Category: FAQ

  • Everyone is Correct, Nothing is True

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    by

    Hadron Templeton
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    There comes a point in groups where we want to allow everyone to feel they are just as valid to have an opinion, but sooner or later someone comes along who is completely wrong and suddenly that philosophy falls apart. In a recent group meeting this Tuesday, one of the members of my coven said…

  • What is a Theurgist?

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    by

    Hadron Templeton
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    A Theurgist is a practitioner of Theurgy. The origin of this word is “Theos-ergy” (or “god-work” in Greek). That’s often where most books on magic leave the definition. Theury is a belief that follows Neoplatonic ideas and seeks to achieve mystical ascent by association with forms of deity. It is mostly written about by Neoplatonists…

  • Stop sharing junk

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    by

    Hadron Templeton
    in

    So, once again, I am coming across people sharing junk that isn’t true. Too many people in the pagan world think that they are ready to teach other people, when they haven’t begun to learn anything yet. Magical truth is silenced in favour of “fake news”. It’s hard to know everything, but look out for…

  • Toxicity of the New Age Community

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    by

    Hadron Templeton
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    Anyone that knows me in person, knows I used to be a regular face at conventions: Glastonbury… London… Cardiff… even Cleveland, Ohio and probably in Feb 2022 or so, Detroit, Michigan. I was involved in multiple OTO bodies, I gave an IOT group a try and I did other things which I really can’t talk…

  • The Secret Written History of Magic

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    by

    Hadron Templeton
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    One of things we are very lucky to have is the Ancient Greeks because for a long time they formed a written culture which was not afraid to practice magic or consider new ideas about deity. From the ancient philosophers comes a long line of written philosophy on how to practice a form of magic.…

  • The Mighty Ones

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    by

    Hadron Templeton
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    A term frequently used by Gerald Gardner and Doreen Valiente. Most likely this just means “the Gods”. I have not yet come across evidence that she used it to refer to dead powerful witches that came before as well, but I will keep my eyes open.

  • Dorothy Clutterbuck and the New Forest Coven

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    by

    Hadron Templeton
    in

    Also known as “Old Dorothy” in Gerald Gardner’s writings. Who was she and why was she important. So Gerald Gardner was an initiate of the OTO and having reached the third degree, the degree of master he was permitted to initiate, but bound in secrecy. He began to initiate people in a magical tradition, claiming…

  • Rule of Three / Threefold-Law

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    by

    Hadron Templeton
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    Someone recently spoke to me of the “rule of three” by which they meant the threefold law. I was irritated by their acceptance of something they have been told as fact. If I was to just accept the tenets of faith I was told then I would still be attending my parents’ church and trying…

  • Summerland – Definition

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    by

    Hadron Templeton
    in

    This was an odd term which was introduced to modern paganism from the Theosophists and Swedenborg. It is considered to be the pinnacle of human spiritual achievement in the afterlife; that is, it is the highest level, or ‘sphere’, of the afterlife we can hope to enter. Leadbeater suggested Summerland was a place where a…

  • The Old Ones – Definition

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    by

    Hadron Templeton
    in

    The Old Ones often appears in the writings of Gerald Gardner and Doreen Valiente (who often edited Gerald Gardner’s work). It is clear that in some instances this means the gods of old belief systems. In some cases the use would tend to suggest it could also encompass practitioners of witchcraft who have gone before.…