Category: Interview

Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone – Interview

5 Comments

I had the opportunity to interview Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone  who were guests at Heartland Spirit Festival near Kansas City this past Memorial Day Weekend. They took several hours out of their hectic schedule to simply hang out in our merchant booth and chat about a wide range of subjects, for which I am extremely grateful!

There are few people left who directly experienced many of the legendary figures of the rise of Neo-Pagan spirituality. Janet has a wealth of knowledge and stories from this era, and vivid descriptions of what they have experience.  Gavin articulates where their practice has led them  since he became part of the most famous Pagan triad, and the subsequent passage of Stuart Farrar. Together they represent a vision of an evolving practice of deity centered witchcraft.

This interview is about 9000 words long, but to me it is just too interesting to edit much content out.  It will appear in three parts over the coming weeks. First some history and an overview of their current work, then more details about their current practice, and finally a look into the future.

Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone

Nels (N): You’re back in the states. How long has it been since you have been in the states?

Gavin (G) : Nine months.

Janet (J) : Yeah, nine months. We actually travel here a lot.

G: We’re generally in the states every year. The last time we were in the Midwest was about 2002-2003.  We did INATS (International New Age Trade Show) the big trade fair in Colorado promoting Progressive Witchcraft. Before that we were in Wisconsin, so we haven’t done much in the Midwest for a while. But there’s been a lot more interest. We’ve been invited out towards Ohio August/September next year. Generally we spend a lot more time on the East Coast: New York, Connecticut, Florida. Those areas, mainly because we have connections there.

J: We are actually linked to a group of covens in these places.  We don’t actually call them “our covens,” they are covens in their own right, but they are all linked together through us.

G: Because they are covens that all follow the same philosophy.

N: What is your philosophy for ritual, coven work, and magic now?

Doreen Valiente 1922-1999

J:  Ok, well let’s start at the beginning. Thanks to knowing, long before Gavin ever met her, Doreen Valiente, I had a totally different perspective on Witchcraft. Even if you look at that book, The Witches Bible. When we started off, Stewart and myself, we started off with Alex Sanders. After that basic training, we were running an Alexandrian coven. Far too short, to be honest, to have real experience. We winged it, as they say, but we learned as we went along. And when Stewart and I moved to Ireland in 1976, Stewart took a look through our Book of Shadows and said “There’s no meat on the bones of this. Let us start by investigating old Irish folk customs, and from that comes a great rise in Celtic mythology, and a lot of people are becoming fashionably Celtic.

We lived, for the most part, in the most beautiful Celtic land, and a lot of those old festivals are sadly dying out now. We actually started resurrecting them ourselves, village folk festivals. We used to go along to them, and we used to experience them, and from 1976 to 1981 we traveled in various places across Ireland renting property to learn about what the locals still kept alive. Including the Midsummer bonfires, the Lughnasadh/Lammas festival, and we would glean knowledge. We would talk to the local people, the older people who remembered “ back in the days of my youth we did this, that, and the other.”

We put all that into the first book we wrote, before it became The Witches Bible it was Eight Sabbats For Witches. And with Doreen Valiente’s permission, I hasten to add, because a lot of the original Book of Shadows was her work. She took one look at the work we were doing, because we got to know her, and we said “Look, do you approve of this?” And she said “Well, there’s a bit more to it than that. A lot of this is my material, the Charge and etc… You have my permission to print it and be damned!” We said, “Well, fine if we’ve got your permission it goes into the book.” Continue reading →

The Makings of a Priestess – Editorial

Rainbow and Janet Farrar

Rainbow and Janet Farrar

I was able to connect back up with Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone after twenty years or so at Heartland Spirit Gathering  last week. I am transcribing over two hours of recorded interviews into something manageable for publishing next week.  Our interview was interrupted by  a personal ceremonial commitment, and so I left them on their own to relax in our merchant booth.

A young lady of eleven, Rainbow, had been working all day for various merchants, doing service and selling what she found to raise money for a small drum for herself.  She started earning by helping me deliver ice as a community service task that morning. She came to the booth frequently to report her fund-raising progress and so returned with a report in my absence that she gave to Janet Farrar.  Just a few dollars short now, Janet took her by the hand and went visiting merchants and shoppers, explaining her young friends plight. Within a few minutes the balance needed for the purchase was secured, and when I returned the drum was purchased, and Rainbow ran off overjoyed. The interview then resumed.

The next day I tracked down Rainbow’s parents for permission for a photo, and I learned more about Rainbow than I knew from the experience the day before. She had announced to her family she was going to get a drum that day, and they had every confidence somehow she would make it happen.  We rounded up Rainbow and took her over to Janet for this photo.  She only knew Janet as that nice lady who helped her, and was delighted to discover she was also a guest of the event.

The interviews next week will include a lot of Pagan history, assessment of the present, and a view of the future. Janet and Gavin have strong views of what it means to be a priest or priestess, to speak with the gods, and where the leaders of the Craft of the future will come from. This selfless aid to help fulfill a young women’s goal illustrated to me a beautiful example of the daily work of a priestess, and the simple experiences that empower a determined priestess of the future.

Watch for the interview series with Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone next week.

Nels Linde

New Pagan Emblem for Veterans Grave Markers

Thor’s Hammer or Mjolnir

With no announcement or fanfare the image of a Thor’s Hammer appeared May 2nd on the list of approved images for “Emblems of Belief’   for veteran’s grave markers.  After the approval of the Pentacle in April, 2007 , many Pagans expressed the desire for support to seek approval of other pagan images, including the Mjolner. The Department of Veterans Affairs consistently maintained their established process of application would accommodate new images. Applications for a new image must be from a relative of the deceased veteran, and contain all the required information, including a copyright free image.

The story of this symbol of belief’s approval was reported May 14th, on the The Wild Hunt . Personal details were withheld at the families request, but it was reported the deceased, Shane, was an Odinist and a Sargent in the United States Marines.  At the request of his mother and with the help of comrades this image was applied for, and for her husband, Mark’s grave marker.

I asked Bress Nicnevin, from Lodge Yggdrasill, what this meant to him:

Are there veterans in your group?

Yes, there are.

How do you feel now the Mjolnir is approves as an emblem of belief?

I think it is appropriate and long overdue. Everyone should have whatever symbol they request on their grave memorial. This approval is a very good thing for all Heathens and Pagans ! Veterans should have the choice for an emblem that represents their faith, it is not about what is an approved religion.

Is the Thor’s hammer a specifically Odinist symbol?

I believe they have a specific symbol of a cross within a circle. The Mjolner is associated more with Asatru and Heathenism in general. The Mjolnir speaks to a broader spectrum of Heathen and Norse faiths including Odinism.  Thor is the “working mans” god, and over the centuries has become the “free mans”  god.  The plight of Heathenism today is probably more on Thor’s shoulders than Odin’s in the modern age.

Since the approval of the pentacle as a symbol of belief area Pagans have gathered at Ft. Snelling National Cemetery to honor Sgt. Jason Schumann and Specialist Daniel Schrankler as part of a Memorial Day observance.  Sgt. Schumann was the first soldier whose marker included a pentacle after the approval.

With the approval of the Thor’s hammer we know how future Pagan symbols will be approved, at least under the current administration and Dept. of  Veterans Affairs leadership. The upcoming holiday is a reminder to honor our fallen soldiers for their sacrifices, and for relatives to know the desires for the marker image  for our aging and active duty veterans.

Nels Linde

Elder Interviews – Estelle Daniels

Estelle Daniels is a native resident of Paganistan and is interviewing elders in the Pagan Community who attend Earth House Midsummer Gather to get their stories.

 

Earth House Midsummer Gather takes place from June 16-23 at beautiful Eagle Cave campground in Wisconsin, a short 4-5 hour drive from the Twin Cities. It’s a medium sized festival with a definite family feel. This is the 13th year it will take place, and there has grown up a community of Earth House attendees—several of whom are elders with many years festival experience. Estelle will be interviewing some of the elders who attend Earth House to show what a rich variety of people attend the Festival from all over the Midwest. For more information or to register for Earth House, go to earthhousemn.org

This  interview is with elder Rick of Rick’s Cafe, a fixture at many midwest festivals over the years.

Rick S. from Cahokia, Il.

Rick S. from Cahokia, Il.

 

“Good morning Earth House! It’s coffee! It’s hot water too!”

 

That’s the cry of Rick inviting all who would come to his camp for coffee, hot water and great conversation. Everybody goes to Rick’s—in the morning. His coffee is (so I’m told) very good, and the camaraderie in the morning is just what a sleepy camper needs to wake up and face the day.

 

Rick lives outside of St. Louis, across the river in Cahokia—in a subdivision. He does a lot of gardening—vegetables—and does a lot of canning and brewing. He told me the mounds aren’t in Cahokia itself—they are 15 miles up the river. Just so we know.

 

How many festivals have you been to over the years? I don’t know—I started going to Pagan festivals in ’89—went to at least one festival every year since then in Wisconsin—some years two. Then I’ve attended two or three more every year in my local area, in Missouri. The ones in Missouri are more weekend get-togethers run by college students. So that’s at least 23 week long festivals, and 20-25 more for weekend festivals. Then I have also been to many private festivals with friends, these were a meeting of old friends who are magickally inclined. Maybe 8 or 10 of us—close friends getting together to camp and spend time. Many many festivals.

Continue reading →

Pagan Elder Interview by Estelle Daniels

John Stitely

John Stitely

Estelle Daniels is a native resident of Paganistan and is interviewing elders in the Pagan Community in the Midwest who attend Earth House Midsummer Gather to get their stories.

Earth House Midsummer Gather takes place from June 16-23 at beautiful Eagle Cave campground in Wisconsin, a short 4-5 hour drive from the Twin Cities. It’s a medium sized festival with a definite family feel. This is the 13th year it will take place, and there has grown up a community of Earth House attendees—several of whom are elders with many years festival experience. Estelle will be interviewing some of the elders who attend Earth House to show what a rich variety of people attend the Festival from all over the Midwest. For more information or to register for Earth House, go to earthhousemn.org

Rev John Stitely is the current Chair of Earth House. He is originally from Iowa, born and raised there—went to school there and worked as a lawyer there for many years. He has been attending Pagan Festivals for many years and I talked to him about his experiences. I interviewed him about his experiences at Pagan Festivals.

What was the first festival you attended? I can’t really remember—I graduated from Law School in 1987, and I guess summer of ’88 was my first Festival—PSG 88 then. I decided to take the suit off for a week.

  Continue reading →