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

CASANOVA, Giovanni Jacopo (1725-98)

Casanova, son of an actor, was brought up in Venice where for a time he became a theatre violinist before setting out on his first round of travels. During these he became interested in the cognate sciences and was received into a Masonic Order in Lyons in 1750. Later he joined the Egyptian Order founded by Cagliostro. In 1755 he returned to Venice, where he was accused of practising sorcery and sentenced to five years' imprisonment. But Casanova had no intention of languishing in jail for that length of time.

On October 31st, 1756, he achieved that spectacular escape which he was to describe in his famous Histoire de ma Fuite (1786). Once out of prison, he journeyed to Paris where he was entertained by all the best people. More travels followed, among them a trip to London. In spite of his reputation for Magick, he received an honour from the Pope. Mter a period during which he was a spy for the Venetian authorities, he returned to Bohemia where he had a post as librarian and archivist.

During his lifetime he composed verse and operatic libretti and even produced a translation of Homer's Iliad. More important were his Memoires which provide us with a fascinating glimpse of the 18th Century beau monde.

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