General

by Evalyne Hall

Time is a concept created by man

To measure the duration spirit stays in this land

The soul immortal by this rule is not bound

As it travels the cosmos with lost knowledge found

Forward and back in our linear thought

Spirit’s presence is felt despite what time’s wrought

The future is now, the past is the present

Memories silhouette reincarnations concurrent

Evalyne Hall is a Pagan Spiritualist with Wiccan leanings. She has been studying the Craft for many years, using books from Scott Cunningham to Raymond Buckland. Currently she is studying The Inner Temple of Witchcraft.

Today I felt the need to get out and have some much needed “fairy time.” Fairy time is what I and my good friend Matooka call going out into the woods and refilling our “fairy batteries”. I love to do walking meditations in the woods this time of year. The smell of the leaves and the hush of the wind fill me with mana. It is a great way to fill up my reserves so I can get through this busy season unscathed.

As I entered the Salem Town Forrest there were no hunting signs up, but as I came over the bridge I found some ten gallon bags with a vest, hat, and note that read “forest friends please borrow and return. BE SAFE!” I took out the orange vest and hat and put them on, not sure of the hunting season times. As I walked through the forest I met people and we talked about if it was hunting season yet. None of us knew.

So for all of my witches who walk in woods and fairies needing a recharge here are the hunting times for New Hampshire from the New Hampshire Fish and Game website. If you don’t live in New Hampshire but want to know if your hunting season has started please consult your state’s fish and game website. Also Please don’t forget to get your furry friends an orange bandanna or vest if your going to the woods, or live near some!

• Starts Sept. 1 Black bear/dates vary for method and WMU
• Sept. 2013 – Jan. 2014 Waterfowl/dates vary by species and zone
• Sept. 15 – Dec. 15 Deer/archery (Note: archery season closes on Dec. 8 in WMU A)
• Sept. 15 – Dec. 15 Fall turkey/archery
• Oct. 14 – Oct. 18, 2013 Fall turkey/shotgun (in certain WMUs only); Monday – Friday
• Sept. 2013 – March 2014 Small game and furbearers/dates vary by species and region
• Oct. 1 – Dec. 31, 2013 Pheasant
• Oct. 19 – Oct. 27, 2013 Moose (by permit only)
• Oct. 26 – 27, 2013 Youth deer-hunting weekend
• Nov. 2 – Nov. 12, 2013 Deer/muzzleloader
• Nov. 13 – Dec. 8, 2013 Deer/regular firearms (closes one week early in WMU A, on Dec. 1, 2013)

Stay safe forest friends… wear some really bright orange!

Your Virgo lead minister,
Adam Sartwell
long time forest friend

Thanks to the wonderful artisans at Deva Designs, the Temple of Witchcraft is proud to offer Star Wisdom Pendants based on our ministries! Each of the thirteen unique pendants has the Temple logo on one side and the sigil of a Temple ministry on the other, along with three keywords. Use these pendants to connect with and evoke the powers and vision associated with our Great Work! Deva Designs also offers a pentacle pendant with the Temple logo on one side and a simple pentacle on the other.

You can find these pendants in-person at Temple events in New Hampshire at our Temple Store, online at christopherpenczak.com, or ask your local New Age, Witchcraft, or pagan retailer to stock them! (The Temple does not do mail orders at this time.) Profits from the sale of this jewelry line go to support the Temple’s Great Work, and wearing your Temple pendant is just another way to grow our community!

Drainage area to the south side.

The span of the new lot.

A look at the new entrance.

Our new parking lot is starting to look… well, much more like a parking area than a big hole in the ground! Steady progress is being made, with the drainage area installed and grading nearly complete on the parking area, with a new (much wider and more accessible) entrance from North Policy Street. Next will be work on the adjacent driveway in front of the main house before shifting back to lot. Just a couple more weeks to go! Our thanks again to everyone who donated and spread the word to help make this stage of opening the Temple’s new space a reality. Your support is greatly appreciated.

The Temple of Witchcraft is celebrating LGBT Pride Month by taking part in the festivities at this year’s Boston Pride, as we have in past years. The Gemini ministry is organizing a group to march in the 43rd annual Boston Pride Parade behind the Temple of Witchcraft banner. Meet Christopher Penczak and the other Temple founders and ministers! So far as we know, the Temple is the only pagan group participating, and we welcome any and all who would like to march with us to show “All acts of love and pleasure are our rituals”! If you’re interested in joining us, please email [email protected] to RSVP, or meet us out in front of the Boston Public Library (near the Copley T station) between 10:15 and 11:15 AM on Saturday, June 8th. We’ll gather there and then walk down to our place in line for the parade (as locations aren’t being given out until the day before, for security reasons). If you can’t march with us, come out and cheer us on from the sidelines and, if you can’t attend in person, please offer us your support and protection at noontime on Saturday to help us further our work! Many thanks and blessings!

Join the Temple of Witchcraft and its Founders on Saturday, June 8th, to march in the 43rd annual Boston Pride Parade to support GLBT rights!

We are the only area pagan group we know of registered to march, and all are welcome to join us (whether you’re a Temple member or not), so let’s show everyone the diversity and openness of modern Witchcraft and Paganism, where “All Acts of Love and Pleasure Are Our Rituals”!

Just email the Gemini minister and confirm your plans to attend. You can also check out our Facebook event listing. We’ll be gathering on the parade route by 11:00 AM. The parade begins at noon and makes its way to Government Center for the Pride Festival. Parade organizers will be sending out marshaling information the day before the parade, at which point we’ll let everyone know where we’re gathering!

Even if you cannot attend, please lend your energies and your magick to our marchers and all attendees for a safe, joyous, and powerful Pride!

Virgo minister Adam Sartwell has lit the last of the intention candles for backers of our parking lot fundraiser on the hearth of the Temple’s home at Grandview. It is full of light and the spicy scents of magick manifesting!

Blessings of Beltane to all! We’re looking forward to the Temple’s Beltane ritual tomorrow evening at 7:00 pm in Derry, NH. You can register online if you are in the NH area and would like to join us.

We’re also proud to present High Priestess Matooka Moonbear’s afternoon workshop “Shapeshifting Through the Elements of Beltane” from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Find more information and pre-register at the event page online. Workshop attendees may attend the evening sabbat ritual for a reduced donation.

Finally, if you can’t join us in person, we are offering our Beltane 2012 mp3 audio meditation (by Temple founder Christopher Penczak) as a thank-you for a $10 or more donation. Just click on the “Donate” button in the upper right corner of our website to be taken to the donation page.

Wherever and however you celebrate, may the bountiful blessings of Beltane to with you and yours!

By its conclusion, our parking lot fundraiser brought in over $51,000, much of it from private donors, but with many, many donations from Temple members and friends in varying amounts. Our two matching donation weekends were the most successful, and Temple ministers (particularly hard-working Virgo minister Adam Sartwell) will be going through the remaining donations and thank-yous for our backers. The Temple board of directors will be handling the bids from contractors on the parking lot job and looking to get things underway. We’ll provide updates as they progress. For the moment, we are humbled and grateful for the tremendous support the community has show our efforts.