Kerr Cuhulain
MT: Kerr, it’s a real pleasure to be able to discuss the following themes with you, and I do thank you for your time and input. But firstly before I ask you the Jesus-focused questions, can you briefly explain the mission/vision of the Wiccan Order of Knights of which you are Grand Master?
KC: The Order of Scáthach is a Wiccan order of Knighthood founded by me in November 2007. The Order of Scáthach has evolved into a Wiccan tradition embracing the Warrior philosophies as outlined in my books Wiccan Warrior, Full Contact Magick, and Magickal Self Defense. You might call it “Warrior Wicca.” The Order of Scáthach embraces the concept of chivalry and focuses on empowerment, creative expression, and effective magick. The Order of Scáthach is a study group for people interested in Wiccan magick, energy work, and rituals related to the Warrior path. We are constantly developing new rituals and magick and studying our philosophy. All members are expected to participate and contribute.
The Order of Scáthach is named for Scáthach nUanaind, the daughter of Ard-Greimne of Lethra. Scáthach (“shadow”—pronounced “skya”), also known as Scáthach Buanand (“victorious shadow”), is the most famous of female warriors in Celtic mythology. Living on the Isle of Skye (which is named for her), Scáthach ran a martial training academy at which all of the principal heroes of Celtic myth were trained. Her most famous pupil was Cúchulainn, the warrior hero that influenced my choice of magickal name.
Members of the Order of Scáthach must honor and uphold the Wiccan Rede (“An it harm none, do what thou wilt”) in all its aspects. Members of the Order of Scáthach must follow “The Rule,” which consists of our thirteen warrior precepts and our Code of Chivalry.
MT: Are you able to expound on that Code here?
KC: Certainly. Our thirteen precepts are as follows:
1. Know thyself.
2. Nurture the ability to perceive the truth in all matters.
3. You create your own reality.
4. Develop a sense of Right Action.
5. Do not be negligent, even in trifling matters.
6. Your body is your temple; care for it!
7. Minimal appearance, maximum content.
8. Perceive that which cannot be seen with the eye.
9. Power with.
10. Who dares wins.
11. The Gods cannot help those who will not help themselves.
12. Be creative!
13. Do not engage in useless activity.
Our Code of Chivalry as outlined in the Scáthach Oath of Knighthood reads as follows:
“By the power of earth, water, air, fire, and spirit, before the Gods, the Sidhe, and the Ancestors, I do declare before this assemblage my fealty and allegiance to Scáthach, to its thirteen precepts, and to the rule of law.
So shall I ever defend the values of Sincerity, Courtesy, Compassion, Perseverance, Industriousness, Justice, Loyalty, Courage, Self-Discipline, Humility, Largesse, Truth, and Honor, which in
this modern world are so often neglected. I take these values into
my heart and soul that they may manifest themselves in my words and deeds.
Standing proud and free, radiating my inner truth, exultant in my power, I raise up my voice and proclaim myself to be a knight of Scáthach and dedicate myself to the mastery and defense of these values. I vow to do my will while harming none. In this I am resolved. This I declare before the Gods, the Sidhe, and the Ancestors.
Biodh Se! (be it so)”
MT: This is truly fascinating. So how does one enter the Order? I presume there’s a strict training?
KC: In the first phase of Order of Scáthach training, the Novice is welcomed into the Order with an Acceptance ritual. The Novice studies energy through both mental and psychical exercises, learns and practices psychic skills, and develops their magickal skills. At the end of this first phase, the Novice becomes a Squire at an Armoring ceremony. The second level of training has to do with studying ritual and magickal weapons: We take our Magickal Weapons seriously and train with them. At the end of this second phase, the Squire becomes a Knight at an Arming ceremony. The third phase of training is about teaching and leadership. At the end of the third phase the Knight becomes a Master at a Mastering ceremony. While our Sabbat rituals are constantly changing to reflect the creativity of our members, these initiations are fixed, tying us together with tradition.
There is no liquor in Scáthach circles or rituals. We respect Pagan traditions that use wine, mead, or whiskey in Circle or ritual as the “water of life.” This “prohibition” isn’t intended as a criticism of their practices. Some of us were formerly involved in relationships with alcoholic partners and their families. Liquor is too easily abused. We’ve been to too many Circles or gatherings where people came drunk or got drunk and were a disruptive influence and/or a drain on the group’s magickal energy.
Scáthach is a drug-free tradition. No drugs will be tolerated, period. Members of the Order of Scáthach will obey the laws and uphold them. We do not waste our time in altered states of consciousness, whether drug induced or not. Being Warriors, we teach ourselves to use flow states, enhancing our awareness. Our position on this subject is well documented in Wiccan Warrior, Full Contact Magick, and Magickal Self Defense. We will support anyone committed to recovery efforts.
The Order of Scáthach is a family tradition, and children are entirely welcome in Circle and out.
MT: Kerr, one of things I found most interesting about your work is within the area of exposing fraudsters. I came across this reading about you on the WitchVox website. Has the work you’ve done regarding the exposure of phony and hostile stories by some members of the Christian community had any effect on how you view Jesus himself? Do you ever feel that some Christians have misunderstood his teaching?
KC: First let me emphasize that the people that I wrote about in my Witch Hunts articles are a very small but very vocal minority within the greater Christian community. Most Christians I deal with aren’t centered in intolerance and hate like the few I wrote about.
I think that many fundamentalist Christians desperately want the mythology and allegory the Bible contains to be literal history. Yes, I definitely believe that the fundamentalist Christians I wrote about misunderstand his teaching. Myth is a powerful tool, but only if you recognize that it is myth.
MT: Was the figure of Jesus, to a lesser or greater degree, part of your upbringing as a child?
KC: No. My parents would definitely have described themselves as Christians, but they never attended church. My father was a Freemason and very much wanted me to become part of that (I didn’t). I was involved in Air Cadets from an early age and went on to Military College. Both institutions had mandatory church parades (you could choose Protestant or Catholic; I went with the former) so I certainly was exposed to conventional Western religious services. Jesus was in no way part of my upbringing.
MT: And so presumably Jesus is not an important figure for you?
KC: He isn’t important to me at all. Not to be disrespectful: I recognize that he is a major religious figure, but he has no meaning for me. A lot of what Jesus is supposed to have said is the same stuff that Gautama Buddha said. Truth is truth, no matter where you find it.
I should point out that back when I was a cadet at Military College, I was swarmed by a bunch of “Christians” who knew that I was Wiccan and wanted to show me how “Jesus loved me” (they actually said that) by beating me up to try to force me to give up my Pagan beliefs and become a Christian like them. I still bear the scars. I’ve never understood how people can tell you to your face “Jesus loves you” and then do things like that. Even though I retired from anti-defamation work in 2005 to focus on the Order of Scáthach, I still get hateful emails on a regular basis from people claiming to be followers of Jesus. Let me say again: I recognize that this is coming from a vocal minority within the Christian community that does not reflect the views of most of that community.
MT: In your opinion, was Jesus a historical person?
KC: Yes, I’m convinced that he was a historical person, although I am equally convinced that his history has been rewritten and parts of it suppressed to mythologize and build a religion around him.
MT: Is historical Jesus, as you imagine him to be, reflected in the modern-day Church?
KC: No, I don’t think that all modern-day Christian churches reflect his spirit, and even those that do have many members who don’t.
MT: So would you say that Pagan traditions reflect the spirit of Jesus better?
KC: Yes, I suppose that it could be said that many Pagan traditions do reflect what you’d describe as his spirit. I think that my Order of Scáthach does.
MT: What feelings or thoughts does the Christmas story conjure up in you?
KC: The elders of the churches took old Pagan myths and rewrote them with Jesus as the principal figure. The same myth of the birth of the Son/Sun can be found in many older mythologies. They even moved the date of his birth to have it coincide with older Pagan festivals. I don’t think of Christmas: I always work Christmas/Boxing Day to allow my fellow workers to go and observe these festivals. I celebrate Yule (the winter solstice), not Christmas. Christmas has been turned into a commercial rat race where people are desperately trying to buy each other’s affections. People should entirely give up on the gifts (that should give the merchants a heart attack!) and focus on celebrating each other. It should be about people, not property.
MT: The same for Easter?
KC: Yes. After all, Easter is even named after a Saxon Goddess of fertility (Eostre) and the Church came up with an incomprehensible method of fixing the date on different days every year. I celebrate Eostre/Ostara rituals on the vernal equinox, same day every year. The Christian Easter has even less significance for me than Christmas does.
MT: If you have one, what is your favourite story, parable, teaching, or symbol of Jesus?
KC: Can’t say that I do. I prefer other teachers.
MT: Fair enough. So who was Jesus to you? For example, was he a simple Jewish teacher, a divine prophet, a miracle worker, or a magician?
KC: He was a carpenter who became a Zionist rebel. It may be that he was a “miracle worker.” I can do magick, so it is entirely possible that he figured out how to do so as well. A prophet? Definitely. Divine? In my view, the divine is inseparable from the mundane world, so Jesus is as divine as I am and you are. Thou art God/dess.
MT: What lesson do you feel the modern-day Church needs to hear from the person or teaching of Jesus?
KC: Let’s start with Mark 12:33: Love thy neighbour like thyself. I’m guessing that since there’s so much violence in the world, there are a lot of people that don’t love themselves out there.
MT: Is it possible to be both Christian and Pagan?
KC: You know, I’ve had a surprising number of people tell me that they consider themselves “Christian Pagans/Witches.” I find this hard to fathom. Wiccans consider the divine to be inseparable from the world: Christians don’t. Christians do guilt and commandments (“thou shalt not”), Wiccans do personal responsibility (“I will not”). I could go on and on with this. If someone is telling me that they’re a Christian Pagan, then I suggest to them that they haven’t really made up their mind what they are.
MT: What, if anything, can modern-day Pagans learn from the message of Jesus?
KC: As I said earlier, a lot of what Jesus is supposed to have said is stuff other prophets like Buddha said. I’m not about to suggest that there aren’t valuable lessons contained in his teachings, but so many in the Pagan community have had negative experiences with people calling themselves Christians that I’m not inclined to directly use any of Jesus’s teachings. Jesus’s lessons are there in what I teach, in that we strive to teach sincerity, courtesy, compassion, justice, courage, humility, largesse, and truth. This said, I don’t use Jesus as an example to my students. He’s not my prophet. We Wiccans don’t DO prophets. If someone asks me, “What is the word of God?” I tell them, “Sit down and listen.” The divine speaks to us all. You don’t need professional clergy to do it for you. As a priest I should help others to find their path, not force people to follow mine.
MT: What, if anything, can Christians learn from modern-day Paganism?
KC: Get your head out of the sand, welcome to the twenty-first century, and stop praying for someone else to solve your problems. Respect the Earth, celebrate life, and take responsibility for your life. Create your own reality.
Religion isn’t a “one size fits all” proposition. Put a dozen people in a field, have them witness the same “epiphany” and one will see Jesus, one will see Mary, one will see Erzulie, one will see Gaia, one will see a UFO, and at least one will be looking around, bewildered, saying, “What are you all looking at?” We all are looking at the same thing, but because we come from different educational, social, and cultural backgrounds, we see things differently. Let’s celebrate our differences and get along.
MT: Finally, has your work as a corrector of false opinions about Paganism and Wicca had any effect on how Christians see their own Lord? For example have any ever written to you to express a more loving view of their Christ?
KC: Yes, a few have. Mostly I’ve heard from Christians who already believed that and wanted to write to assure me that they weren’t like the hateful, ignorant people I wrote about. I knew that already, but it was nice to hear from them. Not one of the people that I wrote about ever wrote back to say they’d recanted or reconsidered. A few of them wrote back to threaten me. None of them followed through with those threats.
MT: Kerr, thank you. It’s been a fascinating discussion. I’m very grateful to you for giving me so much of your time.
KC: You’re very welcome, Mark.
About the Author
Kerr Cuhulain retired from the Vancouver Police Department in November 2005 after serving twenty-nine years with them. Kerr is currently working as a police dispatcher. He has been a Wiccan for thirty-nine years and has been involved in anti-defamation activism and hate crime investigation for the Pagan community since 1986. Kerr is the author of the books Law Enforcement Guide to Wicca, Witch Hunts, Wiccan Warrior, Full Contact Magick, and Magickal Self Defense, as well as the ebook Modern Knighthood, with more on the way. He is also the author of a column on anti-defamation issues and hate crimes on The Witches’ Voice website called “Witch Hunts.” Kerr is the former Preceptor General of Officers of Avalon, an organization representing Neopagan professionals in the emergency services (police, firefighters, emergency medical technicians). He is also the founder of an order of knighthood, the Order of Scáthach.