Hi Dave,

>>Al raises a point (below) that i find very interesting in a wider context,
that of how "natural" and geographically "local" any magical tradition is,
and i'd be interested to see people's thoughts on how "imported" traditions
integrate into various "local" practices under study in academia. I think it
was Marion Bowman who wrote about "Cardiac Celts"- people who go for Celtic
paganism in a big way regardless of location and their own genetics, 'a
choice made in the heart' (or words to that effect); and i have seen a lot
of stuff on the web about the spread of regional Trad Witchcrafts
(especially Cornish styles) into other countries, especially the USA, to
those who are not genetically Cornish in any way, and the popularity of
Santeria and Vodoun (spellings vary) with various white Europeans who
possibly could not find Haiti on a map, if pressed. There is also of course
the Santo Daime ayahuasca church, a South American import which is quite big
in Holland, and growing in the UK<<


Plus the application of the "Eight Sabbats" in Australia (neo-pagan
Witchcraft is very popular here) which really, solstices and equinoxes
aside, do not fit particularly with Australian seasonal conditions. Sure, we
do turn the Wheel of the Year upside down so it sort of fits with the right
dates and general seasons, that's in temperate Australia where we have a
semblence of four seasons, but it doesn't fit at all in tropical Australia
and if we look closely at Australian flora, fauna and weather, we have to
admit - I think - that it doesn't fit in temperate Australia either. I
remember Joanne Pearson writing about this in The Pomegranate, how in
Britain also the Wheel of the Year seemd to be 'dropped' like a grid over
nature, and was kind of demanding that nature 'fit' the grid, rather than
practitioners observing what nature was actually doing and when. Its more so
in Australia I think. I've written about this in "Practising the Witch's
Craft: Real Magic Under a Southern Sky" edited by Doug Ezzy. www.allenandunw
in.com/witch/witch.asp  Does it matter that the 'Eight Sabbats' don't quite
describe reality here (or possibly anywhere)? Not sure. Some people have
suggested that the Sabbats are about people getting together rather than
about nature, but my understanding of them is that they (however
non-historical as *eight* festivals, rather than say, four) celebrate the
year's natural cycle - weather, plants, animals, and traditional farming
tasks associated with these... In Australia, which is is very big, Yule in
Melbourne (down south) is not going to look like Yule in Cape York (far
north). There 'dates' (the eight of them) look different in different
localities for sure. There are some really interesting seasonal calendars
created by naturalists, and which sometimes combine Aboriginal observations,
for different areas of Australia, (none of them have 8 'seasonal markers' -
I gues it depends on what people agree is a seasonal marker) but in general,
neo-pagan Witches are not aware fo these.

As for adopting traditions, say Cornish, that you don't personally have a
drop of blood of, well.. I'm not so sure that one should "have to" only go
with one's own 'bloodline' regards that sort of thing. I'm of Irish descent,
but I like Hellenic Reconstructionism. I'm also quite partial to Italian
folk magic, probably not so much doing it, but reading about it and getting
inspired by it - I'm not Italian at all. Christianity comes from Judaism
which comes from Israel/Judah, but not everyone (Christians that is) is
required to have a 'bloodline' that goes back to say, ancient Israel. With
religions like Vodou... hmmm... I tend to be more impressed by a
pracitioner's sincerity and effort than whether they are Hatian or not -
sure they might be missing out something vital in not being Hatian, but I
don't know that they should not necessarily not do Vodou (if as authentic as
possible and not blatantly corrupted and 'New Aged') because of that.

~Caroline.