Imbolc 1999 Newsletter Visit by Phyllis Curott Author of Book of Shadows, June 1999 Reviewed By Adrianne Harris

Phyllis Curott gave a short talk to a captivated audience at the Adyar Bookshop in early June, as part of her world tour promoting her new book "Book of Shadows". The book is presented as a work of fiction and is geared towards describing the experiental side of Witchcraft as opposed to the mechanistic view of spells and ingredients. Phyllis’ aim was to give the solitary witch, or new explorer an idea of the ‘sensation’ of witchcraft, of the experience and feeling involved. It is her opinion that some books tell you to get ingredients, correspondences, clothes, ritual tools, etc... but forget to tell you how to tap into the feeling and emotion needed. She felt there was not enough descriptions of communion with the divine.

Her biography states: "An attorney and Wiccan priestess for almost 20 years, H.Ps. Phyllis Curott is author of the recently published and highly praised Book of Shadows: A Modern Woman's journey into the Wisdom of Witchcraft and the Magic of the Goddess (Broadway Books). She has just been honored by Jane Magazine, along with Hilary Clinton, as one of the Ten Gutsiest Women of 1998. A social and spiritual activist, H.Ps. Curott has been widely profiled in the national media as an advocate of the rights of Wiccan practitioners. She successfully fought both the City of New York, winning the right for Wiccan clergy to perform legal marriages, and the city of Chicago, securing the right of Wiccans to perform a public Goddess ritual in a city park.

H.Ps. Curott is President Emerita of the Covenant of the Goddess, the oldest and largest international religious organization in the Wiccan tradition of the Old Religion of Europe. H.Ps. Curott worked with the Covenant and other Wiccan organizations for their broadscale participation in the Parliament of the World's Religions, a centennial Interfaith gathering of 7,000 religious leaders held in 1993. Ms. Curott addressed the Parliament as a keynote speaker, also conducting workshops and rituals. As a member of the United Nations' NGO Committee on the Status of Women, she participated in the planning of the UN's Beijing Forum on the Status of Women and was invited to address the Forum on the topic of the status of women and the world's religions. H.Ps. Curott is founder of the New York City-based Circle of Ara, a weekly training circle for priestesses and priests, with one of the largest Wiccan congregations in the U.S. She is an international speaker whose lectures and workshops were described by New York Magazine as one of the hippest and intellectually cutting edge in New York City. Curott has served as a guest minister at the U.U. Church in New York City and conducted many large scale public rituals in association with the Church, the City of New York, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the New York Open Center, and the City of New York. H.Ps. Curott received her B.A. in philosophy from Brown University and her Juris Doctor from New York University School of Law. Ms. Curott continues to practice law in New York City. As an attorney with long standing service to civil liberties, she donates her time to cases of religious discrimination. A past member of the Board of Directors of the Rhode Island Chapter of the A.C.L.U., Ms. Curott began her legal career combatting the influence of organized crime in labor unions as the legal director of the Association for Union Democracy, for PROD, a workers' safety advocacy organization begun by Ralph Nader, and for Teamsters for a Democratic Union, a rank and file reform organization. She continues to serve on the Advisory Board of the Association for Union Democracy."

Phyllis and her husband Bruce, also joined with myself, some committee members from the Pagan Awareness Network, and a representative from Applegrove for dinner and a chat about Wicca and Paganism in Australia. Phyllis has the unique opportunity of being able to span the gap between the ‘mainstream’ world, and the Pagan world and explain and educate people in the wider world about the principles and ideas behind Wicca. She will return later in the year to present some workshops at the Mind, Body, Spirit festival, as well as some smaller workshops. Details will be in PAN when we know them.

Her book is available through Adyar and other good bookstores. A review will be posted in PAN when I’ve had a chance to read it, or one of our members offers their review of the book!

Phyllis also has a web site, which can be viewed at: http://www.bookofshadows.net She invites and welcomes people to leave comments in the guest book, especially comments about Wicca in your own country.