmain.php?m=2340.1 [03] ========= ========= ARTICLES ========= ===== ===== HOW TO KEEP YOUR COVEN FROM BEING DESTROYED ===== Part 1 (of 7): The Problem ===== by Eran ===== We've all seen Covens fall apart, or larger umbrella organizations torn by internal strife. Sometimes, this is simply part of the natural cycle of creation and dissolution, an outworn group dissolving to make room for new growth. But at other times, a group with much promise can be damaged or destroyed while seemingly still young and healthy. And not only are groups destroyed, but vibrant and dedicated Elders can find themselves disillusioned, wounded perhaps beyond healing. They go into self- imposed isolation, and their potential gifts to the Craft are lost forever. The process by which this happens sometimes seems mysterious and incomprehensible. At times, it's impossible to clearly see what went wrong. Looking at the tragedy after the fact, it seems as if everyone did everything right. There were, perhaps, misunderstandings and miscommunications. But most of the people involved honestly and sincerely tried to understand everyone's point of view, and they did all the correct conflict-management and conflict-resolution kinds of things. But somehow, everything they tried simply made matters worse. And the people who were the most ethical, the most dedicated to finding a win-win solution, the most patient and understanding - these were the people who got burned the worst, the ones whose strength was sapped, the ones whose idealism was destroyed, the ones who wind up walling themselves in and cutting off their ties to the community. It's almost enough to make you paranoid, and wonder if there's a cowen plot to break the will of our most dedicated and ethical people. A while back, Isaac Bonewits published a review of a book which explored this subject. The book is called, Antagonists in the Church: How to Identify and Deal with Destructive Conflict, by Kenneth Haugk (Augsberg Publishing House, Minneapolis, 1988). Isaac highly recommended this book, in spite of it being written from a Christian perspective and intended for a Christian audience of ministers and lay leaders. He claimed the book makes clear much which otherwise seems mysterious and confusing. He was right. For a modern Witch or Pagan, reading Haugk's book frequently gets tiresome, because Haugk honestly views conflicts within Christian groups as ultimately being the work of the Devil out to destroy the True Church. But putting aside the Christian apologetics, there's an amazing amount in there which is useful and incredibly insightful. If you've ever seen the sorts of destructive conflict described above within a Coven or other Pagan group, Haugk's book will provide an illumination beyond hope. The book needs to be re-written, though, from a Pagan viewpoint (a project in which I am currently engaged), because there are strengths and problems peculiar to Paganism and the Craft which don't impact the Christian audience Haugk wrote for. Here's a very important insight: Such conflicts don't "just happen." The really destructive ones, the really vicious fights which tear apart Covens or larger groups, conflicts which break the spirit of the most dedicated Elders, these conflicts aren't accidents, and they aren't the consequence of simple misunderstandings or miscommunications. No; they happen because particular individuals made them happen. There is a class of personality traits which makes certain individuals crave conflict. There are people who need conflict the way most people need food. When one of these folks gets going, no form of conflict-resolution process is going to work, because such a person is not interested in resolving conflicts. Indeed, the more understanding and patient you are, the worse things will get, because such a person uses your patience and understanding as opportunities to prolong the conflict. Fortunately, such people are few and far between, and they can usually be recognized before they start causing damage. The personality traits they possess can be identified, and their techniques can be thwarted or rendered ineffective. To handle them properly takes prior knowledge and preparation, however. It also requires a willingness to take firm action, and to freely exercise your legitimate authority as a Coven Leader. Unfortunately, unless the problem becomes recognized on a wider scale and is appropriately dealt with in the Pagan community at large, damage can still be done in wider arenas. You can make your own Coven or Grove almost immune to people like this. But keeping such people from tearing apart larger umbrella organizations, or spreading malicious rumors through a local or regional community - that's quite a lot harder. In a series of articles, I'll describe the personality traits involved, ways to recognize them, warning signs to watch for, and techniques which do and don't work in dealing with them. Future articles will give reasons why Pagan groups can be particularly attractive targets for such people, and what can be done to make your group less targetable. Since this is a religious context, I'll also give some thoughts on the theology of it all. Regardless of how Haugk views the matter, as Witches we needn't see it as a conflict of good vs. evil, but rather as a case of treating the people around us in the ways which are appropriate to each individual person. Nor is it a case of a cowen plot, but rather of processes which are entirely natural, though discomforting - in the same way a plague or a flood or an earthquake is entirely natural. Though the Gods of Nature throw such disasters at us, we needn't stand passively and merely accept the destruction. If you live on a floodplain or geologic fault, you can, and should, make proper preparations to minimize how badly you'll be hurt. Take all this merely as advice. If you know of better ways to deal with the problems explored here, by all means, use them - and share them with the rest of us! By Any Other Name... A future article will provide a list of warning signs and telltale personality traits. But to start with, let's begin with a basic understanding of what we're dealing with. Really destructive conflict is caused by people who are driven to engage others in unwinnable contests. Such people generally have very low self-esteem, little regard for those around them, often a rather loose grip on consensual reality, and frequently possess a fair measure of paranoia. Their low self esteem makes them want to tear others down, in order to make themselves look better by comparison. Having little or no regard for others, they won't care about the damage they cause, and frequently won't even recognize they've caused any. Being unable to distinguish reality from their own rich inner fantasy lives, they will be very convincing liars, because they honestly believe the incredible things they say. And their paranoia is often justified; when they act on their inner drives, they start causing damage, and people stop liking them. Paranoiacs frequently do have many enemies, and few friends. All this makes them very guarded and closed-off and secretive, though they'll frequently hide behind a carefully-constructed mask of outward friendliness. One such person was overly fond of the most famous quote from Machiavelli: "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." That kind of deceit and duplicity is something to look out for. The word Kenneth Haugk uses for these sorts of destructive people is "antagonists." The word was chosen to remind his Christian readers of the antagonism between Satan and the biblical god. In a Pagan context, it wouldn't be appropriate to use this imagery of Eternal Conflict. We'd do better with an image more in keeping with Pagan myth and symbolism. Something like "Shiva" or "Kali" would be an improvement. After all, destruction is a natural process, though one which we don't want to stand too close to, if we can help it. But then, destructive people get most of their strength from the fear and worry they can inspire in their targets, and putting on them a label like "Kali" gives them far too much power. Better still would be a term which, while not minimizing the danger, doesn't give them more respect than they deserve. The Books of Raoul say, "Every ecosystem needs maggots," and so I've heard the term "maggot" used effectively, though that seems to go too far the other way. A word I've chosen to use is "troll." In much of European mythology and folklore, giants, trolls, and ogres are embodiments of the forces of Chaos, natural forces which often batter at the walls of civilization or even at the orderly forms which Nature Herself creates. Chaos is not an "evil" force. It's simply the flip side of the creative impulse. Seeing destructive people as chaotic rather than as evil helps to place them into a useful and meaningful Pagan context. Of all these chaotic embodiments, trolls are sometimes among the strongest - yet they also have an unintentionally comic side, as we're reminded by fairy tales such as the "Three Billy Goats Gruff," or modern stories such as Tolkien's "The Hobbit". Trolls can be easily outwitted, if you know something about them, for sunlight turns them into harmless boulders. An understanding of the true nature of destructive people is the sunlight which renders them impotent and ineffective. Inner Drives Trolls can't help being trolls. It isn't that they want to be destructive, exactly, any more than a plague-carrying flea wants to cause death, or a flood wants to destroy a town. It's just in the nature of the thing. Floods simply spread over the plain, and if you happen to be in the way, well, too bad for you. Nothing you did either caused the flood, or could have prevented it. In the same way, destructive people have inner drives which make them act as they do. No action you take will make them behave differently. The best you can do is to not be around when the dam breaks. Frequently, trolls are unaware of the damage they're causing. A cornered mongoose doesn't really want to rip you to pieces; it just wants to get away. So too, a destructive person will usually deny wanting to cause pain. Such people really want something else, usually the things which all people want and need: self- fulfillment, validation, a feeling of security, and so on. It's just that trolls have extremely unhealthy ways to go about getting these things. And when they do get them, their insecurity convinces them it won't last, so they'd better get more. This is the key in a nutshell: trolls are not healthy people, so they can't be expected to act in mature and healthy ways. And treating them as if they were mature and healthy is like treating a cornered mongoose as if it was a beloved housecat. The results are not pretty. A mongoose or a plague-carrying flea is not likely to change into something else. Neither is a troll. Unless you are very, very skilled as a counselor, nothing you can do will help a troll get healthy. In fact, things you'd normally do to help other people will just make matters worse. If you are understanding and patient in response to a troll's dishonest or destructive acts, what troll learns is: dishonesty and destructiveness is rewarded by patience and understanding. This encourages the troll to continue being dishonest and destructive. Trolls need conflict, the way healthy people need food. If people are responding to them in any way at all, this provides them with a feeling of having an impact on the world around them. Since they have very little self-esteem, any reaction at all is far better than none. And since fear and hate are powerful emotions, if they can inspire fear and hate, this makes them feel powerful and effective. Further, being hated feeds their paranoia ("See? I was right! People really don't like me!") and encourages more of the acts which inspired the fear and hate in the first place ("... so I have to get them first!"). But being loved and embraced won't stop those actions, since what they crave is excitement and conflict, not love. And being somewhat paranoid, they'll think your acts of love are intended to fool them into feeling safe and comfortable; they'll be convinced your kindness is part of an elaborate trap. ("I know people don't like me. So why are you pretending you do? What are you up to?") Because trolls need conflict, they are very practiced at it. Experience is a good teacher, and most trolls will have had an enormous amount of experience by the time they are old enough to join a Coven. If you wind up being the target of a troll's attacks, fighting back is not a good idea. Trolls are very, very good at turning any frontal assaults to their advantage. They are even better at finding and manipulating more subtle responses. One of the most powerful defensive tricks they have is pretending to be the victim. Once you respond - in any way, regardless of how measured and controlled your response is - they begin telling everyone they know about how mean you are, and how cruel and vicious and vindictive you're being. It's a good way to turn your own friends against you, and begin making you feel isolated and paranoid. This tactic has the additional advantage of turning attention away from whatever unethical acts the troll was doing in the first place. For a healthy person involved in a misunderstanding, a careful explanation of what went wrong can go a long way toward resolving the tensions. But this doesn't have the desired effect if the person isn't healthy. Don't explain things to a troll. If you sit a troll down and say, "This act led to this damage; this statement caused that argument; you misunderstood me in this way, which caused this difficulty," it verifies for the troll exactly what worked and what didn't. Such an approach tells the troll precisely which strategies can be used to prolong the conflict. If you say, "We can resolve the problem by doing this," you've told the troll what to avoid. Trolls are willing to make any promises which are needed to lull you into a sense of unwariness; then they're good at finding justifications for breaking those promises, or finding ways around them, so the conflict will go on. Particularly if other people are involved, they are also very good at deflecting any discussion away from the central issues involved - such as the troll's own actions. So, patience won't help; retaliation won't help; love and support won't help. Explaining the situation won't help, and neither will proposing solutions or compromises, nor will mediation or engagement in any sort of dialogue. If you wind up in any dispute or argument with a troll, doing any of these things will simply make matters worse, and will probably result in incredible pain. Yet these are exactly the approaches you should use with most people who are not trolls. Most people are healthy. Trolls are not, and should not be treated as if they are. Trolls are not healthy; they won't get healthy, they don't want to get healthy, and keeping them near you will eventually let them harm you. The only effective way to handle trolls should be obvious. It's also very simple, in theory at least. Don't associate with trolls. And if one gets into your Coven, he or she needs to be ejected as soon as you recognize that it really is a troll you're dealing with. And you don't want to get involved in detailed discussions with the troll, explanations of why you're taking the action you're taking. You want to just do it, and be done with it. But obviously, you don't want to treat a healthy person this way, someone with whom you're simply having a genuine disagreement or misunderstanding. So the trick is not so much in how to handle a troll. It's in how to recognize one. Next time, I'll present some ways to recognize trolls. === About the Author Copyright (c) 2002 David Petterson May be recirculated as long as this information is included ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++ Please support our sponsor +++ PAGAN FRIENDLY WEB HOSTING AT DREAMHOST http://www.ecauldron.com/web/zdreamhost.php Dreamhost offers high-quality, low cost web hosting with a dedication to free speech. Pagan sites are welcome! Read why we use Dreamhost for The Cauldron's web site: http://www.ecauldron.com/web/whydreamhost.php $9.95/Month Plan Features: 180 gigs web space -- 1800 gigs/month bandwidth -- 3000 email boxes (POP3/IMAP) -- 75 ftp/shell accounts -- host unlimited domains/subdomains -- php4, php5, cgi, fastcgi, ssi, zend optimizer, ruby on rails -- unlimited MySQL databases -- announcement lists -- discussion lists -- Jabber server -- Crontab and Shell access -- Web-based Control Panel -- One-Click installs of the Wordpress, PhpBB, and many more -- One FREE domain name -- 1 free domain name -- helpful tech support -- much more! Visit Dreamhost for Affordable, Pagan-Friendly Hosting http://www.ecauldron.com/web/zdreamhost.php +++ Please support our sponsor +++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ===== ===== CHAKRA LOCATIONS AND ACTIONS: PART ONE ===== by Tracey Wilson ===== Chakras are intersections of vital energy flows that are present in the ethereal body and in related locations of the physical body. Even though there are hundreds of these intersections - which are used by the Eastern medical practice in acupuncture, there are seven major chakras, associated with the physical body: these major charkas are where the major energy flows intersect. The health of an area of the physical body and the condition of its associated chakra are related. Meditating on a specific chakra (pronounced shock-ras) in the location of the diseased area of the body will help heal that area of your body. === Base Chakra The first chakra is located in the area of the base of the lumbar spine. It is the center of vitality, physical energy, and self- preservation. It activates and strengthens the will to live, to survive, to manifest, etc ... it assists one to live on the physical plane, and stimulates life energies. It is the location of the resting Kundalini. It is also the center, which vitalizes the kidneys, the suprarenal glands, and the spinal column in the physical body. The colors associated with the base chakra include red, representing the essential, idealistic, and confident passion for life, and black, representing stability and grounding to the source of security. === Sacral Chakra The second chakra is located one to two inches below the navel. It is the center of desire, emotion, creativity, sexuality, and intuition. It stimulates the creative life force, forces created for existence on the physical plane, and the bases of life, itself. It is the center that vitalizes the digestive system, reproductive organs, sexual activity, and the gonads, where sex hormones are produced. It has been known as the pathway to health; it is attuned to emotions and thoughts concerning wellness, and is usually the location that allows dis-ease to manifest, in order to cleanse the body, mind, and/or emotions. The second chakra has also been said to be located under the area under the rib cage, at the location of the spleen. It has been called the splenic chakra, and is considered by some to be a major chakra (as well, which would make eight major chakra locations, instead of seven). It is the center, which allows for vitalization of the entire physical form. It also acts as an open door to both the receipt and assimilation of the life-giving energies of the universe. The colors associated with the second chakra include orange, representing wisdom, equity, creativity, and benevolence, and blue/green, representing the synthesis of Divine guidance in areas of healing. === Solar Plexus Chakra The third chakra is located at the area below the breastbone, behind the stomach. Looking at the solar plexus area at the back of the body, the location is just below the shoulder blades. It is the center of personal, power, ambition, intellect, astral force, desire and emotions based on intellect, and touch. The third chakra contains a protective energy, protecting against any negativity, which is contained within any of the other chakras. It is the center, which vitalizes the stomach, liver, gall bladder, sympathetic nervous system (activating involuntary muscles which enhance the mobilization of the physical body), pancreas, and adrenal glands. The color associated with the third chakra is yellow, representing meditative analytical thought and intellectual activity. If you are new to studying and opening the chakras, pick the area you are having the most difficulties in, and work on that one location. When you feel comfortable, and feel like you are making progress toward opening that specific chakra, you can move on to another location, concentrating only on that area, or adding it to the other chakra location. Always meditate only on opening and clearing one chakra at a time. Please read Part Two for the other chakra locations, indications, actions and the color that rules them. === === About the Author === Tracey Criswell Wilson is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Fiction Writing. Many of Tracey's writings that include poetry, fiction and non-fiction, can be found on this interactive site. ===== ===== CHAKRA LOCATIONS AND ACTIONS: PART TWO ===== by Tracey Wilson ===== This is the continuation of the chakra locations, indications, actions and colors associated with each chakra. For the introduction and chakra information, one-three, please refer to Part One. === Heart Chakra The fourth chakra is located at the center of the chest, at the level of the heart. It is the center of compassion, love, group consciousness, and spiritually associated with a "oneness" with "All That Is" (to me, God). It provides for desegregation between the loving energy of the heart and the analytical energy of the intellect: it provides for a "sprinkling" of love and compassion to all of the chakras. It is the center that vitalizes the heart, thymus, circulatory system, blood, cellular structure, and the involuntary muscles, which assist in the restoration of both physical and loving energy. The colors associated with the fourth chakra include pink, representing softness in strength, compassion, empathy, and unconditional love to all that exists, and green, representing soothing, smoothing healing, ecstasy and exhilaration, and a joyful and fulfilling anticipation. === Throat Chakra The fifth chakra is located at the neck, the center being recognized as the area of the throat located above the collarbone. It is the center of communication, sound, and expression of creativity via thought, speech, and writing. The fifth chakra has been called the communication center, acting to provide the energy for, and the understanding of, both verbal and mental communications. It is the center, which vitalizes the thyroid gland, throat and jaw areas, alimentary canal, lungs, vocal cords, and the breath. The color associated with the fifth chakra is blue, representing the knowledge of oneness with Divine guidance. === Third-Eye Chakra The sixth chakra, also known as the brow chakra, is located between and about one finger- breadth above the eyebrows. On the back of the body, the corresponding location is at the base of the skull in the area of the medulla oblongata. It is the center of psychic power, higher intuition, the energies of the spirit, magnetic forces, and light. It enables focusing of the higher intuitive information and stimulates the wisdom for "right" intent. The sixth chakra, when activated and clear, is the center for outside guidance and the intuitive "aha". It also assists in the purification of negative tendencies and in the elimination of selfish attitudes. It is the center, which vitalizes the cerebellum, nose, central nervous system, the pituitary gland, and the left eye. The combined interaction of the pineal and pituitary glands activates the center. The color associated with the sixth chakra is indigo, representing the attainment, the search, and those who search for the spiritual purpose of life. === Crown Chakra The seventh chakra is located at the crown of the head. It is the center of spirituality, enlightenment, dynamic thought, and energy. It allows for the inward flow of wisdom from the ethers and brings the gift of cosmic consciousness. When stimulated and clear, it enables one to see the truth concerning illusory ideals, materialistic pursuits, self-limiting concepts, pride, and vanity; it further allows one to experience continuous self- awareness and conscious detachment from personal emotions. It is the center, which vitalizes the cerebrum, the right eye, and the pineal gland. The colors associated with the seventh chakra are violet, representing royalty in enlightenment and the search and attainment of the true meanings of spirituality, life, and existence, and a shimmering golden-white, representing the state of perfection in body, mind, emotions, and spirituality. The areas where few energy flows intersect are called minor charkas. These minor charkas include, for example, centers at the palm of the each hand, at the sole of each foot, behind each eye, in front of each ear where the jawbone is connected, above each breast, and at the back of each knee. Chakras can be opened by a variety of methods. One way is simply meditating on the area you want to open (the area of trouble or dis-ease). Imagine the color that each chakra represents, and see it as a wheel spinning- the faster and more freely it spins, the clearer it becomes. You can also use crystals to help facilitate a clearing/healing. One method is via the use of laser wand or another wand-type crystal, rotated in a counter-clockwise direction or in a clockwise direction. Research throughout the world has found that the opening of chakras can be different for each person - in some cases the chakras, can be opened by rotating the laser wand in a clockwise direction. The practitioner, or if you're doing it yourself, will need to "feel" the rotation each time, such that the proper directional opening is facilitated: the practitioner or self, will sense an increase of heat, of vibration, and/or of energy when the chakra is open. As one becomes more attuned to the crystals and to the self, intuition will guide the practitioner or self, to the most beneficial crystals and the most beneficial locations for placement. When one utilizes these arts with a loving and open heart, there can be no errors and there can be no detrimental or adverse effects. === === About the Author === Tracey Criswell Wilson is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Fiction Writing. Many of Tracey's writings that include fiction, non-fiction and poetry, can be found on this interactive site. [04] ========= ========= FLAMEKEEPING ========= DESERVING? ========= by HeartShadow ========= HeartShadow is following her own religious path. She calls it FlameKeeping. This regular column will present articles on FlameKeeping, many taken from HeartShadow's FlameKeeping blog at: http://flamekeeping.blogspot.com/ ===== ===== Deserving? ===== What is it we, as humans, deserve? It's a common plaint .. "I do deserve this" "I don't deserve this" .. as though there's some cosmic scorekeeper, and we're supposed to get X. But do we really deserve ANYthing? As Americans, at least, we are told in our founding document, the Declaration of Independance, that we are endowed with certain inalienable rights .. Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That simply because we are alive, we deserve these things, and no one has the right to take them away from us. (interesting historical sidenote .. it was originally going to be pursuit of PROPERTY. interesting change). But at the same time, our own government has the right to take these away at times .. you transgress the law, you lose your liberty for a time, at least in certain ways. In death penalty states, you do something horrible enough and even your life can be taken by the state. And these *simple* rights also leave questions .. we have a right to life. Does that mean that we have a right to health care to stay alive? Or simply that people can't go around killing us? Do we have a right to die? To sell ourselves into slavery for some reason? And, of course, these are only rights that our *government* guarantees us. I deserve. Such simple little words. And powerful all out of their size. When we claim we deserve something, we've stopped thinking, stopped questioning. We're not asking anymore, when we claim we deserve .. we are demanding as a right. Do we deserve anything from the Divine? Even our life is a gift, something given freely by our parents. (hopefully without strings attached, but we all know how parents can be). The basic building blocks of life are things the Universe gives freely .. air for us to breathe, sunlight so our crops can grow, soil for it to feed off of. We don't even question these things .. we take them as granted, as automatic. As things we deserve. No, when we say "I deserve" we speak of things that are not freely given, but of things we desire but have thwarted from us. I'm truly uncertain whether we deserve anything in our lives. We can earn things based on societal norms, but that is not from the Divine directly, but from each other. When we play by the rules, we *deserve* a fair chance to win, for example. But even here we are closing our minds to other possibilities, to the idea that maybe the game is flawed, or a tie is the best option. But the Divine owes us nothing. It gives us life as a gift, gives us identity and individuality so that it may live through us and so that we may experience life. But the Divine owes us nothing. We should treasure our lives as gifts, not see them as something we are owed, something we are deserved. === === Questions === * What do you think you deserve? Why? Who owes it to you and why? * How would your life change if you saw life as a gift instead of something you deserve? * What is the difference between the community owing things to each other, and the Divine owing things to you (other than the ease of collection)? What do you owe to other people? Do you owe anything to the Divine? [05] ========= ========= SOFTWARE GADGETS: THE COLUMN ========= Interesting Items From The Software Gadgets Blog ========= http://softwaregadgets.gridspace.net/ ========= The Software Gadgets Blog aims to present a different "software gadget" every weekday. A software gadget is a program or addon that is both interesting and useful -- and often free. This column highlights three of the programs listed recently. Many more were listed and you'll find more gadgets like these added every week at the Software Gadgets Blog at: http://softwaregadgets.gridspace.net/ ===== ===== STATIONRIPPER -- RECORD MP3S FROM INTERNET RADIO ===== Back when I was a teen, I got a lot of free music by recording it off the radio on cassette or 8-track tapes. (I know I'm dating myself by mentioning I had an 8-track recorder.) This was a free and legal way to get copies of music. Heck, one local station would play an album straight through so you could easily record it without ads. While the RIAA hasn't yet managed to criminalize recording from the radio in the US, radio isn't what it used to be. With large companies buying up hundreds of formerly locally owned stations, it can be hard to find anything worth listening to -- let alone recording -- on the radio in the US, even in large urban areas. Fortunately, there is Internet radio with a broad select of stations from around the world. StationRipper makes it easy to record sounds as properly labeled mp3 files from any Internet radio station that broadcasts a shoutcast or icecast stream. The freeware version of Stationripper will only record two stations at the same time (you can record from up to 600 stations at the same time in the payware versions), but that is enough to record a lot of music without much effort other than selecting the station(s). Here's a list of the major features of the freeware version. Record Shoutcast Radio & TV into MP3's. MP3's labeled with the correct Band & Song name. Record 2 stations at one time Drag and drop iTunes Radio. Download Podcasts. Don't re-record of songs you already have. Auto-Set Genre from Station Portal. Manually set all Genre's. iTunes or MediaMonkey integration. MSN Integration. Adjust track splitting settings. StationRipper is easy to use. You tell it where to store the mp3s, select a station from the embedded web page interface, and it starts recording with the next song played. You can fiddle with a few settings and the like, but that's basically all there is to it. StationRipper isn't perfect, For example, it sometimes cuts off a few seconds from the beginning or end of a song and it sometimes mistakes commercials for songs, but it is a great way to build up your music collection legally (at this time in the US, at least) and at no cost. Quality of the mp3 copy varies with the bitrate of the radio station's audio stream. As you might expect, the higher the bitrate, the better, so you will need to take that into account when you select stations to record. Rating: 4.5 Operating System: Windows (with Internet Explorer installed) License: Commercial Freeware Price: Free Version: 2.71 Web Site: http://www.stationripper.com/ ===== ===== Spyware Blaster -- Block Spyware From Installing ===== Spyware Blaster is an interesting concept. Instead of hunting for spyware installed on your computer, it tries to block common types of spyware from installing. It makes hundreds of common ActiveX spyware programs that can infest Internet Explorer think they are already installed -- blocking them from installing. It can also set Internet Explorer and Firefox to block a huge number of ad tracking cookies, making it much less likely that your web site visits can be tracked by Internet advertising companies. Spyware Blaster is simple to use and is regularly updated to block new threats. It will not replace programs like Adaware or Spybot Search and Destroy, but it will make your computer much safer -- especially if you use Internet Explorer as your browser. It best to run Adaware, Spybot Search and Destroy, Spyware Doctor, etc. immediately before running Spyware Blaster -- this will remove spyware and tracking cookies already on youe system, then Spyware Blaster will make it harder for the common ones to reinfest your computer. Rating: 4.5 Operating System: Windows License: Commercial Freeware Price: Free for personal use Version: 3.5.1 Web Site: http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html ===== ===== FIREBUG -- FIREFOX EXTENSION FOR WEB DESIGNERS ===== FireBug is a must-have Firefox extension for anyone interested in web site design. It allows you to explore web pages (your own to debug or others to learn from) an an intuitive and very useful way. FireBug's author describes the extension like this: FireBug lets you explore the far corners of the DOM by keyboard or mouse. All of the tools you need to poke, prod, and monitor your JavaScript, CSS, HTML and Ajax are brought together into one seamless experience, including a debugger, an error console, command line, and a variety of fun inspectors. FireBug combines a number of useful tools in one cleanly designed and powerful extension. FireBug includes: * JavaScript debugger for stepping through code one line at a time * Status bar icon shows you when there is an error in a web page * A console that shows errors from JavaScript and CSS * Log messages from JavaScript in your web page to the console (bye bye "alert debugging") * An JavaScript command line (no more "javascript:" in the URL bar) * Spy on XMLHttpRequest traffic * Inspect HTML source, computed style, events, layout and the DOM If you are skilled web designer, these tools are just what you need. If you are just starting to design web pages, these tools provide a great way to examine your designs, debug javascript problems and examine pages online to see how they were made. Rating: 4.0 Version: 0.4.1 Web Site: http://www.joehewitt.com/software/firebug/ [06] ========= ========= From the Spell Grimoire: ========= Spell To Protect Good Health ========= Light a red candle. Say: I invoke Gangida, great protector! May we look after your treasures, as our bodies are your treasures! Light a black candle. Say: Nullify disease as it approaches this body Arm my blood with guards To slay all intruders! Light a green candle. Say: Gangida, grant protection from all imbalances in the heavens, from the earth, from plants, from air; from my past and from my future. Protect me from east to south, from west to north! May my body be rendered healthy under Gangida's protection! === === About This Spell === This spell is taken from The Cauldron's Spell Grimoire, a collection of basic spells available on The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum's web site. You'll find more spells at: http://www.ecauldron.com/spells/index.php [07] ========= ========= From the Cauldron Cookbook: ========= BEEF BARLEY STEW ========= submitted by Eadie ========= This is a two-day recipe. ===== Day One === Ingredients 1 1/2 - 2 lbs beef stew meat (I've also used brisket) 2 T olive oil 8 C beef stock 1 onion (coarsely chopped) 1-2 celery stalks (each stalk cut in medium-large pieces) 2 cloves garlic, mashed 1-2 carrots (cut into medium-large pieces) 2 bay leaves 1 tsp Rosemary Salt to taste Pepper to taste === Directions Season meat with salt and pepper, and brown the meat in the hot oil in a large skillet. Drain excess fat. Add meat and all remaining ingredients to a large stockpot and simmer meat 1 to 1 ½ hours with lid on, but tilted to vent. If needed, add water to keep the meat covered during the simmering. Remove all vegetables and the bay leaves and place meat back into stock. Discard vegetables. Place meat/stock in the refrigerator overnight. === Day Two Remove pot from refrigerator and skim off any fat on the surface. === Ingredients 2-4 C beef stock (amount is optional and depends on whether it’s needed to cover vegetables. You can use water if necessary, but stock is better. Either way, you'll want to watch the liquid levels since you'll need all the veggies covered during cooking.) 1 onion (coarsely chopped) 2 cloves garlic, minced 2 bay leaves 1 C uncooked barley 1-2 C chopped celery 1-2 C carrots (coarsely chopped) 1 1/2 C new potatoes (chopped in 1 inch pieces); parsnips can be substituted for potatoes 1-2 C frozen cut green beans 1 14 oz canned/drained chopped tomatoes Salt/pepper to taste === Directions Bring meat/stock to a boil, add onion, garlic, bay leaves and barley and turn down heat. Simmer for 20 minutes covered with lid tilted to vent. Add celery, carrots and potatoes and simmer for an additional 20 minutes. Add green beans and tomatoes and simmer for an additional 10 minutes or until beans are tender. Remove bay leaves. Check for seasoning and serve. (This makes a tremendous amount of stew (I generally freeze 4-5 four cup plastic containers on top of having a couple of servings while it's "frest") and freezes well. If needed, you can add extra water to thin the stew out after refrigerating overnight or freezing. The barley will absorb a lot of liquid. Also, the amounts used in this recipe can fluctuate, and it’s very open to adaptation.) === === About This Recipe === This recipe is taken from the Cauldron Cookbook, a growing collection of recipes submitted by members of The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum. You'll find more recipes at: http://www.ecauldron.com/cookbook/index.php [08] ========= ========= 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/mb/ ===== ===== Articles! Essays! Tutorials! ===== We are in constant need of original, well-written and accurate articles, essays, tutorials, and other written items for both our web site and for our Cauldron and Candle newsletter. There's no real limit on length for web site articles. Here are a few areas in which we always need articles: * information on the beliefs and theology of the various Pagan religions, especially non-Wiccan religions * information on holidays and festivals of the various Pagan religions, especially non-Wiccan religions * recipes for oils, incenses, and food for the various Pagan holidays * magick, spells, and ritual information * herbal information * positive articles on dealing with other faiths * information on historical pagan cultures * editorial/opinion pieces Non-Wiccan material is stressed not because we don't want Wiccan material but because good non-Wiccan material has been hard to find. We have a web form you can use to submit an article for consideration: http://www.ecauldron.com/bnbarticleform.php ===== ===== Book Reviews ===== While The Cauldron receives some review copies from a couple of Pagan publishers, there are many books that can only be reviewed on our web site if a member has a copy and writes a good, objective review. The Cauldron is interested in reviews on the more academic books used by reconstructionist Pagan religions as well as on the books one finds on the Pagan/New Age shelf in the bookstore. We have a web form you can use to submit a book review for consideration: http://www.ecauldron.com/bnbbkreviewform.php ===== ===== Graphic Assistance ===== The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum is purposely a low graphics site as we value page download speed over flashy graphics. However, we are always willing to talk with artists who have ideas for well-designed small graphics (small in both physical dimensions and file size) that might enhance a specific article or page. ===== ===== Invite Your Friends ===== If you have friends or acquaintances who you believe would find The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum useful, please tell them about our site. If you are active in our message board and have friends who might enjoy them or have information to contribute, please invite them. ===== ===== Link To The Cauldron ===== If you have a web site where linking to The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum would be appropriate, simply providing a link to this web site is a big help. Our Link to this Site page explains how you can do this if you need help or want some simple graphic buttons to use: http://www.ecauldron.com/linktous.php ===== ===== Donations ===== As The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum uses as many free services as possible, our need for money to operate our site is currently lower than our need for the many items we list above. However, if you have a few dollars to spare, we would be honored to have your help in paying for our web site. You can donate by using either PayPal or the Amazon Honor System links below (we get about 85% of what you donate). Donate via PayPal http://www.ecauldron.com/donatepaypal.php Donate via Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/paypage/P3903JRFVQVDN ===== ===== Amazon Purchases ===== The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum also receives a small percentage (usually 5%) from most items purchased from Amazon.com when you go to Amazon.com from one of the links to Amazon on our web site. If you purchase a lot of books, CDs, and other items from Amazon.com as many members do, going to Amazon.com through one of our links when you are going to make a purchase there is a painless way to help fund this web site. http://www.ecauldron.com/zamazon.php If you are a regular user of the US version of Amazon, you can help The Cauldron by replacing the URL of your ebay bookmark in your browser with the above link so that TC gets credit every time you visit Amazon.com. To do this in Internet Explorer or Firefox, find Amazon in your bookmark list. RIGHT click on it and select Properties from the popup menu which will appear. A dialog box describing your bookmark will appear. You'll see the standard Amazon url -- probably http://www.amazon.com/ -- in an edit box (labeled "Location" in FireFox and "URL" in IE). Erase that url completely and replace with one listed above, then click on OK. If you use Amazon UK, you can use this address http://www.ecauldron.com/zamazonuk.php If you use Amazon Canada, you can use this addess: http://www.ecauldron.com/zamazonca.php ===== ===== Ebay Purchases ===== Are you an Ebay user? Ebay has a new program that pays affiliates a small percent of the winning bid if the winning bidder enters ebay from an affiliate link (some like how our Amazon.com affiliate program works). So if you visit the US version ebay via the following link, the Cauldron will get credit for your bids: http://www.ecauldron.com/zebay.php If you are a regular user of the US version of ebay, you can help The Cauldron by replacing the URL of your ebay bookmark in your browser with the above link so that TC gets credit every time you visit ebay. To do this in Internet Explorer or Firefox, find ebay in your bookmark list. RIGHT click on it and select Properties from the popup menu which will appear. A dialog box describing your bookmark will appear. You'll see the standard ebay url -- probably http://www.ebay.com/ -- in an edit box (labeled "Location" in FireFox and "URL" in IE). Erase that url completely and replace with one listed above, then click on OK. ===== ===== Have Questions or Suggestions? ===== If you have specific questions, proposals or other ideas we haven't mentioned here, please email them to rssapphire00@ecauldron.GETRIDOFEME.com. (Unfortunately, Randall has to answer general "Tell me more?" type questions with a request for a more specific question. He's not trying to be rude, he just can't think of anything general and useful to say that isn't said here.) [09] ========= ========= 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) 2007 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 (lyricfox01@ecauldron.GETRIDOFME.com) or Randall Sapphire (rssapphire01@.ecauldron.GETRIDOFME.com). Typos are, as usual, courtesy of the Goddess Eris.

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