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such as James Frazer s The Golden Bough, they constructed of a master s degree, and the fifth the equivalent of a doc-
the Reformed Druids of North America, whose worship torate. The idea of the circle structure was borrowed from
services they attended instead of chapel. After a year of the Church of All Worlds.
controversy the rules were lifted, but the Druids had dis- Worship and rituals usually are conducted outdoors.
covered a new faith which they preferred. Today Druid ADF is polytheistic, and recognition of various deities de-
groves are found in every section of America and at last pends on the individual grove and the purpose of indi-
report were still active at Carleton. vidual rites. The one deity who is worshipped at every
ritual is the Earth-Mother (Mother Nature). Deities, ances-
tors and nature spirits of the Three Worlds Land, Sea
Magic, Witchcraft and Paganism in America,
379
and Sky are invoked. The Waters of Life, passed or as- From his mother, a devout Roman Catholic, Bonewits
persed (sprinkled) in rites, represent the spark of imma- developed an appreciation for the importance of religion;
nent deity. form his father, a convert to Catholicism from
Liturgy and rituals are based on scholarly research Presbyterianism, he acquire skepticism. He bounced back
into old Indo-European religions, folk magic, art and so- and forth between parochial and public schools, largely
cial customs. While little is known about the Druids them- due to the lack of programs for very bright students his
selves, scholars say it is likely that Druidism had much in I.Q. was tested at 200.
common with other Indo-European religions of the time. His first exposure to magic came at age 13, when he
The research is ongoing and involves translation of nu- met a young Creole woman from New Orleans who prac-
merous foreign and archaic language texts. ticed Vodoun. She showed him some of her magic and so
Bonewits has identified five phases of liturgical de- accurately divined the future that he was greatly impressed.
sign common in the religions of related Indo-European During his teen years, he read extensively about magic
cultures: and parapsychology. He also read science fiction, which
often has strong magical and psychic themes.
1. The consecration of time and space; the psychic center- In ninth grade, Bonewits entered a Catholic high
ing, grounding and unifying of the participants into a school seminary. He soon realized, however, that he did
 groupmind. not want to be a priest in the Catholic faith. He returned
2. The opening of the Gates between the Worlds and the to public school and graduated a year early. After spend-
starting of a flow of energy back and forth between partici- ing a year in junior college to get foreign language credits,
pants and deities. he enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley in
3. The raising and sending of the major part of the 1966. At about the same time, he began practicing magic,
congregation s energy to the deities being worshipped. devising his own rituals by studying the structure of rituals
4. The returning of power from the deities to the congre- in books, and by observing them in various churches.
gation. His roommate at Berkeley, Robert Larson, was a
5. The reversing of the rite s beginnings, and closing down Druid, an alumnus of Carleton College, where the Re-
of the psychic, magical and spiritual energy fields that were formed Druids of North America (RDNA) had been
created. founded in 1963. Larson interested Bonewits in Druid-
ism and initiated him into the RDNA. The two estab-
Sacrifices made to the deities include tree branches, lished a grove in Berkeley. Bonewits was ordained as a
fruits, flowers and vegetables. Although animal, and even Druid priest in October 1969. The Berkeley grove was
human, sacrifices were performed in most paleo-pagan shaped as a neo-Pagan religion unlike the other RDNA
religions, they are strictly forbidden in ADF rituals, as well groves, which considered the order a philosophy. The neo-
as in neo-Paganism in general (see sacrifice). Pagan groves became part of branch called the New Re-
Clergy wear long white robes; members of the con- formed Druids of North America (NRDNA).
gregation are encourage to dress in paleo-pagan garb. During college, Bonewits spent about eight months
Bonewits has introduced the white beret as a signature of as a member of the Church of Satan, an adventure that
ADF; the berets and any other headcoverings are removed began as a lark. The college campus featured a spot where [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]