Tonight and tomorrow is when most modern Pagans celebrate Samhain. Samhain is the start of winter and of 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.

Lighting candles to honor the ancestors.
Photo by Jere/Tyreseus, CC License

It is a time when some communities acknowledges the Mighty Dead.

“The Mighty Dead are said to be those practitioners of our religion who are on the Other Side now, but who still take great interest in the activities of Witches on this side of the Veil. They have pledged to watch, to help and to teach. It is those Mighty Dead who stand behind us, or with us, in circle so frequently.”

Additions to that number this year include Marione Thompson-Helland editor of The Beltane Papers, Ken “Silverwitch” Vanlieu, Susan “Lady Dreaming Owl” Miller, and Rosemary Kooiman co-founder of CroneSpeak.

“I love that story about Susan Anthony that Zsuzsanna Budapest tells in her book. Some journalist asked Susan Anthony, because she didn’t believe in orthodox religion, I suppose, “Where do you think you’re to go when you die?” She said, “I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to stay around and help the women’s movement.” So even if I don’t live long enough to see these things, I’ll be around to make a nuisance of myself.” – Doreen Valiente, the Mother of Modern Witchcraft.

This year has been one focused on the fight to honor our dead. Emerging as the face of this movement has been Roberta Stewart widow of Sgt. Patrick Stewart, who was killed in action in Afghanistan in Operation Enduring Freedom on September 25, 2005. Stewart’s quest to have her husband’s memorial inscribed with a pentacle (the emblem of his Wiccan faith) has made national news, and though the State of Nevada took direct action to honor Sgt. Stewart, she continues to fight so that every Pagan veteran may have the right to have their faith acknowledged.

Below you’ll find an assortment of quotes from the media and from fellow Pagans on the holiday.

“Samhain. All Hallows. All Hallow’s Eve. Hallow E’en. Halloween. The most magical night of the year. Exactly opposite Beltane on the wheel of the year, Halloween is Beltane’s dark twin. A night of glowing jack-o-lanterns, bobbing for apples, tricks or treats, and dressing in costume. A night of ghost stories and seances, tarot card readings and scrying with mirrors. A night of power, when the veil that separates our world from the Otherworld is at its thinnest. A ’spirit night’, as they say in Wales.” – Mike Nichols

“To celebrate Samhain, Wiccans gather for a feast. On this night, the end of the Wiccan year, Wiccans believe the veil separating our world from the spirit world thins. This makes it easier to communicate through the veil. So Wiccans try to contact the spirits of dead relatives.” – Olivia Montgomery, The Herald-Mail

“The old Celts knew how to throw a goodbye bash for summer. Samhain was one of their principal fire festivals that marked the end of their year… Europeans thought the end of summer was the time the spirits of their dearly departed came back for one last visit before winter… All I know is that this is the best time to say goodbye to summer and to bring back all those memories of joy in the sun.” – Jonathan David Powell, The Post Chronicle

“Altars to the dead lined the basketball court at Kezar Pavilion: One was a shrine to pets, another memorialized fetuses that didn’t come to term, and a third, with photographs of the first thousand U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, mourned the war dead. They set the stage for a ceremony where a thousand witches, druids and pagans prepared to meet the dead. It opened with a procession of goddesses, including the Virgin of Guadalupe and Demeter, the Greek goddess of fertility, who wore a mask decorated with wheat. A procession of six gods played out a cycle of death and reincarnation. With emotions building, those in the crowd shook their bodies, flapped their arms and stomped their feet in an ecstatic, pulsing release of energy.” – Matthai Chakko Kuruvila, San Francisco Chronicle

“Renewing social links with the dead and feeding the Land-spirits were both ritual means of ensuring a safe future. While Samhain (and the phenomenon of death which it celebrated) was obviously the end of a cycle, it was more importantly the start of a new one. Because all true novelty springs from the chaotic freedom and vitality of the Otherworld, a new cycle could be inaugurated only by dissolving all of the structures of the old one — just as the moment of death dissolves our identity in this world, allowing the fresh energies of the Otherworld to impel us towards new life.” – Alexei Kondratiev, Samhain: Season of Death and Renewal

May you all have a blessed Samhain, blessings to you, and your beloved dead on this season. Let this new cycle be one of great blessings for all of you.

My semi-regular round-up of articles, essays, and opinions of note for discerning Pagans and Heathens. Now with extra Samhain/Halloween coverage!

As I pick through the chaff of Halloween stories to bring you the wheat of articles worth the read, why not start with something completely unrelated to the holiday. Prospect Magazine features author Allan Massie’s essay on the ongoing appeal of ancient Roman and Greek culture.

“I would hazard this explanation. However dimly or unconsciously, there persists the idea that Greece and Rome matter, that they are part of our inheritance… there… remains, even in our global cultural economy, something of the sense that we grew out of Greece and Rome. People may have only a vague notion as to the exact nature of our debt to antiquity. They may be – indeed, must be – further from understanding classical culture than those belonging to earlier generations, whose education was dominated by Greek and Roman texts. Nevertheless, Greece and Rome continue in some way to matter as other periods of history, and other cultures, do not. Those of us who write and read novels set in the ancient world are striving to absorb something of its significance. Our novels may offer only a shadowy representation of the reality of Greece and Rome, but even that shadowy version is preferable to classical culture being submerged in the dark.”

What is more Halloween than a scary movie, and considering the nature of this blog, one that deals with pagan themes is even better. An Ohio paper looks back to 1977 when the movie adaptation of Harvest Home was filmed there.

“A dark secret rustled through the Northeast Ohio cornstalks in 1977 when a Hollywood crew filmed a spooky TV miniseries about a pagan cult: Ohio was not New England. It looked close enough, however. More than 5,000 people tried out for 50 parts as extras in The Dark Secret of Harvest Home, a made-for-TV movie that Universal Studios filmed that autumn in Ashtabula and Lake counties.”

The article also points out that the film is currently out of print and no restored DVD of the film is available. Surely a grave injustice to the career of Bette Davis if not the world of cinema.

Maybe the thing that scares you are those extra pounds from all that leftover Halloween candy. In which case you might want to jump onto the latest permutation of faith-based dieting. This time its all about eating like a Wiccan (whatever that means).

“But can eating a wiccan diet actually help you lose weight? I?m sure if you went from eating a normal Western diet to an all organic or vegetarian diet, you would probably lose weight because of the decrease in sugar and processed foods in your diet. And if diet isn?t enough, you can cast a weight loss spell or take a weight loss bath to help you along. You can even get someone to cast a weight loss spell for you.”

I also hear that eating healthier foods and exercising works well too.

If your a Pagan inmate in Britain you can opt out of prison-work on Samhain even though it raises the ire of local conservatives.

“Hundreds of Pagans serving prison sentences are to be given the day off work for Halloween out of respect for their religious beliefs…While fellow prisoners sew mail bags and undertake other jail work, the Pagans will be allowed to celebrate their ‘holiday’. They can use certain artefacts, including rune stones, flexible twigs and hoodless robes, provided they are kept in their cells or worn during communal worship. Robes with hoods are banned for ’security reasons’, however. Critics attacked the policy, saying it was pandering to a ‘mad’ politically correct agenda.”

Those critics don’t mention that the Pagan inmates get fewer days off of work than any other religion (they can only pick two days from the 8 acknowledged Pagan holidays). I guess Pagan criminals need punishment more than other criminals.

While some evangelicals are boycotting Halloween (or throwing alternate events), some are using that opportunity to evangelize to the tiny masked heathens asking for candy.

“Halloween, long associated with pagan traditions, is now high season for an old American tradition of evangelizing through tracts. The nation’s four major publishers of tracts say they sell more at Halloween than at any other time of year, including Christmas and Easter. And the push is on to grow the seasonal market. This year, thanks to new glow-in-the-dark tracts, the Texas-based American Tract Society expects to set a new Halloween record by shipping out more than 4 million tracts.”

Yes, now your conservative Christian neighbor can hand out such winners as “Costumes are cool, but heaven is awesome!”, “Your First Six Days in Hell”, and “Halloween: Separating Fact From Folklore”. If your really lucky you might even get a Chick tract! I’m sure the kids will really appreciate the effort.

But Christianity isn’t the only Abrahamic faith wrestling with how to deal with Halloween. Several Jewish sects advise skipping the holiday (too Pagan and too Christian), and The American Muslim Association of North America is urging all Muslims to not celebrate the holiday and to not answer the door for trick-or-treaters.

“The American Muslim Association of North America, in fact, urges Muslims to not practice Halloween and not answer the door, saying, “Avoid it. It is a night of evil.” In their eyes, Halloween is tied to a 2,300-year-old, devil-worshiping Celtic festival called Samhain.”

Considering that Halloween sales are going to reach nearly $5 billion in North America (up from 3.3 the year before), I don’t think our society is trending away from celebrating Halloween. So no doubt the tension between secular Halloween celebrations and the monotheistic faiths that feel it all connects to the pagans will only heighten in the near future. Leaving modern Pagans and Heathens who see this time as holy somewhere in between.

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

How many times have your heard the phrase ‘all Wiccans are Witches, but not all witches are Wiccan’? A lot right? But how many times have you read a news article that fully illustrates that difference and how it can cause conflicts? Peter Rowe profiles two occult stores that exist on the same block in San Diego. One, Botanica Mama Roots, is a shop that caters to adherents of Santeria, while Superstitious caters to a solidly Wiccan clientele.

“Mama Roots and Superstitious are neighbors but not friends. They’re on the 3500 block of Adams Avenue, ringed in by bungalows, apartment houses, auto repair yards, taco shops and an impressive concentration of Irish bars and used book stores. Adams is the heart of Normal Heights, a ‘hood that probably wouldn’t object to the term “funky.” Here, a couple of witchcraft shops might be greeted with a raised eyebrow or two, but few on the avenue will raise a fuss.”

The owner and some customers of Superstitious go out of their way to bad-mouth the Santerian establishment.

“They are only a few doors apart, but between the two shops is a netherworld of difference. Leite’s inventory does not include curses. “If you are a true witch,” he said, ‘you cannot do harm’…He insists that true witchcraft focuses on helping people use their innate spiritual powers for good ? and that true witchcraft shops should give off an upbeat, cheerful aura. ‘We found this place by accident,’ said Rebekah Brooks, a psychic, priestess and former Mama Roots customer. ‘You don’t feel you are going to die if you come in here. You feel like you are going to die when you walk in there.’ ‘We have a different view of life,’ Leite said. ‘We love life’. ‘They,’ Brooks said, ‘make everything feel so evil over there.’”

I find it somewhat funny that Kyle Leite, the 22-year-old “veteran” of Paganism who owns Superstitious, doesn’t have a better analysis of why his store is different from the botanica down the block. Bad-mouthing the magic of Santeria (a magic that has far more adherents than Wicca does) to make Wicca look good, accomplishes nothing except to make us look petty. In my opinion, adherents of Santeria/Lukumi should be seen as natural allies in our struggles for acceptance and rights. Framing non-Wiccan forms of witchcraft as “evil” helps no-one. I think Alexandra Lyons, an employee at Mama Roots emerges as the voice of reason here.

“You’ve got to have both sides of the board. It’s each person’s decision what magic they are doing.”

If “modern Paganism” means anything, it means room enough to encompass a wide variety of religious and magical ethical systems.

Addendum: Both Alexandra Lyons and Kyle Leite have left comments clarifying what they see as distortions by the reporter Peter Rowe. I have e-mailed Rowe and will write a new post incorporating comments from all three.

The SCI FI Wire reports that David Cunningham (director of the controversial “The Path to 9/11″) will be directing the film adaptation of Susan Cooper’s classic young adult novel “The Dark Is Rising” (part of the “Dark Is Rising Sequence”). The film which is in pre-production in Romania is slated for a September 2007 release.

Herne the Hunter and Will Stanton
Illustration by Alan E. Cober from the 1973 edition of the book.

“David Cunningham (The Path to 9/11) has been tapped to direct The Dark Is Rising, a fantasy film based on Susan Cooper’s book series, Variety reported. The film is being produced under the co-financing alliance between Walden Media (The Chronicles of Narnia) and 20th Century Fox reached in August. The Dark Is Rising is part of Cooper’s five-book series, focusing on a youth who discovers at age 11 that he’s a Sign Seeker, the last of a group of immortals dedicated to fighting a growing presence of dark forces.”

An interesting twist is the co-production by Walden Media. The media company is owned by conservative Christian billionaire Philip Anschutz. Anschutz has made it plain that Walden is in the business of providing films friendly to a “moral” audience. So far that has translated to films that evangelical Christians would feel comfortable attending. But Cooper’s books are amazingly Pagan-friendly. They feature a wealth of Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, and Greek mythological figures in a positive “good” light.

One of the climatic scenes from “The Dark is Rising” features a giant stag-horned Herne the Hunter chasing down the forces of darkness. Will these elements be toned down in the movie? If not will Walden’s loyal Christian audience flock to see a film that makes heroes of pre-Christian powers? Either way I’m sure I’ll be lining up to see how it all comes out.

Thanks to Herb McSidhe for tipping me off to this story.

The conservative Christian mindset can often be a funny one. When Christmas rolls around you’ll hear talk of “defending” the holiday and “keeping Christ in Christmas” and so on. Often this rhetoric is backed up with the claim that all religious faiths should have the freedom to express itself in public (so long as that faith is Christianity of course). But come Halloween a different tune is hummed. Then you hear Christian pundits bemoan the resurgence of Paganism, often by telling lies about ancient paganism, and great expense is put into evangelical efforts so their community is spared even a whiff of “pagan” things.

Catholics are quick to point out that they Christianized the ancient pagan holidays around October 31st – November 2nd first. As such, they call for a renewed interest in All Saints’ Day and All Souls Day.

“If the world has abducted another feast and made this one an occasion for witchery and paganism, families must say: ‘This is a Catholic feast. Let’s celebrate it as such.’ Oct. 31 is a hallowed evening because it’s the evening before All Saints’ Day on Nov. 1…” – Father Kevin Barrett

I love it when Pagan reclamation is labeled “abduction” don’t you? But at least the Catholics try to focus on their own. Evangelicals, unburdened of such tradition and culture, take the fight straight to the “pagans” by telling outright lies about ancient paganism (in hoping to convert us today I suppose). Extreme nut-job Pastor Tara Lewis wins the lies about ancient Celtic holidays trifecta!

“The origin of Halloween is the Celtic festival of Samhain, lord of death and evil spirits…Druids in Britain, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany, and other Celtic countries observed the end of summer by making sacrifices to Samhain…They believed that Muck Olla, their sun god, was losing strength and Samhain, lord of death, was overpowering him…Druid priests would lead the people in diabolical worship ceremonies in which horses, cats, black sheep, oxen, human beings and other offerings were rounded up, stuffed into wicker cages and burned to death.”

Debunking that entire quote would be an entry to itself, so I’ll let Isaac Bonewits do the heavy lifting for me on that one. Lewis even trots out former Pagan (and utter liar) Tom Sanguinet to back up her claims.

“Giving Halloween candy is symbolic of a sacrifice to false gods. You are participating in idolatry.”

No wonder Paganism is on the upswing! All those sacrifices all over the world! Maybe a reporter can try to validate evangelical fears by citing a flawed survey on American religion?

“But the re-emergence of neo-paganism, has many evangelicals worried. Practices such as witchcraft and spells have gained in popularity. Surveys confirm that paranormal beliefs are alive and well among U.S. citizens. According to a recent Baylor University survey, 28 percent of Americans consult horoscopes, 22 percent have lived or visited a house they believe to have been haunted, and 43 percent had a dream that came true.”

I love it when a plan comes together. Even the Church of England is getting into it! Witness this story about a Vicar in Middleton Junction.

“Halloween has never been a Christian holiday and it has no place in the life of a born again believer in Jesus Christ. In fact, it is an abomination to God and we should take our stand firmly against it.” – Reverend Ian Cook

They, like many churches in America and the UK, are holding alternate Christian-themed events in an attempt to convince children that there is nothing fun about Halloween. Since there is nothing nutty Christians like those listed above do better than suck the fun out of things, perhaps their attempts to “de-paganize” Halloween will be successful (at least until the kids are old enough to realize what they are missing out on).

Last week, the ever press-hungry WitchSchool sent out yet another press release. It announced that Don Lewis (head of the Correllian Tradition) was the new President of Witch School. I didn’t think this internal shift was a newsworthy item and went about my daily blogging duties. But then I found out that this seemingly innocuous personnel change was the result of a much deeper schism within the Correllian Tradition. A tale that involves financial issues, power struggles, looming litigation, and Satanism!

It seemed to start back in September of this year when Don Lewis, current head of the Correllian “mother church” announced that he and everyone associated with him were breaking away from the larger legal body of the Correllian Nativist Church International, Inc. over different visions for the future.

“I have this day resigned from the CNCI and its Board of Directors because of irreconcilable differences of vision. The CNCI has a definite vision for itself, which has departed from that of the main body of the Correllian Tradition, and the core values of Correllianism. The CNCI wishes to be more exclusive, emphasize more rigorous academic quality, and operate a seminary on the model of Collegiate Academics as the sole path to clergy credentials. The Correllian Tradition is and has always been first and foremost a popular movement dedicated to the idea of Wiccan spirituality for everyone who wants it…In addition I am at this time dissolving the Correllian Directorate as a body of the Correllian Tradition and eliminating the office of First Director. The former duties of the First Director will be absorbed back into the office of First Priest from which the originally came.”

Don Lewis and Davron Michaels

That former “First Director” and current CNCI board member Davron Michaels then released a statement of his own on the whole situation. In it he accuses Don Lewis and Witch School of financial mismanagement and unethical behavior.

“As a tax exempt organization, the Church must be extremely cautious with all financial transactions. In the case of donations, our records must also match the records of individual contributors who report these donations to the IRS on their personal income tax returns. Unfortunately, however, no donations or other funds intended for the Church received in the former Hoopeston office [Witch School] have ever been forwarded to the Chief Financial Officer for recording and deposit to the Church’s account…at the height of this dispute the Church’s records systems were moved without authorization from Albany to Hoopeston, which made audit and reconciliation of records after that period impossible…This unfortunate matter remains under investigation and we are consulting with our attorneys regarding next steps. We remain optimistic, however, that a suitable resolution can still be achieved.”

Then Don Lewis fires back, accusing Davron Michaels of being a secret Satanist and drawing a line in sand saying that the entire Pagan community must pick between his Correllian Church and Michaels’ Correllian Church.

“Mr. Morrell [Davron Michaels] and all groups he heads, as well as the for profit store, Magic Source, run by Astral Light members, has been linked to Satanic groups and churches in the Albany , NY area…It is the will of the Witan Council and Correllian Council of Elders that Davron Michaels be removed from our Tradition forfeiting all status formerly held therein – to whit Elder, Temple Head, High Priest, member-and regarded hereafter as a Warlock. As a Warlock, we must ask those who remain true to the Correllian Tradition – as defined by the leadership of the Witan and the Council of Elders, and by the Correllian lineage – to avoid further contact with Davron Michaels, and to eschew events he hosts or at which he appears. In this we also ask the support of other Traditions. If you wish to continue to support Davron Michaels, it will not be possible for you to attend any further Correllian event, circle, or receive any form of blessing or ritual on your behalf.”

Can a Correllian implosion be in the making? If litigation is sought against Lewis and WitchSchool will the for-profit school (currently looking to become non-profit) organization fold? Will this Witch-War spread to opportunistic onlookers now that Lewis has declared Michaels anathema? Whatever the outcome, it seems that the Correllians (from both factions) face some tough times ahead.

Special thanks to Dana and the FMPPH Traditionalists Group for providing the source material needed to write this story.

The beginning of this month saw the publication of the third revised and updated edition of one the classic books on modern Paganism “Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America” by journalist Margot Adler. Originally published in 1979, “Drawing Down the Moon” was the first extensive look at the growing modern Pagan community, and has since become a touchstone for modern Pagans, academics hoping to understand our communities, and those outside our faiths curious about our motivations and worldviews. I was lucky enough to conduct a short interview with Adler via e-mail about the new edition of the book and her current views on modern Paganism.

Margot Adler

This is the third revised and updated edition of your seminal book “Drawing Down the Moon”. Do you think there will come a point where you will no longer desire to update and revise the work? Is this a life-work or do you think you’ll come to a point where the book is “finished” and you won’t feel the need to do more revisions or updates.

When I first wrote Drawing Down the Moon, I had no idea that it would become the main history of Paganism in the United States, and continue to be regarded as such a resource. The first serious revision which was done in 1985 and was published in 1986 was necessary because the movement had changed so much due to the festival phenomenon, the emergence of new groups like the radical faeries Now, it seemed necessary to revise again because the movement has probably tripled or even quadrupled in size; some festivals are huge; the movement has mainstreamed and opened itself to families and children. Also, the internet has brought huge changes to the movement. There are probably more than 5000 Pagan websites and there are people who come to Paganism completely through the internet, for good and bad. I could go on and on. So, I have no idea if this will be the last update or not. What might happen is that in a few years I will put out a new resource guide as I did in 97, with no other changes.

Despite the explosion of Pagan publishing since 1979, your work is still pretty unique. Did you expect the book to remain so important to our communities (and to outsiders looking in), and do you think with the growth of modern Paganism that such a work like “Drawing Down” would even be possible in today’s communities?

As I said, I never expected the book to have, as it were, a movement behind it to fuel its success. I do think it would be possible to do a completely new book today, but it would take even more time than my original work took, and that was three years. And remember that was the 70’s. You could actually live on a $7500 advance with a part time job. That would be impossible today. So the book could be written today, but it would be much harder to survive and do it.

One area that receives a sizeable update is reconstructionism. How have your feelings changed about religions like Asatru? Do you have much contact with other reconstructionist faiths like the Celtic, Hellenic, and Kemetic reconstructionist communities? What role do you think such movements play in the larger modern Pagan context?

My feelings have changed about Northern European Paganism, or Heathenism, including Asatru. I started with a pretty negative view about it, stressing the groups that were racist and so forth. But I have really come to see the movement as incredibly diverse, and growing! I have met Heathens from all kinds of ethnic origins, and gay Heathens. Heathenism is incredibly complex, with different strains philosophies, and shamanic practices. As for Hellenic Paganism, remember that was my first love, and is still really the deep Paganism of my heart. If Wicca hadn’t been the only thing in my back yard in 1971 and 1972, I would have ended up in a Greco-Pagan group, if such had been available. I have had very limited encounters with Kemetic groups, only a few contacts, so far.

You have listed yourself as not only a Pagan, but as a Unitarian-Universalist. Your book “Drawing Down the Moon” is listed in the Unitarian Universalist Association Ministerial Fellowship Committee Reading List (and is in fact the only book on modern Paganism in that list), and Pagan and “Earth-Centered” spiritualities make up around 20% of the UUA. What role do you see congregational religion playing in modern Paganism? Is our involvement with bodies like the UUA a positive thing? Where do you see that relationship developing?

I became a Unitarian-Universalist through the back door as it were. I was put on the board of CUUPS, the Pagan UU organization, and then from there sort of joined a church, and even was a delegate a couple of times to their General Assembly. But I am not a church goer, I may go to my local UU church a couple times a year at most. I mainly associated myself with the organization to fight for the sixth source, to have earth-based spirituality included as an important part of Unitarian-Universalism, and that fight was won. But I am not an organization type. I think having a congregational part of Paganism is mostly very good, particularly for people in small communities where Paganism is still in the closet; it provides a respectable cover for feminist spirituality, men’s spirituality, rituals, etc.

Are there trends and movements within modern Paganism that you wish you could have added to the updated edition of “Drawing Down” but couldn’t due to time or space constraints?

I think I did pretty well on some of trends, particularly on the changes in festivals which I think are huge… Some festivals are now so large, and there is so much new music and ritual, that we are fragmenting a bit which is complex. Once everyone knew the same chants, that’s impossible now. If I had had more time I would have expanded some of the sections, included more traditions and visited more festivals and groups to get a sense of what is new. And the 300 groups, festivals and newsletters in my resource guide would have been more than 600.

What are your current frustrations with the modern Paganism movement? What one piece of constructive criticism would you give our communities today? Have your frustrations changed over the last 30 years or are many of them the same?

Actually, many of my frustrations with Paganism are the same as always. Isaac Bonewits once said that the basic principles of a polytheistic outlook make certain abuses less common, but it doesn’t mean they don’t happen. I still find egos, guruism, arbitrary rules, “by the book” attitudes in a religion that is supposed to be in contrast to the religions of the book, and so forth. On the other hand, Paganism now has real leaders, people who are doing real work to heal the planet, real nature sanctuaries, seminaries, charitable organizations, and that was much less true when I started out. Also, the large Pagan organizations – places like Circle, EarthSpirit, that is something no one anticipated when all of us thought entirely of circles, covens and groves. There are now people who come into Paganism through these organizations, that is a new difference.

Which voices within modern Paganism today do you feel are shining a light towards our future? Who are we not listening to that we should?

I really don’t know how to answer this. I think we are beginning to have real elders, people who have been in this movement for 40 years, and some of them have real wisdom to impart. Then there are young people, often the third generation and second generation Pagans are a really interesting phenomenon, and some of them are dynamite!!!! I also love that there are actually books that are deeper than mine at this point…I started out when there were few books around, except for Murray, Gardner, Graves, Lethbridge, Justine Glass, and a few others. “Triumph of the Moon” is utterly brilliant! I think we have to keep true to the anti-authoritarian, pluralistic spirit at the heart of contemporary Pagansim. It is truly an antidote to the authoritarian religions of our time.

Do you think you’ll ever write another book on Paganism, or do you feel that “Drawing Down” is your definitive statement and contribution?

I might well write a totally different kind of book on Paganism. But first I have to stop being a wage slave and get my 10th grader into and through college.

Since the first edition of “Drawing Down” academic works about(and by)Pagans have expanded considerably. Do you keep up much with current scholarship within Paganism? If so, what works have impressed you?

Triumph of the Moon by Hutton, some of Chas Clifton’s works, there are many works I like that are recent, including “Witching Culture” by Magliocco and “Coming to the Edge of the Circle,” by Bado-Fralick, in fact my bibliography is about double the size it was last time. But Triumph is my favorite book.

Where do you see yourself within the world of modern Paganism? How has that conception changed since 1979? As one of the most “famous” modern Pagans, what role do you envision for yourself in the years to come?

Heavens! I don’t have a clue! I hope to keep a bit of humor and humility, and tell people that this is a hugely important movement for changing the world and ourselves but that doesn’t mean we should take ourselves overly seriously. I think some of the things I emphasize in speeches, that the sacred is in the hear and now, that you don’t have to die to “get the good stuff,” that everyone’s ancestors way, way back were Pagan, and that every person in the U.S. had their ancient traditions torn from them, whether through slavery, colonialism or by assimilation, and that it is possible to combine ecstasy and rationality, body and mind, and that reality is like a jewel, more paths mean a richer deeper reality, those are the kinds of things I have always emphasized and continue to. Other than that, I am still a minstrel, singing, chanting, doing ritual and believing in the polytheistic vision, and being involved in less magic and more earth reverence.

Time Out London features an interview with legendary occult filmmaker Kenneth Anger. Anger, a longtime devotee of Aleister Crowley, is being honored with a presentation of four of his films (newly transferred from 16mm to 35mm film) at the London Film Festival.

Kenneth Anger in the 1935 version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.

“The films on show at the LFF are less overtly magickal, but still constitute mesmeric incantations, rituals in which a protagonist calls forth powers that beguile then threaten to destroy him. Composed with a poet’s eye, they are deliciously scored but have no dialogue; flagrantly heightened yet drawing on familiar reference points, they cast a powerful kind of spell over the audience.”

In addition to talking about film, Ben Walters askes the now 79-year-old Anger about the current repressive attitudes about sexuality in American culture. Anger, who was interviewed by Dr Alfred Kinsey takes the seeming ascendancy of fundamentalist behavior in stride.

“Anger isn’t too alarmed by mainstream America’s increasingly repressive attitude toward sex. ‘As Kinsey said, you’ve got to look at the long view. Over the centuries it’s like a pendulum ? it swings one way into liberality then the pendulum swings the other way into conservatism and even hysteria… The fact that today in the world one culture feels perfectly comfortable in hiding the female body behind burqas, veils and so forth… These battles go on. It isn’t like humanity is enlightened in the 21st century, you know.’”

As for his legacy, Anger does away with any false modesty.

“I know my films are good. I know they’re historically important. I have no false modesty about the few films I’ve been able to afford to make.”

You can find a full listing of Anger’s films, here.

Good reporting is often hard to find. It is a rare thing for the beat reporter (or student reporters) to dig deeper on a routine story. Most of the time this isn’t a problem, but when you start dealing with stories that hint at persecution a little research is imperative. Two different stories dealing with modern Paganism raise the question of persecution, and are frustrating in their lack of detail and research.

First you have a story about books on Wicca and the occult going missing at the Stark County libraries in Ohio.

“Vicki Muzzy, collection development manager for the Stark County District Library, said the district’s 10 branches are missing 25 copies of books dealing with Wicca, one of the world’s oldest pagan religions and often associated with witchcraft. All the books have been checked out, but they never were returned, she said.”

So why are they missing? Library Executive Director Kent Oliver gives us two theories on the missing books.

“People take them because they don’t want other people to read about witchcraft, and people use them without returning them. I think we have a little bit of both going on.”

After that the article interviews a couple librarians, and ends with a quote about libraries being “content neutral”. So the reader is left to guess if this is more a case of Christians stealing the books to keep them out of the hands of the youth, or if it is more a case of the youth stealing the books because they couldn’t attain them otherwise. Commenters on Witchvox are split on the culprits, and I can’t help but think that a little more digging and time spent developing the story could have given a clearer picture of why all of the Wicca books are missing.

A similar problem can be found in the Mills College Weekly. Here we have a case of posters being defaced on campus, and the terminology “hate crime” being thrown around. But I can’t find any reporting on the issue by the paper, instead we get an editorial after the fact.

“We at The Weekly feel it is time for us to respond to recent events on campus that can only be categorized as hate crimes. From the posters put up in protest of Columbus Day in the Fall of 2005 that were taken down to the recent defacement of posters from the Muslim Student Association, the Mills Disability Alliance and the Pagan Alliance, we have a growing and serious problem here on the Mills campus.”

What were they defaced with? Slogans? Hate speech? A big “X”? The paper doesn’t say. Also, while one could see a radical right-winger defacing Muslim and Pagan flyers why the disability group? Is it persecution, or is it a group of drunken college students destroying a bunch of flyers? Again some basic reporting on the event could have given us the context to decide if these actions were part of a hate crime, or simply shenanigans.

Considering the increasingly polarized religious culture we live in, it becomes imperative to expect a higher level of journalism than vague allusions and outraged editorials. Both of these stories could have been important stories that revealed something about the day to day struggles of our faith communities. Instead of answers we are left with more questions and fuel for those looking to prove persecution.

A direct descendant of Mary Sanford, hanged 1662 in Connecticut for crimes of “witchcraft” is working for her (and 10 other Connecticut “witches”) exoneration. The twist in the story is that Debra Avery (granddaughter 8 generations removed) is a modern Pagan.

“Avery considers herself pagan, and that also adds to her interest in the case. She has fun with the popular image of witches – a sign outside the side door of her Washington, Conn., house reads “The Witch Is In” – but is concerned about how people perceive paganism – loosely a less organized relation to Wicca. ‘There are people out there who consider themselves witches, but it has nothing to do with what they thought was going on back then,’ she says. ‘And it certainly doesn’t have anything to do with familiarity with Satan.’”

Unlike Massachusetts and Virginia who have pardoned the men and women accused and executed for witchcraft Connecticut officials don’t see the need for pardons, and have avoided the subject as the state readies itself for a gubernatorial election.

“Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s spokesman Judd Everhart, though, says the matter of pardoning accused witches just isn’t within the governor’s purview. That would be the state’s Board of Pardons and Paroles, he says. Gregory R. Everett, chairman of that board, says he would have to get a legal opinion, but is skeptical that his board has the power to posthumously pardon anyone – let alone those executed so long ago.”

A spokesman for Rell’s challenger John DeStefano, fishing for votes, hints that he might be more open to the issue than Rell but since he’s trailing badly in the polls I wouldn’t hold my breath for that outcome.

Since Avery began her quest she has been covered by the Wall Street Journal and the BBC. The publicity has helped her form a larger group working towards the quest of exoneration. But it remains to be seen if the Pagan descendant* of a falsely accused Christian woman can set the record straight.

* Speaking of ancestors and descendents, there is a new Pagan blog by a descendent of the Salem witch-craze called “Stars For Eyes”. It should be interesting to hear her opinion on this story.