1.
Triple Goddess (Neopaganism)
–
The Triple Goddess has been adopted by many neopagans as one of their primary deities. These may or may not be perceived as aspects of a single divinity. The Goddess of Wiccas duotheistic theology is sometimes portrayed as the Triple Goddess, the term triple goddess can be used outside of Neopaganism to instead refer to historical goddess triads and single goddesses of three forms or aspects. The influential Hungarian scholar of Greek mythology Karl Kerenyi likewise perceived an underlying triple moon goddess in Greek mythology. Many neopagan belief systems follow Graves in his use of the figure of the Triple Goddess, in Huttons view Evans opinion owed an unmistakable debt to the Christian belief in the Virgin Mary. A poet and mythographer, Graves claimed a basis for the triple-goddess. Although Gravess work is widely discounted by academics as pseudohistory, it continues to have an influence on many areas of Neopaganism. Grimassi presents ancient literary writings that mention the concept of a Triformis goddess associated with Witchcraft. One of his source examples appears in Lucans ancient tale of a group of witches, in Lucans work the witches make the following comment, Persephone, who is the third and lowest aspect of our goddess Hecate. Grimassi concludes that this source suggests the concept of Witches having a triformis or three-fold goddess. Another source example offered by Grimassi is found in Ovids tale in which Jason swears an oath to the witch Medea and it is Grimassis contention that the Triple Goddess in Neopaganism is rooted in ancient thought and literature, from which it is ultimately derived. According to Ronald Hutton, the concept of a Triple Goddess with Maiden, Mother and Crone aspects, Graves wrote extensively on the subject of the Triple Goddess who he saw as the Muse of all true poetry in both ancient and modern literature. He thought that her ancient worship underlay much of classical Greek myth although reflected there in a more or less distorted or incomplete form, as an example of an unusually complete survival of the ancient triad he cites from the classical source Pausanias the worship of Hera in three persons. Pausanias recorded the ancient worship of Hera Pais, Hera Teleia, skelton was here following the Latin poet Ovid. Graves posited that Greece had been settled by a matriarchal goddess-worshipping people before being invaded by successive waves of patriarchal Indo-European speakers from the north, much of Greek myth in his view recorded the consequent religious political and social accommodations until the final triumph of patriarchy. Graves did not invent this picture but drew from nineteenth and early twentieth century scholarship and this account has not been disproved, but alternative explanations have emerged, and it is not accepted as a consensus view. In the 1949 novel Seven Days in New Crete, Graves extrapolated this theory into a future society where the worship of the Triple Goddess is the main form of religion. In her discussion of James Mellaarts theories regarding Çatalhöyük, Lynn Meskell says it is probable that the Triple Goddess originated with the work of Jane Ellen Harrison
2.
Pentacle
–
A pentacle is an amulet used in magical evocation, generally made of parchment, paper or metal, on which the symbol of a spirit or energy being evoked is drawn. It is often worn around the neck, or placed within the triangle of evocation, protective symbols may also be included, a common one being the six-point form of the Seal of Solomon, called a pentacle of Solomon or pentangle of Solomon. Many varieties of pentacle can be found in the grimoires of Solomonic magic, they are used in some neopagan magical traditions, such as Wicca. In an extended use, many magical authors treat them as distinct, in many tarot decks and in some forms of modern witchcraft, pentacles often prominently incorporate a pentagram in their design. There is a differentiation between pentacle and pentagram within Wicca and other neopagan traditions. Namely, a pentacle refers to a pentagram circumscribed by a circle and this form of pentacle is formed upon a disk which may be used either upon an altar or as a sacred space of its own. The pentacle is representative of the Earth in occult usage, the word is first recorded in English usage in 1561, from earlier French use, in turn from post-classical Latin pentaculum. The French word had a meaning of talisman, typically in the shape of a pentagram, the Oxford English Dictionary in earlier editions went on to say that some would connect it with the Middle French word pentacol or pendacol, a jewel or ornament worn around the neck. From the fact that one form of pentacle was the pentagram or star-pentagon, pentacles, despite the sound of the word, often had no connotation of five in the old magical texts, but were, rather, magical talismans inscribed with any symbol or character. When they incorporated star-shaped figures, these were more often hexagrams than pentagrams, agrippa attributes Moses feats of magic in part to his knowledge of various pentacles. Francis Barrett, in his influential work The Magus of 1801, another common design employed in pentacles is a magic square, such as the Sator-Arepo-Tenet square. In the Golden Dawn magical system, the Earth Pentacle is one of four elemental weapons or tools of an Adept and these weapons are symbolical representations of the forces employed for the manifestation of the inner self, the elements required for the incarnation of the divine. There is, therefore, nothing movable or immovable under the firmament of heaven which is not included in this pantacle, though it be but eight inches in diameter. Fire is not matter at all, water is a combination of elements, air almost entirely a mixture of elements, so must it be with this Pantacle, the symbol of earth. A pentacle is also employed as a tool within Wicca and other modern forms of witchcraft. In many old grimoires dealing with magical evocation, the pentacle is described as being hung about the neck, providing protection, the pentacle is of central importance in the evocation of spirits. A fairly typical evocation involves a series of conjurations of increasing potency, come ye promptly, and delay not to appear, and answer us with humility. Once the spirit has appeared and been constrained, the pentacle is covered again, in the tarot, the Minor Arcana are divided into four suits, swords, staves/wands, cups and coins
3.
Wicca
–
Wicca, also termed Pagan Witchcraft, is a contemporary Pagan new religious movement. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and was introduced to the public in 1954 by Gerald Gardner, Wicca draws upon a diverse set of ancient pagan and 20th century hermetic motifs for its theological structure and ritual practices. There are many variations on the structure, and the religion grows. It is divided into a number of lineages, sects and denominations, referred to as traditions, each with its own organizational structure. Due to its nature, there is some disagreement over what actually constitutes Wicca. Wicca is typically duotheistic, worshipping a Goddess and a God and these are traditionally viewed as the Moon Goddess and the Horned God, respectively. These deities may be regarded in a way, as having many different divine aspects which can in turn be identified with many diverse pagan deities from different historical pantheons. For this reason, they are referred to as the Great Goddess. These two deities are viewed as facets of a greater pantheistic divinity, which is regarded as an impersonal force or process rather than a personal deity. While duotheism or bitheism is traditional in Wicca, broader Wiccan beliefs range from polytheism to pantheism or monism, an unattributed statement known as the Wiccan Rede is a popular expression of Wiccan morality, although it is not accepted by all Wiccans. Wicca often involves the practice of magic, though it is not always necessary. Scholars of religious studies classify Wicca as a new religious movement, several academics have also categorised Wicca as a form of nature religion, a term that is also embraced by many of the faiths practitioners. However, given that Wicca also incorporates the practice of magic, Wicca is also a form of Western esotericism, and more specifically a part of the esoteric current known as occultism. The terms wizard and warlock are generally discouraged in the community, in Wicca, denominations are referred to as traditions, while non-Wiccans are often termed cowans. When the religion first came to attention, it was commonly called Witchcraft. For instance, Gerald Gardner—the man regarded as the Father of Wicca—referred to it as the Craft of the Wise, witchcraft, there is no evidence that he ever called it Wicca, although he did refer to the collective community of Pagan Witches as the Wica. As a name for the religion, Wicca developed in Britain during the 1960s, the first recorded use of the word Wicca appears in 1962, and it had been popularised to the extent that several British practitioners founded a newsletter called The Wiccan in 1968. In early sources Wicca referred to the entirety of the rather than specific traditions
4.
Goddess movement
–
The Goddess movement includes spiritual beliefs or practices which has emerged predominantly in North America, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand in the 1970s. The movement grew as a reaction to perceptions of predominant organized religion as male-dominated, and makes use of goddess worship, the Goddess movement is a widespread, noncentralized trend in Neopaganism, and therefore has no centralized tenets of belief. Practices vary widely, from the name and number of goddesses worshipped to the specific rituals, some, such as Dianic Wicca, exclusively worship female deities, while others do not. Belief systems range from monotheistic to polytheistic to pantheistic, encompassing a range of theological variety similar to that in the broader Neopaganism community, common pluralistic belief means that a self-identified Goddess worshiper could theoretically worship any number of different goddesses from cultures all over the world. Capitalization of terms such as Goddess and Goddesses usually vary with author or with the guides of publications or publishers. Within the Goddess community, members consider it proper to capitalize the word Goddess. Goddesses refers to a local or specific deities linked clearly to a culture and often to particular aspects, attributes. One can regard a goddess as an aspect of the Great Goddess as well as a goddess with a particular role within a pantheon. The Hindu goddess, Durga, is a case in point, anthropologists in their studies of goddesses have noted that adherents of goddesses often view their own goddess as a personal guardian or teacher. The Goddess or the Great Goddess is a deity that is regarded as primary. Such a religious system existed historically in many cultures, though not under the same names, if there is a male god, his powers may be seen as deriving from her. When Goddess is spoken of as a guardian, as in my Goddess it means my worldview in Goddess spirituality. Goddess Spirituality is sometimes used as a synonym for Goddess Movement, goddessing may also mean Goddess culture, Goddess way of life, Goddess practice, or my goddessing as in my individual interpretation and experience of Goddess. Priestess refers to women who dedicate themselves to one or more goddesses and it may or may not include leadership of a group, and it may or may not include legal ordination. The analogous term for men is priest, however, not everyone who dedicates themselves to the Goddess or goddesses calls themselves a priestess. It substitutes the Greek feminine prefix thea- for the generic use of the Greek masculine prefix theo-. Frequently used to analysis of Goddess thought and mysticism, it can also be used more liberally to mean any kind of divine, not just deity divine, as in meditation, ethics. However these ideas were ignored in the North America and much of Europe until second-wave feminism
5.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
6.
Zsuzsanna Budapest
–
She is the founder of the Susan B. Anthony Coven, the first feminist, women-only, witches coven and she is the founder and director of the Womens Spirituality Forum, a nonprofit organization featuring lectures, retreats and other events, and was the lead of a cable TV show called 13th Heaven. She had an autobiography entitled Fly by Night, and wrote for the religion section of the San Francisco Examiner on subjects related to Pagan religions. Her play The Rise of the Fates premiered in Los Angeles in the mid-seventies and she is the composer of several songs including We All Come From the Goddess. She lives near Santa Cruz, California, Z. Budapest was born in Budapest, Hungary. Her mother, Masika Szilagyi, was a medium, a witch. In 1956, when the Hungarian Revolution broke out, she left Hungary as a political refugee and she finished high school in Innsbruck, graduated from a bilingual gymnasium, and won a scholarship to the University of Vienna where she studied languages. She married and had two sons, Laszlo and Gabor, but later divorced and she realized she identified as a lesbian and chose, in her words, to avoid the duality between man and woman. She moved to Los Angeles from New York City in 1970 and she was on the staff of the first Womens Center in the U. S. there for many years, and became the Founder and High Priestess of Susan B. Anthony Coven #1, the first documented women-only coven and she was responsible for the creation of an Anti-Rape Squad and the Take Back the Night Movement in Southern California, and facilitated many of their street marches. Subsequently Budapest was charged with violating a municipal by-law, Code 43.30, Budapest and her defense team described the event as the first witch prosecuted since Salem, and the ensuing trial became a focus for media and pagan protesters. Duly, Budapest and her legal counsel set out to establish Wicca, the states Supreme Court repealed the guilty verdict as unconstitutional and in violation of the Freedom of Religion Act. Following her conviction, she engaged in nine years of appeals on the grounds that reading the Tarot was an example of women spiritually counseling women within the context of their religion. With pro bono legal representation she was acquitted, and the laws against fortune telling were struck from California law. In 2012, Budapest requested via Facebook that the song she wrote, We All Come From The Goddess be performed as written and she initially stated that anyone changing her song was cursed, but clarified in comments section of this post that she was joking. In the eighties, she created the TV show 13th Heaven and she was also interviewed by Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show surrounding her witch trial. ISBN 1-56549-194-7, ISBN 978-1-56549-194-6 Z. Budapests Personal Website
7.
Modern Paganism
–
Although they do share similarities, contemporary Pagan religious movements are diverse and no single set of beliefs, practices, or texts are shared by them all. Not all members of faiths or beliefs regarded as Neopagan self-identify as Pagan, academic research has placed the Pagan movement along a spectrum, with Eclecticism on one end and Polytheistic Reconstructionism on the other. Polytheism, animism, and pantheism are common features in Pagan theology, rituals take place in both public and in private domestic settings. The Pagan relationship with Christianity is often strained, contemporary Paganism has sometimes been associated with the New Age movement, with scholars highlighting both similarities and differences. From the 1990s onward, scholars studying the modern Pagan movement have established the field of Pagan studies. There is considerable disagreement as to the definition and proper usage of the term modern Paganism. Even within the field of Pagan studies, there is no consensus regarding how contemporary Paganism can best be defined. Most scholars describe modern Paganism as an array of different religions rather than a singular religion in itself. Thus, he expressed the view that although a diverse phenomenon. However, while viewing different forms of Paganism as distinct religions in their own right, the various Pagan religions have been academically classified as new religious movements, with the anthropologist Kathryn Rountree describing Paganism as a whole as a new religious phenomenon. A number of academics, particularly in North America, have considered modern Paganism to be a form of nature religion. Some practitioners eschew the term Pagan altogether, choosing not to themselves as such. This is because the term Pagan has its origins in Christian terminology, alternately, many practitioners within these regions view Native Faith as a category that exists within modern Paganism but which does not encompass all Pagan religions. Other terms sometimes favored by Pagans are traditional religion, indigenous religion, nativist religion, Further, they have suggested that all of these could be defined under the banner of paganism or Paganism. This approach has received critically by many specialists in religious studies. Many scholars have favored the use of Neopaganism to describe this phenomenon, with the prefix neo- serving to distinguish the modern religions from their ancient. Some Pagan practitioners also prefer Neopaganism, believing that the prefix conveys the nature of the religion, including for instance its rejection of superstition. Accordingly, to avoid causing offense many scholars in the English-speaking world have begun using the modern or contemporary rather than neo
8.
Goddess
–
A goddess is a female deity in polytheistic religions. Goddesses most often have characteristics that are apotheosize in their pure form. However, in some cases goddesses may embody neutral forms personifying both male and female characteristics, or they may even exhibit traits that are associated with the male gender. In some faiths, a female figure holds a central place in religious prayer. For example, Shaktism, the worship of the force that animates the world, is one of the three major sects of Hinduism. Polytheist religions, including Polytheistic reconstructionists, honour multiple goddesses and gods and these deities may be part of a pantheon, or different regions may have tutelary deities. The reconstructionists, like their ancient forebears, honour the deities particular to their country of origin, the noun goddess is a secondary formation, combining the Germanic god with the Latinate -ess suffix. It first appeared in Middle English, from about 1350, the English word follows the linguistic precedent of a number of languages—including Egyptian, Classical Greek, and several Semitic languages—that add a feminine ending to the languages word for god. Joseph Campbell in The Power of Myth, a 1988 interview with Bill Moyers, links the image of the Earth or Mother Goddess to symbols of fertility and reproduction. For example, Campbell states that, There have been systems of religion where the mother is the prime parent, and in Egypt you have the Mother Heavens, the Goddess Nut, who is represented as the whole heavenly sphere. Joseph Campbell, Well that was associated primarily with agriculture and the agricultural societies and it has to do with the earth. The human woman gives birth just as the earth gives birth to the plants. so woman magic, and the personification of the energy that gives birth to forms and nourishes forms is properly female. It is in the world of ancient Mesopotamia, the Egyptian Nile. Campbell also argues that the image of the Virgin Mary was derived from the image of Isis and her child Horus, other Mesopotamian goddesses include Ninhursag, Ninlil, Antu, Gaga Goddesses of the Canaanite religion, Baalat Gebal, Astarte, Anat. Cybele, Her Hittite name was Kubaba, but her name changed to Cybele in Phrygian and Roman culture and her effect can be also seen on Artemis as the Lady of Ephesus. Hebat, Mother Goddess of the Hittite pantheon and wife of the sky god. She was the origin of the Hurrian cult, arinniti, Hittite Goddess of the sun. She became patron of the Hittite Empire and monarchy, leto, A mother Goddess figure in Lykia
9.
Feminism
–
Feminism is a range of political movements, ideologies, and social movements that share a common goal, to define and advance political, economic, personal, and social rights for women. This includes seeking to establish opportunities for women in education. Feminists have also worked to promote autonomy and integrity, and to protect women and girls from rape, sexual harassment. Numerous feminist movements and ideologies have developed over the years and represent different viewpoints, some forms of feminism have been criticized for taking into account only white, middle class, and educated perspectives. This criticism led to the creation of specific or multicultural forms of feminism, including black feminism. Charles Fourier, a Utopian Socialist and French philosopher, is credited with having coined the word féminisme in 1837, depending on the historical moment, culture and country, feminists around the world have had different causes and goals. Most western feminist historians assert that all working to obtain womens rights should be considered feminist movements. Other historians assert that the term should be limited to the modern feminist movement and those historians use the label protofeminist to describe earlier movements. The history of the modern western feminist movements is divided into three waves, each wave dealt with different aspects of the same feminist issues. The first wave comprised womens suffrage movements of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the second wave was associated with the ideas and actions of the womens liberation movement beginning in the 1960s. The second wave campaigned for legal and social equality for women, the third wave is a continuation of, and a reaction to, the perceived failures of second-wave feminism, beginning in the 1990s. First-wave feminism was a period of activity during the 19th century, in the UK and US, it focused on the promotion of equal contract, marriage, parenting, and property rights for women. This was followed by Australia granting female suffrage in 1902, in 1928 this was extended to all women over 21. In the U. S. notable leaders of this movement included Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, anthony, who each campaigned for the abolition of slavery prior to championing womens right to vote. These women were influenced by the Quaker theology of spiritual equality, in the United States, first-wave feminism is considered to have ended with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, granting women the right to vote in all states. During the late Qing period and reform movements such as the Hundred Days Reform, Chinese feminists called for womens liberation from traditional roles, later, the Chinese Communist Party created projects aimed at integrating women into the workforce, and claimed that the revolution had successfully achieved womens liberation. According to Nawar al-Hassan Golley, Arab feminism was closely connected with Arab nationalism, in 1899, Qasim Amin, considered the father of Arab feminism, wrote The Liberation of Women, which argued for legal and social reforms for women. He drew links between womens position in Egyptian society and nationalism, leading to the development of Cairo University, in 1923 Hoda Shaarawi founded the Egyptian Feminist Union, became its president and a symbol of the Arab womens rights movement
10.
Roman mythology
–
Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Romes legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. Roman mythology may also refer to the study of these representations. The Romans usually treated their traditional narratives as historical, even when these have miraculous or supernatural elements, the stories are often concerned with politics and morality, and how an individuals personal integrity relates to his or her responsibility to the community or Roman state. When the stories illuminate Roman religious practices, they are concerned with ritual, augury. Romes early myths and legends also have a relationship with Etruscan religion. In particular, the versions of Greek myths in Ovids Metamorphoses, written during the reign of Augustus, because ritual played the central role in Roman religion that myth did for the Greeks, it is sometimes doubted that the Romans had much of a native mythology. This perception is a product of Romanticism and the scholarship of the 19th century. From the Renaissance to the 18th century, however, Roman myths were an inspiration particularly for European painting, the Roman tradition is rich in historical myths, or legends, concerning the foundation and rise of the city. These narratives focus on human actors, with only occasional intervention from deities, in Romes earliest period, history and myth have a mutual and complementary relationship. As T. P. Wiseman notes, The Roman stories still matter, as they mattered to Dante in 1300 and Shakespeare in 1600, what does it take to be a free citizen. Can a superpower still be a republic, how does well-meaning authority turn into murderous tyranny. Major sources for Roman myth include the Aeneid of Vergil and the first few books of Livys history as well as Dionysius s Roman Antiquities. Other important sources are the Fasti of Ovid, a six-book poem structured by the Roman religious calendar, scenes from Roman myth also appear in Roman wall painting, coins, and sculpture, particularly reliefs. The Aeneid and Livys early history are the best extant sources for Romes founding myths, material from Greek heroic legend was grafted onto this native stock at an early date. By extension, the Trojans were adopted as the ancestors of the Roman people. Rape of the Sabine women, explaining the importance of the Sabines in the formation of Roman culture, numa Pompilius, the Sabine second king of Rome who consorted with the nymph Egeria and established many of Romes legal and religious institutions. Servius Tullius, the king of Rome, whose mysterious origins were freely mythologized. The Tarpeian Rock, and why it was used for the execution of traitors, lucretia, whose self-sacrifice prompted the overthrow of the early Roman monarchy and led to the establishment of the Republic
11.
Diana (mythology)
–
In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt, the moon, and nature being associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals. She was eventually equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, though she had an independent origin in Italy, Diana was worshipped in ancient Roman religion and is revered in Roman Neopaganism and Stregheria. Diana was known to be the goddess of childbirth and women. She was one of the three goddesses, along with Minerva and Vesta, who swore never to marry. Oak groves were especially sacred to her as were deer, according to mythology, Diana was born with her twin brother, Apollo, on the island of Delos, daughter of Jupiter and Latona. She made up a triad with two other Roman deities, Egeria the water nymph, her servant and assistant midwife, and Virbius, the woodland god. Diana is a form developed from an ancient *divios, corresponding to later divus, dius, as in Dius Fidius, Dea Dia. It is rooted in Indoeuropean *dyw, meaning sky or daylight, from which also derived the name of Vedic god Dyaus and the Latin deus, dies. On the Tablets of Pylos a theonym διϝια is supposed as referring to a deity precursor of Artemis, Modern scholars mostly accept the identification. The ancient Latin writers Varro and Cicero considered the etymology of Dīāna as allied to that of dies, the persona of Diana is complex and contains a number of archaic features. According to Georges Dumézil it falls into a subset of celestial gods. Such gods, while keeping the original features of celestial divinities, the celestial character of Diana is reflected in her connection with light, inaccessibility, virginity, and her preference for dwelling on high mountains and in sacred woods. Diana therefore reflects the world in its sovereignty, supremacy, impassibility. At the same time, however, she is seen as active in ensuring the succession of kings and these functions are apparent in the traditional institutions and cults related to the goddess. This ever open succession reveals the character and mission of the goddess as a guarantor of kingly status through successive generations. Her function as bestower of authority to rule is also attested in the story related by Livy in which a Sabine man who sacrifices a heifer to Diana wins for his country the seat of the Roman empire. Diana was also worshipped by women who wanted to be pregnant or who, once pregnant and this form of worship is attested in archeological finds of votive statuettes in her sanctuary in the nemus Aricinum as well as in ancient sources, e. g. Ovid. According to Dumezil the forerunner of all gods is an Indian epic hero who was the image of the Vedic god Dyaus
12.
Monotheism
–
Monotheism has been defined as the belief in the existence of only one god that created the world, is all-powerful and interferes in the world. Another, more broad definition of monotheism, is the belief in one god, a distinction may be made between exclusive monotheism, and both inclusive monotheism and pluriform monotheism which, while recognising various distinct gods, postulate some underlying unity. There are also monotheistic parody religions, such as Pastafarianism, the word monotheism comes from the Greek μόνος meaning single and θεός meaning god. The English term was first used by Henry More, according to Jewish, Christian and Islamic tradition, monotheism was the original religion of humanity. Scholars of religion largely abandoned that view in the 19th century in favour of a progression from animism via polytheism to monotheism. Austrian anthropologist Wilhelm Schmidt had postulated an Urmonotheismus, original or primitive monotheism in the 1910s and it was objected that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam had grown up in opposition to polytheism as had Greek philosophical monotheism. Some writers believe that the concept of monotheism sees a gradual development out of notions of henotheism and monolatrism, quasi-monotheistic claims of the existence of a universal deity date to the Late Bronze Age, with Akhenatens Great Hymn to the Aten. A possible inclination towards monotheism emerged during the Vedic period in Iron-Age South Asia, the Rigveda exhibits notions of monism of the Brahman, in particular, in the comparatively late tenth book, dated to the early Iron Age, e. g. in the Nasadiya sukta. While all adherents of the Abrahamic religions consider themselves to be monotheists, Judaism does not consider Christianity to be monotheistic, Judaism is one of the oldest monotheistic religions in the world. God in Judaism is strictly monotheistic, a one, indivisible. The Babylonian Talmud references other, foreign gods as non-existent entities to whom humans mistakenly ascribe reality, One of the best-known statements of Rabbinical Judaism on monotheism is the Second of Maimonides 13 Principles of faith, God, the Cause of all, is one. This does not mean one as in one of a pair, nor one like a species, nor one as in an object that is made up of many elements, rather, God is a unity unlike any other possible unity. Judaism and Islam reject the Christian idea of monotheism, Judaism uses the term shituf to refer to the worship of God in a manner which Judaism does not deem to be monotheistic. During the 8th century BCE, the worship of YHWH in Israel was in competition with other cults. Some scholars hypothesize that Judaism was originally a form of monolatrism or henotheism, in this hypothesis both the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah had YHWH as their state god, while also acknowledging the existence of other gods. Shema Yisrael are the first two words of a section of the Torah, and is the title of a prayer that serves as a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services. Observant Jews consider the Shema to be the most important part of the service in Judaism. It is traditional for Jews to say the Shema as their last words, despite at least one earlier local synod rejecting the claim of Arius, this Christological issue was to be one of the items addressed at the First Council of Nicaea
13.
British Traditional Wicca
–
British Traditional Wicca is the wording used to group a set of Wiccan traditions originating in the New Forest region of England. The most prominent of these traditions are Gardnerian Wicca and Alexandrian Wicca, in the case of some traditions, some lines are considered to be British Traditional Wicca and some are not. Obviously this wording is used outside Britain, especially in America, because in Europe this traditions are part of the classical Wicca, the term wicca is well-attested as the Old English word for witch, the female form being wicce both older forms of the Modern English witch. In modern usage, however, it came into the lexicon with the works of Gerald Gardner
14.
Charles Godfrey Leland
–
Charles Godfrey Leland was an American humorist, writer, and folklorist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was educated at Princeton University and in Europe, Leland worked in journalism, travelled extensively, and became interested in folklore and folk linguistics, publishing books and articles on American and European languages and folk traditions. Leland was born to Charles Leland, a merchant, and Charlotte Godfrey. Lelands early education was in the United States, and he attended college at Princeton University, during his schooling, Leland studied languages, wrote poetry, and pursued a variety of other interests, including Hermeticism, Neo-Platonism, and the writings of Rabelais and Villon. After college, Leland went to Europe to continue his studies, first in Germany, at Heidelberg and Munich and he got involved in the revolution that year, fighting at constructed barricades against the Kings soldiers as a captain in the revolution. Leland returned to America after the given to him by his father for travel had run out. Instead of practicing law, he began a career in journalism. As a journalist, Leland wrote for The Illustrated News in New York, the Evening Bulletin in Philadelphia and eventually took on duties for Grahams Magazine. In 1856 Leland married Eliza Bella Isabel Fisher, Leland was also an editor for the Continental Monthly, a pro-Union Army publication. He enlisted in the Union Army in 1863, and fought at the Battle of Gettysburg, Leland coined the term emancipation as an alternative to abolition to refer to the anti-slavery position. Leland returned to Europe in 1869, and travelled widely, eventually settling in London and his fame during his lifetime rested chiefly on his comic Hans Breitmann’s Ballads, written in a combination of broken English and German. In recent times his writings on pagan and Aryan traditions have eclipsed the now largely forgotten Breitmann ballads, influencing the development of Wicca, in his travels, he made a study of the Gypsies, on whom he wrote more than one book. Leland began to publish a number of books on ethnography, folklore and his writings on Algonquian and gypsy culture were part of the contemporary interest in pagan and Aryan traditions. Scholars have found Leland had taken significant liberties with his research, in his book The Algonquin Legends of New England Leland attempts to link Wabanki culture and history to the Norse. It has also come to light that Leland altered some of those folk tales in order to lend credence to his theory and he erroneously claimed to have discovered the fifth Celtic tongue, the form of Cant, spoken among Irish Travellers, which he named Shelta. Leland became president of the English Gypsy Lore Society in 1888 and this remains his most influential book. Aradias accuracy has been disputed, and used by others as a study of witch lore in 19th century Italy, Leland was also a pioneer of art and design education, becoming an important influence on the Arts and Crafts movement. In his memoirs he wrote, The story of what is to me by far the most interesting period of my life remains to be written and he was, more significantly, the founder and first director of the Public School of Industrial Art in Philadelphia
15.
Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches
–
Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches is a book composed by the American folklorist Charles Godfrey Leland that was published in 1899. In the 20th century, the book was influential in the development of the contemporary Pagan religion of Wicca. Some of it is Lelands translation into English of an original Italian manuscript, Leland reported receiving the manuscript from his primary informant on Italian witchcraft beliefs, a woman Leland referred to as Maddalena and whom he called his witch informant in Italy. The rest of the material comes from Lelands research on Italian folklore and traditions, Leland had been informed of the Vangelos existence in 1886, but it took Maddalena eleven years to provide him with a copy. After translating and editing the material, it took two years for the book to be published. Its fifteen chapters portray the origins, beliefs, rituals, Lelands work remained obscure until the 1950s, when other theories about, and claims of, pagan witchcraft survivals began to be widely discussed. Aradia began to be examined within the context of such claims. Scholars are divided, with some dismissing Lelands assertion regarding the origins of the manuscript, Charles Godfrey Leland was an American author and folklorist, and spent much of the 1890s in Florence researching Italian folklore. Aradia was one of the products of Lelands research, professor Robert Mathiesen, as a contributor to the Pazzaglini translation of Aradia, mentions a letter from Maddalena to Leland, which he states is signed Maddalena Talenti. Leland reports meeting Maddalena in 1886, and she became the source for his Italian folklore collecting for several years. Leland describes her as belonging to a tradition of sorcery. He writes that by long practice has perfectly learned, just what I want, and how to extract it from those of her kind. Leland wrote that he had learned there was in existence a manuscript setting forth the doctrines of Italian witchcraft in 1886. Eleven years later, on 1 January 1897, Leland received the Vangelo by post, the manuscript was written in Maddalenas handwriting. Leland understood it to be a document of the Old Religion of the witches. Lelands translation and editing was completed in early 1897 and submitted to David Nutt for publication, two years passed, until Leland wrote requesting the return of the manuscript in order to submit it to a different publishing house. This request spurred Nutt to accept the book, and it was published in July 1899 in a print run. Since then the text has been reprinted by a variety of different publishers, including as a 1998 retranslation by Mario and Dina Pazzaglini with essays
16.
Second-wave feminism
–
Second-wave feminism is a period of feminist activity and thought that first began in the early 1960s in the United States, and eventually spread throughout the Western world and beyond. In the United States the movement lasted through the early 1980s and it later became a worldwide movement that was strong in Europe and parts of Asia, such as Turkey and Israel, where it began in the 1980s, and it began at other times in other countries. Second-wave feminism also drew attention to violence and marital rape issues, establishment of rape crisis and battered womens shelters. This life was illustrated by the media of the time, for example television shows such as Father Knows Best. Before the second there were some important events which laid the groundwork for it. French writer Simone de Beauvoir had in the 1940s examined the notion of women being perceived as other in the patriarchal society and this book was translated from French to English and published in America in 1953. In 1960 the Food and Drug Administration approved the combined oral contraceptive pill and this made it easier for women to have careers without having to leave due to unexpectedly becoming pregnant. The administration of President Kennedy made womens rights a key issue of the New Frontier, There were also notable actions by women in wider society, presaging their wider engagement in politics which would come with the second wave. In 1961,50,000 women in 60 cities, mobilized by Women Strike for Peace, protested above ground testing of nuclear bombs, in 1963 Betty Friedan, influenced by The Second Sex, wrote the bestselling book The Feminine Mystique. Discussing primarily white women, she objected to how women were depicted in the mainstream media. She had helped conduct an important survey using her old classmates from Smith College. This survey revealed that the women who played a role at home, the women who stayed home showed feelings of agitation and sadness. She concluded that many of these women had emerged themselves in the idea that they should not have any ambitions outside their home. Friedan described this as The Problem That Has No Name, the perfect nuclear family image depicted and strongly marketed at the time, she wrote, did not reflect happiness and was rather degrading for women. This book is credited with having begun second-wave feminism. Though it is accepted that the movement lasted from the 1960s into the early 1980s. Friedan was referencing a movement as early as 1964, the movement grew with legal victories such as the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Griswold v. Connecticut Supreme Court ruling of 1965. In 1966 Friedan joined other women and men to found the National Organization for Women, Friedan stepped down as president in 1969
17.
Magic (paranormal)
–
Magic or sorcery is the use of rituals, symbols, actions, gestures, and language with the aim of exploiting supernatural forces. The term magic has a variety of meanings, and there is no agreed upon definition of what it is or how it can be used. Religious scholars have defined magic in many different ways, one approach, associated with the anthropologists Edward Tylor and James G. Frazer, has magic and science be opposites. Many scholars of religion have rejected the utility of the term magic, the term magic comes from the Old Persian magu, a word that applied to a form of religious functionary about which little is known. This meaning of the term was adopted by Latin in the first century BCE. The concept was incorporated into Christian theology during the first century CE. This concept was pervasive throughout the Middle Ages, although in the modern period Italian humanists reinterpreted the term in a positive sense to establish the idea of natural magic. Both negative and positive understandings of the term were retained in Western culture over the following centuries, throughout Western history, there have been examples of individuals claiming to be practitioners of magic and referring to themselves as magicians. This trend has proliferated in the period, with a growing number of magicians appearing within the esoteric milieu. Scholars of religion have failed to agree on a definition of magic is. The subject has one of intense dispute, with some scholars criticizing the validity of the term in the first place. Even among those throughout history who have described themselves as magicians, there has been some debate among scholars as to whether to use the term magic at all. The scholar of religion Jonathan Z. Smith for example argued that it had no utility as a term that scholars should use. Religious historian Wouter Hanegraaff agreed, stating that the magic is an important object of historical research. Since the 1990s its usage among scholars has declined, within Western culture, magic has been linked to the idea of the Other. Using the term magic when discussing non-Western cultures or pre-modern forms of Western society raises problems, alternately, this term implies that all categories of magic are ethnocentric and that such Western preconceptions are an unavoidable component of scholarly research. Magic is one of the most heavily theorized concepts in the study of religion, the intellectualist approach to defining magic is associated with two prominent British anthropologists, Edward Tylor and James G. Frazer. This was an approach that viewed magic as being the theoretical opposite of science, in his 1871 book Primitive Culture, Tylor characterized magic as beliefs based on the error of mistaking ideal analogy for real analogy
18.
Mediation
–
All participants in mediation are encouraged to actively participate in the process. Mediation is a process in that it is focused primarily upon the needs, rights. The mediator uses a variety of techniques to guide the process in a constructive direction. A mediator is facilitative in that s/he manages the interaction between parties and facilitates open communication, Mediation is also evaluative in that the mediator analyzes issues and relevant norms, while refraining from providing prescriptive advice to the parties. Mediation, as used in law, is a form of dispute resolution. Typically, a party, the mediator, assists the parties to negotiate a settlement. Disputants may mediate disputes in a variety of domains, such as commercial, legal, diplomatic, workplace, community, the term mediation broadly refers to any instance in which a third party helps others reach agreement. More specifically, mediation has a structure, timetable and dynamics that ordinary negotiation lacks, the process is private and confidential, possibly enforced by law. The mediator acts as a third party and facilitates rather than directs the process. Mediation is becoming a peaceful and internationally accepted solution in order to end conflict. Mediation can be used to resolve disputes of any magnitude, Mediators use various techniques to open, or improve, dialogue and empathy between disputants, aiming to help the parties reach an agreement. Much depends on the skill and training. As the practice gained popularity, training programs, certifications and licensing followed, producing trained, while a case in the hands of a lawyer or a court may take months or years to resolve, mediation usually achieves a resolution in a matter of hours. Taking less time means expending less money on hourly fees and costs, confidentiality While court hearings are public, mediation remains strictly confidential. No one but the parties to the dispute and the mediator or mediators know what happened, confidentiality in mediation has such importance that in most cases the legal system cannot force a mediator to testify in court as to the content or progress of mediation. Many mediators destroy their notes taken during a mediation once that mediation has finished, the only exceptions to such strict confidentiality usually involve child abuse or actual or threatened criminal acts. Control Mediation increases the control the parties have over the resolution, in a court case, the parties obtain a resolution, but control resides with the judge or jury. Often, a judge or jury cannot legally provide solutions that emerge in mediation, thus, mediation is more likely to produce a result that is mutually agreeable for the parties
19.
Spell (paranormal)
–
A spell, charm, invocation, or hex is a set of words, spoken or unspoken, which are considered by its user to invoke some magical effect. Historical attestations exist for the use of some variety of incantations in many cultures around the world. Spells can be used in calling upon or summoning a spirit, demon, god or other supernatural agent, spells would generally be distinguished from magic symbols, words, patterns, recipes, practices and other forms of magic that were not directly exercised by a collection of words. However, some spells were combinations or repetitions of words that were considered to have magic power, surviving examples from northern Europe include For a Swarm of Bees, the Nine Herbs Charm and the Merseburg Incantations. Due to the written record of ancient Egyptian culture, a number of references to magic. In particular the embalming and interring process involved the use of many documented spells, the performance of magic almost always involves the use of language. Whether spoken out loud or unspoken, words are used to access or guide magical power. In The Magical Power of Words S. J. Tambiah argues that the connection between language and magic is due to a belief in the inherent ability of words to influence the universe. Magical speech is therefore an act and is of equal or even greater importance to the performance of magic than non-verbal acts. Not all speech is considered magical, only certain words and phrases or words spoken in a specific context are considered to have magical power. Magical language, according to C. K, Magical language is therefore particularly adept at constructing metaphors that establish symbols and link magical rituals to the world. Malinowski argues that the language of magic is sacred, set, the two forms of language are differentiated through word choice, grammar, style, or by the use of specific phrases or forms, prayers, spells, songs, blessings, or chants, for example. Sacred modes of language often employ archaic words and forms in an attempt to invoke the purity or truth of a religious or a golden age. The use of Hebrew in Judaism is an example, another potential source of the power of words is their secrecy and exclusivity. Much sacred language is differentiated enough from common language that it is incomprehensible to the majority of the population, in this respect, Tambiah argues that magical languages violate the primary function of language, communication. Incantation Invocation Magic word Mantra Prayer
20.
Curse
–
A curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity, one or more persons, a place, or an object. In many belief systems, the curse itself is considered to have some force in the result. To reverse or eliminate a curse is sometimes called removal or breaking, the study of the forms of curses comprise a significant proportion of the study of both folk religion and folklore. The deliberate attempt to levy curses is often part of the practice of magic, in Hindu culture the Sage or Rishi is believed to have the power to bless and curse. Examples include the curse placed by Rishi Bhrigu on king Nahusha, middle Eastern and Mediterranean culture is the source of the belief in the evil eye, which may be the result of envy but, more rarely, is said to be the result of a deliberate curse. In order to be protected from the eye, a protection item is made from dark blue circular glass, with a circle of white around the black dot in the middle. The size of the protective eye item may vary, german people, including the Pennsylvania Dutch speak in terms of hexing, and a common hex in days past was that laid by a stable-witch who caused milk cows to go dry and horses to go lame. Tecumsehs curse was reputed to cause the deaths in office of Presidents of the United States elected in years divisible by 20 and this alleged curse appears to have fallen dormant, since Ronald Reagan, survived an assassination attempt and George W. Bush survived his eight-year presidency. Curses have also used as a plot device in literature. When used as a device they involve one character placing a curse or hex over another character. This is distinguished from adverse spells and premonitions and other such plot devices, examples of the curse as a plot device are the following, Rigoletto -- Count Monterone places a curse on Rigoletto. Rigoletto blames the death of his daughter on the curse. Romeo & Juliet -- A dying Mercutio curses the Montagues and Capulets with A plague o both your houses, Sleeping Beauty -- Maleficent places a curse on Princess Aurora to die on her 16th birthday. Beauty and the Beast -- Enchantress transforms prince to beast, arguably, Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast represent spells, rather than curses. By contrast an adverse spell involves a character with some magical ability or power causing a harm to another character. A number of curses are used to explain the failures or misfortunes of specific teams, players. For example, No first-time winner of the World Snooker Championship has successfully defended his title since the event was first held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield in 1977 and this has been widely attributed to a Crucible Curse. There was a curse called the Curse of the Bambino on the Boston Red Sox Major League Baseball team
21.
Wiccan Rede
–
The Wiccan Rede /ˈriːd/ is a statement that provides the key moral system in the Neopagan religion of Wicca and certain other related Witchcraft-based faiths. A common form of the Rede is An it harm none, the word Rede derives from Middle English, meaning advice or counsel and being closely related to the German Rat or Scandinavian råd. An is an archaic Middle English conjunction, meaning if, ye is an archaic or dialectal form of you. Other variants of the Rede include, Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfill, note, this is the first published form of the couplet, quoted from Doreen Valiente in 1964. g. A similar phrase, Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law, appears in Aleister Crowleys works by 1904 and this instinct they name their honor. King Pausole, a character in Pierre Louÿs Les aventures du roi Pausole, issued a pair of edicts. — Ne nuis pas à ton voisin, — Ceci bien compris, fais ce quil te plaît. Although Gardner noted the similarity of the rede to King Pausoles words, another notable antecedent was put forth by the philosopher John Stuart Mill with his harm principle in the 19th century. In addition, the first part of the phrase is similar to the Latin maxim primum non nocere. In 1974 a complete twenty-six line poem entitled The Wiccan Rede was published in the neo-Pagan magazine Earth Religion News, each line contained a rhymed couplet laid out as a single line, the last line being the familiar short rede couplet beginning Eight words. This poem was followed by another, slightly different, version, entitled the Rede Of The Wiccae. She ascribed it to her grandmother Adriana Porter, and claimed that the published text was distorted from its original form. The poem has since been widely circulated and has appeared in other versions and layouts. It is commonly known as the Long Rede and it is sometime ascribed to Thompson herself. Since Thompson was dispensing these 26 as a whole from around 1969 it is an assumption that hers was that second hand. Valiente did publish a poem The Witches Creed in her 1978 book, Witchcraft for Tomorrow, the poem refers to Wiccan concepts that, though ostensibly very old, have not been proven to pre-date the 1940s. Its attribution to Porter may have formed part of Thompsons claim to be an hereditary witch and its precise origin has yet to be determined. Adrian Bott, in a written in White Dragon magazine,2003
22.
Coven
–
A coven or covan /kʌvən/ usually refers to a gathering of witches. In Wicca and other forms of modern neopagan witchcraft, such as Stregheria and Feri. It is composed of a group of believers who gather together for ceremonies of such as Drawing Down the Moon. The number of persons involved may vary, although thirteen is considered ideal, any group of at least three can be a coven. A group of two is called a working couple. Within the community, many believe that a larger than thirteen is unwieldy, citing unwieldy group dynamics. When a coven has grown too large to be manageable, it may split, in Wicca this may also occur when a newly made High Priest or High Priestess, also called 3rd Degree ordination, leaves to start their own coven. Wiccan covens are usually led by a High Priestess and a High Priest. In more recent forms of witchcraft, covens are sometimes run as democracies with a rotating leadership. One of the first online covens to take this route is the Coven of the Far Flung Net, however, because of potentially-unwieldy membership sizes, many online covens limit their memberships to anywhere between 10 and 100 students. In fantasy stories and popular culture, a coven is a gathering of witches to work spells in tandem, such imagery can be traced back to Renaissance prints depicting witches and to the three weird sisters in Shakespeares Macbeth. Orgiastic meetings of witches are also depicted in the Robert Burns poem Tam o Shanter and in the Goethe play Faust. Movies featuring covens include Suspiria, Rosemarys Baby, Four Rooms, The Witches of Eastwick, The Covenant, Underworld, Underworld, Evolution, The Craft, Coven, Paranormal Activity 3 and The Witch. In television, covens have been portrayed in U. S. supernatural dramas Charmed, Witches of East End, The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, The Secret Circle and True Blood. In the 1967 Star Trek original series episode Catspaw, three appeared as illusions and acted in unison to voice a warning to Kirk and the landing party to leave the planet. The third season of American Horror Story is titled Coven and focuses on witches, in novels such as The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice and the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, covens are families or unrelated groups of vampires who live together. New Forest coven Margot Adler Drawing Down the Moon, janet and Stuart Farrar A Witches Bible, The Complete Witches Handbook. List of Covens by Location at Witchvox Online Covens supported by SpellsOfMagic Choosing a Coven by Judy Harrow Choosing a Coven by Lisa Mc Sherry Information on Covens by Spell Reviews
23.
Festival
–
A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect of that community and its religion or traditions. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, next to religion and folklore, a significant origin is agricultural. Food is such a resource that many festivals are associated with harvest time. Religious commemoration and thanksgiving for good harvests are blended in events that take place in autumn, such as Halloween in the northern hemisphere, Festivals often serve to fulfill specific communal purposes, especially in regard to commemoration or thanksgiving. The celebrations offer a sense of belonging for religious, social, or geographical groups and they may also provide entertainment, which was particularly important to local communities before the advent of mass-produced entertainment. In Ancient Greece and Rome, festivals such as the Saturnalia were closely associated with social organisation, in modern times, festivals may be attended by strangers such as tourists, who are attracted to some of the more eccentric or historical ones. The word festival was used as an adjective from the late fourteenth century. In Middle English, a festival dai was a religious holiday and its first recorded used as a noun was in 1589. Feast first came into usage as a noun circa 1200, the term feast is also used in common secular parlance as a synonym for any large or elaborate meal. When used as in the meaning of a festival, most often refers to a religious rather than a film or art festival. In the Philippines and many other former Spanish colonies, the Spanish word fiesta is used to denote a religious feast to honor a patron saint. Many festivals have religious origins and entwine cultural and religious significance in traditional activities, the most important religious festivals such as Christmas, Rosh Hashanah, Diwali, and Eid al-Adha serve to mark out the year. Others, such as harvest festivals, celebrate seasonal change, events of historical significance, such as important military victories or other nation-building events also provide the impetus for a festival. An early example is the established by Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Rameses III celebrating his victory over the Libyans. In many countries, royal holidays commemorate dynastic events just as agricultural holidays are about harvests, there are numerous types of festivals in the world and most countries celebrate important events or traditions with traditional cultural events and activities. Most culminate in the consumption of specially prepared food and they bring people together, Festivals are also strongly associated with national holidays. Lists of national festivals are published to make participation easier, among many religions, a feast is a set of celebrations in honour of Gods or God. A feast and a festival are historically interchangeable, the Sed festival, for example, celebrated the thirtieth year of an Egyptian pharaohs rule and then every three years after that
24.
Wheel of the Year
–
The Wheel of the Year is an annual cycle of seasonal festivals, observed by many modern Pagans. The festivals celebrated by differing sects of modern Paganism can vary considerably in name, observing the cycle of the seasons has been important to many people, both ancient and modern, and many contemporary Pagan festivals are based to varying degrees on folk traditions. The contemporary Wheel of the Year is somewhat of a modern innovation, many historical pagan traditions celebrated various equinoxes, solstices, and the days approximately midway between them for their seasonal and agricultural significances. But none were known to have all eight above all other annual. The modern understanding of the Wheel is a result of the awareness that began developing by the time of Modern Europe. Mid-20th century British Paganism had a influence on early adoption of an eightfold Wheel. By the late 1950s, the Wiccan Bricket Wood Coven and Order of Bards, Ovates and this also had the benefit of more closely aligning celebration between the two influential Pagan orders. These festivals are not, however, as distributed throughout the year as in Wicca. In many traditions of modern Pagan cosmology, all things are considered to be cyclical, with time as a cycle of growth. This cycle is also viewed as a micro- and macrocosm of other cycles in an immeasurable series of cycles composing the Universe. The days that fall on the landmarks of the yearly cycle traditionally mark the beginnings and they are regarded with significance and host to major communal festivals. These eight festivals are the most common times for community celebrations, in Wiccan and Wicca-influenced traditions, the festivals, being tied to solar movements, have generally been steeped in solar mythology and symbolism, centred around the life cycles of the sun. Similarly, the Wiccan esbats are traditionally tied to the lunar cycles, together, they represent the most common celebrations in Wiccan-influenced forms of Neopaganism, especially in contemporary Witchcraft groups. Midwinter has been recognized as a significant turning point in the cycle since the late Stone Age. The ancient megalithic sites of Newgrange and Stonehenge, carefully aligned with the sunrise and sunset. The reversal of the Suns ebbing presence in the sky symbolizes the rebirth of the solar god, from Germanic to Roman tradition, this is the most important time of celebration. Practices vary, but sacrifices, feasting, and gift giving are common elements of Midwinter festivities, bringing sprigs and wreaths of evergreenery into the home and tree decorating are also common during this time. In Germanic traditions, this liminal festival marks the last month of the old year, in Roman traditions additional festivities take place during the six days leading up to Midwinter
25.
Esbat
–
An esbat /ˈɛsbæt/ is a coven meeting of other than one the Sabbats within Wicca and other Wiccan-influenced forms of contemporary Paganism. Janet and Stewart Farrar describe esbats as an opportunity for a love feast, healing work, psychic training, the term esbat is derived from Old French sesbattre, meaning to frolic and amuse oneself, diversion. It was a borrowing by 20th century anthropologist Margaret Murrays use of French witch trial sources on supposed Witches Sabbaths in her attempts to reconstruct a Witch Cult in Western Europe, an esbat is commonly understood to be a ritual observance on the night of a full moon. However, the high priestess Doreen Valiente distinguished between full moon Esbat and other esbatic occasions. The term esbat in this sense was described by Margaret Murray, the Esbat differed from the Sabbat by being primarily for business. Very often the Esbat was for sheer enjoyment only Full moon Lunar calendar Wheel of the Year Lunar effect List of lunar deities
26.
Magical tools in Wicca
–
In the neopagan religion of Wicca, a range of magical tools are used in ritual practice. Each of these tools has different uses and associations, and serve primarily to direct magical energies and they are used at an altar, inside a magic circle. In traditional Gardnerian Wicca, the tools are often divided into personal tools, which are for use by, and owned by, an individual Wiccan, and coven tools, used collectively by the coven. This practice may derive partly from Masonic traditions, from which Wicca draws some material, the latter made much use of material from medieval grimoires such as the Key of Solomon, which has many illustrations of magical tools and instructions for their preparation. In Wicca, ritual tools are used during rituals which both honour the deities and work magic, the general idea is that the tool directs psychic energies to perform a certain action. Wiccan tools are only used by their owner, to ensure that they only carry their owners spiritual vibrations. In Gardnerian Wicca, as laid down by Gerald Gardner, someone who had initiated in the 1st degree had to create their own ritual tools. One of the requirements for being initiated for the 2nd degree is that the Wiccan had to all of the ritual tools and explain what their purpose. Before tools are used in ritual, they first are consecrated, in the Gardnerian Book of Shadows, there is a section based entirely on consecrating ritual items. In this, it states that items must be consecrated within a magic circle, each item that is to be consecrated is in turn placed upon the paten, sprinkled with salt and water, and then passed through some incense. This is followed by the declaration, Aradia and Cernunnos, deign to bless and to consecrate this, Aradia and Cernunnos, bless this instrument prepared in thine honour. Various different tools are used in Wiccan ritual, chief amongst them in importance are the paten, athame, wand, and chalice, each of which represents one of the four elements of earth, air, fire and water. The Pentacle or Paten disc is an altar consecration tool with a sigil or magical symbol engraved or inscribed upon it, the most common symbol is a pentagram within a circle, specifically a pentacle, although some other symbols may be used such as the triquetra. The disc is symbolizes the element earth and it is typically used to represent the element of Earth during evocation, as a symbol which blesses items, as well as magically energizing that which is placed upon it. A sword or a knife, commonly known as an athame, is often used in Wiccan ritual. In Gardnerian Wicca these are associated with the element of fire, the athame is traditionally black-handled, usually inscribed. It is used to direct energy for the casting of magic circles, controlling of spirits, in some traditions, it is never under any circumstances used to draw blood, becoming tainted and requiring destruction if it does. The term athame in its modern spelling first appears in Wicca, the version currently held in the Bibliothèque de lArsenal, Paris, uses the term arthame to describe a black-handled knife
27.
Aphrodite
–
Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. She is identified with the planet Venus, and her Roman equivalent is the goddess Venus, as with many ancient Greek deities, there is more than one story about her origins. According to Hesiods Theogony, she was born when Cronus cut off Uranuss genitals and threw them into the sea, according to Homers Iliad, she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione. In Plato, these two origins are said to be of hitherto separate entities, Aphrodite Ourania and Aphrodite Pandemos, Aphrodite had many lovers—both gods, such as Ares, and men, such as Anchises. She played a role in the Eros and Psyche legend, and was lover and surrogate mother of Adonis. Many lesser beings were said to be children of Aphrodite, Aphrodite is also known as Cytherea and Cypris after the two cult sites, Cythera and Cyprus, which claimed to be her place of birth. Myrtle, roses, doves, sparrows and swans were sacred to her, the ancient Greeks identified her with the Ancient Egyptian goddess Hathor. Aphrodite had many names such as Acidalia and Cerigo, each used by a different local cult of the goddess in Greece. The Greeks recognized all of these names as referring to the single goddess Aphrodite, despite the differences in what these local cults believed the goddess demanded of them. The Attic philosophers of the 4th century, however, drew a distinction between a celestial Aphrodite of transcendent principles, and a separate, common Aphrodite who was the goddess of the people, hesiod derives Aphrodite from aphrós sea-foam, interpreting the name as risen from the foam. Michael Janda, accepting this as genuine, claims the birth myth as an Indo-European mytheme. Likewise, Witczak proposes an Indo-European compound *abʰor- very and *dʰei- to shine and it has been argued that etymologies based on comparison with Eos are unlikely since Aphrodites attributes are entirely different from those of Eos or the Vedic deity Ushas. A number of improbable non-Greek etymologies have suggested in scholarship. One Semitic etymology compares Aphrodite to the Assyrian barīrītu, the name of a demon that appears in Middle Babylonian. Hammarström looks to Etruscan, comparing prϑni lord, an Etruscan honorific loaned into Greek as πρύτανις and this would make the theonym in origin an honorific, the lady. Hjalmar Frisk and Robert Beekes reject this etymology as implausible, especially since Aphrodite actually appears in Etruscan in the borrowed form Apru, the medieval Etymologicum Magnum offers a highly contrived etymology, deriving Aphrodite from the compound habrodíaitos, she who lives delicately, from habrós and díaita. The alteration from b to ph is explained as a characteristic of Greek obvious from the Macedonians. Aphrodite is usually said to have been born near her chief center of worship, Paphos, on the island of Cyprus, however, other versions of her myth have her born near the island of Cythera, hence another of her names, Cytherea
28.
Sacred mysteries
–
Sacred mysteries are the areas of supernatural phenomena associated with a divinity or a religious ideology. Beliefs of the religion which are public knowledge but cannot be explained by normal rational or scientific means. Mysticism may be defined as an area of philosophical or religious thought which focuses on mysteries in the first sense above, a mystagogue or hierophant is a holder and teacher of secret knowledge in the second sense above. In some, parts of the doctrine were apparently known to priests. They included the Eleusinian Mysteries, Mithraism, the Cult of Isis, the Cult of Sol Invictus, Mystery traditions were popular in ancient Greece and during the height of the Roman Empire, and as discussed below, parts of Early Christianity used secrecy in the same way. Although the term is not used equally by all Christian traditions, to name but a few key examples, these include the nature of the Trinity, the Virgin Birth of Jesus, and the Resurrection of Jesus. These are mysteries in the sense that they cannot be explained or apprehended by reason alone, the word mysterion is used 27 times in the New Testament. It denotes not so much the meaning of the modern English term mystery, in the biblical Greek, the term refers to that which awaits disclosure or interpretation. The position, if not the terminology, of other Christian churches is essentially the same, as the Age of Persecution ended, the secrecy was gradually relaxed. But the term continued to be used, and the word is used in the Eastern Orthodox churches to describe mysteries. Hence Pope Paul VIs papal encyclical of 3 September 1965 on the Eucharist was titled, from its opening words, in the Roman Rite Catholic Mass within or immediately after the formula of consecration of the wine, the celebrant says Let us proclaim the mystery of faith. The term is used in Eastern Christianity to refer to what the Western Church currently calls Sacraments and Sacramentals, thus, for instance, the Council of Trent declared there to be exactly seven sacraments. The Eastern Churches, in contrast, have never defined the Mysteries in such precise terms, and, though the Western Church teaches that the consecrated bread and wine of the Eucharist are one Sacrament, the Divine Liturgy refers to the Eucharist as the Mysteries, in the plural. Orthodox Christians have always received Holy Communion in both species, and even reserve both in the tabernacle, the Sacred Mysteries can be defined as those holy acts through which the Holy Spirit mysteriously and invisibly confers Grace upon man. Christian life is centered in the Mystery of the Incarnation of Christ, however, the redemption of man is not considered to have taken place only in the past, but continues to this day through theosis. The Sacraments, or Sacred Mysteries are the most important means by which the faithful may obtain union with God, Christians believe that God is present everywhere and fills all things by his Divine grace, and that all of creation is, in some sense, a sacrament. However, they believe that He is more specifically and intensively present in particular and reliable manners which He Himself has established, in several other religions, knowledge of some esoteric parts of the doctrine or teachings is reserved only for certain members. This has been a feature of Tantric Buddhism, Hinduism, Catharism, some parts of Shia Islam, in traditional Judaism, study of much of the mystical tradition of Kabbalah is reserved for scholars
29.
Winter solstice
–
The winter solstice, also known as midwinter, is an astronomical phenomenon marking the day with the shortest period of daylight and the longest night of the year. In the Northern Hemisphere this is the December solstice and in the Southern Hemisphere this is the June solstice. The axial tilt of Earth and gyroscopic effects of its daily rotation mean that the two points in the sky to which the Earths axis of rotation points change very slowly. As the Earth follows its orbit around the Sun, the hemisphere that faced away from the Sun, experiencing winter, will, in half a year, face towards the Sun. This is because the two hemispheres face opposite directions along Earths axis, and so as one polar hemisphere experiences winter, although the winter solstice itself lasts only a moment in time, the term sometimes refers to the day on which it occurs. Other names are midwinter, the extreme of winter, or the shortest day, in some cultures it is seen as the middle of winter, while in others it is seen as the beginning of winter. In meteorology, winter in the Northern Hemisphere spans the period of December through February. The seasonal significance of the solstice is in the reversal of the gradual lengthening of nights. The solstice may have been a moment of the annual cycle for some cultures even during neolithic times. Astronomical events were used to guide activities such as the mating of animals, the sowing of crops. Many cultural mythologies and traditions are derived from this and this is attested by physical remains in the layouts of late Neolithic and Bronze Age archaeological sites, such as Stonehenge in England and Newgrange in Ireland. The primary axes of both of these seem to have been carefully aligned on a sight-line pointing to the winter solstice sunrise. It is significant that at Stonehenge the Great Trilithon was erected outwards from the middle of the monument, the winter solstice was immensely important because the people were economically dependent on monitoring the progress of the seasons. Starvation was common during the first months of the winter, January to April or July to October, in temperate climates, the midwinter festival was the last feast celebration, before deep winter began. Most cattle were slaughtered so they would not have to be fed during the winter, the majority of wine and beer made during the year was finally fermented and ready for drinking at this time. The concentration of the observances were not always on the day commencing at midnight or at dawn, but at the beginning of the pagan day, also reversal is yet another frequent theme, as in Saturnalias slave and master reversals. Iranian people celebrate the night of the Northern Hemispheres winter solstice as, Yalda night, in this night all the family gather together, usually at the house of the oldest, and celebrate it by eating, drinking and reading poems. Nuts, pomegranates and watermelons are particularly served during this festival, the pagan Scandinavian and Germanic people of northern Europe celebrated a twelve-day midwinter holiday called Yule
30.
Robert Graves
–
Robert von Ranke Graves was an English poet, novelist, critic and classicist. He produced more than 140 works, Irish literature deeply affected Graves White Goddess theories, specifically the genre aisling. He earned his living from writing, particularly historical novels such as I, Claudius, King Jesus, The Golden Fleece. He also was a prominent translator of Classical Latin and Ancient Greek texts, his versions of The Twelve Caesars and The Golden Ass remain popular, for their clarity, Graves was awarded the 1934 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for both I, Claudius and Claudius the God. Graves was born into a family in Wimbledon, then part of Surrey. Gravess mother was from a recently ennobled German family, the eldest daughter of Heinrich von Ranke, a professor of medicine at the University of Munich and she was also a greatniece of the German historian Leopold von Ranke. At school, Graves was enrolled as Robert von Ranke Graves and in Germany his books are published under that name but before and during the First World War, the name caused him difficulties. In August 1916 an officer who disliked him spread the rumour that he was a spy, the problem resurfaced in a minor way in the Second World War, when a suspicious rural policeman blocked his appointment to the Special Constabulary. Gravess eldest half-brother, Philip Perceval Graves, achieved note as a journalist and his brother, Charles Patrick Graves, was a writer. Among the masters his chief influence was George Mallory, who introduced him to contemporary literature, in his final year at Charterhouse, he won a classical exhibition to St Johns College, Oxford but did not take his place there until after the war. At the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, Graves enlisted almost immediately and he published his first volume of poems, Over the Brazier, in 1916. He developed a reputation as a war poet and was one of the first to write realistic poems about experience of frontline conflict. In later years, he omitted his war poems from his collections, at the Battle of the Somme, he was so badly wounded by a shell-fragment through the lung that he was expected to die and was officially reported as having died of wounds. He gradually recovered and, apart from a spell back in France. One of Gravess friends at this time was the poet Siegfried Sassoon, in 1917, Sassoon rebelled against the conduct of the war by making a public antiwar statement. Graves feared Sassoon could face a court martial and intervened with the authorities, persuading them that Sassoon was suffering from shell shock. As a result, Sassoon was sent to Craiglockhart, a hospital in Edinburgh. Graves also suffered shell shock, or neurasthenia as it was then called, but he was never hospitalised for it, I thought of going back to France
31.
The White Goddess
–
The White Goddess, a Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth is a book-length essay on the nature of poetic myth-making by author and poet Robert Graves. First published in 1948, the book is based on articles published in Wales magazine. The White Goddess represents an approach to the study of mythology from a decidedly creative, Graves argues that true or pure poetry is inextricably linked with the ancient cult-ritual of his proposed White Goddess and of her son. Many of the themes are also explored in a fictional form. Graves first wrote the book under the title of The Roebuck in the Thicket in a period during January 1944. He then left the book to focus on King Jesus, a novel about the life of Jesus. Returning to The Roebuck in the Thicket, he renamed it The Three-Fold Muse, before finishing it and retitling it as The White Goddess. In January 1946 he sent it to the publishers, and in May 1948 it was published in the UK, and in June 1948 in the US, as The White Goddess, Graves described The White Goddess as a historical grammar of the language of poetic myth. The book draws from the mythology and poetry of Wales and Ireland especially, as well as that of most of Western Europe, Gravess The White Goddess deals with goddess worship as the prototypical religion, analysing it largely from literary evidence, in myth and poetry. He describes Woman as occupying a higher echelon than mere poet and he adds This is not to say that a woman should refrain from writing poems, only, that she should write as a woman, not as an honorary man. He seems particularly bothered by the spectre of womens writing reflecting male-dominated poetic conventions, Graves derived some of his ideas from poetic inspiration and a process of analeptic thought, which is a term he used for throwing ones mind back in time and receiving impressions. Visual iconography was also important to Gravess conception, Graves created a methodology for reading images he called iconotropy. To practice this methodology one is required to reduce speech into its original images and rhythms, Graves Tree Calendar has no relation to any historical Celtic calendar. His interpretations rather rely on the book Ogygia by the 17th-century bard Roderick OFlaherty, Gravess value as a poet aside, flaws in his scholarship such as poor philology, use of inadequate texts and out-dated archaeology have been criticised. Some scholars, particularly archaeologists, historians and folklorists have rejected the work – which T. S, according to Ronald Hutton, the book remains a major source of confusion about the ancient Celts and influences many un-scholarly views of Celtic paganism. While Graves made the association between Goddesses and the moon appear natural, it was not so to the Celts or some other ancient peoples. In response to critics, Graves accused literary scholars of being incapable of interpreting myth or too concerned with maintaining their perquisites to go against the majority view. The book was an influence on the thinking of the poets Ted Hughes
32.
Pachamama
–
Pachamama is a goddess revered by the indigenous people of the Andes. She is also known as the earth/time mother, in Inca mythology, Pachamama is a fertility goddess who presides over planting and harvesting, embodies the mountains, and causes earthquakes. She is also an ever-present and independent deity who has her own self-sufficient and her shrines are hallowed rocks, or the boles of legendary trees, and her artists envision her as an adult female bearing harvests of potatoes and coca leaves. Pachamama is the wife of Pacha Kamaq and her children are Inti, the sun god, and Killa, the moon goddess. After the conquest by Spain, which forced conversion to Roman Catholicism, in pre-Hispanic culture, Pachamama is often a cruel goddess eager to collect her sacrifices. As Andes cultures form modern nations, Pachamama remains benevolent, giving, thus, many in South America believe that problems arise when people take too much from nature because they are taking too much from Pachamama. Pachamama is usually translated as Mother Earth, but a literal translation would be World Mother (in Aymara. The Inca goddess can be referred to in ways, the primary way being Pachamama. Other names for her are, Mama Pacha, La Pachamama, La Pachamama differs from Pachamama because the La signifies the interwoven connection that the goddess has with nature, whereas Pachamama—without the La—refers to only the goddess. Pachamama is known to Andean people as a good mother, therefore, people usually toast to her honor before every meeting or festivity, in some regions by spilling a small amount of chicha on the floor, before drinking the rest. This toast is called challa and it is made almost every day, Pachamama has a special worship day called Martes de challa, when people bury food, throw candies, and burn incense. There have been many circulating stories of people being lured to building sites, given alcohol until unconscious. The festival coincides with Shrove Tuesday, also celebrated as Carnevale or Mardi Gras, the central ritual to Pachamama is the Challa or Pago. It is carried out during all of August, and in places also on the first Friday of each month. Other ceremonies are carried out in times, as upon leaving for a trip or upon passing an apacheta. According to Mario Rabey and Rodolfo Merlino, Argentine anthropologists who studied the Andean culture from the 1970s to the 1990s, challaco is a deformation of the Quechua words challay and challakuy, that refer to the action to insistently sprinkle. In the current language of the campesinos of the southern Central Andes, the challaco covers a complex series of ritual steps that begin in the family dwellings the night before. They cook a special food, the tijtincha, the ceremony culminates at a pond or stream, where the people offer a series of tributes to Pachamama, including food, beverage, leaves of coca and cigars
33.
Shaktism
–
Shaktism is a major tradition of Hinduism, wherein the metaphysical reality is considered feminine and the Devi is supreme. It includes a variety of goddesses, all considered aspects of the supreme goddess. Shaktism has different sub-traditions, ranging from those focussed on gracious Lakshmi to fierce Kali, the Sruti and Smriti texts of Hinduism are an important historical framework of the Shaktism tradition. In addition, it reveres the texts Devi Mahatmya, the Devi-Bhagavata Purana, the Devi Mahatmya in particular, is considered in Shaktism to be as important as the Bhagavad Gita. Shaktism is known for its various sub-traditions of Tantra, as well as a galaxy of goddesses with respective systems and it consists of the Vidyapitha and Kulamārga. The pantheon of goddesses in Shaktism grew after the decline of Buddhism in India, wherein Hindu and Buddhist goddesses were combined to form the Mahavidya, the most common aspects of Devi found in Shaktism include Durga, Kali, Amba, Lakshmi, Parvati and Tripurasundari. The goddess-focussed tradition is popular in West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Nepal and the neighboring regions. Yet, they are declared equivalent aspects of gender neutral Brahman, of Prajapati, the goddesses often mentioned in the Vedic layers of text include the Ushas, Vac, Sarasvati, Prithivi, Nirriti, Shraddha. Goddesses such as Uma appear in the Upanishads as another aspect of Brahman, hymns to goddesses are in the ancient Hindu epic Mahabharata, particularly in the later added Harivamsa section of it. The archaeological and textual evidence implies, states Thomas Coburn, that the Goddess had become as much a part of the Hindu tradition, as God, by about the third or fourth century. The literature on Shakti theology grew in ancient India, climaxing in one of the most important texts of Shaktism called the Devi Mahatmya, the Devi-Mahatmya is not the earliest literary fragment attesting to the existence of devotion to a goddess figure, states Thomas B. Coburn – a professor of Religious Studies, but it is surely the earliest in which the object of worship is conceptualized as Goddess, with a capital G. Other important texts of Shaktism include the Shakta Upanishads, as well as Shakta-oriented Upa Puranic literature such as the Devi Purana and Kalika Purana, the Lalita Sahasranama. The Tripura Upanishad is historically the most complete introduction to Shakta Tantrism, along with the Tripura Upanishad, the Tripuratapini Upanishad has attracted scholarly bhasya in the second half of 2nd-millennium, such as by Bhaskararaya, and by Ramanand. These texts link the Shakti Tantra tradition as a Vedic attribute, Shaktas conceive the Goddess as the supreme, ultimate, eternal reality of all existence, or same as the Brahman concept of Hinduism. She is considered to be simultaneously the source of all creation, its embodiment and the energy that animates and governs it, according to V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar – a professor of Indian history, in Shaktism theology Brahman is static Shakti and Shakti is dynamic Brahman. Shaktism views the Devi as the source, essence and substance of everything in creation and its texts such as the Devi-Bhagavata Purana states, I am Manifest Divinity, Unmanifest Divinity, and Transcendent Divinity. I am Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, as well as Saraswati, Lakshmi, I am the Sun and I am the Stars, and I am also the Moon
34.
Gynocentrism
–
Gynocentrism refers to a dominant or exclusive focus on women in theory or practice, or to the advocacy of this. Anything can be considered gynocentric when it is concerned exclusively with a point of view. Peter Wright refers to such gynocentric patterns as constituting a sexual feudalism, Marinella recounted that, in 1600 AD, women of lower socioeconomic classes were treated as superiors by men who acted as servants or beasts born to serve them. That, if you like, is the reason why men are naturally stronger and more robust than us—they need to be, Young and Paul Nathanson state that feminist calls for equality or even equity are often a subterfuge for gynocentrism. The term gynocentrism is derived from Ancient Greek, γυνή and κέντρον, Γυνή can be translated as woman or female, but also as wife. In Ancient Greek compounds with γυνή, the stem γυναικ- is normally used and this stem can be spotted in the genitive case γυναικός, and in the older form of the nominative case γύναιξ. In Ancient Greek, no compounds are known to exist with γυνή that start with γυνο- or γυνω-. The Ancient Greek word κέντρον can be translated as sharp point, sting, point of a spear and stationary point of a pair of compasses, the meaning centre/middle point is preserved in the Latin word centrum, a loanword from Ancient Greek. The English word centre is derived from the Latin centrum, the word κέντρον is derived from the verb κεντεῖν, meaning to sting, to prick, to goad, and to spur. Young and Paul Nathanson state that ideologically, the focus of gynocentrism is to prioritize females hierarchically. Feminist calls for equality or even equity are often, according to them, some post-modern feminists such as Nancy Fraser question the assumption of a stable concept of woman which underlies all gynocentrism. Scholars Paul Nathanson and Katherine K. Nathanson and Young add that This worldview is explicitly misandric too, because it not only ignores the needs and problems of men, sommers also writes that the presumption of objectivity ascribed to many gynocentrist theories has stifled feminist discourse and interpretation. As such, it can shade into what Rosalind Coward called womanism. a sort of popularized version of feminism which acclaims everything women do, androcentrism Gynocriticism Iris M. Young, Humanism, Gynocentrism and Feminist Politics Gynocentrism and its Cultural Origins Gynocentric Eco-Logics International Academy HAGIA, Matriarchy
35.
International Standard Book Number
–
The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
36.
Margot Adler
–
Margot Susanna Adler was an American author, journalist, lecturer, Wiccan priestess, and New York correspondent for National Public Radio. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Adler grew up mostly in New York City and she attended The High School of Music & Art in New York City. Her grandfather, Alfred Adler, was a noted Austrian Jewish psychotherapist, collaborator with Sigmund Freud, Adler received a bachelor of arts in political science from the University of California, Berkeley and a masters degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York in 1970. She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 1982, during the mid-1960s, Adler worked as a volunteer reporter for KPFA-FM, the Pacifica Radio station in Berkeley, California. After returning to New York City, she worked at its station, WBAI-FM, where, in 1972, she created the talk show Hour of the Wolf. Since 9/11, she focused much of her work on exploring the human factors in New York City, from the loss of loved ones, homes and jobs. She was the host of Justice Talking up until the show ceased production on July 3,2008 and she was a regular voice on Morning Edition and All Things Considered. She was also co-producer of a radio drama, War Day. Adler authored Drawing Down the Moon, a 1979 book about Neopaganism which was revised in 2006, the book is considered by some a watershed in American Neopagan circles, as it provided the first comprehensive look at modern nature-based religions in the US. For many years it was the introductory work about American Neopagan communities. Her second book, Heretics Heart, A Journey Through Spirit, Adler was a Wiccan priestess, an elder in the Covenant of the Goddess, and she also participated in the Unitarian Universalist faith community. In early 2011, Adler was diagnosed with cancer, which metastasized over the following three years. Adler died on July 28,2014 at the age of 68 and she remained virtually symptom-free until mid-2014. Adler was cared for in her final months by her son,1979 – Drawing Down the Moon, Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today. ISBN 1-889307-10-6 Margot Adler at the Internet Movie Database
37.
Ariadne
–
Ariadne, in Greek mythology, was the daughter of Minos, King of Crete, Son of Zeus and his queen Pasiphaë, daughter of Helios. She is mostly associated with mazes and labyrinths because of her involvement in the myths of the Minotaur and her father put her in charge of the labyrinth where sacrifices were made as part of reparations, later, she helped Theseus overcome the Minotaur and save the potential sacrificial victims. In other stories, she became the bride of the god Dionysus, since ancient Greek myths are passed down through oral tradition, many variations of this and other myths exist. According to an Athenian version of the legend, Minos attacked Athens after his son was killed there, the Athenians asked for terms, and were required to sacrifice seven young men and seven maidens to the Minotaur every seven or nine years. One year, the party included Theseus, the son of King Aegeus. Ariadne fell in love at first sight, and helped him by giving him a sword and a ball of thread, so that he could find his way out of the Minotaurs labyrinth. She eloped with Theseus after he achieved his goal, but according to Homer he had no joy of her, for ere that, Artemis slew her in seagirt Dia because of the witness of Dionysus. Homer does not expand on the nature of Dionysuss accusation, in Hesiod and most other accounts, Theseus abandoned Ariadne sleeping on Naxos, and Dionysus rediscovered and wedded her. The vase-painters of Athens often showed Athena leading Theseus from the sleeping Ariadne to his ship. With Dionysus, she was the mother of Oenopion, the personification of wine, Staphylus, Thoas, Peparethus, Phanus, Eurymedon, Enyeus, Ceramus, Maron, Euanthes, Latramys and her wedding diadem was set in the heavens as the constellation Corona Borealis. Ariadne remained faithful to Dionysus but was killed by Perseus at Argos. In other myths she hanged herself from a tree, like Erigone and the hanging Artemis, some scholars have posited, due to her thread-spinning and winding associations, that she was a weaving goddess, like Arachne, supporting this theory with the mytheme of the Hanged Nymph. Dionysus descended into Hades and brought her and his mother Semele back and they then joined the gods in Olympus. Karl Kerenyi and Robert Graves theorize that Ariadne was a Great Goddess of Crete, Kerenyi notes a Linear B inscription from Knossos, to all the gods, honey. To the mistress of the honey in equal amounts, suggesting to him that the Mistress of the Labyrinth was a Great Goddess in her own right. Professor Barry Powell has suggested she was Minoan Cretes Snake Goddess, in a kylix by the painter Aison Theseus drags the Minotaur from a temple-like labyrinth, but the goddess who attends him, in this Attic representation, is Athena. Theseus, attempting to secure the ship, was swept out to sea. The Cypriote women cared for Ariadne, who died in childbirth and was memorialized in a shrine, Theseus, overcome with grief upon his return, left money for sacrifices to Ariadne and ordered two cult images, one of silver and one of bronze, set up
.png)
