Saturday 17 January 2015

WITCHES, CHRISTIANS AND BISHOP PAT BUCKLEY

While surfing the Net yesterday I cam across the piece below from 

houndofhecate.blogspot.com

I found the piece interesting - not only because it refers to me - but because it makes a connection between all spiritual things - from witches to Christianity.

The writer is a very good thinker. All spirituality comes from ONE SOURCE.

We Christians call that GOD and JESUS.

Others have different names.

But as Jesus said: "He who is not against us is with us".



Witches & Christians, with reference to Bishop Pat Buckley



"The picture is actually of Pope St Pius X celebrating Low Mass. I have commented before that he was plainly a man who knew how to dress for church, but he was plainly also a man who knew the value of subtle.

I have a confession to make. It's something that is perhaps unusual among witches, it may even be surprising to anyone who knows me & my history, but I don't actually have a problem with Christianity, myself. I have a problem with certain Christians, their beliefs & actions, obviously, but my opinion is the Christianity is not *that* incompatible with a magical worldview or even a witchcraft milieu.

They don't like to talk about it, but the real reason Christians tend to in-fighting is that there have been two distinct strands to Christianity from the beginning. One I will call the charismatic one, which is (to over-simplify for the purpose of the argument) more spontaneous, inspired, seeks its authority within, & so on. The other is the authoritative strand, which is broadly more conservative, ordered, & seeks its authority outside itself, whether in scripture or church tradition.

What does this have to do with witchcraft? On the surface, nothing. However, when you translate the charismatics as hedgewitches, & the authoritarians as lineaged (or BTW, as they're called in the States), the similarity becomes apparent. The similarity to a magical world-view also becomes apparent when you consider that the two world views can rarely be clearly separated out, as I have above, one form often calls itself the other, & extremes at either end tend to flip over into the opposite, this situation will become familiar to any magical person reading this. In the interests of balance & upsetting everyone equally, the thing that Gardnerian witches don't talk about is that Gardner was also a Christian priest, or even bishop in a rather unusual independent Christian church!
Just in case there are Christians reading this who have not been exposed to a magical world view (welcome, whoever you are), we call this polarity. The entire aim of all magical systems everywhere & at all times has been the reconciliation of all opposites to the pursuit of balance. The nub here (where Christians will part company) is that actually the whole Judaeo-Christian tradition can be understood in magical terms. The best book on this is Morton Smith's Jesus the Magician; Islam has its own magical world that I don't know enough about to write on.

One of the tags on this blog that I find myself using the most often is 'the witch figure'; the fact that I find myself repeatedly chewing this over indicates the ambivalence & multi-faceted nature of the witch figure that we model ourselves on. Some of the characteristics of this figure carry heavy Christian theological ramifications, such as prophet, scapegoat, gathering, time (kairos). The only element which is almost completely missing from witchcraft is sin & redemption. The God of the Christians is plainly Y*hw*h, G*d of Israel, & Jesus is their messiah. We, if we don't have duotheistic views, have often several divinities or a henotheistic God and/or Goddess. I would recognise multiple Jesus figures (downplaying his divinity for Christians) as semi human/divine figures, including each witch herself. I've ignored the Holy Spirit so far, but I would equate the Spirit to any of the entities involved in witchcraft cosmology or even the reality that some witches recognise behind God & Goddess.

This is a roundabout way of saying that since we magical people understand thing happening on several planes of existence (the way things manifest for us represents patterns & systems of reality that we can't physically see on this plane) the way witches would understand this also to Christians, & the way things play out here are part of a cosmic drama representing the realities behind what we see.

St Patrick the "Druid"


Which brings me nicely to the subject of Bishop Pat Buckley (http://www.bishoppatbuckley.co.uk/), who is the bishop of what's called an Independent Catholic Church. He was ordained a Catholic priest in his twenties: up to there his career superficially embodies the authoritative side of Christianity. However when in the 1980s his bishop tried to suppress his views about the ordination of women & homosexuality, he felt he had no option to embark on an independent ministry, & ultimately sought consecration as a Bishop in the line of Archbishop Thuc, a bishop who performed many consecrations without the blessing of Rome. His status therefore, as far as Rome is concerned, is 'valid but irregular': no doubt they wouldn't want to regularise him given his history, but he is a bishop. Why I'm going into all this is that his career here tries to reconcile the two sides - charismatic & authoritative - of Christianity, a reconciliation of opposites that is exactly the aim of most magical practitioners.

St Patrick's Chair


I find it interesting also how his prophetic role may manifest energies that are unseen. His blog (http://wisecatholic.blogspot.co.uk - to which I subscribe, makes for interesting reading, not least for the prophetic criticism he makes of the church life which surrounds him, even attracting anonymous  comments from local priests. This may seem like a disaffected former priest attracting other malcontents but I don't think that's quite what's happening, in fact on a higher level it more manifests a) an ongoing argument in the religious world more generally, & b) when a culture of disaffection is fostered by heavy-handed authoritarianism, it actually creates its opposite (in a polarity philosophy), in this case clusters of people actively resisting the authority. In this case I have no doubt that the local 'proper' Catholic bishop considers him a thorn in his side, but if one were merely to call him a malcontent, in an attempt to make his existence insignificant, it is to ignore a whole layer of meaning, that we humans ignore at our peril.

And he certainly does seem to be filling the roles that are often reflected in the witch figure. Prophet, by his ongoing criticism of the Catholic church as it is. Sanctuary for those nobody else will care for, by his gay marriages & ordination of women. Confidant, in listening to those who also have an unwelcome story to tell. Scapegoat, by his existence as an object of blame for the local Catholic community & others. I feel he was also scapegoated when a local judge decided to divulge his HIV+ status in court (do privacy laws not count in Northern Ireland?). Incidentally he was in court for allegedly conducting sham marriages to enable foreigners to stay in the country. In fact he almost exactly embodies all the aspects of the witch figure despite being a Christian...



Or perhaps because of it. My point here is that if Christians follow where genuine discipleship leads them they will step on toes & upset apple carts. That's the point.

The other point is that from a witch point of view the things they do will have a broader, more cosmic vibrational aspect. In fact, they may have more in common with us than either of us likes to think, just another of those surprises that the universe likes to give us"!


31 comments:

  1. OBSCENE COMMENTS BY ONE PRIEST OF DOWN AND CONNOR DIOCESE NOT PUBLISHED

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  2. Very interesting perspective on Christianity being connected to all other forms of spirituality. This if course in only true of genuine Christianity and not denominationalism.

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  3. Many of the leading Nazis were Roman Catholics from Bavaria - like a certain Joseph Ratzinger. PP Dublin.

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    1. Absolute nonsense. When you express such thoughts you only profess your ignorance. The 15 year old Josef Ratzinger was conscripted as all youth over the age of 14 years were by the German authorities. He had no choice and deserted as soon as he could and was captured and saved by US Army. This is historical fact. You would do well to check the facts before issuing forth with such verbal diarrhoea.

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    2. If that is true why did he spproach his teaching and clerical careers with a Nazi like fundamentalism?

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  4. What about the "witches and bitches" from St Patricks? :-)

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  5. Irish Christianity was built on Druidic religion.

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  6. I think above is a bit unfair to Joe Ratzinger. At least he revealed the total rotten state of the RC church and its priests and was so powerless against it he resigned as pope. As a serving "loner" in the priesthood I have discovered this clerical rottenness for myself. D&C priest.

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    1. Sad comment from within. Thank God I ve been on the "outside" for nearly 30 years. I remember an old quote from a retreat: "You think its a miracle when God does what a priest asks. I think it a greater miracle when a priest does what God asks" :-)

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  7. In the 60's the parochial house in cushendall had a witch,a bitch and a big gaylord all in residence at the same time !

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    1. Who are we talking about here?

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  8. Before my time. But it sounds quite a situation. I hope there was more fun than suffering.

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  9. How would one describe the current resident of the parochial house in Cushendall apart from an interesting study?

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  10. To my mind Magic/witchcraft seek to control the supernatural by way of spells and ritual. Christianity is not a religion (that which ties back) in the true sense of the word. Christians follow the God of the New Covenant revealed through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. In Irish Catholicism there have been (are?) implicit links between "witchcraft" and "religion" I once got told off for not anointing (sacrament of the sick) a man who was dead on arrival at Sligo General hospital. No family were present and I maintain sacraments are for the living. There is the mass card phenomenon. £3 in the corner shop-is this still going on? Novenas could be interpreted in the wrong way in certain circumstances and of course there is the "make so many copies of this prayer, give them to others or leave them in a church" On the other extreme there are some media based massive religious who ask people to give them x amount of money and they will be blessed and healed. Just a few random thoughts. Sean

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  11. You are irrelevant. Six million people turned out today to see My Leader. PP D&C

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    1. Really Father ! Hitler regularly soike to gathered millions!

      Not that I equate Francis with Hitler. Francis has more in common with me than you. He is always castigating corrupt priests and bishops.

      I see on the D&C website that the average attendance at Sunday Mass is 20% - and 16% in others.

      Where are the 84%?

      Have they seen you guys for what you are?

      Bishop Pat

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    2. Is the Pope a leader or a brand name these days? Sean

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  12. Conman and freak!

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  13. Ouch ! That hit a nerve !

    84% of "your" flock seem to have delivered their judgement on you and yours.

    You can t blame me for the verdict of that 84%

    Although I totally agree with them.

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  14. The 80/84% have worked out that either you don't need God to be good or that they certainly don't need a collection of witches, bitches or gaylords to " intercede" for them. I discovered a long time ago that I can have meaningful chats with God at any time !!

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    1. You are correct.

      I find that many people now are tired of the clerical middlemen - many of whom are in fact atheist or agnostic themselves - who have fleeced their sheep in every possible way for their own and their organisation's benefit.

      The 84% in D&C are voting with their feet.

      That will grow and grow until the more churches are turned into pubs and casinos.

      I think the "rats" sense the ship is listing !

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    2. How many times did bible "groups" have to rethink, evolve and reform. These modern sados cant be bothered to try. Sean

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  15. Indeed you are right. All these pastoral and diocese plans and big days out in the Waterfront Hall are as fruitful an exercise as re arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic !!

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  16. Judging by the behaviour of certain proponents of religion, there is an amazing discrepancy between their actions and their professed beliefs which cannot simply be dismissed as human frailty.
    Perhaps such behaviour has been a catalyst for many of the 84% quitting the indoctrinated stranglehold of religion and its organisations, and realising that it is eminently reasonable, rational and certainly liberating to be good without god.
    MourneManMichael

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    1. Indeed MMM. And others who believe in God have realised that they can access him/her directly without having to be enslaved to middlemen who have proven by their statements and actions that they are godless.

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  17. I'm sure by now the Nuncio will have reported to World Headquarters (Vatican) that the children of MacNissi and Malachy are turning their backs in droves and voting with their feet. I'm sure the watchers in Rome will be feeling now that the diplomat from the Comec has had little effect. Even the ground forces ( clergy) are becoming increasingly disillusioned. Many of them want to be John Bosco by day and John Travolta by night. Some of them are now voicing their dissent and disgust by blogging in Bishop Buckleys site. How awful. However, the Senior Officers over in Rome will be consoled by the large crowds turning out in Asia for the bosses visit As the collections for Peters Pence in the land of Patrick dries up they will cut their losses and down grade ireland to being a distant rural dependency

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  18. This is simple. Why get involved with a massive financial,political and cultural institution who's only interest is its own advancement by indoctrinating, brain washing ,using and in many ways abusing its followers when you can speak to God directly. It's a no brainer

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  19. It might be of interest to investigate the (unexpurgated) life of Evelyn Underhill, major force in Anglican mysticism, she was, as is conveniently forgotte by the modern church, initiated into the Golden Dawn order by Arthur Edward Waite, who was friends with W.B Yeats. Much of her understanding of ritual magic (of which he was a supreme expert) went into those Anglicans who took an interest. The Waite, Yeats wing of the Golden Dawn (Not to be confused with the Crowley wing, over which they split) were also active within both freemasonry (regular) and the Catholic church. My initiator was made most welcome at Downside for a while until folk higher in the church put a stop to it.
    The work is always done, there is no "authority" just willing souls.

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  20. Pat, only one year too late I noticed this. Thank you for your appreciative comments.

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