5.11.2008
Old Traditions, New Directions
The Independent has a feature up on the tradition of Morris Dancing, specifically how two troupes are bringing a decidedly modern aesthetic to these venerable folk traditions.
The Hunters Moon Morris
"Morris dancing is a joke, isn't it, with a hey nonny no? Beardy men with beer bellies prancing about in white stockings, waving hankies? Very twee. But try telling that to the men and women of Hunters Moon, here by the Sussex coast looking like the devilish spawn of Hell's Angels and medieval mummers. They are part of a secret revolution in morris dancing, transforming the most easily lampooned of English eccentricities. Fresh rivalries are emerging, as younger men and women reinvent "the morris" in startling ways - including, as we discover during a mad dash around southern England on May Day, the world's first Gothic morris troupe - or "side"."
The Wolf's Head and Vixen Morris.
The article profiles the decidedly Pagan-oriented Hunters Moon Morris, and the gothic Wolf's Head and Vixen Morris. Journalist Cole Moreton describes Wolf's Head and Vixen as looking like a "boozy, woozy gathering of the Sisters of Mercy fan club", but they, like the Hunter's Moon troupe, are trying to reclaim Morris dancing from a static and sometimes oppressive vision of English history and culture.
"One reason for the recent growth of Border morris is that it is easier to learn (while more spectacular) than other forms. Another is an increase in the number of British neo-pagans, many of whom are drawn to it. "We quite consciously work with ideas of shamanism," says [Wolfshead founder Philip] Kane. "It's a form of ritual theatre, a magical space embracing both dancers and audience." There are radical politics at work too: he sees the dance, and "neo-pagan carnivals" such as the Rochester Sweeps, as a way of resisting the "complacent nostalgia" of Englishness "founded on the detritus of imperialism, Christianity, racism and xenophobia". His England has more primitive, inclusive roots, and for him the morris is a way of expressing that."
Of course there are still several traditional Morris "sides" (albeit aging rapidly) performing in England. Unlike the Pagan and goth troupes, they see what they are doing as safely within the bounds of their Christian faith, and downplay any esoteric aspects connected to Morris dancing by folklorists in the past.
"So, what do they think they're up to? Norman Hopson, the 56-year-old squire, is a technical manager for BT but has the no-nonsense manner of a bluff countryman. "Some say the handkerchiefs are there to frighten away spirits, and the same for the bells," he says. "We say they are there to accentuate the movements." Nor is there anything mystical about his experience of dancing: "I see myself as a street entertainer." ... Hopson doesn't see it as a symbol of fertility, or anything else, thank you. "The Long Man is a local landmark," he says. "It's just a carving on a hill. I don't think it has any further significance." The side's bagman, Alan Vaughan, puts it more strongly: "We would go against that pagan idea," he says. 'Traditionally, morris dancing has been connected with the church. I personally have danced in Durham Cathedral.'"
Of course the pagan and esoteric undertones to modern Morris dancing (true or not) are irrevocably wrapped into it thanks to folklorists like Cecil Sharp, who felt that folk-traditions were cultural fossils of England's primitive past (what Ronald Hutton calls the "geological model" of human culture). This notion of pagan survivals helped pave the way for the emergence of modern Pagan religion, and still casts a long shadow in the public mind when considering Morris dances and other folk traditions.
"The folk singers of today ... are the last of a long line that stretches back into the mists of far-off days." - Cecil Sharp, English Folk Song: Some Conclusions, 1907
Nor is England the only place where Pagans and other subcultural groups are staking their own claims to the Morris legacy. Pagans in America, most notably in California, have started up their own Morris traditions. Before long, the Victorian folklorists may turn out to be prophets, as more and more Morris troupes embrace a Pagan aesthetic.
PS - Speaking of traditions, today is Mother's Day. Check out my post concerning the holiday from last year, I think it says all I want to say about the subject.
Labels: folklore, goth, Morris Dancing, Paganism, UK
5.10.2008
Guillermo del Toro's Fairy War
Life has been good for director Guillermo del Toro lately. His 2006 film "Pan's Labyrinth" was widely acclaimed by critics (winning three Academy Awards), and he was recently tapped to direct the two Hobbit films (under the watchful eye of Peter Jackson). In between these two momentous events comes the July release of "Hellboy II: The Golden Army", which continues to mine the rich themes of myth, faith, choice, and the imagination.
"I think it's the primal motor of human endeavor," said del Toro about his fascination with exploring mythology and fantasy in his films. "All human endeavor: spiritual, physical, social. I think myth makes humans what we are, it is the essence of being human, the capacity to invent. No raccoon worships the god of the trash can and we do. There are plenty of people that worship in search of a spiritual meaning. Anyone that says, 'Okay, we are this or that many chromosomes away from being an ape,' they should consider imagination as one thing that is a huge chasm between us."
The old, horned, king of the otherworld.
In this follow-up to the 2004 cult-hit, del Toro seems to be expanding on his fascination with the fairy-inhabited "otherworld" from "Pan's Labyrinth". This time with the threat of an all-out war between fairy-folk and humanity. Hellboy creator, and film co-writer, Mike Mignola, compares fae/human tensions in the movie to the history of American Indian struggles.
"The focus is more on the folklore and fairy tale aspect of Hellboy. It's not Nazis, machines and mad scientists but the old gods and characters who have been kind of shoved out of our world. I kind of equate it to the whole American Indian situation. The Indians were shoved onto reservations. You had your old, wise Indians who said, "You know, this is the way it is. We can't fight anymore. We just have to accept our fate." You then have your Geronimo character saying, "Or we could just kill the White Man." That's kind of the situation we have in the film. We have our elf characters resigning to the way things are and then there's one saying, "Or we could take the world back." The main difference is - what if the Indians had a nuclear warhead? The elves have their equivalent of the weapon that is too terrible to use. What if this guy decided to use it?"
Building on that theme, a viral marketing web site called HETFET, Humans for the Ethical Treatment of Fairies, Elves, and Trolls, has emerged.
HETFET logo.
"We know that every minute of every day, all across the world, terrible crimes are taking place all around us. But the victims of these crimes can't ask for help because humanity turns a deaf ear to the segment of society that we once called "mythical creatures." Not anymore. At HETFET, it is our unwavering belief that these misunderstood beings deserve the same rights as those given to animals or people. No more, no less; just the right to coexist and be left alone."
Needless to say, the Pagan overtones of the site, complete with a real petition to save old-growth forests, are palpable. With the otherworldly action, a film preview sporting massive pre-historic Venus figurines, and a trip through a "Troll market" (not to mention a horned god/king!), this Hellboy film is shaping up to be a real treat for the Pagan film-goer. I'm very much looking forward to seeing it in July.
Labels: Faerie, film, Guillermo del Toro, Hellboy II, movies, otherworld, Pan's Labyrinth
5.09.2008
(Pagan) News of Note
My semi-regular round-up of articles, essays, and opinions of note for discerning Pagans and Heathens.
DVD Talk reviews the documentary series "Women and Spirituality", which was recently released in the DVD format.
"There's little doubt that goddess worship has actually picked up significant cultural steam since the original release of these pieces close to 20 years ago. While they're all a little dated, they provide an earnest look into the history and continued observance of gynocentric worship practices and will be appreciated by those interested in the history of religion and especially women's movements. Recommended."
The Women and Spirituality project also maintains a blog featuring several participants from the original documentary series.
Religion Dispatches looks at the recent (somewhat controversial) appointment of a "Supreme Chief" within Haitian Vodou, and the ongoing quest for respect by practitioners.
"Voodoo suffers from a flaw built into both scholarly and popular typologies of religion, that of hierarchical thinking about religions. Beauvoir argues that Voodoo's character derives from its location as a "popular religion." But lacking a sacred text, law codes, or traditions of written commentary, Voodoo is a marginalized tradition - marked as "primitive," as if religions evolve along a given trajectory-compared to those "world religions" that come to dominate empires."
While a tiny, and until recently, officially unrecognized, religion, the article points out that Vodou has a "capacity to persist" that may allow the faith to weather the current social and political storms raging in their country.
The caretaker of a Taoist temple in Taiwan has a problem. Too many deities!
"Yang Liang, who takes care of the small Suxi Temple, said yesterday he used to tend to only five land gods, the lowest deities in folk Taoism. Last February, Yang said, he found two statues of Avalokitesvera, or the Goddess of Mercy, abandoned in front of his temple in west Suao ... Sheltering the abandoned Goddesses of Mercy probably encouraged those who wanted to get rid of their deities to dump them at the temple ... Altogether 12 statues, ranging from Avalokitesvera to Third Prince or San-tai-zhi, were left at the door of the temple Monday. "I can't take care of that many gods," Yang protested."
Yang has posted bulletins around his village imploring locals to please take their gods back, as he doesn't have the space and resources to care for them all. Perhaps he could ship them to willing polytheists outside Taiwan?
As modern Paganism continues to grow, more local journalists start to notice the Pagans in their own backyard. This coverage starts with the inevitable "meet the Pagans" piece. Here, we have a classic example of this phenomenon from Great Falls, Montana.
"...like the others [Melinda Berry] keeps her faith to herself around here. "I came from California, where no one really cares," Berry said. "In the UK they were really open and didn't care. In the military no one really cares. In Great Falls, Montana, people care." But there is a growing pagan population locally and around the state. At least five to 10 people regularly attend the monthly Great Falls Pagans meetings at Hastings. Some area gatherings have drawn upward of 40 people..."
Though "people care" if your a member of a minority faith in Great Falls, Montana, this introduction is far more friendly than the one that arose in Great Falls, South Carolina.
Following up on a story I blogged about a year ago, the Delhi High Court in India has ruled that naked paintings of Hindu goddesses aren't necessarily blasphemous.
"Maqbool Fida Husain, 92, a Muslim who has been dubbed "the Picasso of India", was served with seven private criminal complaints by Hindu groups for the painting Bharat Mata (Mother India), a work representing the nation as a nude woman. The Delhi High Court judged that the picture, for which Mr Husain has apologised, carried no religious content and could not be construed as offensive. "A painter has his own perspective of looking at things, and it cannot be the basis of initiating criminal proceedings," Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said."
This is a big step forward for artistic freedom in India, where Hindu-nationalist "moral police" (essentially the Indian equivalent to the Religious Right in America, only more powerful) are on the constant lookout for violations against their conception of "cultural purity". These Hindu-nationalist groups vow to keep on fighting against Husain and others who transgress against their moral outlook.
That is all I have for now, have a great day!
Labels: art, goddess, Hinduism, law, M.F. Husain, Max Beauvoir, Pagan News of Note, Paganism, Taiwan, Taoism, The Goddess, Vodou, Voodoo, Women and Spirituality
5.08.2008
The ACLU, South Carolina, and Religious Minorities
As I have reported previously on this blog, South Carolina is quickly becoming one of the "hot zones" in battles over church and state. You had Wiccan Darla Wynne's victory over sectarian prayer in Great Falls, the ongoing plan by conservative Christians to legislate around that judgment, and a controversial "I Believe" specialty license plate created solely for Christians about to be approved. So it is troubling to hear that the local chapter of the ACLU has become so dysfunctional that the national organization has swooped in to take over.
"If there is one state that can ill afford an ineffective chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union it arguably is South Carolina ... in recent years [the SC ACLU chapter] been hampered by ideological squabbling among its board members, staff leadership turnover, lackluster membership and fundraising numbers and a virtually nonexistent media presence. Aware of the problems for some time, the national ACLU board has decided to step in and try to right the ship. The decision made national news."
The only comfort here is that with the national ACLU board "driving", we may see a revitalized ACLU chapter in South Carolina, and greater resources being poured into the looming legal battles developing in the state. Over the years the ACLU has been an important resource for modern Pagans seeking redress against discriminatory or unconstitutional policies and practices. Without the ACLU, and similar organizations like Americans United and the FFRF, many of the seminal legal cases that have helped establish precedents and decisions favoring the growth and free exercise of modern Paganism in America may not have happened.
Of course modern Pagans and church-state separation organizations don't always see eye to eye. In New York, the town board of Greece is defending its sectarian prayer policy by making the opening prayers inclusive of all faiths. This has allowed a local Wiccan to deliver a sectarian Pagan prayer before a recent board meeting.
"In just a few seconds' time during the April Town Board meeting, Jennifer Zarpentine made Greece history. Zarpentine, a Wiccan, delivered the first-ever pagan prayer to open a meeting of the Greece Town Board. Her hands raised to the sky, she called upon Greek deities Athena and Apollo to 'help the board make the right informed decisions for the benefit and greater good of the community.' A small cadre of her friends and coven members in the audience chimed in 'so mote it be.'"
Americans United, who recently helped win the veteran Pentacle case, is suing the town board in order to force it to switch to nonsectarian prayer (or no prayer at all). A move Wiccan Jennifer Zarpentine disapproves of.
"Zarpentine said she was pleased by the opportunity to pray at the meeting. 'I thought the invocation went well,' she said. 'The board was respectful;, they all bowed their heads.' As far as the lawsuit goes, Zarpentine said the town isn't being discriminatory. 'They are including everybody,' she said. 'They asked me.'"
Which illustrates a point where there is some divergence between groups like the ACLU and modern Pagans. Most modern Pagans are fine with religious expression so long as there is full and consistent inclusion. While the AU, and similar organizations, take a harder line of enforcing nonsectarian or nothing.
"We're glad to see that the (Town Board) is now cognizant of the diversity of the community, and it's too bad it took a lawsuit to get them to see the light ... While the Wiccan prayer will likely be more inclusive than prayers offered in the past, that doesn't change that what we want is for the town to adopt a policy that prayer-givers offer nonsectarian prayers."
Despite these differences, our faith groups have generally experienced a net gain in allying ourselves with church-state separation advocacy organizations. This will most likely continue until modern Pagan organizations gather sufficient fiscal and political power to form their own legal advocacy groups. Even then, I don't foresee a day where Pagans will be unhappy with the ACLU or AU fighting to keep religion out of politics in America. A truly democratic and secular country is one where the religious minority doesn't have to fear outright discrimination or persecution.
Labels: ACLU, AU, discrimination, law, litigation, New York, Paganism, prayer, Religious Freedom, South Carolina, Wicca
5.07.2008
Won't Anyone Think of the Children?
It is sometimes easy to forget that struggles over religion aren't just being fought in the military, our prisons, and the public square, but in our schools as well. After all, aren't our public schools supposed to be safe and secular institutions? The truth is that religious minorities are often ostracized, and can face intimidation and harassment in school settings, especially when local Christians feel threatened.
"Many Mount Vernon Middle School students have been vocal in their support of science teacher John Freshwater in his claims to a First Amendment right to display a Bible on his desk. But are those students willing to grant someone else equal rights to remain neutral or to disagree? Several comments from students and parents indicate that acceptance and religious tolerance is a one-way street for many concerned."
It seems that Christian children aren't very "big tent" in their support of a Christian science teacher, a man who has allegedly done some seriously controversial things in the classroom.
"My daughter Arie told me about a Jewish child who brought his Torah to school when other students brought Bibles in support of Freshwater ... He thought he was supporting freedom of religious expression, and the other kids just ripped him apart. 'What are you doing?' they asked. 'You can't support Mr. Freshwater, you're Jewish' ... I don't think people realize the depth of what's going on between the students. It's a mob mentality right now. It's peer pressure. To not wear a T-shirt and to not bring your Bible when they say bring your Bible and wear a T-shirt, you're asking for trouble ... one of Arie's friends wore a T-shirt to school that read, 'I don't need to wear a special T-shirt to be a Christian.' That individual was reportedly pushed into the lockers and called a 'stupid atheist b****.'"
Perhaps the parents supporting Freshwater don't mind a little "collateral damage" among the student body so long as it is in the name of their "religious freedom". Of course that fierce sense of religious freedom often disappears when non-Christian faiths are involved.
"Several people, [Beth] Murdoch [Arie's daughter] said, have asked what the response would be if a teacher had a Wiccan book or a Koran on the desk. 'Would the students be supporting a teacher under those circumstances?' she asked. 'I don't think so. I understand [Freshwater] wants to protect his rights, I so understand that. But you have to be compassionate to other people, too.'"
When battles like this erupt, those who suffer the most are often the students who don't toe the popular line. Freshwater's supporters have created an "all or nothing" atmosphere, and while the school board has asked him to put his bible away during school hours, and is investigating claims of proselytizing, the matter most likely won't calm down for children during the school year. Creating an unsafe learning environment for religious minorities and Christians who won't participate in activism supporting Freshwater.
If a public school can't provide a safe learning environment for children of all faiths (or of none) then they have failed as a learning institution, and a house-cleaning needs to take place, regardless of the political blow-back the school board may face.
Labels: Christianity, John Freshwater, Religion, Religious Freedom, schools
5.06.2008
Recommended Reading
I've got some great links for any of my readers looking for some new online reading material. To start with, the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, which recently heard the testimony of Pagan chaplain Patrick McCollum on religious discrimination in prisons, has posted the full transcript of the proceedings.
"If the same standards that are being required of the Wiccans were applied to the Protestants, you guys would have to fire all the Protestant chaplains right now because they don't have any ground to stand on at all in all the services that they're getting."
This is historic testimony on behalf of minority faiths before a U.S. governmental body, and should be required reading for any Pagan concerned about our religious freedoms.
Turning from political concerns, the comics/pop-culture web site Sequential Tart interviews Thista Minai about her Hellenic faith, and her recently published book "Dancing In Moonlight: Understanding Artemis Through Celebration".
"And, of course, I'm nuts about animals and wilderness. I work as a veterinary technician, and I remember a rather amusing trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York with my (very Catholic) father. There was a pendant on display showing Artemis as Potnia Theron, the Mistress of Animals, and I was explaining to my father (who by then was well aware of my obsession with Artemis and suspected that it was more than academic) exactly what all that meant. When I finished, he looked at me, looked at the pendant, then looked back at me and said, 'So, basically, She's the Goddess of veterinary technicians.' And I said '... Yeah, dad.'"
An interesting and wide-ranging interview that provides a nice look into Pagan religion and ethics outside the Wiccan paradigm.
Finally, the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR) has posted all the papers from its 2008 international conference. A wealth of academic papers on modern Paganism, the New Age movement, syncretic faiths, and several papers dealing with Aleister Crowley and Thelema.
"CESNUR, the Center for Studies on New Religions, was established in 1988 by a group of religious scholars from leading universities in Europe and the Americas ... CESNUR's original aim was to offer a professional association to scholars specialized in religious minorities, new religious movements, contemporary esoteric, spiritual and gnostic schools, and the new religious consciousness in general. In the 1990s it became apparent that inaccurate information was being disseminated to the media and the public powers by activists associated with the international anti-cult movement. Some new religious movements also disseminated unreliable or partisan information. CESNUR became more pro-active and started supplying information on a regular basis, opening public centers and organising conferences and seminars for the general public in a variety of countries. Today CESNUR is a network of independent but related organizations of scholars in various countries, devoted to promote scholarly research in the field of new religious consciousness, to spread reliable and responsible information, and to expose the very real problems associated with some movements, while at the same time defending everywhere the principles of religious liberty."
Some interesting looking papers include "The Rise and Fall of a Public Witch Hunt: Changing Media Attitudes to New Religious Movements Since 1988", by Suzanne Evans, "Online and Offline - Locating Pagan Community", by Angela Coco, and "Minority Religions and Law Enforcement: A Human Rights Perspective", by Alessandro Amicarelli. I recommend browsing the entire list.
Happy reading!
Labels: academia, Artemis, books, CESNUR, Chaplaincy, interview, Paganism, Patrick McCollum, Prison, Religious Freedom, Sequential Tart, Thista Minai
5.05.2008
Zeus, by Jove!
Novelist and travel writer Tom Stone has released a new book entitled "Zeus: A Journey Through Greece in the Footsteps of a God" that traces the birth, death, rebirth, and eventual decline of the great Greek thunderer.
"Lusty, lightning-tempered, polyamorous Zeus was the most powerful and charismatic of the Greek gods, and the progenitor of some of the most enduring stories of world mythology. In Zeus, author Tom Stone takes readers on a 4,000-year journey through the god's tumultuous life, from his origins as a sky god in the Russian steppes and his scandalous reign on Mt. Olympus to his approaching end in a palace storeroom in Christian Constantinople. Crossing the length and breadth of Greece, Stone and his Iranian wife explore the most significant sites in Greek myth, from mountaintops to subterranean caves, Olympus to Crete, and Mycenae to Macedonia. Along the way, he reveals how Zeus's story grew from the soil of Greece and changed along with the country's history, all with a brilliant mix of erudition and bravura storytelling."
Some Pagans and Heathens, most notably Hrafknell at A Heathen's World, wondered at the content of the book. Was it simply a travelogue with Zeus as the hook? Were there any deeper religious impulses in writing a work about the life of Zeus? In response to these questions Tom Stone has started his own blog, and essentially outs himself as a (qualified) polytheist.
"I followed up my comments in the Foreward by dropping very heavy hints along the way that for me, personally, the presence of the Greek deities in the Greek landscape was quite palpable (can't say the same about LA!). And - more important - that a belief in them was not only preferable, but much more "realistic" than a belief in a single deity (except, perhaps, Mother Earth)."
Stone also unfavorably (to put it mildly) compares monotheism to polytheism.
"I believe that most monotheism is fundamentally 'evil' in the terrible ways that it attempts to impose its structures and strictures on great masses of people, espousing its glorious virtues with one hand and, with the other, attempting to eradicate all opposing beliefs (as the Christians tried to do with the Greek religion. - among others...). In contrast, polytheism and pantheism not only admit each individual's (and community's) personal relationship to the Ineffable, but their writings and oral traditions embrace not only the good but the bad in the way their deities manifest themselves."
Stone's religious mindset and opinions came about from twenty years of "rumination and research" after being being "haunted" by images and stories of Zeus at Crete. Opinions that Stone promises to further expand on at his new blog (which I look forward to reading). So "Zeus" is no mere travelogue, but a somewhat veiled religious pilgrimage, one that could open new doors of insight and discussion into the history and future of Western polytheism.
Labels: books, Greece, Paganism, Polytheism, Tom Stone, Zeus
5.04.2008
As Handfastings Go Mainstream, So Do Pagans
Lisa Cupido, writing for The Modesto Bee, has a very informative and interesting write-up of the growing popularity of Pagan handfasting ceremonies among couples (both Pagan and non-Pagan) looking to wed. Cupido interviews a wide-ranging assortment of sources for the piece, from author Raven Kaldera (who touches on same-sex marriage within modern Paganism), to trained celebrant Lamira Martin.
"Lamira Martin is a celebrant from St. Louis, Mo., who trained with the Celebrant USA Foundation, an institute that teaches people to officiate at weddings, funerals and other personalized ceremonies. She has been performing pagan and nondenominational weddings for only a year and a half but has wed 60 couples of all ages and backgrounds. Her most popular requests include handfasting, unity candle lighting and sand ceremonies ... 'Most of the couples I meet are in their 20s and want something beautiful and spiritual, but not religious ... A lot of people have lost the connection to their churches, but they still want a ritual and to write their own ceremony.'"
In addition to covering the growing popularity of handfastings, Cupido also digs into what is feeding the popularity of handfastings (Paganism's explosive growth over the last twenty years), and the economic ripples this new popularity creates.
"As some vendors of pagan items can attest, there is no shortage of customers for popular Wiccan and Celtic wedding items like costumes, Renaissance gowns, handfasting ropes and candles. Kimberly and Bill Tuttle, the owners of Gryphon's Moon, started their company 13 years ago, unaware that their moonstone pendants and incense would attract so many pagan clients. The most popular item on their Web site, gryphonsmoon.com, is their handfasting ring, which features the inscription "Hearts as one," in Runic, an early Germanic alphabet."
In a final note on this very well-written and researched article, I would like to congratulate Cupido on being one of the first journalists to (indirectly) include the data about Pagans from the recently released Pew Forum's U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. A survey that gives a big boost to the estimated Pagan population in America.
"A 2001 survey by the Graduate Center of the City University of New York found that the number of followers of Wicca, one of the many religions that fall beneath the pagan umbrella, increased from 8,000 in 1990 to 134,000 in 2001, making it the fastest-growing religion in America in terms of percentage increase. Marty Laubach, a sociology professor at Marshall University, says the number of followers of pagan religions is even higher now, citing a 2008 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey that put the estimate at 1.2 million. 'My suspicion is that the first number was way too low due to people not responding,' Laubach said. 'The 1990 study was conducted at the height of the 'satanic panic,' which kept many neopagans in the closet.'"
One of the best articles dealing with modern Pagans I have read in awhile. I suggest reading the whole thing. Kudos to Lisa Cupido, this is what journalistic coverage of Paganism is supposed to look like.
Labels: handfastings, journalism, Lisa Cupido, Paganism, Pew Forum, U.S. Religious Landscape Survey
5.03.2008
We Are The Unreached People Groups
John Morehead blogs about an upcoming conference taking place at Trinity International University in Illinois entitled "Trinity Consultation on Post-Christendom Spiritualities: The New Unreached People Groups". Who are the "new unreached people groups"? We are.
"The conference will be a gathering of practitioners and scholars addressing the decline of Christianity in the West and the concomitant growth of new unreached people groups expressed in religions and spiritualities such as modern Paganism, New Age, and other alternative spiritualities. Plenary sessions and parallel workshops will address the topics of the future of religion in the West, the make up of the alternative religious marketplace and approaches in engaging adherents of alternative spiritualities."
The talk is co-sponsored by the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization Issue Group 16 and the Western Institute for Intercultural Studies. Two groups dedicated to "culturally sensitive" evangelism of new religious movements like ours. Participants include the aforementioned John Morehead, new religious movements scholar J Gordon Melton, and Michael T. Cooper, who recently presented a paper about Druidry.
While I suppose it is flattering to receive all this attention from Christians in our increasingly multi-religious society, it does raise some questions. For example, can open and respectful dialog co-exist with attempts by the same people to evangelize and convert us? John Morehead, who is at the forefront of developing new "culturally sensitive" evangelization tactics, is also breaking new ground in opening channels of dialog between Christians and Pagans. Do these dual roles impair real communication? Can we balance dispelling misconceptions without in turn also empowering those who would see our faiths disappear?
I'm all for better dialog and understanding. I think that a basic understanding of modern Pagan theology and practice by the general populace can only help reduce intolerance, discrimination, and the diabolic fantasies that fueled the "Satanic panics" of years gone by. On the other hand, in regards to dialog with Christians, specifically evangelical Christian movements, these efforts at better understanding have in some way helped fuel a rash of anti-Pagan (though somewhat more accurate) books. Christians are talking to us, but many seem to be doing so to help "inoculate" their children and faith community from the "infection" of a post-Christian culture.
I think Christian scholars like John Morehead are doing us a service, but we must remain open-eyed as we engage them. For many Christians, particularly those actively interested in dialogging with us, their active mandate is to ultimately convert us. "Engaging the unreached" is simply a nicer way of saying "evangelizing the unsaved". The context and attitudes may be different, but the goals remain consistent.
Labels: academia, Christianity, evangelism, John Morehead, Paganism, Religion
5.02.2008
(Pagan) News of Note
My semi-regular round-up of articles, essays, and opinions of note for discerning Pagans and Heathens.
A new issue of the occult e-zine Rending the Veil has been posted. Leading off their Beltane installment is an article co-written by Taylor Ellwood and Lupa on the subject of advanced occult books.
"We think it's important to encourage the writing of advanced books on occultism. There's a small, but steadily growing interest in advanced occult texts. Writing a blog post or a single article, while it can cover an interesting topic, just doesn't provide the needed depth or volume that a book can bring. And while there are some excellent sites for occult writing, including this one, actual texts are needed in order to fully capture and develop some of the more advanced ideas in more detail. Additionally, there's definitely benefit to having your work edited, whether in a (hardcopy or online) magazine, or through the editing staff of a publisher. With all the unedited drek that floats around on the internet, peer-reviewed information, especially advanced, is even more necessary."
Speaking of "advanced" books, keep your eyes peeled for articles and interviews on this blog concerning some groundbreaking new Pagan books by authors like Brendan Cathbad Myers, Emma Restall Orr, and Gus diZerega.
Laura Miller at Salon.com gives Ursula K. Le Guin's new book "Lavinia" a favorable review. Calling it "a tribute to a relatively uncelebrated culture, that of early Rome".
"'Lavinia' is an old writer's book -- Le Guin is 79 -- in the best sense of the word; it is ripe with that half-remembered virtue, wisdom. This, Le Guin seems to be saying, is what it feels like to be the personification of your land and your people, to speak the words and perform the rites of "the old, local, earth-deep religion," to be the sacred guardian of harmony and plenty for a handful of rustic villages and farms, and to carry their past and future in your body. It's not a life any of us know how to live anymore, and most likely not one that most of us would choose, but some of us can still imagine it, and imagine that it was good."
I am very much looking forward to reading this book. You can read my previous post on Le Guin's "Lavinia", here.
Rocketing world food prices aren't just causing concerns over hunger, in India, it has become a serious religious issue as well.
"With prices soaring for staples such as cooking oils, wheat, lentils, milk and rice across the globe, priests like Atrey say they are seeing the consequences in their neighborhood temples, where even the poorest of the poor have long made donations to honor their faith. 'But today the common man is tortured by the increases in prices,' Atrey lamented during one early morning prayer, or puja, adding that donations of milk were down by as much as 50 percent. He had recently met with colleagues from other temples, along with imams from local mosques, who reported similar experiences. 'If poor people don't even have enough for bread, how will they donate milk to the gods?' he said. 'This is very serious.'"
Within Hinduism, milk is seen as a holy substance and is an integral part of daily religious life in India (not to mention dietary life, since many Indians are vegetarians). If a solution isn't found soon, a major crisis of hunger and faith in the country seems inevitable.
Ohio State University's religious studies program has been hosting a lecture series entitled "Through a Glass, Darkly: Public Interest in the Occult." Student paper The Lantern reports on the closing lecture by Lynn Schofield Clark on the intersection of the occult and popular television programs.
"Delving into the topic of current television shows, she attempted to explain why interest exists in them. Television shows about mysterious things have now evolved from scripted shows to reality shows such as SciFi's "Ghost Hunters" and the Canadian series "Ghost Trackers," highlighting the increasing popularity of this genre, she said. Clark connected the popularity of the shows to the nation's attitude post-Sept. 11. She said after the unexpected terrorist attacks, the nation's interest piqued in pop culture that shows unresolvable issues."
The lecture series also featured a talk by Pagan academic Sabina Magliocco, author of "Witching Culture: Folklore and Neo-Paganism in America". As for "occult television", I don't care how "occult" it gets, I refuse to watch "Ghost Whisperer" (though I do admit to watching "Moonlight" now and then).
A Pagan woman was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder after she told a group of teens and twenty-somethings (that she met regularly with at local Pagan gatherings) that a local man (and fellow practitioner) had raped her and her daughter (she also provided materials used in the attempted murder).
"'This is a group of young people with some strange beliefs ... being led by the passionate, distraught histrionics of an older - and in their eyes, much more powerful - mother figure,' York-Poquoson Commonwealth's Attorney Eileen Addison said. 'They got carried away ... but they got carried away because she encouraged them to do so.' According to testimony, Davidson met co-defendants Stephen Walters, 26, Dianna Breznick, 18, Thomas Rogers, 24, and Aaron Meadors, 23, at a shop in Norfolk that advertises itself as carrying Wiccan and pagan supplies. The group regularly attended a pagan drum circle there on Monday nights. Davidson was known to the group as "Red Phoenix." Barron, who was known as "Lord Othis," also attended the circle."
No proof or charges have been brought against Barron/Othis for his alleged assaults, nonetheless two of the attackers were unrepentant calling his maiming/torture "justice". No matter what the real chain of events that lead to this situation were, the outcome is a shameful one that mocks true justice and brands these Pagans as criminals who replace due process with unrestrained savagery.
In a final note, further memorials to Cora Anderson, who crossed over yesterday, have been posted at The Witches' Voice and the Acorn Guild Press web site. The latter contains a short eulogy from Starhawk.
"Cora was a great inspiration, a wonderful teacher, and a pioneer in the Craft at a time when it was a very hard and lonely path. I will always remember her stories, her humor, and her wonderful blend of mysticism and sheer common sense. I know that she will continue to guide and inspire now, wherever her soul journeys."
Further tributes can be found, here.
That is all I have for now, have a great day!
Labels: academia, books, Cora Anderson, Hinduism, Lavinia, law, Lupa, occult, Pagan News of Note, Paganism, Taylor Ellwood, Television, Ursula Le Guin
