This time the interview comes by way of Denmark and about a new English publishing company. This may be very useful to our English readers interested in stories of past and present coming out of Europe.

Christopher: Could you tell us a bit about yourself as a person.

Annemarie: I am an eternal optimist. I have this irrepressible belief my gods will protect and encourage me ever onward, no matter what. Perhaps also I'm a mixture of poet, visionary and farm girl. I have great intentions and dreams, but also can work hard to see them through. Well, most of them. Some of them.

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Suggestions for interviews come from readers, forums I am on, and sometimes from other people that I am interviewing. This time from Hauk, a Heathen musician I know and will be interviewing for next issue. Hauk suggested that I interview Steven T Abell, a Heathen storyteller who recently had his stories published in book form, "Days in Midgard: A Thousand Years On".

Christopher: Could you give us a bit of background about yourself?

Steve: I was born in a farm town in central California, and have lived in and around Silicon Valley for most of my life. My college degree is in Mathematics, and I've made my living for over 30 years as a software designer. But literature and writing have been major interests all along, and I've always loved performing.

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I am always looking for more suggestions for interesting people to interview and from England I was directed to get in touch with David Parry, who had recently adapted a play by Mirza Fatali Akhundov, "The Botanist Monsieur Jordan and the Sorcerer-Dervish Mastali Shah" This was the first time a play from this writer in Azerbaijan had been done in Europe and David has been invited by the government of Azerbaijan. So I got in touch with David and learned there was a bit more to learn.

Christopher: Could you give us a bit of background about who you are as a person?

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Sometimes it is a news article that sets me off to interview a person. This time about The Druid Network in England becoming a recognized charity organization. Even the media got it wrong so we will try to get it right by my interview with Phil Ryder, Chair of Trustees for The Druid Network.

Christopher: Could you give our readers a bit of background about you as a person?

Phil: Not a good start - I hate talking about myself but briefly I'm a 54 year old Leo married to a wonderful woman, three lovely kids (though not kids anymore) and an engineer to earn a crust. Love the high places - the West Pennine Moors and Bowland Fells are my stomping ground.

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It is amazing that even when you are aware of someone, that it turns out how little that you know him. IndyWiz is one of those type of people. I had been aware of him as director of PEN, but only recently heard of more than a few other things about him that I had not heard , including recently becoming one of the newest ministers in Circle Sanctuary. So I decided it was time to hear from him and have him tell us a bit about himself.

Christopher: Could you give us a bit of back ground about yourself, who you are and what path that you follow?

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Back in our Ostara issue, we interviewed TSgt. Robert Longcrier on the then approval of the idea for a stone circle for Earth-Centered (Pagan) Cadets at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. When we left off there was still work to be done to finish off the stone circle and yet to be dedicated circle. Curious to see how things were progressing I contacted T.Sgt. Longcrier. He agreed to this interview.

Christopher: How long have you been in the Air force?

T.Sgt. Longcrier: Sept 27th was my 15 year mark. I reenlisted on Oct 22nd for another 5 years, which will put me slightly over 20 years of service. I'll definitely be retiring at that point. I have a son who lives here in town and too much to do at the Academy to ever leave the area.

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Back in the Yule issue of ACTION 2008 I came across Damh the Bard. He had a long history in music since singing as a small child, was part of a rock band playing the London circuit and moved back to singing on his own as a Bard. He was also running the Druidcast, the Druid Podcast for the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids. So I thought it was time to catch up with him again and find out what was happening.

Christopher: It has been a couple of years since we last talked. Your album Cauldron Born was still new.

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Since the 14th century Witches have been stereotyped as potentially dangerous individuals. Centuries of hysterical wishful thinking has produced a history of unproven allegations, all of which depict Witches and Witchcraft as evil in potentia.

These negative stereotypes have been repeated in virtually every culture and on every continent. They find fertile contemporary ground amongst African religious leaders, politicians and intellectuals where hearsay, myth and urban legend combine to serve as so-called evidence of the dangers of Witchcraft and of a belief in Witchcraft.

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Wiccans have often had a rather extreme fascination with what we call the Burning Times, the period of Witch Craze in Europe, and the United States, where innocent people were falsely accused of being Witches, were burned or hung as Witches. You may even occasionally hear the slogan "Never again the Burning!"

Yet as long time readers may note in a variety of articles that have appeared hear by Damon Leff, the Burning Times are alive and well in Africa, though now the accused Witch might be surrounded by burning tires instead of burned at the stake, beaten, tortured, have their home burned down, or be banished with even family members taking part and this happening not only to old people but even children. We are not talking about a few people , but thousands of people just in Africa alone.

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