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Internet Book of Shadows, (Various Authors), [1999], at sacred-texts.com


 
 
                    Editorial: Web of Wyrd number 10 
                             Julia Phillips
 
 During the Middle Ages, a great many men and women were put to death on
 charges of heresy. Nearly all of them were innocent of any crime; nearly
 all of them were guilty of no more than being a scapegoat for someone
 else's accusations and projected fears.
 
 Fortunately, today we have grown beyond such barbaric inhumanity - or
 have we?  As a race, have we truly evolved, or is humanity still groping
 around in a mire of discontent, seeking for victims on which to project
 its fears and failures?  If we consider the way in which the medieval
 witch was hunted, accused and held up to public condemnation, and then
 compare this process with the way in which modern society deals with its
 victims, then I would say that the human race has not evolved in the
 slightest.
 
 Consider: often for no reason other than he or she offended someone, a
 man or woman living in medieval Europe could be taken as a heretic, and
 with evidence (sic) being no more than hearsay, tried and found guilty
 of charges of which they were mostly entirely innocent. Their accusers
 were not interested in truth, but in judgement; and justice certainly
 had no role in their scenario.  To absolve themselves of any blame in
 this autocratic process, the accusers made sure that public opinion was
 swayed against the victim. How? By publishing details of the "crime"-
 (sic), which were then distributed to as wide an audience as possible.
 
 Students of English Literature will know of the enormous influence which
 the humble pamphlet cast on the population - which, despite high
 illiteracy, had sufficient numbers able to read aloud to a gathering in
 a town square. We all know how quickly rumour and innuendo spreads - any
 grapevine in any social group is proof positive of just how quickly
 information can passed along; and sadly, we all know that there need be
 no shred of truth in that information for it to be spoken about,
 considered, and accepted as fact.
 
 The medium of the pamphlet proved to be so efficient and effective that
 it developed, and in time became the newspaper, newsletter, and
 ultimately, the magazine. In all cases, the emphasis is upon the
 distribution of information to as large a number of people as possible.
 In all cases, those reading (or hearing) the information have a
 predilection to believe what they read to be the truth. Modern print is
 often no more truthful than that of a 16th century pamphlet, which might
 describe how a witch succumbed to the charms of the Devil, flew to the
 Sabbat riding on a goat, where she devoured unbaptised infants, and took
 part in many lewd and disgusting practices. Unfortunately though, having
 "read about it in the paper/magazine/leaflet..." most people assume that
 they are reading the truth, and are often willing to believe the worst.
 
 There are numerous examples of this process at work in modern society:
 in some countries, information is manipulated deliberately by politic-
 ians and journalists. In other countries - and I would include all of
 western civilisation in this - the manipulation is as pervasive, but
 less obvious. As the saying goes:  "you can believe nothing you read in
 the papers but the date, and they sometimes get that wrong".
 
 Unfortunately though, people do believe what they read in the papers,
 see on television, and hear on radio, just as our ancestors believed
 3017
 
 that the woman led screaming to her death was a concubine of the Devil,
 a devourer of babies, and that she copulated regularly with her cat, or
 other animals. We are quick to condemn the Christian Fundamentalist for
 spreading lies and propaganda, but what about the lies and propaganda
 spread by Pagans and occultists? It offends my intellect to read of
 claims by self-professed witches of traditions handed down since time
 immemorial, or of secret arcane traditions known only to an elect few,
 but it offends my sensibility that these people, claiming to be
 following a spiritual path,  have such contempt for Truth.
 
 We are no less human or fallible than our non-Pagan neighbour, but we
 are engaged in a continual search for Truth: both within and without. We
 are not perfect, but we do seek for our highest ideal, and we do strive
 ever towards it, no matter what our particular path. Therefore to me it
 seems a particularly unpleasant kind of action for a writer knowingly to
 misrepresent his or her background and/or experience, simply to acquire
 some spurious prestige.
 
 The editor of a Pagan/occult newsletter or magazine has an even greater
 responsibility, for rarely is the publication subject to professional
 editorial control, and yet it is generally fairly widely distributed,
 and its readers tend to believe what they see. As an example, we can
 look at the sad death of Scott Cunningham; within hours of his death
 being announced, the rumours that he died of AIDS were widespread. The
 fact that his family and his closest friends have stated any number of
 times that he died of meningitis is neither here nor there: to a great
 many people around the world, Scott Cunningham will have died of AIDS.
 Why? Because it was reported in Pagan magazines, and they can't be wrong
 - can they?
 
 Not only can they be downright wrong, they can also be inaccurate or
 misleading - sometimes deliberately so. I have seen newsletters recently
 where a matter best dealt with quietly, between those concerned, has
 been fought in the public arena using very much the same means as the
 medieval inquisitor. Defamatory and highly emotional printed leaflets,
 with scant attention to the truth, have been published and circulated
 throughout the Pagan/occult communities in the USA, Britain and
 Australia during the last year. Highly respected writers in Britain
 have recently been subjected to threats, with accusations and counter-
 accusations filling countless pages in pamphlets, newsletters, and
 magazines.
 
 What, you might wonder, has this to do with a personal quest for Truth?
 Very little, in my opinion, hence my remarks above that the human race
 appears to have made no progress at all in its essential characteristics
 in hundreds of years. The only difference is that today, we have far
 more efficient means of spreading the information to greater numbers of
 people.
 
 I have seen too many attempts at character assassination over the last
 year or so to believe that it is an isolated incidence, perpetrated only
 by one or two people. It has happened in Britain; in Australia; in the
 USA. The modus operandi has been identical in every case: an untruthful
 statement has been made about one or more individuals, sometimes
 supported by evidence (sic) of a spurious nature; the accusations have
 been published in print, or electronic media, and distributed to a wide
 audience. Even where the statement is so absurd, that no-one knowing the
 accused would believe it for a moment, those who do not know the accused
 3018
 
 are left wondering. This kind of trial by media is sick, and those who
 perpetuate it - usually self-professed "Pagans" - are, quite frankly,
 despicable.
 
 If we, as a community, are to come of age, then we must rid ourselves of
 these contemptible troublemakers. We can't stop them publishing their
 pamphlets, or typing out their lies, but we can ignore them, and stop
 giving credence to their venomous pens. As with the victims of the
 Middle Ages, the victims within our own community are being used as
 scapegoats for someone else's fears and guilt; the only way to fight
 this particular plague is to ignore it. Deprived of an attentive
 audience, the pamphlet bandits will soon give up and go away.
 ................................................................................
 3019
 


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