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

NEW REFORMED ORTHODOX ORDER OF THE GOLDEN DAWN (NROOGD)

What began as a college-class experiment in San Francisco in 1968 resulted in a Neo-Pagan religious organization. The NROOGD has no connection with the original Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a Ceremonial Magick fraternity. It recognizes the triple aspect of the Goddess and is organized in covens.

The creators of NROOGD were classmates in a course on Ritual Magick at San Francisco State College. The group, which included Aidan Kelly and Glenna Turner, created their own rituals for a Witches' sabbat, which they performed for the rest of the class. Intrigued by the occult, the group continued to meet as an informal study group. Another sabbat was held on Lammas Day, August I, 1968, which drew a crowd of about 40 persons (see SABBATS).

A year later, in 1969, the group members decided they had adopted a new religion, and they initiated themselves as Witches and formed a coven. From 1972 to 1976 the organization published a periodical, The Witches Trine. As of the mid-1980s, active NROOGD covens existed around the United States, frequently hosting large public and semi-public outdoor festivals at sabbats.

Kelly left the organization in the late 1970s and returned to his original religion, Roman Catholicism. He confessed to having doubts about Paganism beginning in 1977; the final break came when he took a teaching position at a Catholic university in San Francisco in 1979. Turner helped to form the Covenant of the Goddess, a federation of covens.

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