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All intelligent beings have the right to worship
who, what, where, when, why, and how they wish; provided that
they do not violate the similar rights of others. All intelligent
beings have as well the right (some would say, “duty”)
to develop their talents — mental, physical, psychic, and
others — to the highest degree possible; subject as always
to the equal rights of others. It is in this complex interplay
of rights that the children of the Aquarian Age may be distinguished
from their ancestors of previous ages.
According to astrological tradition, the term
“Aquarian Age” implies a time in which there is increased
concern with the ways in which each individual can live by his
or her own lights, while guaranteeing the same freedom to all
others. All those, therefore, who work for the greater evolution
of consciousness and freedom may be justly called “Aquarians,”
regardless of the day or year of their actual birth.
Aquarians — Neopagan, Neochristian, Agnostic
or of any other faith — are by definition tolerant of all
life-affirming beliefs and organizations. They do not proclaim
the existence of any “One-True-Right-And-Only-Way”
but rather that every intelligent being must find her or his
own path.
We will not, however, in the name of tolerance
or any other ideal, allow ourselves to be persecuted or exterminated
by anti-life individuals or organizations, whether secular or
religious.
As Aquarians we do not, in our religious services,
magical rituals, psychic activities, or in our private lives,
engage in the commission or encouragement of felony crimes-with-victims
(as defined by civil law and modern sociological research). We
do not therefore engage in murder, rape, maiming, torture of
animals, grand larceny, or other heinous crimes; and we will
no longer quietly accept accusations that we do.
Neither do Aquarians use our talents —
whether we call them “psychic,” “magical,”
“spiritual,” “paranormal,” or something else
— to achieve ends or through means that, if done physically,
would constitute such felony crimes with victims. Accusations
in this area will not go uncountered either.
We know full well that new witchburners seek
to once again light the stakes of persecution with the fires
of bigotry and hate. Equally well do we know that, despite our
innumerable differences with one another, the time has come for
us to stand together against the forces of fear and oppression.
The very survival of ourselves, our children, and our planet
depends upon the outcome of our present struggles.
Therefore: we will use whatever means exist
to preserve, protect and defend our religious, civil, economic,
and human rights, as well as our reputations, from all those
who would slander, libel, defame, suppress, or otherwise persecute
us for our beliefs.
We will no longer allow self-righteous followers
of anti-life beliefs to prevent us from the free exercise of
our human and constitutional rights. We will no longer allow
anyone with impunity to publicly accuse us of being “Satanists,”
“devil worshippers,” “charlatans,” “lunatics,”
or any other loaded terms of slander and libel designed to denigrate,
defame, or prevent us from the peaceful and legal spreading of
our beliefs. We will no longer hesitate to bring civil suits
and/or criminal charges against our would-be inquisitors whenever
possible, no matter how wealthy or powerful they may be.
Aquarians together — Witches and wizards;
Pagans and psychics; priests and parapsychologists; mystics,
mediums and magicians; astrologers, diviners, and occultists
of both sexes and all races, many faiths and traditions, ages
and nationalities — hereby agree upon our battle cry as
we declare war upon those who would persecute us:
Never Again the Burning!
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 This
was first published in 1973 c.e., as part of the founding of
the Aquarian Anti-Defamation League,
Inc. (now defunct). What became the official A.A.D.L. logo,
minus the name of the organization, can be seen to the right
here. I originally designed it to be easy to turn into a graffiti
stencil, and based it on the logos being used by the Black Panthers
and other radical movements. I’ve released it for use by
any Aquarian organizations and individuals who agree with the
words of the Manifesto above and are not frightened off by its,
let us say, “forceful” symbolism. Feel free to put
it on your website with a pointer to this page.
The phrase “anti-life beliefs” made
some folks assume that A.A.D.L. and I were part of the “pro-life”
(i.e., anti-abortion rights) movement, but such was never our
intent. I’ve always been pro-choice, but there were members
of A.A.D.L. on both sides of that particular controversy.
The phrase I coined at the end became part
of the vocabulary of the North American Neopagan community, though
some Wiccans added the word “Times” at the end, to
refer to the “Burning Times,” i.e., the Renaissance
persecutions of alleged “witches.”
I’ve clarified the phrasing, punctuation,
and capitalization a bit to make the text easier to understand,
but it’s essentially as it was twenty-five years ago. We’ve
come far as a movement since then, but we still have a long way
to go.
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