h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

On Sunday in the pub in Camden we (Towelmaster and I) were watching your Tatoo. You told us it had something to do with whichcraft (if I understood correctly). Does this means you are a which, if so could you tell me more about it.

Don Alfredo

Yes, I am a witch, not sure what more you want to know. The tattoo was done to help with spells (although I don't do many) and divination skills. I tend to use the tarot and a pendulum more often. And that's still not that often.
According to my child it means I can turn people into toads, but I think of it more as treating the planet with respect.

Now, what can you tell me about your religion?

So you use herbs and other natural things for your wellbeing then.
I don't know much about whichcraft. As far as I know a which lives very close to nature.

And how do you cast a spell and what do you use it for??

In movies and televisionseries (like Buffy or Charmed) they can do almost everything, but tha is hard to believe. This is fiction of course, but does i look like it.

Maybe you know some links on the net or H2G2 where I ca n learn more about whichcraft. I agree with you that people have to respect nature more then the most are doing now (including myself).

Spells are just another way of meditating, in the same way that a christian might say prayers. It's my way of being closer to the things believe in. They can be done for anything you can think of, wellbeing, good luck, health, happiness, supposedly wealth, but I haven't tried that one yet! Anything you can think of, you can do a spell for. And trust to the magic.
I've yet to stop time, or turn people into things, but i think that's best left to TV producers.

If you want sites on witchcraft, do a search on Hedge Witch in google, and you'll come up with plenty. I can't link to any here unfortunately.

Thank you I will check it out.

Can you really predict future with tarot, or is it that you have to believe in that. Like christians do in the resurection of Jesus Christ?

And another question; where can I find the page with the codes for all those nice smileys and thingies. Do you happen to know that by any chance?

Thank you I will check it out.

Can you really predict future with tarot, or is it that you have to believe in that. Like christians do in the resurection of Jesus Christ?

And another question; where can I find the page with the codes for all those nice smileys and thingies. Do you happen to know that by any chance?

Sorry, I must have pushed the button twice.

~looks very apologizing~

I found the smileys and other cool stuff myself.

You asked me about my religion, well I am a christian. But at the moment I don't go to church very often anymore. Maybe once in a month or so. I don't know if your are familiar with this religion.
Don't hesistate to ask if you are curious.

I was a christian when I was a kid, I was even christened! Then I realised that I was acting just like a pagan, so changed to match what I was doing.

I haven't tried to predict the future with the tarot, so I genuinly don't know if it can be done, but I know that when I ask a question, then the tarot gives me an answer. And that's what I use a pendulum for as well, but it only does yes no answers.

What is a pagan?? I took a quick look around on the internet and found out that there a several kind of wiches. I have to check more sites before I can understand what you are talking about.
What I did understand is that wichcraft is a way of life, or am I wrong.

Pagan is just used to describe people like me, that don't worship a 'normal' religion. They can be druids, norse god worshippers, witches, and even ones with no religion, but strong beliefs. Usually to do wth the earth and stuff. It's difficult for me to explain as I don't know a great deal about what other people do.
It is a way of life, as I said, I suddenly realised that my way of life was pretty much a witches way, so I took a deep breath and went for it. My kid's a little pagan too. I keep him out of all the christian stuff at school, but as my family are christian (although they are not church goers) they still talk to him about Jesus on the cross. I bite my tongue, take him home and tell him it's a lovely story, but I don't believe he was who he said he was. And he's quite happy with that. And comes and celebrates the sabbats with me.

So the sabbats are on saturday and each full, half and quarter moon, if I understand the articles correctly.

Is this like going to church, with singing and worshipping?
If so I don't see many difference between your believe and christianity. You believe in earth beïng the mother off all live, christians believe in God, who has given life to everything on earth.

Or am I wrong?

Sabbats only come 4 times a year, at Halloween (our New Year) Feb, May and August. There are 4 Esbats - minor Sabbats - near xmas, and the spring, summer and winter equinoxes. They are all solar in nature, rather than lunar.

There is an entry here http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A222580, although it's not in the edited guide. I think I'll go over there and investigate why not.

They can be like going to church, as some people meet up to celebrate them. I tend to do things in the garden, with my son, so we don't do much singing or dancing. For instance, at Litha (Midsummers day) we had a bonfire, as it's a fire sabbat.

There aren't really any differences between this and christianity, as they nicked our holidays! You will see from the entry that I linked to that the dates of the sabbats link to Easter, Xmas, and others.

The entry isn't in the edited guide, because the author said in the introduction about "undr construction" or something like that.

I know that Xmas was orriginally an old German or Swedish festival to celebrate the returning of the sun. That is why we still burn candles and other lights at this holliday. The christians who came to turn over the people who lived here wouldn't make to much difference with the old customs and worshipping the other gods like Wodan etc.

Since christianity was spread out over the world by Enlish/Dutch/Spanish/Portugese these hollidays are the same all over the world.

Eastern has something to do with the 4th or 5th (I don't know for sure which one) in the new year (gregorian calendar). In Dutch it is called Pasen, which comes from the Jewish fest called Pascha (where the Jews celebrate the travel out of Egypt). Cause Jesus had his last supper on the evening of Pascha it is called this way.

Just the day that Jesus went up to heaven and the holliday ten days later are according to the bible. Between Easter and the going up to heavenday are 40 days, and ten days after that the disciples received the holy spirit. (I am sorry but I forgot the Engelish terms for these days, so I just subcribed them).

So in the protestant church there are just 4 celebrating days if you let the sunday out.

The reason some people go to the church on sunday is for the fact that Jesus has risen on a sunday.

There are some relegion groups who celebrate this on Saturday, because they want to stick to Genesis, the first book of the bible, where God pronounces the seventh day of the week as a day of rest.

Maybe you know this already, but I think not that we stole (all) our celebration days from you or other religions.

Just out of interest, it does seem strange that Jesus did a lot of things on holidays that pagans were already celebrating.

And someone once told me that it was proved that Jesus was born n October, but it is still celebrated 3 days after Yule.

I agree. The celebration of Jesus birth is with Xmas (why not christmas?) .

As originally the germans had this celebration of returning of the light, bishops meant it was wise to celebrate the birth of Jesus on the same day. So they could slowly turn over the non-christians to cristianity.

In Holland there was a bishop called Willibrodus killed, when he was disturbing a celebration to another god. We still have to learn that in history.

In my opinion all celebrations or holidays all over the world had orriginally somthing to do with changing seasons. As christian hollidays are a part of old German habits and Jewish celebration days mixed together, it is no wonder that they are almost the same with you sabbats.

What are the meaning of all those names anyway. What are you celebrating with Yule?