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

CANEWDON

The village in Essex where the Cunning Man George Pickingill lived and which possesses a strong reputation for witchcraft extending back to at least the 16th century.

The first case involving Canewdon witchcraft mentioned in the Lent Assizes Records (1580) is that of Rose Pye, who was arraigned on charges of causing the death of a 4 year-old infant. She was later acquitted.

Suggestions that Canewdon, or any other East Anglian villages, can claim a continuous lineage of witch Covens tracing back to the 16th century or earlier are, however, wholly unproven and implications by investigators such as Eric Maple, one of the foremost writers on witchcraft in the east of England during the 1960;s, that witchcraft was rife in Canewdon in recent decades are not borne out by more recent research.

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