A Quick Note on Commenting

I have restored Haloscan commenting on the blog after a short test-period using only the Blogger commenting system. Both systems are now in place, so if you are a Blogger user you can use the “Blogger Comments” button, and if you aren’t you can use Haloscan.

Asatru in Prison

Recently the imprisoned Asatru population have been making the news. First from Utah where inmate Phillip Leishman wants access to a set of runes.

“The runes are 24 small pieces of wood carved with ancient mystical symbols. Leishman says he needs them in order to practice his religion — the ancient Celtic order of Asatru with its little-understood pagan rituals. The Department of Corrections, however, subscribes to an even more bizarre belief: that Leishman could use the runes to start a covert network in the maximum-security prison with inmates communicating by using the runic alphabet.” – The Salt Lake Tribune

U.S. District Magistrate Sam Alba has recommended that Leishman get a hearing on his argument that the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act supports his right to runes. He said that while an Asatru spell might offend another inmate, “an evangelical Christian inmate could just as easily offend others with their prophecies and preaching.” – The AP

Phillip Leishman and Michael W. Lenz



The next case is of Michael W. Lenz a “a self-described high priest of a pagan religion” who is to be executed this Thursday in Virginia for fatally stabbing a fellow inmate.

“Lenz argued at his July 2000 trial that he feared Parker and killed him in self-defense. Lenz, then serving a seven-year sentence for a string of burglaries in Prince William County, said he was the high priest of a Nordic cult called Asatru. Parker was trying to bully him out of the cult, Lenz testified. Lenz also said he was “protecting the honor” of Nordic gods by killing Parker.” – The AP

Asatru according to Jordsvin (a Heathen involved in prison ministry) “is perhaps the only religion with at least as many adherents behind bars (eleven thousand in North America alone) as in the free world! This sounded really scary to me when I first heard it, but on further reflection I calmed down considerably. For one thing, almost all incarcerated Heathens committed their crimes before discovering Heathenism. I believe that in the long run, one of the criteria that Heathenism in general and Heathenism behind bars in particular will be judged by is how our religion does or does not transform for the better the lives of its practitioners.”

Since most Asatru in prison are converts why Asatru? Margot Adler author of Drawing Down the Moon writes “Since many prisoners feel like outsiders, they are often drawn to alternative forms of spirituality. A 1999 article in the Omaha World Herald lists the religious faiths of Nebraska inmates. Alongside 1,738 Protestants, 757 Catholics, 96 Muslims, and 11 Buddhists, there were many who described themselves as members of earth-based religions, including 85 who practiced Native American spirituality, 47 who practiced Norse paganism (Asatru), 8 who worshiped Maat (an ancient Egyptian goddess), and 2 Wiccans. There are Asatru groups in prisons in Minnesota, Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Washington, Colorado, and California. One of the reasons Asatru may be so popular behind bars is that it allows whites, often a minority in prison populations, to have a feeling of identity and community.”

For more on Asatru in prison I found a series of interviews with Heathen inmates, though they are quick to give a waring to the sensitive reader:

“These interviews are uncensored. You may find some comments by these prisoners to be racist and shocking. Deal with it. The HEATHEN WORLD is letting these guys tell their stories however they want. Prison is a violent, fearful place with deeply ingrained divisions, and maybe these interviews will help you imagine being stuck right in the middle of it. The HEATHEN WORLD has a quick question for those advocating tougher prisons: What do you plan to do with a couple million psychotic ex-cons? Things are bad enough as it is.”

UPDATE: Execution of Michael W. Lenz was stayed a few minutes ago in US District Court pending pursuit of a federal habeas appeal. That will take about 12 to 18 months to fully exhaust. Thanks to God and Consequences for the update.

Renaissance Magic

Shards, Fragments and Totems has profiled an amazing sounding radio program by Melvyn Bragg on BBC Radio 4 about Renaissance Magic.

…why did magic appeal so strongly to the Renaissance mind? And how did the scholarly Magus, who became a feature of the period, manage to escape prosecution and relate his work to science and the Church? – Programme Details

Even more interesting is what Paul from SF&T has to say about the opinions of one the main scholars in the field of Renaissance Magic

“Its thesis is as startling as Yates is respected (she is THE hardcore authority on the history of Renaissance of philosophy and art): that the Renaissance, far more than being simply a re-discovery of classical sources (though this was of course the central conceptual input) or a product of Arab technology (the use of the number zero for example, which was also covered in this series), was, in intention and in effect, a full-on pagan revival. Over and again, Yates demonstrates that the mantle of Catholicism, within which Classical themes were deployed, was largely a cover under which full-on practical magick flourished.”

Click here to listen to this program now.

Flogging A Wooden Horse

Didn’t think I could make another Troy post did’ya!? Well here is an article from Jeffrey St. Clair that talks about the movie and equates it with Bush’s foreign relations policy. Oh and Fahrenheit 9/11 is a must-see no matter where you place yourself on the political spectrum. Seriously. Even if you hate Moore, you really should see this film.

By the way…

Anyone looking for a great young adult series that uses pagan themes but doesn’t try to “save” your soul in the process I highly recommend Susan Cooper’s excellent “The Dark Is Rising Sequence”

“A writer, thoroughly familiar with English and Celtic myth, legend, and tradition, brilliantly selects and reconciles them with the folklore of her native Thames Valley region of Buckinghamshire to create a compelling fantasy.”

The Sneaky Pagan?

Christianity Today interviews Colin Duriez author of “The C.S. Lewis Encyclopedia” about the author’s “sneaky paganism” and how he used pagan ideas and themes as a “under the radar” conversion tool.

“In order to write to a post-Christian culture, Lewis used pre-Christian, pagan ideas.



C.S. Lewis’s ideas about returning to a paganism before coming to Christian faith still apply today. He recognized that we live in a post-Christian world, and for him that was the most basic category when trying to understand present society. We talk about modernism and now postmodernism, but if Lewis was around I think he’d still be saying that the fact that we’re post-Christian is more fundamental.

Contemporary people have no background at all in Christian faith. They need to be brought to paganism to prepare the way to become Christians, which is rather a provocative idea. But it was also part of the way he tried to rehabilitate the old Christian West. The “Old West” is what he called it. He and J.R.R. Tolkien tried to rehabilitate the values and virtues of this vast period, which goes back to the Classical times.

I’m not an expert on that period, but it seems to be a blend of pagan insights that are completed by a Christian understanding. Lots of pagan things are Christianized like Christmas. That seemed to be a strategy in the medieval period and before. Lewis and Tolkien carried on this mentality of fulfilling the insights people have as ordinary human beings into the nature of reality. Lewis and Tolkien had a kind of natural theology where they felt you could have insights into the nature of God’s reality independent of scripture.”

The insult to all pagan cultures is pretty plain to see. We are incomplete, flawed and human, we need the gospel of Jesus to “complete” us. What better way then to present paganism as simply a stepping-stone in a journey towards “truth”? The fact that Lewis himself longed for a pagan renewal at one point and then converted to Christianity doesn’t mean that Christ is the “finish-line” of theology. Simply accept him and you win the Cupie doll of salvation.

It would be interesting to see how Lewis would have gone if he was a contemporary author working today. Would the man who said “the spontaneous appeal of the Christian story is so much less to me than that of Paganism” have gone to the church if he had other options in faith? Would Aslan be Christ or would he be The Sacrificial King?

Needfire

Pagan author Raven Grimassi has issued a call for a “Needfire” on the Witchvox site.

” In ancient times when troubles beset the land, and the Kingdom seemed to be in peril, the people turned to a practice known as the needfire. Fire represented the spirit of the land, which gave life and purpose to everything in the realm. Therefore when troubles arose within the Kingdom it was a sign that the fire had been contaminated. The spirit of the land had grown ill and required renewed vitality.”

Grimassi is calling for a national needfire ritual on the full moon in October preceding the presidential election. Why?

” Here in contemporary times Americans saw life change drastically following the horrific events of September 11, 2001. The spirit of the land was unarguably contaminated in the aftermath of shock and fear. In an unprecedented reaction Americans relinquished several key constitutional rights with the establishment of the Patriot Act.”

The ritual is meant to “renew the heart and spirit of our land”. So perhaps this is the pagan version of efforts like this. If so it’s an encouraging sign that our community is taking the current political atmosphere in the country seriously. I can hardly think that pagans on the right or left are happy with the way things have been going. Values that are held dear by most pagans, conservation, personal freedom, religious freedom and a strong seperation of Church and State have all taken a beating in the last few years.

A Radical Re-Thinking

Sage at Goddessing posts with a story from late last year that could turn a lot of assumptions in the modern pagan community on their heads. Two famous chalk hill figures of Britain have been proven to be a lot younger than originally thought.

The Long Man of Wilmington in Sussex



The Long Man of Wilmington originally thought to date back to the Anglo-Saxon, Iron-Age Celtic or Roman periods in history is now thought to be much, much younger.

“New dating evidence are consistent in indicating that the figure was created in the sixteenth or seventeenth century AD. The new dating suggests a context in that period of religious and social conflict around the reformation, civil war and restoration.”

Meanwile the equally famous Cerne Abbas Giant of Dorset once thought to have ancient origins is now thought to be made during the reign of Cromwell (1650’s).

Cerne Abbas Giant of Dorset



Those of us who read a lot of books aimed at the pagan market know that these figures were often used as major landmarks for modern pagans in England (and in America) looking for evidence of Britain’s pagan past. The Cerne Abbas has been equated with Celtic Gods while the Long Man was recently portrayed as an ancient gate-keeper by Neil Gaiman in his comic adaptation of A Midsummers Night’s Dream.

Lest one loses all hope of ancient chalk markings, The White Horse of Uffington is still dated to pre-historic times and was made in Britain’s pagan past.

“Chalk figures were therefore present in the prehistoric landscape, but the giants at Wilmington and Cerne Abbas, now take their place as monuments of the early post Medieval period. That date is more recent than many had expected but these huge, still enigmatic, figures are none-the-less testimony to a social and religious context very different to the one which we know.” – Professor Martin Bell

One can only hope to see some revisions in the speculative non-fiction writings of modern pagans, I also hope to see some real investigation into the social atmosphere of the these times that would prompt the creation of these faux-pagan chalk structures.

More on Ms. Lionza

Newsday has picked up the ongoing story (Thanks to Wren for the link) of the splitting of the statue of Maria Lionza. This time we get to hear more from the priests of the cult.

Rafael Albis, a priest for followers of the goddess, known as Marialionceros, warned against any such political interpretations. Claiming to speak for Lionza by channeling her voice, the beefy priest intoned in a feminine voice, “I don’t want them utilizing me or killing themselves over me. I am sending a message of love.” – Mike Ceasar

This is the first mention in an article so far that mentions the Marialionceros as wishing to remain neutral in this political conflict. Which makes me wonder why it took so long for the press to report it?

Romance

Dr Gerald R Lucas posts an exploration of the Romantic Movement, an important component according to Prof. Ronald Hutton of the birth of the modern pagan movement.

“Nevertheless, I set forth all alone and tall of, spirit on the stormy ocean of the world, though I knew neither its safe ports nor its perilous reefs. First I visited peoples who exist no more. I went and sat among the ruins of Rome and Greece, those countries of virile and brilliant memory, where palaces are buried in the dust and royal mausoleums hidden beneath the brambles . . . I meditated on these monuments at every hour and through all the incidents of the day. Sometimes, I watched the same sun which had shone down on the foundation of these cities now setting majestically over their ruins; soon afterwards, the moon rose between crumbling funeral urns into a cloud-less sky, bathing the tombs in pallid light. Often in the faint, dream-wafting rays of that planet, I thought I saw the Spirit of Memory sitting pensive by my side . . . On the mountain peaks of Caledonia, the last bard ever heard in those wildernesses sang me songs which had once consoled a hero in his old age.” – Fran?ois Ren? de Chateaubriand