Isaac Bonewits

Phillip Emmons Isaac Bonewits (born October 1, 1949) is an influential Neopagan leader and author. Born in Royal Oak, Michigan, Bonewits has been heavily involved in occultism with an emphasis on Neo-druidism since the 1960s.

Life

In 1966, while enrolled at UC Berkeley, Bonewits was initiated into the Reformed Druids of North America or RDNA. Bonewits was ordained as a Druid priest in 1969. During this time period, Bonewits joined 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, wherein he asked LaVey to bless his penis during a Satanic ritual.[1]

Bonewits graduated in 1970 with a BA, as the only person to have ever received any kind of degree in Magic. Gaining a bit of notoriety from this, Bonewits soon earned a book contract for his first book Real Magic which was published in 1971. Between 1973-1975 Bonewits was employed as editor of Gnostica magazine in Minnesota. During this time period, Bonewits 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) which was an early Pagan civil-rights group.

In 1976, Bonewits moved back to Berkeley and rejoined the RDNA which was now known as the New Reformed Druids of North America or NRDNA. He was later elected ArchDruid of this organization.

In 1983, Bonewits founded Ar nDraiocht Fein or ADF, which was incorporated in 1990 in the state of Delaware as a U.S. 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Over the years, Bonewits has had varying degrees of involvement with Santeria, 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 served as Archdruid of the ADF until 1996, when he resigned due to the onset of symptoms of Eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome. Bonewits retains the lifelong title of Archdruid Emeritus of the ADF. He has been a presenter at nearly every Starwood Festival[2] and many WinterStar Symposiums, and has performed there and elsewhere with Sally Eaton and with the band Real Magic. A songwriter, singer and recording artist, he has produced two CDs of Pagan music, and numerous recorded lectures. He currently lives in Rockland County, NY and is a member of the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans or CUUPS. 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.

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 Neo-Paganism

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 Neo-Pagan community.

• Developed the Advanced Bonewits Cult Danger Evaluation Frame or ABCDEF
• Pioneered the modern usage of the term thealogy, "Paleo-Paganism", "Meso-Paganism", and numerous other retronyms
• Is thought to have coined the term Pagan Reconstructionism
• Coined the phrase "Never again the Burning Times."

Partial bibliography

• Real Magic: An Introductory Treatise on the Basic Principles of Yellow Magic, 1972, 1989 ISBN 0-87728-688-4
• Authentic Thaumaturgy, 1978, 1998 ISBN 1-55634-360-4
• Rites of Worship: A Neopagan Approach, 2003 ISBN 1-59405-501-7
• Witchcraft: A Concise Guide or Which Witch Is Which?, 2003 ISBN 1-59405-500-9
• The Pagan Man: Priests, Warriors, Hunters, and Drummers, 2005 ISBN 0-8065-2697-1
• Bonewits's Essential Guide to Witchcraft and Wicca, 2006 ISBN 0-8065-2711-0
• Bonewits's Essentual Guide to Druidism, 2006 ISBN 0-8065-2710-2

Discography

Music

• Be Pagan Once Again! - Isaac Bonewits & Friends (including Ian Corrigan, Victoria Ganger, and Todd Alan) (CD) ACE/ADF Collection
• Avalon is Rising! - Real Magic (CD) ACE/ADF Collection

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

References

• Berger, Helen A. (2006) Witchcraft and Magic: Contemporary North America
• Berger, Helen A. (1999) A Community of Witches: Contemporary Neo-Paganism and Witchcraft in the United States
• Berger, Helen A. & Helen H. & Evan A. Leach, Leigh S. Shaffer (2003) Voices from the Pagan Census: A National Survey of Witches and Neo-Pagans in the United States
• Bond, Lawrence & Ellen Evert Hopman (1996) People of the Earth: The New Pagans Speak Out (reissued as Being a Pagan: Druids, Wiccans & Witches Today in 2002 Destiny Books ISBN 0-89281-904-9) Interview.
• Conway, Deanna J. (2001) Wicca: The Complete Craft
• Conway, D. J. (2003) Magick of the Gods and Goddesses: Invoking the Power of the Ancient Gods
• Cuhulain, Kerr (2000) Wiccan Warrior: Walking a Spiritual Path in a Sometimes Hostile World
• Cunningham, Donna (1996) The Moon in Your Life: Being a Lunar Type in a Solar World
• Drew, A.J. (2002) Wicca for Couples: Making Magick Together
• Dunwich, Gerina (2001) The Modern Witch's Complete Sourcebook
• Frost, Gavin & Yvonne Frost (2004) The Soliltary Wiccan's Bible
• Gonce III, John Wisdom & Daniel Harms (2003) The Necronomicon Files: The Truth Behind Lovecraft's Legend
• Harrow, Judy (1999) Wicca Covens: How to Start and Organize Your Own
• Harvey, Graham (2000) Contemporary Paganism: Listening People, Speaking Earth
• Higginbotham, River & Joyce (2002) Paganism: An Introduction to Earth-Centered Religions
• Keith, William H. (2005) The Science of the Craft: Modern Realities in the Ancient Art of Witchcraft
• Lewis, James R. & Shelley Rabinovitch (2004) The Encyclopedia of Modern Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism
• Lipp, Deborah (2003) The Elements of Ritual: Air, Fire, Water & Earth in the Wiccan Circle
• Mann, Nicholas R. & Maya Magee Sutton (2000) Druid Magic: The Practice of Celtic Wisdom
• Murphy-Hiscock, Arin (2005) Solitary Wicca for Life: Complete Guide to Mastering the Craft on Your Own
• Occult Crime: A Law Enforcement Primer - Diane Publishing Co - 1993
• Penczak, Christopher (2002) The Inner Temple of Witchcraft: Magick, Meditation and Psychic Development
• Pike, Sarah M. (2004) New Age and Neopagan Religions in America
• Scribe 27 (2002) Arcane Lore
• Steichen, Donna (1991) Ungodly Rage: The Hidden Face of Catholic Feminism
• Urban, Hugh B. (2006) Magia Sexualis: Sex, Magic, and Liberation in Modern W Esote
• Vale, V. and John Sulak (2001). Modern Pagans. San Francisco: Re/Search Publications. ISBN 1-889307-10-6
• Webb, Hillary (2003) Exploring Shamanism: Using Ancient Rites to Discover the Unlimited Healing Powers of Cosmos and Consciousness
• Wildman, Laura A. (2002) What's Your Wicca IQ?
• Zell-Ravenheart, Oberon (2004) Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard

See also

• Ar nDraiocht Fein
• Neo-Paganism
• Thealogy
• Neo-Druidism

External links

• Isaac Bonewits' Homepage
• A Reformed Druid Anthology includes The Druid Chronicles (Evolved).