Everything about Isaac Bonewits totally explained
Phillip Emmons Isaac Bonewits (born
October 1 1949) is an influential
Neopagan leader and
author. He is a
liturgist, speaker, journalist,
Neo-druid priest, and a singer, songwriter, and independent recording artist. Born in
Royal Oak, Michigan, Bonewits has been heavily involved in
occultism since the 1960s.
Life
In 1966 while enrolled at
UC Berkeley, Bonewits joined the
Reformed Druids of North America or RDNA. Bonewits was ordained as a
Neo-druid priest in 1969. During this period Bonewits was recruited by the
Church of Satan, but left due to political and philosophical conflicts with
Anton LaVey. During his stint in the Church of Satan Bonewits appeared in the 1970 documentary
Satanis. Bonewits, in his article "My Satanic Adventure", asserts the rituals in
Satanis were staged for the movie at the behest of the filmmakers and were not authentic ceremonies.
Bonewits graduated from UC Berkeley in 1970 with a
Bachelor of Arts, becoming the only person to have ever received any kind of
degree in
Magic from an accredited university. According to the website Controverscial.Com, the publicity from this embarrassed the UC Berkeley administrators, and Magic, Witchcraft and Sorcery was subsequently banned from the individual group studies program.
(External Link
) His first book,
Real Magic, was published in 1971. Between 1973 and 1975 Bonewits was employed as editor of
Gnostica magazine in Minnesota (published by
Llewellyn Publications), established an offshoot group of the RDNA called the Schismatic Druids of North America, and helped create a group called the Hasidic Druids of North America (despite his life-long status as a "
gentile"). He also founded the short-lived Aquarian Anti-Defamation League (AADL), an early Pagan civil-rights group.
In 1976 Bonewits moved back to Berkeley and rejoined his original grove there, now part of the New Reformed Druids of North America (NRDNA). He was later elected ArchDruid of the Berkeley Grove.
In 1983 Bonewits founded
Ar nDraiocht Fein (also known as "A Druid Fellowship" or ADF), which was incorporated in 1990 in the state of
Delaware as a U.S. 501(c)3 non-profit organization. He made the organization's first public announcement in 1984, and began the membership sign-up at the first
WinterStar Symposium in 1984. Over the years Bonewits has also had varying degrees of involvement with the Caliphate Line of the
Ordo Templi Orientis,
Gardnerian Wicca, the
New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn (a
Wiccan organization not to be confused with the
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn) as well as others. Bonewits is a regular presenter at Neopagan festivals in the US.
Bonewits served as Archdruid of ADF until 1996, when he resigned due to the onset of symptoms of
Eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome. He retains the lifelong title of ADF Archdruid Emeritus.
A songwriter, singer and recording artist, he's produced two CDs of Pagan music and numerous recorded lectures and panel discussions, produced and distributed by the
Association for Consciousness Exploration. He lives in
Rockland County, New York, and is a member of the
Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS). On
July 23 2004 he was married in a
handfasting ceremony to a former vice-president of the organization, Phaedra Heyman Bonewits, and has a son from a previous marriage to author
Deborah Lipp, Arthur Shaffrey Lipp-Bonewits. At the time of the handfasting, the marriage wasn't yet legal owing to the fact that he hadn't yet been legally divorced from Ms. Lipp, although they'd been separated for several years by that point. Paperwork and legalities caught up on
December 31 2007 making them legally married.
Bonewits is currently encouraging charity programs to help Neopagan seniors, and in January 2006 was the key note speaker at the Conference On Current Pagan Studies at the
Claremont Graduate University in
Claremont, CA.
Contributions to Neopaganism
Bonewits has coined much of the modern terminology used to define and articulate many of the conceptual themes and issues which affect the North American Neopagan community.
Popular culture
In the music video for his song A Witches Invitation, singer Carman goes to meet what he calls a "warlock" named "Isaac Horowitz". This is a play on Bonewits' name.
Bibliography
Real Magic: An Introductory Treatise on the Basic Principles of Yellow Magic. (1972, 1979, 1989) Weiser Books ISBN 0-87728-688-4
Authentic Thaumaturgy. (1978, 1998) Steve Jackson Games ISBN 1-55634-360-4
Rites of Worship: A Neopagan Approach. (2003) Earth Religions Press ISBN 1-59405-501-7 OP
Witchcraft: A Concise Guide or Which Witch Is Which?. (2003) Earth Religions Press ISBN 1-59405-500-9
The Pagan Man: Priests, Warriors, Hunters, and Drummers. (2005) Citadel ISBN 0-8065-2697-1, ISBN 978-0806526973
Bonewits's Essential Guide to Witchcraft and Wicca. (2006) Citadel ISBN 0-8065-2711-0, ISBN 978-0806527116
Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism. (2006) Citadel ISBN 0-8065-2710-2, ISBN 978-0806527109
Real Energy: Systems, Spirits, And Substances to Heal, Change, And Grow. (2007) New Leaf ISBN 1564149048, ISBN 978-1564149046. Co-authored with Phaedra Bonewits.
Neopagan Rites: A Guide to Creating Public Rituals that Work. (2007) Llewellyn ISBN 0738711993, ISBN 978-0738711997
Discography
Music
Be Pagan Once Again! - Isaac Bonewits & Friends (including Ian Corrigan, Victoria Ganger, and Todd Alan) (CD) (ACE/ADF)
Avalon is Rising! - Real Magic (CD)(ACE/ADF)
Spoken word
The Structure of Craft Ritual (ACE)
A Magician Prepares (ACE)
Programming Magical Ritual: Top-Down Liturgical Design (ACE)
Druidism: Ancient & Modern (ACE)
How Does Magic Work? (ACE)
Rituals That Work (ACE)
Sexual Magic & Magical Sex (with Deborah Lipp) (ACE)
Making Fun of Religion (with Deborah Lipp) (ACE)
Panel discussions
The Magickal Movement: Present & Future (with Margot Adler, Selena Fox, and Robert Anton Wilson) (ACE)
Magick Changing the World, the World Changing Magick (with AmyLee, Selena Fox, Jeff Rosenbaum and Robert Anton Wilson) (ACE)Further Information
Get more info on 'Isaac Bonewits'.
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