Our Roots
One of the last of Gerald Gardner’s High Priestesses Patricia Crowther made the Sheffield papers (thanks to Wren for the link) for the celebration of the Summer Solstice.
Crowther in younger days
“Retired showgirl Patricia Crowther was initiated into The Craft more than 40 years ago, and is now a High Priestess and Grand Mother of the Old Religion. The common term for her would be a white witch, but the 76-year-old prefers to refer to her way of life as The Craft. Patricia estimates that there are around 1,000 other Wiccans like her living in Sheffield and at least two Covens – religious groups of white witches – meeting regularly in the city. And for Wiccans, today, June 21, is one of the most important dates on their calendar as they celebrate the Summer Solstice. “For us the longest day of the year is a fire festival, in honour of the sun,” said Patricia. “Thousands of years ago bonfires, or ‘boonfires’, were lit all over Europe to celebrate the Summer Solstice.” Practitioners of The Craft believe that the longest day should be a time to rejoice in the miracle of life, light and nature, and a time to give love and gratitude to their goddess of fertility.”
Crowther may very well be the last surviving Priestess of Gardner (I’m sure Chas Clifton will correct me if I’m wrong), and when she goes so will our last links to people who knew and practiced with Gardner.
In other “roots” news, I give you the Pope!
“John Paul II publicly expressed his disappointment over the text of the constitution, backed by European Union leaders on Friday, which fails to mention the continent’s Christian roots. “We cannot be severed from our roots,” the Pope said today in Polish before bidding farewell to the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square to pray the Angelus. The Holy Father saluted his homeland, whose government tried to have the role of Christianity mentioned in the Constitutional Treaty. “I thank Poland which, in the European forum, faithfully defended the Christian roots of our continent, from which arose the culture and development of the civilization of our time,” he said. On Saturday, Vatican spokesman Joaqu?n Navarro Valls published a statement saying that the “Holy See cannot but express its distress over the opposition of some governments to the explicit recognition of the Christian roots of Europe.” “It is a question of disregard of the historical evidence and of the Christian identity of European peoples,” said the director of the Vatican press office.” – Zenit.org
I would hate to be branded some sort of radical revisionist, but I’m pretty sure the standards of Roman civilization that we equate with the “modern world” were created in pagan times not Christian. I am also pretty sure (and you can correct me if I’m wrong) but I think that “the continent” had a “pagan” identity for a lot longer than it has had a Christian one. Yet, I don’t see anyone chastising the EU for leaving the vast contributions by pagans out. Maybe the Pope should go back to worrying about who gets the wafer.
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