Don Frew is a Gardnerian Elder and researcher into the history of neopaganism, one of two National Interfaith Representatives

for the Covenant of the Goddess and a representative to the Parliament of World Religions. What do you feel the importance of the international interfaith work that you have done is to the pagan community? Don Frew: Wow. That's a big question. Focusing on the work done by Covenant of the Goddess, since that's been my role for over 20 years now, I would divide it into four broad phases. The early work was just getting our foot in the door. Glenn did this with the Berkeley Area Interfaith Council by showing up and doing fundraising for them. Later on, when I first got involved, the work was largely a form of public relations, with the religious community being just another community like the media, government, law enforcement, etc. where we needed to do education about who we were (decent, spiritual people) and who we weren't (Devilworshippers). Over time, this changed, largely because of the way that the Parliament of the World's Religions in 1993 and the subsequent founding of the United Religions Initiative changed the global face of interfaith. Pagan involvement moved beyond winning acceptance, to being accepted and working with other religions for the common good in a way that we just couldn't on our own. All over the world, people benefiting from literacy programs, microcredit banks for women, reforestation projects, AIDS education, etc. know that, in part, they have the Witches to thank for the betterment of their lives. More recently, the global interfaith network has made it possible for us not only to build bridges of friendship between Witches in the US and other indigenous practitioners around the world -- Shinto in Japan, Taoists in China, Hindus in India, tribal practitioners in Africa, South America, and the Pacific but to be of genuine service to "Pagan" brothers and sisters in need. If you see me at Pantheacon, ask me to tell you the story of the Tabebe, the practitioners of an indigenous magical tradition in Ethiopia. You'll never look at Pagan interfaith work in the same way again. Youve done a lot of work on uncovering the historical significance of the city of Harran, in tracing the history of ancient paganism. Can you briefly explain the importance of that site? How can Neopagans help to preserve this site for future research? Don Frew: The city of Harran, in what is now southern Turkey, has always been a crossroads. As a center of translation from Greek and Latin into Arabic, it was the crossroad between antiquity and the modern age. It has been home to a remarkable variety of religious communities, including the indigenous cult of the Moon God, late antique Pagans, Sabians, Zoroastrians, Manichaeans, Mandaeans, Christians, and Muslims. Harran figures prominently in the scriptures of many of these faiths and they appear to have lived together at Harran in relative peace. Harran occupies a special place in the intellectual history of the Western world. When Plato's Academy in Athens was closed, its last teachers, all of whom were Neoplatonists, and many of whom were initiates of Mithras, Isis, and of other cults, resettled at Harran and founded a new academy there that flourished up into the 11th century CE. When the Caliph Umar II founded the first Muslim university

in the 8th century, he brought the last remaining scholars from Alexandria and installed them in this new center of learning at Harran. The scholars of the schools of Harran, known as the "Sabians," were instrumental in the translation, preservation, and transmission of Greek and Roman knowledge (especially Neoplatonism and Hermeticism) into the Islamic world and thence into the European Renaissance. Given its significance for so many religious groups and fields of study, it is remarkable that Harran remains virtually untouched by both treasure-hunters and archaeologists. All scholars involved agree that the final excavation of Harran will reveal a treasure-trove of documents from late Antiquity, as well as a city that might rival Pompeii. However, the site is threatened by a dam project and any documents waiting to be uncovered will be destroyed by the rising water table in about 15 years. Time's a wastin'... The main thing that Neopagans can do to help is to support efforts at excavation, either through groups like the Lost & Endangered Religions Project or through direct donation to the local museums and universities in Turkey. What do Wiccan traditions like Gardnerianism have to offer the larger pagan community? Don Frew: History. Like it or not, almost all of modern Craft either descends directly from Gardnerian Craft or has been profoundly influenced by Gardnerian Craft. This influence then extends to most, if not all, of the existing Neopagan traditions. This is not a question of merit or value or importance, just of history. Research into Gardnerian origins, and the continuity I believe it has with the religions of late Antiquity, is research into our shared past. "Older" does NOT mean "better", but understanding the roots and development of a text or ritual often sheds new light on current practices and offers new depth of meaning. What do you feel is the greatest challenge facing British Traditional Wicca today? Don Frew: Secrecy. I am absolutely committed to the traditional secrecy of the Wiccan traditions, and am often bound not only by that but also by further restrictions placed on me by folks who have shared old texts with me. This gets even more complicated when different branches of the same tradition will question each other's "legitimacy" and so restrict the sharing of information within a single tradition. Until we sort this out and find a way to balance honoring traditional secrecy with being more open and sharing, we will have great difficulty integrating into a modern society -- even a modern Neopagan society -- that seems to value transparency and distrust secrecy.