by: Rick Johnson 
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
RikJohnson@juno.com
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*Updated 7-31-1999
TODAYS NEWS
Well, I signed the contracts yesterday. Starting September 28, 1999 I will be doing
the next session of Wicca- An Introduction. These are an eight week session of
classes about Wicca that are open to the public. See the Classes
section for more info.
This is NOT the usual class that gives one hour on religion then pads the rest of the
session with spells and rituals. Rather, I don't teach or do magick or rites and concentrate
on teaching the truth about Wicca.
To date, more than one coven has sent their members to the class for basic training
in the religion. Police have taken the class to find out more about these Witches who
they may meet some night under the Full Moon. The media have sent reporters for
accurate info on Witchcraft. Parents and spouses and friends have attended the class to
learn what their loved ones are involved in. Seekers take the class to locate contacts and
people who are just curious take the class to learn something different.
In short, this is a massive Public Relations effort that I have been doing yearly since
1982 with considerable success.
So, if you are interested in helping out, let me know. I can use more guest speakers,
slides, photos, displays, books, handouts and information on anything Craft related.
7-24-99
My daughter, Cerridwen (Yes, that IS her legal name) has been
subscribing to a number of e-groups for pagan kids. Like all children, she is trying to
find herself and her relation to religion. And like many kids, she subs to various e-groups
to share her feelings nad questions.
Unfortunatly, it seems that these e-groups are taken over by the older kids who
disregard the views of the younger.
Also, so many of these e-groups degenerate into "What kind of love spell can I do
to get "that boy/girl" I want today." And so there are dozens of made-up spells flooding
the group to leave no room for serious discussion.
And finally, the internet is filled with creeps of both genders who troll for young
meat on the teen sites.
So, Cerridwen has created her own e-group for teens who are trying to find a place
to discuss what it means to be a teen pagan in a xian world. Or what it's like to have
pagan parents. Or just to have someone to talk to who understands.
So, she has asked me to advertise her site on my sites, which I gladly do. She states that
she will delete inappropriate comments and I should add that I am a very protective
(some say psycho. I don't know why? Just because I popped some college kid's arm
out of his socket when he persisted in grabbing my kid... well, I warned him first)
and the Rede doesn't apply to me when I am worried about my children.
So if you have teens who may be interested, her site is:
Teen Witch at
http://www.egroups.com/group/teenwitch/info.html
Next thing is that I am working on a few projects. I've put together a 'public pagan' booklet which is little more than four articles by people more experienced than me on certain subjects. The topics are: 1) How to relate to the media, 2) How to deal with the police, 3) How to deal with Child Protective Services and 4) How to find a lawyer to solve #2 & 3. All articles are copyright by the authors but well worth reading BEFORE you get into that situation.
The next project is that I am currently reducing my PR books from 75+ pages to a more managable dozen. I created those PR Books to deal with the media, the military and the police but copy costs are forcing me to reduce size. When done, I'll post them here for all to use.
Ever since 1982, I have been teaching a public class on the basics of Wicca. NOT
Gardnerian Wicca but generic Traditional Wicca. NOT 'How to be a Witch' but 'What a
Witch is'. I've supported the lectures with slides, handouts, displays and guests from
other Traditions.
Unfortunatly, last Summer something happened that made me re-think my public
activities. Now I am trying to decide if I should continue to educate the public or just
walk away.
SO, I would like an opinion poll. Feel free to send your comments to me via e-mail
or snail mail or to the TAWN link or to the Traditional and Gardnerian Wicca Forum
listed in the links below.
The question I am asking myself is, "Am I actually making a difference or am I
simply wasting my time playing ego-trip?
We will all go through a crisis of faith eventually. Well, my crisis is not of faith
but of humanity.
P.S. My daughter, Cerridwen just got her camo belt promotion in Tae Kwan Do and we bought a canoe for camping.
The following message was found on the AOL-Gardnerian board. Please read it
THEN my comment after.
******begin message*****
Date: Fri, Oct 16, 1998
From: (name deleted at the authors request)
It *has* been argued that Gerald was not a Gardnerian....
As a Gardnerian myself, I can say that most of us feel he obviously was not a
Gardnerian.
*****end message******
Since the writer doesn't believe that either Gardner or Valiente are Gardnerians,
would he allow them in one of his Circles?
So I am asking for a poll. Please pass this poll onto as many Gardnerians as you
can by as many methods as you can. E-mail or snail-mail me your vote and I will print
the results.
#1)Do you believe that Gerald Gardner and Doreen Valiente are Gardnerians?
#2) Would you, as a Gardnerian Witch and keeping in mind your oaths, allow either
in your Circle?
Please, only Gardnerians vote on this but, as always, the opinions of everyone matter
to me. You can e-mail or snail-mail them to me or post them on my Gardnerian Forum
listed in the links below.
My youngest child, Cerridwen, (yes, that IS her legal name) got promoted in her Tae-
Kwon-Do class to Orange belt. I took the day off work to watch her test and was very
proud of her. But she is a natural jock as well as being a nerd like her father. One day
some kid at school was bothering her as she was casually tossing and catching a
softball... until he realized that that softball was a 15 lb shot put and that she could give
him a 25 foot head start and still peg him in the back of the head. She is also an honor
student and plans to be a forensic pathologist because she won't have to work on her
communication skills.
So how does this relate to Wicca? Not much other than the most important Tool a
witch has is NOT their Athame but their library card. Knowledge is power and the
ability to think is vital in Traditional Wicca. And as magick is a difficult subject to learn
because of the lack of feedback, I find that martial arts gives me that edge. Ki is
magickal energy. If you can channel one, you can the other.
WARNINGSome years ago, I had an account with aol. I cancelled it for a
number of reasons, the best being my ex-wife and the ex-con she dumped me for were
working for aol and somehow, people reported getting mail from my e-mail account that
I never sent. So I cancelled my aol account and was told, as are all aol-people, that my e-
mail name could NEVER be used again.
Guess what? Aol re-issued my old e-mail address and the holder refuses to respond
or have a profile. So, if you ever get any mail form me, remember that I have exactly
THREE e-mail accounts. RikJohnson@juno.com which I have used exclusivly since my
divorce, RLJohn@flash.net which I use for attachments and DesertHenge@juno.com
which I took over after the coven disbanded.
If anyone ever gets any mail from 'me' from anything other than these three
addresses, it isn't me. Please forward it to me for proper legal action as there are wiccans
out there with internet access who don't have much integrity.
I have finally bottled the ten gallons of Mead that I brew occasionally. I now have some
4 dozen bottles of the stuff which will be ready to drink at Beltane, 1999. (note that I
prefer to let it age at least a year before drinking)
Last month at the Tucson Area Wiccan Network's annual Fall Festival, I donated
two bottles, one for the raffle and one for the auction. The auction bottle went for $40.
Quite a compliment and it wasn't even my Lust potion Mead.
So, if anyone wants to help me drink it around Beltane, let me know. Bring pizza.
To contact me or to request topics to be covered, send to RikJohnson@juno.com
by: Rick Johnson
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
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