by Blv. LaVeda Lewis-Highcorrell
With Introduction by Rev. Don Lewis
INTRODUCTION
Originally published under the cumbersome title “The Five Mystic Secrets of the Great Pagan Masters, or How to Live a Happy, Successful, and Truly Effective Life,” and under the pseudonym of “Lady Elizabeth Greenwood,” this is the only such booklet written by the Blv. LaVeda Lewis-Highcorrell, former Regent of the Correllian Tradition. Although she wrote a number of small articles and other materials, both published and unpublished, this is the only format in which the Blv. LaVeda set forth a comprehensive commentary on her metaphysical beliefs as a Correllian, and the first widely distributed exposition of Correllian ideas.
The Blv. LaVeda wrote this little booklet in the early ‘80s with the intention of its being a Pagan response to the Christian televangelists then popular in the U.S. Today many have forgotten how in the late ‘70s Christian televangelists, led by the likes of Jerry Fallwell, Jim Bakker, and Jimmy Swaggart, spearheaded the “New Right” political movement which was instrumental in the election of President Ronald Reagan. Dedicated to making the U.S. a “Christian Nation” and to eliminating the religious freedom of U.S. citizens, these televangelists were known for their extreme and hateful rhetoric, as well as for their skillful use of freedistribution literature.
Although President Reagan would repudiate them after his election, and they would ultimately be swallowed up by their own scandals and dishonesty, for several years in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s the televangelists were the cause of real fear among Pagans and other U.S. minority groups. Many people felt that they were in serious danger of loosing their religious and social freedom, because of very real attacks on these freedoms by the New Right.
It was in this mental and emotional climate that the Five Mystic Secrets was written. The careful reader will note that in many places the Blv. LaVeda has aimed her arguments directly at the assumptions and political/religious positions of the televangelists and the New Right.
A prime example of this is found in the section on the Second Secret; God. The televangelists were known for laying heavy emphasis on the idea that an individuals religious choices were of extreme importance to God, and that these choices potentially influenced the ultimate fate of the Universe –a point of view which the Blv. LaVeda and other contemporary members of the Correll Mother Temple flatly rejected. Statements made in the Second Secret such as “God does not require your validation to exist” or “God does not require your worship or your acknowledgement to exist and thrive,” seem cold to many readers who do not understand the context in which the Blv. LaVeda was speaking. But when compared to the televangelical position they will be seen to illustrate Divine transcendence over temporal events and forms.
Another point which may require explanation for a modern Pagan audience is the use of the term “God” throughout the work. The Blv. LaVeda chose to use the gender neutral term “God” together with feminine pronouns to refer to Deity in the booklet, in part because she originally intended the work to speak to Pagan and non-Pagan alike and did not wish to alienate part of her intended audience from the start by using what to them would have been unfamiliar terminology. Also the Blv. LaVeda and many other Correllians felt that the gender/number neutral term “God” (as opposed to “The God” or even “The Gods”) was an acceptable term for Pagan use, with a history of the neutral term going back to ancient Egypt and the dawn of written history. Today however most Correllians tend to use the gender/number neutral term “Deity” or “The Divine” in deference to the sensitivity which many Pagans feel toward the term “God” because of its misuse by the Book Religions.
Another change in terminology; Lady LaVeda makes reference to the Oversoul and the Undersoul, which in contemporary Correllian literature is more often referred to as the Higher Self and the Lower Self. This illustrates the natural changes in terminology which occur within a Tradition as one generation gives way to another.
The Regent LaVeda was born on 25 November, 1528 Pisces (1928 AD), when the power and influence of the High-Correll family were at their height. She was a child of privilege, who spent much of her youth on the Blv. Caroline High-Correll’s estate Under-The-Hill on the banks of the Vermillion river. But by 1540 Pisces (1940 AD) the Blv. Caroline was dead, LaVeda’s father had become a mental and physical invalid, crushed by prison and illness, and she had been removed from the custody of her divorced mother (the Blv. Mable, then Head of the Correllian Tradition) to briefly become a ward of the state because of the family’s religious and social beliefs. These experiences, together with her Native American heritage and the issues that came with it, and the hateful acts which followed the early death of her only daughter, Linda, caused the Blv. LaVeda to live a very closeted life. In public she concealed her racial and religious identities, while in private she nursed a strong sense of the injustice done to nonChristian peoples and the need for action to change this –the same attitudes which had earlier motivated the Blv. Caroline High-Correll’s teachings about the relationship of the “Native Religions” vs the “Book Religions.”
Although she made tentative steps out of the broom closet during the later ‘80s, the Blv. LaVeda preferred to write under a pseudonym, “Elizabeth Greenwood,” inspired by the name of her home “Greenwood House.”
The Regent LaVeda led the Correllian Tradition from 1566 Pisces until 1579 Pisces (1966 – 1979 AD). These were crucial years for the Correllian Tradition, which was then still known as the Nativist Tradition. During these years the original Correllian lineage and the Correll Mother Temple nearly died out, saving themselves only by union with the related Louisine lineage. During these years too, the Correllian Tradition came to identify itself strongly with the modern Wiccan movement. With its roots in Cherokee religion, Scottish folk-religion/witchcraft, and Spiritualism, as well as a strong association with Leland’s Aradians, Nativism was arguably something apart from Wicca until the late ‘70s – depending upon the definition of Wicca one uses. Many members of the Correllian Council of Elders now define Correllian Nativism as having been primarily a Spiritualist movement until the ‘70s. The Blv. Caroline’s original teachings were strongly Universalist and socially conscious, based upon the idea of pan-Pagan recognition and cooperation as the only salvation for the world’s Native (ie; Pagan) peoples. The brand of Wicca popular in the ‘70s was strongly similar to this, and drew little distinction between Wicca and Traditional Witchcraft, leading the Blv. LaVeda and other members of the Correll Mother Temple to feel not so much that they were joining a movement as that they were acknowledging an association which had always existed. Contemporary definitions might challenge these conclusions, since many now define Wicca as created by Gardner, but this was not the case in the ‘70s.
The Blv. LaVeda was the Heiress of her mother the Blv. Mable, but did not succeed her –passing her claim after thirteen years of Regency to her niece Lady Krystel, the present First Priestess of the Correllian tradition. Lady LaVeda’s son, Rev. Don Lewis, became First Priest and later Chancellor of the Tradition (in the Year 0 Aquarius / 2000 AD).
Lady LaVeda passed into Spirit on 13 September, 1589 Pisces (1989 AD), dying from complications of cancer. Her funeral, presided over by her son and niece, was low key but openly Pagan, in accordance with her declared wishes.