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                  A RESPONSE TO "CRAFT ETHICS OF THE COVENANT OF THE DOVES" 
            
               It has always been my view that the Earth Traditions, both in the 
           Wiccan (European Shamanic) and  Neo-Native Shamanic senses, are seeing
           their rebirth out of a true need  to heal this wounded Mother of ours,
           and  to stay Her hand, for Her anger  is growing. It is quite possible
           that without this renewed spirit of reverence and worship of Earth and
           Sky and the True Source of All that Is, humanity as a species would be
           made as extinct as the Passenger Pigeon and the Dodo Bird. 
            
                   Therefore,as a Pagan and asa follower of theWays of the Chiri-
           cahua  Teneh Nation, I cringe whenever I see restrictions and require-
           ments that are, for all intents and purposes, useless today, and  only
           hamper the mission  we have of  encouraging others to  walk in a  more
           sacred way on the Body of Our Mother.  I see the power trips, the "I'm
           the High Priest(ess), that's why" crap  and the games driving more and
           more Pagans solitary, when we should be uniting.  And  I was extremely
           angered  when I read the  published "ethics" of  one organization, the
           Covenant of the Doves, now known as the United Wiccan Church. 
            
                   I have listed the salient points that disturb me the most, and
           will respond to them one by one. 
            
               > No woman shall be a Maiden who has not been in her courses. 
           MK-H: I guess  that's fair enough.  But  whether or not a woman is    
           currently menstruating is none of the Coven's business. 
            
               > No woman shall be ordained unless she has passed her 17th year, 
               > nor shall she have her ordination recognized until that time. 
           MK-H: No  coven has any  business ordaining a  person, woman or  man, 
           before the  legal Age  of Consent, unless  the minor is  legally eman-
           cipated, and can produce  their emancipation papers.  To  do otherwise
           is a wonderful excuse for prosecution if  the persecution that File 18
           and other  Fundie hate articles  I have been compiling  in my XIANHATE
           series of files seem to augur comes to pass. 
            
                   >  No womanshall have herordination recognized unless sheis in
              >   her courses, has ten fingers, ten toes, two eyes, two ears, a 
                   >  nose. Her generative organs andbreasts must becomplete. The
              >   honorable loss of limbs or the effects of torture following 
               >   ordination shall not invalidate the ordination. 
           MK-H: So you  would deny ordination to a woman  who is handicapped, or
           blind, or deaf, or has suffered the effects of cancer and may have had
           a hysterectomy,  a mastectomy  or even the  less-invasive "lumpectomy"
           done on her  to save her  life?  That  is bigoted and totally  without
           reason in this day and age.  And what if she is past Menopause?  Would
           you  deny ordination  to a woman  who may  be past  her fertile years?
           That's wholly disrespectful to the Elders who hold so much wisdom that
           could be an asset to a Circle. 
            
               >   No woman shall be a Nymph who has not coupled. 
           MK-H: Again, this  is none of the  Coven's business whether or  not a 
           woman has had sex. 
            
 
 
                                                                             1217
 
 
               >   No woman shall be a Crone who has not given birth. 
           MK-H: Some have chosen NOT to bear children, out of either financial 
           necessity, or conviction that this society is not the place to raise 
           kids in.  And some have recognized that they simply do not have the 
           temperment  for child-rearing  (myself  included in  that category.)  
           Some are infertile, through no fault  of their own.  And some, through
           either  psychological or physical  drives, prefer other  women.  There
           are a great deal of Lesbians in the  Wiccan movement.  Would you write
           them off as nonexistant? 
            
               >   No man shall be a Magician who has not healed. 
           MK-H: Healing is not necessarily the only talent the God and Goddess 
           give  to people.   Therefore, if a  person does not  have that talent,
           that does not mean that they aren't useful to the Circle in other 
           capacities.  And why  is this criterion only  applied to MALE  postul-
           ants? Some of the best healers I know are female. 
            
                   > Noman shall beordained unless he haspassed his 33rdyear, nor
              > shall he have his ordination recognized until that time. 
           MK-H: Why a  double standard on when  a man should be ordained?  18 is
           just fine for an eligability date. 
            
               > No man shall have his ordination recognized unless he is the 
                   > father ofa living child, has ten fingers andten toes, two   
           > eyes,  two ears and a nose and generative organs complete.  The 
               > honorable loss of limbs or the effects of torture following 
               > ordination shall not invalidate the ordination. 
               MK-H: Again I voice my objections about the anti-Physically Chall-
           enged bias that this requirement implies.  And I suspect  that the re-
           quirement of  being "the father of  a living child" is  there for only
           one reason--that it is a legally  permissable way of stating "No  Poo-
           ftahs".  Just  as the  childbearing requirement  is discriminatory  to
           Lesbians, the fatherhood requirement is discriminatory to Gays. 
            
               So what would I myself ask of postulants wishing initiation? In my
           theoretical  Circle, I  would ask them  to attest, under  pain of dis-
           fellowship,  that they are  not law  enforcement officers  joining the
           Circle for espionage purposes, nor are  they there for sabotage or in-
           filtration purposes under religious grounds.  Furthermore, they should
           affirm their allegience to The Earth Mother, The Sky Father, and Their
           Ultimate Source, forswearing  allegiance to other deities.  (primarily
           to weed  out Christian or  "satanist" infiltrators)  They should  have
           completed their Vision Quest,  and have contacted their Lower  Self in
           the  form of their Power Animal(s), and  their Higher Self in the form
           of the Shaman or Teacher Within.  They also should not show outward or
           inward  signs  of  being  mentally unbalanced  (something  that  would
           require a lot of trusting one's gut, although a  psychologically-based
           questionnaire might be  a good  way of confirming  it) or overly  con-
           cerned with  "finding power".  They  must also, for legal  reasons, be
           either over 18 or legally Emancipated. 
            
               Furthermore, there will be  only ONE degree in my  Circle--that of
           Kin.  Anyone who is initiated is theoretically ready to  act as cerem-
           onial  facilitator, and  that  duty will  be rotated  to  them as  the
           rotation goes around the Circle.  Decisions  should be made by consen-
           sus, with one person having only one vote. 
 
 
                                                                             1218
 
            
               I ask you, James...does notthe Mother and the Father decreethat we
           should all be free and equal to one another? Is that not why you opt 
           to have your Coven be naked in their rite?  (Due to the fact  that the
           Chiricahua  Teneh never  performed ceremonials  in the  nude, I  would
           myself  opt for  robed work, even  to the  point of  people working in
           comfortable  street clothes.) So why all  this bloody RESTRICTION? Why
           all  these trivial, and sometimes even discriminatory rules and regul-
           ations?   Your ancestor Aleister once said  "The word for Sin is Rest-
           riction."  It's a good rule of thumb. 
            
             Respectfully, 
             Michelle Chihacou White Puma Klein-Hass 
 
 
                                                                             1219
 


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