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Isaac Bonewits

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Phillip Emmons Isaac Bonewits (born October 1, 1949) is an influential Neopagan leader and author. He is a liturgist, speaker, journalist, Neo-druid priest, and a singer, songwriter, and independent recording artist. Born in Royal Oak, Michigan, Bonewits has been heavily involved in occultism since the 1960s.

Life

In 1966, while enrolled at UC Berkeley, Bonewits joined the Reformed Druids of North America or RDNA. Bonewits was ordained as a Neo-druid priest in 1969. During this time period, Bonewits was recruited by the Church of Satan, but left due to political and philosophical conflicts with Anton LaVey.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). Contrary to popular belief, this blessing was staged for the movie at the behest of the filmmakers and was not, in fact, an authentic ceremony.

Bonewits graduated from UC Berkeley in 1970 with a BA, becoming the only person to have ever received any kind of degree in Magic from an accredited university. According to the website Controverscial.Com, the publicity from this embarrassed the UC Berkeley administrators, and Magic, Witchcraft and Sorcery was subsequently banned from the individual group studies program. His first book, Real Magic, was published in 1971. Between 1973 and 1975 Bonewits was employed as editor of Gnostica magazine in Minnesota (published by Llewellyn Publications), established an offshoot group of the RDNA called the Schismatic Druids of North America, and helped create a group called the Hasidic Druids of North America (despite his life-long status as a "gentile"). He also founded the short-lived Aquarian Anti-Defamation League (AADL), an early Pagan civil-rights group.

In 1976, Bonewits moved back to Berkeley and rejoined his original grove there, now part of the New Reformed Druids of North America (NRDNA). He was later elected ArchDruid of the Berkeley Grove.

In 1983, Bonewits founded Ar nDraiocht Fein (also known as "A Druid Fellowship" or ADF), which was incorporated in 1990 in the state of Delaware as a U.S. 501(c)3 non-profit organization. He made the organization's first public announcement in 1984, and began the membership sign-up at the first WinterStar Symposium in 1984. Over the years, Bonewits has also had varying degrees of involvement with the Caliphate Line of the Ordo Templi Orientis, Gardnerian Wicca, the New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn (a Wiccan organization not to be confused with the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn) as well as others. Bonewits is a regular presenter at Neopagan festivals in the US.

Bonewits served as Archdruid of ADF until 1996, when he resigned due to the onset of symptoms of Eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome. He retains the lifelong title of ADF Archdruid Emeritus.

A songwriter, singer and recording artist, he has produced two CDs of Pagan music and numerous recorded lectures and panel discussions, produced and distributed by the Association for Consciousness Exploration. He lives in Rockland County, New York, and is a member of the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS). On 23 July, 2004, he was married in a handfasting ceremony to a former vice-president of the organization, Phaedra Heyman Bonewits, and has a son from a previous marriage to author Deborah Lipp, Arthur Shaffrey Lipp-Bonewits. At the time of the handfasting, the marriage was not yet legal owing to the fact that he had not yet been legally divorced from Ms. Lipp, although they had been separated for several years by that point. Paperwork and legalities caught up on 31 December, 2007 making them legally married.

Bonewits is currently encouraging charity programs to help Neopagan seniors, and in January 2006 was the key note speaker at the Conference On Current Pagan Studies at the Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, CA.

Contributions to Neopaganism

Bonewits has coined much of the modern terminology used to define and articulate many of the conceptual themes and issues which affect the North American Neopagan community.

Popular culture

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  • In the music video for his song A Witches Invitation, singer Carman goes to meet what he calls a "warlock" named "Isaac Horowitz". This is a play on Bonewits' name.

Bibliography

  • Real Magic: An Introductory Treatise on the Basic Principles of Yellow Magic. (1972, 1979, 1989) Weiser Books ISBN 0-87728-688-4
  • Authentic Thaumaturgy. (1978, 1998) Steve Jackson Games ISBN 1-55634-360-4
  • Rites of Worship: A Neopagan Approach. (2003) Earth Religions Press ISBN 1-59405-501-7 OP
  • Witchcraft: A Concise Guide or Which Witch Is Which?. (2003) Earth Religions Press ISBN 1-59405-500-9
  • The Pagan Man: Priests, Warriors, Hunters, and Drummers. (2005) Citadel ISBN 0-8065-2697-1, ISBN 978-0806526973
  • Bonewits's Essential Guide to Witchcraft and Wicca. (2006) Citadel ISBN 0-8065-2711-0, ISBN 978-0806527116
  • Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism. (2006) Citadel ISBN 0-8065-2710-2, ISBN 978-0806527109
  • Real Energy: Systems, Spirits, And Substances to Heal, Change, And Grow. (2007) New Leaf ISBN 1564149048, ISBN 978-1564149046. Co-authored with Phaedra Bonewits.
  • Neopagan Rites: A Guide to Creating Public Rituals that Work. (2007) Llewellyn ISBN 0738711993, ISBN 978-0738711997

Discography

Music

  • Be Pagan Once Again! - Isaac Bonewits & Friends (including Ian Corrigan, Victoria Ganger, and Todd Alan) (CD) (ACE/ADF)
  • Avalon is Rising! - Real Magic (CD)(ACE/ADF)

Spoken word

  • The Structure of Craft Ritual (ACE)
  • A Magician Prepares (ACE)
  • Programming Magical Ritual: Top-Down Liturgical Design (ACE)
  • Druidism: Ancient & Modern (ACE)
  • How Does Magic Work? (ACE)
  • Rituals That Work (ACE)
  • Sexual Magic & Magical Sex (with Deborah Lipp) (ACE)
  • Making Fun of Religion (with Deborah Lipp) (ACE)

Panel discussions

References

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  • Berger, Helen A. (2005) Witchcraft and Magic: Contemporary North America. University of Pennsylvania Press ISBN 081223877X, ISBN 978-0812238778
  • Berger, Helen A. (1998) A Community of Witches: Contemporary Neo-Paganism and Witchcraft in the United States. University of South Carolina Press ISBN 1570032467, ISBN 978-1570032462
  • Berger, Helen A. & Helen H. & Evan A. Leach, Leigh S. Shaffer (2003) Voices from the Pagan Census: A National Survey of Witches and Neo-Pagans in the United States. University of South Carolina Press ISBN 1570034885, ISBN 978-1570034886
  • Bond, Lawrence & Ellen Evert Hopman (1996) People of the Earth: The New Pagans Speak Out. (reissued as Being a Pagan: Druids, Wiccans & Witches Today in 2002 Destiny Books ISBN 0-89281-904-9) Interview.
  • Cuhulain, Kerr (2000) Wiccan Warrior: Walking a Spiritual Path in a Sometimes Hostile World. Llewellyn Publications ISBN 1567182526, ISBN 978-1567182521
  • Drew, A.J. (2002) Wicca for Couples: Making Magick Together. New Page Books ISBN 1564146200, ISBN 978-1564146205
  • Dunwich, Gerina (2001) The Modern Witch's Complete Sourcebook. Kensington Pub Corp ISBN 0806522933
  • Frost, Gavin & Yvonne Frost (2004) The Soliltary Wiccan's Bible. Weiser Books ISBN 1578633133, ISBN 978-1578633135
  • Gonce III, John Wisdom & Daniel Harms (2003) The Necronomicon Files: The Truth Behind Lovecraft's Legend. Weiser Books ISBN 1578632692, ISBN 978-1578632695
  • Harrow, Judy (1999) Wicca Covens: How to Start and Organize Your Own. Citadel ISBN 0806520353, ISBN 978-0806520353
  • Harvey, Graham (1997) Contemporary Paganism: Listening People, Speaking Earth. New York University Press ISBN 0814735495, ISBN 978-0814735497
  • Higginbotham, River & Joyce (2002) Paganism: An Introduction to Earth-Centered Religions. Llewellyn Publications ISBN 0738702226, ISBN 978-0738702223
  • Keith, William H. (2005) The Science of the Craft: Modern Realities in the Ancient Art of Witchcraft. Kensington Publishing Corp. ISBN 0806526335, ISBN 9780806526331
  • Lewis, James R. & Shelley Rabinovitch (2002) The Encyclopedia of Modern Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism. C Trade Paper ISBN 0806524065, ISBN 978-0806524061
  • Mann, Nicholas R. & Maya Magee Sutton (2000) Druid Magic: The Practice of Celtic Wisdom. Llewellyn Publications ISBN 1567184812, ISBN 978-1567184815
  • Murphy-Hiscock, Arin (2005) Solitary Wicca for Life: Complete Guide to Mastering the Craft on Your Own. Adams Media Corporation ISBN 1593373538, ISBN 978-1593373535
  • Occult Crime: A Law Enforcement Primer. (1993) Diane Publishing Co ISBN 1568068603, ISBN 978-1568068602
  • Penczak, Christopher (2002) The Inner Temple of Witchcraft: Magick, Meditation and Psychic Development. Llewellyn Publications ISBN 0738702765, ISBN 978-0738702766
  • Pike, Sarah M. (2004) New Age and Neopagan Religions in America. Columbia University Press ISBN 0231124023, ISBN 978-0231124027
  • Scribe 27 (2002) Arcane Lore: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Occult... But Were Afraid to Ask. Writers Club Press ISBN 0595236979, ISBN 978-0595236978
  • Urban, Hugh B. (2006) Magia Sexualis: Sex, Magic, and Liberation in Modern Western Esotericism. University of California Press ISBN 0520247760, ISBN 978-0520247765
  • Vale, V. and John Sulak (2001). Modern Pagans. San Francisco: Re/Search Publications. ISBN 1-889307-10-6
  • Wildman, Laura A. (2002) What's Your Wicca IQ?. Citadel ISBN 0806523476, ISBN 978-0806523477
  • Zell-Ravenheart, Oberon (2004) Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard. New Page Books ISBN 1564147118, ISBN 978-1564147110

See also

Notes

  1. My Satanic Adventure
  2. http://www.neopagan.net/SatanicAdventure.html My Satanic Adventure
  3. A Brief Biography of Isaac Bonewits
  4. Views from Cyberhenge
  5. Adopt an Elder
  6. Bonewits, Isaac (2006). Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism. New York: Kensington/Citadel. p. 131. ISBN 0-8065-2710-2. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |coauthors= and |month= (help) Author is unsure whether he "got this use of the term from one or more of the other culturally focused Neopagan movements of the time, or if just applied it in a novel fashion."
  7. McColman (2003) p.51: "Such reconstructionists are attempting, through both spiritual and scholarly means, to create as purely Celtic a spirituality as possible."
  8. "The Aquarian Manifesto"

External links

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