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| She’s a Witch!! |
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| Opinion - Guest Columns | |||
| Rev. Cathryn Platine | |||
| Friday, 29 January 2010 22:00 | |||
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Palenville, NY, USA. I come from two old New England families, on both sides of my family tree is a Salem Witchcraft victim, Susanna Martin on my mother’s side, [N2] Sarah Good on my father’s. [N3] I have identified myself as Pagan most of my life, began actively practicing as one early in my teenage years when only the most obscure works from the prior turn of the century were available and then only with great difficulty. I’ve been alternately open and low key about this most of my life. During the sixties, it was considered ‘cool’, by the mid seventies I was a very out Pagan contact person. I was targeted by the first wave fundies back then. This was a time when many mid-west police departments still had “occult squads”. [N1] What happened back then I may or may not write about at some future time, but it was horrific and life changing and put me back in the broom closet for almost twenty years.
Washington, DC, USA. Science observes the universe, records what has occurred, and then develops a testable  theory that can explain those observations and make predictions on future ones.
Albert Einstein was very good at thi...While both of us were in front of the Judge, she suddenly pointed a finger at me and yelled she’s a witch! I had an interesting flashback to my ancestors at Salem.Rather than blindly reclaim ancient rituals, we have sought to go to the essence and use that to understand our rituals with a rejection of dogma. We understand each element we use in ritual and our rituals are aimed at a specific goal, a connection with at least part of the whole. This is gnosticism, which loosely translates as knowing. Once you have experienced something, you know it and don’t have to use faith. I’ve gladly used the term witch to refer to myself, proud of our family history. Occasionally I find myself in an odd position as a result. Back when the Phrygianum was first established we had an intent of helping transsexual women find a place to pull themselves back up by their bootstraps by providing a safe place, a sanctuary. [N5] One of the young women we took in was a street prostitute. She started to turn her life around while living with us, cleaned up off the drugs, got work of the day labour type with locals, had many long discussions with me about the morality issues in magickal practice. She was Santerian and into dark practises. All that changed abruptly when another person we took in, a human disaster I’ll call D/D, started making shots at Jasmine’s womanhood, which was the height of irony because Jasmine was 100% female and this other individual embodied all the worst of a fetishistic transgender. But it came to threats of violence involving a weapon and both were told to leave. Jasmine left, D/D we had to start eviction proceedures against. While I don’t use it often, I am well versed in magick myself and I cast a simple banishing spell on D/D, within 24 hours (s)he left. I began lobbying for Jasmine’s return because she had shown such promise. About a month later the others agreed providing Jasmine did not live in the main house with us. We had a smaller caretakers house on the property so we agreed to rent it to her. Unfortunately Jasmine immediately backslid, found local drug connections, started using again and hooked on to an older local man and used him skillfully to provide for her every need. We finally had to ask her to leave and this time, under the directions of D/D strangely enough, she decided to fight us through an eviction proceedure. Unlike D/D it went to court. While both of us were in front of the Judge, she suddenly pointed a finger at me and yelled she’s a witch! I had an interesting flashback to my ancestors at Salem. The Judge asked her why she thought I was a witch and told how I used banishing oil to remove D/D from our home. The Judge looked at me and asked is this true? I replied Yes, your Honour, it is. Then he asked Did it work? and I replied Yes, your Honour, it did, (s)he left within 24 hours without any further contact. You could see the wheels in motion in the Judge’s eyes
But I still had a Salem moment of accusation of being a witch in an open court. Notes[N1] The police occult squads were born of public fears that even everyday pagans were Satanists bent on molestation, mutilation, and murder of the innocents. This presumption even has a pseudoacademic trapping: Satanic Network Theory.
[N2] Susanna North Martin (baptized 30 September 1621) was a native of Olney, Buckinghamshire, England. While still a young girl, she emigrated to America with her father, stepmother, and at least one sister after her mother died. She married a blacksmith, George Martin, on 11 August 646 at Salisbury, MA and had eight children. In 1669 Susanna was required to post 100 pounds bond to appear in court on a charge of witchcraft. William Sargent, Jr.. was found guilty of accusing Susanna of "fornication and infanticide". On April 30, 1692 a warrant was issued for Susanna's arrest on a charge of witchcraft and she was arrested an May 2nd. Susanna Martin was subjected twice to a physical examination on 2 June 1692 to discover whether she had physical abnormalities that could be used to suckle a familiar or even the devil himself. Her trial began on 26 June 1692. She pled not guilty, but was found guilty and condemned to death. She ws executed by gallows on 19 July 1692 with Sarah Good, Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Wilde, and Elizabeth Howe. [N3] Sarah Good (b. 1653 , though from a wealthy family, was homeless after financial reverses. Her dsecond marriage to a poor laborer, and her reputation as socially unpleasant reduced the damily to the staus of beggars. Good became a target for accusations of witchcraft and the first warrant for her arrest came on 29 February 1692, along with Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba. Initially, they were accused of afflicting Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, with many others to follow with accusations of injurious actions and spectral evidence. She was spared hanging until the birth of her child. However, Dorcas, her six-year-old daughter, was imprisoned for witchery for over seven months. Dorca was psychologically damaged for the rest of her life, while Good's infant died in prison before Good herself went to the gallows on 19 July 19, 1692. [N4] The Maetreum of Cybele is a revival of the ancient Cybeline faith. Historically, it is one of the most ancient and enduring religions of the world, the Mother Goddess tradition. All Mother Goddess traditions, including the Cybeline, share essential elements: (1) a belief in the divine feminine principle of the universe, (2) that all of us and all we see and experience are a part of Her and that (3) since we are all part of Her, none are inferior or superior to others. [N5] The Phrygianum is the convent home of the priestesses of Cybele. CitationThis article is adapted and extended from Cathryn Platine's original text, She’s a Witch!!, published concurrently on her blog, Telling My Stories: A life lived outside.
 Rev. Cathryn Platine is a founder of the Maetreum of Cybele and the author of The Cybeline Revival, a revival of the ancient Cybeline faith. Cathryn also hosts her blogs, Riding the Second Wave and Telling My Stories: A life lived outside, and her personal Facebook page.Rev. Platine's signed articles contain her own opinions and do not necessarily convey an official position of TS-Si, its partners, or affiliates. She welcomes your comments.
 The TS-Si News Service is a collaborative effort by TS-Si.org editors, contributors, and corresponding institutions. Sources can include the cited individuals and organizations, as well as TS-Si.org staff contributions. Articles and news reports do not necessarily convey official positions of TS-Si, its partners, or affiliates. We welcome your comments. Use the form below to leave a public comment or send private correspondence via the TS-Si Contact Page. We will not divulge any personal details or place you on a mailing list without your permission.TS-Si is dedicated to the acceptance, medical treatment, and legal protection of individuals correcting the misalignment of their brains and their anatomical sex, while supporting their transition into society as hormonally reconstituted and surgically corrected citizens.
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