Blessings This Samhain

Tonight and tomorrow is when most modern Pagans celebrate Samhain (Asatruar have two similar holidays Winternights & Einherjar’s Feast). Samhain is the start of the winter and the new year in the old Celtic calendar. This is a time when the ancestors are honored, divinations for the new year are performed, and festivals are held in honor of the gods. It is a time of final harvest before the long winter ahead. It is perhaps the best-known and most widely celebrated of the modern Pagan holidays.

In honor of Samhain I present a list of prominent modern Pagans who have passed on this year. Feel free to include them in your personal litany for the dead.

Asphodel Long, Goddess activist, Writer, Teacher, Feminist Theologian.

Elisabeth Pepper, writer and publisher of “The Witches? Almanac”.

Felicitas Goodman, academic involved in the anthropological reconstruction of shamanism.

Olga de Alaketu (Olga Francis R?gis), Candombl? high priestess of the temple Il? Maroi? L?ji.

Monica Sj??, artist, writer and important figure in the goddess spirituality movement.

On a more personal note, I would like to add to that list Dr. Sjanna Johnston, an important priestess in my own life.

For a more extensive list check here.

For a list of notable deaths in 2005 check here.

In addition to these deaths, one can’t forget the 2240 American troops who have given their lives in service, and the over 27,000 Iraqi civillians who have died since the start of the war. The 1,302 deaths from Hurricane Katrina, and the 49,739 confirmed casualties (with estimates climbing as high as 100,000) of the Kashmir earthquake.

Finally, in honor of Samhain I have produced a two-hour show of seasonally appropriate music on my radio show. You can either subscribe to the podcast feed here, or download the file directly here. Here is the playlist for the show.

Playlist for 10/30/05
Special Samhain Show

Hexentanz – Midnight Procession
Faith and Disease – Beneath These Trees
Unto Ashes – Witches Rune
The Moors – The Hunter/Cernunnos
Loreena McKennitt – All Souls Night
Faith and The Muse – Hollow Hills
Zoar – Winter Wind
Kate Bush – Waking The Witch
Falling You – Moth and Flame (Sadness of the Witch)
Kitty Gallagher – Keen For A Dead Child
Hungry Lucy – Goodbye
Incus – Dead Wood
Tertium Non Data – When The Levee Breaks
Rhea’s Obsession – Memento Mori
Mediaeval Baebes – How Death Comes
Garmarna – Vengeance
The Dreamside – Spin Moon Magic
Tom Waits – November
Hannah Fury – And Your Little Dog Too
Nosferatu – The Witching Hour
Ego Likeness – Water To The Dead
Frank The Baptist – Silver Is Her Color
Dead Can Dance – The Wind That Shakes The Barley
Arcana – In Search of the Divine/Le Serpent Rouge
Hexentanz – Dirge to the Deceased

Happy and festive Samhain, Halloween, D?a de Muertos.

Tags: Samhain, Halloween, Paganism

Some Early Samhain Treats

The Holidays Journal (an AOL blog), tells us all about the history of Halloween amongst the ancient pagan Celts!

“The earliest celebrations of Halloween were among the Celtic people who lived in the areas which are now Great Britain and Northern France. The Celts were people who worshipped the beauty of nature. They worhsipped a Sun God and believed that without him, they would not live. They also worshipped Samhain who was the lord of the dead and of the cold, dark winter season. They believe that on October 31 Samhain would call together all of the dead and these souls would take on the shape of an animal. They believed that all creatures wandered the EARTH on that Night! this was called the VIGIL of SAMHAIN.”

That isn’t all! Wait till you get to the part about the Roman Catholics conquering the Celtic peoples! Humor value will depend on your toleration of insanely bad historical re-tellings. Meanwhile at the “JesusJesusJesus” blog (funny enough it is also an AOL blog) the author has an important message for us.

“Jesus Christ has never celbrated Halloween…Halloween, All saints day, All hallows eve or All souls day is a festival. It was held to honor the Samhain the so called ‘lord of death’.”

Of course Jesus never celebrated Easter, Christmas, or St. Patricks Day for that matter. But why quibble? Nice to see ‘Samhain the Lord of Death’ make a comeback (even the Catholics worship him now it seems). Finally a MSN blogger trys to ask Jesus to stop Samhain from coming!

“IN JESUS CHRIST HOLY NAME FATHER I BIND THE GATES OF HELL UPON THE EARTH & IN HEAVEN NOW & IN JESUS CHRIST HOLY NAME I LOCK THEM SHUT NOT TO EVER BE OPENED AGAIN ON HALLOWEEN OR AS CALLED BY WITCHES THE HOLIDAY Samhain. IN JESUS CHRIST HOLY NAME I BIND & CLOSE THE VEIL BETWEEN THE TWO WORLDS NOW & FORBID ANY SOUL TRAVELING TO BE ALLOWED OR TO FOR THE VEIL TO EVER BE OPENED AGAIN & I FORBID ANY AND ALL ALL SACRIFICES & ALL SATANIC OR WITCHCRAFT RITUALS FROM NOW THROUGH THE 10th OF NOV 2005…”

I wonder if Jesus listens better if you type in all caps? Maybe he should take a cue from this collection of indie-rockers who have banded together to stop Halloween (for a good cause though).

Tonight I’m doing a Samhain special on my radio show! It will be up for listening tomorrow. Just in time for the holidays!

The Numinous World of Polytheism

Jordan Paper, Professor Emeritus of Humanities at York University has released a book that should become an instant classic among the modern Pagan and Heathen movements. “The Deities Are Many: A Polytheistic Theology”

“The Deities Are Many is a lively and learned introduction to polytheism. Drawing from both his scholarly research and his personal experience, author Jordan Paper is the ideal guide into this milieu. Paper was drawn to polytheism through his love of nature, seeing it as a source of the divine. In this book he focuses on Chinese and Native American religious traditions, as well as West African, African-Brazilian, Hindu, Polynesian, and circum-Polar traditions, to describe the theology of polytheism. The book provides a topology of polytheistic deities, focusing on the cosmic couple, Father Sky and Mother Earth; animal, plant, and mineral deities; ancestral spirits; divine ghosts; and culture heroes and tricksters. Paper also shows how monotheists misunderstand polytheism and provides a polytheist perspective on what it means to be human when the “deities are many.” This is a fascinating, illuminating book, especially for those raised in monotheistic societies.” – SUNY Press

Unlike the book “Pagan Theology: Paganism As a World Religion” by Michael York which doesn’t really deal with theology until the final chapter (but is otherwise a very worthy book to read), this book seems to be the real deal. Plus it is a fifteen dollar book. So it is very affordable. It is academic in tone but completely accessible to the layperson.

A quick quote:

“When such a deity comes to us in a vision, she or he teaches us what we need to know to develop the relationship. We may be taught a song and/or a ritual, be given a name, learn when and under what obligations are in turn…these obligations are confused in the literature, for everyone who develops such a relationship is given a potentially unique mode of interaction. For example, in the case of a relationship I have [with the animal spirit who visited him], I can kill the animal for others to eat and otherwise use, but I cannot eat it myself. Someone else, having a relationship with the same diety, may have the opposite mode of interaction. Or it may be only part of the animal that cannot be eaten. Or eating may be irrelevant.”

Which really helped clarify my own gnosis about my patron deity. It is my vision and interaction with that diety. It is what that diety and I have agreed apon as a means of service. A polytheistic worldview would honor that choice, just as I honor the choices of those who do not walk my particular road.

In any event. To my serious Pagan pals. You want this book. Really.

Special K

The hexing hipsters at the Barbelith Temple ponder the spellings of the term “magic”. Aleister Crowley started the trouble when he added an extra “k” to the term “magick” to differentiate it from stage conjurations. Since then numerous spellings have come around and many are now wondering why all the bother.

“I used to be a proponent of ‘magic-with-a-K’, but as time has gone on and as I?ve become more of a proponent of removing the Occult from the Occult, I don?t see the need to have yet another divisive element in my magical practice. I still like the aesthetics of ‘magic-with-a-k’ but in day-to-day use I?ve settled on Magic. I reserve the right to change my mind at whim.” – Imaginary Mongoose Solutions

“The ‘k’ strikes me as incredibly pretentious. Anyone that can take a look at the OED (well, at least the two-volume one we’ve got here) will find prestidigital manipulation only appearing in the third and final definition of the term. If someone is doing something meaningful and personally successful that falls underneath the gamut of the term, they shouldn’t need to enforce their legitimacy through a flakey etymological separation from illusionist and trickster hokum. Of course, if they happen to be Greek they may feel beautiful and blessed to practice magike.” – kowalski

Perhaps my favorite reply…

I am suddenly reminded of a scene from a videogame review show. The particular episode was a badly-done parody of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and for some reason included a reincarnated Crowley, but it had a nice exchange:

Morgan Webb: So why do you spell “magic” with a “K” at the end?

Crowley: To seperate my art from the cheap theatrics of impersonators.

MW: Why not spell it with just a “k”?

Crowley: [in a whiny voice] Because that’s a character from X-men.

I suppose an obscure comic-book reference is the best place to leave this particular debate. Hope you have a magic(k)al day.

The Not-So Lonely Hearts Religion

Australian Witch Caroline Tully responds to my post on her interview in The Age. It seems her words were heavily edited and reworked by the paper.

“There was so much stuff that was paraphrased, or totally peripheral to what the journalist and I were talking about. I’m really cross about the “weak and opressed” angle, because that came from a little side comment I made about magic, (not the religion of witchcraft) but magic, being a technology often resorted to by the powerless, which I felt that I illustrated quite well with an example of Islamic women using magic as domestic power (the topic of a lecture I recently attended) – obviously that was simply a dumb thing for me to have said at all, seeing what became of that comment. Also, a friend of mine said that it looked like Witches were a pile of women out for sex, which is also plain embarassing as I’m not single or desparate – if I was, I certainly wouldn’t be confiding in some reporter!”

So a word of warning to those being interviewed by the press. Make sure the editor and the paper don’t have an agenda!

Will Religion (and Sex) Enter The Case?

Robert Petrick, a Wiccan currently being held on charges for the murder of his wife Janine Sutphen has requested that any information regarding his religious beliefs or his sexual and relational preferences be barred from being used as evidence in the trial.

“Petrick wants to bar evidence dealing with his sexual habits and preferences, including books, films, clothing, “sexual appliances” and e-mail messages, according to his motion. He also wants all references to paganism and witchcraft prohibited. Petrick was married to two people in a pagan wedding ceremony, according to participants in that ceremony. Petrick contends that the introduction of such evidence would be unfair to him.”

Much has been made of Petrick’s polyamorous relationships since the discovery of Sutphen’s body. Though the press hasn’t made much of Petrick’s religious affiliation up to this point.

If his religious choice is allowed as “evidence” in the murder trial it could set a precedent where one’s affiliation with a Pagan (or minority) faith becomes a “strike” against you in a criminal proceeding.

While I hope justice is served in this case, I don’t want that justice to be served by trampling on our legal rights. There is no modern Wiccan or Pagan material that could be relevant in a murder trial. If there is no “religion test” for Christian murder suspects, there shouldn’t be one for Pagan faiths.

The Living Gods

The Grey Lodge Occult Review is offering a torrent to download the famous documentary film of Haitian Vodou, Maya Deren’s “Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti”.

“Not long after arriving in Haiti Deren decided on extensive documentation of Haitian Voudoun ceremony. Retakes within this material are extremely rare. On the back of Deren’s Bolex was taped “Speed Stop Focus Finder Motor”. These prompts allowed her to safeguard shots that could never be redone as she would “shoot to cut ” to eliminate post-editing and “plan by eye “- prepare a visual shorthand of the pro-filmic event. The traditional use of footage accompanied by expert witness and testimony was rejected for a film with music. Aware of the potential of documentary film to create a fiction through editing, Deren was determined to represent Voudoun rituals with respect to their mythic origin. With this goal, she was successful which not only the footage but “Divine Horsemen” confirms.” – Moira Sullivan, An Anagram of the Ideas of Filmmaker Maya Deren, ? 1997

Don’t know what a “torrent” is or how to download one? Here is a good place to learn all about it.

I Really Want This To Happen!

The Bishop of Bolton, the Rt Rev David Gillett is worried that Hallowe’en is becoming too “Pagan” to be celebrated by good and decent Christians.

“There has been a widespread increase in New Age spiritualities and connections with dark occult happenings have surfaced in certain areas,” he says. “Hallowe’en has, in many ways, reverted to its pre-Christian days.”

He wants to create a new holiday for Christians. “Lite-Nite”. No. Really.

“Hallowe’en has become associated with the occult and should be reclaimed by Christians and even renamed “Lite-Nite”, a Church of England bishop says.”

I really, really, want for Christians to celebrate “Lite-Nite”. I fully endorse this. Please Christians, stop celebrating the sinful, Paganistic Hallowe’en. Instead you should all gather for “Lite-Nite”. You can sing “Lite” carols, and drink apple cider. It should be great FUN.

Still Searching For A Better Pagan Book Market

Pagan author Lord Foxglove has responded to my post on the search for a better Pagan book market. Foxglove remarks that it is the unwillingness of the readers to buy advanced works that holds back growth and maturity in the Pagan book market.

“After many conversations with my own publisher (New Page Books), as well as with other big and not-so-big publishers, I discovered the sad truth that most of them are afraid to publish advanced books. Bookstores (even metaphysical bookstores) are afraid to stock them, and the majority of pagans aren’t buying them. How can this be after years of outcry from the magickal community for serious advanced work? Exactly where does the buck stop in the world of pagan publishing? Surprisingly, the buck stops with us-the readers. All signs point to the fact that those of us who consider ourselves to be truly advanced or who are ready and willing to advance ourselves are by far the minority of the magickal community.”

I think my own answer is contained in the original post.

“But are harder instruction manuals really what we want or need? Has our focus on presenting lesson plans and ritual structures of differing levels really what our evolving community should expect from it’s authors?”

I want deeper thought, not a harder set of rituals. I want a book market that tackles a broader range of topics. I don’t need a “advanced” book on spiritual practice. Speaking for myself, if I feel I need a deeper spiritual practice I will seek it out among resources in my own community, or I will go to primary sources on religious practice, meditation, magic, and prayer.

I don’t mean this as an insult to Foxglove’s book (which Daven has given glowing praise on his site). I wish him every successs, and hope that those modern Pagans interested in meditations geared towards knowing your shadow self will check out his book. But I want history, biography, and theology, not, the same, but harder. I feel comfortable with my personal journey to know myself, now I want to know my community, my brother and sister faiths, and how (and why) we believe and worship as we do.

Technorati Tags: Paganism, books, Lord Foxglove

Screw Your Religion! We Want To Ski!

The Revealer links to a New York Times report on the efforts of a coalition of 13 Native American tribes to stop a ski resort located on the San Francisco Peaks from pumping recycled (non-potable) waste-water onto the mountain for snow production.

“So imagine, tribal leaders ask, what the spirits will think – or worse, do – when treated wastewater is piped up from Flagstaff and sprayed on the mountain so the resort, the Arizona Snowbowl, can make more snow to ski on? A lawyer for one of the tribes likened it to ‘pouring dirty water on the Vatican.’”

The supervisor of the Coconino National Forest can’t understand why the tribe doesn’t realize that people’s fun is more important that religious and cultural tradition.

“Nora B. Rasure, the supervisor of the Coconino National Forest, wrote this year in the report that the resort “has and continues to provide a valuable recreational experience to many people, and that in order to continue providing that experience in today’s physical and business environment, changes are needed.” Ms. Rasure noted that none of the tribes performed ceremonies or maintained shrines within the resort property and that the improvements would involve only 205 acres.”

Here we see a primary split between the Judeo-Christian conception of “sacred” and the pre-Christian native conception of “sacred”. Since most have a hard time envisioning an entire mountain range as holy and an integral part of one’s culture and history they don’t understand the trouble over what many consider to be a tiny portion of the mountain range. This lack of understanding creates scenes like the following from the first day of the trial.

“Courtroom observers were dismayed by the lack of cultural sensitivity on the part of government lawyers. After a witness described how the spraying of wastewater to make artificial snow would defile the sanctity of medicinal plants gathered on the mountain, a government lawyer asked if the medicine man knew he could purchase herbs at health food stores. A government lawyer also questioned a witness by going down a long list of sacred sites one by one and asking if a particular site was on federal land. In each case, the witness, a Hopi man, humbly replied, “I don?t know.” Eventually, the witness told the lawyer that his culture doesn’t view land in that way, that there is no concept of land ownership. The lawyer did not acknowledge his statement in any way, but instead went back to the list, unapologetically asking the same questions in the same manner.”

This is just the latest in a long line of contested actions involving the peaks stretching back to the late 19th century when indigenous people were forcible removed from the area. Native groups failed to block the building of the resort in 1979, and are now hoping that laws put in place since that initial court battle will help decide the case in their favor.

To underline how seriously the tribes take this matter, I will highlight a selection of quotes from Natives regarding the area.

“In a time when the Hopi Katsina Spirits have answered our prayers for rain and happiness, Coconino [National Forest] has placed a dagger in the Hopis’ spirituality,” – Leigh Kuwanwisiwma, director of the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office

“The San Francisco Peaks is the essence of who we are… and is the Holy House of our sacred deities whom we pray to and give our offerings,” – Joe Shirley Jr., President, Navajo Nation

“It’s like putting death on the mountain, which would be a form of witchcraft or black magic. I won’t be able to practice my religion.” – Frank Mapatis, Hualapai spiritual leader

“The kachinas are the snow makers. When man makes snow what does that tell the deities?” – Jeneda Benally, a Navajo advocate (and member of Native punk band Blackfire)

For those interested in helping out, the tribal coalition has a page set up letting the public know what they can do to help.