On Tuesday of this past week I spotlighted the efforts of Peter Dybing, a Pagan and member of COG, who is on the ground in Haiti providing emergency care to those affected by the massive earthquake that has shattered Port-au-Prince and killed tens of thousands. This morning Dybing posted an open letter to the Pagan community, and I’d like to share it with you here.

Open letter to the Pagan Community,

It is hard to communicate my gratitude for all the support from the Pagan community for Haiti Community Support. We are in the middle of a transition to having local providers doing all the medical care for the NGO. Long term the solution to this crisis lies in the hands of locals. Haiti Community Support continues to administer funds and provide logistical support and we are considering sending more medical providers. Our major consideration now is how best to use the funds we have raised. Sending a provider costs about $3,000.00 for a two-week deployment. These funds can buy a lot of medical supplies for local medical providers to use at our clinic.

It would be impossible to fully relate the effect this mission has had on me personally. The level of pain and suffering is unimaginable; the scale of the need is beyond all the resources in place. With many years of disaster experience, nothing equipped me to deal with the sights and sounds I experienced in Haiti. Please continue to support this great cause. While Large NGO’s were still doing a “Needs Assessment” we were on the ground providing direct medical care. Today there are people alive in Haiti who would have had no chance without your support.

Over the next few days the directors of Haiti Community Support and myself will be doing an assessment of long-term needs and funds available. It continues to be our focus to provide direct care to the people of Haiti without the high administrative costs of large NGO’s

Each day the positive healing energy sent my way helped me deal with the realities on the ground. To my sisters and brothers in the community THANK YOU, you made a difference.

Peter Dybing

If you want to contribute to Dybing’s efforts in Haiti, head over to the Haiti Community Support web site and make a donation. Dybing’s message to us is important, because it shows that our community can make an impact in these matters. That we can be effective in saving lives and changing things for the better. It eradicates the notion that you have to be in a multi-national NGO or member of an entrenched mainstream faith to help the afflicted. All it takes is our involvement.

While I’m on the subject of afflicted populations, and the Pagan efforts to help them, I’d like to turn your attention to a post made yesterday by fellow Pagan blogger Kathryn Price NicDhàna. While the world’s attention has been, understandably, turned to Haiti, South Dakota Reservations have been hit with massive ice-storms and some sections have been without heat, power, or water for over a week. Just as we have reached out to Haiti, let us also reach out and show solidarity with the indigenous population here in the United States. For a listing of legitimate organizations to donate too, click here. You can get ongoing updates at the Supporting SD Rez Twitter feed, and the Supporting South Dakota Reservations Facebook group.

I have some updates and announcements of note for you on this Saturday afternoon.

Is The First Amendment for Monotheists Only: Let’s start off with some more information concerning Patrick McCollum’s legal battle over California’s “five faiths” policy. I have here, available for download, the entire complaint, which shows that it was filed as a class action alongside several Pagan inmates. Not, as past media coverage has implied, by McCollum alone.

“The two-tier system inherent in the Five State-Sanctioned Faiths Policy creates a lack of resources and denial of access, which denies Wiccan/Pagan inmates the ability to participate in essential religious ceremonies and perform religious rites mandated by their faith. Chaplains of the Five State-Sanctioned Faiths who are hired are often hostile to Wiccan/Pagan religions, yet are called on to oversee Wiccan/Pagan religious life because of the absence of Wiccan/Pagan chaplains. In many cases, the Five State Sanctioned Faiths Chaplains discriminate against the Wiccan/Pagans when forced into such roles and prioritize the needs of the adherents of their own faiths above the needs of the Wiccan/Pagans.”

The complaint also lists the various discriminatory actions against Pagan inmates and McCollum perpetrated by the California correctional system. In addition, I was provided a copy of a document that proves the California Department of Correction’s key official and witness committed perjury before the court, regarding the most key components of the state’s case against Pagans. Finally, I have a copy of another amicus brief in support of McCollum that includes the support of several religious and chaplaincy organizations, including such Pagan organizations as Cherry Hill Seminary, Covenant of the Goddess, and The Aquarian Tabernacle Church.

Relevant Documents:

• Patrick M. McCollum; et al., v. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; et al.
• Defendants Concede That They Made Misrepresentations About The Application Of Any Criteria (copy).
• Amicus Curiae by Rev. Charles Gibbs, Executive Director of the United Religions Initiative, Rev. Paul Chaffee founding Executive Director of the Interfaith Center at the Presidio, Diana L. Eck, Director of the Pluralism Project at Harvard University, James A. Donahue, President of the Graduate Theological Union, The Covenant of the Goddess, Cherry Hill Seminary, Rev. Carol Hovis, Executive Director of the Marin Interfaith Council, The Institute of Buddhist Studies, American Correctional Chaplains Association, The American Catholic Correctional Chaplains Association, Willam E. Lesher, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions, The Interfaith Council of Contra Costa County, Maha ElGenaidi, founder of the Islamic Networks Group, The Aquarian Tabernacle Church, and Professor Michael York.

It’s becoming increasingly clear that there’s a very good reason why the State of California wants to deny McCollum standing, because if this goes to trial it could potentially explode into a huge scandal, and cost several officials their jobs. As always, I’ll keep you posted regarding the latest developments.

Pagan Benefit CD for Haiti: PaganFM! and Circle Sanctuary are teaming up to release a benefit compilation album with the proceeds going towards recovery and rebuilding efforts in Haiti.

“Pagan musicians and bands from Australia to Canada are taking part; some are very well-known, others are up and coming, and still others are well-established but have more limited audiences. The music on the album ranges from folk, to rock to ethnic and beyond. This album will be an opportunity for each of them to use their talents and skills to open the hearts of listeners across the planet, encouraging everyone to unite in purpose.”

Tentative release date is the first week in March. Once I know more concerning a track-listing or purchasing information, I’ll let you know. For more information, contact Deirdre Hebert of PaganFM!.

Sectarian Prayer in North Carolina: On Thursday a federal judge ruled that using sectarian prayer to open a North Carolina county board of commissioners meeting violates the First Amendment. This comes after a magistrate judge issued a similar ruling on the same case back in November.

“The Supreme Court has also emphasized that such legislative prayers must not advance a particular faith or belief, because to do so would have the effect of affiliating the Government with that particular faith or belief in violation of the Establishment Clause,” U.S. District Judge James A. Beaty Jr. wrote.

As I reported previously, several North Carolina counties have been anxiously watching this case, wondering if it would interfere with their own sectarian opening prayers. It now looks like they too will have to alter their practices, or else face expensive litigation on a legal issue that isn’t trending in their favor. North Carolina has been host to any number of legal issues lately that focus on a Christian majority misusing its power, could this be the start of a shift away from that trend?

That’s all I have for now, have a great day!

A case coming before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals could end up having major legal ramifications for all religious minorities in the United States. Wiccan chaplain Patrick McCollum has been fighting for years to overturn the State of California’s “five faiths policy”, which limits the hiring of paid chaplains to Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, and Native American adherents. While McCollum has suffered setbacks in his quest, with a California federal district court ruling in early 2009 that he had no standing to bring his suit, he recently gained support on appeal from several civil and religious rights groups who argue that his case should be heard.

“McCollum’s central claim strikes at the heart of the rights and freedoms that the Establishment Clause, the Equal Protection Clause, and Title VII were designed to guarantee. A state policy that classifies on the basis of religion (or any other protected ground) epitomizes disparate treatment that is properly subject to challenge by a member of the excluded group.” – From an Amicus Brief submitted by Americans United For Separation of Church and State, The Anti-Defamation League, The American Jewish Committee, The Interfaith Alliance, and The Hindu American Foundation

While decisions made so far have focused only on whether McCollum has standing as a taxpayer or non-inmate to bring his suit, a new Amicus Curiae filed by the National Legal Foundation, on behalf of a conservative activist organization called WallBuilders, argues that McCollum has no standing because modern Pagans aren’t guaranteed the same Constitutional rights and protections as Christian or monotheist citizens.

“The true historic meaning of “religion” excludes paganism and witchcraft, and thus, does not compel a conclusion that McCollum has state taxpayer standing … paganism and witchcraft were never intended to receive the protections of the Religion Clauses. Thus, in the present case there can be no violation of those clauses … Should this Court conclude that McCollum has taxpayer standing … this Court should at least acknowledge that its conclusion is compelled by Supreme Court precedent, not by history or the intent of the Framers.”

These statements, while certainly not representative of modern-day understandings of the Religion Clauses, have been seemingly welcomed by the California Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), as the amicus gives no indication that they are missing consent from the defense.

“Wallbuilders files this Brief pursuant to consent from Counsel for Plaintiffs-Appellants and pursuant to the accompanying Motion For Leave to File a Brief Amicus Curiae.”

Indeed, instead of rejecting such a blatantly discriminatory  amicus, according to McCollum, in a statement sent to The Wild Hunt, lawyers for the CDCR have argued from the beginning of this long legal saga that there are two “tiers” of religion in America.

“I originally sued on behalf of myself and Pagan inmates as their chaplain, but about a year later several inmates joined the lawsuit.  Together, we claimed that it is unconstitutional for the state to deny the Pagan inmates their religious rights, their religious materials, and their religious services.

During the course of the case, the CDCR, other related defendants, and the Assistant Attorneys General who represents them have argued before the court that Pagans are not deserving of equal civil rights as are provided adherents of the preferred faiths.  In one of their first arguments to the court, the defendants said that certain “traditional” faiths are first tier faiths and that those faiths were meant to have equal rights and  protections under the United States Constitution, but that all of the other faiths were second tier faiths, and were not meant to have the same equal rights and protections under the United States Constitution as the first tier faiths.”

The bold claim in the WallBuilders’ amicus that modern Pagans have no Constitutional claim to protection under the Religion Clauses is the plain-speaking truth behind the more nuanced claims of faith “tiers” or “traditional” faiths made by the CDCR’s legal counsel. The brief reveals, in the words of McCollum, the “real culprits” behind this long struggle.

“I was told by a wise person early on in my legal battle with the CDCR and the other defendants that in every civil rights case the true nature of those opposing the civil rights of the injured parties would eventually rear their ugly heads, and that it would then become crystal clear who was actually calling the shots on their side and what their objective was.  Yesterday with the filing of this most recent brief, I think I can safely say that the real culprits have clearly shown themselves in full form — and that their goal is to tear down the religious freedoms of all faiths, except a privileged few,  to create a theocracy of privilege similar to the one that spurred the discriminations and abuses on account of religion, which prompted the American founders to form a new nation with liberty and justice for all–a new nation free from such coercion.

If the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals should decide that this line of argument has any validity, it could send a shock-wave through the legal community, casting doubt on any number of legal cases that now ensure the equal protection of religious minorities. This case, fought for so long, and simply to keep a Wiccan from possibly getting a paid chaplaincy position, has already created a “two-tier” religious system for incarcerated Pagans in California. Guaranteeing that some faiths are more equal than others.

In the face of these recent developments, McCollum calls for modern Pagans and their allies to speak up against this injustice.

I think it is now time for our community, and also for people of good will in other faiths and religious communities of conscience to respond to this outrageous position in support of continued discrimination by a governmental agency.  The safety and security of every minority faith community in the country is in danger when arguments like these are thought to be credible by anyone.

We all need to write to Jerry Brown, the California Attorney General, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Mathew L. Cate, the Secretary of the CDCR and let them all know our outrage.  And if you are a Pagan or Heathen, then we must also demand equal treatment, equal accommodations, equal access to our religious items for institutionalized persons, including prison inmates, and equal access to paid Pagan chaplains.”

It seems increasingly clear that arguments in this case over “taxpayer standing” has been something of a red herring, obfuscating the true history of this legal odyssey by McCollum and the Pagan inmates he is fighting for. This is about civil rights and our religious freedoms, not just a chaplaincy job in a prison. One can only echo McCollum’s sentiments, that the time to speak out is now. The time to stand behind and support McCollum is now.

You can be sure that I will continue to follow and report on this case, and that I will make more information and documents regarding this appeals process available as I have them.

Relevant Documents:

• Statement by Patrick McCollum
• Amicus Curiae by The National Legal Foundation on behalf of WallBuilders
• Amicus Curiae by Americans United For Separation of Church and State, on behalf of Americans United, The Anti-Defamation League, The American Jewish Committee, The Interfaith Alliance, and The Hindu American Foundation
• Amicus Curiae by the Florida Justice Institute and the Legal Aid Society of New York

Top Story: As noted by Pagan bloggers Chas Clifton and Gus diZerega yesterday, the Air Force Academy, once notorious for its culture of religious intolerance towards non-Christians, is adding a circular worship area for followers of modern Pagan religions.

“The Air Force Academy chapel will add a worship area for followers of Earth-centered religions during a dedication ceremony scheduled to be held at the circle March 10. The circle, located atop the hill overlooking the Cadet Chapel and Visitor Center, will be the latest addition to a collection of worship areas that includes Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist sacred spaces. Tech. Sgt. Brandon Longcrier, NCO in charge of the Academy’s Astronautics laboratories, worked with the chapel to create the official worship area for both cadets and other servicemembers in the Colorado Springs area who practice Earth-centered spirituality.  “Feel free to check the site out, but treat it as you would any other religious structure,” he said.”

This development comes in the wake of a massive effort by the academy to improve relations with minority faiths. Sergeant Longcrier, who joined the academy shortly after accusations of religious intolerance emerged, says that the improvements have been palpable.

“When I first arrived here, Earth-centered cadets didn’t have anywhere to call home,” he said. “Now, they meet every Monday night, they get to go on retreats, and they have a stone circle. … We have representation on the Cadet Interfaith Council, and I even meet with the Chaplains at Peterson Air Force Base once a year to discuss religious climate.”

A dedication ceremony is scheduled to be held at the circle on March 10, one that they hope will well-attended.

In Other News:

Who’s Responsible for the Decapitated Goats: After two hog-tied decapitated goats were found in Washington DC, Humane Society officials said they believed the animals were ritually sacrificed, and the Washington City paper wondered if that meant Santeria. This prompted a practitioner of Santeria to step forward and defend her faith.

“Meet Elaine Hall … a member of a local “Ile,” or Santeria house. “I think that they were sacrificial animals, but I am not certain with which religion they are associated,” Hall says of the decapitated livestock found on Sheridan. Though devotees of Santeria certainly could have given the goats up to the gods, Hall has a hard time believing the gory remains Humane Law Enforcement came across on Jan. 17 have anything to do with Santeria. Why? It was sloppy work. “With the religion of Santeria, if an animal is destined to be ritually killed, it is believed that we— as humans—should be grateful to the animal, and it behooves us to treat the animal kindly and humanely before it dies for fear of offending the orishas [deities] and Olodumare [God].  Therefore, it is inappropriate to kill an animal that is bound (i.e. hog-tied), for one wants the animal to be offered of its own free will.”  Another reason? “My first thought when I read that two decapitated goat bodies were found was ‘That’s weird! Why did they waste the meat?” Hall says goats killed during a Santeria ritual are typically eaten afterward.”

I’m so glad that Ms. Hall stepped forward. Too often assertions of “ritual sacrifice” and “Santeria” are thrown around by ill-informed animal welfare and law enforcement officials when presented with dead animals. The only way to truly combat this ignorance is through education, by speaking out and educating those who accuse you. Then instead of simply rounding up the usual animal cruelty suspects, animal welfare officers can enter into a real dialog with faiths that engage in animal sacrifice. Separating the conscientious and law-abiding practitioners from rogue elements, the mentally disturbed, and thrill-seeking teenagers.

The Aversion to Christianity: Pope Benedict, while leading a Vespers service, condemned the “growing aversion” to Christianity around the world.

“Pope Benedict is condemning what he called “growing aversion” to the Christian faith in the world. Benedict urged Christians to invigorate efforts to spread their faith’s message despite what he described as the unfriendly climate to Christianity in parts of the world. He did not specify any particular region. “In a world marked by religious indifference and even by a growing aversion toward the Christian faith, a new, intense activity of evangelization is necessary,” the Pope said.”

Man, this is just too rich for me to digest in one sitting. If we just try harder to make everyone Christian, then our “aversion towards Christianity” problem will be solved! Genius! This coming from the Pope who has repeatedly insulted Pagans, who intimated that indigenous faiths are “silently longing” for Christ, and who keeps angering Jews. No doubt it’s all part of his cunning plan to somehow make us all like Catholicism more by angering us first. How Zen. Oh well, if this doesn’t work, maybe all those new blogging priests will.

Ted Andrews Memorial Service: A public memorial service will be held on January 30th for well-known spiritual teacher and author Ted Andrews, who passed away on October 24th after a long struggle with cancer.

“Loving family members and spiritual friends from around the nation are expected to arrive in Dayton by Saturday, Jan. 30, for a 10 a.m. memorial service in honor of Ted A. Andrews. Mr. Andrews, a prolific writer, teacher, story teller, protector of wildlife, a musician, and a serious student of the occult and esoteric, died from cancer at his Jackson, Tenn., farm and animal refuge on Oct. 24 at the age of 57.”

The memorial service will be held at St. Luke Parish in Beavercreek, Ohio. My heartfelt condolences to his friends and family, may Andrews’ spirit find rest and peace.

Here’s How You Spell It: In a final note, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, Terry Rey, chair of the religion department at Temple University, and Leslie Desmangles, professor of religion at Trinity College, team up to give us all a lesson on how to spell Voodoo Vodou.

“Whether writing in English, French or Creole, the correct spelling of the predominant religion in Haiti is Vodou, according to the official orthography of Haitian Creole language … Derived from the term “Vodoun” in the language of the Fon of Benin in West Africa, and signifying a company or family of spirits, the correct pronunciation is VO-doo.”

So if you are talking about the religion in Haiti it’s “Vodou”, and if you are talking about the religion in Africa it’s “Vodoun/Vodun”. They only time the popular spelling of “Voodoo” is used is in the context of Louisiana/New Orleans Voodoo. So now you know. For further commentary from these professors on Haiti and Vodou, check out this article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that interviews Bellegarde-Smith, and Leslie Desmangles was recently quoted by CNN concerning Vodou. Both are worth the read.

That’s all I have for now, have a great day!

Is modern goddess religion misandrist? Has it, in fact, “encouraged widespread misandry in popular culture”? That seems to be the contention of two Canadian religious studies scholars, Paul Nathanson and Katherine K. Young, who have released a new book: “Sanctifying Misandry: Goddess Ideology and the Fall of Man”.

“In “Sanctifying Misandry”, Katherine Young and Paul Nathanson challenge an influential version of modern goddess religion, one that undermines sexual equality and promotes hatred in the form of misandry – the sexist counterpart of misogyny. To set the stage, the authors discuss two massively popular books – Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code” and Riane Eisler’s “The Chalice and the Blade” – both of which rely on a feminist conspiracy theory of history. They then show how some goddess feminists and their academic supporters have turned what Christians know as the Fall of Man into the fall of men. In the beginning, according to three ‘documentary’ films, our ancestors lived in an egalitarian paradise under the aegis of a benevolent great goddess. But men either rebelled or invaded, replacing the goddess with gods and establishing patriarchies that have oppressed women ever since. In the end, however, women will restore the goddess and therefore paradise as well. The book concludes with several case studies of modern goddess religion and its effects on mainstream religion. “Young and Nathanson” show that we can move beyond not only both gynocentrism and androcentrism but also both misandry and misogyny.”

It seems pretty clear that the documentary  films they are referring to are Donna Read’s Women and Spirituality series, which included “Goddess Remembered”, “The Burning Times”, and “Full Circle”, and starred many Pagan, goddess-religion, and women’s spirituality luminaries like Starhawk, Merlin Stone, and Luisah Teish.

But do the early claims of the women’s spirituality movement really create a culture of misandry? Of man-hating? Leading to the supposedly misandrist pop-culture heavyweight that is “The Da Vinci Code”? Several scholars have criticized Nathanson and Young’s past work for spotty methodology, of misusing feminist theory, of only picking the data that fits their argument in pursuit of an agenda.

“Spreading Misandry’s stated goal to make recognizable the extent of misandry in popular culture is lost in its failure to connect their assumptions to sociological theory. The methodology that selectively examines some examples of popular culture and not others and then asks us to accept their interpretation as relevant and not others severely limits the potential of the research findings. Nathanson and Young promote sexism and gender polarization in their oppositional approach to gender. Most importantly, the work is totally divorced from the important connection of culture with structure in that they did not demonstrate a link between misandry in popular culture and the broader societal structures that negatively impact men. Instead of criticizing feminist theories, the authors would be advised to apply many of the findings and concepts of feminist researchers examining gender to an analysis of masculinity. Such would be a more constructive approach to examining gender-both masculinity and femininity. I am not convinced that misandry is a pervasive cultural pattern. Consequently I do not recommend this book for academic or popular consumption.”

What’s the result of bad or biased scholarship? Who cares if their methodology is spotty or agenda-driven? First, it can empower people like Canadian newspaper columnist Barbara Kay to write things like this.

“…it’s all nonsense: ideology gussied up as religious myth. Their methodical exposure of Goddess spirituality’s perversion of Christian tropes reveals the misandric obsession at its core. Taking Daly’s scapegoating revisionism as a reliable clue, they site Goddess spirituality — and for other persuasive reasons feminism in general — under the rubric of conspiracy theorism.”

As an extra-classy note, Kay’s anti-goddess hate-fest is married to a pseudo-obituary of Mary Daly. I realize that Daly had said and advocated many problematic (even hateful) things during her life, but spitting on the dead is usually frowned on in civil society. You can expect that Kay’s shot across the bow will soon become a full-blown salvo from people like Ross Douthat, Rod Dreher, and the loon-bats at World Net Daily, all of them referencing “Sanctifying Misandry” as proof of their beliefs regarding goddess-religion and feminism.

Regarding accusations of  women’s spirituality’s own spotty scholarship in the past, those issues have been almost fully absorbed and corrected within modern Paganism (not to mention modern feminism). With today’s scholarship having a clear-eyed assessment of where history/herstory got more poetic than factual.

As I said the last time this issue came up, when outdated criticisms of bad history were lobbed in our general direction:

“Wiccan-fabricated libels? Oh! You mean the “Burning Times”, right? The old “nine million witches” killed thing. Funny thing about that, it wasn’t a libel fabricated by Wiccans, it was an estimate by an 18th century German scholar which was then propogated (in part) by a 20th century British anthropologist. While some debunking of that estimate already existed in academic circles, it was hardly common reading at the time it was picked up by feminists and early Wiccans (the 1960s and 1970s). In the last twenty years, as the number was successfully reevaluated, modern Paganism has mostly dropped that meme, and those who don’t are often criticiszed within the modern Pagan community. Even Charlotte Allen, who wrote the critical piece from 2001 that Douthat links to, admits that Wiccans and Pagans have mostly moved on from “The Burning Times”.”

To link filmmaker Donna Read to author Dan Brown to claims of a man-hating institutional misandry really seems absurd. Especially when you see that misogyny and patriarchy are alive and well in Western culture, and ever-dominant around the world. To claim that goddess-religion has taken over pop-culture on a structural level, encouraging misandry in our day-to-day lives, is to turn a blind eye to the vast swathes of pop-culture that revel in the masculine, in the sexist, and ultimately in abuse. The whole thing smells like a hit-piece – partisan anti-feminist tome that draws women’s spirituality into the mix in order to cast the “villain” (feminism) as some sort of destabilizing counter-faith (shades of anti-environmental rhetoric). It, like other books of this nature, have to over-state and “pump up” the influence and pervasiveness of their enemy to justify the attack.

While we have discussed Haitian religion, specifically Vodou, quite a bit in the wake of the massive earthquake that has decimated Port-au-Prince, there are many other important aspects we haven’t talked about. This was partially due to the immediate need to get aid and donations rolling, but now that we are two weeks into the crisis, some are looking at the vast cultural damage that has been done to Haiti.

La Sirene Vodou Banner by Mireille Delice

“With dozens of galleries, museums and other venues badly damaged in the quake, Haiti’s arts community is sick at heart. Had the nation’s rich cultural patrimony, a testament to joy and beauty in a land that has seen tragedy and despair, been lost? Since the quake, gallery owners have been trying to pull together a list of artists killed, injured or missing. They’d accounted for about half of those they represented. Untold is the toll in artworks, with their wild colors and real-life portrayals; their lions, tigers and bears, though those animals don’t exist in Haiti; their echoes of voodoo traditions and the nation’s African roots.”

The Los Angeles times talks with several curators, gallery owners, and Haitian artists about the state of Haiti’s artistic and cultural legacy after the quake, including flag-maker Mireille Delice (a protégé of  renowned Haitian artist Yves Telemak), who is persevering under the weight of considerable loss.

“Mireille Delice is a well-known creator of the “flags,” or banners, a form of Haitian art that is a piece of cloth, usually satin, decorated with beads or sequins. In the quake she lost her sister, her house and her box of sequins. “We have to keep on,” she said, seated at the gallery with other artists.”

Art can seem trivial, especially in the face of such a devastating human toll, but it also underpins and unites nations, religions, and cultures. As Haitian artist Gabriel Coutard says in the article, “art serves us. We must keep it.” To do otherwise really would mean the death of Haiti, certainly as a shared idea and culture, if not as a nation. As Haiti starts to mend, it will turn to its artists to make sense of things, and express the country’s pain, loss, and eventual recovery to the world.

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Since the quake many Pagans have given generously to aid Haiti, and several Pagan organizations have set up special funds for earthquake relief, we are also now starting to get word of Pagans who are on the ground helping the Haitian people directly. Pagan priestess Alane Brown, a member of the Crow Women Circle and Goddess Choir, has sent out an open letter to the Pagan community regarding Covenant of the Goddess member Peter Dybing.

Peter Dybing in Haiti

“Looking for a way to help the Haiti earthquake victims? Want to support an emergency medical clinic in Port au Prince that’s run by a Pagan priest? Please consider donating money to Haiti Community Support. This NGO is not itself affiliated with any political or religious group. However, the man running the clinic, Peter Dybing, is a member of the Covenant of the Goddess and a longtime practitioner of the Craft. He was very active in the Albuquerque Pagan community before relocating to the Virgin Islands a few years ago. There he met Mathilde and Bruce, who run Haiti Community Support. Haiti Community Support is a NGO that has been helping Haiti since 2006 through programs in health, education and infrastructure building. Following the earthquake, Haiti Community Support shifted its emphasis to disaster relief. Peter (an EMT) and Mathilde traveled to Port au Prince on January 14th and set up an emergency clinic in a park. They recruited over 30 local Haitians and together they began caring for people who, despite severe injuries, just could not get into the overwhelmed hospitals.”

If you want to donate to this effort in Haiti, head over to the Haiti Community Support web site. According to Brown’s letter, the emergency clinic now has doctors and nurses working with it, and is planning to start traveling to different affected areas. So if you have been looking for a way to donate that involves the Pagan community, and directly aids the Haitian people, Haiti Community Support seems to be exactly what you are looking for. May the gods bless and protect Peter Dybing in his work.

Dybing isn’t the only Pagan on the ground in Haiti, Circle Sanctuary member Otis Richardson (Fenian), a Pagan soldier in the 82nd Airborne Division of the US Army, deployed for relief aid on January 16th. Circle has a page up with his contact information if you’d like to send him well-wishes or include him in your prayers and workings (Dybing’s information is included on that page as well).

Finally, while not on the ground, Rev. Tamara L. Siuda, Nisut of the Kemetic Orthodox Faith, and an initiated Haitian Mambo, has been sharing information about the safety of Vodou practitioners and their peristyles in Haiti via her Facebook Page and blog. Blessings to them in their efforts as well.

Religious discrimination? Miscommunication? Persecution complex? It’s hard to tell what sort of story Chris Broom of the Portsmouth News is trying to tell. I mean, the headline, and the opening sentence, are clear enough. “Paganist protests as health visitor tells her to move items.”

“A follower of paganism claims a health visitor told her she should put her religious items away because of the effect they could be having on her son.”

So we gear up for a tale of a health official overstepping his or her authority, ready to unleash our righteous ire. Only, the more you read it, the less it seems like a story about religion. I mean, it is according to family being visited.

“But on one of these visits, Mrs Hawkins says the health visitor told her she should remove pagan images and accessories from her living room because of her concerns for her 10-year-old son David … She said: ‘The lady was commenting on my bits and bobs and she said I ought to take them down because she thought it was detrimental to my son’s wellbeing … ‘I was really angry because Wicca is a recognised religion. You wouldn’t go into a Muslim’s home and ask them to take down their religious items would you?’”

But the NHS has a very different perspective.

“Hampshire Partnership NHS Trust Jamie Stevenson said the health visitor had been referring to some collectible dolls not connected to religious beliefs, known as Living Dead dolls, which Mrs Hawkins had on display.”

So unless Living Dead Dolls are now considered Wiccan religious items, this isn’t a religious persecution story. It might have been an anti-goth sort of story, but even that falls flat when you keep reading.

“We would never give advice on parenting unless they were doing something extremely wrong, which isn’t the case here. With a mental health patient like Mrs Hawkins we are trying to build a rapport and look after her needs, not to go in and throw our weight around.”

So, the British version of child services wasn’t being threatened on them, the NHS says they have no intention of “throwing its weight around”, and they actually seem quite apologetic about the whole thing. So what, really, is the story here? An NHS mental health worker suggests moving some morbid dolls to the bedroom, and the offended family calls the press?

I suppose one could make the argument that these dolls have been imbued with religious meaning by Mrs Hawkins, but even the most enlightened NHS official would have a hard time figuring that out. This seems very much like a reporter creating a controversy where there isn’t one, spinning the Pagan angle to gather attention. Oh, and Mr. Broom? Adherents of modern Paganism are Pagans, not “Paganists”.

I’ve been trying to ignore this story, which hasn’t been too hard considering the earthquake in Haiti, the recent election in Massachusetts, and the Christian gun sights story.  But the English press has been persistent, so let’s talk a bit about the mysterious horse plaits that have been plaguing Sussex.

“At least ten horse-owners in Sussex have reported finding plaits in their horses’ manes over the last two months. Police have received reports from places as far apart as Westergate in Chichester, Rother and East Grinstead – reflecting similar reports across the country.”

Despite the skepticism of many English equestrians, and the general lack of any horrible aftermath for the equines involved in the plaiting,  a couple of media-hungry Witches have decided that this is the work of other Witches, or possibly even Satanists!

“Officers in Dorset have been contacted by a warlock, or male witch, who claimed the plaits are used in rituals by followers of “knot magick”, also known as “cord magick”. But Kevin Carlyon, the Hastings-based self-proclaimed High Priest of British White Witches, told The Argus some plaits or knots could be evidence of devil-worship or black magic … Carlyon said plaiting has also been known to precede ritual mutilation of horses in black magic.”

Ah yes, Kevin “High Priest of British White Witches” Carlyon, he of the red bathrobe and Nessie-protecting. A man so outrageous in his proclamations and actions (he’s a “living god” now) that he managed to get over 900 Pagans and Witches to agree on something.

“Whilst we accept his right to practise his faith, he does not have the right to speak for us and we have no affliation with his media junkie antics. He has not been appointed for us or by us and therefore cannot present authority over us.”

Occam’s Razor suggests that the most likely culprit for this rash of plaits is a garden variety prankster, possibly even a group of them, or maybe the original plaiter inspired subsequent jokesters in braiding a bit of mane. But Witches? Satanists? Really? Even the cops seem skeptical.

“At the moment we do not know of any motive for the plaiting to start with we thought they were being marked for theft but that is clearly not the case. One motive from research by Dorset police who are also investigating a number of cases is that it may be a pagan ritual. It is hard for us to judge at the moment but any speculation will have to be considered.”

I expect this sort of press-baiting hysteria from Carlyon, but any other Pagans spreading this sort of nonsense, without a hint of proof for an occult angle, are doing the Pagan community in England a disservice. Even if, for some reason, there turns out to be a Pagan or occult motive behind the “witch knots”, the last thing we need to do is encourage wild speculation or give credence to drama-queens.

Religion Dispatches interviews Bron Taylor, a specialist in environmental and social ethics, core faculty member in the Graduate Program in Religion and Nature at the University of Florida, and author of the new book “Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future”. According to Taylor, the future of religion is nature religion.

“…traditional religions with their beliefs in non-material divine beings are in decline. The desire for a spiritually meaningful understanding of the cosmos, however, did not wither away, and new forms of spirituality have been filling the cultural niches previously occupied by conventional religions. I argue that the forms I document in Dark Green Religion are much more likely to survive than longstanding religions, which involved beliefs in invisible, non-material beings. This is because most contemporary nature spiritualities are sensory (based on what we perceive with our senses, sometimes enhanced by clever gadgets), and thus sensible. They also tend to promote ecologically adaptive behaviors, which enhances the survival prospects of their carriers, and thus their own long-term survival prospects.”

On his web site, Taylor even envisions the possible emergence of a global “earth religion”.

“Dark green religion—religion that considers nature to be sacred, imbued with intrinsic value, and worthy of reverent care—has been spreading rapidly around the world … such religion is becoming increasingly important in global environmental politics. It motivates a wide array of individuals and movements that are engaged in some of the most trenchant environment- related struggles of our time. It increasingly shapes the worldviews and practices of grassroots social activists and the world’s intelligentsia. It is already important in global environmental politics. It may even inspire the emergence of a global, civic, earth religion.“

Taylor’s book seems to primarily focus on radical environmentalists, “surfer-spirituality”, and mainstream political and cultural “green” discourse in framing his “Dark Green Religion”, though modern Paganism does get mentioned in his chapter on Globalization in Arts, Sciences, and Letters.

“Starhawk, [Margot] Adler, and [Alice] Walker show that Paganism, by emphasizing Mother Earth as sacred and sometimes equating her with the body of the goddess, is fertile ground for enviornmentalism. Both Walker and Starhawk, who live in Northern California, have supported campaigns against logging in the redwood biome. Given the earthly ground of contemporary Paganism, it is unsurprising that when Paganism does lead to political action it would have a strong ecofeminist dimension.”

In addition, he also briefly mentions Gaian tendencies within the New Age movement. So it seems (at least some) Pagans are included in his “Dark Green” religious future. Though I’m a bit disappointed that he didn’t spend a bit more time on the topic, especially considering the growth of Pagan studies in recent years.

So how pervasive is this rising civic “earth religion” that Taylor posits? Christian scholar John Morehead wonders if the massive success of “Avatar”, with its pantheistic and environmental themes, may be connected to this phenomenon.

“…in terms of popular culture, such sentiments may also be seen underlying the science fiction/fantasy film Avatar. which has resonated with audiences for this and other reasons.”

Whether the future of religion is indeed nature religion, replacing the now-dominant monotheisms, remains to be seen, but the book looks like a fascinating exploration of the topic. You can download and read the entire first chapter of the book at the publisher’s web site. Taylor also promises more related content and a soon-to-be-launched blog on his personal web site.

Here’s a round-up of updates concerning stories and issues covered previously by The Wild Hunt.

Martha Coakley and the Fells Acre Case: In a historic upset, Republican candidate Scott Brown won the Massachusetts Senate seat left vacant by Ted Kennedy’s death, defeating Democratic candidate Martha Coakley, who many initially saw as a sure thing. The media, and many politicians, are ruminating on how it all happened. While some are debating whether Brown’s win was a referendum on Obama’s presidency, others are saying that the reasons were very local. Columnist Carey Roberts claims that Coakley’s ties to the infamous Fells Acre ritual abuse case damaged her chances far more than the national political media are willing to credit.

“This legal travesty did not attract national attention until last Fall. At that point, Coakley held a nearly insurmountable 30-point lead over her Republican challenger. Then Ann Coulter devoted her December 9 column to the case, calling it the “second-most notorious witch trial in Massachusetts history” and charging Coakley had “kept a clearly innocent man in prison in order to advance her political career.” A month later, Dorothy Rabinowitz delivered the coup de grace. Recounting in the Wall Street Journal how prosecutors cast Gerald as the chief predator, “his gender qualifying him, in their view, as the best choice for the role,” Rabinowitz adjudged the superfluous prosecution was “powerful testimony to the mind and capacities of this aspirant to a Senate seat.” The Rabinowitz editorial was published on January 14. The same day a Suffolk University poll spotted Brown a 4-point lead over Martha Coakley. And when the ballots were tallied nearly a week later, Scott Brown had defeated Coakley by a resounding five-point margin.”

The Fells Acre case was also mentioned in electoral postmortems at The Huffington Post (who called her “doomed from the start”) and The New American. As for Coakley, what are her plans? Why, she’s going to run for reelection as Attorney General. Which makes me wonder, will outrage over the Amiraults carry over to the Fall elections? Or will we be content to forget? For all of my past coverage of Martha Coakley, click here.

Those Christian Gun Sights: Since the story broke earlier this week, controversy and commentary has been raging over a military contractor, Trijicon, that had been inserting Bible references into its serial numbers. These sights had apparently been used by some military commanders to hammer home the uniquely magical Christian-ness of the weapons, and their effectiveness in killing non-Christians. Now the company says it will stop inserting the Biblical references, and will provide means for existing sights to modified.

“Trijicon has proudly served the U.S. military for more than two decades, and our decision to offer to voluntarily remove these references is both prudent and appropriate,” said Stephen Bindon, Trijicon president and CEO in a statement. “We want to thank the Department of Defense for the opportunity to work with them and will move as quickly as possible to provide the modification kits for deployment overseas.”

While some in the military defended the Bible references, or didn’t see what the fuss was about, others, most notably General David Petraeus, called the sights “distrubing” and a “serious concern”.

Jessica Orsini Sets Her Sights on Another Term: The Columbia Daily Tribune notes that Jessica Orsini, Alderwoman, 3rd Ward, City of Centralia, Missouri, will be running unopposed for another term.

“Filing for the April 6 school board and municipal election ballots in Boone County ended at 5 p.m. yesterday … Centralia Board of Aldermen: Third Ward Alderwoman Jessica Orsini and First Ward Alderwoman Catherine Simmons are unopposed for re-election.”

Orsini, in addition to being one of only two openly transgendered elected officials, is also a Hellenic polytheistic reconstructionist. So it looks like we’ll continue to have two openly Pagan elected officials in America for a while longer. For more on Orsini, check out Tony Mierzwicki’s interview with her at Witchvox.

More Stupid Things Being Said About Vodou: Mark Krikorian, at National Review Online, joined the growing “it’s all Voodoo’s fault” chorus yesterday with this rousing endorsement of colonialism.

“My guess is that Haiti’s so screwed up because it wasn’t colonized long enough … A major indicator of how superficial is the overlay of French culture in Haiti is the strength of paganism, in the form of voodoo — the French just weren’t around long enough to suppress it, to the detriment of Haitians.”

Yes, if only they had been under the heel of the French for a bit longer, because we all know how well colonialism worked out for the Native Americans. Do these commentators actually read what they write before it gets posted? I wonder. For all my coverage of Vodou in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, click here.