XXXIII. Avalon I As all men are alike (tho’ infinitely various), so all Religions, and as all similars, have one source. The true Man is the source, he being the Poetic Genius. As all men are alike in outward form, so (and with the same infinite variety) all are alike in the Poetic Genius. . . . the Poetic Genius is the true Man, and . . . the body or outward form of Man is derived from the Poetic... Read more
XXXII. Hades She is walking along a path through the forest, wearing a white robe, tied with a black cord; from it hangs a sheathed dagger. On her head is a tiara with a crescent moon in front. She wears a necklace of large black and amber beads. There are bracelets on her arms, rings on her fingers, and bells on her toes. She looks about, with a puzzled expression. “There were flames.” Beside her a wolf, a lion, and... Read more
XXXI. North to Sonoma, 3 “Dotty sounds like a fascinating character,” I said, “but that is one of the most improbable biographies I’ve ever heard.” Andy frowned. “Take any thread in history and it will seem improbable. So many other things could have happened. And perhaps they did. Even physicists believe there could be alternative histories. There may be a universe in which the Nazis won World War Two. There may be one in which the Padres didn’t push north... Read more
XXX. Captivity We had our camps in the forest, under the trees, and in the evenings Aradia would teach us, sometimes by words, sometimes by dancing, sometimes by singing, and sometimes by making love to us. She would almost always cast a circle about us, and tell us that the rules of the ordinary world did not matter in the circle, that the circle was between the worlds of men and of the Gods. In the circle she would anoint... Read more
XXIX. North to Sonoma II “That’s enough about me,” I said. “What kind of hereditary Witch are you?” She laughed. “It’s our family tradition. We believe we’ve always followed our own religion, not Christianity, though sometimes we had to pretend in order to survive. It was our enemies who labeled us Witches—that’s not what we called ourselves—but many communities have adopted the name used by their critics: Quakers, Mormons, Cathars, perhaps even the term Christian itself. Our tradition is carried... Read more
XXVIII. The Sermon to the Prostitutes As Aradia was speaking, a young woman in the crowd, a prostitute named Diana, pushed her way forward, wearing only a linen cloth about her body. The other women tried to hold her back; but she left the linen cloth in their hands and came to Aradia naked. Aradia drew Diana to her side, and kissed and caressed her. They looked at each other, each saw that the other was fair, and they loved... Read more
XXVII. North to Sonoma, 1 Curled up in the passenger seat, Andy asked, “So where are we going?” “To Avalon. It’s a commune I know up in the hills of Sonoma County. One thing I study is how new religions are formed.” “Why?” “The specific academic field I’ve ended up in is heresiology. I’ve always been curious about why some people are creative, but some people of equal intelligence, at least as measured by IQ tests, are not. My undergraduate... Read more
XXVI. The Beginning of the Book of the Generation of Aradia [From the Gospel of Diana, as translated by A. Verrazano and A. Peregrino] I am Diana, the daughter of Aradia. Aradia was Queen of all the Witches and taught them magic in the school of her mother, the Goddess Diana. She named her daughter Diana, and I shall name my own daughter Aradia. Aradia came to teach that our sexual ecstasy is the sacred mystery of the Goddess of... Read more
XXV. Ambushed He who desires, but acts not, breeds pestilence. William Blake Back from the Aquinas, I was sitting at my desk, wondering what to do next, when Andy appeared in my office door. “Hi, Eddie. Are you busy? Or can I kidnap you for an espresso?” I felt pleasantly surprised. “Hi, Andy. No, I’m not busy at all. An espresso sounds fitting. Maybe even some lunch.” “Good. Want to walk down to the Mediterranean?” “That’s the place.” . As... Read more
XXIV. Mary Brings the Good News to Gaul [Excerpts from The Acts of Mary as translated by C.T. Edwards, A. Healy, L. Moresco, and S. Weiss] We were fortunate for several years in our teaching of the good news to Jews and Greeks alike. Then some of the House of Shammai who had escaped to the city also began to tell the Romans that we had caused the uprising in Jerusalem. They told the other Israelites that we had caused... Read more
Aidan Kelly: Including Paganism
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