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IV. NEOPAGAN SYMBOLISM 

    Today's lecture has two purposes.  First, we will deal with the 
    legends, meta-legends, and conventions that form the basis for most 
    Neopagan ritual.  Then we will discuss the purposes behind a witchcraft 
    initiation, and walk through the one that the graduates of this class 
    will perform.  

    A.   Theology/Thealogy 

         Theology and thealogy (the alpha-ending, Thea, being the Greek 
         feminine ending) are outlined to show how Neopagans relate to 
         their own and other people's choices of gods.  The hook on which 
         this will all be hung is that most of the Gods represent facets of 
         human experience personified.  

         1.   Forms of the God 

              Discuss the various types of masculine gods that appear in 
              pagan and Neopagan myth: the Sun-child, the Horned Hunter, 
              the Sensitive Artist, and the Lord of Death.  

         2.   Forms of the Goddess 

              Discuss the image of the Three-Fold Goddess: the Maiden, the 
              Mother, and the Crone.  

    B.   The Wheel of the Year 

         Read aloud the story of the Wheel of the Year from THE SPIRAL 
         DANCE, pages 28 and 29.  Point out that this is the solar 
         calendar, and relate it to the agricultural cycle.  Then add the 
         mystical component by telling the story of Persephone's descent 
         into the underworld, showing how it relates to the Wheel.  

    C.   Initiation 

         Tell the story of how Osiris was slain by his jealous brother, 
         Set, and how his sister/wife Isis went down into the Underworld to 
         gain the secret of resurrection from the dead (for reminders, use 
         Wilson's account in COSMIC TRIGGER).  

         Discuss how Isis's humiliation in the land of the dead compares to 
         the psychology of initiation (with a brief aside into Paul's 
         revelation of Eleusis: "Except a seed of grain fall into the Earth 
         and die, it cannot rise again").  Use this and the discussion from 
         Day One of how Craft Law arose to outline the dual purpose of a 
         witchcraft initiation:  to lead the initiate through humiliation 
         and death into elevation and new life, and to bind the initiate to 
         the laws necessary for the group experience of the Craft.  

         Finally, if time permits, do a walk-through of the initiation to 
         familiarize the candidates with it, then give them their scripts 
         to memorize.