Fwd: an inquiry: Wicca in India

[Guest guest]

Here's an interesting question. Vivek Shetty wrote to Margot Adler (newscaster

of National Public Radio, and author of "Drawing Down the Moon"). Margot wrote

to Laura Wildman (editor of "Pagan Spirit"), who wrote to me.

 

The question: Are there people in Bharata/ the India subcontinent who are

practicing Wicca? It doesn't seem impossible. Certainly there are Europeans

and Americans who are attracted to Hinduism and Shaktism. Does the attaction

express itself in the other direction?

 

Gerald Gardner, the British founder of Wicca, spent quite some time living in

Ceylon and Malaysia. Indians with an occultist bent, and with links

(ancestral, through study, etc.) to Britain and America might be practicing

Wicca with other curious Indians. I don't even know where to ask this

question, that I might receive a useful answer.

 

So much of Wicca is obviously derived from Shakta traditions. It's almost

like taking coals to Newcastle...

 

Any of you Sadhakas still living in the Old Country know of any Indian

Wiccans?

 

-- Len/ Kalipadma

 

 

Laura Wildman <lwildman@p...> wrote:

I got this from Margot, off of another list we're on. Any ideas?

 

Laura

-

"Margot Adler"

"Nature Religions Scholars Network"

 

 

I received this email this morning. I have no idea if there are Wiccans in

bharat... anybody have any idea what this person is talking about?????, with

affection to you all:

Margot Adler

 

I am a hindu bunts would like to know more on the WICCAN history is it

practised by the hindus of bharat.

 

Thankyou

Vivek Shetty

 

 

 

 

 

Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs. Try it free.

 

 

[Guest guest]

, Len Rosenberg

<kalipadma108> wrote:

> [....] Are there people in Bharata/ the India subcontinent

> who are practicing Wicca? [....]

 

Witchvox lists 81 personal ads on its India page:

http://www.witchvox.com/vn/pa/inxx_paa.html

> So much of Wicca is obviously derived from Shakta traditions.

 

I would have said "has parallels with" rather than "is obviously

derived from", but, *shrug*.

It's a matter of individual opinion or perception, I suppose.

[Guest guest]

there are so many sects in India and obviously some practices may be

matching Wiccan practices. Another important thing is some words are

misused or wrongly used in laymans language. For example the word

witchcraft is reffered to as Vamachara where as most of us here

knows that Vamachara has little to do with witchcraft. there are many

arts(?) like Bhanamati,kashmora,maata,Maddu,Modi etc etc.each one is

famous in particular area.Most of them are meterialistic unlike

shaktism. You should see some south Indian TV serial to see how these

things are twisted and remixed to match the fantacies.

 

So Wicca need not have its roots in shakta tradition.All spiritual

paths in different civilization are independently evolved as a answer

to the longing of the soul.

 

just some thoughts...

 

Regards,

Prasaad

 

>

> Here's an interesting question. Vivek Shetty wrote to Margot

Adler (newscaster of National Public Radio, and author of "Drawing

Down the Moon"). Margot wrote to Laura Wildman (editor of "Pagan

Spirit"), who wrote to me.

>

> The question: Are there people in Bharata/ the India

subcontinent who are practicing Wicca? It doesn't seem

impossible. Certainly there are Europeans and Americans who are

attracted to Hinduism and Shaktism. Does the attaction express

itself in the other direction?

>

> Gerald Gardner, the British founder of Wicca, spent quite some

time living in Ceylon and Malaysia. Indians with an occultist

bent, and with links (ancestral, through study, etc.) to Britain and

America might be practicing Wicca with other curious Indians. I

don't even know where to ask this question, that I might receive a

useful answer.

>

> So much of Wicca is obviously derived from Shakta traditions.

It's almost like taking coals to Newcastle...

>

> Any of you Sadhakas still living in the Old Country know of any

Indian Wiccans?

>

> -- Len/ Kalipadma

>

>

> Laura Wildman <lwildman@p...> wrote:

> I got this from Margot, off of another list we're on. Any ideas?

>

> Laura

> -

> "Margot Adler"

> "Nature Religions Scholars Network"

>

>

> I received this email this morning. I have no idea if there are

Wiccans in

> bharat... anybody have any idea what this person is talking

about?????, with

> affection to you all:

> Margot Adler

>

> I am a hindu bunts would like to know more on the WICCAN history is

it

> practised by the hindus of bharat.

>

> Thankyou

> Vivek Shetty

>

>

>

>

>

> Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs. Try it free.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I have a feeling that hinduism and wiccan or pagan belief share the

same foundation. Somewhere along the line they dwelled into their own

paths and started gaining their own identity.

 

A friend of mine did a research on this topic. Hope it gives some

clues.

 

http://www.geocities.com/indianpaganism/

[Guest guest]

what u say is true. They worship the 5 elements. Also we find in our Gayatri

Maha Mantra we only denote the importance of the 5 elements. They just copied

our myth and stated in the western style. And because of this they are treated

as a seperate religion from Christianity. I had been interacting with a white

witch and have gined lots of info which makes their religion and ours similar.

Like we have diferent Gods and goddesses, they also have the same, but with

different names and most of the rituals almost are the same.

 

Tulasi <thundergod999 wrote:

I have a feeling that hinduism and wiccan or pagan belief share the

same foundation. Somewhere along the line they dwelled into their own

paths and started gaining their own identity.

 

A friend of mine did a research on this topic. Hope it gives some

clues.

 

http://www.geocities.com/indianpaganism/

[Guest guest]

Remember the Arayan came from the steppes of western Europe !

 

(Is there any proof other than inspired colonialist propaganda for this????? Any

real archeological proof??

MODERATOR'S NOTE)

 

 

"SR.Raj kumar" <srirajarajeswari9 wrote: what u say is true.

They worship the 5 elements. Also we find in our Gayatri Maha Mantra we only

denote the importance of the 5 elements. They just copied our myth and stated

in the western style. And because of this they are treated as a seperate

religion from Christianity. I had been interacting with a white witch and have

gined lots of info which makes their religion and ours similar. Like we have

diferent Gods and goddesses, they also have the same, but with different names

and most of the rituals almost are the same.

 

Tulasi <thundergod999 wrote:

I have a feeling that hinduism and wiccan or pagan belief share the

same foundation. Somewhere along the line they dwelled into their own

paths and started gaining their own identity.

 

A friend of mine did a research on this topic. Hope it gives some

clues.

 

http://www.geocities.com/indianpaganism/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

>Remember the Arayan came from the steppes of western Europe !

 

There are no steppes in western Europe.

 

Max

--

Max Dashu

Suppressed Histories Archives

Global Women's History

http://www.suppressedhistories.net

 

 

[Guest guest]

Not that I have, just what was taught in School/colleg. The Arayan Invasion

Theory kindly pasted on this site

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/history/history5.shtml added a

new dimension. I stand enlightened - THANK YOU.

 

Redder Red <redderred wrote: Remember the Arayan came from

the steppes of western Europe !

 

(Is there any proof other than inspired colonialist propaganda for this?????

Any real archeological proof??

MODERATOR'S NOTE)

 

 

"SR.Raj kumar" <srirajarajeswari9 wrote: what u say is

true. They worship the 5 elements. Also we find in our Gayatri Maha Mantra we

only denote the importance of the 5 elements. They just copied our myth and

stated in the western style. And because of this they are treated as a

seperate religion from Christianity. I had been interacting with a white witch

and have gined lots of info which makes their religion and ours similar. Like

we have diferent Gods and goddesses, they also have the same, but with

different names and most of the rituals almost are the same.

 

Tulasi <thundergod999 wrote:

I have a feeling that hinduism and wiccan or pagan belief share the

same foundation. Somewhere along the line they dwelled into their own

paths and started gaining their own identity.

 

A friend of mine did a research on this topic. Hope it gives some

clues.

 

http://www.geocities.com/indianpaganism/

[Guest guest]

The most famous Indian Wiccan is the Lady Ipsita Roy Chakraverti. Here is one

site http://www.lifepositive.com/Spirit/traditional-paths/wicca/ipsita.asp .

You could read more here, and as per the site she was apparently drawn to the

Dianic Cult of Greece. I know she teaches the Wicca, so perhaps this explains

something :-) I have read her autobiography "Beloved Witch', and I found it a

lovely book with beautiful thoughts.

 

In India, the translation for Witch is 'Chudrail', pronounced 'chu -rail'. In

Tantra chudrails come in the category of 'negative' ethereal beings, seeing

them apparently driving an ordinary person to to madness and death. The term

churail was also loosly applied to a negative female practictioner of Tantra.

Hence being defined a witch was not a very sociably desired thing in India.

 

BUT, and this is a BIG BUTT ;-) , this is not an accurate synonym because

technically a Wiccan is NOT a Chudrail. Ignorance and vested interests made

the comparative ! More accurately Wicca and Tantra are similar. I would term a

Wiccan as a Tantric, which is a more accurate platform of relationship.

 

Remember the parallel between witch = chudral probaly came about when the

British and European powers were in India, and 200 years ago a Wiccan was a

heritic in the eyes of the Church, so the missionaries probably found the term

'chudrail' more horrific to use for 'conversions'. Well we have to unravel

this Gordian Knot, or better still like Alexander (yeh Dianic Greek :-D LOL

!!!) just cut through it.

 

When I in a small way look at the history of Christainity, you see how many

murders was done in the name of Christ - the Crusades, the Dark Ages, the

Colonisations of the 'New Worlds' and 'damn pagans'. Desire Kills !!!

 

Most people do not see the magic happening around them. In Hindu belief (oh I

wish I did not have to name a belief Hindu, which I believe is a way of llife

that allows each individual support along their personal path to the divine,

whatever !!!) it is said that every thought produces a result, the law of

karma, so in a way is that not 'wicca' the power of the mind/will. I know I

have put this too simplistically.

 

May I invite you to read the Aghora Series by Robby Svboda

http://www.drsvoboda.com/ . There are some article by him on the net, but you

would have to buy the books. The are available in India in most good

book-shops, and cost about US$ 5 each. Else there is the Piccadilly Book Shop,

Shop 64 Shankar Market, Connaught Place, New Delhi - 110001, India. Owner Mr N

K Chaudhary, tel no. 00 91 11 2341 3993. He will ship anywhere in the world,

but you got to send the money for books and shipment in advance. This place

has been around for years, and is the original shop for 'occult' books.

Probably 10 feet by 20 feet in size and stacket high to to cealing with books,

sometimes 2 to 3 layers thick, I have always wondered if the shopkeeper knew

what treasures he held in store ! Hey !!! This ain't a promo for this shop,

just wanted everyone to know that this is a good place to get books on most

any spiritual topic :-p

 

Take it easy guys, and as they say in Wicca " Blessed Be "

 

Smiles :-)

 

 

SophiasDream wrote:

I met a woman from India on the internet, who was a college student, and

declared herself as interested in Dianic Wicca and Hinduism. A very

intelligent

and articulate woman. I was surprised to hear that there would be a

Wiccan, much less something so specific as a Dianic Wiccan, in India. Mainly

I was

surprised cuz if you do a member search of profile in country

India, under keyword Wicca, not a lot comes up. If you do a keyword search

under keyword Meditation, in India, LOTS come up.

 

She told us that it is hard to get literature on Wicca in India, so she was

relying on picking up a lot of information over the internet.

 

Goddess Bless,

Cathie

In a message dated 12/2/2005 9:02:59 P.M. Mountain Standard Time,

thundergod999 writes:

 

I have a feeling that hinduism and wiccan or pagan belief share the

same foundation. Somewhere along the line they dwelled into their own

paths and started gaining their own identity.

 

A friend of mine did a research on this topic. Hope it gives some

clues.

 

http://www.geocities.com/indianpaganism/

[Guest guest]

As I understand it, witches before they are being branded as Witches

are actually in ancient times known as wise women. Who are these

wise women? They are healers. They uses natural elements like fire,

water etc as part of their healing art. They are often misunderstood

and persecuted. A conspiracy between the christian church and the

medical profession [ doctors that is ] to exert their superiority

into an art they know nothing of because they feel threaten.

 

 

As for "Aghora Series by Robby Svboda " makes good reading and can

be very entertaining. He tried very hard to expain an idea to the

masses who know nothing about tantra in a very simple way : through

story. But as i'm being told, from Shakta Tantric point of view, a

lot of things he said in that book didnt make sense to us. So one

should be very careful and not to take everything that is being

written in there as true.

 

I am not amazed at the rise of the paganism or the goddess related

religion. When people become concern about the environment. When

there is cause to fear about the increasing environmental pollution,

the depletion ozone layer etc, it just make sense that people began

to move more towards the nature related religion. Its just a cycle.

We all can see that paganism is making a come back. No wonder the

christians finds the movie Harry Potter frightening.

 

 

 

, Redder Red <redderred>

wrote:

>

> The most famous Indian Wiccan is the Lady Ipsita Roy

Chakraverti. Here is one site

http://www.lifepositive.com/Spirit/traditional-

paths/wicca/ipsita.asp . You could read more here, and as per the

site she was apparently drawn to the Dianic Cult of Greece. I know

she teaches the Wicca, so perhaps this explains something :-) I

have read her autobiography "Beloved Witch', and I found it a lovely

book with beautiful thoughts.

>

> In India, the translation for Witch is 'Chudrail',

pronounced 'chu -rail'. In Tantra chudrails come in the category

of 'negative' ethereal beings, seeing them apparently driving an

ordinary person to to madness and death. The term churail was also

loosly applied to a negative female practictioner of Tantra. Hence

being defined a witch was not a very sociably desired thing in

India.

>

> BUT, and this is a BIG BUTT ;-) , this is not an accurate synonym

because technically a Wiccan is NOT a Chudrail. Ignorance and

vested interests made the comparative ! More accurately Wicca and

Tantra are similar. I would term a Wiccan as a Tantric, which is a

more accurate platform of relationship.

>

> Remember the parallel between witch = chudral probaly came about

when the British and European powers were in India, and 200 years

ago a Wiccan was a heritic in the eyes of the Church, so the

missionaries probably found the term 'chudrail' more horrific to

use for 'conversions'. Well we have to unravel this Gordian Knot,

or better still like Alexander (yeh Dianic Greek :-D LOL !!!) just

cut through it.

>

> When I in a small way look at the history of Christainity, you see

how many murders was done in the name of Christ - the Crusades, the

Dark Ages, the Colonisations of the 'New Worlds' and 'damn

pagans'. Desire Kills !!!

>

> Most people do not see the magic happening around them. In Hindu

belief (oh I wish I did not have to name a belief Hindu, which I

believe is a way of llife that allows each individual support along

their personal path to the divine, whatever !!!) it is said that

every thought produces a result, the law of karma, so in a way is

that not 'wicca' the power of the mind/will. I know I have put

this too simplistically.

>

> May I invite you to read the Aghora Series by Robby Svboda

http://www.drsvoboda.com/ . There are some article by him on the

net, but you would have to buy the books. The are available in

India in most good book-shops, and cost about US$ 5 each. Else

there is the Piccadilly Book Shop, Shop 64 Shankar Market,

Connaught Place, New Delhi - 110001, India. Owner Mr N K Chaudhary,

tel no. 00 91 11 2341 3993. He will ship anywhere in the world,

but you got to send the money for books and shipment in advance.

This place has been around for years, and is the original shop

for 'occult' books. Probably 10 feet by 20 feet in size and

stacket high to to cealing with books, sometimes 2 to 3 layers

thick, I have always wondered if the shopkeeper knew what treasures

he held in store ! Hey !!! This ain't a promo for this shop, just

wanted everyone to know that this is a good place to get books on

most any spiritual topic :-p

>

> Take it easy guys, and as they say in Wicca " Blessed Be "

>

> Smiles :-)

[Guest guest]

Wicca means the way of the wise. They were called the Magi, like the 3 wise

men who followed the star to Bethlehem. Irrespective of terminology, the Path

is understanding and harnessing Nature compassionately. In reflection I

realise that this too is a simplistic definition of a cosmic path, in as much

as the name Hindu, Christain, Buddhist, Wiccan, etc help only to crystalise a

particular aspect of ones direction of comfort/aptitude/attitude towards

'evolvement'.

 

Good and Evil is in the heart of the person. Evil is when we hurt other

beings and Good is when we do not. A person on the path needs to understand

both to be complete, like a mountain has its peak and its valley determining

its height and depth. Wicca and Tantra are paths that suits certain

temprements, as we term the Gyan Marg or Path of Wisdom. The Bhakti Marg or

Path of Devotion suits others. None is Superior to the other, and success

success depends on total dedication/surrender. This is where an Individuals

preparedness comes to determine the efforts required to succeed.

 

The Aghora series is more than just entertaining reading, even though it is

that too. I agree that some of Svoboda's message may not make sense, and this

is as it should be. This is not because he is not making sense, but because we

ourselves are not ready harvest the fruit therein. This applies to any

teaching, whether The Devi Gita, Tripura Rahasya, The Holy Bible, Isis Unveiled

and The Secret Doctrine by Blavatsky or the Kamasutra; are we ready ? We need

to evolve in order to recognise, and be strong in order to experience, The

Truth. When the Student is ready, the Teacher will appear.

 

I would not go so far to say that only Christains find the Harry Potter tales

frightening. Its too sweeping a statement. What is however scary is the fact

that so called 'Evil' or rather negative forces/angles are being used to

titillate and entertain. The human mind is very powerful and can create, which

is why the influence of negative imagery will have disasterous effects on the

mind of humanity. That the movie moguls should make movies on the more

beautiful aspects of Creation, Wicca, Tantra is something we should all pray

and direct our energies towards. To that extent visuals like Harry Potter,

Xena, Hercules do have a positive spin, the triumph of Good over Evil. I

believe that Nature/God is providing us the 'right stuff' given the present

station of humanity.

 

Wicca and Tantra have a lot to offer humankind for her progress. It is up to

people like us who are perhaps a bit attuned to holistisism to show how

compassionate God is. Evil beings are in much pain, and if we are to evolve we

need to help them remove that pain, then there will be no more Evil.

 

Blessed Be !

[Guest guest]

Redder Red wrote:I would not go so far to say that only Christains

find the Harry Potter tales frightening. Its too sweeping a

statement. What is however scary is the fact that so called 'Evil'

or rather negative forces/angles are being used to titillate and

entertain. The human mind is very powerful and can create, which

is why the influence of negative imagery will have disasterous

effects on the mind of humanity. That the movie moguls should make

movies on the more beautiful aspects of Creation, Wicca, Tantra is

something we should all pray and direct our energies towards. To

that extent visuals like Harry Potter, Xena, Hercules do have a

positive spin, the triumph of Good over Evil. I believe that

Nature/God is providing us the 'right stuff' given the present

station of humanity.

 

 

Well why I like about Harry Potter, its not so much about any evil

or any negative imaginery. I dont think so there is any in Harry

Potter scene. I dont consider magic or magik is negative. But what I

see is the ability of the author [ i didnt mention the director of

the movie ] of stretching our mind beyond the imagination. That I

find entertaining. I dont think so making movies with beautiful

aspects of creation will help in anyway. As some of us agree over

here, a lot of these movies are exggerated more often than not.

Movies is about making money. Movies that do not make money, will

not become popular.

 

When we sit and watch those movies, always reminded ourselves that

these are nothing but entertainment for our mind, nothing more than

that. Eventually our mind must be able to rationalise between the

logic and reason behind all these. If we can't that is where the

problem is. Where one remain stuck in the movie and not able to

move an inch from it. Everything they see seems real to them. The

same like some ghost or scary movie. Its meant to tease the mind.

And I personally feel many of us got caught in the cycle of

illusion. Our senses are being clouded with our own imagination from

what we see and hear over the movies or TV screen or the radio.