God is pissed

A millstone

Pissed here means as in the American sense, not the British sense of drunk, the word just seems to fit the context better.

One of the roles of the witch is a prophetic one. Prophecy isn't merely the statement of what will happen, but the prophet is the mouthpiece for the divine, so prophecy can be as much a commandment or judgment as a prediction.  This is an idea which tends to be played down amongst us, however divination could be seen as prophetic, as could the Goddess's speech after drawing down the moon in Wicca. The only thing I neglected to say in my post about the magical diary was to reference both Starhawk's & Margot Adler's assertions that their two books about witchcraft, published on the same day on opposite coasts of the US, were in part a reflection of how they wished the Craft to be, not how it was. The prophetic act of writing caused the Craft to become more like it was in the books. The word of the prophet makes what they assert, happen.

I have a prophecy, which I was in two minds about publishing until it was confirmed by a friend's dream (don't worry, I won't tell anyone you've met Mary). The prophecy is this: the God of the Christians has found the Church lacking, it is under his judgment. This relates to the sexual abuse crisis, but is about corruption of all sorts in the church. In case anyone should think themselves immune, nor is it limited to Catholics. Your Messiah says so:

It were better for him, that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should scandalize one of these little ones. (Luke 17:2, Douay-Rheims translation)

Elsewhere the Messiah of the Christians also warns them that they must be wary of false prophets:

'Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.' (Matt 7:15, American Standard Version). 

The test is that you know them by their fruits: nowhere does Jesus expect his Church to bear the fruit of people damaged by abuse.

The twist in this one is that the messiah of the witches also says so: I first began thinking about this when I read the following passage in Aradia: Gospel of the Witches:

'When a priest shall do you harm, [...] With the good or advantage of Zion, you will do him always a double harm in my name, the name of Diana, Queen of witches.'

And Diana also commands the witches, when the priest expects them to accept his religion to state ours in these terms:

'I have come to destroy evil people, & I will destroy them'. (Both passages are from the Pazzaglini translation)

These words hit me like a hammer: I had not registered before that witches are commanded in Aradia to return the harm priests do, & to tell the priest directly that we are here to destroy evil people. So that's two Messiahs warning Christians who go around harming people.

I must seem to be taking an overly fundamentalist approach to Aradia here: in case this passage is read by Christians, perhaps I should explain that it is not considered inspired scripture. Our religion is not a revealed one - it doesn't need to be, because we all have access to the divine source of creation & inspiration. Aradia is firmly in a - now discredited - theory that witchcraft was/is a radical movement in reaction to oppression. In a prophetic sense, it doesn't matter that the 'old religion' Leland found Maddalena describing (for payment, allegedly, after instruction in what he expected to find) never actually existed. The witch figure is at the centre here, & the idea of eccelsiastical corruption causing the existence of witches is also found in the radical French historian Michelet:

'At what date, then, did the witch first appear? I say unfalteringly, "In the age of despair": of that deep despair which the gentry of the Church engendered. Unfalteringly do I say, "The witch is a crime of their own achieving."' (J. Michelet: La Sorciere: The Witch of the Middle ages, translated by L J Trotter. Marshall & Company, London, 1863, p. 9)

To Christians who use their position to abuse others, & to those Christians who cover up this abuse: I say - you are under the judgment of your God, & are found wanting. He so despairs of you that he allows witches - the enemies of the church is there ever were - to use magic to expose you & cause your downfall. He says repent. If you seriously believe the Gospel you preach, can you really face the fate he has for you? I feel there is something changing in our milieu as humans: the old structures are empty shells, & giving way to the presence both of the new witches & the new Christians.

To those who would believe that things have changed & the abuse & cover-ups are in the past I would say - don't you believe it. Humans like to think that everything's alright. Humans also like security so they're not exactly going to put themselves through an exhaustive investigation leaving no stone unturned.

These people's attitude has not changed, as witness these recent posts on another blog:

'I've just been watching Sins of Our Fathers again, and decided to pay particular attention to the interview with Richard Yeo, Abbot President of the English Benedictine Congregation.

'He started out by saying that he was "very sorry about any abuse that may have been committed at Fort Augustus", which of course very neatly avoids admitting that any abuse in fact had been committed there. These kinds of mealy-mouthed non-apologies are actually worse than useless. For victims and any right-thinking person, they just make the blood boil.' (http://scepticalthoughts.blogspot.com/2013/08/abbot-president-richard-yeo.html?m=1)

'One can only conclude that they [Ealing Abbey]  didn't really want a report that got to the bottom of their safeguarding problems, given how happy they have been with this report.'

'So this has essentially been a PR exercise aimed at rehabilitating the reputation of the school at a cost of about £633,000. That comes to an extra £633 or so on the fees for every pupil in the school, spread over 2 years. Given that a proportion of pupils are on scholarships and bursaries, it has cost more for those pupils who pay full fees.' (http://scepticalthoughts.blogspot.com/2013/08/what-lord-carlile-cost-ealing-abbey-and.html?m=1)

'Of the 31 Catholic priests convicted of child sex crimes over the last 10 years, eight (i.e. over a quarter) have been Benedictine monks from one or other of these [English Benedictine Congregation] houses.

'And in every single case, the reaction of the Abbot has been to cover up the abuse, perhaps move the monk to another house, but never to voluntarily report the matter to the authorities.

'That speaks to me not of a problem of one or two individuals but rather of something seriously wrong with the institutional fabric of the Benedictine order.' (http://www.ibenedictines.org/2013/07/31/sexual-abuse-and-the-english-benedictine-congregation/)

Beware also the minimising of the risk & the harm of those who would say that the quotes above are all from one author, Jonathan West. It just happens that I've been following his blog. Impugning the motives of those who would expose real abuse & lack of safeguards, is to be as guilty as the abbots who move abusers around.

And to witches & other magical people I would say this: if we ever had a mission it is now. We are faced by an 'egregore' of abuse that will not stop unless it is stopped. We must exert our will to stop abusers in their tracks. We must exert our will to keep children safe. We must not be taken in by empty promises & facile avoidance of responsibility. This is our opportunity to make a really positive change in the world we live in & all our communities.  I've focussed on the Christians in this post because that is the context I've been thinking about, but abuse must stop, wherever it is found.

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