by: Rick Johnson 
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
RikJohnson@juno.com
On one of the other pages in this site, I mentioned that there is NO security on the Internet. That it is so easy to create multiple accounts with multiple servers to pretend to be someone you are not.
Well, this has happened and the perp was caught.
The story is simple, on the Yahoo e-list, Gardnerians-All, one Hard-Gard called Nial (aka Herne) presented the Hard-Gard view on a number of conversations. Ok, no problem. I’ve bled on a number of foreign shores defending the right to Free Speech, and one learns much from those who oppose your beliefs. Especially if they can present them with intelligence.
The problem developed when he began to attack, insult and slander anyone who disagreed with him. So nasty were his attacks that he was eventually banned from the e-list for being just too nasty.
Suddenly, a number of his supporters began so sign-up to defend him then immediately sign off before we could talk to them. Suspicious!
Shortly after, other Hard-Gards would sign-up for the e-list and present the same arguments and, incidently, support Nial as they did so.
This last week, one woman “robyne” became so vocal in her claims (she claimed that she was a member of Rosemary Buckland’s coven, knew her personally, witnessed the writing of N&G, had letters from various BNPs) that I became suspicious of her claims. In response, ‘robyne’ then accused me of forging not only Rae Bones Gardnerian BOS but also accused me of forging Rosemary’s signature on a fake document. This was too much.
I called her on that, accused her of slander and said, “put up or shut up”!!!
’Robyne” offered to e-mail me privately with the proof to which I responded “For all I know you are Nial under a false identity!”
Now here is where it gets interesting…
One of the others on the e-list, David, decided to do some sleuthing. It seems that he and nial had had some run-ins before and took this opportunity to see if my off-the-cuff remark was true.
It was. It seems that not only did Nial and ‘robyne’ use the same computer but so did at least a half dozen other people who supported him on that list.
Essentially, nial would join an e-list, cause trouble, get kicked off, re-join under fake identities and cause more trouble.
OK, how does that affect you, you may ask?
Simple. As ‘robyne’, 'Nial', 'Herne' and a dozen other names, he has made claims and statements about Gardnerianism and it’s workings and at least some of these claims have been shown to be lies, that immediately casts doubt upon the remainder of his statements. And as he has invented false identities to support these lies, then any other Gardnerian who says that same or similar statements about Gardnerianism will be seen with suspicion. Maybe they are Nial in another identity.
So, the Tradition is harmed as a whole because we can no longer be certain if the veracity of any Hard-Gard or Long Island-Line Gardnerian for these reasons.
Again, the ripples spread.
Nial was re-Initiated by Debra in New Jersey. Questions arise immediately. Did she know that Nial was like this and initiated him anyway? Or did she not know or care? Does she ensure that the people she Consecrates as Priests and Priestesses to the service of the Gods have any integrity? Or is she just into numbers? There IS a joke about one LI-HPS who will Initiate anyone who drives past her house slowly enough. And another joke about a Cal-Gard HPS who initiates so many people that she is unable to remember them the next day.
If any of these are so, it raises concerns about not only her but her other Initiates as well. Especially as she remains silent on this matter.
Most Gardnerian HP/S’, when faced with an unruly or dishonest Initiate, will take steps to curb them or censure them or even stop their actions. (I have been so upon occasion myself) Neither Debra nor Nial's former HP/S have done any of this. Therefore, the community at large may see her and them as a tacit accomplice to this deceit. And this harms the reputations of these High Priestesses.
And as no other LI-Line Gardnerian has stood up to state that Nial’s actions are wrong and against Gardnerian beliefs, the implication is that the Long Island-Line supports deceit which harms the Tradition as a whole.
So the bottom line here is to be CAREFUL!! Trust your instincts. Yes, there are a lot of honest people out there. I have known many LI-Gardnerians of impeccable integrity but those few bad apples (and the silence of the LI-Line as a whole to their activities) have caused irreparable damage to lives and the Gardnerian Tradition as a whole.
THIS is what we should be doing, policing our own to show that we, as Gardnerians, do value integrity, honesty and moral values as shown by the Rede. Failure to stop or repremand our Initiates who lie, slander and cause other forms of trouble reflects badly on not only the Initiate but their HP and HPS and the Gardnerian Tradition as a whole.
Let’s be careful out there.
OK, I have received a number of e-mails from people claiming to be Nial's friends and co-coveners and even his HP/S. In every case, they insist that Nial is honest and that they trust him completly.
OK, IF they trust Nial and support him even as he performs such nasty actions, one has no choice but to question the integrity of those HP/S who have initiated Nial and those like him. Consider that if you deliberatly Initate a known criminal then you are, at best, stupid. At worst, an accomplise to his crimes.
Therefore, IF, and I stress 'if', these are really Nials uplines, then I must conclude that they are, themselves either stupid and blind or lack those ethics that we, in the Gardnerian Tradition value.
And therefore, I would question ANYONE who claims to be downline from these HP/S'.
As the Bard says, one cannot associate with a pile of shit without becoming filthy themselves.
To contact me or to request topics to be covered, send to RikJohnson@juno.com
by: Rick Johnson
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
