There are lots of articles and essays of interest to modern Pagans out there, sometimes more than I can write about in-depth in any given week. So The Wild Hunt must unleash the hounds in order to round them all up.
- At the excellent Religion In American History blog Kelly Baker points to a a conversation about sacred space in America with Erika Doss, Anthea Butler, Jacob Kinnard, and Edward Linenthal in newest issue of Material Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art and Belief. According the Baker, the conversation includes mention of the special outdoor worship area for Pagan cadets at the Air Force Academy. The circle was officially dedicated in May of this year.
- Washington state Corrections officer Jayme Biendl was murdered by an inmate in January. Her killer was a Jekyll-and-Hyde figure who was “entrenched” in “religious activities”. A public disclosure request has resulted in a release of any records regarding Biendl, and the Associated Press leads its report on those papers with a complaint filed over a Wiccan cabinet in the communal chapel. It should be noted for the sake of clarity that the prisoner who killed her had never filed a grievance against the officer, and is, by his own admission, Christian.
- BBC Scotland has an audio-only interview up with Robin Hardy, writer/director of “The Wicker Tree”, the forthcoming companion film to the classic 1973 Pagan-themed horror film “The Wicker Man.” The film will be having its world premiere at this year’s Fantasia Festival. You can read all of my “Wicker Tree” coverage, here.
- Cara Schultz at PNC-Minnesota reviews the forthcoming “Tears of the Sun” by SM Stirling, the latest installment in the Emberverse series, which features several positive Pagan protagonists.
- A box of dead animal parts was found outside a Tampa, Florida prison, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Maj. Kenny Davis thinks that it’s “probably somebody putting a spell on somebody.” The Tampa Tribune helpfully seeks out the opinion of University of South Florida religion professor Mozella Mitchell, who notes that “no legitimate African derived religion in the Caribbean and Latin America” would do this, and that this is the “distorted practice of some group.”
- For a special July 4th post at CNN author Kenneth C. Davis explains why the United States isn’t a Christian nation. In the process of making his case he quotes my favorite treaty.
- At USC’s Trans/Missions Maura Jane Farrelly looks at the influence of pseudo-historian David Barton on presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann and plugs the forthcoming book “The Anointed: Evangelical Truth in a Secular Age.”
- While Bachmann likes Barton, Barton may prefer Rick Perry. Quote Amy Sullivan: “Is that sexism at work? Possibly. Maybe even probably.”
- Religion Clause reports that the parliament of Georgia (the country, not the US state) yesterday passed an amendment that will allow minority religious groups to register as legal entities. Orthodox Christianity is the dominant religion in Georgia, and this may allow greater protections and rights for religious minorities.
- The novel “Gods Behaving Badly,” about a greatly diminished Greek pantheon sharing a flat in London, is being made into a movie, with an all-star (and somewhat bizarre) cast and a change of location to New York. Check out this lineup: Aphrodite played by Sharon Stone, Apollo played by Oliver Platt, Artemis played by Edie Falco, Demeter played by Phylicia Rashad, Dionysus played by Nelsan Ellis, Eros played by Gideon Glick, Hades played by John Turturro, Hermes played by Henry Zebrowski, Persephone played by Rosie Perez and Zeus is, get this, played by Christopher Walken. “Gods” was originally going to be a television series, but it looks like that never panned out.
That’s it for now! Feel free to discuss any of these links in the comments, some of these I may expand into longer posts as needed.
