Glossary - exWitch Australia (formerly 'Born Again Pagan')

ALBERTUS MAGNUS (c.1200-1280)

Legend would have him a magician, but in fact this famous German scholar, known from the breadth of his knowledge as the Doctor Universalis, or man of wide learning, who earned distinction as a scholastic philosopher, scientist and theologian.

Many occultists believe he was an accomplished alchemist, and discovered the Philosophers' Stone, which enabled him to effect the Transmutation of metals.

Among his reputed occult achievements is the construction of a statue so life-like that it became endowed with the gift of speech. He could also allegedly control the weather and perform a wide variety of marvellous feats.

His posthumous reward was canonization by the Church in 1931.

His great achievement was to link the philosophical tradition of Aristotle with the principles of Catholic theology.

PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.

Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.

Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.

- Jean-Luc