We are going to have so much fun this summer!  I get back to Seattle in time for Litha on June 23rd, and am staying till Lammas.  I will be teaching the Wiccan Seminary Freshman CoreSeries on Saturday starting at noon, before ritual.  I hope you can join us.  As a special offering for the members of the Mother Church, there will be no charge for these classes.  More information coming.

 –Belladonna Laveau, Archpriestess

Summer Itinerary

 JUNE 23rd: Litha Celebration –– 7:30 pm

Wicca 101/2/3 – Accelerated Wicca – Part 1: Noon – 4:30pm

• Relative Truth, Grounding, Religion v/s Spirituality
• Personal Responsibility & Karma, Sacred Energy, The History of Witchcraft
• Creating your own Reality, and Manifesting your Will, Shielding, Understanding Thought-forms
• Connecting with your Patron God/dess, Channeling, The Power of Myth

 JUNE 30th: Full Moon –- 7:30 pm

Wicca 101/2/3 – Accelerated Wicca – Part 2:  Noon – 4:30pm

• The Human Energy Field, Seeing Auras, The nature of Dis-ease
• Reincarnation, Space, Time and the Eternal Now, Past Life Regression, Utilizing Past Life Information
• Celebrating the Sabbats, Harmonizing with the Seasons, Turning the Wheel
• Celebrating the Moons, Recognizing Patterns, The Path of the Initiate

JULY 14th:  Pan Dark Moon Ritual –- 7:30 pm

Ritual 101 – Creating Sacred Space – Part 1:  Noon – 4:30pm

• Creating your Personal Temple /Clearing Negative Energy
• Sacred Tools/ Blessing and Consecrating
• The Power of the Circle/ Casting
• The Four Elements/Calling the Quarters

JULY 28th: Lammas Celebration and Drum Circle –- 7:30 pm

Ritual 101 – Creating Sacred Space – Part 2:  Noon – 4:30pm

• The God and The Goddess/Balance and Polarity
• Invoking Deity/ Drawing Down the Moon
• The Eight Paths of Power/ Raising Energy and Directing Power
• Letting the Magic Work/Cakes and Wine and Banishing

When & What time:  May 19th, 7:30pm

Where:  Mother Church, Index, WA.

HPS: Sydney          HP: Russ

Potluck Dinner after the Ritual…

Donations accepted but NOT required, all are welcome!!

We hope to see you all there!!

Russell Maughan

ATC-3rd Degree Priest

Ritual Coordinator

Syleena@staff.wiccanseminary.us

Image via Wikipedia

Festival Registration for SMF XXVII is now Open!

We are pleased to announce the opening of Pre-Registration for this years Spring Mysteries Festival, held on April 5th – 8th, 2012 at
Fort Flagler State Park, Nordland Wa.

The Spring Mysteries Festival is a recreation of the Eleusinian Mysteries, the ancient initiatory rites of classical Greek Paganism which were conducted in secrecy for over two thousand years before the common era. The ATC brings you this continuing initiatory cycle, now in its 27th year of continuous presentation, including the Rites of Passage for youngsters coming into their adulthood in our community; and the Adult Affirmation of Path, for those new to the path.

For more details, please visit our Home Page for this event:

http://www.aquatabch.org/spring-mysteries-festival

You can read all about our annual event, you can download a copy of our registration form for submission via Postal Service -or- you can submit your pre-registration and fees all online through our Self-Registration forms. Online Fee Processing services provided by PayPal.

If you have any questions about Pre-Registration you can submit them to our Festival Registration team at festivals@aquatabch.org

Reserve your place early because space goes fast! Looking forward to seeing you there!

Be a part of the official voice of the ATC!

Your responsibilities would include:

• Authoring articles of interest to Pagans and Wiccans in the ATC community.
• Editing articles written by others.
• Laying out articles using Microsoft Publisher 2010 for the printable newsletter.
• Coordinating with regular contributors and ATC Affiliates all over the world.
• Assist in posting to Panegyria.com!

What you get in return:

• Glorious gratitude from the community!
• To work with the movers and shakers of our community.
• Your words and thoughts going out to people all over the world.
• To be a valuable member of an intimate team.
• To re-imagine what Panegyria could be.
• (I’m trying to get us to be eligable for Beads and Cords as well!)

If you are interested, contact the editor, Jamie: crowtarotlady@hotmail.com with “Panegyria” in the subject line. Thank you for your time and attention!

     I came to Wiccan Seminary just over a year ago.  At that time, I was trying to learn what I could about Wicca.  What exactly was it?  Why did it interest me?  How did it seem to fit with the beliefs engendered in me, having been raised Southern Baptist?  Could the two religions mesh together and, if so, how?  In the forefront of my mind, I had no intentions of becoming a Witch.  I had no intentions of turning away from Christianity.  I just wanted to learn.  I wanted to understand what was it about both Christianity and Wicca that seemed to go together, work together, in the bigger picture of things.
Lady Bella found me and introduced me to the Woolston-Steen Theological Seminary through its online school, www.WiccanSeminary.edu.  At first I was skeptical and hesitant.  After all, I had no intentions of becoming a Wwitch, much less a Priestess of Wicca, or a member of clergy of any religion.   After thinking it over and contacting Bella again, I decided to take the plunge.  What could it hurt?  It was not like I would be bound forever in the seminary.  I could check out the classes, and if it wasn’t for me, I could always drop out.  Just maybe… I might actually learn something.
I enrolled in the seminary’s orientation class, Standing at the Gate.  That class opened my eyes to new worlds.  It was truly the gateway to Wicca, as well as my introduction to the online world of Second Life.  This orientation class convinced me that the courses being taught at Wiccan Seminary were worthwhile.  I could learn what I wanted to learn without necessarily committing to becoming a cleric.  I could learn what Wicca was without giving up what I believed in.

Image via Wikipedia

Since enrolling as a student at Wiccan Seminary, I have learned many things.  I have learned that Wicca is a nature-based fertility religion that celebrates the mysteries of the seasons.  I have learned the energy of those seasons connects us all to the Universe.  I have learned that the core tenets of Wicca and the Christian beliefs to which I held are very similar.  My first course at the seminary reaffirmed my beliefs that time and reality are relative, it all depends on how one looks at things.  I have learned that Wicca is very much a religion of action and empowerment.
In addition to learning Wiccan theory and philosophy, I have learned new skills as well.  I have learned how to connect my energy to that of the earth and the universe, which connects me to all that is.  I have learned how to draw energy from those same sources and manipulate it for healing and protection.  I have even learned I can throw fireballs; how cool is that!  I was amazed to learn that not only could I read another person’s aura, but that it could be done over the computer without face-to-face contact.
One experience from the Wicca 101/102/103 course really blew me away.  I have believed for a long time that I have lived multiple lives and am an Old Soul.  However, I never had a concrete reason to believe it.  It has been simply a deep-in-the gut knowing.  Through the Past Life Regression lesson of this series of courses, I now have knowledge of one of those lives.  While it took months for it all to unfold, the day the memories initially began left me feeling as if I had been run over by a steamroller.  Needless to say, it was a bit traumatic to remember being brutally, heinously, callously killed in the name of battle and loyalty.  The lesson in it I needed to know was not in the short life of the teenager that I do not remember, but in the death I remembered that day.  The mortal injuries I received have provided an explanation for the birth defect in my lung and a reason why my body is as it is.  That has been an emotional challenge to accept.
However, that was not all that Goddess wanted me to know.  I later learned that not only did I agree to return to life with those injuries and scars, but also to give one of the people responsible for those injuries an opportunity for karmic redemption.  I have worked hard to bring closure to that circle.  Indeed, it is part of my lesson to forgive, to love, and to let go of the anger and bitterness.  I have made efforts to bring about healing, both to me and to the other person involved, but I know that it will be ongoing.  This has been a life-changing experience for me, one that rocked me to the core.
Outside of the classroom, I am learning other ongoing, life changing lessons.  Thanks to Wiccan Seminary, I am now part of a beautiful online community of Pagans on Second Life.  Through the friendships I have made, I am learning daily the power of judgment, gratitude, and compassion.  Goddess is currently teaching me how to be compassionate without that judgment.  Thanks to two very special friends, I am learning to open up once again to other people after many years of being closed off and withdrawn.  I am learning that it is okay to love and trust.  Happiness and hurt are two sides to the coin of love and trust.  To experience one, I have to experience and embrace the other.
As the year winds down and the wheel has turned to the dark half, I am learning the lessons of the season of death.  I am learning that all of those lessons throughout the year have been leading me to where I am today.  Today, I stand in darkness, preparing to be reborn.  The past is gone.  It is time to let go of it.  Time to let go of bitterness carried forth from a previous life.  Time to let go of anger, resentment, and remaining hurts from a marriage that ended a decade ago.  I am learning that I still harbor those negative energies I thought I had gotten over.  It is time to let go of withholding love from myself and others because I am afraid of being hurt again.  It is time to shed the skin of the past.  I cannot move forward and grow as long as I am holding tightly to those things.
A year has gone by.  In that year, I have begun to learn the theory and science of the Wiccan religion.  I have learned amazing skills, with many more to come.  I now more fully understand that we are all connected.  We are all here to learn lessons, or to teach them.  I have reaffirmed a belief that no matter the deity being worshiped, they are all one and the same.  I see that it matters not what name or label is placed on the constructs and methods of religion.  It is the spirituality that comes from within that is key.  I know now I am not turning away from anything to follow this path.  Rather, I am balancing, embracing, and expanding what is within me.  I have learned that regardless of my initial intentions, I am Witch.

_______________________

 

The ATC World Headquarters in Index welcomed about 35 people for an intimate family gathering in the new dining hall. Together we celebrated the reign of the Holly King and prepared to welcome the Oak King. With the emphasis on family, chosen family, and friends we celebrated over a vast quantity of food, including two hams donated by the church, and a variety of potluck dishes.

The dining hall was warm and cheery as we exchanged gifts of ritual items which we no longer had use for, and then Pete, dressed in the traditional Santa-like red and whites delivered them to us. We even had a few gifts extra for the folks who had not brought anything to exchange. The kids got candy while the adults exchanged old tarot decks, candles, altar items, and even items with a little history to the owner were passed on for others to enjoy.

This was the first time our ATC family has gathered explicitly in the fully completed dining hall for a ritual. The Yule Feast had all the pleasantry of a housewarming and family reunion. We even had a few new faces, which we welcomed with much hullabaloo.

The staff at the ATC are committed to putting on at least one ritual a month at the World Headquarters in Index for the coming year. Stay tuned to the announcement list for the latest happenings and events!

In 2005, when I got emails and photos of December in Guanajuato, I was startled, because people were walking, talking, visiting, and enjoying the lights and other decorations. No one was burdened with shopping bags. No one appeared to be hurrying someplace. I was told fireworks were popular and home visits. Gifts were not common among adults or children.

After moving to Guanajuato in 2008, I learned that December 12^th, the Day of the Virgin, fireworks begin at 5am and last for a month. Yes, that is true in our village. Night and day from December 12^th through mid January (this year it is the 15^th) there are fireworks going off night and day one narrow house lot from our home .

“Las Posadas” begins on December 16^th to the 24^th of December – nine nights of chanting and walking all over the neighborhood. Wikipedia says: The procession has been a tradition in Mexico for 400 years. The procession goes from house to house looking for a place for the Christ child to be welcomed in. All ages join in and are a major part of the event.

For many years I have felt that religion is the way we mortals find value in ourselves. By knowing that something omnipresent and divine loves us, we are able to cope. In rural Mexico I see this reality in every aspect of life, but most clearly at Christmas and Easter. The native people live with almost no assets in a hopeless economic situation and yet they continue to function. I believe it is because they have deep faith. Personally, I prefer to observe these sincere expressions of faith, than to dodge cars and people in the USA in an egocentric attempt to outspend each other.

Dr. Jacqueline Zaleski Mackenzie is the first researcher to permanently relocate to an indigenous village in Central Mexico.

Mackenzie’s goal was to figure out why 49 percent of Hispanic students failed to graduate in the USA.

Mackenzie conducted research in rural Mexico beginning in 2005. She has combined the information she gathered: scientific research, statistical analysis, and personal exploits to produce an easy-to-read textbook titled Empowering Spanish Speakers – Answers for Educators, Business People, and Friends of Latinos.

Dr. Mackenzie’s book is evidenced-based, based on scientific research. Her approach is that by emphasizing teaching techniques that bring out the highest learning results and engagement for Latinos, more Latino students will graduate from school.

The book is owned by the nonprofit Summerland Corp. Therefore, book sales funds building rural libraries in Mexico that should reduce emigration from Mexico (making both sides of the political fence

happy).

We are pleased to announce auditions for the 2012 Spring Mysteries Festival XXVII!

SMF AUDITIONS WILL BE HELD ON

SUNDAY DECEMBER 4TH, 2011
12:00 Noon – 4:00 pm

Place: Seattle Center House
4th Floor, Room TBA (room number will be posted when you arrive).

Audition Pieces should be between 2-3 minutes in length – the 3-minute limit will be strictly enforced!

IMPORTANT: Please be aware that in order to be considered for a cast position in SMF 2012, you must have attended the Greater Mysteries at least once.

Thank you for your interest – we look forward to seeing you at auditions!

Scott Douglas
Ritual Director, SMF XXVII