Amsterdam 27-07-09: Witchcraft Workshop and Midsummer Sabbat

June 27, 2009

The Witches and Wizards of the Silverblood Tradition proudly announce the „Witchcraft Workshop and Midsummer Sabbat Celebration” this coming June, in Amsterdam (Sloterpark).

First, we are planning on holding a lecture-workshop on the basics of Witchcraft. Our approach is free-spirited, but very serious at the same time – we guarantee that you will get some new insight and information, even if you’ve read a hundred books on Witchcraft before.

The lecture is going to serve as a preparation to the ritual ahead. We are going to learn some songs, talk about how to prepare for a ritual, and also, what Midsummer means, what it signifies in our lives, and in nature.

The event is being organized in English, but hopefully there will be Dutch translation as well.

For more information, we recommend to visit our website at http://Witchblood.org, or go directly to the English page at http://TheWicca.ning.com. Unfortunately our sites are now only available in English and Hungarian, but we are working on the Dutch site as well, as we speak.

If you want to come, please RSVP Cornelius (witchblood.org::at::gmail.com) before 18/06/09. We will disclose the exact location to those who sign up.

We hope to see you at our meeting, and have a great time together, and with the Gods.

Blessed Be!

(Oh yes, the event is totally free, that goes without saying.)

***

Juni 27, 2009

De Heksen van de Zilverbloed Traditie organiseren een Hekserij workshop en Midzomer Sabbat viering in juni, in Amsterdam (Sloterpark).

Eerst zullen wij een lezing houden over de basis van Hekserij. Onze aanpak is gezellig maar ook serieus tegelijk – we garanderen dat je nieuwe inzichten en informatie krijgt, zelfs wanneer je honderden boeken over Hekserij hebt gelezen.

De lezing is een voorbereiding voor het ritueel daarna. Wij zullen wat liederen en chants leren en we zullen bespreken hoe we het ritueel gaan voorbereiden. Wij zullen ook stilstaan bij wat Midzomer betekent en hoe dat verhoudt in onze leven en te vinden is in de natuur.

Het evenement is georganiseerd in het Engels maar er is waarschijnlijk ook een Nederlandse vertaler beschikbaar.

Voor meer informatie adviseren we je om onze website te bezoeken: http://Witchblood.org, of ga direct naar de Engelse pagina op http://TheWicca.ning.com. Helaas zijn onze sites alleen nog in het Engels en in het Hongaars beschikbaar, maar we werken aan de Nederlandse site.

Als je wilt komen, meld je aan bij Cornelius (witchblood.org::at::gmail.com) voor 18/06/09. De precieze locatie wordt bekend gemaakt aan de personen die zich aanmelden

Wij hopen je te zien bij ons evenement.

Blessed Be!

(Oh ja, voordat ik het vergeet, het evenement is natuurlijk helemaal gratis!)

Failte Cornelius,

Congratulations, you have a very nice website.
I have looked at your website and I understood from it that you are not initiated into either the Gardnerian or Alexandrian Wiccan traditions.
That you and a number of other young people have instead decided to start up your own tradition. Your website made me curious could you please tell us something about it on the forum, its background, history, how it came into being, and why you have chosen the path of creating your own tradition.

Slainte Dagda

Or why there's a link to this movie on the home page: Featured Video - Naked Witchcraft - that makes me wonder. (No, I did not follow the link. I'm not very fond of all the movie links. I would like internet to last beyond 2012, if we do).

I think you must have seen that video before Jana? It really is worth watching. Don't be put off by the title.

Good luck, always good to see new initiatives for open outdoors celebrations!

WARNING

With regards to the website "witchblood. org" it has come to my attention that the place of residence (town & country) of members is being marked on the
"Witchblood Community Map".

Within the pagan community privacy is highly regarded.
The main complaint is that new members are not warned or given the opportunity to desist in being made visible.

Whilst PFI - in principle - supports all new pagan/ heathen intiatives - support will be withdrawn if civil rights are abused,
including "outing" and inciting to hatred.
Links to websites which clearly bring paganism into disrepute will also not be supported.

If you have any questions about PFI policy please contact me.

greetings,
Morgana

Dear Morgana,

Our website is an open interface, that anyone can access on the Internet. People who sign up recognize, that the profile they are setting up, along with all the information they are providing, are going to be accessible to everyone, who comes by. Upon signing up, it is voluntary to give at least the country where one is living - that is because of the networking nature of our website.

The map is merely using the information that the users are providing, to show it in a graphic manner. The same information can be accessed other ways through the website, as location data can be accessed on bigger sites, like on witchvox as well.

It is true however, that the map is in a developing phase, and despite the fact that it is only showing member data as given by the users, we are going to put up a direct link for users who want to remove their data from the map. They can already do that in fact, by contacting any of the administrators of the site.

Furthermore, upon signing up, members get this warning message:

"By signing up, your location data you are providing are going to be marked on the Witchblood Community Map, which is a public map on GoogleMaps to help user networking."

I don't see what you understand by having lnks to sites that bring Paganism to disrepute. We are also not inciting to hatred, that is against the nature of our site.

Blessed Be,

Cornelius

Dear Jana and Lotus,

Thank you for visiting! From time to time we are putting up videos on our site in order for people have deeper understanding about Paganism. The video "Naked Witchcraft" was created by National Geographic, and it is about the skyclad practice within our religion. Upon reviewing it, we found it to be quite reliable, and it truly shows skyclad as a sacred practice, and in my view, promotes understanding.

Blessed Be,

Cornelius

Since I understand the concern, I already put up a statement and a link to help to remove the listing from the map on the main page, under the map.

Blessed Be,

Cornelius

... and I made it possible to mark on the profile, if one wants to remove his/her listing. Thanks again for bringing this to my attention.

Upon second thought, I removed the map altogether. It is just not worth the trouble. You all have a nice day now.

Dear Dagda,

Thank you for taking interest, and for the nice words.

It is true, I am neither a Gardnerian nor an Alexandrian, although I greatly respect both of these Traditions.

I have been on the Wiccan path for 11 years now. Now if you look at my age, you may think that is outrageous, but it is the truth, the Craft has found me at a very early age.

From that point on I did a lot of research. Read tons of books, trained with a couple of people. The main thing to say about me is that I prefer more historically accurate books on magickal topics, rather then the modern Llewellyn ones (although there are a couple of nice ones among them as well). I especially have a high regard for the works of Agrippa, and magickal writings from the greaco-roman period of Egypt.

The Silverblood Tradition intends to be a western mystery tradition within contemporary Wicca. It emphasizes our heritage of Witches, and for that reason we are researching and drawing upon old, non-Wiccan Witchcraft sources as well (for example Stregheria, and Traditional Hungarian Witchcraft). I have found, that a lot of Wiccans today tend to keep a distance from the Witchcraft heritage, and claim to be Wiccans, and not Witches. While I respect that, in the Silverblood Tradition we are proud of our Legacy as Wiches. We regard magick to be both a Science and Art, so we try to use our heads, and heart as well. We listen to our intuition, and personal feelings, but respecting Tradition as well.

We define Witchcraft for our purposes as a "Lunar Religion, or Spiritual Path, that has magick at its heart". We have Five Principles that define our Path, based on the Elements (copied from our site):

1. Tradition - Earth

Tradition is like roots of a tree. It keeps us firm on the ground, gives us experiences of ages past. It is important to recognize and revere where we come from, and to make the ancient traditions flourish in our lives.

2. Evolution - Air

Evolution is like the branches of a tree. It is the purpose of existence, it is the counterpoint of Tradition that makes the "tree" a living organism, rather than a dead piece of wood. It is our duty to evolve, and to better ourselves, it is our responsibility to keep old traditions, but also, too root out those that are of no use to us anymore. This is the law of life.

3. Magick - Fire

Magick is at the heart of Witchcraft, it is essentially the element which defines it. We recognize that magick is in everything, it is most basic driving force behind Nature, the dynamic love of the God and the Goddess. Our religion is that of magick: we work to develop magickally, and by recogninzing the mysteries, to realize the Great Work.

4. Nature - Water

Nature is existence itself, and since Witchcraft is a nature-based religion, Witches have a reverence for nature. We believe that it is important to stay in touch with the spirits of nature, and that it leads us to better understand ourselves as well. A living connection with the Gods and spirits is also a central theme in the Craft, and in our Tradition it manifests itself in various ways: we hold our rituals mainly out in the forests and groves, and we fashion our tools by our own hands. We live so that every word is a prayer, and every movement is a ritual gesture of the Gods.

5. Balance and Harmony - Spirit

The Element of Spirit is twofold, and it manifests itself as the God and the Goddess, Hyrcus and Artemis. The fifth principle means, that the four principles work best if we keep them in balance and harmony. This is also our spiritual goal: to manifest balance and harmony in our lives.

So this is basically a good sum of it [Smile]

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me, and we would be happy to see you on our ritual!

Blessed Be,

Cornelius

Dear Morgana,

I would be grateful, if you made your warning dissapear, as it is no longer relevant. Thank you, and B*B!

These may be your opinions of what defines a witch, but they are not the opinions of all. Yet you say for instance that magic (or magick in the Crowley way) is the heart and element of witchcraft. For many Wiccans/witches the religous/sprituality side is more important. Magic is a tool to understanding the universe. For others like the Hedgewitch, shamanism and nature is the heart of their craft. There are many pathways within the Craft and I think it would be better if you emphasised that these are just your own opinions and that of your tradition, and not of all witches, and also that it a new tradition so as not to put anyone under any false illusions. I also agree with Saddie's comments on deity. Some pathways are polytheistic too!

B*B
Harmonia

Failte Cornelius,