Church attacks pagan event BY JAMES HORE March 20, 2003 06:43 A GROUP of pagans have called for respect and tolerance after church leaders in Essex attacked their religion, claiming it can put people in “great danger”. The warning from the Bishop of Chelmsford, who is leader of the Church of England in Essex, came after Colchester pagans arranged to meet to celebrate the start of spring at the Shrub End Centre in the town. The Right Reverend John Perry claimed the Pagan practices were contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ and should be avoided by all Christian people. In a statement, he said: “People who dabble with the occult and pagan practices - from tarot readings and Ouija boards to witchcraft and magic - are exposing themselves to great danger. “Many people have been drawn into the world of the 'New Age Pagans' feeling that it is an innocent spirituality based on respect for the earth and nature, whilst being unaware of the deep psychological damage which can be caused to individuals by some of the more sinister practices of pagan and Wiccan organisations.” Vicar of the Shrub End Parish, the Revd Chris Newlands, said if the festival went ahead he would be in church praying for the community. “There is an element where they take things like Wicker and it can become dangerous and can lead people into a sort if abusive behaviour and that can cause psychological damage. “I have got nothing against people who have respect for the earth and the seasons but the problem though with paganism as a term is that it can involves a lot of other grouping including Satanism and Wicker.” He added he was mainly concerned about the use of Ouija boards and spell casting, a practice that he claimed would be taking place at the Shrub End Centre. But yesterday, Colchester pagan Carole Morse, who is training to become a High Priestess, said people would never be forcefully converted to the religion which celebrates the earth and the seasons. “I don't believe in the Ouija boards and I am sure that if spirits are out there, they have got better things to do than play silly games on the board. “We have a saying which is 'Do what thou whilt as long as thou harm none' and look at the new Archbishop of Canterbury who is practicing the beliefs of live and let live,” she said. She added she did read Tarot cards but had never made any money from the practice, other than for charity. Another member of the Colchester Pagans said the church's views showed a great misunderstanding of the faith. Diane Firmin of Stanway said: “It just makes me so sad, it really does make me sad, all we are asking for is for toleration. We don't want confrontation and problems, just understanding and a realisation that there is nothing evil about paganism. “I cannot understand why some people in Colchester are so intolerant - they will understand Islam, Hinduism but not this.” She said she hoped to meet with members of the church to discuss their fears about the religion.

It's now cool to be a witch Feb 26 2003 By Catherine Turnell Witches have shaken off 2,000 years of bad press to become a positive symbol of female power in TV and film, says a Warwick University researcher. Gone is the image of old, stooped women casting evil spells in pointy hats. The word witch is more likely to be synonymous with powerful fresh-faced young women. In fact, the image of witchcraft has shaken off its murky past and is now decidedly feminine and cool. Rachel Moseley, lecturer in film and television studies, says the shift can be seen in TV shows such as Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed or films The Craft and Practical Magic. In her paper Glamorous Witchcraft, Moseley says programmes like Sabrina are positive, giving girls power fantasies, while the magic also helps the lead character deal with school and romantic entanglements. She said: "With the exception of Harry Potter, celluloid representations of witches are still typically female. "Historically, witches have been outcasts and much of this unease clearly stems from a fear of female force. The teenage witch genre articulates a new powerful image of femininity. It's not that the hag and herb potions have become hip, rather witchcraft has become synonymous with power and girlie magic." The paper will be published in Screen magazine.

Hazardous Essential Oils The list shown below contains essential oils that should not be used in aromatherapy without the express administration by a qualified aromatherapy practitioner. Many should not even be used by a qualified practitioner. Do not assume that an oil is safe to use if it is not on this list. Ajowan Trachyspermum copticum Almond, Bitter Prunus dulcis var. amara Arnica Arnica Montana Birch, Sweet Betula lenta Boldo Leaf Peumus boldus Broom, Spanish Spartium junceum Calamus Acorus calamus var. angustatus Camphor Cinnamomum camphora Deertongue Carphephorus odoratissimus Garlic Allium sativum Horseradish Armoracia rusticana Jaborandi Pilocarpus jaborandi Melilotus Melilotus officinalis Mugwort Artemisia vulgaris Mustard Brassica nigra Onion Allium cepa Pennyroyal Mentha pulegium Rue Ruta graveolens Sassafras Sassafras albidum Thuja Thuja occidentalis Wintergreen Gaultheria procumbens Wormseed Chenopodium ambrosioides var. anthelminticum Wormwood Artemisia absinthiu http://www.aromaweb.com/

TRUE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIAN "FISH" SYMBOL MIGHT OUTRAGE, SHOCK JESUS WORSHIPPERS Source: http://www.atheists.org/flash.line/hawaii2.htm Modern day Christians claim that their "fish" logo, the Ichthus, dates back to the early days of faith. But this symbol is much older, and has pagan origins rooted in fertility and earth goddess worship Web Posted: March 26, 1999 For many pop-culture Christians, the "fish" decal on the back car bumper, or attached to a key chain or door is a symbol of their religion, and a feel-good statement about Jesus Christ. Early Christians used the fish as a recognition sign of their religion. It is also identified as the "Ichthus," an acronym from the Greek, "Lesous Christos Theou Uios Soter," or "Jesus Christ the Son of God, Saviour." Oxford English Dictionary (C.E.) defines "Ichthyic" as "of, pertaining to, or characteristic of fishes; the fish world in all its orders." But contemporary Jesus worshippers might be surprised, even outraged, to learn that one of their preeminent religious symbols antedated the Christian religion, and has its roots in pagan fertility awareness and sexuality. Barbara G. Walker writes in "The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects," that the acronym pertaining to Jesus Christ was a "rationale invented after the fact... Christians simply copied this pagan symbol along with many others." Ichthys was the offspring son of the ancient Sea goddess Atargatis, and was known in various mythic systems as Tirgata, Aphrodite, Pelagia or Delphine. The word also meant "womb" and "dolphin" in some tongues, and representations of this appeared in the depiction of mermaids. The fish also a central element in other stories, including the Goddess of Ephesus (who has a fish amulet covering her genital region), as well as the tale of the fish that swallowed the penis of Osiris, and was also considered a symbol of the vulva of Isis. Along with being a generative and reproductive spirit in mythology, the fish also has been identified in certain cultures with reincarnation and the life force. Sir James George Frazer noted in his work, "Adonis, Attis, Osiris: Studies in the History of Oriental Religion" (Part Four of his larger work, "The Golden Bough") that among one group in India, the fish was believed to house a deceased soul, and that as part of a fertility ritual specific fish is eaten in the belief that it will be reincarnated in a newborn child. Well before Christianity, the fish symbol was known as "the Great Mother," a pointed oval sign, the "vesica piscis" or Vessel of the Fish. "Fish" and "womb" were synonymous terms in ancient Greek,"delphos." Its link to fertility, birth, feminine sexuality and the natural force of women was acknowledged also by the Celts, as well as pagan cultures throughout northern Europe. Eleanor Gaddon traces a "Cult of the Fish Mother" as far back as the hunting and fishing people of the Danube River Basin in the sixth millennium B.C.E. Over fifty shrines have been found throughout the region which depict a fishlike deity, a female creature who "incorporates aspects of an egg, a fish and a woman which could have been a primeval creator or a mythical ancestress..." The "Great Goddess" was portrayed elsewhere with pendulous breasts, accentuated buttocks and a conspicuous vaginal orifice, the upright "vesica piscis" which Christians later adopted and rotated 90-degrees to serve as their symbol. Along with the fish used as a code sign for early Christian communities, the ichthys also found its way into the ritual and decor of church rites. One case in point is the church mitre worn by prelates. Where did this originate? Dr. Thomas Inman discussed this phenomenon in his two volume opus, "Ancient Faiths Embodied in Ancient Names," (1869). He included a representation of a sculpture from Mesopotamia, observing "It is the impression of an ancient gem, and represents a man clothed with a fish, the head being the mitre; priests thus clothed, often bearing in their hand the mystic bag..." "In almost every instance," added Inman, "it will be recognized that the fish's head is represented as of the same form as the modern bishop's mitre." The fish also appears in another sacred iconograph, the Avatars of Vishnu, where the deity "is represented as emerging from the mouth of a fish, and being a fish himself; the legend being that he was to be the Saviour of the world in a deluge which was to follow..." From its focus of worshipping a god-man born of a virgin to the selection of holidays and symbols, Christianity appropriated the metaphors of earlier pagan religions, grafting them into its own account of the creation and beyond. Few Jesus worshippers are aware of this. Even fewer know that when they flaunt the "Ichthus" or Ichthys on a tee-shirt, car bumper or even the door of a state legislative office as a representation which originated in Christianity, they are in fact, displaying a more ancient symbol indicative of female anatomy and reproductive potency -- the very sign of the Great Mother.