The days are growing longer. Light shines down through the trees in the front yard. I moved into a new house this year, so I have no idea what is planted outside. Each day I go out to see what new treasures Gaia has grown for me.
Over by the fence, I found a flower. There was just one. It is purple. I think it is a tulip or something (for an environmental activist, I can identify surprisingly few plants on sight). Each day I went out and admired its beauty and talked to it.
After about a week, more flowers appeared. Some were white, some yellow and some more purple ones. Each one is unique and beautiful. Each one stands alone, but their roots are intertwined.
The theme of this issue of Widdershins is Solitaries. Solitaries are like those flowers. Each one stands alone and beautiful in her or his own right. But each also has roots that connect her or him to the rest of the community. Those roots may be friends, "solitaries parties," or even just books by others, but the roots are there.
This issue we bring you a number of articles written by different solitaries. Each solitary is different and the articles reflect this. Of the other authors in this issue, I know that Donna, our astrologer, is also a solitary. We present this issue of Widdershins to everyone in hope that we can be another of those roots that tie the solitaries to the pagan community at large.
Since most of our regular authors are not solitaries, you will meet a good number of people you haven't heard from before. We welcome these new authors to the Widdershins family and hope they will send us more articles for publication on other topics.
On that note, the themes of the next few issues are: Celtic Magick for Beltaine and Modern Primitives for Litha. Submissions should get to us about four or five weeks before the holiday in question.
I also want to note the passing of Stewart Farrar. I met Stewart once at a book signing/teaching lecture after Spells and How they Work came out. I was a solitary then, brand new to the Craft. I remember him as funny and knowledgeable, with just enough of that "Crazy Old Guy" energy to still be cool. I had no idea who he was or how influential his books were, but they have been an important source of knowledge to me ever since. I will miss Stewart, if only for the books he won't be able to write now.
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