My semi-regular round-up of articles, essays, and opinions of note for discerning Pagans and Heathens.

This week Roberta Stewart and Americans United have threatened litigation against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for stonewalling approval for the pentacle to be placed on Pagan veterans’ grave markers. Now the Rev. Pete Pathfinder Davis, head of the The Aquarian Tabernacle Church (along with the ACLU) has gone ahead and filed suit yesterday against the VA.

“ATC was the first federally recognized Wiccan church organization to request the U. S. Veterans Administration include the Wiccan pentacle emblem among the nearly 40 faith symbols that may be requested on the headstone or markers of deceased U.S. military veterans. The litigation in the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in Washington, D.C. will be in the rare and unusual form of a request for the issuance of a Writ of Mandamus, an order of the court directing the VA to act on the nine year old pending request and summarily approve the symbol. Mandamus relief has only been used three times in the history of the court. The petition requests the court direct the VA to do its duty by granting this petition without further delays. The Aquarian Tabernacle Church is also joined in this action by the Correllian Nativist Church of Albany, N.Y., another large Wiccan denomination and applicant, together with Scott Stearns, an ATC member and retired disabled Navy veteran, and the survivors of deceased veterans Abraham Kooiman and James W. Price.”

It remains to be seen how successful this tactic will be, or how this will affect the plans of Roberta Stewart, Circle Sanctuary, and Americans United.

The Toronto Star seizes on the journalistic perfect storm of interviewing a Witch, in Salem, on the eve of the city’s month-long October celebrations.

“…there weren’t any real witches in Salem in 1692, but there sure are plenty of them now – the local tourism bureau claims that 10 per cent of the population are “practising witches” (that would be about 4,000)…The town calls itself ‘The Witch City’. That would be Salem’s modern witch hysteria, and it escalates to scary proportions around Halloween, which coincides with Samhain, the Wiccan new year festival. People from all over the world – witches and non-witches – converge on the town for Haunted Happenings, a month-long celebration that includes parties, parades and other special events.”

Could Salem with its high density of Witches be the first town where modern Paganism really influences local politics? How long before we see a Witch becoming the Mayor?

While Salem gears up for Halloween (and Samhain), Fox Meadow Elementary School is experiencing controversy for canceling Halloween celebrations and replacing it with a “fall celebration” instead.

“Students, dressed in Halloween costumes, made signs with frowning ghosts and jack-o-lanterns. The signs read, “Save Halloween” and “We want Halloween.” When a television news camera began filming, the students began chanting, “Save Halloween.” Principal Jacqueline Hazen, in her first year as principal at the South Elgin school, said she canceled the Halloween festivities because they excluded children of certain religions and cultures…Some religious organizations frown on Halloween, as the holiday’s origins come from pagan rituals, symbolized by witches, devils and creatures of the night.”

The funny thing is that a “fall celebration” would most likely be just as “pagan” as a Halloween party. Then again, public schools have become expert at sucking the fun out of things kids enjoy.

While he was a committed atheist, Sigmund Freud also had a deep love for pagan antiquities.

“Freud was not alone when he entered the sea of dreams; his companions were the gods of Egypt, Greece and Rome. In the late 1890s, while writing The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud became an art collector, developing an obsession with antiquity, beauty, myth and archaeology that led him to amass a brilliant private museum of more than 2000 statues, vases, reliefs, busts, fragments of papyrus, rings, precious stones and prints. In Freud’s study at Berggasse 19, Vienna, every available surface was so crowded with antiquities that he barely had room to move.”

You have to wonder if things were a bit different, if he was born in a different time or place, would Freud have approved of the modern Paganism movement?

Denise Noe at MensNewsDaily peddles the old myths about black cats being sacrificed around Halloween.

“Unfortunately, for some of the small, furry, four-footed creatures that share our world, this season is one that threatens in a way that is all-too-real. The long association of witches and the occult with black cats means that not only are their paper likenesses harmlessly hung on walls but that some emotionally disturbed people ’sacrifice’ them around this time. David DeWitt, Public Relations Director for Fulton County Animal Services in Georgia, explains, ‘I know that around the country, there are more cases of animal abuse involving black cats around Halloween.’”

Snopes.com reports that evidence was “inconclusive” that any sort of widespread danger to cats around Halloween existed. The Witches Voice spent years debunking this myth by publishing photographic proof that modern Pagans love their cats.

Finally, for those of you still “in the broom closet”, if the boss (or family member) hears the word “Wicca” and wonders what it means you can tell them its an acronym!

“Behind two strong efforts in the season’s first two events, the Valpo women??s cross country team is ranked eighth in the Women’s Intercollegiate Cross Country Coaches Association (WICCA) Great Lakes Regional Poll, the first ever ranking for the program.”

I wonder if there are any Wiccan members of WICCA? In any event, that is all I have for now, have a good day!

You usually expect such stories to manifest in the “red states”, not in true-blue New York. But Adirondack Community College (part of the State University of New York) is up in arms over a school-supported Pagan Pride Day event.

“After scrambling to reconsider their decision to sponsor a daylong “Pagan Pride” festival this weekend, student leaders at an upstate public college decided last night to support the festival despite outrage from Catholics who complained to trustees of the State University of New York system that the event ridicules Christianity and Jesus Christ. The activists say the pagan festival…constitutes hate speech that few would tolerate if other groups were being disrespected.”

William Donohue from the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights goes so far as to publicly regret the fact that Christians don’t erupt into violence at perceived insults!

“Everyone knows that you couldn’t even show a picture of Mohammed without them closing down an event like this – and that’s because radical Muslims will kill you.”

You can almost hear the envy in his voice. Maybe Donohue is getting tired of living in a secular society bound by laws that prevent the lynching of Pagans. Donohue isn’t the only one pouring out bile upon the Pagans, SUNY trustee Candace de Russy* had this to say about the situation.

“Standards for campus activities in my view cannot sink much lower into the slime. It would be a very encouraging sign if the student leaders led the way in reconsidering such a loathsome event.”

So what prompted such an uproar over a tiny amount of money for a small Pagan gathering? A concerted campaign of misinformation by Donohue and his conservative Catholic cronies. Last year one of the presenters were John and Lillee Allee. John Allee is a confirmed Satanist and runs the First Church of Satan web site. Even though Lillee Allee is a Witch and not a Satanist, and despite the fact that their talk wasn’t on Satanism that mere whiff of sulfur was enough to trigger this modern-day Witch hunt.

While student leaders did reconsider granting the funds to this years event, the earlier decision was affirmed. This lead a spokesman for the college to opine that the students would “be responsible for taking the heat.” I’m not sure if he means the “heat” of “hell” or if the students will be blamed if enraged Christian activists egged on by Donohue decide to start trouble.

* Dr. Candace de Russy is also a member of neoconservative outfits The Democracy Project and the Committee on the Present Danger. In addition, she is an editor of the ultra-conservative Catholic magazine Crisis, so it is little wonder she backs William Donohue. It is possible that she may have been the one to tip him off to the event.

If you are a fan of underground Pagan, Heathen, and occult-themed music, you’ll be glad to learn that my yearly music special “A Darker Shade of Pagan” is being reborn as a weekly hour-long podcast and streaming radio show. Starting the week of October 8th, you can either subscribe to the podcast feed, download each show directly, or tune into the Pagan Radio Network twice a week to hear an assortment of the best music from modern Pagans and other fellow travelers.

The show will range all over the map musically. From neo-medieval to wyrd-folk and back again. I hope you’ll tune in. I have a great show in store for the inaugural edition, including new music from Monica Richards, Circulus, Arcanta, Unto Ashes, The Knife, Sumerland, and much much more! Also, if you happen to use MySpace be sure to friend the A Darker Shade of Pagan page.

After endless delay and foot-dragging by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, military widow Roberta Stewart has sent forth an ultimatum.

“Wiccan widow Roberta Stewart announced Tuesday at the Americans United rally at Powning Park in Reno that an official notice was sent to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to respond within 14 days demanding the approval of the Wiccan symbol of the pentacle as a grave marker or a lawsuit would be filed. Americans United, the legal representatives for Stewart and another Wiccan widow, sent the letter to the Veterans Administration regarding the religious of Sgt. Patrick Stewart, Roberta’s late husband, and an alleged violation of the U.S. Constitution.”

It looks like the battle over Pagan symbols on military headstones will end up in court.

Meanwhile, Jim Kasuba of The News-Herald illustrates the kind of attitudes that have held up progress and mainstream acceptance for modern Pagans.

“If bin Laden’s terrorist group would ask permission for a meeting in Bishop Park, would the mayor and City Council give him a permit…please give some thought as to where you need to draw the line on who can acquire a permit and come into our city park and hold such a disgraceful show.” – Kenneth and Hazel Woodruff

In addition to Pagans being equated with Osama bin Laden, we were also likened to poisoned water. Despite that, the event went off without a hitch.

Some Christian attitudes towards Pagans are so informed by magical thinking that they believe the mere presence of a Bible will destroy us.

“We were talking and laughing in our discussion group one night when someone came and threw a Bible down in front of us. It was very disrespectful. What most people don’t realize is that we’re not Goth, many of us are in our mid-40s, own homes, have children in the school system and work alongside of them every day. They think we’re running around barefoot and burning babies, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.”

This is why we have to fight. This is why I think it is important that Pagan Pride days are held in public spaces, and why individual Pagans like Roberta Stewart are so important. These things are connected, as we fight for dignity and respect on multiple fronts it will be slowly awarded to us (despite the protests of small-minded religious cowards) by society at large.

If you want to get some controversial rule-change passed, bury it in a bigger piece of legislation that is sure to pass. At least that seems to be the tactic of U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) in the 2007 National Defense Authorization Act. (H.R. 5122). Buried in section 590 is a innocent-sounding passage about military chaplains.

It reads:

“Each chaplain shall have the prerogative to pray according to the dictates of the chaplain’s own conscience, except as must be limited by military necessity, with any such limitation being imposed in the least restrictive manner feasible.”

While that idea sounds nice on the surface, what it would do is essentially eliminate mandated non-sectarian prayer. Which means that the vast majority of prayers to soldiers would be prayers to Jesus Christ. This hasn’t escaped the attention of the Union for Reform Judaism.

“This innocuous-sounding provision would open a Pandora’s Box of religious proselytizing in the military by giving chaplains free reign over where, when, and how to pray, regardless of the religious preferences of other military professionals, and regardless of the carefully thought-out existing policy. This harmful language would circumvent the religious protection guidelines instituted by the military and codify into law the acceptability of religious proselytizing. This is unacceptable and deeply hurtful to people of all faiths.” – Mark J. Pelavin, Associate Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism

Meanwhile, certain Christian groups* are trying to spin the rule-change as benefiting non-Christian faiths in the military.

“The question that faces all of us is whether chaplains, regardless of their faith tradition, should be legally allowed to pray in a manner that honors their religion in both public and private settings. The answer is clearly yes, hence the bill should be passed with the provision included. This means that I, an evangelical protestant Christian, will listen to a Muslim chaplain pray to Allah at an official military meeting. It means that I will sit in a room and listen to a prayer offered by a native American pagan. She will offer this prayer officially as a chaplain of one of our military branches. Not a problem. This is a small price to pay to sit in a meeting and hear men and women pray with integrity, no matter their belief.” – Michael S. Heath, Executive Director of the Christian Civic League of Maine

But even the Military Chaplains Association thinks that the new rule would create a “host of new difficulties”.

“While apparently intended to acknowledge military mission and order, the condition will not totally prevent disruptive consequences. As now framed, this congressional intervention will reach far beyond the grievance(s) it seeks to remedy and foster a host of new difficulties…For this leg of our American journey to reach its best possible destination, we must stretch our capacity to recognize, understand, affirm, and even promote the rights of others while caring for our own. Among other things, this will likely require substantial departure from the evolving notion that the Constitution guarantees absolute freedom from ever being offended for any reason. It will also likely require that we resist the tendency to seek new laws or file suits in order to mitigate if not resolve conflicts over religious practices. In matters of religion, such actions frequently only further impede any efforts to alleviate injury or achieve just arbitration of competing needs, interests, and perspectives.”

This new rule would damage the military, and could well make military service an explicitly Christian activity. As it stands now, an overwhelming number of chaplains are Christian and 60% of all chaplains are evangelicals.

“Only 14 percent of the U.S. population is evangelical Christian, compared to 40 percent of the military’s active duty personnel. More than 60 percent of military chaplains are evangelicals.”

How friendly do you think the military will be to Pagans (or Jews for that matter) if the rule is passed. While one Pagan body has been approved as an Ecclesiastical Endorsing Agency for military chaplaincy, there are currently no Pagan chaplains. Jewish and Muslim chaplains both number in the low double-digits (29 and 13 respectively). Instead of the religious utopia sketched out by evangelical Michael S. Heath, we would instead create a de facto “Christian” military.

Currently Senator John Warner (R-VA) has asked that the phrase be dropped from the legislation before it comes to a vote on the floor (the Senate version doesn’t have the provision, only the House). I think it might be time to contact your Representative and tell them (politely) that section 590 of the 2007 National Defense Authorization Act is at its heart a discriminatory change to how military chaplains operate and would create a chilling environment for non-Christian service men and women.

*Religious groups opposed to section 590 include: American Jewish Committee, Anti-Defamation League, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, The Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Washington Office, Friends Committee on National Legislation, General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, National Council of Jewish Women, Presbyterian Church (USA), Washington Office, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), The Interfaith Alliance (TIA), Union for Reform Judaism, United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society, and the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.

According to the BBC, Druid Chris Warwick has started a new organization called “Dead to Rights”. Its purpose? To have ancient burial grounds in the UK considered sacred sites in the same manner that modern graveyards are, and to stop scientific “grave-robbing”.

“A retired engineer from Swansea is campaigning for ancient burial sites to be considered sacred ground. Chris Warwick, who is now a druid, said places like Paviland cave on Gower should be treated the same way as modern graveyards…”We have formed a little group called Dead to Rights, to work for the return of remains to the sites they were buried in and hopefully have them reburied there with due ceremony. The sites would be regarded as sacred thereafter”…Mr Warwick said he was happy for archaeologists to photograph and examine burial sites.”

While Warwick seems a bit “off” in the article, he brings up some serious issues. Is it proper for ancient burial sites to be unearthed and the bodies kept forever for scientific study and display? Shouldn’t we honor the sacred grounds of pre-Christian society as we do for the sacred grounds of Christians? How do we strike a proper balance between learning more about our past and respecting cultures older than our own?

A helpful hint. When you cover Pagan events, you must make the same considerations that you make covering any other religious event. For instance: if you interview a Christian priest, you find out which denomination he is. Otherwise we have no context for that priest’s beliefs or actions. The same holds true for Wiccans and other Pagans.

“With peacock feathers dangling from her ears and rings on all fingers except her left thumb and pinky, Lady Silverwolf (Micheline Vogt) could be mistaken for a witch. And she is, but not like most people think of one. By her definition, she’s a WITCH: Woman In Total Control of Herself. The third-degree high priestess of the pagan faith who reads tarot cards shared the history of paganism Saturday at the third Cape Fear Pagan Pride Day.”

Now many Witchcraft/Wiccan traditions have a three-degree structure, but there is a vast array of beliefs within different ‘trads’. Is she Gardnerian? Alexandrian? Blue Star? 1734? Black Forest Clan? Thalia Clan? Or is it a small tradition started by her (or possible by local people she knows)? While this may not seem like a big deal (especially for a local-interest piece on Pagan Pride Day) it can mean quite a bit to modern Pagans reading the article and to those interested in Paganism looking for a contact. When reporting religion, context (and doing your homework) is everything. If we don’t know what she believes, then how can we make any sort of judgment on what she says about her faith?

Today is the Autumnal Equinox (04:03 UT) and signals the beginning of Fall in the northern hemisphere. On this day there will be an equal amount of light and darkness, and after this day the nights grow longer and we head towards Winter. In many modern Pagan traditions this is the second of three harvest festivals (the first being Lughnasadh, the third being Samhain).

“Mabon” photo by Nyx (CC)

The holiday is also known as “Harvest Home” or “Mabon” by Wiccans and Witches, and “Winter Finding” by modern-day Asatru. Most modern Pagans simply call it the Autumn Equinox. Here are some media quotes and excerpts from modern Pagans on the holiday.

“‘Equinox’ was derived from Latin ‘aequinoctium’ which comes from ‘aequus’ (equal), and ‘nox’ (night). It refers to the time that occurs twice a year when the nighttime is equal to the daytime, each being 12 hours in duration. Religions the world around observe many seasonal days of celebration during late September. Most are holy days linked in some way to the equinox. Recurring themes found are balance, harvesting, hunting, and remembrance of the dead.” – Brad Smith, Siskiyou Daily News

“Harvest Home is the pleasantest of holidays. Admittedly, it does involve the concept of sacrifice, but one that is symbolic only. The sacrifice is that of the spirit of vegetation, John Barleycorn. Occurring one quarter of the year after Midsummer, Harvest Home represents midautumn, autumn’s height. It is also the autumnal equinox, one of the quarter days of the year, a Lesser Sabbat and a Low Holiday in modern Witchcraft. Recently, some Pagan groups have begun calling the holiday by the Welsh name ‘Mabon’, although there seems little historical justification for doing so.” – Mike Nichols

“In addition to the changes outside, the autumn equinox also signals an internal change to the region?s pagans, to whom the day is a holiday. “A feast of abundance,” is how Barbara Giacalone of Naples describes the day, which her fellow Wiccans call Mabon. “So it’s the day I take the things I have too much of and give them to people who need them.” For Pagan Meg Sapp of Fort Myers, it’s all about equilibrium. “It’s a time when light and dark are in balance as we get ready for the transformation to a new cycle,” she says. “ – Amy Bennett Williams, The News-Press

“Those who practice the ancient earth-magic circle together for Mabon, the second – and main – pagan harvest fest of thanksgiving. However you choose to observe this flurry of astronomically significant events, be sure to look up and look within. Toss your blessings, wishes, thanks and desires to the stars, the moon and the hot, golden star whose gaze will dim with the coming winter months.” – Kati Schardl, Tallahassee Democrat

“Several religions have celebrations around the autumnal equinox. This day of transition shows up on pagan, Mayan, American Indian, ancient Irish and Druid calendars. And it is the turning point, astrologically, from Virgo to Libra, symbolized by scales, for balance.” – Joe Grimm, Detroit Free Press

“It is a time of great joy and great sorrow, it is the time of great change. Mabon is as much about life as it is about death, it is the reminder that within life there is death and within death there is life. It is about the dance that partners life with death. Mabon is a time when we are poised between the worlds of life and death, of light and dark, of day and night. We mourn that which is passing, celebrate that which is bountiful and are consciously reminded that the Mother will hold the seed of Light in Her womb until the time of rebirth. Once more the realization that the Wheel of Year has turned, as it always has and will always continue to do as our time is circular not linear, there is no end without new beginnings, it is the continuance of life eternal.” – Christina Aubin, Witchvox

“European harvest rites often centered around the end of the grain harvest. In rural England, all who helped with the harvest celebrated the Harvest Home, observed on last day of bringing in the harvest. It was also called the Ingathering or Inning, and in Scotland Kern. In the Harvest Home celebration, the last load of rye, beans, wheat or another crop was decked with ribbons, flowers or green boughs and was brought home by men, women and children singing and shouting. The Harvest Home song generally ran something like:

Harvest home, harvest home!
We’ve plowed, we’ve sowed
We’ve reaped, we’ve mowed
And brought safe home
Every load.

As part of the Harvest Home celebration, the Harvest Queen, a doll made of the last sheaf of the harvest, dressed in woman’s clothing and decked in ribbons, was either carried home on the last wagon or high on a pole by a harvester. When the last harvest load was brought into the farmyard, onlookers often pelted it with apples and drenched the Harvest Queen and the reaper carrying her with buckets of water. The head reaper was garlanded, and a feast ended the day, complete with drinking, dance and song.” – Asherah, “Lore and Magick of the Harvest”

May you all enjoy the fruits of your harvest this season.

Late last year, Pope Benedict XVI removed autonomy from the Franciscans of Assisi. Since Pope Paul VI the Franciscans in Assisi had enjoyed freedom from direct oversight and were the Catholic heralds of interfaith work. The most famous manifestation of this was the first “World Day For Peace” in 1986, at which Pope John Paul II met and prayed with representatives of several faith traditions (much to the chagrin of then-Cardinal Ratzinger). Now in light of the recent Papal controversy over the Palaeologus quotation, commentators are putting this and other interfaith dealings in a wider context.

One such editorial was from the New York Times who criticized Benedict for moving Catholicism away from interfaith work.

“The pope and the Vatican can also do more. For the past two years, Benedict has been a no-show at interfaith gatherings in Assisi, begun 20 years ago by his predecessor, John Paul II. Last year, he issued an edict revoking the autonomy of Assisi’s Franciscan monks, a move that was seen as a reaction against the monks’? interfaith activism. On the occasion of this year’?s gathering, he issued a statement about religion and peace that was read by an envoy, but his absence spoke louder than his words.”

This secular critique enraged Beliefnet blogger and “Crunchy Con”* Rod Dreher who lashed back with his own commentary.

“I know the Times’s idea of religious dialogue is a priest, a rabbi, an imam and a Buddhist monk singing “Kum-Ba-Yah” in four-part harmony, but grown-ups should ask themselves why Benedict chose to stay away from the event. Benedict was sick and tired of the local Franciscans letting it turn into a polytheistic carnival. When African voodoo priests sacrifice chickens to their pagan gods near the tomb of St. Clare, it was time to put a stop to this nonsense. Benedict is not against dialogue with other religions, but he demands that reasonable limits be set. If a Pope has to accept chicken-slaughter by voodoo priests at a Christian holy site to appease the gods of East 43rd Street, then to hell with the gods of East 43rd Street.”

Voodoo priests doing blood sacrifices right in front of the tomb! How disrespectful! How shocking! If it were actually true.

“In the interview, [Rev. Vincenzo] Coli acknowledged the criticism but defended the meetings. He denied Messori’s assertion that African animists sacrificed chickens on the altar near the tomb of Saint Clare, a contemporary of Saint Francis. Criticism of the Franciscans’ activities is a way of indirectly criticizing John Paul, he added…He said that meetings with members of other religions were not a sign of weakened faith, but a mark of mature, confident belief. “We can therefore be open to communication. Clashes are not necessary,” he said.”

Either Dreher believes the Franciscan to be a liar, or his invective isn’t troubled by facts. It seems to me that his comment displays a great uneasiness with any religion removed from the monotheistic model. An uneasiness that seems to be shared by Pope Benedict who is famous for his digs at faiths that don’t worship the One True God(tm). People like Dreher seem to fear the dirty taint of Paganism, even the attendance of Pagans, polytheists, and animists leave a stain on the “good” kind of interfaith work (which must obviously be the opposite of whatever the Franciscans are doing).

As Scripps Howard columnist Terry Mattingly put it:

“Come to think of it, Benedict XVI doesn’t seem like a praying-with-pagans kind of guy, as I am sure our pagan readers would agree.”

Perhaps being left out of the picture is the best thing for the polytheists now. It seems that currently everyone is itching for an old-school showdown between the two largest monotheisms (that would be Christianity and Islam for those playing at home). With a possible war in Iran looming and rhetoric about WWIII being thrown around things could get quite bad before they get any better. We may just see a further “hardening” of Christian attitudes towards anyone who isn’t supporting the Christian cause. In the coming years modern Pagans and Heathens may need more than ever to look to the health and safety of our communities lest we get swept up in a new inter-religious conflict.

* A “Crunchy Con” or “Crunchy Conservative” is a term invented by Rod Dreher describing social conservatives who like eating free-range chicken, shopping local, and preserving old buildings.

My semi-regular round-up of articles, essays, and opinions of note for discerning Pagans and Heathens.

I doubt that the members of underground prog-metal band Mastodon are Pagans, but the cover of their new CD “Blood Mountain” is one of the most “pagany” things I’ve seen in awhile.

You can download a huge desktop version of the cover, here.

Soul-retrieval expert and New Age author Alberto Villoldo, Ph.D. talks about why kids like witchcraft in the latest edition of the Hay House Moments Newsletter.

“It’s difficult for us in the West to trust that we can achieve peace and happiness if we’re not doing something active to bring it about, but embodying peace and happiness does bring it about. Our egos don’t want us to believe that we can have infinite power by immersing ourselves in the wisdom of the universe, but it’s true. For example, many young people today are fascinated by witchcraft because they think it might give them a chance to have a greater influence over what happens to them. They want to believe that if they follow a spell’s instructions to the letter, they’ll be able stop a bully from picking on them, make a popular kid like them, or magically become as physically attractive as a movie star. They don’t realize that real magic doesn’t come from chanting incantations or mixing together herbs with a mortar and pestle, but from shifting one’s perception and embodying confidence and grace.”

While he has a point about magic and the shifting of perceptions, I can’t stand it when white-lighters start spouting about “infinite” this and “embodying” that. But I suppose if you are immersed in the wisdom of the universe you can’t help sounding smug.

An opera about the famous Renaissance courtesan and poet Veronica Franco starring Broadway star Dee Hoty is in production. Franco was accused of witchcraft by the Inquisition, but she defended herself with dignity and was able to have the charges dropped.

“Hoty will be among the stars of Dangerous Beauty, which features a book by Jeanine Dominy, music by Michele Brourman, and lyrics by Amanda McBroom (composer of such popular songs as “The Rose” and “Errol Flynn”). Based on the book The Honest Courtesan, the show, to be directed by Sheryl Kaller, focuses on the Renaissance courtesan and poet Veronica Franco, who was arrested for practicing witchcraft during the Spanish Inquisition.”

Neurotheologist and director of the Center for Spirituality and the Mind Andrew Newberg explains how meditation and prayer both increase activity in certain parts of the brain to Salon.com.

“We found that the Franciscan nuns activated several important parts of the brain during prayer…We did see similar changes. In both prayer and meditation, we see a decrease of activity in this orientation part of the brain. So when the Buddhist meditators feel a blending in or absorption with the visual object — in this case, they’re doing a visualization technique — we see a similar change. And it raises some very intriguing issues. How similar are these different practices? Are they associated with similar or different changes in the brain?”

One wonders if ritual work and spells would produce similar results? I would like to see his research broadened to more “primitive” faith activities. You can learn more about Newberg’s work from the recent book he co-authored: “Why We Believe What We Believe: Uncovering Our Biological Need for Meaning, Spirituality, and Truth”.

Gearing up for Banned Books Week, the American Library Association releases stats on challenged and banned books for 2005. One interesting tidbit for Pagan readers is in their look at trends from challenged and banned books from 1990-2000.

“842 [challenges or bans] to material with an ‘occult theme or promoting the occult or Satanism,’; (up 69 since 1999)”

Considering the current brazenness of certain Christian groups, I doubt that figure has gone down since 2000. I wonder if those were for actual books dealing with Paganism, or if they were mostly Harry Potter-obsessed loons.

In a final note. I have heard Fidel Castro called many things in my life (good and bad), but I think this is the first time he has been called a “Druid”.

“Fidel Castro has, after all, survived nine US presidents, most of whom have tried to get him killed or deposed at some stage. He is the druid of anti-Americanism at a time when hatred of America has become trendy around the world.”

Well, he does have the beard. But I want to see him shimmy up a tree to harvest mistletoe before I call him a Druid of anything.

That is all I have for now, have a good day!